Life Stories
William Linnard
William Linnard (1951 BA German & Spanish) died on 23 August 2024 aged 90.
Polyglot, forester, historian and horologist, William ‘Bill’ Linnard led a long and full life brimming with travel and adventure, steeped in academic research and immersed in multiple languages. He leaves devoted wife of 68 years, Margaret, loving daughters, Gillian & Sarah, and four dear grandchildren who are privileged to have shared so many years in the company of such an inspirational individual.
Bill was born in Skewen in 1934 and his flare for languages became evident at school where he studied French, Latin, Spanish and German. Bill’s wanderlust also emerged at this time when he cycled all the way to Germany from South Wales on his 3-gear bike in 1950 (and again in 1951!). All this in the aftermath of WW2 and before going up to Oxford at the age of 17, where he represented Keble at cross-country and cricket.
The studies continued after Keble, first Russian, courtesy of the Royal Navy during his National Service, and then a forestry diploma which took him back to Oxford, just a stone’s throw from Keble, to combine both languages and forestry at the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau in South Parks Road. Bill added Welsh to his repertoire which allowed a move back to Wales in 1975 to The Welsh Folk Museum, St Fagans working through the medium of Welsh on various aspects of Welsh historical research.
The inevitable PhD was acquired in 1979 at Bangor University on the subject of Welsh Forest History. It is cited as a seminal study and led to a published book, many related articles and some radio and television broadcasting on forestry and trees.
Alongside extensive global travel, Bill continued translating and abstracting technical Russian and German forestry articles well into his 80s and still found time for a new area of research, that of horology, which led to four published books on Welsh clocks and a cherished collection of long-case clocks.
Bill will be missed by all who knew him.
Kindly provided by his daughter, Sarah Linnard
Books and Publications:
- Welsh Woods and Forests – History and Utilization, 1982 (revised 2000)
- Russian – English Forestry and Wood Dictionary, 1966 (revised 1999 with Darrah-Morgan)
- Cardiff Clocks, 1999
- Wales Clocks & Clockmakers, 2003
- Henry Williams Lancarvan – A Clock and Watchmaker and a Great Farmer, 2003 (with Cloutman)
- Charles Vaughan of Pontypool – A Mystery Clockmaker and his Clocks, 2005
- An Autumn in Wales (1856) Julius Rodenberg (Translated and Edited by William Linnard, 1985)
- Manual of Wood Decays in Trees (2001) Weber & Mattheck (Translated by William Linnard, 2003)
- Dr Linnard was also a regular contributor to The Quarterly Journal of Forestry, Folk Life Magazine, The National Library of Wales Journal, Morgannwg Journal and Antiquarian Horology, amongst many others.