Sir Michael Jeremiah Colman, 3rd Baronet (7 July 1928 – 26 December 2023) was a British businessman. He served as director of Reckitt & Colman plc, the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

First Church Estates Commissioner The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

and founder of Summerdown, a commercial peppermint farm in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Early life and education

Michael Jeremiah Colman was born on 7 July 1928 to Jeremiah Colman (later 2nd baronet, of Gatton Park; 1886–1961) and Edith Gwendolen Tritton (1902–1980), scion of the Tritton baronets. He was the grandson of Sir Jeremiah Colman, 1st Bt, and a descendant of

Jeremiah Colman Jeremiah Colman (1777–1851) was an English miller who founded Colman's Mustard, a business which merged into the conglomerate Reckitt & Colman, and is now owned by Unilever. Life He was born in Norfolk in 1777 to Robert Colman (1749-1807) an ...

, founder of

Colman's Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ra ...

. Colman was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. He served his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

and the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, gaining the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry (QOYY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army from 1956 to 1971. Its lineage is maintained today by A (Yorkshire Yeomanry) Squadron, Queen's Own Yeomanry. History The regiment was formed by the amalgamatio ...

. In 1961, he inherited the Colman baronetcy from his father.

Career

Colman began his business career in his family's condiment company, J. & J. Colman, working in the international division. He became director Reckitt & Colman plc's, the public successor to J. & J. Colman, overseas board in 1962 and finance director in 1980. He was chairman from 1986 until his retirement in 1995. From 1993 to 1999, he served as the

, overseeing the Church's investment portfolio. For his work with the Church, he was awarded the

Cross of St Augustine The Cross of St Augustine is an award of merit in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is awarded to members of the Anglican Communion who have made significant contributions to the life of the worldwide Communion, or to a particular auton ...

. In 1993, he was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D.) by the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. After retiring from Reckitt & Colman plc in 1995, Colman founded Summerdown, a

peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...

farm and distillery in

. Summerdown revived the Black Mitcham peppermint crop which had been extinct in England for 50 years.

Personal life

On 29 October 1955, he married Judith Jean Wallop William-Powlett (born 7 February 1936), daughter of Vice Admiral Sir Peveril William-Powlett. They had three daughters and two sons, including Sir Jeremiah Colman, 4th Baronet. Lady Colman is patron of several charitable organizations, including

SeeAbility SeeAbility (formerly School for the Indigent Blind and Royal School for the Blind) is a UK charity that provides support and campaigns for better eye care for people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. In 2017 it reported that 23 ...

and Basingstoke & District Disability Forum. Sir Michael died on 26 December 2023, at the age of 95. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his elder son, Jeremiah "Jamie" (born 1958).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, Michael, Sir, 3rd Baronet 1928 births 2023 deaths People educated at Eton College British food industry businesspeople 20th-century British businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople Church Estates Commissioners Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons officers English Anglicans 103

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

Recipients of the Cross of St Augustine