Obituary: Colin Douglas Tyler (QM 1943-50)
Colin was a modest man, always encouraging others, insightful and hugely respected by his peers. From a working-class background, growing up through WW2 in the Black Country, he enjoyed sport, art and classical music. He became a senior partner at Wragge & Co, then one of the largest law firms in the country outside of London. His teenage years were difficult; his own father, a toolmaker, died in 1943. One compensation was his friendship with Mac Dudson and the camaraderie of other sports enthusiasts at Queen Mary’s Grammar School. He enjoyed his years at QM.
He did well at School, largely thanks to his father’s intervention in the early 1940s to get him tutoring in maths and English, and went on to gain a State Scholarship to Emmanuel College where he read Law and met the love of his life. He did his articles at the Walsall firm of Frank A. Platt and Beaizley and having passed the Law Society examinations, he married Margaret Hughes in August 1958.
Colin was a very determined individual, something that was honed by his mother and his experiences at Cambridge. He specialised in Company Law and quickly found himself thrown in at the deep end at Wragge & Co. He became a Partner in 1963, a position he held for thirty years.
The family first settled in Walsall with their sons, David and Richard, but moved to Moseley in 1968 to be closer to Colin’s work. Adding a good knowledge of Tax Law, he soon established himself as one of the preeminent corporate lawyers outside of London. By 1993 Wragg & Co had expanded to 45 partners and 500 staff. He was a key player in this 33 expansion. His work took him all over Europe and to Brazil and to the USA in the 1980s. Colin served on the Law Society's Company Law Committee and during his last five years at Wragge & Co, he concentrated on Commercial and Trade Law. He became Chairman of the Medical and Disability Appeal Tribunals, a role he was to continue until 2002.
Colin and his wife Margaret both loved the theatre and art museums. Following his retirement they went on a nine week trip discovering Africa. They enjoyed playing tennis and golf together. They also shared a passion for gardening and gardens.
The last two decades of Colin’s life were pretty tough for him with mental and physical health in significant decline, but he remained an avid reader, interested in current affairs and sport. More recently his zest for life had returned so he started taking daily walks in the garden and was regularly completing The Times crossword on a Saturday.
Colin’s recent resurgence began with Girton 150 and the announcement of the Memorial Research Fellowship in geography he had set up to commemorate Margaret’s life. It is fitting that his own gift to Emmanuel College will help students from low-income families. The garden in the centre of South Court at Emmanuel will be named Tyler’s Garden in his memory. He has been elected as a Benefactor Fellow at Emmanuel and a Barbara Bodichon Foundation Fellow at Girton. Emmanuel also nominated him in February 2020 for membership of the Cambridge Guild of Benefactors.
Colin’s final nine months were his best for some time and overall, he went out on a high. He loved watching the cricket World Cup final with both of his sons. He didn’t quite make ‘ninety not out’ as he chatted about in February 2020, but it was ‘a very satisfactory innings’. Despite the lockdown restrictions all four of Colin’s grandchildren managed to attend his funeral.
