Roy Maycock died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday 17th October at the age of 91. Roy was President of the Society over very many years and had been a leading member of the Society since its earliest days. He was an excellent botanist and was BSBI County Recorder (VCR) for Buckinghamshire for 34 years, from 1986 until he stepped down in 2020, and then Emeritus VCR. As well as making an impressive contribution to botany, he inspired and supported many members during his life.
As well as being the BSBI’s County Recorder, Roy was also County Recorder for Plants for BMERC which holds, adds to, and maintains official County Environmental Records including:
– Wildlife records for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes
– Details of designated sites (including: SSSIs, designated Local Wildlife Sites, etc)
– Priority BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan) habitats.
As County Recorder for the Flora of Buckinghamshire Roy checked the reliability of plant identifications submitted by a wide range of volunteer and professional botanists and other members of the public, in association with BMERC staff. He also submitted a considerable number of plant records from his own observations and field surveys, many of these from MKNHS summer evening site visits, others from his sample survey of the flora of a selection of churchyards throughout Buckinghamshire for his postgraduate thesis for Durham University: ‘The Flora of Buckinghamshire Churchyards’ (1985) Maycock, Roy, Durham University. 174 pages http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7852/1/7852_4849.PDF?UkUDh:CyT
In April 2021 he wrote down for MKNHS his memories of his full and long life, which can be found at the following link: https://mknhs.org.uk/roys-reminiscences-roy-maycock-mknhs-president/
There are also tributes from MKNHS members at the links below.
Roy remembered – Helen Wilson
A tribute to Roy – Joe Clinch
Memories of Roy – Julie Lane
Tribute to Roy – Linda Murphy
Roy Maycock – Carol and Len Massey
If you would like to add to these by contributing your own memories of Roy or tributes to him, please send them to webeditor@mknhs.org.uk.
If you would like to contact his family personally, please send a message to info@mknhs.org.uk asking for either email or postal address.
Funeral of Roy Maycock – Postscript
The funeral of Roy Maycock, president of the Society from 1992-2024, was held on Friday 15th November.
The Society was very well-represented and a eulogy was given by our chairman Matt Andrews. Matt paid tribute to Roy’s personality, skills, achievements and legacy also drawing on memories from members. After the funeral more memories were shared including the fact that Roy had become a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, the third member of MKNHS to do so, folllowing in the footsteps of Gordon Osborne and Bob Stott.
Roy’s family also announced that they had asked for any donations in memory of Roy to be made to Milton Keynes Natural History Society and that this can be done by via the donations page on the Funeral Director’s website:
Tributes & Donations – H. W. Mason & Sons – Funeral Directors in Milton Keynes
If you prefer not to do this online, do contact the Society Treasurer.
The Society committee will be considering how best to use any donations to commemorate Roy and support his legacy in the Society and would be happy to hear members’ views. Contact info@mknhs.org.uk or speak to a member of the committee..