Sir Timothy James Alan Colman, KG 1929-2021

Sir Timothy Colman, KG, who died at his Norfolk home, 9 September, 2021, aged 91, was a member of the Colmans mustard family, a Knight of the Garter, and a cousin [by marriage] of the Queen.

Timothy James Alan Colman was born 19 September, 1929, son of the cricketer Geoffrey Russell Rees Colman [1892-1935], by his wife the former Lettice Elizabeth Evelyn Adeane, scion of that landed gentry family.

He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and joined the Royal Navy, leaving as a lieutenant in 1953, before commencing a business career. He subsequently joined the Castaways' Club. Colman was chairman of the Eastern Counties Newspaper Group from 1969 to 1996. He was appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in 1996.

Colman was a yachtsman, and claimed the record for the world's fastest yacht at 26.3 knots with Crossbow, a proa outrigger, at the inception of the World Sailing Speed Record Council in 1972. He increased the record to 31.2 knots three years later, and then in 1980 his catamaran Crossbow II extended the record to 36 knots.It held the record for six years until being beaten by the sailboard of Pascal Maka of France. Colman was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.

He married 10 November, 1951, Mary Cecilia Bowes-Lyon [born 30 Jan, 1932], a first cousin of Her Majesty the Queen, a twin daughter of Capt the Hon Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon [1893-1953], who was an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, by his wife the former Elizabeth Margaret Cator [1899-1959], scion of that Norfolk landed gentry family. His wife, Mary, an extra lady in waiting to Princess Alexandra, was raised to the rank of an earl's daughter, in 1974, two years after the succession to the earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne, of her brother, Fergus.

Lady Mary Colman died 2 January, 2021, at the Colman family home at Bixley Manor.

Sir Timothy's death leaves five vacancies among the Knights Companion of the Order of the Garter, following the deaths of Lord Carrington, Field Marshal Lord Bramall, Lord Ashburton, and Sir Antony Acland [who predeceased him by one day]. No new knights were appointed during the Covid crisis, but it is expected that Her Majesty will make further appointments in her 2022 jubilee year bringing the number to full capacity of 24.

Sir Timothy leaves issue, two sons, James and Matthew, and three daughters, Sarah, Sabrina and Emma. The elder daughter, Sarah Troughton, is Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire.

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