He was the son of William Mead, a grocer in
Aylesbury and his first wife, Sarah Catherine Stevens, who died in 1918. He was educated at
Aylesbury Grammar School. During teacher training at the
College of St Mark and St John in London, he worked for an
external degree of the
University of London. He graduated in 1937, and went on to take a research master's degree involving the trade of
Finland. He travelled there in 1938, and completed his master's in 1939. Mead joined the
Royal Air Force in autumn 1939 as a volunteer. In 1940 he was posted to
Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario, in an administrative role. In 1943 he moved back to England working for the
Royal Air Force Educational Service. He was demobilised in 1946. He was President of the Geographical Association in 1981. In retirement, Mead lived in
Aston Clinton. He died, unmarried, on 20 July 2014 at
Stoke Mandeville Hospital, aged 98. ==Notes==