We are very sad to report the loss of a dear friend and supporter of COTAC with the recent untimely death of Maurice Mendoza, who was for many years our Hon. Assistant Secretary. Born on 1 May 1921, he died on 11 October 2000 aged 79.

Maurice had a distinguished Civil Service career rising from being a school leaver entrant, by means of the competitive exam aged 16. When he joined the Office of Works in 1938, Maurice immediately became involved with building conservation and monuments, working on the preservation scheme which saved Hadrian’s Wall from destruction. Appearing to be very serious, he also had an impish sense of fun and enjoyed recounting to me with the characteristic twinkle in his eye, the occasion when he and a friend had gone in to work on a Saturday. Thinking they were the only ones in the office, they had been dribbling a football around, when the boss came in! Suitably reprimanded and wiser, he rose to become one of the most senior officers in the Service by the time of his retirement.

When war broke out he joined the Royal Signals and in 1946 received the Meritorious Service Medal. After D-Day Maurice was involved in building and installing communications systems (serving in the Military Mission to Belgium 1944-46). This enabled him to develop fluency in the French language and the frequent visits to Bruges further fostered his interest in historic buildings. This interest in all things French, including its cuisine and wines led to regular holidays with his wife Phyllis, whom he married in 1949, and to whom we send our deepest sympathy in her sad loss.

After the war he gained experience in a number of Ministries including the Treasury, Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, and the Department of Transport. He was a member of the team which put together the Department of the Environment.

His senior appointment in 1978 as head of the Directorate of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings was at a crucial time since his predecessor had committed the cardinal sin of showing enthusiasm for his subject. The organisation was reeling from the scandal of perks paid to officials by contractors at Audley End and the listing sys-tem for historic buildings had become very disorganised.

Perhaps conscious of his predecessor’s fate, Maurice probably appeared to some staff as the hard man applying the Treasury line. However, I remember him telling me how the charm of historic buildings could soften the heart of the toughest officers, himself included, and he developed a very knowledgeable interest and love for the buildings in his charge.

He also had a keen political instinct, and when Michael Heseltine took over at the Department of the Environment after the election victory in 1979, the new minister was determined to reduce the size of his ministry and appalled at the large direct labour force employed looking after ancient monuments. Maurice was credit-ed with suggesting that his directorate, DAMHB (popularly known as ‘damned his-toric buildings’) should join the Ancient Monuments Board and the much-respected Historic Buildings Council in a new organisa-tion, destined to become English Heritage.

He claimed to be a direct descendant of the Regency prizefighter Daniel Mendoza and the Mendozas, like other Sephardic Jews, could trace their arrival in England back to the time of Oliver Cromwell.

Maurice counted among his particular successes the saving of two buildings. The first was Frogmore in Windsor Great Park, where Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, had lived. It was suffering badly from dry rot and he was instrumental in finding funds for the initial work, which eventually led to the house opening to the public, beautifully restored and redecorated, in 1989.

The second was The Grange in Hampshire, which the Department of the Environment had taken into guardian-ship (we understand to prevent imminent demolition by explosives as part of an army exercise) and promised to repair and open it to the public. Maurice’s superiors had decided this was a waste of money, but his initiative was helped along by the threat of a writ from Save Britain’s Heritage. He persuaded Peter Shore and then Michael Heseltine to do the work, paving the way for the popular successful summer opera seasons now held at the house.

For nearly 20 years after his retirement Maurice took a keen interest in conservation, working with COTAC and others. He was aware of the urgent need for the revival of craftsmanship and belief that there was going to be an extreme shortage of building craftsmen with traditional craft skills equally applicable in conservation, repair and maintenance work, which accounts for some 50% of the construction industry’s workload. This encouraged him to be particularly keen on the training of young craftsmen and women and as a result he often chaired the selection committees for the William Morris Craft Fellowships. His specialist writing skills proved invaluable on a number of occasions, particularly in amending COTAC’s Constitution when applying for registration as an educational charity and in preparing our Past, Present and Future booklet.

With David Linford he helped establish the Historic Building Contractors Group, an association of companies specialising in the maintenance and repair of historic buildings, and served as its secretary for many years.

In 1982 Maurice was appointed CVO in recognition of his work in the Royal Palaces at the time of the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

His hobbies included walking and he served as chairman of the Friends of the Ridgeway (1982-94) and chairman of the Common Land Forum (1984-86), where he secured a remarkable agreement between ramblers and landowners on access, sadly still not enacted in legislation.

His support, wise counsel, ready wit, humour and most of all his friendship will be greatly missed by us all at COTAC.

Graham Lee