Alumni News

We are delighted to share the following news of our alumni. Please do get in touch (alumni@homerton.cam.ac.uk ) if you would like to include an update in the next issue.

1940s

Eileen McWilliam (née Price) (CertEd with Music, 1945) sent us a wonderful overview of her post-Homerton career.

“Miss Skillicorn was not pleased that I had not accepted a teaching post on leaving Homerton, but I think I was forgiven when I told her that I had accepted the Open Scholarship at the Royal College of Music in London, where I stayed for five years to qualify. My voice developed so well I sang professionally for many years, until a devastating car accident stopped my progress for some years. However I was able to start again after a few years quite successfully, ending up as Head of the Vocal Department of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and London University. I was also the chair of the Association of Teachers of Singing in the UK for two years. I returned to the Land of my Fathers six years ago, and take occasional private pupils and give advice on voice.”

We were saddened to hear from Ann Kirkby (née Harper) (BEd 1976) of the death of her mother, Eleanor Harper (née Kirkby) (CertEd 1949). Eleanor, who died just shy of her 90th birthday in February 2020, was the first of three generations of Homertonian women. Her granddaughter, Ann’s daughter, Rebecca Kirkby, completed her PGCE at Homerton in 2016–17, before undertaking the Masters in Education in 2018. Rebecca currently teaches at Comberton Village College, and is completing her Farmington Scholarship at Homerton.

Rebecca Kirkby, Ann Kirkby and Eleanor Harper

“Eleanor was a wonderful mother and teacher who held Homerton in a special place in her heart,” Ann wrote. “I probably would not have gone to Homerton were it not for her, and the same would probably be true for my daughter. My mother, my daughter and I have all loved Homerton and, on their behalf, they and I wish the staff and students the very best for the future years there.”

1950s

Ruth Alcock (née Alpine) (CertEd 1954) travelled from Yorkshire to study at Homerton, where she qualified as a teacher and met a St John’s student, Robert Alcock, whom she married in 1960. Ruth sent us these memories of her time in Cambridge.

“My room was 102 on the third floor of the ABC wing. One lunch time I was called out of lunch and asked to show an old lady over College. She had been at Homerton in 1895 and had lived in the same room. She remembered having to make a candle last and not to ask for a replacement.

My father’s cousin was at Homerton in 1923, though I never knew her name. Her parents received a letter from College one day informing them that their daughter was associating with a young man from Jesus College and should they discourage the friendship?

I shall never forget the tradition at 10pm on the last night before going down for Christmas Vacation. Keeping it secret from the new first years until the last minute the Senior Student Grace Isaacs led a carol singing crocodile gradually along the wings ABC and DEF all in darkness except for our electric torches. What a different world it was! Ten girls were presented at Court and the next day, back in College, they paraded in their dresses.

I did come back just the once when we were newly retired and it happened to be Graduation Day. I was thrilled to see the boys, what an improvement!”

Ruth Alpine marries Robert Alcock in 1960 1960s

Anne Martin (née Sparrowe) (CertEd 1968) shared with us her reflections on a year like no other.

“I am sure that for many people of my age, having just passed my 70th birthday, this year as well as being an extraordinary year for all the wrong reasons, has been a time of reflection. I know I have been very lucky to not live on my own, to have had access to my own and shared gardens during complete lockdown, to have a secure income and to have had plenty to do. I guess for those of us who grew up during the 1950s and 60s, the limits imposed have for many been not as hard as for those younger than ourselves. I remember the lonely school holidays stretching out in front of me. We did not have a television until I was 11 and viewing was strictly rationed. The telephone was only used for important calls or emergencies. As I had few friends locally, most of the time I occupied myself. This year I have been really appreciative of Zoom, WhatsApp and email.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t missed family and friends, especially as we moved 400 miles three years ago to support our daughter and sonin-law as they adopted two young children. I have missed my close friends; Zoom, email, WhatsApp and the telephone are not the same

Anne Martin at her graduation in 1972

as going for a walk or meeting for a coffee, and visits south not practical. But technology has given us new opportunities.

I was fortunate to have a project to finish this year. I completed my PhD thesis, having my viva by Zoom. I experienced the kindness of people, when I needed to get hold of two rare books for corrections. I have used Zoom to hold weekly meetings for the Edinburgh Society of Recorder Players and we have put virtual performances together – something I previously had no experience of. Meetings I have attended by Zoom have been far more efficient than previous face-face meetings, often completed in an hour when they previously took two hours or more. Through small Zoom groups, I have met people I had not previously met. I’ve read more than usual and started embroidery again after 40 years. I’ve tried to contact people I haven’t spoken to for a while, particularly those who are on their own and have enjoyed catching up with them. So I wonder what we will think when the year is over and hopefully the end of the Covid epidemic is in sight. I’m looking forward to hugging my grandchildren again, which as adopted children they really need, and my daughter and son-in-law, who are exhausted. What will we remember positively about this year? The extraordinary dedication of the NHS and scientists; the imaginative use of technology; the wakening up of communities to support each other; the hope of change in the USA; a greater appreciation of what we had and hope for the future. We must never forget the tragedies of this year; the deaths, the after-effects of Covid, the increase in domestic violence, unemployment and all the consequences of this and increased mental health problems. 2021 will be a year to take stock and consider the future and how we want our world to be.”

1970s

Congratulations to Dr Jane Clements (née Boddington) (CertEd 1971) who has been awarded an MBE for services to Inter-Faith and Community Cohesion.

Nicola Kemp (née Morris) (CertEd 1974) has retired as Assistant Head and Head of 6th Form, and written her first novel, All You Should Be, available on Amazon. Boosted by the response it has received, she is now working on a sequel.

Dr Wendy Bishop (née Waterfield) (PGCE 1976) is currently working as an independent landscape historian. Her book, Ornamental Lakes: Their Origins and Evolution in English Landscapes will be published in 2021 by Routledge.

2000s

Dr Miranda Malins (BA History 2003) completed an MPhil and PhD at Magdalene after leaving Homerton. A commercial solicitor, she began writing historical novels while on maternity leave. The Puritan Princess, a fictionalised life of Oliver Cromwell’s daughter, was published by Orion Fiction in March 2020.

Dr Miranda Malins

Miranda is a Trustee of the Cromwell Association and regularly speaks at historical conferences as well as publishing journal articles and book reviews.

Jessica King (BA History 2006–11) recently wrote a script on which she has had professional feedback from Industrial Scripts. She is now looking to re-submit her edited version to find a producer and an interested network. She has also collaborated on a pilot which is being made into a radio play, and regularly ghost-writes content for blue-chip companies.

2010s

Dr Constanze Maria Hammerle (MRes 2010, PhD Medical Sciences 2011) has recently published the findings of her team at the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science: Mesenchyme-derived IGF2 is a major paracrine regulator of pancreatic growth and function. The research comprised the main chapter of Constanze’s PhD thesis, and enables the scientific community to access the peer-reviewed findings of many years of research, leading to wider understanding of the mechanisms contributing to a functional pancreas.

She has since moved to Denmark, where she works as a regulatory project manager in stem cell development at Novo Nordisk, maintaining her focus on diabetes research.

“I attach the striking image of an immuno-staining which closely resembles Edvard Munch’s iconic artwork Scream, which I discovered in one of the research sections I imaged for my project – nature truly is amazing!

Immuno-staining, as worked on by Dr Constanze Hammerle

We were delighted to hear from George Jenkins (BA Classics 2011; MPhil Classics 2014) and Ruth Jenkins (née Beddow) (BA Geography 2010; PGCE 2013; MEd 2016) that they have welcomed their first child, Henry John David Jenkins, this year.

George, Ruth and Henry Jenkins

Tania Clarke (BA Education with English and Drama, 2012–15; MPhil Education 2015–16) is currently a Vice-Chancellor’s PhD scholar in Psychology and Education at St Edmund’s College. Her research investigates how national concepts of education can change to incorporate a focus on children’s wellbeing alongside their academic achievements. Tania recently published her first single-author article in Theory and Research in Education, entitled Children’s wellbeing and their academic achievement: The dangerous discourse of ‘trade-offs’ in education.

Congratulations to David Bamford (MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management, 2013) who has been awarded an OBE for services to Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

Rebekah-Miron Clayton (BA Education with English and Drama 2013) contributed to The Emma Press Anthology of Illness – a collection of poems that grapple with everything from chronic conditions to life-altering hospital stays. Her poem Check up was recently mentioned in The Glass Magazine’s review and the anthology is available to buy online and in bookstores. Over the past year, Rebekah has been published by Rattle Magazine, Maudlin House, Nymphs Publications and Lunate. In June, Rebekah’s poem Moon Bear was shortlisted for the Frogmore Poetry Prize and then published in their autumn edition. In August, Rebekah was a finalist in the Sweet Lit Poetry Contest.

Rebekah-Miron Clayton