Born on 15 May 1931 into a staunchly Methodist family, with roots in Irish Methodism. His grandfather, C. Phillips Cape (1874-1945; e.m. 1898), was a missionary in North India. He was educated at The Leys School and, after National Service, at King's College, London, where he studied law. He became managing director of the Morganite Research and Development Company and was for over thirty years a council member of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which awarded him a Fellowship. He was also made a Freeman of the City of London.
He was a member at Putney Methodist Church and a local preacher for 45 years. He served as connexional Home Mission and London Mission treasurer and on the President's Council, the Stationing Committee and the connexional Archives and History Committee. As an enthusiastic supporter of Methodist heritage, he was actively involved with Wesley's Chapel, instigated the Aldersgate John Wesley Flame Memorial and the replica statue of Wesley in the grounds of St. Paul's Cathedral. He was also the inspiration behind the Charles Wesley Hymn Choir and negotiated the official approval for the Methodist logo, adopted in 1988. He died on 16 January 2004.
'He was an intensely practical man with an eye for the detail, but he also had a pastoral heart and was often the first to welcome strangers at church.... [He] was a great enthusiast and had energy and drive and was absolutely wholehearted in everything that he tackled. Fastidious in his dress, he was a very upright person, both in the way he deported himself and in character, but he was also remarkably witty and funny. His faith was sturdy, uncomplicated and sure.'
John A. Cooke in MR, 19 February 2004