Born in Colchester, Essex, in 1938, he went to Whitgift School in South Croydon, Surrey, and thence to Corpus Christi College, Oxford University. There he read Chemistry and went on to gain a D Phil in gas phase reaction kinetics. After a post-doctorate in UMIST, Manchester, he joined Shell Research in Cheshire, where he spent his main career as an applied research scientist in fuel combustion and gasoline and additive technology. During that time he worked on both sides of the Atlantic.
Now retired, he has directed his interest into his family history and genealogy, and more specifically into the life and works of his kinsman, Richard Doddridge Blackmore (to whom he is related as a second cousin three generations removed). He has written and published a number of booklets on aspects of the novelistŐs personal and literary life.
David Blackmore is an active lay person in the Church of England, and has been a Lay Reader and member of the General Synod for many years. Recently he has become a Lay Canon of Chester Cathedral.
Last modified 26 April 2006