Patricia Eleanor Merriman (1926-2017) was one of the pioneers of the actuarial profession.
She forged a distinguished career in what was then a largely male profession. When she qualified in 1951 she was only the tenth lady ever to qualify as a Fellow of the (then) Institute of Actuaries.
Pat was born in Hampstead, North London in 1926. She excelled at mathematics and was awarded a place at Newnham College Cambridge in 1944. On graduation she joined Bacon & Woodrow where she spent the whole of her career, becoming the first ever female partner in a firm of consulting actuaries in the UK. With her good friend Monica Allanach, who had qualified as an actuary at the same time at the Prudential, she founded a new support group to support isolated lady actuaries and trainees - and so the Lady Actuaries Tea Parties were established in 1954.
One of Pat's strengths was her ability to generate new ideas to develop the business - notably to establish a Guernsey Office for Bacon & Woodrow in 1979. She played a key role in the business life of the Island, and also inspired the creation of the Channel Islands Actuarial Society. In 1991 Pat reached retirement age but continued with the firm as a consultant partner.
Although professional life was important to Pat, she always had other interests, with an abiding passion for championship bridge. As well as continuing to play bridge she developed a talent for Soduko puzzles and even developed her own Merriman Tables to solve them. She also took up theology and would regularly attend theology summer schools.
She was a trustee of the charitable trust of the Worshipful Company of Actuaries, of which she was a founder liveryman, and supported a number of UK and Guernsey charities, including several endowments through which Pat will have a lasting memorial.
