Caroline Chisholm, BA 1994 (died in July 2015, aged 43)

Extract from obituary by Caroline’s sister, Helen Bradley, published in The Guardian)

Caroline Chisholm was an award-winning novelist, a professional communicator and a dedicated environmentalist.

Born in Brentwood, Essex, the second of five children of Bob and Marsha Chisholm, Caroline attended primary school in Ibstone, Buckinghamshire, and then in the Shetland Islands. After she completed A-levels in Westcliff-on-Sea, she came to Queen's and graduated in English and Russian studies.

Caroline's career began in marketing and PR at the Northern Ireland Film Council. She dedicated both her working and her personal life to charities including the National Osteoporosis Society and the Vegetarian Society.

Having declared at the age of five her intention to swim the Channel, in 2009, she set out to do just that. Although bad weather ultimately prevented the crossing, Caroline spent hours training in the freezing sea around Dover, as well as blogging about her experience. This led to the development of her first novel, Swimming Pool Hill.

In September 2013, while doing research on her book in Calais, Caroline was taken ill. She underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for an aggressive and malignant brain tumour.

In 2014, Swimming Pool Hill was awarded the Peggy Chapman-Andrews first novel award.

Caroline is survived by our parents, her sisters, Jaine and me, and brothers, Robert and Stephen, and by three nieces and two nephews.

 

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