PEOPLE
Obituaries Jean Christine Young (née Rowles) MBE, FLA J
ean Rowles’ entry into the library community was the result of the untimely death of her father, leaving mother and daughter without means of support.
Jean had won a scholarship from the Somer- set village on the Avon where she was born to Redland High School in Bristol, where she was about to enter the Cam- bridge stream of the Sixth Form. The formidable headmistress reluctantly accepted that Jean had to become the breadwinner, and contacted the Bristol City Librarian, Mr Haugh, recom- mending that he should employ her. Jean was duly interviewed
and accepted. She quickly flourished, with her very can-do approach, a bright intellect and a real love for books. She had soon saved enough from her very modest salary to go to London to study for a professional qualification, whilst still supporting her mother. On her return her ability and willingness to take on any task meant she was soon taking charge of libraries all over Bristol or working in the Ref- erence Library, carrying large piles of books up and down its iron spiral staircases. She often said she had worked in almost every branch library in the city. Colleagues of the same age who had qualified via the graduate route were mildly jealous that she was two or three years ahead. Her frugal habits enabled her to buy her first Mini, so she no longer had to catch multiple buses to get to wherever she was working. It also led to holidays with a group of girl col- leagues, in miniskirts of course, touring the South of France (with one fluent French speaker). While still caring for her
mother she moved to a flat in Clifton and enjoyed the city life. She earned her Fellowship with a bibliography of the Bristol poet Thomas Chatterton
A key move in her professional life came when she was appointed to lead the SW group on inter-library co-oper- ation. This involved a lot of travel around the South West and to London and Boston Spa. She also became a regular at LA conferences. Her work on inter-library co-operation earned her an MBE. Her final appointment was to head the Avon Library Service. One of the recurrent economy drives offered her the opportunity to retire early on advantageous terms. She decided to leave and do a Master’s degree at Loughborough.
These plans were derailed, partly by illness, and partly by meeting and marrying Chris Young, a retired naval officer who was then Director of the project to conserve Brunel’s SS Great Britain. Through the 1990s they worked together at the ship, with Jean collating the scattered historical doc- umentary material, and producing a select bibliography of the ship which proved of great value both to later scholar- ship and to the plans for development. Jean and Chris retired together at the Millennium. They moved to Portishead and became deeply involved in church affairs and in travel. In 2017 Jean was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and subsequently with Lewy body dementia. Her health deteriorated and in June, 2021, she had to go into care and died on 15 August. Her “second career” as a wife, stepmother, grandmoth- er and voluntary worker could hardly have been more different from her first, but she proved her versatility and staying power, and died greatly loved, aged 83.
Chris Young (husband)
Mike Godwin, former Head of Libraries and Community Services with East Riding of Yorkshire Council, passed away recently. An obituary will follow.
Jennifer Ann Thow, former Team Leader and Area Librarian for the Scarborough area of North Yorkshire, passed away last year. An obituary will follow.
Jennifer Tanfield CB, Librarian of the House of Commons 1993-1999, died recently in Australia. An obituary will follow.
For obituary submissions and guidance please email
infopromag@cilip.org.uk, with Obituary as the subject or write to us at Obituaries, 7 Ridgmount Street, London, WC1E 7AE.
52 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
March 2022
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