Christopher Dyer goes a long way towards explaining why I felt proud to be a part-time student of David Hey at Sheffield University. David understood the value of the second chance and of adult students being given access to education at the highest level without having to be part of the academic establishment. He was indeed at the forefront of a different age which is disappearing with the closing of lifelong learning departments. However, we will always have his legacy, and everyone who takes an interest in name studies and their use in unravelling history – as I did, searching through telephone books in my lunch hours – will be grateful for his part in the “revolution”.
