Tributes paid to remarkable man (From Gazette & Herald)

Tributes paid to remarkable man

ST Mary's Priory Church at Old Malton was full for the thanksgiving service to celebrate the life of Robert Peacock who died at the age of 94.

It was a tribute to a remarkable man of Ryedale that so many friends from different generations turned out to listen to the two excellent addresses from Teddy Denison and John Manchester.

Robert was born at Salton in 1912 but he soon moved from the family farm at Muscoates to Manor Farm at Wharram where he was particularly well grounded in maths and history at the local village school.

Robert then went to Pocklington where he excelled not only on the sports field but also as a scholar, winning a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge.

Farming between the wars was not easy and the Wharram Farm was given to them rent-free for six months before having to pay 25p per acre per annum thereafter.

This state of affairs must have influenced his decision to read history and law at university with a view to joining the local solicitors, Pearsons & Ward, in Malton; but after his first year he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was sent off to a clinic in Switzerland to convalesce.

During this interlude he went to the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 when Jesse Owen won all the medals and the Fuhrer walked out!

On his return to Cambridge he switched to an agricultural course but he never lost his interest in the Classics.

After graduation he taught for a while as assistant manager at the University Farm and then married Phil before moving back up to Yorkshire to farm at Red House, Wharram until his retirement in 1984.

Robert served on the War Agricultural Committee and indeed held many advisory positions at both county and national levels.

He was chairman of the High Mowthorpe Experimental Farm run by MAFF and received the OBE when he retired from the post in 1973.

He was a founding member of the Yorkshire Agricultural Adventurers, Governor of the Plant Breeding Institute at Cambridge and a JP for many years.

As a man Robert never lost his interest in Classics which Cambridge gave him and he read Horace every day. He was also a passionate conservationist with an especial interest in the flora of our countryside; but most of all, Robert was a man of great erudition and a tremendous zest for life.

His interest spanned the generations and he liked nothing better than to enter into discussion with the youngsters, covering any topics from politics to the stock market, be they live animals or shares!

Robert was a humble man of genuine distinction and many will be the richer for his friendship.

He leaves his son, Graham, daughter-in-law, Rosa, and grandchildren, Robert and Annabel.

It is appropriate to finish with Graham's reading at the funeral service from Horace, which was Robert's favourite piece: "A happy life is his, though his means are small, on whose modest board shines bright the heirloom salt-cellar, and whom no fears nor mean desires rob of untroubled sleep."

Updated: 15:20 Wednesday, February 08, 2006