We went to a memorial event of our friend, Mark Brockbank. It is strange how one can know someone very well, but not know much about how they make their living, in his case as a titan of the insurance world. When I first met him in 1973, he had recently trained as an accountant and had not yet joined Willis, Faber Dumas. He was a person of obvious intelligence, keen on opera and bridge. He deeply disapproved of the fact that I drank beer from cans and hitchhiked. The article below gives the gist of his career in establishing the Brockbank Group and selling up when he was not yet fifty to live in Montagu Square, Miami, Monte Carlo and Mykonos. But he was not an obvious plutocrat: an interesting and complex person who was interested in architecture and, as was said at the memorial event, was very loyal to his friends. He used to ring up very regularly and I will miss his calls.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 