PRESTON, Mrs Antony ((Anne) Jennifer nee KIRWAN) (1933-2023)
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(Submitted by Eleanor Preston)
My mother, Jennifer Preston, who has died aged 89, lived a long and varied life, characterised by care for others, especially children….
Yet it was her work in epilepsy that was perhaps closest to her heart, driven by the death of her 22-year-old son, William, in 1988. He died of a then little-known syndrome called sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (Sudep), which disproportionately affects young people….
Jennifer was born in Paddington, central London, to Sir Laurence Kirwan, an eminent archaeologist who worked with military intelligence, and Joan (nee Chetwynd), a Wren. Sir Laurence later went on to become head of the Royal Geographical Society. Her parents separated when she was four, divorcing later…..
In her late teens, Jennifer became one of the last eligible society debutantes to be presented to the Queen (the practice was stopped in 1958)….
In 1965 she married naval historian Antony Preston. Initially living in Chelsea, in 1967 they moved to a house in Fulham, where Jennifer would remain for the rest of her life. They had four children; their eldest, Matt Preston, went on to became a television star in Australia….
Antony died in 2004. Jennifer is survived by her children, Matt, Katie and me, and by five grandchildren.
