Deaths

Note; this page lists deaths of notable members of the Society in recent years. For biographical details of several of them and many other deceased members, going back to the earliest history of the Society, follow this link for the Biographical Directory. This document was first put together, with considerable research, by Barbara Harbottle, and is being kept up to date now by Sue Ward. Any comments, additional material, and references (in print or on the web) will be gratefully received by her.

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• Deaths

• The distinguished early medieval archaeologist and scholar, Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp, died on 27 April 2023. She first joined the Antiquaries in January 1958. Follow this link for a tribute to her from Durham University. There is also an obituary in our News Bulletin for June 2023, available on our website.
• His Honour Judge Christopher Walton, a former Recorder of Newcastle, a member since 2015, and a trustee, died on 9 April 2023. There is an obituary in our News Bulletin for June 2023, available on our website.

• Margaret Mitcheson died on 21 February 2023, having been a member since August 1962.

• Our longstanding member Hilary Hide, born 14th July 1934, died on 14th December 2022. The thanksgiving service for her at All Saints Gosforth took place on 13 January 2023. It was recorded on YouTube, and you can watch it on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GDG4ovCBrY&t=2039s.

• Distinguished archaeologist Brenda Heywood (née Swinbank) on 21 December 2022. Born in 1929, she graduated from Durham in 1949 and gained her PhD in 1954 for her work on the Vallum, which she recorded, surveyed and excavated, publishing her results in AA. She was one of the earliest female professional archaeologists in the UK; her biography was written by her daughter-in-law, Suzanne Heywood, Recollections of a Female Archaeologist: A Life of Brenda Swinbank.

• Paul Bidwell died after a short illness on 5 November 2022. He was one of the most respected Roman archaeologists of his generation, an expert in Roman pottery as well as a talented excavator. He was Head of Archaeology for Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, for nearly three decades. He was determined that Roman Tyneside should be accessible to local people, nurturing the army of volunteers that worked at South Shields and Wallsend. This was recognised by his award of an OBE in 2013.

• We regret to announce the death of Jennie Du Cane, who was a member of SANT for fifty years, from 1972 until the beginning of this year. She generously donated Carrawburgh Roman fort to the nation in January 2020. The Du Canes had owned the fort since 1950 and they regularly welcomed the decennial Hadrian's Wall Pilgrimages.

• Joyce Reynolds FSA died in summer 2022, having been a member for 72 years.. She was Reader Emerita in Roman Historical Epigraphy, Fellow of the British Academy, and Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, where she was Director of Studies in Classics from 1951 to 1979. She was also an honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Society of Antiquaries in 1951 and the Kenyon Medal by the British Academy in 2017.