Visitors to the exhibition Pirates, opening at at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich on March 29, might be surprised to spot museum staffers nodding or waving as they walk past a diminutive juniper tree in the flower bed outside. This is because the exhibition has been dedicated to the memory of the curator Robert J Blyth, one of the museum’s best loved members of staff, who died unexpectedly in October, aged 54.

The words wit, scholarship and kindness recurred in tributes from colleagues and friends, many choking back tears, as they gathered earlier this week to watch Blyth’s ashes be scattered around the juniper, which was chosen to mark his considerable appreciation of gin. The order of service featured his recipe for “Queen Mother’s Ruin”, a cocktail which he claimed was based on being sent out to the shops to source gin and Dubonnet urgently before a royal visit to the museum.