From Scientist to Silversmith .........  Ron Hutton

I was always interested in science, and it was chemistry that attracted me to University at Manchester, UK,
where I obtained a first class honours B.Sc, and entered industry. After 5 years in research, I developed a new synthetic process that my company patented and licensed, for a substantial fee. I was able to write up the work as an external degree and was awarded an M.Sc. As a reward, the company proposed that I return full time to University, on full pay, to obtain a Ph.D. This I did, and graduated in 1966, returning to my company as Research Manager, aged 26. I got married in the middle of my Ph.D, and my new wife, Margaret spent her time typing my thesis, while I laboured in another room writing it. We had met 5 years before, and my wife came from Scotland, whilst I lived 300 miles away in England, so it was a long distance courtship!.

In 1970’s, I was promoted to Research Center Manager, and developed another new process for a new
product, used to process plastics. The route was of academic interest also, and I was invited to lecture on it in Moscow and New York. Later, I managed other Research Centers in the UK and in the USA, and over my
research career, filed around 20 worldwide patents, and published a large number of papers in scientific journals.

Our first child, Neil, was born in 1967, Eric was born in 1969 and our daughter Sharon was born in1973.
We lived in a town called Southport on the West coast of England. A very pleasant place, with a long beach and sandhills for the children to play in, the largest man made boating lake in Europe and a famous shopping parade of shops known as Lord Street. This is a wide boulevard, with sophisticated shops, nice restaurants and lined with trees either side. It runs parallel to the Promenade.

By 1987, I was Assistant Director of Research at a Research Center in Illinois, and wished to return to
the UK. The company offered me the position of Site Director of a large chemical factory in the south of
England, covering 18 acres of chemical plant and employing 180 people at that time. I was made a UK Director, and became a Trustee of the pension scheme. All the family, and our golden Labrador and a rabbit called Fluffy, moved to a new home in Kent, in a village called Selling, 7 miles from the cathedral city of Canterbury.

The next 10 years was an intense period, building up the factory from a poor state of repair to one which
became the first site in the group to obtain the Quality Assurance standard ISO 9000, and the first site in the UK to achieve the new Environmental standard BS 7750. I received the latter award from the government Minister For The Environment, at a ceremony in London. Local awards were achieved in Kent Company of the Year, Kent Exporter of the year, (we exported 95% of our manufacture), and Investors in People.

It was an intense period for the family too. Neil graduated in chemistry at my old university and took a
job with a company making starch derivatives, and was able to live at home and travel to work in his company car. He met his wife Jackie, they were married in 1994 , and have made us grandparents twice over with Emily, now 3 years, and Sophie, 10 months. Eric also graduated, got a job in the Paper industry, met Ana, and got married in 1996. They have also given us two grandchildren, Jack 4 years old, and Erin 17 months. After also graduating, Sharon is now a teacher at a primary school, and is courting strongly with her boyfriend Drew. All three children live within a relatively easy car trip, Neil being furthest away at 1 hour 10 minutes, whilst Sharon is only 10 minutes away.

During this period, following an illness, I had an intensive company medical in 1991. The doctor wound
my arm round, noted the cogwheel rigidity, and told me I had Parkinson’s Disease. I saw a neurologist, who
confirmed the diagnosis, and I started on 3 Sinemet Plus per day. We now know it would have been better to delay this. I was in my “honeymoon period” period, when I did not need medication, and felt no advantage taking it. For several years, I refused to believe I had PD. However, within around 5 to 6 years it became evident I had it, although it did not bother me until after I retired at the age of 60 in 1997. I am now 10 years into PD, it is only now starting to bother me. Without medication, I have considerable difficulty walking. However, with medication, I can drive without problem, and in my 5 years retirement, my wife and I have visited Hawaii,Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, and many European cities from Prague to Antwerp. We visit Mexico in Feb. 2002. We are not letting PD stop us!!

Previously, I had not done a lot of work with my hands. I was a DIY person (Do It Yourself), through
financial necessity when the children were young. Now in retirement, I have found hidden skills, and have
become an enthusiastic silversmith! I buy scrap silver, and melt down with a propane blowtorch, and beat it into shape the old fashioned way. The photographs show some of my efforts. For a Christmas present this year, my 3 children have together bought me my own makers mark. This means I am a registered silversmith at the London Assay Office, and I have my initials on a punch, which the Assay Office uses to insert my makers mark amongst the UK silver hallmarks.

I have not totally abandoned my science upbringing. I follow avidly, the medical research being done for
Parkinson’s Disease, via the Internet. I correspond with both researchers and other PD sufferers worldwide, again via the Internet mainly. I have recently become the European Co-ordinator for a USA based PD lobbying and drug tracking group, called the PD Pipeline. Hopefully, our efforts will help speed up the long awaited cure.

Ron E. Hutton  

   click on thumbnails below to enlarge picture

The Hutton family

dish

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knife

silver