Timothy John Priestman was born on the 5th June 1953 in Maidstone, Kent. In 1956 his father resigned from his job as a geography teacher at Maidstone Boys Grammar School and the family moved north where his father trained for the priesthood at Lincoln Theological College.
In 1958 the family moved to Croydon where his father became curate and Tim’s sister Sarah was born. Folkestone followed in 1962 and then the family moved to Loose near Maidstone in 1964 where they spent 7 years. During this time Tim was at School at Dover College Junior School and Kings School Canterbury. His school years were (except for his study of maths) quite illustrious. He was Head Boy at Dover College and then became Head of House and Head of School at Kings. He played the clarinet, sang in the choir and was sporty, participating in rugby, cricket and hockey teams and he became Kent junior discus champion.
After his A levels in 1972, Tim and a friend set off to India to work for VSO. They had a memorable time, beset by various illnesses including rashes and stomach upsets but they visited many parts of India making friends along the way. They then decided to return overland to the UK, mostly taking local buses and a ‘taxi’ over the Khyber Pass. He was still only 19. On return to the UK he went to Durham University where he studied Anthropology, gaining a BA.
Tim’s first job was teaching English to Foreign students. He taught in Libya in 1976 and then returned to the UK to work in London at the Regent School of English and International House. His career teaching English finished with a tough but lucrative trip to Saudi in 1982.
Tim then moved into the world of interactive media, working for several start up companies, only some of which succeeded. During this time, he was made redundant once and had two major back operations – perhaps an injury resulting from his younger years throwing the discus.
He and Claire met in 1987 when Tim was living in Kilburn. They lived in London Fields from 1988 then after renting for a while they bought a house in Hackney where Joe was born in 1997. In 1998 they moved up to St Albans to Verulam Road. Here Bella was born in 1999. Since the moment of their birth Joe and Bella were central to Tim’s life. He revelled in all their achievements and was justly proud of them as they have grown into two very special young people.
In 1998 Tim started a new career in education working firstly in business development at the University of Luton and later at the University of Bedfordshire where he became Course Director of the MBA (which enabled him to indulge his love of travel again), and Projects Executive. He and Claire sadly separated in 2011. Tim also worked at Birkbeck College where he was instrumental in the foundation of the first Digital Media courses and Churchill College as Head of Student Engagement. He enjoyed and valued all his different roles.
Tim made many friends throughout his life from his nursery in Lincoln, through school and University, his travels when teaching, his time living in London, his work and his friendships with the ‘St Albans Dads’. These friendships are reflected in the wide range of tributes paid to him on this website.
In January 2019 Tim was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. During 2019 he received two rounds of chemo with major surgery between. Although he was given the all clear in January 2020, he was told in March that the cancer had spread. He died peacefully on the 28th April 2020 with his family, in the house in Verulam Road where he had had some of his happiest memories.