OLD DERBEIAN SOCIETY
Obituary
Derek Britton (Derby School 1952-60)
Derek Britton (1952-60) died in Edinburgh on Thursday 24 March 2011 at the age of 69 after a long battle with cancer.
Derek had an outstanding school record being Head Boy; representing the school at football, hockey and cross-country running; performing in school plays, and gaining a County Exhibition to study English at Hatfield College, Durham University.
He had an academic career firstly at University College, Dublin and then, from 1979, at Edinburgh University where he became Director of the Institute of Historical Dialectology. Among his interests was a study of the dialect of the Notts-Derbys border region.
More recently and in spite of his illness, Derek was able to travel to Derby for the Society's dinner in 2008, an occasion from which he took much pleasure.
Our thoughts at this time are with his wife Patricia and their family. The funeral was held on Thursday 31 March 2011.
Keith Mansell (1952-60)
