It is with great sadness that we must inform you that our President, Sir Edmund Fairfax-Lucy, suddenly passed away on Monday, 30th
March after suffering a heart attack. He was 75.

Edmund succeeded Lady Jeryl Smith-Ryland as our President in 2006. His family’s long connexion with the county, as landowners at Charlecote since 1247, as well as his being a keen gardener responsible for laying out the forecourt of Charlecote Park, made him a natural choice for this post. His local influence and natural charm were also particularly useful in his invaluable support for many of our campaigns. Most recently he combined his passion for Charlecote (where his family continue as tenants of the National Trust) and the wider environment in opposing the proposed Avon navigation, which would have had devastating consequences to the River Avon and adversely impacted on two of the county’s most historic gardens and parks, namely Charlecote (registered Grade II*) and Warwick Castle (registered Grade I).

Edmund was an accomplished artist who studied at both the City & Guilds of London Art School and at the Royal Academy of Art.  He specialised as a painter of landscapes and garden scenes, with his work being represented in a number of public collections, including those of Parliament and the National Trust. The latter has a number of interior views of its properties, showing the close cooperation that existed between him and his new landlords. This extended to his continued involvement with the management of Charlecote, in both the restoration of the house and gardens.

Members will recall with fondness the wonderful hospitality and teas that Edmund and Erica provided for us at a number of our AGMs, along with the guided tours of the private apartments, parts of which had been little changed since the end of the nineteenth century.

Our sympathies go to his wife, two sons and grandchildren.