Remembering Rose Tempest on International Women's Day
March brings celebration. For the entirety of the month that marks the first blooms of Spring, the world highlights the vast and varied contributions made by women that have changed the course of history and shaped the fabric of society.
So, it feels apt that the first blog in the month of March concerns a woman whose story will forever be woven into the Tempest Photography tapestry. Someone who, many would tell you, was the warm heart beating at the core of the company, the smile on its face, and the wide-open arms welcoming one and all.
Rose Marian Tempest, known affectionately around her Trevethoe home and Tempest HQ as ‘Mrs T’ has a legacy like few others. She travelled a life coloured by the arts and adventure, found excitement in sporting challenges and joy in family and friends. And when loss came to her door, when a company lost its captain, and she a husband, Mrs T steered the ship and became the beacon of light breaking through darkness.
This is her story.
Born on a winter’s day, January 17th, 1929, Rose began life in the bustle of Nottingham, the city that would later also see the birth of Tempest Photography.
As a child she became infatuated with music and literature; formed in part on the back of her family’s beloved copy of the Waverley Encyclopaedia, and equally within the pages of a borrowed copy of Jane Eyre. It was a love affair that was destined to span a lifetime, proving the fuel for connection, collaboration, and celebration.
By her teenage years, Rose had herself blossomed into a competent musician. The gift of a piano accordion from her father encouraged her interest and later paved the way for her to become an integral member of an accordion band performing for injured servicemen in Nottingham hospitals during the latter stages of the Second World War. Music proved to be a great outlet for Rose’s creativity, and when she later met and married Horace Tempest, it became a shared joy between two like-minded souls.
Horace, an accomplished violinist who had played in many an orchestra pit across the land, and Rose now a talented musician and vocalist in her own right had each found their muse in the other.
In the years that followed - and alongside the first buds of business - music, literature and the arts became a staple of life for Rose and Horace, allowing them to indulge creative minds and explore varied topics of interest.
Cornwall bound.
In 1958, with Tempest Photography now a business in the ascendency, the pair and their young family relocated to Trevethoe House in the village of Lelant, Cornwall. It was a move that uprooted the family business from its Nottingham birthplace to a new dawn in the southwest. Many of the loyal Tempest team actually followed to start anew at Trevethoe as a fresh chapter in Rose’s life began. 
Tempest’s move to the area proved a welcome boost to employment in a region that was still heavily reliant on a small seasonal window for much of its income. Whilst, for Rose, life was still ripe for the taking and something to be lived.
She quickly became a supporter and integral part of the local community; a seasoned golfer, she could often be found playing a few holes at West Cornwall Golf Club, where she would go on to become Ladies Captain and even represent the county. Her golfing legacy peaked when she was named as County President in the ‘90s.
Music too continued to play a major role at Trevethoe, which now welcomed travelling musicians from every corner of the world to play at intimate gatherings in the ‘Music Room’. These occasions were hugely popular and over time became valuable fundraisers for charities local and worldwide.
Rose’s involvement in music as a performer continued unabated. She joined the Penzance Choral Society and the Penzance Operatic Society; later joining Horace in the Penzance Orchestra and subsequently playing cello in the Cornwall Chamber Orchestra. Her enduring love for the medium saw her become a devoted member of the Penzance Orchestral Society where she went on to serve as Secretary and then President.
Life in deepest southwest Cornwall had proved a rich, fulfilling experience. However, a little over two decades later, fate played a cruel card.
In 1979, Rose lost Horace.
It was a death whose weight reverberated beyond the boundaries of Cornwall alone, and for Rose, it was the loss of more than a husband. She lost her soul mate, her companion across literary and musical adventures, and ultimately her muse.
Despite the burden loaded after the loss of a lifelong companion, Rose felt a determination and devotion to ensuring the company her late husband had worked tirelessly to build would continue to thrive. She did not hesitate as she took the helm as Chairperson. It was a position Rose would remain in for the rest of her life.
And Tempest did thrive.
Rose utilised her natural warmth and her finely tuned business sense to guide Tempest Photography through stormy seas blown in on the winds of loss. She oversaw the evolution of the company as a cutting-edge force in the industry but still managed to keep a close grip on long-held family traditions that were so important in the enduring character of the business.
For the day-to-day this meant Rose would enjoy a contrast between chairing meetings of the board and hosting newly trained photographers at Trevethoe House; it was long understood that no induction was complete without a visit to the house for a cuppa with Mrs T. It was this desire to show appreciation for those working under the Tempest banner, alongside a continued role within the community that truly set Rose apart. Such warmth and generosity rarely goes unnoticed, and whether she knew it or not, Rose had become as much a part of the local landscape as the Trevethoe house she called home.
Despite time’s incessant need to march into endless new dawns, Rose’s heart always belonged to Horace, and in 2008 she stumbled upon the perfect way to remember him.
The ‘Music Room’ welcomed four musicians from the Czech Republic – The Herold Quartet – for another memorable evening, when from somewhere out in the blue an idea came to Mrs T. It was an idea that came to fruition when she sponsored the recording of a CD by The Herold Quartet that she would dedicate to the memory of her late husband, Horace.
Of the recording, Rose said, “I was, without premeditation, simply drawn to the idea of sending something beautiful out into the world in memory of my dear husband.”
It was this desire to do for others that most remember about Rose today.
That, and her insatiable appetite for life, to embrace the fun of it all whenever possible, and that she managed to bring light and guidance to others at a time when she probably needed it most.