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Jean Malins obituary Jean Malins obituary
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My aunt, Jean Malins, who has died aged 94, was born when, as a woman, she was denied the opportunities granted to her blue-eyed brother, my father, Richard. If she had gone to the best schools and on to Cambridge, she would probably have run the country. I used to tease her that she would have swung her handbag more effectively than Margaret Thatcher.My aunt, Jean Malins, who has died aged 94, was born when, as a woman, she was denied the opportunities granted to her blue-eyed brother, my father, Richard. If she had gone to the best schools and on to Cambridge, she would probably have run the country. I used to tease her that she would have swung her handbag more effectively than Margaret Thatcher.
The daughter of Albert Smith and his wife, Beatrix (nee Whisker), Jean was educated in Newmarket, and shortly after the war met her future husband, Robert Malins, a surveyor, while playing golf. They were married in 1954, and from 1957 to 2004 lived in a historic Kentish house, Little Golford, near Cranbrook, keeping for the 60 years of their marriage a visitors’ book that illustrated her generous hospitality and spirit. They then lived in the town of Cranbrook. One guest wrote: “Of all the houses where I stay, Little Golford, may I say, I rate as truly quite the best for friendship, comfort, food and rest.”The daughter of Albert Smith and his wife, Beatrix (nee Whisker), Jean was educated in Newmarket, and shortly after the war met her future husband, Robert Malins, a surveyor, while playing golf. They were married in 1954, and from 1957 to 2004 lived in a historic Kentish house, Little Golford, near Cranbrook, keeping for the 60 years of their marriage a visitors’ book that illustrated her generous hospitality and spirit. They then lived in the town of Cranbrook. One guest wrote: “Of all the houses where I stay, Little Golford, may I say, I rate as truly quite the best for friendship, comfort, food and rest.”
Setting up a secretarial service, she typed and edited for a number of authors, among them the poet, critic, novelist and autobiographer Richard Church and Edward Crankshaw, an authority on Austrian and Russian affairs. She owned first editions of many books that gave her credit for the fact that the manuscript ever made it to the printers.Setting up a secretarial service, she typed and edited for a number of authors, among them the poet, critic, novelist and autobiographer Richard Church and Edward Crankshaw, an authority on Austrian and Russian affairs. She owned first editions of many books that gave her credit for the fact that the manuscript ever made it to the printers.
A keen golfer, she was in a group of women players called the Golf Bags whose qualifications had to include an excellent sense of humour, but she was also a keen competitor. The boast in 1966 by two visitors that they won at croquet must have come before she taught all her young relatives to knock opponents’ balls into the pond at the bottom of the garden. She was also forever kind, establishing and working with Wheels on Meals for 20 years in Cranbrook. A keen golfer, she was in a group of women players called the Golf Bags whose qualifications had to include an excellent sense of humour, but she was also a keen competitor. The boast in 1966 by two visitors that they won at croquet must have come before she taught all her young relatives to knock opponents’ balls into the pond at the bottom of the garden. She was also forever kind, establishing and working with Meals on Wheels for 20 years in Cranbrook.
When my wife and I were going through IVF, Jean shared her own unsuccessful experiences of this procedure in the 1950s, when the science of assisted conception was new and uncertain. She was like a mother to her 10 nieces and nephews, who survive her, as does Robert.When my wife and I were going through IVF, Jean shared her own unsuccessful experiences of this procedure in the 1950s, when the science of assisted conception was new and uncertain. She was like a mother to her 10 nieces and nephews, who survive her, as does Robert.