Roy Dommett

Dommett died on 2 November 2015. Two weeks later he was featured as the lead obituary on BBC Radio 4's tribute programme Last Word. He was survived by his wife Marguerite, who died in 2020, and his seven sons; his daughter predeceased him.

On his retirement from active Morris Dancing a cake was baked in the form of a life-sized model of Dommett's head, which remains a talking-point in British Morris circles. In retirement he still occasionally performed on the accordion. His work in the field was recognised by the award of the Jubilee Medal and then, in 2001, the Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. In the final years of his life, despite over ten years of very poor health, he made attempts to catalogue and summarise his extensive knowledge of morris.

For his pioneering research and development work, Roy Dommett received the Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal in 1991. Later the same year he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2004 the British Rocketry Oral History Programme Conference met in Godalming and made a special 'lifetime achievement' presentation to Dommett, including an evening's biographical presentation through the eyes of family members and professional colleagues.

Roy Dommett did, in his later years, voice the regret and upset felt in the British rocket industry by its professionals, following the decision of the British Government to cut funding, and terminate the research. Following the cessation of the British independent space programme, and independent rocket development, Dommett continued to hold a senior role in British defence. From 1982 he was Chief Scientist for the Special Weapons Department, and then a Principal Consultant on Ballistic Missiles for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, after his formal retirement.

In addition to Morris dancing, Dommett was instrumental in the revival of stave dancing, a style of country dance local to the south-west of England, which he submitted originated during the “club walks” of nineteenth century friendly societies. Beginning with a series of talks at Sidmouth Folk Festival during the 1980s, he single-handedly popularised the dance style and continued to teach and promote it through workshops and lectures.

He moved to the weapons department in 1967 for the Polaris improvement studies which culminated in KHG793/Chevaline in 1970 with responsibility for the new delivery system, and was given a Special Merit promotion in 1980. He led on some outstanding UK issues with Trident II and then on the counter measure aspects in the UK contributions to the US SDI studies. He attempted to initiate a number of small studies that would have developed UK system understanding, but funding was not available. In all, he contributed in some way to 32 projects. For ten years he was a member of a Research Advisory Council supporting the Chief Scientific Officer.

He was married in November 1955 to Marguerite Patricia Dawson whom he had met at school, and they had seven sons and one daughter. Dommett's first experience with rocket technology was witnessing the arrival of a V-2 at Southampton. His family had links with the aviation industry, as his father had served in the Royal Air Force, and his uncle worked at the Supermarine works in Southampton on the Spitfire.

He was educated at Itchen Grammar School and Bristol University, gaining a first in aeronautical engineering in 1954. Employed by the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough from 1953 to 2000, while it became DRA and DERA, he retired before it divided into Qinetiq and Dstl.

Besides being honoured for his groundbreaking scientific work, Roy Dommett was one of the leading figures in the English Morris Dancing tradition, and a touring lecturer on its history and techniques. He was a much-published author on the subject, especially in the form of articles in folk dance journals. He was a founder of the Farnborough Morris in 1954, and danced by invitation with the Traditional Abingdon side from 1960 to 1972. He ran a series of successful instructionals at Halsway Manor, Somerset, at Boys Town, St Athlan, Barry and then at Laines Barn, Wantage. In 1976 he worked as a musician with a new generation of women morris sides including; Fleur de Lys, Goldalming, Minden Rose at Alton and latterly Fleet Morris. He has also toured and instructed in the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Roy Leonard Dommett CBE (25 June 1933 – 2 November 2015) was a British engineer and rocket scientist, and the United Kingdom's Chief Missile Scientist, who for many years led the United Kingdom's research and development of both ballistic missiles and space rockets for the delivery of satellites into orbit. In retirement he lived in Hampshire.

Roy Leonard Dommett, a descendant of an old East Devon family, was born on 25 June 1933, in Itchen, Southampton. His parents were Leonard Frank Dommett (1907-1996), a painter and decorator, and Rose Eveline Diaper, a cook and housekeeper.

Distant relatives of Dommett include Alfred Domett, fourth Premier of New Zealand (1862-1863), and Admiral William Domett, who served in the American Revolutionary War, French Revolutionary War, and the Napoleonic Wars.