layout 1 - Winchester College Society

Transcription

The TRUSTY
SERVANT
NO.117
M AY 2 0 1 4
The Headmaster writes:
While the Secretary of
State is busy driving through his
plans for curriculum reform,
Winchester has conducted its
own reform grounded in its own
principles and intellectual
values. Over the course of the
past few months a consultation
among Heads of Departments
on the structure and content of
the Junior Curriculum (JP-V
Book) has been carried out. The
consultation was conducted on
the basis of priorities I set after
discussion with the Academic
Strategy Committee. These
priorities are:
intellectual and cultural
demands of Winchester Div,
while preserving time and
space for more experienced
dons to bring their particular
interests and strengths to bear.
Divs will be timetabled in
year-group blocks, bringing
many more dons into the Div
programme.
Key features
• 44 35-minute hours, with
six on weekday mornings,
starting at 08:45
• Div restored to six hours
per week in MP and V
Book.
• the achievement of better
equity of period allocation
among subjects
• the reinvigoration of Div as
preservation of a generalist
breadth against increasing
(narrow) specialisation of
knowledge
• the protection of adequate provision
for English, Mathmā and Science
• the extension of choice of modern
languages
• an increased experience of creative
subjects
• the maintenance of a calm and
scholarly atmosphere.
It is possible to address these principles
only by restructuring the timetable to
• English taught as a
separate subject in MP
and V Book
• Latin remains compulsory
to GCSE
provide 44 taught (Winchester) hours of
35 minutes each: 9 hours (three groups of
three) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
6 hours on Tuesday and Thursday, 5 hours
on Saturday.
Div will be restored as a freestanding, three-year course based on
historical development. The Heads of
History, Classics, English, History of Art,
Theology & Philosophy and Science have
been working together to design a new
course suited to the induction and
development of new dons into the broad
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• French or German compulsory plus
one additional Language in JP
• French or German compulsory plus
up to two additional Foreign
Languages in MP/V Book
• the timetable is opened up to allow
greater flexibility of choice outside
the compulsory subjects.
• every boy to study Art, DT and Music
in JP. It will now also be possible to
study two creative subjects to GCSE.
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
It is many years (longer ago than any
don currently on the staff can remember)
since there was a complete review of the
Junior Curriculum at Winchester (though
there have been many periodic
adaptations). This consultation has been
conducted with remarkable co-operation
and generosity of spirit among Heads of
Departments. We will introduce the new
structure in September 2014, when we
will have a renewed Junior
Curriculum which admirably
expresses the distinctive character and
values of a Winchester education, and
one which effectively completes the
reform of 2008, when we adopted the
Cambridge Pre-U as the senior
credential which serves us so well. ■
Another Headmaster writes
Joe Vitagliano, Principal of Midhurst Rother
College, writes in response to Keith Pusey’s
article in the previous issue (TS116).
In January 2009, against a
background of local opposition and
uncertainty, Midhurst Rother College
replaced three predecessor schools and
opened as one of the country’s first
academies. Despite this new identity, the
College grew from a foundation that went
back to 1672 and also from a fresh
partnership between United Learning
(the College’s sponsors), the University of
Chichester and Winchester College. This
relationship has driven a process of
extraordinary transformation.
In 2009 the Local Governing Body
set the ambitious target of wanting to see
Midhurst Rother College performing
amongst the top 25% of schools nationally
in terms of value-added scores. Many felt
that in 2009 this was an unrealistic target
and one that could not be achieved within
five years of opening as an academy. In the
summer of 2009 the College’s value-added
score showed it struggling in the 92nd
percentile nationally (the bottom 8% in
the country). It therefore gave students,
parents and governors great pleasure to see
the College recognised for ‘outstanding
student progress’ in the Specialist Schools
and Academies Trust (SSAT) national
2013 awards. The award recognised
Midhurst Rother College being in the top
14% of schools in the country.
On 19th April 2013 the Opening
Ceremony took place of the College’s new
building. The guest of honour, Lord
Andrew Adonis, was extremely
complimentary about the College and
also the transformation it had undergone.
To be languishing at the bottom of the
West Sussex League Tables in 2009 (36th
place out of 37 schools) and to have
moved in just four years to third in West
Sussex and seventh in West Sussex,
Surrey and Hampshire (out of 159
schools) was nothing short of amazing.
The College’s transformation was
validated in its 2013 Ofsted report, rating
it outstanding in all categories. The
importance of such a judgement was best
summed up by a local head teacher in a
letter written to the parents of his school:
‘It is incredibly challenging for schools to
attain Outstanding. This is a very
significant hurdle to overcome.’
Within five years academic outcomes
have been transformed, an impressive £31
million building has replaced tired and
old-fashioned premises, and student
numbers have risen to the point where
over-subscription will become the norm
in the future.
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The rapid progress which Midhurst
Rother College has made since 2009
could not have taken place without a long
term plan, one driven by a dynamic Local
Governing Body (including three
representatives from Winchester
College). In the early days of the College
this plan was very simple; achieve a good
or better Ofsted report, radically improve
public examination results and increase
student numbers. Having delivered on
these objectives within five years, the
next ‘5 Year Plan’ aspires to a new phase
of improvement, summed up as
‘outstanding plus’. Midhurst Rother
College’s ambition is to take the lead and
create the standard in as many areas of
the educational world as possible.
In a political context where
state/independent school collaboration
has been questioned, and where a number
of these collaborations have failed or
delivered questionable outcomes, it is
heartening to report the success (so far) of
the Midhurst Rother College/Winchester
College association. We now look forward
to the next five years.
■
Dick Massen
We print here the address delivered by
Henry Thompson (Co Ro, 1964-2000, and
Housedon of Furley’s, 1978-93) at Dick
Massen’s funeral on 20th January.
Picture the scene: 1987; the
Headmaster’s study; the weekly
Housedons’ meeting, with most of us
assembled. Enter the Senior Housedon,
straight from up-to-books, tweed-jacketed
(of course), clutching sheaf of papers,
wearing his gown half falling off,
somewhat chalky. Whereupon Michael
Fontes remarks ‘Dick, if we were in a play
and you were acting the part of the Senior
Housemaster, some people might say you
were overdoing it a bit.’
At this old school, Dick was in many
respects a quintessential schoolmaster and
housemaster of what you might call the
old school. In fact he was much more than
that, but he rather enjoyed cultivating the
image, rather enjoyed keeping the rest of
us happy by acting the part to the full. He
was all but born a schoolmaster: his
grandfather a headmaster, his mother a
headmistress, his father a housemaster at
Christ’s Hospital, teacher of French and
German and Head of Modern Languages
there for thirty years – what a hereditary
background!
Dick was nearly four at the outbreak
of war in 1939, and nine-and-a-half by
the time the war ended. Nevertheless, his
sister Juliet recalls that their childhood at
Christ’s Hospital was very happy, with
excitements like sleeping under the stairs
or in the underground passage which runs
beneath all the school houses. Some
American soldiers who were stationed
nearby befriended Dick and gave him
sweets, a rarity in wartime, and also – to
their parents’ horror – some cigarettes and
even a few rounds of ammunition. What
seeds were sown by those innocent gifts
one can only conjecture – in the mind of
a future officer in the Royal Artillery and
lifelong committed smoker.
Well, in due course Dick donned the
yellow stockings as a boy at Christ’s
Hospital, played rugby for the school,
flourished academically and won an
Exhibition to read Modern Languages at
Corpus, Cambridge. Before Cambridge,
however, National Service called, and in
a sense his career and mine began to run
parallel: I believe that Dick and I were the
last two dons to have done two years in
the Army as National Servicemen, he as
an artillery officer firing big guns on
Salisbury Plain, I, lagging a couple of years
behind and somewhat less excitingly,
based in South Kensington and
commuting to Russell Square.
We arrived at Win Coll together,
with Jock Macdonald, in Short Half 1964,
and the trio of us stuck around for 102
terms, when Dick was the first to retire.
No one appeared to notice when we
completed 100 terms, but we went ahead
and celebrated anyway. Dick already had
five years’ teaching under his belt, at
Bromsgrove, where he had been a House
Tutor and Head of German, and I, as a
total novice and greenhorn, looked up to
him from Day 1 as already an experienced
colleague. He stepped straight into the
CCF, naturally, and he was to be a leading
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light in it throughout his career.
In the days of National Service, the
CCF used to be compulsory for all
Wykehamists after their first year; when
National Service ended in 1961-62 the
Corps became voluntary, and CSY –
Combined Services Year – was devised as
a way of turning the new situation to
advantage. Peter Tombling ran it for the
first three years, then Dick took over – for
the next three decades. This became
Dick’s empire, involving every boy
throughout his second year, covering a
wide variety of activities – map-reading,
orienteering, shooting, drill, survival
swimming, camping. It all loomed large in
the life of the School, and in the life of
Housedons – I recall going down on
several occasions to watch the annual
CSY rafting competition, and seeing the
Furleyites’ raft predictably disintegrate in
the middle of Logie. Dick ran the whole
thing with what Robin Somerset
describes as ‘the chivvying vigilance of
the schoolmaster, the wise benevolence of
the Housedon, … a king-sized sense of
proportion and good humour and … a
strong underlying care for his charges.’
Meanwhile, in 1969, Dick and Jane
had got married, and three years later Dick
succeeded Hubert Doggart as Housedon of
Trant’s, where he inherited David Smith
and me as House Tutors – both of us, for
perfectly honourable reasons, for only one
term. Curiously, neither David nor I can
summon up any memory of that term, and
we can only deduce that Dick’s take-over as
housedon must have been entirely troublefree. With the formidable duo of Dick and
Jane at the helm, those were fifteen good
years in Trant’s; or (perhaps I shouldn’t say)
respectively at the helm and in the galley –
for among many other things, Jane worked
wonders in providing excellent food for
Trantites, somewhat to the irritation of us
other Housedons, since she managed to do
it at about half the cost the rest of us
achieved. Dick and Jane were in their
element in the House: they gave
themselves unstintingly to the job and to
their Trantites, whose company they
obviously enjoyed, and who in turn
responded to the firmness and consistency
that were the essence of Dick’s character –
though they also knew well that the bite
was rarely as bad as the bark. Dick gained
much wisdom, as one can in that wonderful
job, and many was the time I telephoned
him from Furley’s for advice. To be honest,
however, it wasn’t always Dick whom I
telephoned, because my principle is, if you
want advice, ask the chap who you reckon
will give you the advice you want to be
given; so when I wanted what you might
call right-wing advice, I went to Dick, and
he didn’t let me down!
Well, of course, Dick contributed
abundantly to other Win Coll activities,
notably rowing, and refereeing Winchester
Football in the mud of Palmer Field; but
central to his career here was up to books:
his language teaching. Alan Conn –
likewise late, lamented colleague and
friend – wrote of Dick: ‘Though he likes to
play the fusty grammarian he is a fine
natural linguist with totally convincing
spoken French and German’. He was a
generous colleague, always willing, as Alan
says,’to take on more lessons than the
norm.’ In our first term he actually
managed inadvertently to be overgenerous in that respect, by
uncharacteristically getting the
instructions wrong and giving his tasktime
pupils a tasktime every week instead of
every other week. He had, however, his
limits. I quote Alan again: ‘Dick’s loyalty
and co-operation have sometimes
stretched to attending departmental
meetings, though his taste for these waned
in John Surry’s time, when John imposed a
nicotine ban. This produced a letter of
protest at the intolerable restriction of
personal freedom, comparing John Surry
unfavourably with Field Marshal
Montgomery, who, though a non-smoker,
allowed smoking at his briefings.’
My div room was right opposite Dick’s,
and many was the occasion when we
emerged together at the end of an hour for
a breath of fresh air – in his case, mostly
inhaled through the routine cigarette –
which he would then drop carefully down
the little grate in the NE corner of Flint
Court. How many Massen fag-ends do you
reckon went down there over the years?
Say, at a conservative estimate, four a day,
six days a week, 35 weeks a year, 34 years
less two sabbatical terms = 28,248; maybe
someone ought to check that drainpipe.
A quintessential schoolmaster of what
you might call the old school. More than
just that, indeed – and a great deal more
through his married life with Jane:
wonderful wife, staunch support,
indefatigable encourager and cheerer,
above all in the last few years, when life
must have been taxing and often worrying.
Well, something of the support that Dick
and Jane earned between them is very clear
to see, here today.
‘What Dick believed he believed
with passion’, so John Thorn wrote to me.
And what he did he did with
thoroughness and method. He was a man
comfortably confident, and confidently
comfortable, in his own identity. And if
on occasion he played the fusty
grammarian – if on occasion his gown was
half falling off and somewhat chalky –
that too was part of the role, part of the
identity, for our benefit and for his own –
the identity of a remarkable and
unforgettable man.
■
Dick’s widow, Jane, was very touched indeed
to see so many Old Trantites and friends at the
Thanksgiving Service, providing her with such
support and comfort and giving so generously
to the collection, which she had asked to be
shared between the local Alzheimer’s Society
and the Princess Anne Trust for Carers. She is
grateful, too, to all those Old Trantites who
supported the Herman Pot initiative (see page
21). Thank you all!
See also Dick’s Obit on page 28.
Housemastering and the role of the Senior Housemaster
Over the course of the next few issues, and at
the suggestion of a member of Win Coll Soc
Council, these pages will contain an article
from each of the eleven Housemasters about
what characterises their respective Houses.
Liam Taylor (Housemaster of Cook’s since
2003) spoke in Chapel on 6th March 2013
on the role of the Senior Housemaster.
I was asked to talk today about the
role of the Senior Housemaster and
housemastering in general, and to try to
give you a flavour of what we do and what
motivates us. This is a huge subject and
one about which I could write a very long
book, but it would not be a book that
many of you would read. It is not the most
exciting subject for a Wednesday
morning, so, as you might expect, I went
in search of other special things about
today that could liven the talk up a little.
I discovered that today is National
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Dentists Day in America, which wasn’t
much use. It is Michelangelo’s birthday,
and for those interested in professional
hair and beauty qualifications, Bradford
College has an open day today, which is
actually an interesting coincidence, as,
amongst other things, you may not know
that Michelangelo is famous for painting
the earliest recorded mullet, on a blonde
cherub on the wall on the left-hand side
of the Sistine Chapel ... but that’s as far as
I got in my search for a red herring to
ramble on about in the way my div will
remember from the first year, and I failed
to find any way that I thought I would get
away with to tie it into the topic in hand.
So I think I should start with
housemastering itself.
We work 18-hour days with huge
responsibilities and a complex array of
duties and stresses. We miss out on time
with our own families, give up hobbies
and privacy, and risk health and sanity,
yet people still volunteer and pursue this
role, so there must be something
good about it. I think if you asked
the Housemasters, you would get
11 different answers, so I can
answer only for myself.
Few people set out on their
career with the aim of being a
housemaster. I, for one, didn’t
even mean to be a teacher. Yet I
chose to take on what was a
tough House, when I was newly
married with a 4-month-old
daughter. It was a promotion, of
course, a bit more money, a
career move, a step up if you like,
but these weren’t things that
really motivated me then, or
even now really. I fancied the
challenge of taking over a House
where there was a real job to be
done. I thought I could make a
positive difference to the lives of
the people there, people I knew and liked.
And, I thought I possessed some of the
skills necessary to be good at it.
Importantly, I always enjoyed the lively
atmosphere within the boarding house
and the company of Wykehamists. I
would not have been so keen to be a
housemaster at most other schools.
Years ago housemasters had a very
different job. When Du Boulay’s was built,
over half the building was for the use of
the Housemaster, some more was allotted
to his domestic staff, and a few rooms
were given to the boys. The matron had a
single room, and washed in a sink in the
corridor. All boys were in galleries and the
boys were not allowed in the garden,
except when they were being punished by
being made to roll the tennis court or cut
the grass with scissors. The Housemaster
almost never went through to the boys’
side except for dinner, and seems from the
old photos to have spent the bulk of his
time reading the newspaper in the garden,
sitting in a deckchair. He basically did as
he liked with little interference.
Nowadays the role of a modern
housemaster is a complex, constantly
changing and never-ending one. Every
week there is some change to the routines
or policies that we need to take on board,
and we are regularly inspected in order to
ensure that we are meeting national
standards and doing the job in a way that
is acceptable to the outside world and,
indeed, to ourselves. For this reason
around a year ago the position of Under
Master was redefined and Mr Lawson [the
then Housemaster of Furley’s) stepped
into the breach: his stellar work last year
went a long way to help us pass these
inspections. That said, the endless task of
necessary reporting and record-keeping is
something that we all wish we could do
5
without. We did not become
housemasters to spend our lives in front of
a computer screen.
As housemasters we wear various
hats. We are the front line of the sales
team, selling the School to prospective
parents and to the prep schools we
occasionally visit. We need to understand
budgeting, hygiene, nutrition, the
education systems of several countries,
interior decoration, timetabling,
managing domestic staff, handling
difficult parents, entertaining, discipline,
psychology, UCAS, politics and how to
turn off a broken tap in the shower.
We need to be experts on all
subjects, and regularly help people
with decisions from what tie goes
with which shirt to what college is
best at Oxbridge. We need to be
able to talk about Hemingway and
the X Factor, know why Liverpool
is still the greatest football club in
the world although they are not at
the top of the league, and be able
to talk openly and sensitively
about issues of race, politics,
religion and sexuality. We are
seemingly expected to know
everything and to be able to sort
out any problem ... and that is one
reason why we do it. It is a chance
to make a real difference to
people’s lives and share our
enthusiasms, values, interests and
passions with talented, interesting
students. We learn a lot too. I have
learned interesting useful things: Chingis
Jamburchin taught me about Kazakhstan’s
economic future, which helped me
understand the economic pressures and
potential of the former Eastern Block;
Saludeen Bakare taught me about being a
true modern Muslim, which gave me
balance in a world full of horror stories
and prejudice; George Farnon taught me
about international dressage, which made
six hours’ watching prancing horses at the
Olympics almost bearable, and Will
Rowley taught me just how powerful a
winning smile, a cool voice, great hair and
a quality shirt can be in melting the anger
of even the fiercest inspector.
When I was asked at interview what I
thought were the two most important
attributes that a housemaster must have, I
said two things: firstly stamina. I have to
say I cheated a little with this one,
because as his assistant when he was
Housemaster of Hopper’s, I had heard Mr
Wyke say something very similar. At the
time I thought it sounded good, but I
have discovered over the past ten years
that the ability to keep going, to deal with
the same problem for the umpteenth
time, to put up with the same pressures
and worries day after day, to be strong for
others when you’re struggling yourself,
and to keep positive while you’re doing it,
is more demanding than any sports
training I ever did. The Cookites will tell
you that I don’t need much sleep, and I
feel very lucky for that. How the other
housemasters manage the time available
to them I do not know, but if you think
yourself through what they have to do
every day, I hope you will more easily
understand their lack of humour when
you are not in bed on time, or skip
breakfast, or say you can’t be bothered
playing Winkies in the rain!
The other important attribute, and
the most important characteristic of any
housemaster in my opinion, is that he
genuinely cares for the men in his House.
He should see time spent helping and
supporting you as time well spent, because
he knows you, is sensitive to your feelings
and aware of the multitude of pressures
that you all face. He will want you to
achieve your ambitions and often see
more potential in you than you can
yourself. It is this side of being a
housemaster that cannot be faked,
practised or taught. I talk regularly with
all the Housemasters and, while you
might not appreciate it all the time, you
must know how much they all do
genuinely care for you, what you are, and
what you might become. This necessitates
being strict at times, but while the
Cookites have heard me shout, they have
also seen me cry and I am sure that you
will all have had similar experiences. The
discipline side of our role is the one we
enjoy least.
I can see that I’m not painting a very
happy picture. But the pleasures of
housemastering, while not as intense
maybe, are as many as the pleasures of
parenting. We are proud of you and
celebrate your personal successes and
joint victories, and, as we watch you grow
from little boys into impressive men, we
gain memories we will keep for ever. Only
instead of the typical 2.5 children, I will
be lucky enough, by the time I finish at
Cook’s, to have been involved in the lives
of around 240, and I am proud to be
associated with them all.
I always tell prospective parents that
if their children leave the School with no
paper qualifications, but with a love of
life, an enthusiasm for learning, the ability
to get along with anyone, and with moral
strength and integrity, I have done my
job.
Last night Kevin asked me what the
difference was between being a
housemaster and being Senior
Housemaster, and that is what I am really
supposed to be talking about.
At Winchester the Senior
Housemaster is chosen by the Headmaster
and is appointed for a period of three years.
In general, and this is taken from my job
description, I assist the Headmaster and
Second Master in the efficient running of
the School’s boarding provision.
Several times each term I chair
‘Housemasters alone’ meetings in which
we share good practice and discuss a wide
range of issues affecting mainly the
Houses, but also the School in general.
And I feed back the results of these
discussions to the Headmaster as
necessary, or maybe to the Bursary, the
Catering Department, the Sports
Department or wherever. The
Housemaster-body contains strong,
charismatic, impressive and very different
6
characters, but it is a close, friendly and
supportive group and I find our meetings
productive, encouraging and positive.
These meetings are actually enjoyable
too, and although you won’t believe me,
even the sharpest amongst you would
probably be impressed by the quality of
the banter.
I also sit on several committees,
including most notably the Senior
Management Committee, so I contribute
to some of the many decisions that lie at
the core of the way the School operates.
On these committees, and in my
discussions with the Headmaster and
other senior staff, I am usually
representing the Housemasters. The
Housemasters’ feelings and opinions are
often a reflection of those of their boys
and the boys’ parents, so I am very aware
that in my role I am regularly
communicating the views of a great many
people. This is something that I take very
seriously and, although you will know
that I tend to speak my mind, it is vital
that my own feelings must not overpower
those of the people that I represent – this
is not always easy.
I have a responsibility for training
Housemasters designate. I also have a role
in supporting all the current
Housemasters in their Houses. I can be a
resource for advice, or a sounding board or
just someone to talk to when they have a
good idea, or are getting frustrated with a
certain issue. So I suppose you could call
it pastoral care for the Housemasters,
although, as you would expect, I receive
the same support in return.
I have been in post since last
September, and I value the opportunity
to play a part in the progress of a school
that I believe in. This is a special place.
Enjoy it and take from it everything you
can. To me the most precious and
beautiful things in all the world are my
two children. That your parents trust us
with you is a scary responsibility, an
awesome task, a life- changing experience
and a true honour.
■
Eliot’s Indian Bible
To mark his retirement in August this year,
Dr Geoffrey Day, Fellows’ Librarian, writes
about what is probably the most remarkable
of all the Treasures that have been in his care
during his time. He hopes that this may
become the first in an occasional series of such
articles.
The Fellows’ Library houses a number
of works which, in whole or in part,
cannot be read and understood by any
current member of the School. They
include texts in such unusual languages as
Aramaic, ‘Etruscan’, Gothic,
Maori, Pali, Samnite, ‘SamnitioEtruscan’, Syriac, Syriac printed
in Hebrew, ‘SyriacoPalmyrenum’, and Persian
written in Avestan script. One
volume, however, stands out in
that when it was published it
was designed in such a way that
those who understood it could
not read it; while those who
read it may, or may not, have
been able to understand it.
In 1631 John Eliot, who
had been a schoolmaster in
Little Baddow, near Chelmsford,
emigrated to Boston,
Massachusetts, where he
founded Roxbury Latin School,
which still flourishes. In
addition to his own
congregation, Eliot devoted
himself to the cause of
converting the indigenous
population, and to this end set
out to translate the Bible into
Algonquian (also known as
Natick). As the Algonquin did
not read, Eliot translated the
text into a quasi-phonetic form of their
language, designed to be read aloud to
Algonquin by Englishmen with a
seventeenth-century pronunciation. To
achieve this Eliot had a printer, printing
presses and boxes of type (with
considerable extra quantities of the sorts
‘k’, ‘u’ and ‘w’, and an unusual monogram
formed of two ‘o’s) brought over from
England, and the volume, printed in
1663, was the first Bible in any language
to be printed in North America. The first
Bible printed in English in the American
continent was published in 1782, over
one hundred years later, all previous
demand having been satisfied by imports.
Eliot’s Indian Bible, as it is often
known, is one of the three most desirable
examples of American printing, together
with the Bay Psalm Book of 1640 (a copy
of which sold in November 2013 for £8.8
7
million), and the Declaration of
Independence. The Fellows’ Library is
very fortunate to have a copy of the
second edition of the Indian Bible,
printed in 1685, which appears to be
slightly rarer than the first edition, and is
complete with its dedication page to
Robert Boyle. The front board of the Win
Coll copy still bears the holes where it was
originally chained to a desk, as were all
books in the Library prior to the 1730s.
What makes this Fellows’ Library
volume of outstanding
importance is its provenance.
We were given the book during
the morning of 25 February
1689. The donor, Samuel
Sewall, recorded the event in
his diary: ‘View’d Winchester
Colledge, the Chapel, Library,
built in the midst of the Green
within the Cloisters. Left my
Indian Bible....’ To know with
such precision the timing of a
gift made over three hundred
years ago is unusual: the donor
is equally remarkable. Sewall is
regarded as the first American
tourist to England. Born in
1652 in Bishopstoke, less than
nine miles from Winchester,
Sewall’s family emigrated to
Massachusetts when he was
nine and he was subsequently
educated at Harvard. He
became the official
Massachusetts printer and was
elected to the legislative body
of the colony. He was also, for a
time, the Harvard library
keeper. He arrived back in
England in January 1689, and embarked
on an extensive tour of the southern
counties, visiting, among other sites,
Cambridge, Canterbury, Coventry,
Oxford, Stonehenge and Winchester.
There were other libraries
to which he could have
presented his Indian Bible:
he chose Winchester.
To have a copy of
Eliot’s Indian Bible is in
itself noteworthy. But
Sewall is famous – or to
some infamous - for
another area of his career.
When he returned to
Massachusetts he was made
an assistant magistrate, and
in that capacity he was
involved in the Salem
witchcraft trials. In his
diary he recorded details of
some of the more notorious
events and of the changing
perceptions of the local
people to the activities of
those accused. He was the only one of the
magistrates to declare in public that the
trials had been miscarriages of justice and
he called for reparations and a day of
public prayer and fasting. This more
humane aspect of his character is also
found in his writings in which he was one
of the earliest American colonists to
oppose slavery, and even, in one essay,
referred to the ‘rights of women’ many
decades before Mary Wollstonecraft.
Our Indian Bible is arguably one of
the finest and most desirable of copies:
from Sewall’s dated signature on the titlepage [see page 7], we know he acquired
the book within a day or two of its
publication; we know the day on which
he gave it to Winchester; he is the first
American tourist to England; he is one of
the Salem witchcraft trial judges and the
only one of those judges to recant; an
early abolitionist, he was also a protofeminist. In short, a major example of
American printing owned and presented
by a major American historical figure,
with an impeccable provenance.
Translated into English by
Tho Taylor, which is still
in the Library (shelfmark P4). It is thought
that this book was
acquired because in it
Jacques Basnage argued
that on the dispersal of
the Tribes of Israel, one
group went to North
America and became
the ancestors of the
indigenous population.
The Fellows’ Library Donations Book
records that in 1710 four North American
Indian kings visited Win Coll [see above].
They had come to England to enlist
British aid against the French in Canada
and had been given an audience with
Queen Anne. Joseph Addison records the
visit in Spectator 50. In London they
stayed with Thomas Arne, father of the
composer and of the actress Susannah
Cibber, whose father-in-law, Gaius
Gabriel Cibber, was the King’s Statuary
and made the lead image of William of
Wykeham which stands over the door to
School.
When they were shown round the
Library, the Indian kings gave a gold coin
(‘Dedere Nummum aureum’) with which
was purchased a copy of The history of the
Jews, from Jesus Christ to the present time:
containing their antiquities, their religion,
their rites, the dispersion of the ten tribes in
the east, and the persecutions this nation has
suffer’d in the west. Being a supplement and
continuation of the history of Josephus.
Written in French by Mr Basnage.
8
Of the four kings,
Hendrick and Brant
were Mohawks, whilst
Nicholas Eta was a
Mohegan. It seems
reasonable to suppose
that these distinguished
visitors were shown
Eliot’s Indian Bible, though they would
not have been able to read it, and might
even have been unable to understand had
the then Warden chosen to read them a
passage.
This was not the only eighteenth
century royal visit from America [see
below]. Win Coll was clearly the
destination of choice for such parties. In
1762 three Cherokee kings were in
England to pledge allegiance to George
III. The Gentleman’s Magazine account of
their visit records that ‘Very
unfortunately they lost their interpreter
in their passage.’ England must have been
very disconcerting. When they arrived at
Win Coll whether they were shown the
Indian Bible is not recorded – though
one can only assume that had they been,
they would have been as bemused as their
Mohawk and Mohegan forerunners. On
the afternoon of 21st July 1762 they ‘were
entertained with fruit and wine by the
Warden.’ This was Warden Christopher
Golding, who in the following year
dropped dead in Chamber Court.
■
George Mallory and the Mystery of the Everest Compass
Rachel Wragg, Museum Project Manager at
Winchester College, investigates.
June 2014 marks the 90th
anniversary of George Leigh Mallory’s
death. A Collegeman (1900-04), founder
member of the Winchester Ice Club and
experienced mountaineer, he was ‘lost to
human sight between Heaven and Earth
while attempting to reach the summit of
Mount Everest, 8th June 1924’.
In the latter part of last year a
prismatic compass in its original leather
case arrived on my desk with the briefest
of notes declaring that it was reputed to
be that which George Mallory used in his
last fateful attempt to conquer Mount
Everest in 1924. Donated to the School
some years previously, the compass and its
possible connection to Mallory had not
been investigated. No Museum Curator
who understands the power of artefacts to
communicate a story can resist a mystery
object. Guided by the Bursar, himself a
keen climber, I established that the
compass was in perfect working order.
Investigation revealed the compass to
be a Verner’s Pattern, the standard British
field compass used throughout the Great
War. It was developed by Colonel Verner
of the Rifle Brigade, who sought a more
efficient tool for use in the field,
particularly when night-marching. The
Verner Pattern VIII has a mother of pearl
dial for low-light reading and the north
position is marked with radium paint, a
further improvement made after 1906. It
was produced by W Watson and Sons Ltd,
and George Mallory would certainly have
been familiar with such an instrument
and would probably have used an
identical model during his time as a
Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery.
The technology was contemporary with
Mallory’s wartime service and post-war
climbing career.
The Royal Geographic Society holds
the records of all three Everest
expeditions of which Mallory was a part.
A search of suppliers of stores and
equipment to the 1924 expedition
revealed that the only company named
Watson who had supplied anything that
year had in fact donated 500 tins of
sardines. The RGS records seem to
indicate that funding for the expedition
was tight and only two new compasses
were purchased, both from Aitchison and
Company, Opticians and Mathematical
Instrument Makers, although two more
were sent for re-conditioning along with
other survey equipment. Where possible
those climbers taking part in the
expedition were encouraged to pay for
their own kit and passage. Given the
climate of austerity that seemed to
surround the expedition preparations, it is
quite possible that Mallory already owned
the compass and as an experienced
mountaineer may have preferred to use
instruments with a track record in
extreme conditions. In any case, it was
now possible to state that the compass
had not been purchased by the Royal
Geographical Society for use on the 1924
9
attempt to reach the summit of Everest.
What was there to connect Mallory
with the compass and particularly with
the 1924 Expedition to Everest? The
connection was provided by CA
Merriman, a Trantite (1901-03) and
contemporary of Mallory, who later, in
1938, returned to the School as Bursar.
The compass was donated by his son AG
Merriman (D, 1945-49), along with a
note that the family believed the compass
to have belonged to Mallory and to have
been used on his final expedition to
Everest. Claud Anthony Merriman had
two brothers at Winchester, Frank Boyd
Merriman (H, 1893-98) who pursued a
career in law, and Gordon Holland
Merriman (H, 1898-02) who overlapped
in the School with George Mallory. Both
GH Merriman and Mallory served in the
Royal Artillery, although Merriman was
already dead before Mallory was posted to
the Western Front in May 1916. School
records and those of the Winchester Ice
Club, the school climbing club founded
by Graham Irving and George Mallory,
indicate that whilst two of the brothers
could have known George Mallory,
neither of them appeared to share his
passion for climbing. Both the Merrimans
and the Mallorys were from Cheshire; it is
possible that there was a family
connection outside Winchester, but it is
undetermined. Anthony Merriman could
not be precise as to how the compass
came into the family, however, he was
convinced it had been brought off Everest
by Noel Odell, the geologist on the 1924
expedition who had gone in search of
Mallory and Irvine when they failed to
return.
Extensive searching of public and
private collections followed. The Science
Museum certainly has an extensive and
interesting collection of compasses, but
none of them is associated with George
Mallory, and no compass brought off
Everest in 1924 has ever been
documented as part of a museum
collection. It was time to explore the
source of the story that linked Odell with
the compass.
Noel Ewart Odell, geologist and
mountaineer, was an Oxygen Officer on
the 1924 expedition and the last person
to see Mallory and Irvine alive. His
accounts have been fundamental in
trying to establish whether the pair really
did conquer the summit before they
perished. In the months immediately
following the tragedy, there were three
published accounts in which Odell
recounted the story, from his final
sighting of the climbers at 12.50 on 8th
June, when they appeared to be ‘going
strong for the top’, to the subsequent
search conducted by himself and John
Hazard prior to the final evacuation off
the mountain on 10th June.
Odell’s first account published in the
Geographical Journal in August 1924
makes no reference to a compass and
appears to indicate that he brought no
belongings or equipment down the
mountain. He states that after reaching
Camp VI, the highest of the camps at
27,000 feet and where Mallory and Irvine
spent the previous night before making
their attempt on the
summit, ‘as
the day
was
drawing
to a close,
I reluctantly
gave up the
search and
signalled down to Hazard at the North
Col, over 2000 feet below, that no trace
could be found. Closing up the tent and
leaving it with the last relics of our lost
companions, I made my way down the
north ridge’. Odell related the story again
at a joint meeting of the RGS and the
Alpine Club at the Royal Albert Hall on
17th October 1924, but the minutes held
by the Royal Geographic Society do not
record that he mentioned retrieving a
compass.
However, the third source does
connect Odell with a compass that
belonged to Mallory. Odell wrote a
second piece for the Geographical Journal,
10
published in December 1924, in which he
again describes Mallory and Irvine’s final
climb and his subsequent searches for
them. After sighting the pair ascending
the North Ridge at 12.50 on 8th June,
Odell climbed up to Camp VI to guide
them back on their way down. An earlier
note from Mallory had told Odell to look
out for them at around 8am, but as they
were not sighted until 12.50pm, Odell
calculated that they would be making
their descent in fading light. Camp VI
consisted only of a small two-man tent in
a relatively concealed position.
Describing this Odell says, ‘I remembered
also that Mallory had told me in his note
that he had left his compass at Camp V,
and asked me to retrieve it’. He does not
state that he did so or that he brought it
down with him. The notes do not survive.
It is impossible to prove with any
certainty that the Watson compass was
the property of George Mallory and
whether he did indeed include it in his
equipment for the 1924 expedition. If
Odell’s account is correct, the compass
had been left at Camp V and not Camp
VI from where Mallory and Irvine made
their final assault on the summit,
although it seems virtually inconceivable
that such an attempt would be made
without a compass. There was certainly
no compass found on Mallory’s body
when it was discovered in 1999. If it is
the compass spoken of by Noel Odell, it
has reached an altitude of 25,000 feet
and has returned in perfect working
order. It will, however, always retain the
allure of mystery.
There will be a small display in
Treasury on Winchester Match (21 June),
including the
Watson compass,
to commemorate
the 90th
anniversary of
George Mallory’s
death.
■
Heart Wood
What follows demonstrates another example of
an ‘un-pigeon-holeable Wykehamist’! Nelson
woodworker, David Haig (A, 1968-72),
never knew what he wanted to be until he first
put chisel to timber and discovered that his life
came together in a way he could not have
imagined. The story was written by Charles
Anderson and appeared in Issue 54 of NZ
Life & Leisure; the photographs were taken
by Camilla Stoddart (daughter of Winchester’s
Director of Development, Lorna Stoddart).
Full permissions to publish have been obtained.
It began with a lock and a sharpened
chisel in an abandoned house at the top of
the South Island. There was a vague
memory in David Haig’s mind of a
woodwork class at an English prep school,
but until then that memory had been
submerged in a life of privileged education.
He had always felt like an imposter in that
life. He knew he didn’t want to be a lawyer
like his father or a civil servant like his
siblings. He didn’t know what he wanted.
David marked the new place for the
lock on the door and began carefully to
chop out the wood to make it fit. As he
blew chunks of wood from the grooves, he
thought that this was proper work. His
body was involved with his mind and his
aspirations. There was a goal in mind and
a sense of application. He felt that this
sort of work could lead to inner unity and
focus. It seemed to point to a more
complete way of life.
In 1981 David and his wife Clare had
bought a four-roomed bach for $25,000 in
Cable Bay at the end of a dirt road in the
middle of a bare landscape. Tui Cottage,
however, felt like an oasis. There were
trees all around it, overgrown and
towering, and so dense that in some
places the sky could not be seen. Over the
years the house grew with the family.
Walls were popped out here and there as
more children came into their lives.
and not others, but what he liked was
simplicity. It dawned on him that these
chairs, tables and cabinets were probably
not that hard to make. He enjoyed
discovering pieces of wood to work with
but it was difficult to find good material in
Nelson, so he began to source it himself.
He came across old walnut trees that had
been planted by the first farmers in the
region, men who had arrived on ships 120
years earlier with their families and bags of
acorns and walnuts. Years later the trees
were beautiful and gnarled with wonderful
streaky and marbled wood.
The chance to move his young family
from Nelson back to his native England
for six months came thanks to his motherin-law who paid for the trip. There David
bluffed his way into a job restoring old
furniture. When he came home he
believed this was to be his path.
As the Tui Cottage garden was slowly
cleared, David discovered there was
enough flat land to build his own
workshop on the property. When it finally
emerged after three months, he felt he
had to pinch himself every morning as he
walked the short distance there from Tui
Cottage. He had never wanted a
delineated life: one that separated work
and leisure and living. He had always
thought that a much better way was to
have everything together. You didn’t have
a career; your work was your life.
As more pieces of furniture for
restoring came through his doors, David
realized he was developing a taste. He was
not quite sure why he enjoyed some pieces
11
It felt different to be making
something from scratch. He always began
with an idea, just a concept, a perfect
embodiment of what he wanted to create.
When it was complete and went back out
the door, it was never as perfect as he had
thought it would be. That kept him going.
Every wood imparted a different flavour. It
was, he says, like playing a piece of music
in E flat or A minor. It made a difference.
He thought of himself as a composer; the
timbers he chose were the instruments, his
tools the orchestra players and at the end
there was a ringing presence to it.
There was something about seeing a
piece of work through from its beginning
to its end. He found trees in the
backblocks of Golden Bay and waited for
the right time to mill them. He treated
the wood and seasoned it and blew
sawdust off it to reveal its worth. Then he
fashioned it into something that was, up
until that moment, real only in his mind.
He can still look at a piece of furniture he
has created and remember exactly which
tree it came from.
David thought of all this when he
was working. Sometimes, when
everything felt right, it seemed as if whole
aspects of his life came together. The
wood became the focal point for his own
story. His home, his family
and his world had all grown
though the fashioning of
wood with his scarred hands.
All that he worked for was
combined; he created
furniture to provide for his
family, and in return that life
fed his creativity.
Then there was the idea
of a rocking chair. It has
always struck David as a
remarkable piece of furniturethere was something about its
fluid motion and how a
human body and a chair could be so
closely linked. He sketched his idea for
years. One morning, like the completion
of haiku, he thought he had solved his
perfectly balanced equation. His task now
was to turn that idea into reality. It took
three months to make the first one. He
learned the steam-bending method to
meld its sweeping arms through the seat
and into the back of the rocker which
tucked sharply underneath.
It would become his signature chair,
his most popular piece of furniture and one
that has sold throughout the world for
more than 20 years. In those years David
has made hundreds, but each has a unique
story. In a world where material possessions
are often impersonal, there is a purity about
acknowledging the genealogy of a product.
He has chosen his trees, milled them and
treated the wood. He has done it all.
In a career that has spanned more
than 30 years, David has a view of time
that is not entirely linear. Etched into
wood at the front of his
cottage is his own monogram.
The letters DAH merge with
each other in a pattern he
discovered as a schoolboy who
was embarking on a path of
academia and civil service.
Years on, after creating his
chair, he looked at that
monogram again and thought
his subconscious was playing a
trick on him. The more he
looked the more he thought it
looked exactly like the
culmination of a life. It looked
like his signature chair.
David Haig (www.davidhaig.co.nz)
has been a member of the Nelson Guild of
Woodworkers since its inception in 1983.
During the past 15 years he has passed on his
knowledge and taught regularly throughout
the United States and Australia. He was
involved in the establishment of New
Zealand’s only dedicated woodworking
school, The Centre for Fine Woodworking,
close to his home in Nelson. A pdf of the full
colour article can be found on the website:
www.wincollsoc.org
■
The loveliest thing I ever heard
Canon Paul Lucas (Coll, 1947-52) provides
the following about his father, The Reverend
Egbert Lucas (G, 1891-97; Sen Co Prae) as
a companion to the last issue’s article,
‘Singing in Seventh’.
In July 1908, Bertie Lucas wrote to
his brother Harold, a Philite, with an
account of his visit to Winchester the
previous weekend. He preached in
Chapel on Sunday evening. ‘I poured
with sweat, not from heat but merely from
fear. There is something very exceptional
about preaching in Chapel which I
cannot quite fathom. I can’t get
comfortable or in touch with them:
although I get through what I want to say,
there is something very much lacking.
However I hope I shall find out how to do
it in time. It is very important I should.
Afterwards, dinner at Burge’s and one
or two of the College prefects in. Very
delightful fellows, one chap called Wright
and another who is Prefect of Hall next
year. They were as nice as they could be
and asked me to go across to a sort of
concert they were having in Chamber
Court after College Preces, which
consisted in a singing of carols in parts,
run by a man called Wilson. I think this
was without exception the loveliest thing
I ever heard.
12
They stood at the opening of
Seventh Chamber Passage in a little knot
with two juniors holding lights for them
to see by. Chamber Court and Chapel on
a fine summer’s night and Collegemen
and a few other people in chairs all sitting
or standing about Middle Gate on the
other side. They sang about half a dozen
things in about half an hour, lovely
things, and in the conditions, open air etc
and the most beautiful spot in England, I
don’t think really I can imagine anything
more beautiful. I must admit I was rather
in an ecstasy over this: it took me back
somehow to all the strange charm that
lies at the heart of Winton.’
■
Wiccamica
Go Bo
Sir David Clementi (E, 62-67) retires as
Warden at the end of this term. He will be
replaced by Charles Sinclair, CBE (B, 6166), a Fellow since 2010. Charles is
Chairman of Associated British Foods plc,
Chairman of the Minack Theatre Trust
and a Governor of the Courtauld Institute
of Art.
We welcome also to the Fellowship
Nicholas Ferguson (C, 61-66). Nicholas is
a businessman, currently Chairman of
BskyB and a former Chairman of SVG
Capital plc and of the Courtauld Instutute
of Art.
Co Ro
Leaving us at the end of Cloister Time
are: Lucy Timms (Mod Lang, since
September 2013), Carla Williams (Design
Technology, since September 2011),
Amanda Chain (Spanish and Div, since
September 2011), Georgina Dowell (Art,
since September 2004), Phil Nash
(History and Div, since September 1986),
Barbara MacKinnon (Mod Lang, since
September 1986), and John Falconer
(Classics and Curator of Treasury, since
September 1978).
In addition, John Burrell (Classics and
Mod Lang, since September 2011) and
Miles Whitehead (History and Div, since
January 2011) left at the end of Common
Time, and Richard Shorter (Physics,
Under Master and Housedon of Furley’s,
since September 1980) and Nick
Fennell* (Mod Lang, since September
1977) left at the end of Short Half. We
thank them all for their hard work at Win
Coll, and wish them prosperity and good
fortune for the future.
Any who remember Lyn and Rob
Wakefield (staff, 70-74) will be saddened to
learn that Lyn died on 10th March, 2014.
*Nick’s former pupils are invited to join him
and other Modern Languages colleagues, past
and present, for a glass of wine in Bethesda
(Sick House) garden at the end of Winchester
Match. If you would like to attend, please
email the Head of Russian, Stephen Rich
([email protected]), by 31st May with the
number of people in your party.
Win Coll Soc
The end of this half sees also the
retirement of David Fellowes (I, 63-67),
appointed first in 2004 as Secretary of
Wyk Soc, and subsequently, in March
2007, as the first Director of the newly
created Win Coll Soc. David has been a
tremendous force for good, and we shall
hugely miss his massive energy, sterling
hard work and endless good humour. We
thank him, and welcome his successor,
Alex Roe (G, 72-75), with a warning that
he has a really hard act to follow!
A Tale of Prejudice
In December, Ben Cawston, a 14-year-old
pupil at Westgate School in Winchester,
became the first state-educated pupil to win
a national public schools title in a
tournament which, despite its name, has
previously allowed pupils from state schools
also to take part. Following his Under-15
singles win at Queen’s Club, however, he
has been denied entry to this year’s Public
Schools Doubles Championships, after
rackets professionals from the 14 top Public
Schools voted narrowly to exclude state
school players for the first time.
Dr Peter Cramer, Winchester’s master-incharge of rackets, condemned the
decision. ‘It is appalling.’ he said. ‘I was
shocked when I heard and have no idea
why the pros voted this way – maybe
misplaced traditionalism. .... We live in a
worryingly divided society and charity
legislation says public schools should have
outreach programmes and connections
13
with state schools – but we all feel this is
something a school like ours should be
doing anyway, because it is morally right.
.... This ban is a great shame, but I’m sure
it’s something we can set right.’
The chairman of the Rackets
Professionals Association (RPA) said the
reason was that state schoolboys did not
play in inter-school doubles matches on
which the national seedings are based.
‘The pros are very much divided regarding
this issue.’ Some insiders believe that the
real reason for the ban was that certain
professionals feared that their own star
players might lose to Ben and his doubles
partner, Thomas Foster, 14.
Ben continues to train with the squad at
Winchester, where his father, Tim, is the
rackets professional. The Headmaster also
believes it is unfair that Ben has not been
allowed to enter. In a letter to the RPA, Dr
Townsend pleaded for state school players
to be included. ‘To allow them to play in
the doubles would seem to fit in perfectly
with the sort of thing we all want, namely
a generosity in the sharing of our many
resources’ he wrote. ‘With all the good
work being done by independent schools
to share time, resources and talent with
the maintained sector, surely now is the
time to loosen unnecessary restrictions.’
For now the ban remains in place and,
rather than slugging it out with his publicschool rivals at Queen’s, Ben is left to
cheer on his Winchester club-mates from
the gallery.
High Praise for Win Coll
Win Coll has recently been selected by a
European jury as an outstanding example
of the European Union’s eTwinning
programme. The scheme encourages
students, along with those from other
schools in Europe, to develop online
creative projects which explain their local
culture. Win Coll was adjudged to have
exceptional such projects, alongside Mid
Calder Primary School in Scotland.
David Ceiriog-Hughes, Head of German,
was invited to a ceremony in Brussels to
collect the prize.
‘And the waters prevailed …
…and were increased greatly upon the earth;
and the ark went upon the face of the waters’:
(Genesis 7, 18). The unending bad
weather earlier in the year produced
floods of biblical proportions throughout
many areas of the country. Win Coll was
no exception. The following photographs
(Meads and New Field) speak for
themselves!
Treasury News
John Falconer, Curator of Treasury, writes:
Last year I reported on the discovery of
some pre-Raphaelite stained glass which
had once been in Wellington House.
Further researches have now established
that the glass predated the hotel in that
building, and was in fact commissioned by
an alderman and Mayor of Winchester, Mr.
Robert Poulsome Forder, a wool-stapler,
who moved into 77 Kingsgate Street in the
1870s. From the sale catalogue of his effects
following his death in 1878, it would appear
that this building, now used for offices and
geography classrooms, was a luxuriously
furnished private house. His obituary in The
Hampshire Advertiser County Newspaper
describes him as a man of good taste and an
excellent host, and the catalogue certainly
bears this out: fine wines, port, champagne,
elegant furniture, Meissen china, silver,
books, engravings, pictures, bronzes, fifty
pages of treasures, the contents of a very
grand and artistic house indeed. ‘His
munificence as chief magistrate will long be
remembered, for, in addition to a grand ball
to children and to older people, he
entertained Lord Northbrook in the most
princely manner on the eve of his lordship’s
departure for the Viceroyalty of India; and
he also was the host, at his residence in
Kingsgate Street, of Bishop Wilberforce,
who highly appreciated his hospitality, and
met in his house the elite of the city and
14
freedom: they are essentially English and
have the English poetic quality… The
light and air of Shakespeare and his
attendant sprites live again in Constable
and once more in Wilson Steer.’
Photo by Cdr J H Drummond OBE DSC RN, by kind permission of John Drummond.
the vicinity. Fond of artistic objects, Mr.
Forder had collected a goodly array of
pictures and other evidences of taste, and,
fond of society, he was a generous host to
many people.’
This cultured Mayor certainly seems a
more likely sponsor of these magnificent
windows than the Wellington House
Private Hotel, which operated only
between 1927 and 1933, in the course of
which it was run by three different
proprietors, the last of whom, a Mr.
Stanley Knocker, proudly announced in
Kelly’s Street Directory that it was ‘under
entirely new management.’ But by 1934 it
was empty. A council proposal to turn it
into 11 flats was soon cancelled, and the
College acquired it in 1939, only to lease
it to the War Office in 1940, at which
point the cautious Bursar,
Herbert Chitty, removed the
windows to the Warden’s Stables
for safe keeping. There the story
would have ended, but for a
chance enquiry to the archivist
by Crispin Drummond, the
manager of Wells bookshop,
about another matter. In the
course of this it transpired that
his great grandfather, Captain
Algernon Heneage Drummond
(composer of the tune to the
Eton Boat Song) had lived in the
house from 1918-1921, where his
son took this photograph of the windows
in 1919.
When Harry Collison presented his
watercolour collection to the College in
1940, he did so in the hope that it would
be an inspiration to many generations of
Wykehamists, and particularly because he
feared that the Public Schools were
lagging behind the County and Borough
Schools in the teaching of the Arts and
Crafts. In an article for The Wykehamist
(July 9th 1940) he wrote: ‘Also I have
been moved by the growing interest in
the preservation of what is beautiful in
our very beautiful land. We want young
men and women to place on record before
it is too late the beauties of our English
landscape and the dignity of rural life…
Watercolours are the breath of individual
He would, I think, have been happy with
this year’s exhibition of watercolours in
Art School, selected and hung by Mr.
Wyke’s division. So would Colonel
Arthur Brooke and Lady Anderson,
donors of the other two collections. The
Brooke donation included four pictures by
Arthur Rackham, and the div’s choice of
three out of these helped us to identify
one whose provenance had so far eluded
us, entitled Across the Fields. With great
persistence the boys and their div don
pressed the curator to find out more, and
eventually the Arthur Rackham Society
in America contacted their Honorary
Vice-President, Rackham’s great niece,
who discovered from her great uncle’s
records that the picture did not illustrate
one of his many children’s books, but was
an independent composition sold at
exhibition in 1926.
Exorcism
Many thanks to the Rev’d John Woolmer
(Co Ro, 63-75) for drawing our attention
to an article from The Times which deals
with his role in deliverance ministry, or
what we might term exorcism. As a taster,
here are a few sentences:
‘He describes being called in to help highly
intelligent people from the professional classes
who admit to being “in league with the
Devil”, people who start speaking in
incomprehensible “demonic
tongues” that rattle out “like a
machinegun”, people who walk
around looking decades older than
their years, men who gnaw table
legs, women who launch themselves
six feet into the air when anointed
with oil by a diocesan exorcist.’
Anyone interested in reading the
whole article should write to the
Director of Win Coll Soc, David
Fellowes, who will send a copy. ■
15
Old Wykehamist News
Academic
JPP Dancy (Coll, 59-64) has been elected
an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford.
RL Freeland (Coll, 09-11) was in the
winning team in this year’s University
Challenge on 7th April on BBC2.
Richard is reading Maths at Trinity
College, Cambridge. This was the third of
Trinity’s wins (the others being in 1974
and 1995) and on each occasion, they
have beaten Oxford colleges, this time
beating Somerville College by 240 points
to 135. Over the five rounds of the
competition which started in July 2013,
their average score was 264, whilst their
average margin of victory was 129!
TM Verity (K, 61-65) has recently
graduated from King’s College, London
with a postgraduate degree in War Studies.
SA Taylor (F, 70-74) has joined the
Committee of The Friends of Winchester
College w.e.f. January 2014.
Announcements
Arts
JCC Stevens (A, 68-72) is engaged to be
married to Isabelle Saavedra and will
probably live in Spain.
CS Gordon Clark (G, 57-61) has recently
retired from The Bach Choir after forty
years as a singing member and six years as
its Chairman. In recognition of this, Sam
has been made one of only four VicePresidents, the others being Dame Janet
Baker, James Bowman, and Dame Felicity
Lott - exalted company indeed!
Appointments / Elections
ST Beloe (I, 58-63) has been appointed
Chairman of The Friends of Winchester
College w.e.f. January 2014. Simon has
served on the Committee since October
2001.
Sir Robert Clerk (D, 58-63): was
appointed Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian
on 18th October 2013, following in the
footsteps of his father, who was Lord
Lieutenant from 1972 to 1992.
JMW Hogan (F, 56-61) has been appointed
High Sherriff of Worcestershire for 2014/15.
RL Freeland, far left
AS Hampton (B, 71-76) has been
appointed Chair of the Independent
Schools Association for a year, with effect
from September 2014. He continues as
Headmaster of Thorpe Hall School in
Southend.
DK Selwood (E, 84-87) is now blogging
on history for The Daily Telegraph.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/
dominicselwood/.
JA Tooth (C, 78-83) was appointed in
2012 Governor of The West London Free
School. He was a Co-Founder of the
school and also of the parent WLFS
Multi-Academy Trust, which is setting up
a series of free schools in west London
promoting a classical liberal education.
AW Maclay (Coll, 86-91) has left the
City after 15 years, his last position being
Fundraising Director at the private equity
firm Actis, to take up his completely new
role as Director of Development at The
Rhodes Trust. The Rhodes Scholarship,
named after Cecil Rhodes, is an
international postgraduate award for
selected international students to study at
the University of Oxford. Alasdair will be
continuing in post as Chairman of the
Win Coll Soc Council.
HGC Humphreys (G, 86-91): in August,
Huw will be leaving the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra after eight years, to
take up the position of Head of Music at
the Barbican Centre in London.
CC MacKeith (I, 76-81): the design for
hundreds of new war
memorials, being
built to honour
every British
Victoria Cross
recipient from the
Great War, was
unveiled on 3rd
November last.
Charles, the
successful designer
Private William Young VC
and also an
architect, said: ‘It is a fantastic privilege to
win and have my design as a permanent
B Nicholls (E, 00-05) has recently been
elected as the Liberal Democrat
Prospective Parliamentary candidate for
Romsey and Southampton North.
TS Rowan-Robinson (H, 62-67) has been
appointed DL for Suffolk.
CJF Sinclair (B, 61-66 and Fellow) has
been elected Warden of Winchester
College with effect from 6th July 2014 on
the retirement of Sir David Clementi.
16
Charles Sinclair
Photograph Kin Ho
marker for heroes
who won the
highest award
for gallantry.’
For his entry
he chose to
feature VC
winner William
Young, having
learned about his
valour while working on a project
involving the restoration of a war memorial
in Preston.
More than 400 of the monuments are to be
installed in the home towns of every soldier,
sailor and airmen to win the highest award
for valour during the First World War. The
winning, circular design adopted a style
similar to that used by the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission on its structures.
FM Shorter (G, 96-99): Fanny has won a
coveted design bursary through
‘Confessions of a Design Geek’ to help her
boost her surface design business. The
bursary, which starts next year, will provide
her with numerous marketing
opportunities as well as invaluable industry
guidance and advice. Fanny has worked as
a freelance designer for the past six years
for companies including Twinings, Cutty
Sark and the Wellcome Collection.
Fanny Shorter’s Brain Chair
AML Smith (F, 97-02), whose wildlife and
portrait sculptures can be found in public
and private collections around the world,
returned in January from his role as Artist
In Residence on the sub-Antarctic island
of South Georgia. Under the sponsorship
of the South Georgia Heritage Trust,
Anthony spent two-months living at the
old whaling station of Grytviken, taking
photos, sketching, painting and developing
designs for a new series of sculptures.
Thanks to the generosity of the
Abercrombie & Kent travel company, he
was also able to visit the Antarctic
Peninsula, and his experiences there will
also be forming a substantial part of his
forthcoming work.
Books
A Campomar (C, 84-89) has written
Golazo! A History of Latin American
Football, in time for the 2014 World Cup.
His book tells the extraordinary tale of
how football came to define a continent.
Published in the UK by Quercus, ISBN
9781780870366, and in the US by
Riverhead, ISBN 9781594485862.
AMJN Clover (Coll, 83-88) is publishing
his latest novel with Random House in
June 2014. ‘Kev’ Clover is best known for
his humorous articles in The Sunday
Times, but The Things I’d Miss is a ‘tearjerker’, telling the story of a woman who
has a car crash, and finds herself reliving
her past. The book finishes with a
dedication to Derek Van Raaij (B, 83-88).
MC Cruddas (K, 59-63) has written
Corruption. If you combine The Holy Blood
and the Holy Grail with the Da Vinci Code,
analyse the facts correctly, turn it into a
true story, and put it into a correct
historical context, then you begin to
understand the significance of Corruption.
It is the true story of a financier caught in
a web of lies, deceit, theft, corruption and
murder where he is the central ‘mark’.
Government and big business had to
17
destroy him in order to protect
themselves. They have conspired to
launder massive sums of money obtained
corruptly from illegal sales of arms to the
Middle East, in particular Iraq, and tried
to hijack his company to hide it all by
inserting multiple forgeries of his
signature on takeover documents. Ruined
by the association of Government and big
business, aided by the police and the
judiciary, the writer goes on a long and
dangerous journey to establish the truth.
Some comments:
‘I opened the book one evening on holiday to
have a quick read. The next morning, at
dawn, I finished it. Nothing has frightened
me more.’
‘I have always wondered where power
derives its source. I now have a very good
idea, and I think the author is the only one
to have understood how it has developed
and why.’
‘The Roman Church connected to the
Crusaders, connected to the European
Union? It is of course not possible – until I
read Corruption.’
‘Wake up before it is too late.’
Published by Belgravia Publications.
ISBN 0-9545922-0-4.
P de F Delaforce (B, 37-42), now in his
91st year and after recently becoming the
Honourable Artillery Company’s ‘Sen
Man’ veteran, has eleven books being
either published or re-published during the
calendar year 2014, three publishers being
involved. With the 70th anniversaries of
D-day and Market Garden approaching in
June and September, Patrick’s book:
Monty’s Rhine Adventure – War and Peace,
September 1944 N.W. Europe is well timed
indeed. He was with his regiment, 13th
(HAC) RHA, via Operations Bluecoat
and then Market Garden, as right flank
protection, with the Siegfried Line a few
miles to the east, and wonders whether
any other OW can have put the ‘scorecard’ for Market Garden quite so
accurately or, indeed, so caustically?!
Patrick’s Wellington the Beau: The Life and
Loves of the Duke of Wellington and Battles
with Panzers are also now available as ebooks on Amazon Kindle at £3.99.
RI Jefferson (A, 54-60): it may come as
somewhat of a surprise to the
Wykehamical community that this
particular Furleyite is going into print (his
own words)! There are two aims for his
book, A Victorian Gentleman’s North
Norfolk: first, that WJJ Bolding (1815-99),
his late wife’s great great uncle, will
achieve wide recognition as ‘an early
photographer of the first rank’; and second
that, having paid for the cost of publishing
the book out of his own pocket, Richard
hopes that the Big C, Norfolk’s own local
cancer charity, will make a large amount
of money, receiving every penny from
sales. Published by JJG Publishing.
www.big-c.co.uk/boldingsbook.aspx. ISBN
978-1-899163-78-6. £25.
EdeG Lucas (A, 76-80): in
addition to becoming the
energy, commodities and
natural resources editor at
The Economist, Edward has
published a Kindle Single
(e-book) called The
Snowden Operation: Inside
the West’s Greatest Intelligence Disaster.
After Edward Snowden’s daring heist of
secrets from America’s National Security
Agency, the 30-year-old has fled to a
secret hiding place where he awaits
deserved vindication. It is the stuff of spy
movies – played out in real life. The
author disagrees. His new book depicts
him as at best a ‘useful idiot’, whose
actions serve our enemies. The theft and
publication of secret documents is not a
heroic campaign but reckless selfindulgence with disastrous consequences.
M Rendall (I, 47-52) has written Legalise:
the only way to combat drugs. Published by
Stacey International; ISBN: 978190676852.
something’ in Kindle UK
best sellers. To quote from its
back page: ‘When former
M16 agent turned
archaeologist Dr Ava
Curzon is engaged by
American intelligence to
track down an African militia claiming to
hold the Ark of the Covenant, she is
plunged into a world where nothing is
what it seems.’
Some comments:
‘A stunning, turbo-charged thriller.
Compulsive reading.’
‘Dark and gripping. The tension builds until
the very last page.’
‘Ava Curzon is the first real challenge to
Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon.’
Published by Corax. ISBN. 978-09926332-0-2.
RH Wilkinson (E, 49-54) returns to his
wartime home in Surviving a Japanese
Internment Camp: Life & Liberation at Santo
Tomas, Manila, in World War II, (McFarland,
USA, and Eurospan, London, with 44
photos and drawings, and three maps available on Amazon). The Japanese
interned more American civilians there
than anywhere else, but it also had a lot of
British, including Rupert (aged 5-8), his
older sister, and his mother. Using many
memoirs, diaries and interviews in addition
to his own family’s experience, he portrays a
community that went through enormous
changes, from initial good conditions (with
shops, money, imports from friends outside)
to impending mass starvation. The book is
also Rupert’s first foray into military history.
Two American army ‘flying columns’ rescued
the camp, cutting through Japanese lines,
and then found themselves in a hostage
situation. The Japanese commandant used
some internees, including Rupert, as a
human wall to negotiate ‘safe conduct’ for
his garrison out of the camp.
Business and Commercial
DK Selwood (E, 84-87), an OW with a
doctorate in Medieval History from
Oxford, has written a novel The Sword of
Moses, which is ‘number 100-and-
MRD Cornell (K, 79-84) was appointed
Chief Executive of Sotheby’s Europe in July
2013. For the previous twelve years he was
President and CEO of Moet Hennessy
18
USA, part of the LVMH Group in Paris and
New York. His counterpart in Asia happens
to be Kevin Ching, whose Freddyite son,
Nicholas, is an exact contemporary of
Mark’s Kennyite son, Ralph.
CFW Hurd (91-96) is in Outer Mongolia
and offers his services as our man in
Ulaanbaatar, not being aware of any other
OWs out there. He has been working in
Mongolia for the past two years or more
with an advisory firm called IARUDI, and
believes the country has a bright future
because of its geology and proximity to
China. It has been one of the top 10
performing economies over the last five
years, its GDP doubling over that period.
The vast majority of its wealth still lies
untouched under the ground. Chris would
be delighted to share any information with
his fellow Wykehamist, from peculiar
customs and the best places to drink
fermented mare’s milk, to the remarkable
interest rates available on cash deposits and
which companies to avoid on the
Mongolian Stock Exchange. This last is
relatively easy. Email him on:
[email protected]
ARW Smithers (D, 51-55): only a very few
worldwide are accorded the honour of
‘Lunch with the FT’, but the FT’s chief
economics commentator, Martin Wolf,
certainly enjoyed entertaining Andrew at
Kitchen W8 in Kensington, according to
his article in the Financial Times on
Saturday, 1st March 2014. Their menu
selections included a main course of
somewhat indigestible ‘Bankers’ Bonuses’,
an experience you can share at:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ecf83184-9b1111e3-946b-00144feab7de.html. Andrew’s
book, The Road to Recovery, has been very
well reviewed.
ODN White (G, 97–02) has started
Trusty Servant Antiques, an online
business dealing in antiques and
collectibles relating to Winchester
College. From antiquarian books and rare
manuscripts to collectable silver and
porcelain, Trusty Servant Antiques has
the ideal gift to remind the Old
Wykehamist of his time at school.
www.trustyservantantiques.com . Oliver
has kindly agreed to make a donation to
the Bursary Fund of a percentage of the
gross profit made on sales to OWs or
others connected with the School, so
please be sure to mention your
connection to him!
Peter Brown in the Nuffield Department of
Clinical Neurosciences, using transcranial
stimulation techniques to investigate
further the neurophysiology of tremor.
TE Mitchell (Coll, 78-83) has been elected
Chairman of the Court of Examiners of the
Royal College of Surgeons of England and
will commence his two year term of office
in July 2014. He is Deputy Chair of the
Clinical Reference Group for Specialised
Ear Services advising the NHS National
Commissioning Board, and is a member of
the Specialist Advisory Committee in
Otolaryngology
Services
Trusty Servant Antiques
David Fellowes much enjoyed catching
up with these three young OWs during his
recent visit to Singapore: TD Skidmore
(H, 98-03), who sells copper for Rio
Tinto, PW Sutton (G, 98-03), a
shipbroker with Clarksons, and NA
Taylor (F, 99-04), who is a marine
underwriter with Charles Taylor.
Honours
KCB – Lt. Gen. NP Carter CBE DSO
(H, 72-76) - in the 2014 New Years’
Honours.
CBE – CS Gordon Clark (G, 57-61) - in
the 2011 New Year’s Honours for services
to the Academy of Culinary Arts.
CBE – Professor TC Cave (K, 52-56) - in
the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours for
services to literary scholarship.
CBE – P Bennett-Jones (C, 68-73) - in
the 2014 New Year Honours for services to
the entertainment industry and to charity,
particularly through Comic Relief.
Medical
AR Mehta (F, 99-04) has recently gained
Membership of the Royal College of
Physicians and is also an Academic
Clinical Fellow in Neurology at the John
Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. He is currently
doing research, supervised by Professor
JP Axcell (C, 92-97) is currently serving
in the rank of Major as Military Assistant
to a Chinese Major General in the UN
Mission in Cyprus. He also recalled,
having been one of those unfortunate few
to be received Ad Portas in absentia in
April 2008, owing to his service in
Afghanistan at the time, watching a DVD
of the ceremony in a small outpost in
Southern Helmand.
DW Brown (H, 71-75) retired from the
Army on 30th December 2013 after 38
years’ service. In February he started work
with the International Committee of the
Red Cross as one of their Armed Forces
Delegates, his job being to ensure that
countries’ Armed Forces and Security
Services adhere to International
Humanitarian Law and the Law of Armed
Conflict. David is now based in Jordan and
from there has direct responsibility for
Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait and Yemen – as he
put it, ‘an interesting cocktail of countries!’
Lt. Gen. Sir Nicholas Carter (H, 72-76)
has been appointed the new Chief of the
General Staff (CGS) from September,
when he will succeed General Sir Peter
Wall. Sir Nick is
currently
Commander
Land Forces.
He was
commissioned
into the Royal
Green Jackets in
19
1978 and commanded 2 RGJ from 1998
to 2000 with whom he undertook two
operational tours in Bosnia and Kosovo.
He also completed three tours of
Afghanistan in quick succession, the final
one as the Deputy Commander of ISAF.
The last OW appointed to be the
professional head of the British Army was
Field Marshal Lord Carver (G, 28-33), who
was CGS from 1971 to 1973, before
becoming Chief of Defence Staff (1973-76).
Sir Harold (‘Hooky’) Walker (F, 46-50),
who did his National Service in the Royal
Engineers between 1950 and 1952, was
elected 2013 Chairman of the Blythe
Sappers (http://www.blythesappers.co.uk/).
This organisation, comprising around 300
serving and retired Sapper officers, holds
five meetings a year – four lunches and
one dinner – essentially for reasons of esprit
de corps, though it does also raise small
sums of money for Service charities. The
main duty of the Chairman, who holds his
office for one year only, is to find speakers
for the four lunches. The speakers during
Hooky Walker’s chairmanship included
(Lord) David Hannay (B, 49-54), who
spoke on ‘Britain’s Quest for a Role’, the
title of his latest book.
JGM Whitehead (C, 00-05) started his
Initial Officer Training course at RAF
Cranwell in April and hopes to receive
his commission in December, before
undertaking specialist training at RAF
Honnington for the RAF Regiment.
Miles was a member of Common Room
from 2011-14, teaching History.
Sport
JA Hoad (Coll, 05-10), now reading
Chemical Engineering at Cambridge, ran
his first ever Marathon in London on
13th April this year. He came 33rd in the
impressive time of 2 hours 26 minutes.
The London Marathon incorporates the
Varsity Marathon: he led the Cambridge
team to victory and because he ran faster
than 2:30 wins a Full Blue (to go with his
Cross Country Full Blue from last year).
The London Marathon also incorporates
the BUCS (British Universities and
Colleges Sports) marathon competition
and he won the silver medal. As if that
wasn’t enough, he also captains the
Cambridge University Orienteering Club,
for which he has a Half Blue. It is reported
that James’ interest in running began
when the then Master in College,
Alastair Land, took groups of Collegemen
on somewhat unorthodox nocturnal tolls!
BDH Stevens (E, 05-10) played a leading
role in the Jersey team that won the
recent ICC World Cricket League
Division Five tournament in Kuala
Lumpur. Ben scored 84 and took three
wickets in the final, finished as the
tournament’s leading run-scorer with 403
runs from six innings at an average of
67.16 and was named Player of the Series.
OLeH Stevens (H, 92-97): 18 months on
from Oliver’s first mention in these pages
(TS114 – page 23), clearly great strides
have been made. He and his wife, Hetta,
have concluded their first full season as the
leading first-season trainers with 18
winners, including at Royal Ascot and at
Group 2 level; and Lightning Thunder,
their strong prospect for the 2014 1,000
Guineas, one of the season’s five ‘Classics’,
run at Newmarket on 4th May, finished
second by just a neck, having made a late
charge. They were also fortunate enough to
be in the top 10% of the national trainers’
table. While the ruling family of Qatar
remains their principal client and supporter,
they have seen significant growth in the
number of horses being sent to them for
training, and from a diverse range of new
clients. They aim to continue this growth,
whilst targeting significant races at top
racecourses in England and abroad. Oliver
and Hetta’s doors are always open to any
racing-minded OWs. It will come as a
surprise to some that Oliver also ran in this
year’s London Marathon as part of a group
of seven trainers in aid of the Jockey Clubbacked charity, Racing Welfare.
Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites (C, 41-42) is
now thoroughly enjoying his tenth
decade and will be skippering a yacht in
the Windwards in July, as usual!
Old Wykehamist Sporting Societies
OW Cricket Club
RJ Priestley (A, 60-65) retires this year as
Club President after many years in office
and is to be succeeded by WEJ Holland
(F, 79-83). Richard’s long and invaluable
service will be marked at a match on New
Field on Sunday, 10th August, to be
reported in these pages in November.
OW Meetings overseas
Antipodean OWs
Patrick Medley (G, 70-74) reports: ‘A
Reception in Melbourne hosted by
Jonathan Sanders (A, 70-74) and a
Dinner in Sydney organised by Peter
Young (C, 61-66) produced two
enthusiastic groups of OWs, who not only
lustily sang Domum [in Sydney], but also
expressed a keenness to improve the ties
between the School and Australia and
New Zealand. Although there have been
many informal ties over the years, there is
no formal grouping of OWs in Australasia
nor any formal connection, despite the
fact that a number of us now call
Australasia home. Aspects that will be
explored include establishing a Guild in
Australasia, along the lines of the Hong
Kong Guild, and maybe establishing a
Wykeham Junior Fellow programme.’
(These two events are also reported on
page 43)
Please contact Patrick at
[email protected] if you would
like to know more or become involved.
With Jonathan Sanders based in
Melbourne, Patrick in Sydney, Nick Robb
(E, 73-77) in Brisbane, a thriving OW
community in Perth under Michael
Harford (E, 39-43)’s leadership and many
other willing hands besides, this venture
already augurs well!
Singaporean OWs and those in other Far
Eastern countries
Following the success of the recent Dinner
in Singapore (as reported on page 43),
thought is being given to the formation of
a Far Eastern Guild, again along the lines
of the Hong Kong Guild. Please watch this
and other spaces for further developments.
20
Hong Kong Guild Dinner
Alex Potts (Coll, 89-94), a partner in a
Bermuda law firm, Sedgwick Chudleigh,
was visiting Hong Kong to attend a legal
conference. He contacted the OW Hong
Kong Guild which was represented by
Alex Kaung (A, 86 - 91), also a lawyer
and partner at Reedsmith Richards Butler,
who kindly hosted a drinks and a dinner
for him. The OW Hong Kong Guild looks
forward to welcoming more OWs
travelling to or passing through Hong
Kong on work or vacation. If you are
interested in joining the HK Guild then
please contact Paul Tao (I, 80 – 85),
[email protected]
Obiter Dicta
Cricketing Wardens: Patrick Maclure
(I, 52-57), Aide to the Warden, duly
informed the Warden-elect that he was
the first Warden to have been in Lords
(1966) since Lee and Chelmsford, but
that his predecessors had both been in for
three years (1833-35 and 1885-87,
respectively, and each as captain), before
both went on to captain Oxford!
MCC’s Ten Sen Men!
The Marylebone Cricket Club’s Annual
Report and Accounts for 2013 revealed
the following three Old Wykehamists
among their ten longest serving members:
Lt Col The Rt Hon The Lord Wigram
(H, 28-34), elected in 1941, TA Bird
DSO MC (E, 32-36) and PM LuttmanJohnson TD (C, 33-38), both elected in
1944. A further ten OWs featured in the
list of those with membership stretching
back over 60 years.
‘Smuggler’
Perhaps sufficient consensus appears to
have been reached over the correct
‘notion’ for a pencil sharpened at both
ends? Whilst ASG Drew (B, 52-57) writes
simply ‘Smuggler, of course’, DA Oldridge
(G, 60-65) suggests the Philite version of
‘Quirk’, though he concedes that a
Beloeite acquaintance has claimed
‘Smuggler’. Open-ended debate may well
ensue.
Herman Pot
In memory of their
Housedon, Dick
Massen, who died on
29 December 2013, a
group of Old Trantites
has contributed to the
creation of an actual
‘Herman Pot’, to be
awarded every year to
the winners of the
Trant’s v. Phil’s
‘Winkies’ match, traditionally played on
the last morning of Common Time. The
pot, a London-hallmarked solid silver
cup from 1903 with a new wooden base,
was presented to his widow, Jane, at a
highly enjoyable dinner held in the
Wykeham Arms on Thursday, 20
March, the night before this year’s
match. Everyone
then rather
miraculously
reconvened at 7am
the following
morning on a chilly
but bright Lavender
Meads to watch a
spirited encounter,
which Phil’s
narrowly won 1918. Jane presented
From left to right they are Oliver Coldrick, Andrew Cross, Paul Cleaver, Greg Trotman,
the trophy to
Steve Featherstone, Jane Massen, Adam Cole, Miles Heggadon and Julian Eustace.
Rupert Meadows,
donors attended the occasion, all being
the winning Phil’s captain during the
contemporaries covering the years 1985
post-match breakfast in Trant’s. It was a
to 1991: Paul Cleaver, Oliver Coldrick,
memorable occasion and one that it is to
Adam Cole, Andrew Cross, Julian
be hoped can become an annual
Eustace, Steve Featherstone, Miles
pilgrimage for any interested Old
Heggadon and Greg Trotman.
Trantites and Philites. The following
RI Jefferson (A, 54-60) reports, à propos
tales of flogging headmasters on the front
page of the previous issue (TS116), that
‘one year when Eton had dared to beat
Winchester handsomely, Dr Keate flogged
the whole Eton team.......and the scorer.’
for whom an obituary was accorded in
either The Times or The Daily Telegraph.
Their study started in January 2013 and
ended in December 2013, which they say
is probably about 90% complete. Their
‘Obit Roll’ reads as follows:
A former Headmaster of Twyford School,
David Wickham (I, 47-52), felt
constrained to make an observation,
having enjoyed reading the story on
Freeman Dyson (Coll, 36-41), entitled
‘Disturbing the Universe’ in the recent
2013 Annual Report. At Freeman’s first
Mathmā lesson at Twyford in 1932, he
was given a recent Common Entrance
paper because reports of his
precociousness had preceded him. After
half an hour Freeman’s paper was handed
in and there was but one incorrect answer.
As was common with that teacher, he was
reprimanded for not showing his
workings. ‘Sir,’ was the reply, ‘I worked
them in my head.’ When David spoke to
the great man about this recently, he said
he did not recall the episode, but neither
did he deny it!
• 18 Eton
• 14 Winchester
• 10 Marlborough
• 7 Radley
• 6 Malvern
• 6 Stowe
• 5 Harrow
• 5 Sherborne
• 4 Charterhouse
• 4 Shrewsbury
Public School Obits – a recent survey!
PGA Archer (C, 43-47) and his wife,
Elizabeth, have been making a study of
the numbers of men from public schools
3 Cheltenham
2 Haileybury
2 Wellington
2 Westminster
1 Bedford
1 Clifton
1 Rugby
1 Wrekin
1 Uppingham
Fortify yourself with Delaforce 1977
The following was spotted in The Spectator
(17th December 2013) in Hugh Jeffreys’
article ‘Fortify yourself’: ‘I used to be
agnostic about the joys of port until I tried a
properly mature port from a good vintage. It
was the Delaforce 1977. Now if anything I
like it a little too much …’ On enquiring if
there was any link with the family, Patrick
Delaforce (B, 37-42) replied: ‘Delaforce
port commenced in Oporto and Vila Nova
de Gaia shortly after Waterloo as the
21
Wellington squaddies had acquired a taste
for the robust red wine! Two Delaforce
brothers (Huguenots) partnered another
chap called Gassiot (now Martinez
Gassiot). One brother stayed in London to
sell the wine whilst the other made it in
Portugal... Nine generations later,
immediately after WW2, found yours truly
in Oporto opening all the world markets
that A. Hitler had occupied. A biblical
seven years of leisurely wine-trading
followed with lots of cricket and lots of port
for unwary visiting teams. The brand
continues in a more complicated way, but
two Delaforces are still in the wine trade.’
FW Hibbert (B, 60-65) writes:
‘A dip in the past’
Gunner’s Hole of my school-boy days
A fenced-off stretch of chalky stream
Where naked and youthful we ran and dived
As a hungry pike lurked in order to seize
Any toothsome toe that came into view
Belonging to someone timid or new.
Today there’s a swimming-pool, indoors and
grand,
Which the School’s elder statesmen prudently
planned;
But did they ever compensate the fish
For whom boys’ toes were a tasty dish?
Sir Patrick Moberly (Coll, 42-46) was
reminded by the article in the November
2013 issue on Sir George MacLeod and
Iona Abbey of the great man’s sermon in
Chapel in 1944, when he updated the
School about the re-building of the
Abbey. He recalls MacLeod telling a
simple story which has remained with
him 70 years hence. He asked his
congregation to imagine a group of street
boys who were throwing stones outside a
church, one of which hit a stained glass
window carrying the inscription ‘Glory to
God in the Highest’. In fact the stone
knocked out the letter ‘e’ in ‘Highest’.
Result: the inscription then read: ‘Glory
to God in the High St.’ - a reminder of
Christian values applying in everyday life
regardless of surroundings. This was all
the more memorable for being delivered
in MacLeod’s distinctively Scottish
accent, a rarity at the School in those
days. Sir Patrick wonders ‘of how many
sermons can one recall that much?’
Reunion of the 1959 Win Coll
Croquet Club
April Fools’ Day 2014
Julian Hale (I, 1954-59)reports:
‘I’m not sure, after all this, if I remember I
was at Winchester at all.’ Thus Nigel
Harvie, the last of the 16 members of the
1959 Croquet Club to respond to a roundthe-table invitation by 1959 President,
Charles Villiers, to dig into their memory
bank. Most did remember actually playing
croquet, some recalled their satisfaction at
being invited to join this apparently elite
but amorphous club, none recalled the
precise occasion of that honour. In fact the
standard of precision was no higher than
the reputed (even documented) standard
of dexterity on the croquet lawn. This
dereliction has a long history, but
fortunately a semblance of factuality can
be guaranteed by evidence more authentic
and solid than that stored in the brains of
the (inevitably) ageing members.
cricket tie, undermined by a single green
stripe just visible below the traditional
yellow and white. Only one member,
Mark Pellew, had thought – or was able –
to locate and wear one for the reunion
lunch. Yet it was the key evidence of the
reality of the club and tangible proof of its
mildly subversive origins.
from the truth that were themselves
responses to the printing in The Trusty
Servant (issue TS115 in May 2013) of a
photograph of the 1959 club members
(located by Christopher Stewart-Smith).
This itself was in reaction to a claim from
the year before that the Croquet Club had
been founded in the mid-sixties.
Exhibit No 2: Charles Hebditch himself.
Not from 1959 but from the founding year
-1957; here was proof positive that later
claimants for the honour of giving birth to
the club were mere pretenders. Being the
only surviving and healthy founder
member, Charles’s presence was much
valued. The absence of fellow founders
Jeremy Hurst, Simon (Gugs) Wetherby
and James Mitchell was much regretted.
A toast was drunk in their honour and to
the memory of all absent friends.
The current reunion succeeded royally in
putting paid to any further rehashing of
such arguments and counter-arguments.
Those present at the reunion established
once and for all that the founders had
bequeathed an admirably imprecise legacy
of unstructured – and certainly
unremembered – invitations and
acceptances that led to the survival of a
more or less coherent club that may or
may not have played more than
intermittent (though fiercely fought)
games of croquet and a great deal of
authenticated bonhomie. But it all
certainly began in 1957.
Exhibit No 3: Photographs. On display at
the lunch were photographs of the club
members in 1957, 1958 and 1959. The
passage of time and the sustaining powers
of croquet were reflected in the
comparisons between those present in the
late 1950s and in 2014.
On the propitious 1st April 2014, a
perfect, sunny spring day, the grand
surroundings of London’s Hurlingham
Club, looking perfection as the home of
croquet, provided a lunch of equal
culinary standard. The occasion was
organised by Charles Villiers with help
from Nigel Beevor and Peter Davis, in
response to several attempted diversions
The only remaining issue of contention is
perhaps one that can never be resolved
but was posed in the title of the 2013
article: ‘Good Man Soc’ – or was it Croquet
Soc, Croquet Club or even Croq Soc? Of
course astute readers will have realised
that the controversy resides solely in the
first of these. In his opening words,
Charles Villiers ruled out the word ‘good’
as having any religious (and therefore
possibly ethical) sense. But the phrase,
‘Good Man’ is clearly complex in its
implications of admiring the aesthete
Exhibit No 1: The Croquet Club tie – a
kind of post-modern version of the OW
Charles Villiers (left) talking to Charles Dinwiddy (centre) and Charles Hebditch (G, 52-57) (right)
22
rather than the hearty, the croquetier
rather than the cricketer, the subversive
rather than the conformist.
A message sent by the absent but revered
founder Jeremy Hurst recalled the
‘apoplectic’ reaction to the ‘rebellious’ tie
in the Dons’ Common Room and
remarked how ‘satisfying it was that the
Old Guard could so easily be provoked.’
He summed up the membership of the
Croquet Club as ‘lowlier status fellows,
who weren’t athletic, who had the vain
idea that sport was for pleasure, not for
winning and bringing honour to the
School.’ This provoked unanimous
approval from those present at the
reunion lunch, despite the slight shadow
that passed over the countenance of the
one member present who had
distinguished himself on the cricket field
for Lords. A doubly ‘Good Man’ perhaps.
Our thanks to Tony Gamble, the
Hurlingham Club photographer, for his
permission to publish both photographs
The 2014 group shot of the remains of the 1959 membership, in the same seating/standing order as in the original photo,
the gaps being compressed:
Patrick Karney (I), Peter Davis (E), Mark Pellew (K), Mark St Giles(I);
Martin Clarke (K), David Maclean-Watt (B), Julian Hale (I), Charles Villiers (E), Christopher Stewart-Smith
(Coll), James Sabben-Clare (Coll), Anthony Milford (Coll);
Nigel Beevor (B), Nicholas Bosanquet (Coll), John Leathes (E), Nigel Harvie (G), Charles Dinwiddy (C).
The Entrepreneurial Spirit is
alive and well at Winchester
initiative at Winchester College, and the
two are now starting to work hand-in-hand.
Richard Lucas (G, 79-84) writes:
Simon Tarrant, Head of Design
Technology, has recently encouraged the
V1th Book boys to join the UK’s Young
Enterprise Scheme in a bid to learn about
industry and the world of work through
enterprise. The aim is to set up and run a
company for a year. The boys do
everything from raising the initial share
capital, securing sponsorship, designing
and making their product or service,
through to selling directly to customers
and then ultimately winding up the firm
and paying their taxes! Many readers of
these pages may already be enjoying the
fruits of their enterprise by reading The
Insight magazine.
The last edition of The Trusty Servant
briefly highlighted some Entrepreneurial
activity amongst the Old Wykehamist
community. The Entrepreneurs’ Guild
held its inaugural meeting, most fittingly,
in the HQ of Innocent Smoothies, cofounded by Jon Wright (K, 85–90), whose
story featured in the recent Annual
Report for 2013. Since this first meeting,
much discussion has been had on how
OWs can encourage entrepreneurship
among current Wykehamists and on
creating an environment which facilitates
sharing knowledge and expertise. The
Guild Leader, Chris Wheatcroft, (I, 91–96),
and Richard Lucas (G, 79–84) are very
keen to ensure that Wykehamists are
made fully aware that alternative careers
do exist beyond the financial sector!
As the Entrepreneurs Guild has been
developing, so has the Entrepreneurship
In November 2013, Paul Cheng (D, 86-91),
social entrepreneur and founder of Shared
Impact, donated a generous prize fund for
the inaugural Winchester College
Business Plan Competition. Dragons Den
events are also a regular feature of the YE
23
scheme, enabling the boys to develop
their persuasive presentation skills and
sharpness under interrogation. It also
worthy of note that, earlier on last year,
the Taylor-Young family generously
pledged funding in support of engineering
initiatives, again run through the Design
and Technology Department.
If you would like to be a mentor or guest
speaker, or to offer internships or career
development opportunities, Simon
Tarrant ([email protected]) would be
very pleased to hear from you. Further
information on OW Guilds can be found
on the website, http://wincollsoc.org/ournetwork/guilds, whilst you may also enjoy
following the School’s developments on
http://lordstree.freeforums.net/ forum.
With OWs and current Wykehamists
working together like this, surely within a
generation some great companies will be
created and even a future Dyson may
emerge – watch this space!
■
Varsity Winchester College Football VIs Festival
Oli Wettern (G, 2006-11) reports on a day
that he not only initiated but also organised.
Sunday, 23rd March was a peculiar
day for Winchester College Football.
With Common Time finished the
previous day, ordinarily the canvasses
would have been packed away, ready for
reseeding for the cricket season. All the
clashes between Commoners, OTH and
College had been concluded, and another
generation of first years had been
introduced to the oddities of ‘Our Game’.
This year, however, the canvasses had
been freshly rolled, the balls were
pumped, and all was ready for the greatest
round of Varsity fixtures since the Boat
Race – the OW Varsity ‘Winkies’
Festival!
For some of us assembled OWs it had
been several years since we had played
sport, let alone been on a canvas! For
others, fresh from Domum the previous
summer, this was a chance to show that
they still had an excellent grasp of the
rules and a keen eye for putting a behind
into ropes. With a mixture of coloured
shirts, odd house socks, and a variety of
ages, assembling University teams which
spanned years and previous red-brownblue alliances was part of the fun of the
day. Once numbers had been evened out
we had six teams of VI; Oxford, Bristol,
Exeter, two London sides, and an assorted
Durham / Newcastle and friends side! It
was decided to have a VIs festival format,
with two group stages and then a set of
finals between the respective first, second
and third placed teams in each group.
Lunch took place in Hunter Tent –
our sincere thanks to the catering staff for
coming in on a Sunday – and as the
numbers rapidly increased it was an
excellent chance to see old friends again
Group 1:
Oxford 13 v 12 Exeter
Oxford 18 v 3 London B
Exeter 21 v 9 London B
Group 2:
Durham+ 25 v 8 Bristol
Durham+ 13 v 14 London A
Bristol 17 v 8 London A
Bust-off:
London A 4 v 3 Bristol
‘Bowl’ Final:
Bristol 13 v 11 London B
Plate Final:
Exeter 13 v 12 London A
Pot Final:
Oxford 20 v 15 Durham+
Overall Winners:
Oxford
Back row: Ewan Macaulay (Coll), Sebastian Stafford (D), Kevin Kim (D), James Essex (I), James Porter (K), Jamie Truell (H), Jamie Caldwell (G), Oli Wettern (G),
Felix Mckechnie (F), Freddie Green (H), Theo Blanchard (A), Edmund Bourne (H), Jake Gidley (A), James Parker (C), Nick Baines (F)
Front row: Leo Cairns (Coll), Ed Stone (Coll), Gabriel Tiplady (E), Alex Morse (G), Ed Chan (E), James Johnston (G), Tom Meek (H), Richard Landers (H),
Michael Truell (H), Freddie Monk(H).
24
and catch up on everything that had been
going on. With some of us not having
seen each other since leaving the College,
there was plenty to talk about! A lot of
those present commented on how good it
was to be back at Winchester in a relaxed
atmosphere. About 50-60 OWs managed
to make the trip down, and we were
delighted to see some other faces as well we are grateful to Patrick Maclure (I, 52-57),
showing his support for all things
Wykehamical as ever, and to Alex Roe
(G, 72-75) for being there on behalf of
the Winchester College Society, covering
for David Fellowes’ absence on foreign
duty.
When the time came for kick-off, it
transpired that we were not perhaps as
rusty as might have been expected. Lav
Meads witnessed some truly spectacular
volleys and busts, and in the fast-paced
VIs format it was fitness that often came
to be the deciding factor! Several of the
dons who made an appearance
commented that the quality of play was
good enough to rival the finest
Winchester had produced that year! It
was excellent to have the chance to catch
up with old Housemasters and dons –
hopefully more will be there in future!
Not least from the point of view of
keeping the rules! While non-players
stepped into the breach admirably to
referee the games, notably Ed Stone, there
were times when the intricacies of the
number of posts back, or the number of
kicks for a behind, confused even the
keenest OW. We were grateful
particularly to George Herring, current
OTH Captain, for agreeing to help us on
the refereeing front – and hope that he
will forgive us for the times we disagreed
with him!
The full day’s results are recorded
above, but a few moments stand out.
There were some very close fought games,
notably between Oxford and Exeter, and
Durham+ and London, in the group
stages. Points were tied in Group 2 for
2nd and 3rd place, necessitating a bust-off
between London A and Bristol, the
tensest moment of the day undoubtedly!
The finals were all very exciting, and the
standard of play in the ‘Pot’ final between
Oxford and Durham+ would have done
Mr Nevin proud!
25
At close of play we headed to the
Queen Inn, and continued the festivities
in fine style there – including giving Phil
Nash his first experience of the ‘selfie’. It
was an excellent conclusion to an
excellent day: the weather, with the
exception of a hailstorm, had been good;
the Winkies had been fun; and everyone
had hugely enjoyed getting back together
again at the College.
Our thanks to Sam Hart, the Head of
Sport, for allowing us use of Hunter Tent
and trusting us with the footballs; to
Head Groundsman, Stuart Churchill,
and his admirable staff for making sure
the canvases were in such good shape;
and to the Win Coll Soc team, notably
David, for helping and supporting this
nascent Varsity ‘Winkies’ Festival. At the
end of the day many people asked me
whether the event would be happening
again next year – I hope that it does, and
that this is the first of what will become
an annual event, giving University OWs
a chance to get together and play the
game once again. Roll on next year!
By the way, ‘blues’ were not awarded! ■
OW Bellringing
John Pusey (Coll, 1952-57) reports on the
first full three-hour peal rung on the College
bells by an OW band in 65 years
On Saturday 5th April 2014 fourteen
Wykehamist bellringers ranging in age
from the twenties to the eighties gathered
at Winchester to ring the College bells,
followed by lunch at The Wykeham
Arms, and then more ringing outside
Winchester, at North Stoneham and at
Twyford. Also present during the morning
and at lunch were one wife who is a
ringer, and a few other non-ringing guests;
and Hugh Hill, the don currently in
charge of ringing, and David Fellowes of
Win Coll Soc, who between them had
done much to lay on the arrangements for
our visit.
The first event of the day was the
successful ringing of a quarter-peal of
1,320 changes of Cambridge Surprise
Minor on the College bells, in 44
minutes, by :
1. Tony Ayres (Staff, 69-01)
2. Richard Underwood (Coll, 62-67)
3. Tony Mason (H, 64-69)
4. John Kleeman (Coll, 73-77)
5. Barry Johnson (Coll, 63-68)
6. David Threlfall (F, 75-79) - Conductor.
During the ringing on the College
bells which followed the quarter-peal, we
successfully rang several standard methods
on five and six bells, and also three
infrequently rung methods which those
attending had been asked to learn in
advance: ‘New Bob Doubles’, ‘Kelso
Surprise Minor’, and ‘Winchester College
Bob Minor’ (named when a full peal of
the method was rung on the College bells
on 9th April 1977).
There are only a very few other
schools in Britain, USA, and Australia
which have their own rings of bells
designed for English-style ringing; but
what is truly unique about Win Coll is
that it has not one but two rings of bells,
six in the College Chapel tower, which
are rung regularly, and five –
unfortunately unringable - in the former
church of St Michael-in-the-Soke
(Michlā), which was acquired by the
College for use as a junior chapel in 1966.
While the quarter peal was being
rung, Hugh Hill welcomed several of the
other ringers to inspect the Michla bells.
Rod Lebon (D, 62-67), who had himself
made some ad hoc repairs to one of the
Michlā bells while he was in the School,
took this chance to inspect them again
after 47 years, and has made the following
comments:
‘It seems a great pity that these bells have
remained so long unrung, when my viewing
indicated that there would not seem to be any
extraordinary difficulty in re-hanging them
and bringing them back into regular use. If
this was not possible, then I feel that it is
highly desirable that they should be made
available for transfer to another church where
they would be rung and appreciated.’
This ‘Rally’, inspired by the
achievements of OW, The Reverend FE
Robinson (1833-1910), was probably the
first event of its kind. But there have been
other previous contacts between
Wykehamist ringers of different
generations, for example when bands
were formed to ring the first full threehour peal on the College bells, the only
one rung before the bells were re-hung,
achieved on 4th July 1959 after several
failed attempts; and a peal by a
Wykehamist band on the 12 bells of
Winchester Cathedral on 30th May 1994.
The recorded names of the participants in
those peals provided a starting point for
compiling a list of Wykehamist ringers to
be invited to the recent Rally, and many
of those contacted supplied additional
26
names, in successive stages, so that I have
now built up a list of as many as 100, and
there could well be more still
unidentified.
A few such as myself had begun to
ring in childhood, in towers near their
family homes, and had then learnt more
at Winchester, but most started ringing at
Winchester; and I have also found a
couple who learnt to ring only after
leaving the School. Most of those who
came to the Rally developed their ringing
much further while at university and have
remained keen ringers for most of their
lives, but no doubt many others have
given up ringing, though some have taken
it up again in their later years. Many on
my list have not responded to messages,
and a good many of those who expressed
some interest proved to be unavailable on
the day; but I should be pleased to collect
more names and contact details, so that
all can be informed if another Rally is
organised.
Ringing is basically a cooperative
activity, and in that respect is more like a
musical activity than a competitive sport though it has resemblances to both, as
well as being a form of service to the
church and to institutions such as Win
Coll. However, an element of
competitiveness is also undeniably
present, and there are now digitised
records which make it easy to trace the
numbers of full three-hour peals which
have been completed by individual
ringers throughout their lifetimes. In the
table below, the column headed ‘Peals’
shows the numbers of peals rung by the
most prolific Wykehamist ringers, up to
just before the date of the recent Rally.
We were very pleased that Brian
Threlfall (Coll, 42-47), the oldest living
Wykehamist ringer I have traced, who
organised and conducted the first full peal
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Tony Ayres (Staff, 69-01)
Tony Mason (H, 64-69)
Brian Orange (A, 60-64)
Will Haydock (Coll, 97-02)
Richard Underwood (Coll, 62-67)
Andrew Hamilton (Coll, 51-56)
Barry Johnson (Coll, 63-68)
John Pusey (Coll, 52-57)
Rod Lebon’s wife Karen
John Kleeman (Coll, 73-77)
Andrew Johnson (Coll, 79-84)
Brian Threlfall’s wife Mary
Rod Lebon (D, 62-67)
Hugh Hill (Staff, 83 - present)
Brian Threlfall (Coll, 42-47)
Serge Zvegintzov (Coll, 49-54)
David Threlfall (F, 75-79)
Hadley Hunter’s wife Norma
Rupert Littlewood (E, 99-04)
Hadley Hunter (Coll, 58-62)
Hadley Hunter’s guest Elizabeth Morison
on the College bells and also stands at the
top of the list of numbers of peals rung,
was able to be present at the Rally –
together with his son David, who
conducted the quarter peal on the day of
the Rally.
The right-hand column below shows
the average numbers of peals these ringers
have rung each year since leaving
Winchester, assuming that that was
approximately when they became capable
of ringing full peals. Because of the wide
4
5
7
8
10 12
16
17 19
14
1
15
2
3
6
variation in ages, the two
rankings are naturally
somewhat different.
Readers will notice
that there are some close
placings in the 500-peal
range, and I myself have
already rung one more
peal during the ten days
between the Rally and
the date when I am
writing this.
■
27
9
20
13
11
18
Brian Threlfall (Coll, 42-47)
Julian Morgan (Coll, 70-75)
Barry Johnson (Coll, 63-68)
Richard Youdale (Coll, 60-64)
Patrick Brooke (Coll, 72-76)
Roderick Lebon (D, 62-67)
John Pusey (Coll, 52-57)
Mark Ockelton (Coll, 68-72)
David Threlfall (F, 75-79)
Richard Underwood (Coll, 62-67)
Oliver Coldrick (H, 86-90)
21
Peals
824
622
590
567
563
555
539
386
297
235
213
Ann. A’ge
12.5
16.4
13.1
11.6
15.2
12.1
9.6
9.4
8.7
5.1
9.7
Obituary
If you would like a copy of any press obituary referred to, please contact the Winchester College Society office. You can request either by
email to [email protected], telephone +44 (0)1962 621217 or by sending a stamped addressed envelope to the Director, 17 College
Street, Winchester SO23 9LX. ‘Obit’ indicates that a copy of some other tribute is also available.
Richard John (Dick) Massen (Staff, 64-99):
died 29.12.2013. Christ’s Hospital Rugby
XV. National Service, Royal Artillery.
One of the last dons to complete National
Service. Exhibition, Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge. Modern Lanuages
2.1. He taught at Bromsgrove School for
five years before arriving at Winchester in
1964, and from the start he assisted with
the CCF. At the end of National Service
in 1961/2 the Corps became voluntary
and the Combined Service Year (CSY)
was devised. Within three years he took
over CSY and ran it for three decades. He
was an outstanding modern languages
teacher and was Housedon of Trant’s from
1972 to 1987. In all that he did, be it
refereeing Win Coll Football on Palmer
Field, running the CSY, teaching modern
languages or as Housedon, he brought wise
benevolence fortified by a king-size sense
of proportion and humour and, above all,
a strong underlying care for his charges.
Survived by his wife Jane, who gave him
devoted support in the running of Trant’s.
(see also on page 21 re ‘Herman Pot’)
Brian Charles Biddulph (Staff, 67-90):
died 30.6.2013. Chatham House School,
Ramsgate. National Service, Parachute
Regiment 1950-52. Loughborough
College 1952-55 BSc FRGS. Hockey 1st
XI. Before coming to Winchester he
taught in Nigeria. During his time on
the staff, he was highly regarded both as
a Metalwork Instructor and as an officer
in the CCF. In 1980 he moved to
Worksop where he was Head of Craft
and Design, OC CCF and also Master
i/c Hockey. He retired in 1993 and later
was Chairman, Nottinghamshire D of E
Award Assessor Panel. A caring teacher
who had the ability to motivate and
influence. Married 1956 Barbara Sackett
(died 1995). Survived by their son and
two daughters
Michael Roquier Evans (H, 27-30): died
4.7.2012 aged 99. Son of JDDE (H, 9501) and brother of DJJE (F, 25-29), whom
he had succeeded as Second Sen Man.
After leaving school he farmed before
joining RAFVR in 1940. Flew with
Pathfinder Sqdns. Awarded DFC 1943.
Demobbed F/Lt 1945. After the war he
returned to farming first in Wales and
then in Ireland. When forced to sell the
farm he worked for the Ministry of
Defence as a civil servant in Cardiff. On
retirement he returned to Ireland and for
500 Irish Punts bought a house in the
mountains near Drimoleague, where he
set up a small horticultural business. Later,
until very late in life, he travelled the
world to see his far-flung family - to
Thailand, Arizona, Colorado, New York,
Trinidad and Alaska, once taking his
great-grandson, aged 9 on his travels. On
his last trip, aged 95, he visited Egypt with
nine members of the family and he
amazed the natives by going down a giant
water ride at the water park in the desert.
Married 1941 Pamela Jolly who
predeceased him. Survived by six
children, twelve grandchildren and
thirteen great-grandchildren.
Richard Christopher Norton (E, 32-37):
died 4.9.2012 aged 93. Brother of PJN (E,
26-30). Not happy at school, he attempted
to blow it up with gunpowder from his
father’s shotgun cartridges. Magdalene
College, Cambridge 1938, but at outbreak
of war was commissioned Royal Artillery.
Evacuated from Dunkirk, he later served
in India 1942-43 and finally in Germany
where his unit was responsible for
surrendering Germans and was one of the
28
first Allied soldiers to see the horrors of
Belsen. Demobbed as Captain 1946 when
he returned to Magdalene; 2 Nat Sci 1949.
Qualified Middlesex Hospital MB B Chir
1952. After a couple of years as a GP in
Exmouth and Hendon he joined the
Medical Research Council, where he
remained until retirement in 1980, latterly
as Senior Principal Medical Officer in
charge of Research Programmes. Cancer
research was his speciality. Directly
involved in the Mammalian Genome
Unit and closely associated with the
Clinical Effects of Radiation Research
Unit in Edinburgh. Married 1945
Margaret Thomas (died 2010). Survived
by their four sons and a daughter.
John Leigh-Mallory (E, 34-39): died
14.4.2011 aged 90. Son of GH L-M (C,
00-05) of Mount Everest fame.
Magdalene College, Cambridge,
Engineering 1939. OCTU Bangalore
1940-41. Commissioned RE 1942. Served
in the Arakan 1943 and with the
Chindits 1944. Demobbed Captain.
Returned to Magdalene 1947. Worked
full time for Moral Re-Armament USA,
Europe and South Africa 1949-54. He
returned to engineering and trained black
workers in South Africa in those building
skills which until then had been done
only by white workers. This was
pioneering work. He specialised in water
storage systems and water purification
plants. He last visited the School to give a
talk about his father on 8th June 2004 –
the 80th Anniversary of the loss of his
father on Everest. (See the article:
Because it is there in The Trusty Servant No.
98 in 2004.) Survived by two sons and
three daughters of his first marriage and a
daughter of his second marriage.
John Arthur Earle (G, 34-38): died
19.9.2013 aged 92. Brother of WHE (G,
37-42) and RGE (G, 39-43) who died on
Winchester Day 2013. Father of LHE (G,
61-66). Trinity College, Cambridge 193940 until interrupted by war service.
Returned to Cambridge after the war; BA
Modern Languages 1948. Joined up as a
private soldier with Royal Berkshire
Regiment. Commissioned Rifle Brigade
1941. Served with 2nd Bn RB in the
Western Desert, commanding a Bren Gun
Carrier platoon. Wounded at El Alamein
during the famous ‘Snipe’ action in which
the CO, Vic Turner, won the VC. Later
took the surrender of 10th Panzer Division
in Tunisia 1943. Joined SOE, Cairo
(Yugoslav section). June 1944 parachuted
into Yugoslavia as British Liaison Officer
to Partisans in Serbia. Led SOE missions
in Montenegro and Bosnia till the end of
the war. From then until October 1946
served on the Intelligence Staff at HQ
XIII Corps governing Trieste. Member of
Special Refugee Commission under
Fitzroy Maclean 1947. After Cambridge
he embarked on a successful career in
journalism. He joined Reuters in 1948
serving successively in Bonn and Belgrade
before becoming chief diplomatic
correspondent in London 1957-62 and
chief correspondent in Rome 1962-7. He
remained in Rome and wrote for The
Times 1968-86. On retirement he moved
to Trieste where he continued freelance
writing. During this time he actively
campaigned to secure recognition of the
Slovene Resistance and was instrumental
in establishing an annual ceremony on
Remembrance Day at Skirbina, Slovenia
to commemorate the sacrifices of Slovenes
during the war. Publications about his war
experiences included, The Price of
Patriotism and From Nile to Danube.
Married 1947 Anna Maria Tiziani (died
2000). Survived by their son and daughter.
Paul Annesley Gore (A, 34-39): died
11.9.2012 aged 91. Christ Church, Oxford
1939. Modern Languages War BA.
Commissioned and served throughout the
war with 16th/5th Lancers. Mention in
Despatches 1944. On demob he joined the
Colonial Service and served in Uganda,
Mauritius and The Gambia (Deputy
Governor 1963-65). Appointed CVO
1962 and CMG 1964. On retirement from
the Colonial Service he returned to
Oxford as Administrator of the University
Physical Chemistry laboratory. Whilst in
Oxford he worked with OUP revising the
Shorter Oxford Dictionary and was a JP and
County Commissioner for the Boy Scouts.
On retirement in 1976 he moved to
Suffolk and bought the first of six 36ft
yachts. For 20 years he and his wife would
take off in May and return in October after
sailing the waters of Northern Europe.
Married for 64 years to Gillian (née AllenStevens) who died in 2010. Survived by
two sons (a son predeceased him).
Colin Francis Popham (A, 35-40): died
21.12.2013 aged 92. Brother of MP (A, 4247) and half-brother of NCFP (A, 61-65).
Soccer XI 1939-40. Served with KRRC in
the Middle East. Demobbed Captain 1946.
After the war he embarked on a long
career in the paper and packaging industry
with Bowater Corp Ltd. Director 1966 and
Managing Director shortly before he
retired in1981. After retirement he had
non-executive roles with Bentalls and
John Mowlem. He was a single-handicap
golfer but his real love was racing which he
followed all his life. Member of Goodwood
for 48 years. Married for 56 years to Patricia
(née Hole) who died in 2005. Survived by
his half-brother.
Gordon Michael Audland (H, 37-42):
died 22.10.2013. Son of EGA (H, 10-15)
and brother of CJA (H, 39-44).
Commissioned Royal Artillery 1943.
Served with Royal West African Frontier
Force in Burma and the Gold Coast 194449. Following Staff College in 1952 he
served in the War Office and BAOR. He
was Operations Staff Officer for the Port
Said landings 1956. Retired Major 1960.
He then embarked on a career in Logistics
and Distribution Management, first with
SPD Ltd in Bradford, then with
Warehousing & Distribution Ltd, and
29
later as distribution manager with GKN
Bolts & Nuts Ltd and business
development manager with Cory
Distribution 1973-84. Finally as self
employed consultant in Physical
Distribution 1984-88. Fellow, Institute of
Logistical and Distribution Management.
In retirement he travelled in Europe,
USA, Australia and New Zealand and
pursued his hobby of model railway
making. Survived by Renate, his wife of 54
years and their son and daughter.
John Selwyn Herbert (C, 38-42): died
27.9.2013. Son of Sir AP Herbert (C, 0409). Within six months of leaving
Winchester he was serving with the
RNVR on the Russian Convoys 1942,
followed by service in the Mediterranean
including the landing at Anzio 1944;
served in HMS Grenville off Gold Beach
on D Day; Flag Lieutenant to C-in-C
British Pacific Fleet 1945. Demobbed Sub
Lt 1945. New College, Oxford 1947 PPE.
Started a career as a journalist 1949-59
with Glasgow Herald, Daily Mail and Daily
Telegraph. This was a good apprenticeship
for working in the Christies Press Office
which he joined in 1958. Christies Public
Relations Director 1959-86. On leaving
Christies he wrote a book Inside Christies.
His last writing venture, his autobiography,
Nothing is Wasted, was launched after his
death. Apart from writing, sailing was his
passion. He sailed the Atlantic and lived
on board for two years. His last adventure
took him down the Rhine and Danube to
the Black Sea, Istanbul and the
Mediterranean. Married 1956 Gillian (died
1979), daughter of Lieutenant General Sir
Brian Horrocks. Survived by their two sons
and step-daughter.
John Richard Cawthorne Matthews
(D, 38-42): died 16.9.2013. Son of HJM
(D, 03-07). Served in RAFVR 1942-45.
Mention in Despatches. Retired as F/Lt
Instructor in Southern Rhodesia. After
the war he farmed in Southern Rhodesia
but remained on the Volunteer Reserve.
Qualified as DC3 Captain. As VIP
Captain he flew Ian Smith to the 1975
Victoria Falls Conference to meet the
Nationalist leaders in a train half way
across the Victoria Falls Bridge on the
border between Southern Rhodesia and
Zambia. On retirement he bought and
managed the Mazowe Hotel 15 miles from
Harare. Later he concentrated on farming
the Mask Estate at Mazowe until it was
expropriated by Grace Mugabe in 2002.
He and his family were given 8 hours to
leave the property he had lived on for 20
years. At the time of his death no
compensation had been paid. He moved
to Cape Town but his health steadily
deteriorated as a result of this traumatic
experience. Married 1983 Eva Conlon
(née Bullock), who survives him with his
2 stepdaughters.
Desmond Beresford Rowland Hill (K, 3944): died 31.10.2013. In his diary of his war
years in the School he remembered the
dreaded 1.00am to 3.00am Firewatch
patrol, Palmer Field being ploughed up for
potatoes and toytime often being
conducted by torchlight in the cellars.
After attending the RAF short course at
Trinity College, Cambridge he joined the
RAF and like his father, a renowned pilot
in the First War, he became a pilot in the
Second War and later flew during the
Berlin Airlift. Retired F/O 1949. After a
short spell farming in Ireland he joined
Unilever in Liverpool. On promotion he
moved to Malahide, north of Dublin. He
later worked for General Electric in
London and Harland & Wolff and finally
with the BBC in Belfast. His niche was
Human Relations which he pursued
outside his work with the Samaritans in
Belfast during The Troubles. In retirement
he worked with the National Training
Agency in the South helping unemployed
young people to start in the workforce.
Appropriately for a descendent of Rowland
Hill he was a Trustee of the National
Postal Service in Dublin. Married for 58
years to Belinda Turner who died in 2012.
Survived by their son and two daughters.
John Nicholas (Nick) Francis Earle (Coll,
39-44): died 3.1.2014. Son of JWAE (A,
04-09). Bib Prae, Duncan, Reading and
McDowell Prizes and English Speech.
Scholarship Trinity College, Cambridge, 1
Maths Pt 2 1944. Served with Irish Guards
and Coldstream Guards 1946-48.
Returned to Cambridge, 1 Theol Pt 1
1950. Trained for ordination at Westcott
House. HO 1952. Curate in Bristol, New
York and East London. At Union
Theological Seminary, New York he
studied Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. He
then embarked on a career as a
schoolmaster. Dulwich College 1961-71 as
Head of Computer Studies. As
Headmaster of Bromsgrove School 197185 he introduced new sports facilities,
boarding houses and girls. In retirement he
taught philosophy at James Allen’s Girls’
School. He continued his work as a priest,
preacher and pastor and was an eloquent
speaker at both Speakers Corner and on
Radio 4’s Thought for the Day. Publications
included: What’s Wrong With the Church
1961 and Does God Make Sense 1998. He
resigned his Holy Orders in the early
1990s in protest at ‘Flying Bishops’ for
parishes that refused to accept women
priests. A gifted mathematician and
passionate theologian. Survived by Ann,
his wife of 54 years and their son and two
daughters. Obituary The Guardian.
Mark Annesley Norman (A, 40-44): died
9.9.2013. Son of HNStVN (A, 10-14).
VI, Fencing, Senior House Prefect.
Succeeded as 3rd Baronet on the death of
his father on active service 1943. RMC
Sandhurst 1944, commissioned
Coldstream Guards 1945-47 including
service in Palestine. Gained pilot’s licence
after just 3 ½ hours solo. Joined RAFVR as
Flying Officer with 601 Sqdn RAuxAF
1953-56. He then followed a career in the
aviation industry, first with Airwork
Limited where as Commercial Manager he
was Inspector of Routes, mainly in East
Africa. Subsequently he worked with
Bristol Aircraft, Bristol Sidderley and
Beagle. Finally, when assisting his brother
with Britten Norman, he set up a factory
in Bucharest to resurrect civil aircraft
manufacturing in Romania. Later he
30
became Director of Hills McCanna
Corporation and Gotaas-Larsen Shipping
Corporation 1980-89. Always
competitive, his ambition to be a Formula
One driver was thwarted by his height 6’ 5”. However in 1961 he was awarded
Life Membership of the Cresta Run. On
retirement he became active with the
Royal Southern Yacht Club at Hamble.
Once when sailing HRH the Duke of
Edinburgh on his yacht to Cowes, the
Duke inspected the boat and commented
that all was in order: ‘But you have not
kept the log up to date!’. He retained his
connection with the RAF when he
became Honorary Air Commodore of
4624 Sqdn RAuxAF 1983-2000. It was
largely due to his efforts as churchwarden,
custodian and even maintenance man
that St Peter’s Church, Wilcote remained
open for services. High Sheriff,
Oxfordshire 1983 and DL Oxfordshire
1985-2002. Married (1) 1953 Joanna
Kilgour (predeceased him) and (2) 2009
Jonette who survives him with two sons
and a daughter of his first marriage.
Michael Dacres Butler (D, 40-45): died
24.12.2013. Father of JHB (H, 78-83) and
CAB (D, 79-83). This great diplomat was
born in Africa, where he spent the first
years of his life. He had a donkey-cart
pulled by a zebra. Exhibitioner, French
Prize, German Speech Prize, VI 1943-44
(Capt), Soccer XI 1944-45 (Capt), Lords
XI 1944. Commissioned Rifle Brigade
1946. Trinity College, Oxford 1948.
Modern Languages and PPE. In 1950 he
embarked on a long and distinguished
career in HM Diplomatic Service. After
serving in New York and Baghdad he was
posted to Paris where he notably provoked
President de Gaulle’s ire for publicly
criticising his moves to take France out of
NATO. After a spell in Geneva he
returned to the FCO to head the
European Integration Department. In
1980 he became Ambassador and
Permanent Representative in the EEC.
This became the scene of his greatest
achievements. First he secured Britain’s
Rebate from the EU budget, most of
which is retained today. And second he
laid the groundwork for Mrs Thatcher’s
goal of a single European Market. Retired
1985 two years early, exhausted by his
work in Brussels. In tandem with his
diplomatic career he became a leading
collector of 17th century Chinese
porcelain and an authority on the subject
respected in China itself. Mr Blair
appointed him his personal envoy to
countries hoping to join the EU. On
retirement, at various times he joined the
board of Hambros; was chairman
European Committee, British Invisibles;
Director, Wellcome Foundation and a
Senior Fellow, Royal College of Arts. His
book, Europe: More than a Continent, won
the Adolphe Bentinck prize for important
contributions to European unity.
Appointed CMG 1975, promoted KCMG
1980 and GCMG 1984. Unflappable,
supremely intelligent and a deft negotiator
he was considered to be one of the
country’s greatest diplomats. Married 1951
Ann Clyde (dissolved). He is survived by
his 2 sons and 2 daughters. Obituaries The
Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Richard (Jim) Jenner (C, 41-45): died
28.8.2013. A veritable all rounder at
school – Soccer XI, VI (Captain 1945),
VIII (President 1945) and Sen Co Prae.
National Service with the Royal Navy as a
submariner. He then started out on his
long farming career as a pupil on the
Cowdray Estate before moving in 1950 to
the Home Farm, Hollycombe where he
remained for the rest of his life. The first
job after settling in was to reinstate the
sports field which the previous owner had
ploughed up. He was active in the local
community throughout the 63 years he
lived in the Milland Valley. He was
churchwarden at St Luke’s, Linch, near
Hollycombe. Married for 57 years to
Angela Guard (sister of DRG: C, 42-46),
who died in 2009. Survived by their 2 sons
and a daughter.
James (Jim) Leatham Tennant Birley
(A, 41-46): died 6.10.2013. Son of JLB
(G, 97-02) 4th generation of Wykehamists,
father to son. Exhibitioner, Sen Co Prae.
Exhibitioner University College, Oxford
1946, 2 Nat Sci 1949; St Thomas’s
Hospital 1950. BM 1952. Two years of
National Service as a junior medical
specialist with RAMC in BAOR
stimulated his interest in psychiatry. DPM
(University of London) 1962. He joined
Maudseley Hospital 1960 where he
remained until retirement from clinical
practice in 1991. FRC Psych 1976. Dean
Institute of Psychiatry 1971-82. Dean,
Royal College of Psychiatrists 1982-87,
President 1987-90 during which time he
led the response to the radical reforms to
the NHS outlined in the White Paper
Working for Patients, which he regarded as
having been written by people who neither
knew nor wanted to understand the
Service. Subsequently he was President of
the BMA 1993-94. He was an eminent
psychiatrist who pioneered the modern
concept of ‘care in the community’ in the
treatment of mental illness. In the 1960s
he established the Windsor Walk Housing
Association providing housing which
allowed mental health patients to live with
some freedom and responsibility. A novel
idea at the time but the Association
continues today. After the end of the Cold
War he led the team which checked
whether the Soviet Union was meeting
the conditions that allowed its return to
the World Psychiatric Association.
Appointed CBE in 1990 for services to
psychiatry. He well deserved the tribute –
‘The caring face of psychiatry’. He is
survived by Julia, his wife of 59 years, and
their son and three daughters.
Charles Robin (Bob) Mann (H, 43-47):
died 9.11.2013. Brother of WSM (H, 3742). National Service, 2/Lt Nigeria
Regiment 1948. He first worked for De La
Rue as Works Manager in Colombia 1960
and then successively in Rio de Janeiro
1962 and Mexico 1964. He returned to
London in 1970 to work for the South
American Desk at Hambros and then as
the London representative for a large
Brazilian corporation. He retired in 1986
and lived half the year in Southern Spain
31
in a hillside white village near Cadiz and
half the year in the Welsh Borders. Later
he split his time between Spain and
London – walking, cycling, exploring
Hindu spiritual meditation, playing string
quartets and taking his sons and
grandchildren to watch cricket at Lord’s.
Married (1) 1956 Margaret James-Moore
(dissolved), and (2) 2003 Lucy Wilding,
who survives him with three sons of his
first marriage.
Alexander (Sandy) John McMurrough
Cavenagh (F, 43-47): died 15.1.2014.
Father of JAMC (F, 70-74) and DAC (F,
71-75). Co Prae, VIII 1946/47
(President). Magdalen College, Oxford, 4
Physiology 1951. OU VIII 1949-50.
Qualified BM, BCh St Thomas’s Hospital
1954. Whilst at St Thomas’s he was MO
to the British North Friesland Expedition
to Spitzbergen. There he fell in love with
the Ward Sister and had to form up to the
Matron to ask permission to marry Sister
Franks. Short Service Commission as
RMO to 3 Para. He served in Cyprus
during the Eoka troubles. He also took
part in the parachute assault during the
Suez operation. Although seriously
wounded on landing, he continued to
treat the wounded until ordered to be
evacuated. Later wrote Airborne to Suez
with a forward by Field Marshal
Montgomery. Whilst obstetrics surgeon in
Worcester he acted as MO to the AngloAmerican Karakoram Expedition to
climb the 25,370ft Trivor Peak. Earlier he
wrote to The Wykehamist to report on an
Old Wykehamist dinner held on Fée
Glacier above Saas-Fee where despite the
high altitude sufficient breath was rallied
for a rendering of Domum. In 1961 he
became GP at Brecon where he remained.
He was more than a GP. His contribution
to the community was immense including
Chairman Brecon Hospital, Chairman
SSAFA, Founder member Keith Morris
Foundation for injured sportsmen,
instigator of Brecon branch of Cross
Roads which provides relief for carers.
Amongst many other charities he was
Chairman of the Millennium Hospital
Appeal and for all this he was appointed
MBE in 2005. A man of humility,
compassion and deep faith. Married 1956
Barbara Franks who died six months after
celebrating their Golden Wedding.
Survived by their four sons.
Eric Norman Creswick Oliver (G, 43-48):
died 8.2.2014. John Mills Carpentry Prize,
Princes 1947-48 (captain). National
Service, 2 Lt Royal Artillery. Exeter
College, Oxford, 3 Nat Sci 1951, 4 Physics
1953. MA 1984. OU Rackets 1951-53,
partnered by Colin Cowdrey in last two
years. OU Real Tennis 1953 (captain). He
later led a group re-opening the Real
Tennis court at Hatfield House in 1956,
which had been used as a furniture store
during the war. The club thrives today
with 250 members. He then began a long
career with ICI Plastics Division
(marketing) 1953-81. Later he was
Director, Church Action for the
Unemployed 1982-92. Chairman PCC
and churchwarden, St Nicholas, Great
Hormead for fifteen years. Survived by
Mary, his wife of 55 years, and their two
sons and two daughters.
Robert John Brown (C. 43-48): died
22.12.2013. National Service, 2/Lt
Cameron Highlanders Tripoli 1949-50.
After working in Colombia, Dundee and
Lagos he moved to Canada in 1964 where
he remained for the rest of his life, first
with Dominion Securities Corporation in
Toronto and then as a stockbroker with
Dominick Corporation of Canada and
Pemberton Securities Inc in Vancouver.
He continued as a stockbroker and market
analyst until 2005. During this time he
wrote a daily market commentary on the
Dow Jones for clients in Canada, USA
and UK. He continued to produce
technical comment until the last week of
his life. Passionate about Winston
Churchill he was a founding member and
past president of the Vancouver Chapter
of the Winston Churchill Society. He
returned to the UK regularly. A loyal
Wykehamist, he most recently returned to
attend the Cooks 150th Celebration
Dinner in 2012. Married 1964 Helen
Arnold-Edwards who predeceased him.
Survived by their son.
Anthony David Williams (A, 44-49): died
1.1.2014. Son of LW (E, 13-17). Lords XI
1949. RMAS 1950-51. Commissioned
into 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards 1951.
Stationed in Libya 1951-52, and in
BAOR where he spent a lot of time on
horseback, enjoying Horse Trials and boar
hunting. Instructor RMAS 1958-60.
Winner Northern Command Squash
Championships 1962 and 63. Retired as
Captain 1963. Trained as opera singer at
Guildhall School of Music 1963-66. Bass
singer Glyndebourne Touring Opera 196671, BBC 1967-69, Aldeburgh Festival
1969-70, including a hurriedly rearranged
performance in Blythburgh Church the
day after the Snape Maltings was burnt
down. On Home Staff of European
Missionary Fellowship 1971-96, including
10 memorable visits to Poland during
Martial Law 1981-83. Made a silent
protest outside York Minister at the
consecration of David Jenkins as Bishop of
Durham July 1984. Survived by Diana, his
wife of 47 years and their 3 sons.
Michael William Leggatt (C, 44-49): died
29.12.2013. Son of WML (C, 14-18) and
father of WKCL (C, 79-84). National
Service, RAF P/O 1949-51. Clare College,
Cambridge, 3 Mech Sci 1954. He then
followed a career in the printing
machinery business with Balker
Perkins/Rockwell in Peterborough.
Director 1966 and Managing Director
1985 before retirement in the early 1990s.
He was an avid and prolific writer of
letters. After retirement he worked for
some years for the Citizens Advice Bureau,
teaching others how to write letters.
Married 1961 Liv Jentoft (died 2010).
Survived by their son and a daughter (one
daughter predeceased him).
Charles Edward Weatherby (E, 46-50):
died 9.1.2014. Son of EWW (E, 18-23).
Third generation of Wykehamists, father to
son. National Service, 2/Lt Coldstream
32
Guards 1950-53. He then followed a long
career in racing with Weatherbys where he
was Director, Field Services, responsible for
the General Stud Book. He was also closely
involved in the launch of the International
Stud Book Committee which united the
thoroughbred-producing nations of the
world. He also worked for the Jockey Club
on the Racecourse Division and
Inspectorate, responsible for the licensing
and standards of all Britain’s racecourses.
Considered the best-dressed man in
Portman Square. His contribution to racing
was substantial. Survived by Susan, his wife
of 53 years, and their two daughters.
John Roland Leigh (B, 46-51): died
15.10.2013. Brother of ML (D,49-52) and
NGL (D, 59-64) and father of RAL (B,
74-78). Exhibitioner, Bisley 1950-51. He
first beagled aged six and thus began his
lifetime love of beagling. Whilst at
Winchester, in the winter he bicycled to
hunt with the New Forest Beagles and in
the summer to hunt with the Courtenay
Tracey Otter Hounds. National Service,
2/Lt RA in Hong Hong 1951-53.
Exhibitioner Kings College, Cambridge, 1
Classics Pt 1, 2(2) Classics Pt 2. Kings’
Fellows Prize and Heath Prize. MA 1960.
Whilst at Cambridge he spent every
possible moment with the Trinity Foot
Beagles, becoming Master and Huntsman
in his third year. Initially he worked for
GB Oliphant Ltd (part of Unilever) in
Manchester and Nigeria. Refusing to
return to Nigeria he joined Rathbone Bros
& Co 1960 where he remained until
retirement. Director 1988. In 1963 soon
after moving to Mawdesely he became
Master of the Bleasedale Beagles. He was
chairman of the Blackburn Diocesan
Board of Finance, a member of the
Church of England General Synod and a
Trustee of the National Society, a Church
of England educational charity. He
received the Order of St William of York
from the Archbishop of York for lay
services to the Church. Fittingly, his final
morning was on the fell watching the
beagles. He is survived by Rosemary, his
wife of 56 years, whom he first met out
beagling, and by their son and three
daughters.
David Scott Williams (D, 47-52): died
2.11.2013. Bisley 1950-52. National
Service with Royal Artillery in Hong
Kong. New College, Oxford, 2 Jur 1957.
Qualified as a Chartered Accountant with
Ogdens in the City. He subsequently
worked as management consultant with
Urwick Orr & Partners and Cooper Bros
& Co before taking up finance director
positions with businesses in Kent. In 1980
he established his own practice in
Rochester. He lived in Stockbury, Kent for
over 50 years where he was proactive in
the local community. He put his
numerical skills to good use both as
Treasurer of Stockbury Parish Council and
improving and running the tote betting
system for the Tickham point to point.
Married 1961 Judith Christie (died 2007).
Survived by their son.
John Ernest Fowler (F, 48-53): died
2.2.2014. Took 11+ exam and won a
County Exhibition to Winchester. VI,
Sailing 1952-53 (Captain), McDowell
Science Essay Prize. National Service,
Sub-Lt RNR. Exhibitioner Magdalene
College, Cambridge, 3 Eng Lit, 3 Law.
Vice-President, Cambridge University
Cruising Club. He first trained at Fairfield
Shipyard, Glasgow as a ship builder but
frustrated by the union’s stranglehold on
work practices he left to join the family
farming and horticultural business. This
included a stall at Spitalfields Market
which he enjoyed despite the 4.00am
start. He later opened farm shops at
Romford and Ilford. He maintained his
love of sailing first nourished at
Winchester and was a key member of the
team which developed the first successful
Hydrofoil. Bar one year this held the ‘B’
Class world sailing speed record between
1972-86. Member of the Royal Yacht
Squadron. He was particularly proud to
play a role in the development of Writtle
College, Chelmsford. Governor for 22
years, Chairman of Governors 199620002, during which time degree students
increased from 500 to 3,000. Married 1961
Annabel King (dissolved). Survived by
Andrea Troup, his partner of 14 years and
his three sons.
Roland Edward Vincent King (I, 49-54):
died 30.12.2013. Bisley 1954. National
Service. Sub-Lt RN. Articled to WE
Parker (D, 21-25), Price Waterhouse &
Co 1956. ACA 1962. Moved to Brussels
1963 as partner in European firm of PW.
Moved to Paris in 1973, subsequently
senior partner 1981 with responsibility
also for Spain, Portugal and Francophone
Africa. After serving several years as
Treasurer and Director he was President of
the Franco-British Chamber of
Commerce 1986-88, for which he was
appointed OBE in 1989. President, British
Luncheon (1916) in Paris 1988. Returned
to Brussels 1988 to head up PW’s 1992
EC Services Group. Organised two OW
Dinners in Paris 1976 and 1977 and was
sorely missed at the recent OW Dinner
there on 29th April. Married 1964
Michèle van Strydonck who survives him
with a son and daughter (one daughter
predeceased him).
Henry Napier Armstrong (G, 49-54):
died 14.2.2014. Son of JRBA (G, 03-07)
Member of winning crew in the Princess
Elizabeth Cup at Henley in 1954 and at
the Schools Head of River. John Mills
Carpentry Prize. School Javelin record.
National Service, Royal Engineers 195557. Trinity College, Cambridge, 2.2 Econ
and Law. BA 1959. Rowed in Goldie crew
and Head of May races with 1st and 3rd
Trinity BC. Barrister, Inner Temple 1962.
Advocate, High Court of Kenya 1963.
Editor, East Africa Law Reports 1964-66.
Took part in World 505 Yacht
Championships, Adelaide 1966. 2nd All
Africa 505 Championships 1971. On
return to the UK attended Royal
Agricultural College Cirencester,
Certificate of Merit. Farmed in County
Armagh. Member of Northern Ireland
Dairy Quota Tribunal. DL Co Armagh
1985, Vice Lord Lieutenant 1986, High
Sheriff 1987. Married Rosemary White,
33
who survives him with their son and
daughter.
Robert (Robin) Ian Murray-Walker
(E, 49-54): died 1.8.2013. Soccer XI, VI
and Sen Co Prae. Before going up to
Oxford he taught at Twyford Prep School
for a year as a student. Trinity College,
Oxford 1958-61 Mods 2 Greats 3. He
served with The Wiltshire Regiment in
Cyprus during National Service. He then
embarked on a long and successful career
as a prep school master, first at
Marlborough House 1962-69 and then at
Walhampton 1969-96, fourteen years as
Deputy Headmaster 1982-96.
Commissioned in Winchester Cathedral
as a Lay Reader in 1982. His faith
illuminated and governed his life. On
retirement he moved to the Cotswolds
before returning to the Solent at Milfordon-Sea. He was always remembered for his
permanent expression of astonished
gratefulness. Survived by Gill, his wife of
51 years (together they had made a great
team at both prep schools), and their two
sons and a daughter.
Professor Wyndham John Albery
(A, 49-54): died 3.12.2013. Junior Mill
Prize, Duncan Prize 1949 and 50. Senior
Science Prize. Despite indifferent Latin he
raised books on 8 separate occasions.
Member of School Chess team. Co Prae.
Scholarship, Balliol College, Oxford,
Rowed in Balliol 1st VIII, 1 Chemistry,
BA 1959. D Phil 1964. Appointed Weir
Junior Research Fellow, University
College, Oxford 1962 and so began a long
association with University College. At
this time he was a significant contributor
to the scripts of That Was the Week That
Was. He threw himself into the life of the
college serving as an energetic Junior
Dean and Dean, but it was as Tutor for
Admissions 1968-75 that he made his
impact. In 1975 University College came
top of the Norrington Table. In 1977 he
moved to Imperial College, London as
Professor of Physical Chemistry. During
this time as Staff Orator at Imperial
College he invariably rocked the Albert
Hall with laughter. In 1985 he was elected
a Fellow of the Royal Society. He derived
as much pleasure from this as he had
when he won Junior Mill Prize. He was
received in absentia at that especial Ad
Portas in May 2011 for Fellows of the
British Academy and Fellows of the Royal
Society. In 1989 he returned to Oxford as
Master of University College. A highlight
of his time as Master was the visit in 1994
of President Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar of
the College. He was a leading advocate of
opening Oxford to women on an equal
opportunity basis. He retired as Master in
1997 having served the College ‘with
energy, enthusiasm and élan’. Fellow,
Winchester College 1989-2000. Best
known for his work on Rotating Optical
Discs-Ring Electrodes. He was above all
appreciated for the clarity and enthusiasm
of his teaching and loved for his joie de
vivre. He faced his last illness with
courage, grace and humour. He is survived
by his sister. Obituaries The Times and The
Daily Telegraph.
Charles Archibald Adam Black (K, 50-55):
died 9.10.2013. Lords XI 1954-55. In
1955 his outswingers, described by Wisden
as outstanding, played a major role in
securing the first defeat of Eton on New
Field for 35 years. Later selected for
Southern Schools v The Rest at Lords. In
addition his captaincy of Princes, Fives,
Squash and Tennis demonstrated
leadership qualities and a remarkable
degree of hand, eye and brain coordination. National Service, 2/Lt Scots
Guards 1955-57. Christ Church, Oxford
1957-60, 3 History. Player for Oxford
University – Fives, Rackets and Real
Tennis (captain 1960). He joined the
family publishing firm A & C Black in
1960. He took over as chairman on the
retirement of his father in 1973. Already
publishing Who’s Who, Whitaker’s
Almanac and Wisden, he expanded its
portfolio to cover a wide spectrum of
interests. Before he retired in 2000 he sold
the firm to Bloomsbury, publisher of the
Harry Potter books, thus ending almost
200 years of family involvement. One of
the last of a dying breed of gentlemanpublishers who took care of his
employees. When one of them, a
Kinderstransport child died without
family or relatives, he paid for the funeral
costs. Member of All England Lawn
Tennis and Croquet Club since 1981.
Captain of Royal St George’s Golf Club
1990-91. He was a man of principle,
charm, literature, games and the family –
a man for all seasons. Survived by
Melanie, his wife of 49 years, and their
son and daughter.
Alistair Michael Smalley (K, 51-55): died
29.5.2013. Soccer XI and VI (Captain
1954). Lived and worked in Lancashire
before retiring to Ibiza in 2000. As befits a
footballer of considerable skill, he was a
season ticket holder of Manchester United
for 40 years. Survived by his wife Shelagh
and two daughters.
Richard Henry Glenn Allen (F, 51-56): died
8.1.2014. Twice winner of Watney Cup.
Captain of Fives, sang as a treble in Chapel
Choir – highlight singing the Messiah with
Isobel Bailey in Cathedral. National Service
with Royal West African Frontier Force in
Sierra Leone 1957-59. Attended
Shuttleworth Agriculture College before
helping on the family farm. He continued to
farm until 1975 when he changed career
and completed financial training with Hill
Samuel. From 1976 he worked in the
Personal Financial Planning department of
Willis Faber, retiring as a director in 1996.
In 1994 he realised a boyhood dream and
bought an Aston Martin DB6. He
continued to enjoy European Classic rallies
into his 70s. After the death of his first wife,
aged 63 he took up running and ran three
London Marathons for Marie Curie.
Diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in
2011, he battled the illness with dignity and
with smiles. Married (1) 1967 Sarah
Gilbertson (died 1997), and (2) Penny
Suter who survives him with a son and
daughter of his first marriage.
Humphrey Robin Duthy (K, 52-57): died
19.2.2014. Princes (Captain) 1957.
34
National Service, 2/Lt Coldstream Guards
when he was proud to carry the Colour at
the Changing of the Guard at
Buckingham Palace. Christ Church,
Oxford, 3 Modern History. He first trained
as an Investment Analyst with James
Capel. He then founded and was
managing director, Art Market Research
1977. Established the art world’s leading
index, covering all sectors of the art
market. The Inland Revenue based its
calculations on art for capital gains and
inheritance tax on his indexes. Wrote the
ground breaking Alternative Investment
serialised in the Financial Times 1978. He
emerged as the world’s leading art market
statistician. In 2011 he addressed a
gathering of Russian journalists in the
Ambassador’s residence in Moscow
arranged by LAPADA. Established
Country Roses, specialising in English
roses, with his second wife Danaë 2001.
Married (1) Caroline Harrison-Wallace
(dissolved) and (2) 2000 Danaë Brooks
who survives him with three sons of his
first marriage and three stepsons.
Anthony David Hemmant (E, 55-55):
died 8.2.2011. Brother of CRH (E, 56-61).
He remained at Winchester for one year
before completing his education in
Switzerland. He subsequently worked in
the City for a Unit Trust specialising in
Far Eastern securities. He lived for a while
in Singapore before settling in Brussels.
Married (1) 1966 Joanna Meredith
(dissolved), and (2) 1976 Frances Calder
(dissolved). He is survived by his four
daughters.
Richard Hedley Westwood Marten
(H, 56-61): died 18.9.2013. Magdalene
College, Cambridge 1961-65. Law Tripos
Pt 1 2(2), History Tripos Pt 2 (2/2).
Thomas More Bursar of Lincoln’s Inn.
Called to the Bar 1966 and became a
bencher of Lincoln’s Inn 2000. Practised
at the Chancery Bar 1968-2012, initially
at 3 New Square, Lincoln’s Inn. In 2001
he joined 11 New Square and became
Head of Chambers in 2006 until his
premature retirement due to ill health in
2012. Remembered for his kindness and
light touch as Head of Chambers, but also
described as ‘a forceful advocate who
leaves his opponents prey to the liveliest
apprehensions when they encounter him’.
He co-authored the useful and readable
book Contentious Probate Claims. He was a
member and past president of that club for
select lawyers – The Institute. The Bar was
not his only life. He was an accomplished
watercolour artist, gifted pianist and
played cricket for The Butterflies. Married
1973 Fiona Sinclair (dissolved). Survived
by their two sons and a daughter.
Jeremy David Egerton Helme (F, 56-61):
died 13.2.2013. Son of DCEH (F, 34-39)
and grandson of TL Forbes (F, 03-07). His
father was President of Boat Club in 1939;
he followed in his footsteps and rowed in
1st VIII. In his last year in the School he
was granted an RAF flying scholarship
and learned to fly solo. After leaving
school he travelled the world, including
America, Australia and South Africa. It
was when staying with his uncle, a doctor
in South Africa, that his schizophrenia
became apparent. He worked for his
grandfather’s Lloyds insurance business for
a short while before settling in Swindon
in the care of the Avon and Wiltshire
Mental Health Partnership Recovery
team where he suffered his illness with
courage and humour.
Alwyn Victor Hjalmar Farey-Jones
(B, 57-62): died 14.9.2013. Frazer
Scholarship, Balliol College, Oxford. He
studied Mathematics at Oxford 1962-64
and the piano at Royal College of
Music1964-68. In 1968 he joined IBM as a
computer programmer before moving into
Computer Leasing Sales. He moved to the
US in 1980 after the unlucky sinking of his
Baltic timber trader, the IP Thorsoe, in the
Thames Estuary. Having arrived in the US
without much to his name he adapted his
financial skills to investment banking. This
enabled him to set up house on Long Island
where he organised croquet tournaments
on the front lawn. Throughout his life he
had a passion for the piano which he first
learnt at Winchester, taught by Isodore
Harvey for £7 extra per term. Married (1)
1967 Caroline Houghton (dissolved), and
(2) 1987 Linda Lee (died 2012). Survived
by his two sons and a daughter of his first
marriage.
Andro Ian Robert Linklater (A, 58-62):
died 3.11.2013. Son of the novelist, Eric
Linklater. In his first half when challenged
by his div don (GHGD) to write his own
report, he wrote: ‘This boy is handicapped
by a permanent streak of laziness and a
temporary inability to settle down’. This
gave a glimpse of his future literary skills.
New College, Oxford, Modern History. It
was some while before his literary talents
and ambitions came to fruition. He first
acted as tutor to the family of the dancer,
Josephine Baker, in France. He then
worked in an art gallery in San Fransisco
before attending teacher training college
at Jordanhill, Glasgow prior to teaching in
a tough London Comprehensive. His life
changed when his father died leaving an
unfinished history of the Black Watch. To
much acclaim, he completed it. Then
followed a popular children’s book,
Amazing Maisie and the Cold Porridge
Brigade, and a full scale biography of
Compton Mackenzie. Later he was
magazine writer for The Daily Telegraph
and Readers Digest. But his most important
work was Measuring America. This told of
how from the beginning, the United
States was divided into squares and
rectangles using the 22-yard English chain
as the basic unit of measure. It was praised
as a major contribution to the nation’s
history. He settled in Kent where he threw
himself into the life of the community,
becoming churchwarden, singing in the
choir and working with disadvantaged
children. A wide ranging journalist,
biographer and historian who wrote with
panache. Married 1987 Marie-Louise
Avery who survives him. Obituaries The
Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Timothy (Tim) Whittington Landon (A,
59-63): died 22.11.2013. Son of JWL (C,
36-41). An unusual man who struggled
35
with at Maths O level, but had no
problem with it at A level. He suffered
from Asperger’s which coloured his whole
life. By the age of 8 he had built his own
crystal radio set. Went to Southampton
University especially to study under
Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites (C, 41-42). 2
Maths BSc.1967. Magdalene College,
Cambridge 3 Elec Sci MA 1969. Taught
Mathematics at Westminster School
1969-70. He had a wonderful gift of
making complicated things seem simple.
He set up his own marketing organisation
and embarked on a career as an innovator.
Over the years he was chief European
engineer for a USA computer company;
designer of NATO missile guidance
system, nationwide computer system for
the Danish government, the Phillips
home computer and the Tenyear briefcase
computer. Although he found
relationships difficult he was much loved
and had a wonderful dry sense of humour.
Survived by his three sisters.
Timothy Charles Arden-Close (K, 62-66):
died 15.12.2013. Son of RFA-C (F, 24-28)
and twin brother of CMA-C (F, 62-65).
Ross Homer Prize 1965, Editor of The
Wykehamist 1966. Exhibitioner, Trinity
Hall, Cambridge to read Moral Sciences
but by the end of his first year he was struck
down by the schizophrenia which blighted
his life. Until 2001 he lived with his
mother in Oxford and then moved into a
flat in the Jericho district of the city. He
may not have been able to fulfil his
potential, but he became a much loved and
well known character. With his unusual
intelligence and lucidity he lectured
medical students, social work students and
others about schizophrenia from the
perspective of a sufferer - his most fruitful
achievement. He converted to Roman
Catholicism. The Church of Saints
Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road
was packed for his funeral.
David Nicholas Foster Bagley (E, 66-70):
died 12.6.2011. Brother of PWG (E, 7680). Duncan Prize 1967, VI 1969-70, Co
Prae. University of Kent to read
Accountancy and Law 1971-74. Qualified
as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte
Haskens and Sells. He then joined
Costain as part of the financial
management team in London and then for
a while in Chicago, looking after the firm’s
interests in North America. He moved to
Harrogate in 1992, where he worked on a
self-employed basis whilst also
undertaking a major renovation of his
house. Later in 2004 he embarked on a
more ambitious project overseeing the
reconstruction of a property in the
Ardennes, Luxembourg. The move to
Yorkshire enabled him to indulge his great
love of cricket. He captained the 3rd XI
and acted as Treasurer of Pannal Cricket
Club in the North Yorkshire Nidderdale
league. Married 1978 Sarah Brooke who
survives him with their daughter.
Nicholas (Nick) John Winwood Robinson
(H, 68-73): died 30.8.2013. Son of ERWR
(E, 34-39) and brother of HCWR (E, 6771) and REWR (E, 71-76). His lifelong
passion for field sports began at the School,
though he was expelled from Fishing Club
for fishing with bread using handlines.
Downing College, Cambridge,
Archaeology and Anthropology Pt 1 and
History of Art Pt 2. His great-uncle, the
diarist, James Lees-Milne, launched him on
a successful career in publishing, first as
assistant to the editor of Apollo Magazine
1978-79; Chatto & Windus 1979-82:
Editor Breslich & Foss 1982-85. In 1985 he
founded his own firm, Robinson
Publishing, creating one of Britain’s last
genuinely independent publishing houses.
He sold the cheapest Complete Works of
Shakespeare (£1.99) and the mini Oxford
English Dictionary (99p). Notably he also
published The Mammoth Book of True
Crime. In 1999 he merged his firm with
John Constable. He then pioneered the
publishing of Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy books. Half of all books on the
subject prescribed by the NHS were
published by Constable and Robinson. In
2012 he won the Bookseller Industry
awards – Independent Publisher of the Year
and Digital Publisher of the Year. Business
did not dominate his life, rather it was a
means to get out of the office on to the
grouse moor. Married (1) 1990 Alice Webb
(dissolved), and (2) 2010 Nova Jayne
Heath, who survives him with a son and
daughter of his first marriage. Obituaries
The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Richard Christopher Matthew Buckle (F,
71-74): died 16.2.2014. Son of PCMB (H,
28-32) and brother of MPB (F, 73-77). 3rd
generation of Wykehamists, father to son.
Commissioned into the Greenjackets, he
subsequently led a varied and exciting life
with 10 Gurkha Rifles and the Sultan of
Oman’s Forces. His brother officers and
riflemen adored his eccentricity and
valued his caring nature. Later he worked
at Tiger Tops, a tourist lodge in Nepal,
cleared mines in Laos and guarded oil rigs
in Angola with a Gurkha security
company. He made his home in Northern
Thailand growing bananas. Survived by
his wife, Nee.
Joshua Bertram Cantor (A, 80-84): died
9.9.2013, suddenly at his Brooklyn
apartment after returning from a morning
run. Drama and music dominated his
school career. King’s College, London
1985-89, BA Modern Languages and
Literature. Moved to his father’s native
New York in 1990 to pursue a career in the
music business, first as a production
coordinator with Centerfield Productions,
but he decided that his future lay in
Clinical Psychology. Long Island
University, New York, MA 1990 and PhD
1999. Joined Department of Rehabilitation
Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New
York, rising to Associate Professor and CoDirector of the Brain Injury Research
Center. Three times co-recipient of the
David Srauss Award and co-recipient of
ACRM’s Elizabeth and Sidney Licht
Award for scientific writing in
rehabilitation medicine. Described in the
New York Times as ‘brilliant, kind, humble,
a leader, champion for people with brain
injury, insatiably curious and eager to
learn’. Married 2002 Christina Faletti, who
survives him with their daughter and son.
36
Dickon Robert Gort Lush (B, 83-88): died
1.12.2013. Duncan Prize 1985. Captain of
Shooting. Wadham College, Oxford,
Mathematics 2.1 1993. MSc Computation
1994. He then moved to Berlin and acted
as a Researcher at Humboldt University
1994-97. Events coordinator at National
Meningitis Trust, Stroud 1998-99. He
attended Bristol University 1999-2004 for
his PhD in Mathematics for which he was
‘Highly Commended’. During this time he
did volunteer work for Oxfam. From 200911 he was a Volunteer Mentor working
with people with drug addiction, and from
2012 he was a Project Worker for Home
Group, Oxford supporting vulnerable
young people with housing needs. A
highly gifted mathematician whose
whole life was overshadowed by drug
addiction. Courageously he twice
overcame heroin addiction. A generous
and life-enhancing man who thought of
others throughout his life. Married 2004
Kathleen Mayberry (dissolved). Survived
by their two small sons.
Alexander Crispin Hugh Ford-Robbins
(A, 98-03): died tragically young
21.7.2013. As befitted someone from a
theatrical family he took part in drama
both at school and at university. Imperial
College, London to study Mechanical
Engineering. He spent his gap year in
Norway working in a shipyard and with
Rolls Royce (Marine Engineering
Division) at Ulsteinvik. After University
he worked in the family theatrical
business. He later attended Birkbeck
University, 2.1. History 2013. During his
time at Birkbeck he worked for the
Imperial War Museum researching and
cataloguing WW1 aerial photographs.
He also researched The Fallen Men of
WW1 for Imperial College to be
published as a book as part of the
commemoration of the Great War. A
popular captain of the Grafham &
Smithbrook Cricket Club ‘Friendly’ side.
The players stood for a minutes silence in
tribute to him at the start of the match
following his death.
Cameron Cruickshank Bespolka (C, 1113): died in a skiing accident 17.12.2013.
A cheerful and confident young boy who
was immediately popular with his closeknit year group. He was an excellent
cross-country runner, and also represented
the School at tennis. An enthusiastic
member of Natural History Society, it was
his passion about birds that made him
stand out. In his first half he quickly
developed a reputation, taking his bird
books to lessons and on away sports
fixtures. He soon became known as the
boy who knew all about birds. Everyone
learned from him that there’s no such
thing as a seagull, but rather many
different species of gull. He wrote an essay
for his impending GSCEs describing a day
in his ‘patch’ – the area of Winchester
where he faithfully recorded his sightings
on his blog. He was a member of the Next
Generation Birders (NGB) online
community linking teenage birders across
the country. NGB has set up a bird-listing
prize in his honour. What shone through
with this delightful and special young boy
was how happy he was just being himself,
with his individual personality – rare in
someone so young. His parents have set up
the Cameron Bespolka Trust to assist
young birders, especially those with less
privileged backgrounds. He is survived by
his triplet brother and sister and a younger
sister.
We are aware of the following deaths and
will be including further information in
the next issue:
Stephen Winkley (Staff 85-91): died
3.4.2014
Martin Osbert Maconachie (38-41): died
10.4.2014
Thomas Willes Chitty (D, 39-43): died
7.3.2014
Peter Robin Kirwan-Taylor (D, 43-48):
died 1.3.2014
Colin James Harper (E, 44-48): died
3.3.2014
Michael John Halford (B, 45-49): died
27.3.2014
Glynne Herbert Charles Clay (H, 45-45):
died 12.3.2014
Richard Geoffrey Thompson (I, 45-49):
died 7.3.2014
Thomas Vincent Edersheim Overton
(E, 47-52): died 30.3.2014
William Peter Curtis (F, 48-53): died
25.04.2014
Rupert Ean Edmund Stewart-Smith
(Coll, 48-54): died 27.04.2014
Nicholas Peter Brooks (C, 54-59): died
2.2.2014
Christopher Corrie Roundell (F, 55-60):
died 20.3.2014
DA Gilmour (I, 56-60) died 22.4.2014
ERRATA:
TW Slack (D, 41-46) was a member of
the winning Arthur Dunn Cup side in
1951 and not 1950 as reported in the in
previous issue.
RC Pyman (H, 41-45) was in Trant’s and
not in Hopper’s as shown in the previous
issue.
The 2013 Annual Report reported a
legacy from ‘ADG Milne (K, 70-74)’ on
page 47. This should have been
accredited to ADG Milne (Coll, 44-48),
whose Obit was recorded in TS115. We
apologise to all concerned, including the
middle-aged Beloe’ite, AD[in fact]M
Milne.
■
Notions Quiz – Old Wykehamist Paris Dinner 29th April 2014
Robert Lipscomb (D, 1958-62) posed his
audience the following multiple-choice
questions at the recent OW Dinner in
Paris (see page 43 for the report). Try your
hand and submit your answers to the Win
Coll Soc office – books may be raised!
1.
Who is known as ‘The Visitor’?
(a) The Warden
(b) The Bursar
(c) The Bishop of Winchester
2. Moberly Library used to be:
(a) A brewery
(b) A bakery
(c) A brothel
3. Who was known as ‘Hostiarius’?
(a) The Head Man
(b) The Second Master
(c) The Bursar
4. Who or what was ‘Lonely Lizzie’?
(a) The tree in Sicily
(b) The statue in War Cloister
(c) The weathercock on top of Michla
5. First Pot is:
(a) A statue on Musā
(b) The cup for rowing
(c) The dam in River
6. Who or what was Hockstapler?
(a) A playing field in Meads
(b) One of the groundsmen
(c) The name of the groundsman’s horse
7. The three heads on Meads Wall are
known as:
(a) Og, Gog and Magog.
(b) Selborne, Seton and Grocyn
(c) Monty’s brats
37
8. What was the name of the man who
used to clean out War Cloister?
(a) The Iron Pirate
(b) The Basterquag
(c) Pseudo Lurking Grudge
9. The colours of the Trant’s strat-band are:
(a) Dark blue, light blue, dark blue,
light blue, dark blue.
(b) Light blue, dark blue, light blue,
dark blue, light blue.
(c) Dark blue, light blue, black, light
blue, dark blue.
10. Who or what was ‘Ten Ton Tilly’?
(a) The tower on St Cross church
(b) The statue in War Cloister
(c) The Head Matron
Winchester College Society
Office
17 College Street
Winchester
SO23 9LX
Telephone:
01962 621217
01962 814614
Facsimile:
E-mail:
[email protected]
Web site:
www.wincollsoc.org
Directors:
David Fellowes (I, 63-67)
Lorna Stoddart
Dep. Director: Tamara Templer
Don Assoc:
Michael Wallis
(also Director of The Friends )
The Council
Simon Toynbee (D, 57-62)
David Fellowes (I, 63-67) - Director
Nat Hone (F, 68-72)
Richard Morse (K, 72-76)
Winston Ginsberg (I, 81-85)
Paul Cleaver (H, 85-90)
Alasdair Maclay (Coll, 86-91) - Chairman
Michael Humbert (B, 90-95)
Mark Toone (E, 90-95)
Ed Matthews (K, 91-96)
Freddie Bjorn ((H, 95-00)
Alex Walters (C, 96-01)
Conrad Griffin (I, 04-09)
Dr Ralph Townsend - Headmaster
Lorna Stoddart - Director of Development
Tamara Templer - Deputy Director of
Development
Michael Wallis - Don Associate and Director
of The Friends
From the Director
Twenty-one issues – over & out
My ‘Reflections’ in the recent Annual
Report intentionally made no mention of
the enormous enjoyment I have derived
from producing The Trusty Servant over
these past ten-and-a-half years, for it is in
these pages that such thoughts belong.
‘Whatever you do, Fellowes, please don’t
change the dear old Trusty Sweater’ was
the cry upon my appointment as Secretary
of Wyk Soc in 2004 – nor, I believe, have
I, beyond lengthening it beyond its
‘statutory’ 16 pages and including more
pictures, as and when appropriate material
has presented itself, so I offer no apologies
for this bumper issue.
I well recall, during a ‘Review of
Communications’ with Win Coll Soc’s
Council - it being a group of relatively
young and forward-thinking OWs, mind
you - provocatively asking them whether
perhaps the time had come for the
publication to ‘go colour’. With much
astonished harrumphing over dinner, such
an heretical idea was unanimously put to
the sword.
TEN SEN MEN
AGCF Campbell Murdoch (C, 24-29)
JST Gibson (Coll, 29-34)
Lt. Col. The Lord [GNC] Wigram
MC (H, 28-34)
PW Ward-Jackson (G, 29-33)
Dr JF Monk (A, 29-34)
JL Pinsent (E, 29-35)
BB King (Coll, 30-35)
Dr GRA Conquest CMG, OBE (D, 31-35)
PH Harman Jones (D, 31-35)
TA Bird DSO, MC (E, 32-36)
Directors: David Fellowes (current) and Alex Roe (elect)
38
Wykehamists are often self-effacing, modest
fellows, no doubt two admirable traits, but
of little help when it comes to filling the
OW News section. You are formally invited
more readily to strut your particular stuff,
please, with Obiter Dicta always open to
offers. It can sometimes be hard going to fill
those pages, but you’re just beginning to get
the hang of it – thank you.
I am indebted to two people in particular
for all the help they have given me over
my time: Stephen Anderson (Senior
Tutor and former Head of Classics), my
long-suffering Editor, with whom I have
much enjoyed plotting the course of each
issue, and Bernard Fallon, whose graphicdesign skills are self-evident on these
pages and with whom I have spent many
a happy hour trying to fit quarts into pint
pots or, more often, vice versa – I soon
discovered that a magazine has to run in
units of four pages!
Alex – please note, and good luck, my
friend! I very much look forward to sitting
back to read the fruits of your own halfyearly labours, in the hope that you will
enjoy selecting said fruit and moulding it
as much as I have done.
Obits
Many of you have commented on how
enjoyable a read the Obits are these days.
This is entirely due to our Obituarist,
Christopher Van der Noot (K, 53-57), who
has been in post for these past six issues. I set
him the challenge of winkling out the odd
golden nugget for each life-story, which is
sometimes easier said than done, given the
inevitable element of ‘absenteeism’ that
goes with the territory! In the same vein as
referred to above, you are also invited to
submit any such nuggets that you might like
your future Obituarist to consider one day!
It will merely sit discreetly on your record
until the inevitable time comes. Indeed,
should you have written a memoir, a copy
would be gratefully received. A list of these
could be published in these pages and made
available upon request.
I am happy to report that our Obituarist was
recently denied one such assignment. How
many Air Commodore Geoffrey Coopers
can there be? Upon spotting the death of
one of them and going through our usual
diligent procedures, I duly wrote a letter of
condolence to the widow of our very own
Freddyite (1939-44) of that name, only to
receive an email from the high-flier himself,
sincerely thanking us for our consideration,
but assuring us that he hadn’t taken to the
heavens quite yet! Coincidentally, his
namesake was a good friend of his, who had
also lived in the same area, so this surely
can’t have been an isolated incident.
Sen Man
AGCF Campbell Murdoch, (C, 24-29) and
one of Salisbury’s oldest residents, celebrated
his 103rd birthday on 2nd March by having
lunch with his family and friends at the
Silver Plough in Pitton. The Salisbury
Journal reported that, having been born in
Casablanca in 1911, he had lost his father
on the Somme in 1916, which strikes an
extraordinary chord as the centenary
commemorations are soon to begin. He
remains fit and spry and, a devout Roman
Catholic, attends Mass daily at St Osmund’s
Church in Salisbury. Archie – we continue
to salute you!
‘Keeping connected’ - are you
LinkedIn to the Old Wykehamist
Network?
Over 1,000 OWs are connected through
the Old Wykehamist Network. If you are
looking for career advice or want to
advertise an internship or job, why not
connect with each other through
LinkedIn on the Old Wykehamist
Network?
By the way, some younger readers, there is
a saying that goes: ‘You shouldn’t judge a
book by its cover’. It has come to my ears
that some of you don’t bother to open the
Annual Report simply because ‘it’s just
full of boring figures’! On being told that
there are also five stories, more often than
not written by one of our younger
brethren, I gather one response was: ‘Oh,
I see – I remember him; I must read what
he has to say’. Enough said!
Young OWs (under 25s) – Michael
Wallis, in his guise as Win Coll Soc’s Don
Associate, visited the OW undergraduates
at Bristol University in early November,
whilst similar undergraduate suppers
followed in Oxford on 11th February and
in Cambridge on 4th March. Invariably,
Michael is accompanied by a member of
one the OW Guilds, this recent addition
to the programme being much
appreciated by our undergraduates,
particularly those in their final year of
university. Across the three university
suppers and the under 25s Dinner in
London, Michael sees an average of 120
young OWs each year. Should you be
feeling ignored, you are encouraged to
persuade our ‘Don Ass.’ that you are
worth a visit – a sufficient quorum would
be a minimum of, say, 10 of you. Email
him at: [email protected]
Three ‘Page 3’ Girls
An attention grabber, if ever I saw one!
Now, can anyone tell me where the
window depicting these Three Graces is
to be found in the confines of this great
place of learning? All will be revealed in
the next issue, with a champagne bottle
39
on offer to the first person, not employed
or being currently educated here, to give
my successor the right answer – and a full
bottle to anyone who can tell me
something of its provenance. A small
clue: there is an Australian connection!
Winchester’s Own Recipe
• Challenge: ‘It’s high time we had our
very own ‘Eton Mess’, as declared in the
last issue
• Winner: ‘Wykeham Torte’ (pun
intended)
• Recipe: to be found on page 44
• Winner: Kate Ross, Win Coll Soc, who
has promised to produce the pud for her
colleagues, to be washed down with her
prize bottle of champagne during
working hours
• Real Winner: Trant’s House Bursary
Fund, who will receive a cheque for
£1,000
• Sponsor & Adjudicator: the very
generous Fane Vernon (H, 37-42);
thank you so much, Fane
• Runner-up: ‘Wykeham’s Whip’, offered
by David Rosier (I, 64-69), who wrote:
‘I always prefer to beat my ‘Eton Mess’ a
little more! It could then be regarded as
‘Wykeham’s Whip’.
Can this fund possibly help
anyone you know?
Mark Evans (C, 47-52) is a trustee of the
Wilson Barkworth Memorial Fund,
established shortly after the First World
War in memory of Captain Wilson
Barkworth MC (E, 99-02) of the East
York Regiment, who was killed on 26th
October 1917
between Ypres
and Poperingly,
aged 32. It is a
fund that
provides
bursaries for the
purpose of
defraying ‘the
whole or part of
the expenses of the education at the
College of St Mary, Winchester of one or
more boys being sons of persons of one or
more of the following kind – namely (a)
persons who are or have been members of
the Royal College of Surgeons of England
or (b) who are or have been holders of an
incumbency of the Church of England.’
The Trustees are actively searching for a
candidate whose parents meet either of
these qualifications, but they may possibly
be prepared to consider seeking permission
from the Charity Commission slightly to
broaden their powers should they receive
applications that have a slightly broader
medical or C of E connection. Applicants
should contact Mr CC Goodway, of
Grays, solicitors at Duncombe Place, York
YO1 7DY (tel. 019344 634771).
Don Soc
Discussions are being held between the
Chairman of Common Room (Laurence
Wolff), Win Coll Soc and a representation
of former dons with a view to creating a
more included and recognised forum for
former dons, most likely to be referred to
as ‘Don Soc’. This will be reported upon in
greater detail in the next issue, by which
time it is to be hoped that former dons will
have been informed of what is to be
proposed. Should you be aware of any
former don who feels that he or she may
not have been communicated with in
recent years (it is acknowledged that there
was a period when a systemic glitch
occurred, after which contact with some
may not have been completely restored),
please do encourage them to get in touch
with the Win Coll Soc office.
community of Friends, which enjoys an
especially close connection with the
School, is particularly indebted to him;
thank you so much, Christopher. Simon
Beloe (I, 58-63 and past parent) takes over
his role, having been on the Committee
since October 2001; and this is in addition
to his heavy commitment to Marwell
Wildlife, the board of which he also chairs.
Simon Taylor (F, 70-74, past parent and
supplier of the finest wines through his
business, ‘Stone, Vine & Sun’, based in
Twyford) has now joined the Committee,
where he finds Guy Boney QC (E, 58-63,
past parent and Circuit Judge), who, my
old records inform me, joined the body in
January 2001, and subsequently served as
Chairman for nine years.
Lastly, Michael Wallis, Director of The
Friends since September 2012 and a
member of Dons Common Room, is
delighted to have persuaded Caroline St.
Leger-Davey, a recent parent, also to join
the Committee.
Membership of The Friends is open to allcomers, regardless of any connection with
the School, and is enjoyed by local
residents, by parents and staff, both past
and present, and by Old Wykehamists. A
busy programme of opportunities is on
offer, including lectures, concerts, plays and
a ticket-only invitation to the much
sought-after Advent Carol Service in
Chapel. The annual surplus is used to
support the School’s Collections. I would
encourage you to consider joining, and
why not persuade your friends to do so with
you? Further details can be found on the
website: www.wincollsoc.org or you can
contact The Friends office, situated above
Cornflowers, where Vicki Robb will help
you ([email protected] / 01962 621264).
Reunion of 1967
Commoner and
OTH VIs Rolls: for
ever scarred by the
memory of a lastminute win by
Commoners, 33-30,
on 25th March 1967,
your Director
managed,
nevertheless, to
gather 16 from both
Rolls for a
OTH on the left; Commoners on the right
Changes in the Committee of The
Friends of Winchester College
Christopher Green (father of Caspar, Coll,
99-04)) stepped down after four years as
Friends’ Chairman at the January meeting
and retired from the Committee.
Christopher had served on the full
Committee for seven years, during which
time his contribution was always at the
very least enthusiastic and innovative, and
thus totally invaluable. The local
Back row: Nigel Maclean (E), Jamie Bebb (A), Chal Chute (E), James Marigold (K), Ian Ross (B),
David Clementi (E), Mark Dancy (C - captain), Johnny Craig (H), John Dixon (K), Anthony Palmer (H - captain)
Front Row: Jonathan Stead (I), James Morley (B), David Fellowes (I), Nigel Bond (A)
40
commemorative lunch in a private
upstairs-room in The Wykeham Arms on
15th March. Thankfully, his modern-day
Houses counterparts were able to
compensate for his previous suffering by
conquering their foe: 47-40.
Some events – from mid-October
2013 to Easter 2014
1st November – Bristol & Bath OW
Dinner: for the first year since 1808 the
Bath OW Dinner expanded its horizons
to include Bristol. The inaugural dinner
in Bristol was held at Leigh Court, and
was most efficiently managed by the new
Secretary, George Fellowes (G, 93-98),
supported by Jonathan Wyld (A, 58-63),
the new Chairman. The meeting was well
entertained by the guest of honour, Henry
Robinson (E, 67-71), now President of
the Country Land & Business
Association. The dinner attracted a good
turnout of both young and old, and the
historic loving cup was circulated. This
annual dinner will now be held
alternately in Bristol and in Bath, next
year, as previously advertised, in Bath on
Friday, 31 October 2014.
6th November – Annual Guilds Dinner:
Sixty OWs gathered at The Cavalry and
Guards Club in London for the third
Annual Guild Dinner. Nick Ferguson (C,
61–66) was the guest speaker for the
evening and spoke about his ‘Quest for a
balanced life’ and the three vital elements
required to achieve this. There followed a
vigorous debate about whether or not his
basic principles covered OWs at all stages
of life and in all professions!
21st November - OW Reception: after
several years at Old Hall, Lincoln’s Inn,
this year’s Reception was held in the
Library at the Royal College of Surgeons
in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. At the midway
stage, the Director broke into the
proceedings by anointing Fane Vernon
(H, 37-42) as ‘Sen Man’ and promoting
Fane’s ‘Eton Mess challenge’, before
passing over the microphone to the
Headmaster, followed by the Warden. As
ever, an enjoyable gathering of all ages.
Sen Man, Fane Vernon on the left, and other good men
14th December – OW Shoot at
Settrington, North Yorkshire: we had
another truly extraordinary day at
Settrington in December last. One of the
‘new’ guns wrote in afterwards with what
probably best captures the magic of our day:
‘I find it amazing that by good keepering it is
possible to produce such numbers of wild birds
… of course, it was not the numbers that
thrilled me the most, but the way quite a few
of them seemed to decide for themselves where,
when and how they would fly. It was good for
my soul to be thoroughly outclassed by a fair
number who were just too quick, too swervy or
too something! … All in all a day to savour
and remember for a long time to come.’
Michael Booth, for their superb
management of the day.
31st January – Under-25s Dinner: on a
chilly winter’s evening a (by the end of
the evening) merry band of young OWs
gathered at The Rag (Army and Navy
Club) in London, to renew old friendships
and past rivalries on the sports field.
Thomas Hwang delivered the College
grace in Latin, after which we all set to
with gusto. Phil’s and Kenny’s were
particularly well represented, and many
thanks must go to Jason Wünscher
Those also shooting in December 2013
were: Jamie Bebb (A, 63-68), Ed Daniels
(F, 87-92), Christopher Green (H, 57-62),
Malcolm Le May (parent), Richard Morse
(K, 72-76), Alex Morton (F, 69-74),
Hugh Oliver-Bellasis (K, 58-62), Rod
Parker (A, 61-65) and Alex Roe (G, 7275). As before, we were all indebted to
Kenelm Storey (K, 76-81) and his keeper,
Nick Ferguson speaks
Mike Wallis addresses his troops
41
(D, 04-09) in particular for galvanising
the Kennyites. Malcolm Hebron gave an
outstandingly humorous speech,
acclaimed by such stalwarts of these
occasions as Conrad Griffin (I, 04-09) as
the best he had heard in years. No doubt
the hostelries around St. James’ Square
echoed long into the night thereafter to
the sound of Wykehamical memories.
Same time same place next year!
1st March – 40 Years-on Reunion for
the Classes of ’73,’74 and ’75: a break in
the diabolical run of wet weather
produced a bright and sunny opener on
Meads - a nail-biting match on College
Canvas, where Houses won a thrilling
XVs against Commoners by 38 points to
37. A record attendance at any Years-on
reunion to date, some 71 people gradually
assembled as the programme for the day
unravelled, but those who failed to show
for their ‘up-to-books’ experience in
Chantry at Fellows’ Librarian Dr Geoff
Day’s ‘div’ hour missed out on a collector’s
item. Drinks in School were followed by a
contemplative service of Compline in
Chapel (‘I was glad’ was sung with
appropriate decorum), before the group
returned to School for a splendid Dinner,
produced by the College Caterers. Fellow
Andrew Joy (C, 70-74) provided the
‘State of the College’ speech, to which
Simon Taylor (F, 70-74) responded, both
in great style. Peter Bennett-Jones (C, 6873) was accorded the honours as Sen Man.
40 Years on
Reunion. Fellow and Warden-elect
Charles Sinclair (B, 61-66) delivered a
most informative speech, ending with
quotes from the 1961 Masque, where one
of the inspecting Public Schools
Commissioners, the Earl of Clarendon,
attempts to interrogate Headmaster
Moberly over his attitude to the powers
(or otherwise) of the Warden and
Fellows! Herry Lawford (G, 59-64)
responded in his inimitable way.
their chosen profession, but as important
was the chance it gave them to explore
professions that they might not otherwise
have considered. This year the following
OWs offered 35 boys an insight into their
various professions: Charlie Barda
(H, 92–97), Neil Gibson (B, 91–96),
Charlie Hodges (F, 97–02), Rauf Islam
(D, 06–10), Ed Kingsbury (G, 89–94),
Ben Pilbrow (G, 94–99) and Alex Roe
(G, 72–75).
20th March – Guilds Careers Morning
at Winchester – Pathway to Professions:
Seven OWs kindly offered their time to
support the ‘Pathway to Professions’ careers
event. Now in its third year, the event is
designed to offer men in V1th Book the
opportunity to have a productive half-hour
discussion with an OW about their next
step. Not only did the morning provide an
opportunity for boys to find out more about
20th March - 20 Years-on Reunion for
the Classes of ’93, ’94 and ’95: A 38strong cohort of OWs gathered in The
Cavalry and Guards Club to reflect on
their youth, and the follies thereof! The
Sen Man was Robert Simpson (B, 88-93).
Keith Pusey, former Master of Music,
Director of Studies and Registrar, gave the
key-note speech, to which Asim Shivji
(K, 89-94) replied on behalf of the OWs,
15th March – 50 Years-on Reunion for
the Classes of ’63, ’64 and ’65: very
much the same can be said about the visit
of the 50 Years-on brigade, even to the
extent of the fine weather and another
Houses win over Commoners, this time
47-40, in a hard fought VIs match on
College Canvas. Michael Wallis
entertained these mature students in
Chantry with his talk entitled ‘Bilbo &
Pooh’, based around how the Great War
experiences clearly influenced the
writings of Tolkien and Milne. 68 dined
in School, where Giles Wingate-Saul QC
(F, 58-63) was named as Sen Man by
David Fellowes, hosting his last Years-on
50 Years on
42
resurrecting long forgotten ‘notions-speak’
from more youthful days.
23rd March - Varsity Winchester
College Football VIs Festival: please
refer to prime-mover Oli Wettern (G, 0611), Report on pages 24-25.
Late March - Win Coll Soc in Australia:
David Fellowes attended a most enjoyable
Reception in Melbourne on 26th March.
It was held at the home of Jonathan
Sanders (A, 70-74) and his wife, Jen, in
Toorak, and attended by OWs and their
guests. On the next day, then, he was
joined in Sydney by his colleague, Lorna
Stoddart (travelling up from New Zealand
following a daughter’s wedding), for an
OW Dinner, immaculately organised by
Peter Young (C, 61-66), and held at the
Union, University & Schools Club. Sen
Men were, in Melbourne The Rt
Reverend Jeremy Ashton (E, 43-48), and
in Sydney John King (Coll, 53-58). Please
also refer to a message from Patrick
Medley (G, 70-74) on page 20.
1st April – Dinner in Singapore: much
thanks to the good offices of Thomas
Wolf (father of two Collegemen), an
excellent Dinner was held on almost the
top-floor at The Tower Club,
commanding a splendid view over the
city and harbour. In all, 23 attended the
occasion, including OWs, parents past,
present and even prospective, and the two
Directors of Win Coll Soc. Piers Pottinger
(A, 67-72) was Sen Man.
3rd April - Hong Kong Gala Dinner: the
Wykehamical community is certainly
alive and well in Hong Kong! Its Events
Committee, comprising OWs and current
parents, with support from Win Coll Soc,
once again hosted a wonderful fundraising
Gala Dinner. Over 200 people gathered at
the Hong Kong Country Club in support
of ‘Music at Winchester ‘. The
Headmaster and the Chairman of the
Hong Kong Friends of Winchester
College, Dr the Hon Sir David K P Li,
joined the OWs and parents, current, past
and prospective, to an evening of musical
performances and discussion.
Sydney Dinner. Back row: Lorna Stoddart, Simon Readhead (A, 89-94), Peter Lee (I, 63-68), Nick Robb (E, 73-77),
Robert Luttrell (K, 74-79), Michael Gammans (B, 63-68), Ed Farren-Price (C, 87-92), Patrick Medley (G, 70-74),
Ian Greet (Coll, 79-84), David Fellowes (I, 63-67)
Front row: David Brown (F, 60-65), Tim Burroughs (H, 67-72), John King (Coll, 53-58), Peter Young (C, 61-66),
Stephen Tang (A, 92-97), John Swainston (G, 63-67), Mark Sutherland-Harris (C, 56-61)
Richard Wallace (Coll, 68 -72), Kevin Ching – Panel Host, current parent, Nick Salwey – Deputy Master of Music
(Q, 79 – 81, B, 82 – 86), Justin Wong (C, 95 – 99), Felix Tham (C, 00 – 02)
Accompanied by Dr Nicholas Salwey
(Q, 79-81; B, 82-86; the Deputy Master of
Music), five young Wykehamists
entertained the audience with stunning
performances on piano, cello, flute and
violin. This was complemented by a panel
discussion of OWs talking about life at
Winchester and the influence that music
had had on their lives.
29th April – Dinner in Paris: much
thanks to the efforts of Robert Lipscomb
(D, 58-62), a Dinner was held at the
splendid Cercle de l ‘Union Interalliée
Club, 33 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
27 OWs and guests attended, and both
Robert and David Fellowes delivered
speeches. Sen Man was Baudouin
43
Janninck (G, 50-55). Robert posed his
audience a Notions Test, made up of ten
multiple-choice questions; the winner was
Tom Venning (Coll, 87-92), with a score
of just 6-out-of-10 [it was getting late!].
John Pumphrey (K, 92-97; Co Ro, 04-07),
a professional opera singer, was then
invited to sing two verses of Domum, the
chorus being sung with more than usual
gusto by his fellow guests. A special toast
was raised in memory of Roland King (I,
49-54), organiser of the two previous such
gatherings in 1976 and 1977, who had
sadly died on 30th December 2013 (see
Obit on page 33). Pledges were made that
the future dinners would be held more
frequently.
6th May – Special Boat Club Day: to
mark the 60th anniversary of the 1954
crew’s winning of the Princess Elizabeth
Cup at Henley in the company of its two
coaches and their only Winchester
equivalents, the crew from 1949 and one
of its coaches (a full report will appear in
the November issue).
Dates for your Diaries in 2014 have
been tabled on the back page. Please mark
up your diaries NOW with any event that
interests you and PLEASE encourage
others to join you!
‘Wykeham Torte’ Recipe (see page 39)
To make:
• 5 table spoons of liquid glucose
• 5 table spoons rum/kirsch/Cointreau
or whatever your preference may be!
• 1 lb /450grms chocolate – (suggest
Cadbury’s milk chocolate)
• 1 pint /570 ml double cream at room
temperature
• 3oz / 75 g finely crushed biscuits (e.g.
digestives or hobnobs)
To serve:
• Cocoa powder for dusting and cream
• Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin
and sprinkle into the bottom of dish
(8 inches).
• Break the chocolate into squares and
place in a heat-proof bowl with the
glucose and rum. Place the bowl over
a pan of simmering water, leave until
chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir
well and remove from the heat to cool
for about 5 minutes, or until it is just
warm to the touch.
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl
until very slightly thickened. Fold half
the cream into the cooled chocolate,
stir reasonably well and then pour the
mixed chocolate and cream into the
remaining cream.
• When you have stirred it all together
and the colour is consistent, spoon it
gently into the prepared dish with the
biscuits (important not to pour it in as
this will disturb the biscuits too
much). Give the dish a gentle shake
to level off the chocolate and cream
mixture, cover with cling film and
chill overnight.
• To serve, run a knife around the edge
of the dish to loosen the torte, give the
dish a gentle shake, place the serving
plate on top and turn over. The whole
torte should come away smoothly. (If
for any reason it does stick, run a cloth
under hot water and place on the
bottom of the dish, which will melt
the chocolate enough for it to come
away.) Dust the top with sifted cocoa
powder and serve with pouring cream
or slightly whipped double cream. It
can be made a couple of days in
advance and it also freezes very well.
To digest:
• Review exercise regime carefully to
avoid any premature Obitpublication.
Win Coll Football results from
Common Time 2014
XVs:
Xs:
Xs:
VIs:
VIs:
VIs:
OTH beat Commoners 38-37
OTH beat Coll 60-19
Commoners beat Coll 37-30
OTH beat Commoners 47-40
OTH beat Coll 32-30
Coll beat Commoners: 54-50
VIs Match Report & Statistics
A searching analysis by Zac Tiplady
(Captain of College VI)!
OTH 47-40 COMMONERS
Tom Bacon (D) attacks on ropes
for plants excludes close play in ropes.
Paddy Trant attempted the most fliers in
the match, registering 21 attempts, 12 of
which were successfully converted, giving
a completion rate of 57.14%.
Justin Humphries (2/5), Rupert Meadows
(5/8), George Herring (8/12), Adam
Wordley (3/8) and Jack Keating also all
attempted at least five fliers.
Paddy Trant also led in registered busts
with 16. Adam Wordley was OTH’s
leading buster with 11. The difference here
was that no other Commoner completed a
bust, while only Belo-Osagie from OTH
did not complete at least one. Trant also
OTH:
Sachak ’7, ’19, ’27
Herring ’9, ’16, ’37, ’65
Keating ’17, ’19, ’28, ’70
Wordley ’36 (Conv.), ’48
Behind ’5, ’5, ’6, ’30, ’33, ’36, ’46, ’47, ’56.
COMMONERS:
Trant ’3 (Conv.), ’8
Hands ’10, ’13, ’30, ’41
Meadows ’22, ’28
Woodman ’55
Behind ’2, ’11, ’27, ’29, ’40, ’48, ’52, ’56,
’58, ’64, ’67, ’68, ’70.
In the following statistics, bust-offs after
conceding are included, and the statistic
44
HM and Mrs Townsend (sporting a special blue-redbrown pussy)
Commoner XV break first; OTH keep their cool
scored 3 behinds directly from bust-offs, a
feat Wordley achieved on one occasion.
Tom Bacon was the match biggest heeler,
amassing 16 all match. Alex Sachak was
OTH’s biggest heeler completing 12. The
Back Kicks on either team were the only
players not to register a heel.
As was the case in
XVs, Commoners
scored
substantially more
behinds than
their brown
opponents.
Nonetheless,
despite a more
even spread of
scorers than
Commoners had
An OTH supporter
in XVs, Houses
outstretched them in terms of goals scored.
Red won two of three hots in the middle,
with OTH driving late to overturn the last.
There was a very even spread of major
plants, with Bacon (7), Woodman (7),
Sachak (7), Herring (6), Keating (6),
Meadows (5), Belo-Osagie (5) all being
present in the action.
Fellowes and Maclure with The Analyst, Zac Tiplady
45
Several players were error-prone today,
and OTH captain George Herring was
not without his share of mistakes. Despite
his flier completion rate of 66%, down
from 83% in XVs, Herring’s testing long
behinds regularly gave Commoners
trouble and prevented conversions,
playing a large part in forcing down
Trant’s flier completion rate. He was the
highest planting kick and his sublime
goalscoring half-volley in the 37th minute
combine to make him our OptaZac Man
of the Match. Individual player statistics
are available on request.
Winchester College Register –
or Wykehamist Who’s Who
If you have not already ordered a copy
of this hard-back volume, please do so
now. It contains around 1,000 pages of
information, mainly comprising
biographical details of every
Wykehamist from the 1930s until the
early 2000s. This is the seventh in a
series going back to the early 19th
century and might possibly be the last,
as publication has occurred at intervals
of around twenty years and books like
this are becoming rarer. Please contact
Patrick Maclure (I, 52-57) on either
01962 621176 or
[email protected].
Railway Soc?
The College Archivist would be
interested to hear from any OWs who
remember the Railway Society. So far, she
has been able to establish that a model
train lay-out was once located in the
upstairs room of Hunter Tent, and that it
was later moved to the top floor of
Wellington House. Tony Ruth (Common
Room, 51-90, and Housedon of Hopper’s,
68-83) oversaw the society ‘s activities
and he remembers that the layout,
engines and rolling-stock belonged to the
men in the School who used them. If
anyone can provide additional details,
please contact Suzanne Foster on
[email protected].
An old desk for sale
All from the Same Place
Should anyone wish to buy an old div
room desk, which has been lovingly cared
for by its owner who bought it from the
School some fifty years or so ago, please
contact Mrs Corson at:
[email protected]. She
is keen to donate the proceeds to
Winchester College!
We have full sets of Malcolm Burr (C, 4651)’s superb trilogy of books: All from the
Same Place, More from the Same Place and
Yet More from the Same Place, bound
respectively in blue, red and brown – and
also a useful and appealing slip-case to
hold all three editions. We are finding
that these make excellent presents for
Wykehamists all ages, including leavers.
Vista Musicale’s Far Above a
Midnight Sky
John Rutter writes of Vista Musicale’s latest
CD, which uses boys, old boys and dons of
Winchester College, and is accompanied
by the John Wilson Orchestra.
‘I love it all ....... so start the CD,
surrender, let your eyes mist over when no
one is looking, but maybe, with such a
gorgeous box of musical chocolates on
your CD player, savour a few tracks at a
time rather than gobble it all at once.’
What more need be said?!
The books themselves are available at
£10, to those wishing to complete their
set, as is the slip-case, though should you
wish to purchase the full set of books and
the slip-case, this will cost only £35. The
cost of postage will be assessed with each
order. Please contact Kate Ross should
you wish to place an order
([email protected]).
Full details can be found on the enclosed
flier, the website: www.vistamusicale.com
or just send your cheque payable to ‘Vista
Musicale Productions’ to The Nutshell,
Widlers Lane, Upham, Hampshire SO32
1JE. £2 from each CD and 15% of
download receipts generated through the
School will be donated to the Winchester
College Quirister Appeal - please be sure
to tick the Win Coll box on the
Checkout page.
Some more CD recommendations
from Winchester’s rich choral
tradition
The Winchester Tradition – Chapel Choir,
directed by Malcolm Archer
A Christmas Present from Cantores –
Cantores Episcopi’s latest offering
Deep River: Music for Lent, Passiontide and
Holy Week – directed by Malcolm Archer
and recorded in the spacious acoustic of
Keble College, Oxford.
Please contact Jamal Sutton, Assistant
Director of Chapel Music, at
[email protected], for copies.
46
The Sloane Club
The Sloane Club is an exclusive Private
Members Club in the heart of Chelsea.
Readers may recall a previous notice in
these pages about a special weekend-only
offer to non-members (page 31, TS115)
being promoted by the mother of two
OWs. The offer still remains for a twonight minimum stay of £148 per room per
night. To make your reservation, please
telephone 020 7730 9131 and quote ‘Old
Wykehamist’.
Limited Print Reproductions of
College, by James Cartwright (H,
01-06)
James’ very finely detailed pencil drawings
of Chamber Court, Beloe’s, Furley’s, Phil’s
and Flint Court (print reproductions are
A3 size, 297mm by 420mm, priced at
£29.50 unframed) may be purchased at
www.winchestercollegedrawings.co.uk .
Twenty percent of any sales goes to the
relevant House Fund. If you have any
queries, James may be contacted at:
[email protected]
Phil’s
World War 1 website
Beloe’s
The Winchester College at War website is
now ‘live’. It provides a searchable
biographical data base of the School’s Roll
of Honour for all those who perished
during the Great War.
http://www.winchestercollegeatwar.com/
Winchester College at War
The Winchester College at War
exhibition explores the impact of the
Great War on one of Britain’s oldest
public schools, from the rationing,
agricultural work and focus on the Officer
Training Corps that occupied men in the
School, to the stories of those who went
straight from the classroom to the Army, a
junior commission assuring them of a
ticket direct to the front line. The
exhibition will focus on some of the 2,488
pupils, teachers and quiristers who served
in the armed forces, eventually resulting
in 513 deaths, later to be commemorated
in the largest private war memorial in
Europe. Fascinating first-hand accounts
will open a window to the world of
chivalrous patriotism in 1914, whose core
values of service, loyalty and courage were
never truly undermined in the junior
officers who led their men out of the
trenches and whose average life
expectancy was just six weeks.
The exhibition, to be held in Musā , will
be open to the public on Saturday, 13th
September (between 10.30am to
12.00pm), on 14th September (2.004.00pm), and then again on Saturday,
27th September, (10.30am to 12.00pm
and 2.00 to 4.00pm) and 28th September
(2.00 to 4.00pm). Admission is free via
the Porter ‘s Lodge. Otherwise, admission
is available by appointment for booked
groups for which interested parties should
either telephone Rachel Wragg, Museum
Development Manager, on 01962 814638
or email her at: [email protected].
■
Middle Gate, Chamber Court
OW Great War Commemorative visit to the Somme battlefield
Monday 9th to Thursday 12th May 2016
Michael Wallis (Chairman of the WWI Commemoration
Committee and also Don Associate) is leading this trip and
has already had to make a provisional hotel reservation! He
has chosen the same Hôtel de l ‘Univers in the French town
of Arras, just north of the 1916 British sector, that was used
for the Somme trip in November 2008. However, the hotel
can hold these rooms only until 31st July 2014.
Should you wish to be included in the 2016 Somme trip,
Michael will need a non-refundable deposit of £50 per head
so that he can secure this accommodation. He appreciates
that asking for a deposit two years in advance may seem ‘over
the top’ (every pun intended), but the pressure on all
accommodation in this area for 2016 is already quite
phenomenal. The tour will cover all the main Wykehamical
battle sites, whilst there will also be a literary history aspect
in locating where in particular Sassoon, Tolkien and AA
Milne fought on the Somme. Further outline details are
available from [email protected] .
Cheques should be made payable to ‘Winchester College’
and sent to the Win Coll Soc office. A maximum of 50
places will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis and
from past experience of such trips, they can be filled within
just a fortnight!
47
Dates for your 2014 and 2015 Diaries
2014:
15th May – Malvern Hills Lunch: at the
home of Philip Archer (C, 43-47) - by
invitation only.
22nd May - Parents Summer Drinks
Reception: at The Courtauld Institute in
London, for all parents.
24th May - OW Lodges Dinner: in
Winchester.
26th May to 2nd June – Wykeham
Patrons’ Trip to Greece & Crete: in the
Footsteps of John Pendlebury (D, 18-23).
21st June – Winchester Match: including
ticketed lunch on New Field, cricket
(OWCC v. Lords and 2nd XI) and much
more besides. Lynda Minter, wife of
CJWM (Coll, 46-51), will be mounting an
exhibition of her art.
26th June – Northern Regional Dinner:
at Arley Hall, Cheshire.
28th June – Hockley Centenary Golf
Day: involving the OW Golfing Society
5th July – Domum.
7th September – Short Half starts
12th September – Wykeham Patrons
Annual Dinner: in Winchester.
13th September – Goddard Day: in
Winchester.
14th September – Poetry readings in War
Cloister.
17th September – 65+ Years-on Lunch
for the Classes of ’49 and earlier: at The
Cavalry and Guards Club in London.
25th September – 30 Years-on Dinner
for the Classes of ’83, ’84 & ’85: at The
Cavalry and Guards Club.
2nd October – 25 to 40s Dinner: at The
Army and Navy Club (‘The Rag’) in Pall
Mall.
9th October – Reception for Parents of
Years 1 & 2: at The Royal College of
Surgeons in London.
19th October – CCF Parade on Meads –
to mark the beginning of the School’s
period of reflection to commemorate the
First World War
24th October – OW Medical Society
Dinner: a tripartite event in College Hall
in the company of their Old Etonian and
Old Harrovian counterparts.
22nd October – 60 Years-on Lunch for
the Classes of ’53, ’54 & ’55: at The
Cavalry and Guards Club in London.
2016:
31st October - Bath & Bristol OW
Dinner: at The Royal Bath Spa Hotel.
The new Warden will be the Guest
Speaker.
9th to 12th May – OW Great War
Commemorative visit to the Somme
battlefield: please refer to notice on page
47 for immediate action.
13th November – OW Reception: at The
Royal College of Surgeons
11th December – Illuminā: in Meads
13th December – OW Shoot: at
Settrington, in North Yorkshire
2015:
27th February to 9th March – Wykeham
Patrons’ trip to India: Delhi, Agra,
Bharatpur and Shimla – in the Footsteps
of Wavell (with a touch of Pataudi).
28th February XVs: Commoners v.
Houses. Kick off at 2.30pm on College
Canvas.
28th February – 30 Years-on Dinner for
the Classes of ’84, ’85 & ’86: in
Winchester after XVs, Tea, ‘Div’ in
Chantry, Drinks, Chapel etc.
w/c 9th March – Events in India: David
Fellowes [as ‘Patrons’ tour leader’] and
Tamara Templer will be staying on after
the Patrons’ trip to host likely Dinner
events in Delhi and Mumbai – the details
have yet to be finalised.
14th March - VIs: Commoners v.
Houses. Kick off at 2.30pm on College
Canvas.
14th March – 60 Years-on Lunch for the
Classes of ’54, ’55 & ’56: in Winchester
after Chapel, ‘Div’ in Chantry and Drinks
and before VIs.
19th March – 20 Years-on Dinner for the
Classes of ’94, ’95 & ’96: in London
22nd March – OW Varsity ‘Winkies’ VIs
Festival: at Winchester (please contact Oli
Wettern (G, 06-11) should you wish to
play – [email protected]).
48
Future House 150th
Anniversaries:
In 2018: Kenny’s and Freddie’s,
In 2019: Chawker’s, Phil’s,
Trant’s and Hopper’s
You can register and pay
online for events
You can register and pay online for
events. All payments are processed
through Blackbaud Merchant Services
which ensures the highest levels of
security are applied. You should be a
registered user of the website to book
online for events. New user registrations
can take up to two days to be processed
if registration is completed over a
weekend. Register at www.wincollsoc.org
Please read the following carefully:
CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
All data on Old Wykehamists, parents and others
is securely held in the Winchester College Society
database and will be treated confidentially for the
benefit of the Society, its members and Winchester
College. The data is available to the Win Coll Soc
office and, upon appropriate application from its
membership, to recognised societies, sports and
other clubs associated with the School. Data is used
for a full range of alumni activities, including the
distribution of Win Coll Soc, Wyk Soc and other
School publications, notification of events and the
promotion of any benefits and services that may be
available. Data may also be used for fundraising
programmes, but may not be passed to external
commercial or other organisations, or sold on
auction sites.

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