My father, Gerald Grainge, who has died aged 84, was a teacher and education manager who rose to be chief education officer for the London borough of Bromley in 1985. He had a deep belief in the importance of delivering the aims of Butler’s 1944 Education Act, providing the opportunity for education for all, as well as the importance of ensuring that each person achieves their maximum potential. These aims drove his career.
He was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where his parents, Margery (nee Sinkins) and George Grainge, ran a greengrocers’ shop. Gerald won a scholarship from the local grammar school to Christ’s College, Cambridge. At Christ’s he studied modern languages, focusing on French and Russian. At Cambridge he met Christine Wright and they married in 1959.
Upon graduation he joined the RAF and spent much of his three years’ service in Germany, where he used his language skills to good effect listening in to the Russians and East Germans at the height of the cold war.
After leaving the RAF in 1959 he taught modern languages, including a stint at Rugby school, before moving into education management, starting with a role as assistant education officer in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, with subsequent senior roles in Croydon, Sutton and ultimately his appointment as director of education for the London borough of Bromley.
After retirement in 1993 there was no let-up in his activity, whether it was his passion for sailing his ketch or his rekindled academic interests. The two were often intertwined in his academic subject matter.
He undertook a research degree in maritime archaeology at Southampton University. He published two books, The Roman Channel Crossing of AD 43 (2001) and The Roman Invasions of Britain (2005). From 2003 he edited the monograph series of the Nautical Archaeology Society. He featured in two historical television documentaries, Bloodbath at Hastings (2003) and Britain’s Lost Roman Wonder (2003), the latter being about Richborough Roman fort in Kent.
Following completion of his doctorate, he edited a book about Sri Lankan traditional outrigger Oruwa sailing canoes which provided an opportunity to visit Sri Lanka. He went out with my mother on one such canoe which capsized and was dismasted after being hit by a squall in the Indian Ocean; fortunately they were not too far from land.
His work continued and in the last days before his death he was working on editing and cataloguing documents from Lord Northbourne’s estate in Kent.
Last summer he and Christine enjoyed two family weddings as well as their own diamond wedding celebration. He is survived by Christine and their three children, Mark, Penny and me, and nine grandchildren.
