Mark Nicholas Lambirth

Mark came up to Queens’ in October 1971 from St Albans School, his parents having followed his headmaster’s advice to have him apply for Cambridge following his outstanding exam results in English.  Mark himself was always very modest about it: his mother always said he had decided he would go to Queens’ when he first saw a picture of it – on a biscuit tin, when aged about ten!

He had already shown his aptitude for drama by taking the lead in, and helping to produce his school’s performance of “Peer Gynt”.  At Queens’, he continued his interest in drama via the Bats Drama Society, directing their rendition of Middleton’s “A Game at Chess”.  It was a rare production of a rare work, appreciated by a limited academic audience.  But he also spoke  of visits to local schools at Christmas, “entertaining” the children with pantomime renditions of such works as Shakespeare’s Richard III.  Hopefully the children were not deterred from later studying English literature themselves.

Mark very much enjoyed his English studies, particularly the variety of language that English literature covered, from Anglo-Saxon through Chaucerian middle English to modern James Joyce.  Indeed Joyce was his favourite author, and he managed to persuade at least two old schoolfriends to read and enjoy Finnegans Wake.  No mean achievement. He was less delighted with having to study French as a subsidiary subject, but typically he learnt it well enough to negotiate with Francophone delegates at conferences in Geneva some years later.

After he achieved his First in 1975, Mark was advised, like many others, not to pursue a PhD unless he was set on an academic career and money was no object! He decided that he did not want the academic life (he was uninterested in the likely topic for a thesis), though he didn’t care about money (he was unmarried then).  So he became a civil servant.

Mark was generally well appreciated by all his colleagues.  Queens’ had noted that he was “a student of great natural intelligence, strong enjoyment and commitment to modern literature”.  The intelligence helped several Ministers to deal with difficult situations, sometimes with advice, sometimes with speeches: as Ministerial speechwriter for Paul Channon, he earned the Minister a standing ovation from the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Later, having become Director of Rail Strategy in the then Department of Transport, he earned the greatest respect from senior colleagues for his deep understanding of the many issues involved in developing a long-term strategy for rail.  His departure on early retirement was greatly regretted by all.

In retirement, rather than writing a PhD thesis, Mark wrote a “History of Transport”, which is a very readable introduction to the subject.  He also enjoyed writing short stories and poetry, which he would share with friends on Facebook.  He remembered his days at Queens’ very fondly, and would occasionally go to celebratory dinners and garden parties.  He left his collection of books by and about James Joyce to Queens’, and a small legacy which may be used to fund an annual college prize in his memory.