It is with great sadness that we report the sudden death last year of John Dacam (year of 72), aged 69, in Hull where he had lived for several years. 

The eldest of three children of a serving naval officer, John grew up in Stroud near Petersfield and attended Churcher’s from 1965 to 1972. After leaving school he studied business at Farnborough Technical College, then moved to London to work as a commodity broker. He subsequently worked for the London Stock Exchange as a trainer of LSE personnel in the use of a new share trading system. It was during this time that John moved to East Finchley from Buckhurst Hill, where he had previously been living with his then wife, Brenda.

In 1993 John became heavily involved with a local community newspaper for East Finchley, The Archer, where he was the sub-editor and advertising manager until 2001, devoting much of his time to ensuring that the paper met the highest standards. He then fulfilled a long-held ambition and enrolled to do a history degree at Hull University. The academic life suited him and he stayed to complete a Masters and a doctorate, before going on to work at the university. One of his colleagues at The Archer, Kevin Finn, described John as being “warm funny and highly intelligent, someone who I was proud to call a friend”.

Also during his time at East Finchley, John explored new ventures. One notable one was the restaurant business he set up with Kevin Finn, under the name Fat and Finn. Despite praise for the quality of the food and positive reviews in The Guardian, John’s insistence on using only the finest ingredients didn’t leave much room for profit and the business closed after 10 months.

John’s brother Paul and sister Ruth remember John’s obsessive fondness for all things historical, especially naval history – apparently he had well over 1,000 books on the subjects!

On a personal note, I will remember John with great fondness – for his fastidiousness, his love of pipe and pint, for his wicked sense of humour and admirably cynical view of the world. We remained friends over the years, even though we lived many miles apart, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to spend some time with him at his sister’s house near Wakefield a couple of years ago when I was en route to Scotland.

David Cradduck (year of 72)