±¬ÁÏTV

We are saddened to announce that David Bland died on 7 March at the age of 85.

David joined the Department of Economic and Social History, from the University of Durham, in 1964. He registered for a Ph.D., funded by a Douglas Knoop Studentship, which was awarded in 1968. And so we are mourning both an alumnus and a former colleague.

Two distinct features of the University in the mid-60s and 70s may help place David’s career here in context. The halls of residence were semi-independent fiefdoms, each with its distinct ethos. And, centrally, the Non-Professorial Staff Association (NPSA) offered staff access to even the most senior committees, with the opportunity to take responsibility at a young age. David flourished in this environment. He was a man born to take responsibility.

David started as a Tutor in Sorby Hall, became one of the founding Deputy Wardens of Ranmoor House in 1968, and then returned to Sorby as Warden in 197*. In this capacity, he was the licensee and took the responsibility seriously. Students will remember him standing at one end of the bar, nursing a glass of Worthington White Shield, and keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.

David features in the University’s centenary history – an excellent source for these years – in an episode that is in every way characteristic. (Helen Mathers, Steel City Scholars, 2005, pp. 252-3.) A student occupation of Western Bank on the issue of overseas students’ fees, early in 1977, ended when David phoned the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hamish Ritchie, to say that the students were ready to talk. The two of them listened at length to the students’ case, told them that their point had been made, and the students tidied up and left. A lengthy and rancorous sit-in, which had forced both the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar to decamp, was settled by quiet negotiation. David would go on to become a Pro-Vice-Chancellor himself, the first non-professor to hold this role (1984-88).

After a fire engine had arrived at Sorby Hall, following a false alarm, as happened not infrequently, David would routinely make a small gift to the firemen’s benevolent fund. He would not have known that a decade later he would become Master of the Worshipful Company of Firefighters (1999-2000, 2010-2011). He would happily expound on their links with the insurance industry. Less explanation was required for his links with the Worshipful Company of Insurers, where he also served as Master (2006-7).

David became a slightly reluctant member of the newly constituted Department of History in 1988 and left for London in the following year, to take on the post of Director General of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

We are grateful for the following appreciation to David Worsfold, a senior financial journalist, who knew David well.

‘David took Insurance Education into a new era. He arrived at the Chartered Insurance Institute in 1989 when the institution was at a crossroads, its examinations were looking outdated and the rapid growth of the emerging financial advice sector was passing it by. He moved quickly to overhaul the examinations and introduce a range of new qualifications. He won support for these major changes through the intellectual rigour he brought to the role and the always admirable clarity with which he advocated the changes, often winning over a previously sceptical membership.’

On his retirement, David noted with pleasure that there were now 150,000 people with CII qualifications. He was appointed OBE in 1998 for his contribution to education in the financial services sector.

Retirement from the CII in 2000 brought fresh challenges. He was for a short time head of the business school at the University of East London and thereafter a visiting professor at City University. Well used to regulatory regimes, he took on roles in both the water industry, where he was the local Chairman of the Consumer Council for Water, and postal services. He served on the boards of several charities.

At first sight this seems to be a career of two halves, first Sheffield, then London. But they were of a pattern. David kept his friendships in good repair.  He was an assiduous sender of cheap and cheerful Christmas and birthday cards. It was the thought that counted. He was a generous host. In Sheffield it might be the Christmas party in the Warden’s Lodge at Sorby, the children of his colleagues running riot; in London, lunch at the Athenaeum, with a welcoming drink at the bar.

David was a ‘son of the manse’, his father having been vicar of St John’s Church, Darwen, in Lancashire, and he remained a committed member of the Church of England. His parents retired to Bakewell and he retained their flat there until recently. In London, he served for many years as Churchwarden at St Michael’s, Cornhill. When they ceased regularly to use the Book of Common Prayer, and travel became more awkward, he attended St Peter’s Church, Wapping, just up the road from his riverside apartment. His funeral was held there on 24 April, followed by a wake at the Captain Kidd, where he had been a member of the pub quiz team.

Many at the wake picked up the phrase in the eulogy, that ‘he did not suffer fools gladly’. But a smile was never far from the surface and much could be forgiven, if you were true to your roots, if you read the papers for your meeting, and if you polished your shoes. He will be greatly missed.

The University would like to thank Professor Edmund King for providing this tribute.