My godmother, Irene Wainwright-Snatt, who has died aged 100, after contracting Covid-19 in hospital, was a civil servant with the Ministry of Agriculture in the 1950s, but became increasingly interested in studying law. In 1955, she began to read for the bar at Gray’s Inn, and qualified in 1960, continuing to work at her day job throughout.
As a mature bar graduate, it was not practical for her to practise as a barrister, because she needed a stable income, so she worked as clerk to several of the London courts. She was involved in remanding the Kray twins, a fact of which she was quite proud.
Irene was born in Brighton, the only child of working-class parents, Beatrice and Cecil Snatt. At Varndean grammar school, she stood out academically. Her father died young, having had periods of unemployment in the early 1930s, and Irene and her mother moved to London, where she continued her education at Parliament Hill school, Highgate, gaining a county scholarship to read English at Girton College, Cambridge, in 1940. Before university, Irene temped in the Public Trustee’s Office, taught, and later, during vacations, worked for London county council, the Food Office and the Post Office.
Irene made many lifelong friends at Girton, including my mother, Sheelagh Brooks. She sang, wrote poetry, acted, played music, edited a college magazine and developed an interest in Scandinavian culture, learning Danish. She also joined the Women’s Home Guard, and won the university’s Chancellor’s Medal for Verse, and later, the Seatonian prize for poetry, the first woman to do so.
On graduation in 1943, Irene was drafted under the national service scheme into the Ministry of Agriculture (“The MinAgFish”), as a temporary assistant. She worked her way through several promotions and in 1950 became a permanent executive officer in the ministry’s legal department.
Irene enjoyed her work, but was equally interested in London cultural life, especially music. She was close to her mother, caring for her in her last years. After her mother’s death, Irene moved to the Barbican complex. She never drove, but travelled widely by train, and explored nearly every continent. Whenever she visited my family, there was always a present from her latest travels.
In 2001, Irene married Derek Wainwright, an old friend and legal colleague. By now living in Eastbourne, East Sussex, Irene appreciated family life, acquiring five stepchildren. They pursued their cultural interests, even after Derek’s health declined and Irene became his main carer.
After Derek died in 2009, Irene soldiered on, visiting India and Brazil in her 90s, going to events, attending art classes, seeing friends and family. Her mobility declined, but she managed at home with a little help. In a recent phone call we regretted the cancellation of her 100th birthday party owing to Covid restrictions, and we looked forward to celebrating her 101st. However, in January she was hospitalised after a fall.
Irene is survived by her stepchildren, Philippa, Rupert, Jeremy, Niall and James, and by three cousins, Bruce, Roderick and Derek.
