Honor Marriage was born on 23 June 1925 at Broomfield Mill near Chelmsford, and died on 19 September 2022 aged 97 in Colchester, Essex. The youngest of five in a Quaker farming and flour-milling family, she loved riding and hunting with her father. She attended Quaker schools Sidcot and The Mount before studying Social Science and Administration at the London School of Economics. LSE was evacuated to Cambridge during World War II and she enjoyed being at Peterhouse. She served in Friends' Relief Service after World War II in London and Germany, supporting Displaced Persons. Attending the 1950 Oberammergau Passion Play made a deep impression which she talked about for many years; she also organised a trip to Germany in 1952 for Huntingdonshire Young Farmers.

In 1953 she married John Chamberlain when he was beginning to grow fruit at Lark Hill Farm, Great Yeldham in North Essex. Their first home was Brook Farm, where the rent was ‘a chicken a year’ thanks to an understanding landlord. Honor coped with basic conditions, including a copper for washing, while raising Veronica (born 1956) and Richard (born 1958). She did market research in the evenings, once returning from the Essex marshes with a parcel of eels from a family she interviewed! Following John’s early death in 1968 she took over the business and pioneered Pick Your Own for strawberries and apples, supported by Ken and Judith, as well as young horticulturalists, Veronica, Richard, Swiss young women and others. She found time to chair the National Farmers’ Union County Horticulture Committee and serve Quaker causes, for example helping Ugandan Asian refugees.

In 1986 Honor sold the farm and settled in Colchester where she campaigned for the Liberal Democrats, serving as Borough Councillor for St Mary’s Ward and receiving a special award from Paddy Ashdown. She was well-known to people of various faiths including the Muslim and Jewish communities; she was honoured to serve on the Court of Essex University. She gained O Level Greek and became a Ramblers’ leader in Greece. With the Quaker meeting she supported Syrian refugees and Glebe House for young people, but was perhaps best-known for her annual Jam Sale, which raised thousands for Quaker Peace and Service. Her standards were high; woe betide anyone who presented a sticky or poorly-labelled jar.

Honor followed Quaker advice to make provision for old age, putting her name down for Balkerne Gardens sheltered housing. She moved to a flat in 2012, where she organised the Scrabble Club and was a sought-after team member at Quiz Evenings. She made new friends, and some old friends moved in. After a fall in 2019 she moved to Freda Gunton Lodge where the staff did a wonderful job caring for her.

Having lived all her life close to nature, Honor was deeply concerned about threats to the planet’s wildlife and wanted any donations on her death to go to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Thank you for any contribution you can make.