David Hunter (1935-2024)
We are saddened to report the passing of David Hunter at the age of 89. You may remember David as regional coordinator for the South East (SE) before Keith Austin took over. David was born in Woodford Green, Essex. After being evacuated to Suffolk during the war his career began with an apprenticeship at the […]
Robert (Rob) Cowley (1925-2024)
Rob Cowley sadly passed away on 13 March 2024 aged 98. His son, Andrew Cowley, kindly provided us with a summary of Rob’s 34 years’ service at BP, from starting as an assistant chemist in Sunbury in 1947, to becoming General Manager of the Computer Systems Department, a post which he held from 1976 until […]
Norman Tottenham-Smith (1923-2024)
We are saddened to report the passing of Norman Tottenham-Smith at the age of 101. We featured Norman, known affectionately as ‘Totters’, when he turned 100 in the August 2023 bps news. We understand that he was delighted with our good wishes last year and remained his age-defying, outgoing self in his New Hampshire retirement […]
David Hunter
I have received a message from John Hunter (David’s brother) who sadly informed me that David died last week (4 April). His health deteriorated last November as he suffered Prostate Cancer and Vascular Dementia, but following a few weeks in hospital, he then received very good palliative care in a nursing home until the end. […]
Sir Robert Malpas (1927-2023)
Sir Robert Malpas was a prominent business leader and engineer. Notably, he served as a main board director of ICI and a managing director of BP before his ‘retirement’ in 1989. At BP, he was the first managing director to join the main board direct from outside the company. In retirement, Sir Robert chaired PowerGen […]
Sir Peter Walters (1931-2023)
Sir Peter Walters was the chairman of BP from 1981 until 1990. During his tenure he transformed the company into a top-rank international oil company. In chairing the company through almost the entire eighties, Sir Peter proved a special master of the art of managing a large company through a period of stagnant markets and […]
Michael Hancock (1929-2023)
Michael (Mike) Hancock was born on 20 October 1929 in Earl’s Court Gardens, London. He was educated at Cheltenham College and Corpus Christi Cambridge. While visiting the Maths lab, Mike saw his first computer called Edsac. This piqued his interest in what would become the foundation of his career in the pioneering days of computer […]
(Sister) Ann Woods (1938-2023)
(Sister) Ann Woods sadly passed away on 18 March aged 84. According to her brother, Peter, ‘It was always obvious that Ann would dedicate her life to a caring profession.’ Many will remember her as ‘Sister Woods’, the medical officer at Britannic House but her life covered so much more – from midwifery in Cardiff […]
John Grundon OBE (1931-2023)
After John Grundon retired from BP in 1991, Basil Butler said of him: ‘He was a source of information wherever the company was operating but perhaps his knowledge of who was who in the Middle East, who was in favour and who was not, was particularly important and relevant. His diplomatic style and Arabic skills […]