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Sally Miall 1918 - 2010
Sally Miall died calmly at the age of 91 at the end of an extremely eventful life. Her father, Gordon Leith, a young South African architect, was invalided out from the Western Front after a gas attack. Sally was born in Essex on 18 December 1918. After the war, her father worked in France with Sir Herbert Baker on the War Graves Commission and then returned to a long and successful career in South Africa.
Sally grew up in Johannesburg and returned with her mother and twin sisters to England in 1934 to complete her schooling at Roedean. From there she went up to Newnham College Cambridge where she read English and made many lifelong friends. She met and married Nigel Bicknell, a glamorous amateur flyer who, on the outbreak of the Second War, joined the RAF, flying the extremely risky reconnaissance missions over occupied Europe in the fast but lightly-armed Mosquitoes. He was shot down once, and survived a further near-fatal crash. During the War Sally survived a night of the blitz when a fire bomb landed on her bed but did not go off; she worked at Bletchley Park with the now famous code-breakers; she crossed the Atlantic in embattled convoys twice. Home for Sally and Nigel at this time was Finella, a large house in Cambridge with notorious ‘moderne’ interiors, which they shared with Nigel’s brother Peter and his wife, the ballet dancer Mari Bicknell, and two other families – and their first son Julian.
At the War’s end Nigel was appointed Air Attaché in Washington. There Sally and Nigel met and shared a house with the photographer Paul Child and his wife Julian Child, later to be the first, much-loved television chef. A second son, Marcus, was born in Washington. Nigel continued his career in the Foreign Service, and was posted to Istanbul and Athens where, in 1956, Sally won the Ladies Cup in the Acropolis Rally in a Fiat 500 - and had a third son, Alexander. Her fourth, Stephen, was born in London. A rumbustious family life filled a rather ramshackle terrace house in Chelsea and a draughty cottage in Sussex for some 20 years.
Sally had many talents. She played the piano, she drew, she knew and loved the literary canon, she was a writer - first of trenchant illustrated diaries and later of novels for children and adults. She was a skilful dressmaker, an accomplished cook, and a dedicated gardener. She shared her enthusiasm for all of these accomplishments with her friends and extended families.
In 1975 Nigel and Sally were divorced and both remarried, Sally to Leonard Miall OBE. Leonard was an established figure at the BBC who had started as a wartime reporter, was the BBC’s man-in-America through the fifties, and returned to the UK to set up BBC2 and continue as a senior mandarin till his retirement.
During this time Sally worked as Secretary to the British School at Athens, serving a committee of distinguished academic archaeologists from an office in Gordon Square, with yearly trips to Athens and the various digs run by the School. Sally’s earlier experience of living in Greece and her enthusiasm for ancient Greek culture and literature suited her perfectly for this role.
Leonard and Sally’s home in Taplow saw many happy gatherings of their joint families over a period of 30 years. Leonard died in 2005. Sally continued to complete the Times crossword every day until only a few weeks ago. She is survived by three of her four sons, four step-children, their wives and husbands and a fleet of grand- and step-grand children.
Julian Bicknell
There is a Book of Condolence in Taplow Parish Church. People are invited to contribute reminiscences both in writing and in drawings. A memorial service will be held in the Church at 11.30 on Friday,10th December