Emma Pattison with her daughter Lettie, aged 7
(Picture: PA)Family members of Epsom College headteacher Emma Pattison and her daughter have said “the two of them were inseparable”.
Mrs Pattison, her husband George Pattison and their seven-year-old child, Lettie, were found dead at their home in the grounds of the Surrey school on February 5.
It is believed that Mr Pattison killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life.
Mrs Pattison’s relatives have paid tribute to her and Lettie in a statement issued through Surrey Police on Wednesday.
It said: “To see the esteem in which Emma is held by all who knew her is an enormous comfort.
“She was everything one could hope for in a daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, teacher and so much more.
“We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe. The Epsom College Community had become part of that universe for them both.
“Seven-year-old Lettie was Emma’s pride and joy: an adorable, vibrant little girl with a compelling curiosity, a heart-melting smile and an intellect beyond her years.
“The two of them were inseparable and we take comfort in that they will remain so.”
Surrey Police has said Mr Pattison legally owned a gun that was discovered at the scene of the tragedy and the force has launched a homicide investigation, with the deaths being investigated as a possible murder-suicide.
The Times reported that Mrs Pattison had contacted a close relative with concerns about her husband in the hours before the killings, and when they arrived at the house they found all three members of the family dead.
Acting headmaster Paul Williams announced on Tuesday that the school will close until after the half-term break following the “incredibly distressing” details about how Mrs Pattison died.
Mr Pattison had been in contact with Surrey Police just days before the killings about his gun licence in order to change his address after the family moved to the school site from Caterham.
The force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) due to its contact with him on February 2.
But on Friday the IOPC announced that no investigation was needed.
Mrs Pattison became Epsom’s first female head in September 2022 after six years as headteacher of Croydon High School in south London.
Boarding students at the college pay more than £42,000 a year and its alumni include Conservative MP Sir Michael Fallon, broadcaster Jeremy Vine and comedian Tim Vine.
Mrs Pattison’s husband George was a chartered accountant who was director of a management consultancy called Tanglewood 2016, according to Companies House.
