Colman had important roles in establishing the University of East Anglia, the creation of Whitlingham Broad and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

[2] His father died in 1935, when Timothy was just six, and his mother brought up him and his four siblings – David, Juliet, Penelope and Russell.

[2] He was married to Lady Mary Colman (née Bowes-Lyon), niece of the Queen Mother, and lived in Bixley Manor, near Norwich.

[10] His death came one day after fellow Knight Companion of the Garter Sir Antony Acland.

Colman's children include Sarah Troughton, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 2012.