Rayner Unwin - Personal Life

Personal Life

Unwin married Carol Margaret née Curwen (1924-2012) on 3 April 1952. Carol's father Harold also worked in the publishing trade, as the owner of the Curwen Press. The two families had known each other for a long time, as Stanley Unwin and Harold Curwen had attended Abbotsholme School together. Carol Curwen was working as a nurse at the time of their marriage.

Their first married home was a flat above the Museum Street offices of Allen & Unwin. They later moved to Limes Cottage, a Grade II listed property in the Buckinghamshire village of Little Missenden. They continued to live there until their deaths, in 2000 and 2012 respectively. Unwin served as chairman for the annual Little Missenden Music Festival between 1981 and 1988.

The Unwins had four children: three daughters and one son. His son Merlin also entered the publishing trade, initially working for George Allen & Unwin before setting up his own independent publishing company, Merlin Unwin Books, with a focus on countryside and fishing.

He was a member of the Garrick Club.

Unwin died of cancer on 23 November 2000 at the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. His cremated remains were taken by his daughter to the Himalayas and scattered there.

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