Matthew Hepburn obituary
Matthew Hepburn was a librarian at the Polytechnic of North London, where he kept alive its Astronomy Forum
Matthew Hepburn was a librarian at the Polytechnic of North London, where he kept alive its Astronomy Forum
SamanthaHarding
Wed 13 Jan 2021 10.54 EST
Last modified on Wed 13 Jan 2021 10.57 EST
My friend Matthew Hepburn, who has died aged 81, was the driving force behind the Polytechnic of North London Astronomy Forum, which in its heyday attracted star speakers such as Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Monica Grady.
Matthew was born in Caterham in Surrey, the youngest of three children of Jack Hepburn, who was the principal of Kingston Polytechnic in south-west London, and his wife, Edgitha (nee Knowles). He was academically precocious at Caterham school, winning a scholarship to Queens’ College, Cambridge, from where he graduated in natural sciences in 1961.