The late Tony Saunders-Davies

I have some sad news for those of you who have enjoyed this website for the past few years. As you know Tony Saunders-Davies, our webmaster, had signed off from the website a few weeks ago. He spent some time in hospital and our last message from him was full of hope that he would soon be home. Sadly I have just heard that he died on Sunday (15th April).

We will all miss his enthusiastic response to e-mails and images sent by members and other microscopists communicating on the web. He was so full of encouragement for everyone to join in and enjoy the microscopic world. His personal contribution to the website and Club was huge and we will miss him so much.

Pam Hamer

President, 16th April 2007

Eighteen Quekett members joined with his family and friends at a ceremony to celebrate the life of Anthony Picton (Tony) Saunders-Davies at Randalls Crematorium on Monday 30 April. We heard about his life as a fighter pilot, bush pilot and airline pilot; his teaching skills and his enthusiasm for so many things. It was so good to hear Maurice Moss representing the Quekett say:

"On Sunday April 15th we lost a dear friend and colleague as Tony passed away peacefully after a long illness. Tony’s generosity and enthusiasm will be remembered by us all and a symbol of his character is in the Quekett Website which he set up and developed for us. We are so fortunate that Tony Jarratt has continued to develop the site and maintain the sparkle that was very much Tony S.-D.

Tony joined the Quekett in 1973, just four years after me, but I did not really get to know him until I was invited to act as his University supervisor when he registered to study for a higher degree at the University of Surrey. Tony had been studying the rotifer populations of the Fleet, a large marine lagoon behind Chesil Beech in Dorset. He visited and sampled the Fleet frequently and had equipped himself at home to study, not only the microscopy, but also many of the physico-chemical parameters of the Fleet and their changes along its length and through the seasons. He was the expert and my role was to channel his energy and enthusiasm into writing and presenting a thesis. On my retirement from the University this role was taken over very effectively by Phil Whitney and it was a proud day for us all to see Tony being awarded his Ph.D. in 1999.

Apart from my memories of Tony I have two mementos which I treasure. One is a personal copy of Tony’s thesis The Ecology of the Rotifera of a Large Marine Lagoon and the second is an elegant piece of aluminium, turned in Tony’s workshop while I was watching, which enables me to fit my Coolpix camera onto my dissecting microscope. Many of us who have known Tony will be grateful for his generosity, warmth and enthusiasm. He will be missed but remembered with great fondness".

Maurice Moss
Senior Vice-President

We met together afterwards at the Leatherhead Institute alongside the Swan Centre. This was so appropriate as in the early days the Quekett met in the Swan Public House in Leatherhead. It is said that the Quekett horn was blown to assemble the meetings.
Pam Hamer