Peter Rankin, who has died aged 72, was a prominent Belfast solicitor whose wide extra-professional interests included connoisseurship of antique furniture, porcelain and bronzes, choral and organ music and architecture and the decorative arts.
The secret of his influence and effectiveness lay in his ability to combine these different specialisms, and to bring to bear on his cultural interests and causes the expertise derived from his knowledge and experience as a lawyer.
He was a founder-member, in 1967, of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, the ginger group which, by a mixture of lobbying and example, was the means of introducing into Northern Ireland the statutory listing of buildings of architectural importance.
His work was exemplary, characterised always by meticulous research and an understanding of architecture in the round. He went on to serve as secretary of the UAHS, and also as the editor and part-writer of its publications.
The most important of his many charitable activities was probably the Esme Mitchell Trust, which had been formalised by a deed drawn up by his father in 1965 .
Widely read and historically well informed, he was a discerning judge of the publication proposals put before the trust and was never afraid to support new or interesting or different projects.
Prominent among his later good causes was the Belfast Buildings Trust, founded in 1995. He was also involved in the setting up in 1996 of the Ulster Historic Churches Trust, an organisation which appealed to his interest in both architecture and organ music. From 1982 until 1988 he served on the Historic Buildings Council.
Passion for music
Alongside his championship of architecture and the decorative arts went a passion for music. He had a fine bass voice, played the piano beautifully and was a competent organist. He was a strong supporter of young musicians and helped to set up the Dunleath Organ Scholarship Trust.
He sang in a variety of choirs, particularly after his retirement in 2005. His participation in the part-time parish choir at Rossnakill, on the Fanad peninsula in Donegal, entailed a three-hour drive from his home near Saintfield in Co Down.
Peter Rankin was the eldest son of Brian, a solicitor, and Margaret Rankin, née Crawford. After school in Belfast he attended Trinity College, Dublin between 1961 and 1965. He devoted himself to a number of All-Ireland causes and also to some which related solely to the Republic.
In his early days he became an active and enthusiastic member of the Irish Georgian Society. From 1988 until 1991 he was a director of the Irish Architectural Archive, and he also served on the board of the Irish Landmark Trust from 1996 to 2013.
One theme common to almost all his activities was an interest in young people and in the development of their potential. His decency, loyalty and kindliness were accompanied by intellectual rigour and the highest academic and personal standards.
Throughout the darkest period in NI’s history, he provided a constant reminder that there were aesthetic and cultural values which transcended the Troubles, and light at the end of the tunnel. He was awarded the OBE in 2009.