John Liverman- a brief biography
by David Liverman- additions and corrections welcome
John was born in 1920 in north London to George and Hadassah (later known as Darcy) Liverman. He was the second son, his brother Norman being a couple of years older. John’s father’s family originated in Lithuania, and his father was born in Manchester after his parents Solomon and Gertrude had emigrated. His mother’s family (Reubensteins) came from Poland, but she also was born in England, in London.
John showed considerable academic aptitude as a boy and at age 12 won a scholarship to St. Paul’s School, where he was placed in a class with boys three years older than himself. He coped well, passing his school certificate the next year in everything other than Latin. He greatly enjoyed his time at St. Paul’s as a day boy, and wrote about them in a short piece titled- without any irony whatsoever – “The Happiest Days of my Life”.
He was a keen coin collector as a boy, and his children and grandchildren all remember being shown his collection of British coinage. He also developed a passion for cricket, and started his extensive collection of Wisdens with purchases from second-hand bookshops in the 1930s. In his final year at St. Paul’s he played first XI cricket, as a number 11 bat, and a slow leg-break bowler. His friend Norman Mischler was a schoolboy star, a very successful bat, good enough to play first-class cricket. He later claimed that most of his wickets were taken as catches in the deep. He was mentioned in Wisden- being recorded as making 3* against Dulwich College (and the bowling of Trevor Bailey).
In his final years at school it became apparent that he had a remarkable aptitude for mathematics, and he won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, starting his studies there at the age of 17 in October, 1938. He made several close friends there including Christopher (Robin) Milne and Brian Nicklaus, and continued to excel in mathematics, with a particular interest in numbers and number theory. Trinity was an exciting place to study, with many famous academics. John told the story of being shouted at by Wittgenstein for making too much noise at night, and going to apologise the next day found the great man sitting in a deck chair in the centre of a completely empty room. He loved Trinity and Cambridge and later in life when visiting the college found himself overwhelmed with emotion and teased his daughter Diana for getting a professorship at the 'wrong' university (Oxford!).
He seemed destined for a career as a mathematician but world events intervened. In September 1939 war was declared, and John tried to join the army. A peaceful man, he was appalled at the rise of fascism in Europe and recognized that war was inevitable. He was told that as a mathematician that he should continue his studies, so he completed his second year at Cambridge, earning a 1st in the mathematical tripos. However he was not prepared to wait any longer and in the summer of 1940 joined the Essex Regiment as an infantry private, completing his basic training in the ranks. His academic training resulted in him being transferred to the artillery as a gunner, and in 1941 was accepted as an officer-cadet. Around this time his family home was completely destroyed by a German bomb- fortunately his parents were not there but they lost nearly everything in the house. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in an anti tank regiment. In 1942 he was sent to the north African desert, and saw limited action with the Desert Rats before struck down with jaundice in December. Whilst recovering he spent time as a gunnery instructor in Egypt. In June 1943 he joined the Royal Horse Artillery, where he stayed for the rest of the war. As part of the 7th Armoured Division he was part of the invasion of Italy, and landed in France on D-Day +1 in 1944, where he saw his most intense action. In retirement he wrote extensively on his memories of the war, eventually lodging a copy with the Imperial War Museum.
Returning to Trinty in 1946 he completed his degree, but his career path had changed. His potentially most productive period as a mathematician had been taken by the Army, and his interest in the abstractions of pure mathematics had declined. He decided he wanted a career that would actively contribute to society, and joined the Civil Service as an administrative trainee in 1946.
He had married briefly and then divorced at the end of the war, but met Peggy Earl in 1951, marrying in 1952. In 1953 he was seconded to the Volta Dam Commission in the Gold Coast- later Ghana – where he and Peggy spent three years, during which time their elder two children, Diana and David were born. They returned to England in 1956 settling first in Caterham, and then in Linkfield Lane, Redhill, where their third child Michael was born, and they spent the next 25 years.
John spent many hours in the garden at Linkfield Lane- it was a relatively large area, perhaps 100 metres long, and 30 metres wide. The upper part of the garden was lawn and flower beds, the middle was largely vegetables, and the bottom was fruit trees and his beloved compost heap. He derived great satisfaction from growing a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, including a large asparagus patch and strawberries, and the garden also provided a great contrast to the desk bound activities of a demanding job. He in the summer would often rise early and put in two hours in the garden before taking the train into London for a day’s work, then returning to garden again until the dusk before turning to his office papers. In later years his children joked with him that they thought their mother was a single parent and he was the gardener!
His career in the Civil Service flourished, rising through the ranks to Assistant Deputy Secretary responsible for nuclear energy amongst other rareas, and then Deputy Secretary. As Deputy Secretary his role was highly demanding- creating policy for the development of the North Sea oil fields. He was key to the organisation of leases for the new oil fields with the oil companies. He was recognized with firstly an OBE and later a CB, honours he received with pride, and, typically, some amusement.
Colleagues who worked for him remember him as initially an intimidating figure, demanding high standards, particularly in clear writing. He has weekly meetings, with stop clock on the table with each subordinate getting only 2 minutes to report, with timelines strictly enforced. As they got to know him better, however there was a recognition that he had high standards but supported his staff, encouraging their development. He was described as an ideal boss, encouraging, supportive but effectively delegating without interfering.
Because of the demands of work and garden his time with family could be limited but he was always there when needed for his children to provide guidance and support. There was at least one annual family holiday in the summer, and often a second at Easter. When the children were younger this was usually to the sea-side- Dorset, Devon, Cornwall - but in 1967 the family rented a national trust cottage in the Lake District and collectively fell in love with the landscape. In 1973 when glancing through the local paper while on holiday he spotted an advertisement for Low Longmire cottage which he purchased immediately. The cottage became the focus of family holidays from then onwards and in retirement became a real home to him. The Low Longmire garden was another challenge- initially planted with 350 Christmas tree, hard work transformed it into an attractive country garden. In his later years the cottage became a place to spend time with friends – John was delighted to have company so long as they cooked! He had a great love for the Lakeland fells, and completed his conquest of the 200 plus Wainwrights in the 1980s. He also completed the Coast to Coast walk accompanied by his good friend Jet Harris in 1986 , taking 10 days and covering 175 miles. He was fortunate to retain his fitness and was still able to climb the more modest fells in his 80s including Dow Crag with Diana - when other hikers at the summit said 'look at the Old Man' (referring to teh view of Coniston Old Man) he jokingly said to them - who are you calling an old man!.
His marriage with Peggy ended in 1983 when they separated - they never divorced. They retained a friendship, and when Peggy experienced health difficulties in her final years, John was a regular visitor, sometimes travelling for several hours to spend an afternoon with her. After leaving Redhill, he moved to Woking for a few years, and then to Graces Mews, Camberwell, finally moving to Stream’s Edge Oxford after his daughter Diana took up an appointment at the University there.
He retired from the Civil Service at 60, but decided to work for 5 more years, acting as a consultant to BNOC and also the Danish National Oil company. Perhaps the most satisfying job he had in this period of his life, however, was assisting in recruiting for the Civil Service as a member of the Selection boards. He enjoyed spotting potential high-flyers, and was particularly interested in candidates with a less than conventional background.
As his work commitments declined he entered a new phase of his life, highlighted by ten extended trips to Asia, usually undertaken during the winter months. Each trip was 6 to 8 weeks, and he perhaps epitomized the idea of an independent traveler. Over the years he spent time in Nepal, India, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. He was never one to enjoy conventional comforts and he adapted well to using local public transport, and staying in local hotels, taking great pleasure in how little it cost him. He completed two treks in Nepal, walking with just a local porter rather than part of a group. Perhaps the greatest pleasure he had in these journeys was meeting the numerous fellow travelers, most of them 40 to 50 years younger than himself. He made many friendships, some brief, but others that lasted the rest of his life.
He also made more conventional trips accompanied by his great friend Janet Alexander. They enjoyed tours to Italy and Spain, eurorail breaks to Paris and Brussels, a week in Prague, and an extended trip to China. They also took part in garden tours organized by the Lakeland Horticultural Society. He made many trips to North America to visit his family- David in Canada, Diana in the US (LA, Boulder, Madison, State College, San Diego, Tucson, and Mexico. At age 73 he climbed Gros Morne Mountain with David - a 15 mile round trip with some very steep climbing.
In retirement he made great efforts to cultivate and maintain friendships made through many different aspects of his life. He enjoyed annual reunions of his wartime colleagues, although very few of them remained. In his 80s he marched in the Remembrance Day parade in London, and event he found surprisingly moving. His social calendar was full – frequent lunches, concerts, opera, art exhibitions kept him busier than most people half his age. He had many close friends, particularly Val and Bry Lynas and their family, Jet and Judith, Brian Nicklaus, Penny and David, and numerous others. He met regularly for lunch with a group of old friends from Cambridge - Tony Epstein, Ralph Nosquith, Brian Nicklaus and others. Even as his travelling declined he made many acquaintances (usually younger women) through striking up conversations on trains and buses.
He also enjoyed the company of his grandchildren, Beth (David’s daughter), and Sophie and Johnnie (Michael’s children). He took David’s family to Paris on a weekend break with Eurostar, where they found it hard to keep up with the intense pace of museum going and sightseeing he set. He was quite pleased that Beth was following in his footsteps with a degree in mathematics, telling her it was an excellent choice as you could get good marks with little work. Just a few weeks ago, Sophie and Johnnie were with him at the cottage for New Year and he had Johnnie out in the garden chopping wood with him and teased both of them about their addiction to their Itouches.
As he reached his late 80s, he did slow down a bit, giving up his driving license, and restricting his travel to Europe. He was still a keen walker and gardener, however, and in the weeks prior to his death enjoyed the Lake District cottage one final time, seeing major renovations completed, spending New Year with his family, eating well, and going for several long walks. He and Jet Harris spent a few days together looking after Diana's dog Carson and attended the film 'Juno' shown by the Oxen Park cinema club which was started by his great friend and neighbour Carol McNeill.
He will be much missed by his family, and a wide circle of friends. In the notes on schools cricket in the 1939 Wisden you can find that “JG Liverman was useful at times” – John thought that would make an excellent epitaph.