C O N T E X T 1 4 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 6 5 Obituary Jon Finney, architect/planner and conservation officer Jon Finney, who has died at the age of 71, studied architecture at Birmingham and Portsmouth, followed by a town planning diploma at Central London Polytechnic. After working in various architectural firms in Birmingham, in 1972 he moved to London, where he worked as an assistant architect for several private practices before taking a job at the London Borough of Croydon as a planning officer in the urban design section. Five years later he moved to Bromley as design and conservation officer. In 1988 he became principal architect/planner for urban design and conservation at Hillingdon, where he stayed until moving to Barnet for a short period before his retirement. At Hillingdon he made equally significant contributions to historic building and conservation initiatives in metroland, and to the urban design quality of major developments, particularly in Uxbridge town centre. Following the changes brought in by PPG16, he represented Hillingdon on the Archaeological Joint Liaison Group for West London. He played a major role in Heathrow-related schemes and was influential in ensuring that a full archaeological investigation was carried out prior to the development of Terminal 5. Jon Finney’s interest in archaeology led to his long involvement with the London and Middlesex Archaeology Society (LAMAS). He became chair of LAMAS’s buildings committee, which shares the task of commenting on statutory notifications with the Council for British Archaeology as a national amenity society, making a huge commitment to the role. LAMAS received extra cases through his personal connections to conservation officers in London. The amount of time he spent on casework over and beyond his other work is testimony to his concern for heritage. After his retirement from local government he maintained an active role in both LAMAS and the IHBC, of which he was one of the first members. He was chair of the London branch for three years, during which he was also treasurer and branch representative on IHBC council, working with a small committee to run local activities. On retirement as chair he continued as a hard-working member of the branch committee. One of his branch committee roles was to provide a mentoring service for prospective new members. It was typical of his modesty and wry sense of humour that he would often remark that he was not entirely sure that if he were to make an application for membership himself, that it would be of a sufficient standard to be accepted. In 1990 Jon Finney was invited to join a group of conservation officers and architects who met for monthly walks visiting historic buildings and enjoying a good pub lunch. The Historic Buildings Walkers, as they came to be known, became good friends and an important part of his life. He nearly always walked carrying a sturdy umbrella, which became his trademark. He organised many outstanding walks, including a memorable weekend walk in Hereford, which started at Kilpeck and finished at Lethaby’s All Saints, Brockhampton. He never missed a chance to include modern architecture in his walks and a meticulously arranged tour of Oxford just had to include a visit to Jacobsen’s St Catherine’s College. One of his last walks sampled the architectural highlights of Watford, starting and finishing in Hemel Hempstead, to explore its post-war architecture and urban planning. Jon Finney was always good company and a good friend. He was greatly respected as a conservation officer due to his deep knowledge of historic buildings, coupled with and tempered by his broad cultural background and a personal approach that lent great authority to his well-informed judgements on conservation and design. His professionalism, common sense, calm air of authority and, not least, that keen sense of humour will be sorely missed. Jon married Josephine (Jo) Smith in 1977 and is survived by his two daughters, Kate and Megan. Ray Rogers
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