Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:03:30 +0100

From: Charles Mitchell

Subject: Sir Robert Megarry

Dear Hector

You'll see that the Telegraph obituarist quotes him as saying that:

"One of the examiners congratulated me on my economy of effort," he recalled. "If I'd got one mark less I'd have failed. As it was I came away with a Third."

I wonder about this, though: would he not have got a Fourth if he'd got one mark less? I don't know how the degree classification rules worked at Cambridge in the 30s.

Best wishes
Charles

At 16:50 17/10/2006 +0100, Hector MacQueen wrote:

The Times obit was rather good, but disappointingly didn't mention either Coco v Clark or Ross v Caunters which are surely among Megarry's more distinctive claims to fame. Also, I have a memory of a story told to me long ago by the late Alf Donaldson, former Parliamentary draftsman at Stormont and a younger contemporary of Megarry in Northern Ireland, that Megarry got a pass or fourth class degree. The Times rather glosses over his student career, and I wonder if anyone can confirm the truth or otherwise of the story.

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