Martin Steadman passed away on 2 May 2023, aged 87. The following has been written by Martin’s wife, Regina Steadman.

My beloved husband, Martin Steadman, passed away peacefully at home on 2 May 2023. He had been undergoing treatment for melanoma for several months but sadly, it was not successful.

Martin started off as a boarder at the Junior School and then went on to the Senior School. He was a keen rower, played rugby and his interest in natural history was probably ignited during his early years in the Junior School. He was also in the College orchestra and played the trombone.  

Martin left College aged 16 to join the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as a cadet and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Apart from commissions with Royal Navy ships, he also had shore-based loan service jobs with the Royal Malaysian Navy and Royal Brunei Malay Regiment. He left the Royal Navy in 1978 and continued working in the maritime industry, including a period in 1979 to 1982 building the PZ class of patrol boats for the Malaysian Police. He returned to the UK in 1983 and had a short appointment in Antigua before coming back to England to be part of a team setting up a new Marina at Portsmouth. He retired in 1997 and returned to Cheltenham.

Martin was a devoted husband and father whose interests included sailing, bird watching, natural history and classical music. He was always anxious to encourage us to learn and experience new things. We went on many journeys of discovery including to Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. A memorable trip was a four-month adventure around the USA in 1993, taken on our way back to the UK after a working stint in Singapore. We took in many famous geographical sights such as the Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon.

He is very dearly missed by me and our daughter, Georgina and our wider family and close friends.