17 Nov 2025
31st October 1934 - 2nd October 2025
Rosan was born on the Isle of Wight, in 1934. She was proud of her family's long connection with the county of Hampshire. Her paternal grandfather, Orlando Spencer-Smith, had been born at Brooklands, a large house overlooking the Hamble. He was for many years the vicar at nearby Sarisbury Green. Her father, Richard Osbaldeston Spencer-Smith, was an officer in the Hampshire Regiment, who had seen active service in the Great War on the Somme and before that at Gallipoli, where he had been wounded. At the time of Rosan's birth, he was colonel of the Isle of Wight Rifles. She had two older brothers who were also both regular army officers and who served in the Second World War: Roland, who also joined the Hampshire Regiment, and Drummond, the Royal Tank Regiment. With strong military connections on her maternal side as well, Rosan’s other grandfather, Harry Everard Passy, served in the Indian Army and was Deputy Accountant-General to the military department of the Government of India.Rosan grew up at the Mount, an Edwardian mansion outside Fareham and later moved to a cottage nearby in Dundridge. Much later, when nursing her mother, she met Geoffrey, who was the locum GP. In 1979 she and Geoffrey married, and early in 1980 they bought Gaston Wood Farm in Upper Wyke. Geoffrey became the local GP, and in the early years would hold his surgeries in St Mary Bourne village hall. They were married for 32 years until, sadly, Geoffrey died following a stroke in 2011.Rosan began her professional career as a dietician in 1958. She trained in Bath, subsequently London. She started working in the Middlesex and Brompton hospitals in London. Moving back to Hampshire, she worked in the Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital, on the site of today’s Alton Community Hospital. She transferred to Basingstoke Hospital when it opened. She retired at the age of 62, when the demands of the farm were enough to occupy her full time. One of Rosan's great passions was animals. She was an accomplished horsewoman, and in her Dundridge years rode with the Hambledon Hunt, for whom she was also Hunt Secretary. For all her skill as a huntswoman there were many falls, many broken bones. Aside from horses, it was any animal - as long as it was black: specifically, Aberdeen Angus cattle, and labradors. At Gaston Wood she developed a small herd and acquired an international reputation as a breeder of pedigree Aberdeen Angus, whose opinion and judgement were much sought after. She travelled extensively, visiting herds in Scotland and England, the US and Argentina, and enriched the gene pool of the breed here by introducing genes from American pedigrees. And of course, her animals won prizes at shows, such as the Newbury Show. Rosan was quietly very generous in supporting a number of charities. Perhaps her most generous donation came when it was time to say Goodbye to her herd of pedigree Angus, and she donated them to Jamie's Farm. Jamie's Farm - and there are now actually seven farms - is a wonderful charity which allows children who have typically had no exposure to rural life, the opportunity to spend a week living and working in a real farm.
Gaston Wood also saw a long line of black labs: Eartha, George, Rosie, and Tarka, culminating in Zebo, her bouncy boy many here will know. Rosan was for many years involved in the Labrador Lifeline Trust, a charity which helps with rehoming the breed. Rosan was a long term member of the Gallipoli Association, honouring the memory of the terrible landings. Her father was one of the few who got ashore from the SS River Clyde, the old collier-turned-troopship that was beached directly in the face of the Turkish guns on V Beach. He went on to lead the remnants of his company to capture a Turkish fort. In 2015 she was one of the lucky 15 veterans’ relatives selected to attend the centenary commemoration, meeting Princes Charles and Harry, offshore, on HMS Bulwark. Not surprisingly, on one occasion she had instructed the future king on the breeding of Aberdeen Angus. Her musical tastes were very broad. She loved classical music, especially opera, and loved going to Glyndebourne. But she was also a devotee of John Peel, the champion of avant garde and underground music. She emphasised that Roxy Music's Psalm was to be played at her funeral.
Rosan was always very interested in other people, and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of people, their families and circumstances. She was especially fond of her four godchildren, Edward, Julia, Patrick, and Richard. Everyone who has heard of her passing has said this is truly the end of an era. Finally, the one thing we were all painfully aware of was never to part from her with the bland modern counsel to "Take Care". "Live dangerously" was her motto.