Roy Markham, 29 January 1916 - 16 November 1979

• Published in: Biographical memoirs of fellows of the Royal Society 1982-11, Vol.28, p.319-345
• Main Author: Elsden, S. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Centrifugation; Crystals; Nucleic acids; Plant viruses; RNA; Tobacco mosaic virus; Tymovirus; Virology; Viruses
• ISSN: 0080-4606; 1748-8494
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbm.1982.0013

Roy Markham was born on 29 January 1916, the son of A. C. C. Markham, a stockbroker with offices in London; his sister, Joanna, was born seven years later. When he was quite young his parents moved to Bridge of Allan in Stirlingshire where he went to the local school. In 1925 the family moved back to London and from that time until he went up to Cambridge in 1935 his home was in Ealing. He was sent first to Ealing College and then to Colet Court, the preparatory school of St Paul’s but he settled at neither and eventually it was decided to send him to live with a family in Magdeburg. This decision to send a young boy to Germany to be educated seems, at first sight, to be odd, but it may have had something to do with the fact that Roy’s paternal grandfather came from Germany. He attended day school in Magdeburg and whilst there he became proficient in the language, a facility he never lost. However, he disliked the school just as much as those he had attended in London and he was brought back to England. On his return in 1930 he was sent to Aldenham School as a boarder but he became so unhappy there that his parents felt compelled to withdraw him and by this time they had become very concerned lest their obviously intelligent son would never adapt to school life.