Let IT Go_The Memoirs of Dame Stephanie Shirley
Page 31
Additional Photographs
I was the first woman Master of the IT livery company; the fifth woman overall, three having been royal.
I found the City an uncomfortably masculine environment though I joined in its many ceremonies. Here the IT livery company is making a presentation to the incoming Lord Mayor, Brian (now Sir Brian) Jenkins.
I love to learn and would have loved to go to university. The academic world has since much honoured me – here I am in 1991 receiving an honorary Fellowship from what is now Staffordshire University.
My interest in women’s affairs has been ongoing. This portrait by Howard Neil Pugh was taken in 1993 when I chaired Women of Influence.
The school’s dining room had originally been the billiard room when Prior’s Court was the private home of the Palmer family. It was converted yet again in 2009 to provide a training facility. Quality buildings are amazingly flexible.
The 55 acres of parkland at Prior’s Court were an exhilarating responsibility. This massive tree by the main door dates from the eighteenth century. The wild (that is, totally natural) wood is always cool and calming.
My Freedom of the City of London in 1987 is a matter of enormous pride.
The Royal Corps of Signals and the IT livery company have been affiliated since 1982. During my year as Master, yes Master, I presented this leopard skin which had been shot by my father in law in India when serving under the Raj. I also gave some of Uncle’s things from the Great War to the Signals Museum in Blandford. My experience of donations to museums is 100% successful.
This birthday snap was used by Ian Rank Broadley as the basis of a bronze plaque for Prior’s Court Reception.
I served on a number of technical committees during the Thatcher (and Major) regimes. We met also when she was Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, and at the British Computer Society.
The independent University of Buckingham awarded me with my first ever honorary doctorate in 1991. I served on its Council for three years, later supporting the new Management Centre which was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
My largest-ever philanthropic project was the Prior’s Court Foundation. After 22 hectic months from inception to commencement, the residential school was formally opened by HRH the Princess Royal amidst torrential rain in the summer of 2000. An Adult Learning Centre opened in 2011.
I introduced Bill Gates to The City’s captains of industry.
The celebrity photographer Baron took this picture for free after my OBE award in 1980. But the prints were exorbitantly expensive...
The Old Schoolhouse in Chesham Bois was a much larger version of our first home, Moss Cottage. We were there for 25 years, joined at various periods by friends and family. My company was also headquartered there at one time – until the neighbours complained!
The straight stretch of river at Henley on Thames is most beautiful. It is famous for its annual Regatta. We enjoyed occasional entertaining at the Phyllis Court Club.
My second cousin, the artist Milein Cosman, did some sketches of me in the 1960’s, one of which I had laminated for Giles.
HRH The Duke of Kent – whom I’d earlier met when I was the first woman President of the chartered British Computer Society – presented me with the Institute of Electrical Engineers’ Mountbatten Medal in 1999.
I always enjoy speaking with students and learn much from their bright comments and queries.
Another three tiered cake – but of ice cream – was the dessert at our Golden Wedding party.
Derek and I are so different... my irresistible force meeting his immovable object... that people were surprised by our marriage and even more surprised that it lasted.
A happy picture at our Golden Wedding when 50 of us celebrated at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. One guest had been at our wedding in 1959. I had the same flowers as on my wedding day.
Glammed up for an after-dinner speech in the City.
Man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin helped celebrate my £5m gift to the IT livery company.
Public speaking is now part of my life. My messages are simple, eg. that philanthropists do not necessarily support the most needy.
Invited to dinner at No. 10 by The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major.
As part of self-training, I organised a visit to a dying industry. There proved to be lots of jobs I would dislike more.
Front Matter
Title Page
Publisher Information
Let IT Go
1: A Strange Journey
2: My Lost World
3: England, My England
4: Picking Up The Pieces
5: The Awkward Age
6: The Glass Ceiling
7: New Beginnings
8: Growing Pains
9: The Lost Boy
10: Survival Of The Fittest
11: The Great Crash
12: Time Out
13: Common Ground
14: Slings And Arrows
15: The Great Escape
16: Big Ideas
17: Losing My Grip
18: A Second Childhood
19: Steve Who?
20: Starting Over
21: The Bitterest Pill
22: Life After Death
23: Fighting Back
24: For Richer, For Poorer
25: Letting Go
Additional Photographs