David Medhurst, 1934-2015

David was born on 4th June 1934 and died on 25th March 2015. An intellectual whose education was interrupted by National Service which he opted to serve before University. This proved wise as he was posted to the Catering corps attached to the Seaforth Highlanders where he caught an infection and was invalided out of the army in time to get to Gonville and Caius College Cambridge a year earlier than he had expected. 

He won a travel scholarship and read Classics graduating with a classical and conversational knowledge of Latin and Greek. So much so that he often quoted Homer or Livy to friendly philatelists to their amazement and frequent incomprehension. He joined the Lloyds brokers which eventually became Brown Shipley and then Holmwoods in the Marine department and completed all the necessary examinations of the Chartered Institute of Insurers. He translated foreign correspondence and revised wordings of policies and the interpretation of the words when claims came around.

Starting collecting stamps at the age of six he was the seventh oldest member of the Malaya Study Group having joined in 1963.He attended most London and Worthing meetings. He was a keen member of the Insurance and Banking Philatelic Society and of Horsham PS. He served on committees and organised the Insurance for all of these societies. 

He amassed a fine specialist collection of the postal stationery of Malaya and Borneo which the Group was privileged to auction a few years ago. Many members will have pages written up in his characteristic hand in blue ink. He also filled an Old Imperial album which had few spaces left when his deteriorating eye sight left him unable to add to it further.

David was unmarried having lived with his parents until he was 57. He was a friendly and knowledgeable philatelist and though we had not seen him for a few years will nevertheless be missed.

We offer our condolences to his family at this sorrowful time.