Diana Simpson was born in 1929 to Sammy and Lily Caplan. Her father had wanted a son and, although the details aren’t clear, her early life was unsettled. She spent her early childhood largely with two nurses, to whom she would return during school holidays when she was older.

Her grandfather, Adolph Kalisky, gave her a silver cup for achieving a scholarship to Oldham Municipal High School. (We found it in her safe.) This was not as successful as she would have liked. She was very intelligent and interested in physics and chemistry, but science was not a suitable study for High School girls in the 1940s. However, this was not to stop her!

An energetic and purposeful young woman, she attended evening classes at the Manchester Municipal College of Technology. In 1948, she was elected a student of the Royal Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland - later to become the Royal Society of Chemistry. This was the beginnning of a life-long relationship with the RSC.

By 1952 she had gained a pass in the 2nd year advanced course of General Chemistry Technology, attending evening classes at Manchester Municipal College of Technology, which ultimately became UMIST. She continued to work towards qualifications once she was employed in industry. In addition, she was a cub mistress.

In 1960, Diana married Gordon. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he was the bedrock for the rest of their life together. The marriage was not well received by Diana’s Jewish family. Her father (the son of a rabbi) was ‘unwell’ and did not come to the wedding. Neither did her mother. Her uncle, Harry Kay, who was my father, and her grandmother, Bertha Kalisky, were the only people who attended from her side of the family. This was due, in part, to the fact that Diana lived far away from the family in Kent, and was a very private person. She was, however, good friends with her aunt, Jenny Perry and her friend Frances.

By 1963, Diana had gained a degree and was able to join the RSC as a licentiate.

Now, the focus was Gordon and work. They were very happy together and this remained true until Gordon’s death. They were full of fun and laughter. Although they had wanted children, none appeared. However, they always had dogs and cats around. In the early years it was Tuppence the dog and Timothy the cat. Later, Great Danes, such as Emma were the companion animals.

Diana and Gordon had a games room. They had set up table tennis and an enormous model train set that took up most of the room. Gordon was very fond of jazz and had an enormous collection of records.

You can read more details of Diana’s career in the obituaries. By 1974 she had achieved a Ph.D. (again celebrated by a small silver cup – this time from Gordon).

On April 1st 1975, Diana set up Analysis For Industry with Colin Osborne, LRIC, who had worked for her at BX Plastics Lawford Place Research Station. A few years later, Gordon left the investment bank Hambros, where he worked as an investment consultant. He and Diana made the decision that they should work together.

Christine Osborne says:

‘The work at AIF was very varied – they might be taking air samples, or testing foods, paint, forensic work, a whole range of things. Sometimes it could be looking for a contaminant which was present in minute quantities. They regularly did blood alcohol testing for defendants who wanted to know their results before the police would let them know. The police take two samples of blood at the same time so that the defendant can have one tested privately if he wishes.
 
The asbestos scare brought them lots of work. They would go out and take samples to see if a substance was asbestos and if it was what sort of asbestos. 

At times Diana employed a lab assistant for Colin - at one time he even had 2 assistants. Colin was a very careful handler of glass ware and adept at catching a falling vessel, but usually a new assistant meant several breakages. 

The lab was chock-a-block with equipment. It was a very cold place.  I went and helped out one June, I remember, and I was uncomfortably cold even then. Diana and Gordon never felt the cold. The lab was way down the temperature scale in the winter, but they were loathe to use too much oil. On Christmas Eve they  provided sandwiches and party food and the children and I would go in. It was very pleasant as long as you dressed very warmly!’

Diana’s work as a forensic analyst took her to both the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, and also up cherry pickers and ladders to get samples. She had her own labelled hard hat – clearly it was not just a lab bench job.

AIF continued to run until the sudden death of both Gordon and also Colin, who died shortly afterwards. However, Diana continued to work alone from home and was due to appear in court as an expert witness at the time of her death.

Diana was very involved with the learned societies to which she belonged. When she died she was in the middle of co-ordinating a conference for the RSC and still attending regular committee meetings. She was considering standing for re-election to the General Council.

Diana and Gordon did not go on holiday. They attended many conferences around the world, and their photographs indicate that they always went to visit the nearest zoo.

Gordon was a bibliophile. There were thirty or forty thousand books in the house after Diana died. It was his great pleasure to visit book fairs and Diana had a memory of a ‘golden day’ in Ireland, looking for treasure. He also wrote and not only collaborated with Diana in writing technical books, but also was published in connoisseur periodicals.

After Gordon died, Diana was bereft. She continued as always with her work, but I’m not sure if she ever really got over his death. With the help of one good friend in particular, she moved from the wonderful rambling mansion that was Sandown House into a more modest but still large ‘executive home’ on a new estate. The builders had not been expecting someone of her critical ability to tackle them about the various problems of a new house!

Pip and Emma came to live with Diana for the last year or so of her life. She clearly delighted in these cats and took many photographs of them.

Diana was also very proud to be included in the 2008 edition of Who’s Who.

Diana was a very bubbly, witty, amusing person with a great sense of fun. When we drove a hundred miles to visit her once, we were alarmed when she opened the door with a shocked expression and said “I was expecting you next Sunday!” We fell for it completely.

She enjoyed challenging her mind with crosswords and puzzles of different sorts. She loved to order from catalogues and bid on eBay. Her house was filled with gadgets. And she had a passion for cricket. One of her many bequests was to the Women’s England Cricket Team.

Diana was also very precise and wanted things to be done correctly. To that end, please let me know if there are any errors in this biography, either in the substance or the grammar.

Barbara Kay
Diana’s cousin