Sir Crispin Charles Cervantes Tickell the son of writer Jerrard Tickell and Renée (née Haynes), a great-granddaughter of Thomas Henry Huxley. He was educated at Westminster School where he was a King's Scholar, and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1952 with first class honours in Modern History. He did his national service in the Coldstream Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant from 1952 to 1954. He then had a posting at the British Embassy in The Hague (1955–58);

Academic career

Tickell was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1990 to 1993 and Warden of Green College, Oxford, between 1990 and 1997, where he appointed George Monbiot and Norman Myers as Visiting Fellows. Green College merged with Templeton College in 2008 to become Green Templeton College, located at what was previously Green College.

He was President of the Marine Biological Association from 1990 to 2001. From 1996 until August 2006 he was chancellor of the University of Kent when Sir Robert Worcester took over the position. He was director of the Policy Foresight Programme of the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford (formerly the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding) and Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, in Washington D.C. He has many interests, including climate change, population issues, conservation of biodiversity, and the early history of the Earth.

Margaret Thatcher credited Tickell with persuading her to make a speech on global climate change to the Royal Society in September 1988 (though the speech was written by Thatcher and George Guise).

He chaired John Major's Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994–2000), and was a member of two government task forces under the Labour Party: one on urban regeneration, chaired by Sir Richard Rogers, later Lord Rogers (1998–99), and one on potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (2000).

He was an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

Public impact

A man of strong environmental convictions, he was described as having been influential in Britain, although his environmental message did not always travel as easily abroad, particularly to the United States. His 1977 book Climatic Change and World Affairs argued that mandatory international pollution control would eventually be necessary. Despite his non-scientific background, he was internationally respected as having had a strong grasp of science policy issues. He was the recipient, between 1990 and 2006, of 23 honorary doctorates. which enables communities in Africa's drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. He was also a patron of population concern charity Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), and told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the ideal population for Britain could be around 20 million. As a member of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force, Tickell counselled against spreading cities saying that we need denser living, that young adults should not expect to leave home straight away, and that older relatives could live in "granny flats".

Personal life and death

Sir Crispin lived in a converted barn in the Cotswolds. He married Chloe Gunn in 1954 but the marriage was dissolved in 1976.

Former appointments

  • Non-executive Director, IBM UK (1990–1995)
  • Trustee, Natural History Museum (1992–2001)
  • Trustee, Baring Foundation (1992–2002)

Publications

  • Climate Change and World Affairs, with a preface by Solly Zuckerman (1977, second edition 1986, Harvard International Affairs Committee). second edition available online in full
  • Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, with a preface by John Fowles (1996, 1998 and 2003).

Styles and honours

  • Mr Crispin Tickell (1930–1958)
  • Mr Crispin Tickell MVO (1958–1983)
  • Sir Crispin Tickell KCVO (1983–1988)
  • Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO (from 1988)

References

  • Archive of his works
  • Talk presentated at the RIBA: Sir Crispin Tickell, The Future of Cities: Hazards of Environmental Change(Video)
  • Interview with Sir Crispin Tickell & transcript , British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 1999

Offices held