Peter becomes Club Board in 1992
Peter, who became a member of the board at the last AGM (1992) was born in Lancashire, England, where his family lived for generations. His daughter and grandchildren carry on that tradition. He studied engineering, economics and history at Cambridge and London University, and made his living in marketing, anything from canned pet-foods to copper, until retirement in 1987. Peter moved to France, where he still spends part of every year.
However he visited Andorra in 1951, and bought his flat in Ordino 1973. Peter pursues numerous interests, classic musical, history, politics, viewing sculpts and paintings, writing ( nothing important yet published except this magazine), poetry and skiing. A member of the Club since the very early days and an active member of the Theatre group, acting as treasurer. Twice married and divorced in England, willing to try again if sufficient convicted.
Published : Inter-Comm Winter 1992
Homage to Peter Parkinson
Born in Blackpool on 15th July 1925 – Died in Andorra la Vella 12th September 2003
On Wednesday 10th September 2003, Peter Parkinson suffered a heart attack while packing his car for a trip to his home in Crusades, France.
He was taken to the hospital in Andorra la Vella where, despite initial hopes for a complete recovery, he suffered a second heart attack and died in his sleep on the morning of Friday 12th. He is survived by his only daughter, Vicki and his two grandsons, Thomas aged 14 and Daniel, 12.
Many of Peter’s friends and colleagues at the International Club know little of Peter’s life outside of Andorra, so who was the real Peter Parkinson?
Peter Gath Lindsay Parkinson was born in Blackpool on 15th July 1925 and it’s fair to say that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Peter’s grandfather was Sir Lindsay Parkinson, ex-footballer with Blackpool and Blackburn, Member of Parliament, Mayor of Blackpool and chairman of Blackpool Football Club. In his later years, Sir Lindsay was offered – and turned down – a Baronetcy.
Sir Lindsay also found time to build up his family business – a construction company responsible for many Civil Engineering projects in the UK and abroad. Among their most notable achievements were the East Lancashire Road (A580) between Liverpool and Manchester, the Western Avenue (A40) in West-London, the renovation of Old Trafford stadium following war damage, and ice Rinks in Paris, Amsterdam and Hammersmith.
Unfortunately, Sir Lindsay’s sons, including Peter’s father Robert, did not inherit their father’s business acumen and by the time Peter had left University, the family business was in terminal decline and was eventually swallowed up by Fairclough (now AMEC). Peter’s silver spoon had been well and truly snatched from his lips but fortunately he had been blessed with a sharp mind and the drive and determination to succeed on his own merits.
Peter was educated at the Arnold School in Blackpool and won a place at Cambridge University where he gained a 1st Class Honours Degree in Engineering and then moved on to postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics. With Qualifications in engineering and economics, it seems strange that he should choose a career in Marketing and Advertising but not much in Peter’s life was simple and straightforward. Following stints at J.Walter Thompson and Pedigree Pet Foods, the late 1960’s found him working at BICC, a copper-wire manufacturer in Liverpool. In 1972, Peter moved to Paris to take up a post at CIPEC, an inter-governmental organisation representing the interests of world’s copper-producing nations. He remained with CIPEC until his retirement in 1988.
Peter’s work at CIPEC had taken him around the world but when the time came for him to retire he chose to move to Andorra, which he had first stumbled upon in the 1950’s. He soon realised that he had found a country where wine was cheaper than water and he vowed to return permanently. Peter remained busy during his retirement; he became an active member of the International Club with particular interest in the Drama and Investment groups and also remained a keen skier well into his late 70’s.
Peter was twice briefly married and twice divorced. His first marriage, to Daphne, was childless but in 1961 his second wife, Barbara, gave birth to their only daughter, Victoria.
Memories of my Grandfather.
My Grandad always looked to me like a bit of a mad professor.
He always had a bit of mad hair cut, which of course he always did himself with the aid of a mirror and a pair of garden shears. My favourite story that he ever told me was when he worked for Pedigree Pet Foods – he told me that one of his jobs when he was very junior, was to deal with letters from the public. One day he received a letter from a customer who said her cat had changed colour – Grandad told me that when they made cat food they used to put colouring into the meat mix to change it from grey to pink and this cat had ended up eating the whole pellet of pink colour.
My grandad was also the world’s worst pizza chef – somebody should have told him that you can’t make pizza in a microwave.
Thomas Lyons, age 14,
Grandson of Peter Parkinson
My Grandad used to pretend that he was very intellectual but when he came to our house he always used to grab the telly zapper and keep it for two weeks. He was a secret expert on everything that ever happened on Coronation Street but most of all he loved watching The Bill.
He was also the world’s greatest conservationist (or hoarder according to my mum and dad). People tell me I am a clone of my grandad which sounds fine to me as long as I keep my hair a bit later than he did – I don’t want to be bold at 25 !
Daniel Lyons, age 12, grandson of Peter Parkinson
