Eulogy to Dr Mary Gillham
Delivered by Andy Kendall on behalf of Local Nature Societies
I, like Mary
have had the honour of being the president of the Cardiff Naturalists’
Society and am here to express our deepest respect and our fondness for her
Mary was not
only one of the most illustrious members of the Cardiff Naturalist’s’, she
was one of the most loved
.
And not just
by us, I know that she was loved and respected by all of the local wildlife
groups and organizations. Including, the Merthyr Naturalists, the Wildlife
Trust, SEWBREC, the Cardiff Park Rangers, the staff from the institutions of
the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff and Swansea Universities and of course
the National Botanic Gardens of Wales where she was recently honoured as one
of the top female botanists of Wales in an exhibition
She gave to
us all in terms of knowledge, learning, and understanding, and shared
enjoyment in discovery
Some of us
were honoured to be present at her 80th birthday party and we
shared with her the highlights of her years of exploring wales and the world.
At that event we were entertained to a poem written by her close friend
Mairead Sutherland whom’ I know she missed dearly and who’s work I have
adapted and would like to present to you here
When Mary
was born in London town
She little
knew she’d be renowned
For writing
books and long-haul travel
Her life
history I’ll now unravel.
When war
broke out and food was short
She
volunteered to do her part
And though
her work mates thought her barmy
She joined
the Women’s land Army.
She fed the
stock and drove the plough
Monitored
milk yields of the cow.
When war was
over, tired of monotony
She went to
‘Aber’ to study Botany.
To write her
thesis for her PhD
She chose
Skokholm in the Irish Sea
To study the
effects on plants of guano
Dear to her
heart as we all know.
Worldwide
postings came her way
She stayed a
long time from the UK.
Five brave
lassies of which she was one
Sailed to
Antarctica, the first ever done.
Then Mary
felt the call of home
Through
Africa she did roam
She stopped
at Robben Island on her way
Though with
Mandela she couldn’t stay
Back then in
Wales she joined Extra Mural
And taught
many students of all things rural
With an hour
of chat plus one of slides
And field
trips organized besides.
Aldabra
called her when rumours rife
Said a US
base site would cause there strife
To the
endemic nature living there
Mary, when
asked, listed all things rare.
President
and Honoured by Cardiff Nats
On Merthyr’s
committee she also sat
A founder
member of Glamorgan Trust
On all their
deliberations she was a must.
She lectured
still and also lead trips
From fungus
forays and fun pond dips
She edited
and illustrated our news letter
No one did
these things better.
And in
Mary’s cottage on the Garth
There was
always a welcome at her hearth.
In her
garden filled with cats and flowers
She whiled
away many long happy hours.
She drew and
painted and wrote her books
She
gardened, entertained and cooked.
There was no
limit to her gifts
Through her life
she calmly drifted.
With Mairead
she travelled through sun and gales
Ate ostrich
legs and crocodile tails
But both
martyrs then to hips and knees
They cruise more
gently on the seas.
So here we’ve
gathered to celebrate
The life and
times of our mate
To the end
keen of brain, though weak of knee
The
multi-talented Mary G.
Some were
also able to be with her at her 90th when we had a more intimate
celebration where I presented a visual celebration of Mary. I simply entitled
it
Naturalist,
Writer,
Artist,
And above all
Friend
MARY
GILLHAM
Delivered by Rosemanry Hutton,
Mary's goddaughter
Mary would want this to be a day
that celebrates her life, not a day of mourning and sadness. She was a woman
who dealt with the circumstances she found herself in and made the best of
them. There was no room in her life for long term regrets, ‘could have been’s
or ‘should have been’s.
She often told me that in a different era she would
love to have been married and had children. Circumstances prevented that
happening and she was well aware that by devoting herself to her joy of the
natural world sacrifices had to be made.
Mary was my godmother and I would like
us to celebrate her life today and for many years to come.
Mary Gillham grew up in a
different world from ours. In the 1930’s she went on exciting camping holidays
as a child with her parents and brother John, her uncle and aunt and cousins
Stella and Marjorie. They drove around Europe by car and camped in rural places
without the crowds and restrictions we have now. The war put an end to that
freedom, but it opened doors for Mary. She wasn’t happy in her office work as a
civil servant, and with the war effort was able to change direction and become
a land girl.
The stories she told me were nothing like the fun and loose morals
depicted on TV and in the cinema. Mary told me that it was exceptionally hard
work, but it gave her a taste for life in the country. After the war, the
government gave youngsters who had missed out on a university education, due to
their war work, a second opportunity to apply to study there. Mary took
advantage of the offer, achieved a first class degree in botany from
Aberystwyth University and was launched on her career.
When I was a child, I think I was
eight, Mary set off on an academic expedition to Australasia which was expected
to last for several years. She firmly believed that as my godmother, she should
recognise each and every birthday and Christmas with a gift for me. So amidst
all of her other preparations, she took the trouble to sort out a whole range
of suitable presents from her own possessions and gave them to my mother to distribute at
the appropriate time. They included a necklace of African seeds, a wonderful
old doll with a china head and a paintbox that she had used for some of her
botanic illustrations.
The first time I realised the
significance and fascination of Mary’s work was when on holiday as a teenager
in Wales with my parents and brother Anthony. Mary had recently moved into her
Welsh cottage and we visited her there. We were treated to a slide show from
her travels and the pictures were superb and truly eye-opening. At the time we
didn’t have television at home, and wild life programmes weren’t made anyway, so
I had never seen anything remotely like those pictures.
Moving the clock on rapidly, Mary
was staying with us in Reigate for Christmas when the devastating Asian tsunami
struck. She was up and dressed before us on Boxing Day, and quietly watching
the TV news in the kitchen. I will never forget her shocked look and white face
as she told us the news about what had happened. This was her territory - the
natural world. Her extensive travels and insight into how people lived elsewhere,
gave her far more insight than us into what the terrible consequences of the
tsunami were likely to be.
Mary was a born teacher who never
stopped sharing her knowledge with others. She liked nothing better than
showing off the natural delights of her beloved Wales. I spent an August week
with her on my own, and each day she planned different outings and adventures.
It was delightfully old-fashioned, like a ‘Famous Five’ story. We even had
picnics with jam sandwiches and ginger beer.
Mary was a great listener and
very open to suggestions. On one of the occasions when Dave and I visited her
at her Cottage we noticed how hard it was for her to drive her old car and park
it in her very difficult garage. We suggested she change to a modern automatic car
with power steering, and within a few weeks she called to say there was a new
car on her drive. Old fashioned she may have been in many ways but she never
lost her sense of adventure.
The highlight of the later part
of her life was to be awarded an MBE for her services to natural history. Dave
and I were delighted to be invited, together with Anthony, to Mary’s medal
ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It was a wonderful occasion, and we were
thrilled to be able to share with Mary something which she so clearly enjoyed.
I have lost a much loved and
admired godmother, my aunt Stella has lost a much loved cousin and we have all
lost a friend who has left us a treasure trove of memories, slides , drawings
and books that will ensure that her dedication to natural history will never be
forgotten.
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