31st December 1924 – 29th March 2011
Born in Wandsworth, and growing up in Battersea, Ken attended school in London, where one particular master saw his potential with a camera and encouraged this.
When he left school war had broken out, but he was too young to join the Army and so he found work at Shepperton Film Studios. When asked about his job, very tongue in cheek, he always used to say that he swept the floors there!
As soon as Ken could he joined the Army, and at the enlistment told the officials that he was working in film. After training in Kent, he found himself galloping around India on horseback and, very young in life, was promoted to sergeant.
This gave Ken a lifelong love of India, particularly Simla. Before war ended, he was recalled back to London to work in the War Office. It was here he met his future wife Daphne who was in the WRAF. Through mutual interests love blossomed, they were married in 1946 and made their first home in Battersea.
Soon after, Owen their first son was born, followed by Martyn two years later. Ken remained in Government related work and initially worked in a department where he pioneered the creation of micro dots, a photo-optical process that enabled agents to post secret information to their base without detection. His work and research gave many breakthroughs for the country and the world as a whole. Ken was the first man to take a photograph inside another living mammal and was crucial to the development of the endoscope.
From the 1960s, Ken became a scientific photographer at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. The photographic department at Harwell contributed a very important element of the scientific research that took place there. Among the state of the art photographic techniques employed was high speed photography. Using specially developed, very high precision cameras capable of filming speeds many thousands of times faster than a conventional cine camera, they were used to study, in great detail, events that lasted for a few fractions of a second. These could be viewed as either cine or a sequence of still images. It required a deep knowledge of photographic science and optics.
Many of the techniques and cameras were being developed and manufactured by John Hadland PI Ltd, a family company with an excellent reputation around the world. Customers ranged from government defence and energy research establishments to industrial clients such as motor manufacturers with the now very familiar vehicle safety crash tests.
Early in 1962, the company founder John Hadland and managing director Geoff Foster met Ken during visits to Harwell, and shortly afterwards he was invited to join the company as the sales manager. Ken’s combination of technical knowledge, charm and fun communication skills played their part in helping the company to go from strength to strength. Later he was appointed as sales director when the company moved into new premises in Bovingdon.
Ken left John Hadland PI Ltd in 1973 to set up and become managing director of International IMC Ltd, which was a jointly owned company of Photo-Sonics Inc of Japan. The company was based in Thame and was responsible for the marketing, sales and service of the parent companies’ products throughout Europe, the Middle East and India. One of Ken's achievements during the 1970s and 80s was the successful introduction of the first practical high speed video system for industrial applications.
He and Daphne travelled extensively to all these countries, and as such made many friends across the world and visited them on holidays as well as for work. Some of his trips, particularly those to Russia during the Cold War, made for interesting anecdotes.
By the end of the 1980s, IIMC had more than 20 staff and it was one of the leading suppliers of high speed imaging equipment in Europe, as well as further afield. In particular, Ken's experience of India enabled IIMC to become a major supplier to the Indian Ministry of Defence.
To extend the product line into ultra high speed imaging, Ken worked with NAC to set up a design and manufacturing company called IMCO, based in Basildon, Essex. Several new developments in ultra high speed image converter cameras came out of IMCO at this time.
In 1991 the partnership between Photo-Sonics and NAC came to an end and two new companies were formed. Ken remained with NAC, continuing to lead IMCO and NAC Europe throughout the 1990s until his well earned retirement.
Throughout this long and varied career he and Daphne were raising their two sons. He was very proud of them, and gave them both a wonderful childhood, full of fishing trips and shooting days, hunting pheasants and rabbits and camping. He left both Owen and Martyn with wonderful memories. Martyn suffered from haemophilia, and Owen carried the gene, so life at times could be extremely difficult. Especially so for Martyn, who endured the full wrath of this horrendous condition.
Nearing retirement Ken and Daphne moved to Cuddington, where Ken continued to be an active member of the Thame Rotary Club and ran the Neighbourhood Watch scheme for the village. They loved life here, as well as enjoying many wonderful holidays together.
However Daphne’s health was deteriorating. She too suffered from the rare form of female haemophilia, and osteoporosis was taking its toll. Eventually, in 2008, Daphne moved into a nursing home where she died in 2009.
Very sadly, Martyn passed away suddenly in 2010, less than two years after losing his mother.
A series of debilitating ailments took their toll on Ken and finally he was forced to move to a nursing home in Princes Risborough. He passed away on the 29th March 2011.
Anthony Odhams