My father, Robin Cocks, who died aged 84, was one of the world’s most distinguished students of brachiopods – small prehistoric marine bivalves, similar to a modern cockle shell. During his many years at the Natural History Museum, he rose to become keeper of palaeontology, and never lost his enthusiasm for science.
He joined the British Museum (Natural History) as scientific officer in 1965, ending up as keeper of palaeontology from 1986 until his official retirement in 1998. He published a steady stream of papers on brachiopods that continued up until his death. By the 1990s he had become an expert on Ordovician and Silurian brachiopods, and claimed to have named a new genus for every letter of the alphabet. He travelled extensively and collaborated with many scientists, ending up working in paleogeography and plate tectonics as well as on his beloved brachiopods.
He was president of the Palaeontological Association (1986-88), president of the Palaeontographical Society (1994-98) and president of the Geologists’ Association (2004-06). The pinnacle of his service to the geological community was as president of the Geological Society of London (1998-2000).
Robin’s contribution to science was recognised by the Geological Society with the Coke medal in 1995, by Geologica Belgica with the Dumont medal in 2003, and by the Palaeontological Association with the Lapworth medal in 2010. He was appointed OBE in 1999, and awarded the TD for his work with the Royal Engineers Specialist Reserves.
He was the son of Ralph Cocks, a teacher, and Mary (nee Blackler), and claimed to be a cockney, having been born within earshot of Bow bells, but grew up in Alton, Hampshire, with his great-aunt, having been evacuated during the second world war. Felsted school, Essex, and national service in Malaya with the Royal Artillery were followed by Hertford College, Oxford, where Robin gained a first-class honours degree in geology and a DPhil in 1965.
In Oxford, he also met Elaine Sturdy, whom he married in 1963. They settled in Bromley, Kent, and had three children, Zoe, Julia and me. He was very proud of his eight grandchildren.
Robin was a keen philatelist and interested in Roman history. He also liked his food and drink, and was a member of the Lucretian Society, a group of scientists who meet for occasional dinners. In his Who’s Who entry, under “recreations”, he put down “country pursuits”, which was a family joke for taking the dog out for walks.
In later years my father had to cope with health problems, but to his family and friends he seemed indestructible; if anything, the brachiopods and palaeogeography served to keep him going.
He is survived by Elaine and by his children and grandchildren.
