A Manxman who was a renowned linguist and a member of the House of Lords has died at the age of 97.Lord Randolph Quirk was born in the Isle of Man at Lambfell in Michael, where his family farmed, and attended Douglas High School for Boys before reading English at University College London.

We was the son of Thomas and Amy Randolph Quirk.

His studies began in 1939 but were interrupted in 1940 by five years of service in Bomber Command of the RAF, where he rose to the rank of squadron leader.

In 1959 Baron Quirk embarked on a long-term project to produce a comprehensive analysis of British English as it is actually used in the present day.

In doing so he came to have an enormous influence on the development of English language studies worldwide, particularly through his advocacy of Standard English, the common written ground maintained despite variations in speech, as a way of opening doors educationally.

He went on to become one of the most important figures of 20th Century English linguistics and was highly regarded in the fields of academia and politics.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1976 New Year honours and was knighted in 1985. He became a life peer as Baron Quirk of Bloomsbury in 1994 and was an active member of the Lords into his 90s.

In 1946 he married Jean Williams, and they had two sons, Eric and Robin. The marriage was dissolved in 1979, and his marriage to Gabriele came in 1984. She survives him, along with his sons.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: ’I am personally very saddened to learn of the death of Baron Quirk and I wish to express my condolences to his family. I will remember him as a proud Manxman and one of the most influential people to come from our shores. Working behind the scenes, he also made a contribution to the reciprocal health agreement between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom.’

He added: ’While he may not be so well-known among today’s scholars, Lord Quirk was a towering intellect whose work defined English language studies over the second half of the 20th Century. The Isle of Man and the wider academic community has lost a truly outstanding figure.’