Vale Richard. My thoughts are with Jenny, his family and many friends. Thanks Richard for all of your varied contributions, which endure. Thanks also to the authors of the sympathetic and detailed tribute for the Society for the Study of Labour History. Although we’d long been acquainted, we got to know each other better only towards the end of his life when was a visiting professor at the Australian Catholic Uni., Melbourne. Then, he also occasionally visited Monash Uni.,Melbourne and we had some enjoyable meals and conversations when I much appreciated his impressive insights including into academia, politics, unions, and improving the world of work, as well as his good sense of humour. He was a fine scholar and internationalist. We miss you Richard!…

I was very sorry to learn of Richard’s death. He was younger than me, so too young. We were both at Warwick, and members of IS, in the early 1970s, and like most members of the Coventry branch he refused to be dragooned into supporting the lurch to creating the SWP. He was a very fine labour historian, and the value of his research endures….

The short time we have known Richard has been enough to have us appreciate what a gentle man he was, with an endless curiosity and great sense of humour. Richard was an intellectual powerhouse who was passionate about people, places and society and always ready for an exciting conversation whenever we met in the garden. The most powerful impression Richard left us with is that of a man full of life and youthful spirit. One of our first memories of Richard when we moved to The Old Rectory is when he joined our two little boys for a football match in the garden the first time he met them. What a first impression – he became a young boy himself! But maybe our favourite memory of him is when he and Jenny arrived back from one of their many trips abroad with their rucksacks, like two students back from a study tour. What a fantastic couple they were! Richard’s passing has left a gap in our little community in the Rectory and he will be missed dearly by us all but we believe that the best consolation is that Richard had achieved so much in his life and that…

Richard, my Colleague, Mentor, Friend. A Mighty Oak; strength, wisdom, a refuge. A thousand memories of our friendship, and what you have taught me over the years, will sustain me and guide me. Love to Jen, Mark and family. …

I’ve known Richard since 2007 when I joined Middlesex as a PhD student. He was a great mentor, a brilliant researcher and simply a marvelous person. I will miss him greatly and cherish memories of him. My deepest condolences to his family….

I first met you when we worked for the WEA. You brought insight and a fierce intellect to all that you did. Behind the tenacity there was always a smile and a glint in your eyes. We shared an  interest in the now defunct discipline of Industrial Relations. When others were quitting the terrain you found new ways of writing and researching and went on to enjoy a distinguished academic career. To me you were always good humoured, modest and welcoming. Like others I find it hard to believe you are no longer with us. I am glad to have known you Richard….

Richard was a big part of my childhood. Holiday to France with him and Sarah in 1982, weekends when he would go out for a run, pass our house and stop for a cuppa and a chat that often lasted hours, advice and guidance during my A Level Sociology studies, ramblers event when he met Jenny. A lovely gentle caring man with an understanding of the world that only he could explain with such simplicity. We had so many laughs over the years and we have relived them recently with such fond memories of a great man xx hopefully Richard and Derick can reunite in heaven comrades and plan the downfall of this current establishment xx …

My history with Richard is very much an academic one. It really began following Richard’s appointment as a professor at Middlesex University. I had of course been aware of, and impressed by, his publications prior to this. Yet, as I was to discover, the breadth and depth of Richard’s learnedness and intellectual powers were far more impressive than I had anticipated. Even more annoyingly, I was quickly to discover that these attributes were possessed by a man of warmth and good socialist values who was only too willing to offer his generous support to colleagues, as a fellow academic, a mentor and a research leader. This combination of intellectual learnedness and rigour, and care and support for colleagues has left an indelible mark on a host current and former Middlesex colleagues, as well as the the Business School as a whole. Indeed, it is not going too far to say that Richard’s contribution to younger colleagues has not finished. For the wisdom and insights provided continue to live on in their still developing careers. As to me personally, I will just say thank you Richard for being a good and stimulating colleague whose heart was in the right place….

Uncle, my deepest condolences to you, Nanny and your brother’s family on his passing. I pray for his soul to rest in peace and he will always be remembered. We tried our best to get Lorna there but the flights were all full. I am so sorry for your loss, let me know if you need absolutely anything….

I remember Richard as being a kind and gentle person, someone I respected and looked up to. His contributions to school life at RHS were various and valued. My thoughts are with Philip and all the  family….

I had the privilege of knowing Richard through a connection at Middlesex University, sharing a number of interests (including the history of unfree labour) and his research and sage conversations assisted my research on worker mobilisation and convict worker resistance. Richard was a true scholar with wide-ranging interests and expertise underpinned by a commitment to working people and working communities. He was also a lovely person to be around. Richard and Jenny stayed with me on several visits to Launceston Tasmania (where I now live) and they were wonderful times. We also swapped emails and photos of gardens and other mutual interest. Richard has left us far too soon but his legacy will remain Michael Quinlan Emeritus Professor UNSW  …

I first met Richard when he was Business School Director of Research and I was heading up the CEEDR Research Centre in the BS at Middlesex. He was a wonderful mentor, providing me with much wise advice on the challenges of managing academic research, alongside being an excellent scholar with a commitment to producing the best research. He was always great company too. Full of good humour and interesting conversation as we worked through the myriad of challenges of the REF exercise! It was an honour to take over the BS Director role from Richard when he stepped down. His legacy to the BS and Middlesex is clear in the massive and continuous improvements made in our research performance over many years and his support to so many colleagues academic careers. It was a great experience and privilege working with such a wonderful and generous person and scholar, and I, among many others, will greatly miss Richard’s wit and wisdom….

My biggest memory of Richard is fireworks night when we would all set off fireworks in the back garden, with Jenny and Mark too. I remember it being really fun, and Richard being a big part of making the fun. I also remember having good chats with Richard over the years, and him being smart, funny and very very clever, without ever being snooty. He was kind and a great dad, grandad and partner to Jenny. I know he will be deeply missed. …

Dear Richard There are no words to express the deep sorrow that I, and so many others who knew you, are feeling, knowing you are no longer with us. Yet I am filled with such joy for having known you – I cannot fail to smile every time I think you!  You will always have a special place in our hearts. I remember the day we met back in 2005 when you first joined MDX Business School and oh what a privilege and honour it has been to work with you over so many years.  Although, you would often say to me that you were a ‘reluctant manager’, you humbly agreed to take on the role of Business School Director of Research and, in your own inimitable way, you more than rose to the challenge to transform the research profile and trajectory of the School supporting and mentoring others while maintaining your own excellent research profile.  You offered such wise counsel to us all, but especially to me personally. As the then Dean of the Business School, I always knew that I could count on you to be open and honest and tell me, always kindly, exactly what you…