Tower and Town, April 2022

  (view the full edition)

Diana Keast

John Osborne writes: Diana Keast, who died aged 99 last November, was one of the most charming and committed citizens of Marlborough. Her husband, Kenneth, taught Modern Languages at Marlborough College and, after his death all too soon after his retirement in 1969, she became dynamically involved in a number of organizations and good causes in the town and the local area. These included the Civic Society, but her work in the inaugural stages of The Merchant’s House as a co-trustee with Sir John Sykes, Michael Gray and Vic Chinnery, with responsibility for fundraising was particularly noteworthy and effective.

A full appreciation of Diana and her work for The Merchant’s House will appear shortly in the next edition of its Journal.

Trevor Dobie writes: Although we had both lived in Marlborough for over fifty years, I first met Diana on Lundy, the tiny island in the Bristol Channel, when we were attending a Whitsun church service with Roger Royle, of Wogan fame, officiating.

Diana was the last surviving private owner of Lundy following the death of her father and then her brother in the 1960s. (Another brother, John Pennington Harman, had lost his life in the 2nd World War and had been awarded a posthumous VC). Lundy was put up for sale and an appeal set up with backing from local Devon MPs, Jeremy Thorpe and David Owen, the final outstanding amount being donated by the philanthropist Sir Jack Hayward, allowing The National Trust to take over ownership of the island in 1969, with the management in the hands of The Landmark Trust.

Diana had been administering all of the bookings for Lundy holiday lettings from her home above The Merchant’s House in Marlborough while her family were the owners but, after the sale, she still kept close ties with Lundy, visiting regularly, often taking friends on stays to various properties.

In 2015 Diana became President of The Lundy Field Society (lundy.org.uk), which had been set up in 1946 by her father, Martin Coles Harman, who had bought the island in 1925. He realised that there was huge potential for study of the flora and fauna with regular numbers of nesting seabirds and migrating birds, with many rare species. I took Diana to Bristol on many occasions to attend committee meetings of the Society and she was always a lively contributor.

Diana moved to The Priory in recent years as her mobility reduced and she spent the last few years of her life in Highfield. Diana’s funeral was held at North Wiltshire Crematorium, Royal Wootton Bassett, on 25 November 2021. Her ashes will be laid to rest with her family on Lundy on 18 June 2022.

John Osborne And Trevor Dobie