St Edward's Rhubarb

ST EDWARD’S

O B I T U A R I E S

Michael Graham Ruddock

Sandberg was born at Thames

Ditton on May 31st 1927. His

father Gerald worked in the

Bank of England, serving for

some years as chief cashier of its

Hull branch; Gerald Sandberg’s

grandfather was a migrant

from the province of Posen in

Prussia who became an Anglican

priest. Michael was educated

at St Edward’s School, Oxford,

and was commissioned into

the Royal Armoured Corps

in 1945. Posted to India, he

found the way of life to his liking

and transferred to the Indian

Army’s 6th Lancers; after India’s

independence, he served with

the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards

in Palestine and Libya. On leaving

the Army in 1949 he joined

the Hongkong Bank in London

and took ship to Hong Kong

for training. His first posting

was to Tokyo, and his next to

Singapore – where in 1956 his

manager noted him as “a man of

distinct ability and intelligence,

well in excess of his years …

a man for the future”. With

characteristic self-deprecation,

Sandberg himself attributed

rapid promotion to “shortage of

staff after the war”. By the late

1960s he was chief accountant

(effectively senior lending officer)

in Hong Kong, and in 1973 he

became deputy chairman under

the chairmanship – necessarily

cautious in turbulent economic

times – of Guy Sayer. The

change of leadership style

from Sayer to Sandberg was

signalled by the new chairman’s

determination to redevelop the

bank’s headquarters on Queen's

Road Central. The old offices

dating from 1935, he declared,

were “like a suit one could no

longer fit into” whereas the bank

deserved “a top-of-the-pops

building” of which all Hong Kong

could be proud.

After a competition among

world-leading design firms,

Norman Foster was appointed

in 1979 to create what came

to be seen as a masterpiece

of modern office architecture,

noted for the elegance of its

modular steel structure and its

use of natural light. It remains a

powerful symbol of the bank’s

presence at the heart of Hong

Kong’s business life.

Sandberg was created OBE in

1977, raised to CBE in 1982 and

knighted in 1986. Chairmanship

of the bank brought him ex

officio membership of Hong

Kong’s Executive Council, and

he was also a steward and

chairman of the Royal Hong

Kong Jockey Club and treasurer

of Hong Kong University. After

his return to England he became

an active fundraiser for the

Liberal Democrat party – not

least from wealthy Asian business

friends. Sandberg was created a

life peer in 1997; he retired from

the House of Lords in 2015. He

was a keen follower of racing

and cricket, and was president

of Surrey County Cricket

Club in 1998. He also kept a

beautiful garden at his Hampshire

home. But his most distinctive

pastime was horology: over

many years he acquired more

than 400 timepieces made by

craftsmen from the 16th to the

20th Century, including musical

watches with automaton scenes,

often made for the Chinese

market, and more esoteric “erotic

watches”. As ever, Sandberg

played down his expertise: “I

buy these because I’m not smart

enough to know whether that

vase over there is a Ming.” But

the watch collection proved to

be worth $13 million when it

was auctioned in Geneva in 2001.

Michael Sandberg married, in

Ireland in 1954, Carmel Donnelly,

who survives him with their two

sons and two daughters.

SMITH

– On 12th February

2018, John Nicholas Wilkins

Smith (D, 1949-1954). The

following obituary comes from

Prof. Joe Smith, with advice

from family and colleagues.

He was also keen to ensure

that Smith of Derby played

an appropriately positive and

supportive role in the British

Horological Institute, being the

largest public clock company in

the country by some margin.

Commercially Nick

understood the vital importance

of marketing, investment in

R&D and technology, and the

development and support of

young talent across the business.

However, having seen five periods

of major economic downturn

he also understood that there

were moments when very painful

decisions were required in order

to keep the company secure.

While resp

ecting the

traditional side of the company’s

work Nick was not satisfied

to see it restrict itself to the

maintenance and conservation

of existing turret clocks. He

worked hard to win export

and other new business, and

won notable contracts for new

installations of landmark clocks all

over the world. In parallel Nick

invested time and resources in

product innovations that could

better serve the estate of several

thousand ‘traditional’ customers

across the British Isles. One

important example addressed

problems of time-keeping loss

or gain accumulation. Accuracy

would previously have been

addressed regularly by clock

winders, but they became more

difficult to find through the

latter decades of the twentieth

century, and Auto Wind units

had increasingly been introduced

to keep clocks working. Nick

worked with colleagues to devise

a solution: this took the form of

a very small adjustable weight

mounted on the pendulum with

electronic controls which could

be triggered by the first blow

of the hour striking. The weight

then rose to speed up the clock

(if slow) or fell. Later, a global

positioning system (GPS) sensor

was fitted to allow for complete

accuracy.

Nick Smith gave almost

his entire professional life to

supporting the turret clock

making company founded by

his great great grandfather, John

Smith. In his school years he

had regularly joined his father

Howard when inspecting turret

clocks in churches and public

buildings around the country, or

down at John Smith and Sons’

Queen Street clock works. This

pattern was repeated with his

own children many years later.

After training as an

accountant, and graduating as

the top student in the region,

Nick travelled to Canada to gain

international business experience.

However upon the death of his

uncle Alan in 1961 he returned

to help his father at the clock

works in Derby. He was closely

involved in the running of Smith

of Derby from that point, and

took on the role of managing

director on Howard’s retirement

in March 1975.

In 1981 he was made a

Freeman, and the following year

a Liveryman, of the Worshipful

Company of Clockmakers

and subsequently joined its

Court. In 1994 he was elected

Master. During this time he

paid particular attention to

apprentice training and the

development of professional

certification within the industry.

Nick Smith in the Derby Works,

Queen Street in July 1944 with the

hour hammer from the St Paul's

Cathedral Clock