Obituaries

years of marriage but is survived by his three children. His older brother Francis William Alexander (1935-42) died in 2016.

William Anderson (1939-51) died peacefully in hospital in Aberdeen on 1st August 2021 aged 88. Bill’s father had been a tea planter in Assam, India who returned to Aberdeen in 1929 where he was born in 1932 living in Bayview Road. His parents separated and Bill started his education in Ealing. When war broke out in 1939 his father wanted Bill to return to Aberdeen and he enrolled at the Grammar. On his father’s death in 1947 he was brought up by the family housekeeper.

From school he attended Aberdeen Technical College studying engineering before moving to Glasgow where he obtained an apprenticeship at Fairfield shipyard to learn mechanical engineering. He then joined the Blue Funnel Line and went to sea as a ship’s engineer. He sailed all over the world including the Suez Canal at the time of the crisis with Egypt. During six years at sea he rose to become a chief engineer.

In the early ‘60s, with the convenience and frozen foods market beginning to develop, Bill approached a Unilever subsidiary which was operating in Torry to develop manufacturing products. In 1965 he struck out on his own and opened Wilmar Engineering in small premises near the Aberdeen beach. He was doing mechanical jobbing work, repairs and machine stripping. After a short time the oil industry came to the north-east and Wilmar played a major part in servicing the new industry. The firm also developed new products, including a caravan tow-bar stabiliser which was widely adopted. Wilmar relocated to East Tullos and was a significant employer in that area.

As well as running his business, Bill became involved in representing the engineering sector both locally and nationally. Following the 1988 oil price collapse Wilmar closed, but Bill continued to undertake occasional engineering projects and devoted his energies to the promotion of engineering and providing mentoring for apprentices. In this connection he was for many years chairman of the Engineering Industries Association in Scotland and served as chairman of the Aberdeen Industries Training Board. He played a major role in forging links between academia and the industry.

Bill was an enthusiastic fly-fisherman, fishing beats on the Spey as well as on the Dee and Don. He was for several years chairman of Banchory-Devenick Community council seeing it as his duty to support his local fellow-residents.

Bill is survived by his son Iain.

Robert Joss Bain (1929-41) died peacefully in Hallow, Worcester on 25 April 2021 aged 98. In later life he had good recall of his schooldays and in an interview he placed on record stories of some of the masters teaching in the Upper School in his last couple of years there. His lifelong love of rugby was first nurtured at School and he was a long-term forward for the FP 1st XV. In later life he recalled playing with such greats as Donny Innes. He was a member of the all- conquering 1947/48 XV and in 1979 attended their first reunion.

In 1949 Bob went into business as a partner in Gray & Bain, building contractors in Aberdeen but when this did not work out satisfactorily he sold the business. He was awarded the National Certificate in Building at the School of Architecture of the former Robert Gordon’s Technical College and in 1979 became the local representative of the Construction Industry Training Board.

Bob was a keen golfer and was for many years a member of the FP Golf Section, serving several terms as captain and being a frequent prize-winner at their outings. He was also fond of shooting and in the winter months enjoyed indulging this interest on the moors.

Bob was predeceased by his wife Jean to whom he had been married from 1951. He is survived by two daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

William McPherson Birnie (1944-57) died peacefully in a nursing home in North Berwick, East Lothian on 1 January 2021 following a long period of ill-health. He was aged 81. Born in Glasgow his family moved to London and then to Aberdeen during the war years when Bill entered Kindergarten 1 in 1944. He began a lifetime love of rugby and was a member of the School Army Cadet Force. On leaving he studied at The North of Scotland College of Agriculture graduating with a Diploma in Agriculture before moving to the West of Scotland College in 1960-61 from which he graduated with a Diploma in Dairying.

Bill then worked for the MacRobert Estate at Tarland where he had earlier had experience as a student. He then spent two years at the Scottish Agricultural College sheep farm at Broughton, near Biggar. 1965 saw a move to Auchincruive, Ayrshire as assistant manager of the College dairy farm. Two years later Bill was offered the post of manager of the Home Farm at Craigielaw for Wemyss & March Estates, living in Aberlady.

Bill was made redundant when the Wemyss Estate was restructured in the late 80’s but he remained at Craigielaw. He undertook work for various firms, including the setting up and management of pasteurisation tunnels for Fenton Barnes Mushrooms. He later returned to work for Wemyss Estates as a consultant. He was involved with the management of the restoration of the ornamental ponds at Gosford House and the building of Craigielaw Golf course. He finally retired in 2012.

Bill loved motor sport and built several rally cars, mostly Ford Escorts, and drove competitively for many years with local sponsorship in forest rallies all over Scotland. His love of rugby was undiminished and he spent hours on the side line encouraging and supporting his sons. Bill also enjoyed fiddle playing, having taught it while in Aberdeen and had the gift of playing by ear. He enjoyed nights of Scottish music and traditional jazz.

Bill was diagnosed with an unusual mixed dementia in 2015 but was well cared for and managed until a downturn in mid-2020 necessitated full-time care. He is survived by his wife, Moyra, to whom he had been married for fifty-four years, by three sons, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

John Garrick Craig Brown (1930-42), perhaps better known as Ian Brown, died peacefully at his home in Haslemere, Surrey, on 10 March 2021. He was 95 years old.

In his 6th year at School he was one of the two School editors of the Magazine. After a false start in medical studies at Aberdeen University in 1942-47 (although never regretting the time spent there), Ian embarked on a business career, initially in the paper and board industry, which brought him to London and the south east, where he spent most of his life. After a few years in the City of London he moved to Weybridge and then to Guildford, Surrey, finally operating his own business in Kingston-upon-Thames. This enabled him to continue working until he was seventy.

He was an enthusiastic member of the Former Pupils’ Club London Centre, serving on the committee on several occasions, and attended the dinners in the Caledonian Club 74

regularly for many years. He was saddened by the demise of the Donside Paper Company, Aberdeen, several years ago, because of his family’s links with the company.

Ian twice wrote articles for publication in the Magazine. The first, A Plea for the Silent Majority was published in the 1991 issue at page 28. The other, Alaska in Comfort, published in the 2002 issue at page 41, narrated his experiences while travelling in Canada and Alaska at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York.

Ian’s interests included drawing and painting, reading, travel and visiting old friends connected with the School and University. He always averred that his education at both the Grammar School and University was of inestimable value to him throughout his lifetime.

Ian is survived by his wife Miriam, two sons and four grandsons. His younger brother, Alastair Mackenzie Brown (1934-46) died in 1957.

Brian Mitchell Bruce (1947-52) died peacefully at his home in Colsterworth, Lincolnshire on 19 April 2021 aged 85 following six months of ill health. Originally a chemist by discipline he was a Food Technologist for the large majority of his working life. He initially worked for the Scottish Gas Board, before joining a MAFF Research Team and was subsequently in a variety of roles within the European food industry. While working as European Technical manager for a multinational group he was Chairman of the European Quality Council. Latterly he ran Christian Salvesen Food Services’ Central Laboratory and Central Quality Department for over fifteen years.

Brian’s service on various committees for Trade and Research Associations included Chairmanship of the Campden & Chorleywood Frozen Food Panel and membership of the Government Food Processing Surveillance Working Group set up following the Richmond Report. He regularly lectured on a range of food topics, was an Affiliate Member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

Brian married Jacqueline Priestley in 1960 in Aberdeen, but they soon moved south near Great Yarmouth after he gained employment in Product Development with Birds Eye in Lowestoft. Seven years later Brian relocated to north Lincolnshire, south of Grimsby, again for career progression. He then worked for several companies, all within the chilled and frozen food industry. 1985 saw the last relocation to Colsterworth, in south Lincolnshire, where he worked for Christian Salvesen until his retirement.

His family aside, his enduring passion was New Orleans Jazz. He was an accomplished improvisational clarinet player and over the years played in several local bands, which invariably coincided with his love of real ale. A Rugby Union devotee, he was a fanatical supporter of the Scottish team and although he only managed to see the team live on a few occasions, he rarely missed a televised match. He enjoyed relating to fellow FPs at the annual Yorkshire Centre dinners.

Brian is survived by his wife, Jackie, his four children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Nicola Jane Brunt (1975-81) BSc, MB.ChB died peacefully at her home in Duston, Northants on 5 April 2020 following a long period of ill health. She was aged 56. She obtained her medical degree from Manchester University in 1987 and went on to train in the cosmetic aesthetic field for over fifteen years. She was fully trained in minor cosmetic procedures as an assistant to a renowned plastic and cosmetic surgeon in Australia. On her

return to Britain in 2001 she continued to practice in this field, including running an online clinic. She was a director of the Cosmetic Science Co. Ltd.

Nicola suffered severe injuries in a road traffic accident a few years ago from which she never entirely recovered. She is survived by two children and by her sisters Kristen Mary (1974-80) and Corolie Anne (1977-83).

Albert Caie (1942-48) died peacefully at his home in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire on 26 November 2020 aged 88. Duncan Macrae (1948-52) writes: “When I retired in1986 to live in Ballater my house was next door to the Glenmuick Church manse and Bert Caie became my neighbour in 1992.

“Brought up in Footdee, Bert was educated at the Grammar from which he joined the Royal Navy in Portsmouth in 1950. He served as a medical orderly but was medically discharged with asthma after three years. He then moved to Dingwall and worked as a coat clerk. There he met and married his wife in 1954. He next worked for the North of Scotland Hydro Electricity Board as one of the ‘Hydro boys’ building dams, tunnels and power stations in the Highlands. In 1966 he moved to Glasgow and held such varied posts as a church organist, a security guard and a theatre technician at the Southern General Hospital.

“For ten years from 1973 he studied for highers to allow him to gain university entrance to study divinity. He graduated in Theology from Glasgow University and was appointed to the charge of Hatton of Fintray & Keithhall at Kinellar. In 1992 he was inducted to Glenmuick Church in Ballater where he remained until retiral in 1997. He was renowned for his powerful preaching, his sensitive counselling, his ecumenism, his musical talent and his sense of humour. He lived his life primarily in the service of others and his was a shoulder that many lent on. His advice was always wise.

“Bert and his wife moved to Stonehouse, Lanarkshire in 2002 to be near their family. His wife, Betty, died in 2013. Bert is survived by two sons, a daughter, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.”

Martin Alexander Campbell (1947-60) died suddenly at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on 25 June 2020 aged 78. He and his elder brother James both loved sports and the garden at their home in Midstocket Road alternated between Lords Cricket Ground, Wimbledon, Hampden and Murrayfield depending on what sports were in season. His talent and love for both tennis and hockey were nurtured while at the School.

Around the time that he left school he and his family moved to Edinburgh. Martin started working for The Bank of Scotland, initially at the Head office at the Mound before working on the mobile banking unit around East and West Lothian. He also worked in various branches in Edinburgh. He had a two year break from the bank when the family moved to Newtonmore to run a Bed and Breakfast business. When they later moved to Inverness Martin went back to working in the Bank of Scotland in branches in Inverness and Beauly, retiring in 1999 due to ill health.

Hockey was Martin’s passion and he played for many years as a right back for Inverleith. He was a member of their Scottish Cup Final winning team in 1968. Shortly after that he retired from playing due to a medical condition but turned to umpiring instead. He umpired both indoor and outdoor hockey and umpired his first outdoor international match in Dublin in 1975. After he stopped umpiring he went on to be 76

Umpires Manager for tournaments as well as Technical delegate, and was lucky to travel across Europe for tournaments in these roles. In 2003 he was the Tournament Director for the first ever Indoor World Cup in Leipzig. Martin was then appointed as a Scottish member of the International Panel of Hockey Umpires. He was secretary for the European Hockey Federation (EHF) indoor committee for approximately fifteen years and in 2005 was awarded their diploma of merit in recognition of the work he had done for them. He and one of his fellow hockey partners in crime, Ernie Wall, were responsible for setting up indoor hockey in Scotland at Meadowbank.

After retiring, Martin was troubled on and off by ill health but he enjoyed gardening and watching sport as well as trips out for coffee and sitting at Nairn harbour watching the world go by. During the first Covid lockdown he became ill and was told that he required to undergo a heart procedure. He was admitted to hospital on 18th June and transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on the 24th for the operation. Unfortunately he died very suddenly on the morning of the 25th before this could take place.

Martin was so proud to be a former Aberdeen Grammar pupil. The family often heard stories about some of his Masters/Teachers and fellow pupils. When in Aberdeen he liked a drive past the school which provoked further memories. Whenever the FP Club Magazine arrived he would be ‘lost’ until he had read it from cover to cover at least three times!

Martin is survived by his wife, Beryl, to whom he had been married for over fifty years, and by two daughters and three grandchildren. His elder brother James George Campbell (1943-54) died in 1982

Norman Kenneth Campbell (1952-68) died peacefully in hospital in Spain on 21 March 2021 after a short illness. He was aged 79. Born in Buenos Aires he was, as he later described it, “brought home” in 1946 to Harris from which his mother hailed. He then came to Aberdeen for two weeks holiday and stayed for 39 years. After school he trained in audit accountancy and tax work and served with various firms in Aberdeen until 1972. He joined the John Wood Group in 1973 and was latterly accountant for the General Industries Division of the Group until 1997. He was at the same time running his own limited company.

Ken served with the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry, Scottish Horse Regiment T.A. in Aberdeen for thirteen years until 1974. He was a keen clay pigeon shooter and a member of several clubs, being selected for the Scottish Clay Pigeon team. He had a lifelong interest in militaria through his hobby of collecting and trading in rare books and medals.

Ken moved to Edinburgh in 1990 and once their family were at university he retired to Spain in 2005, spending the rest of his life there and and continuing to indulge his hobbies.

Ken is survived by his wife, a son and daughter and two grandchildren. His brother is David Archibald Campbell (1954-62)

William James Coulson (1936-44) BSc, MRIC, CChem, died peacefully in a care home in Coatbridge on 8 December 2020 aged 92. He had been in indifferent health for some time but finally fell victim to Covid.

From school Bill went up to Aberdeen University to study science, graduating in 1948 with honours in chemistry. He then undertook three years of research work on uranium and radioactive materials at the Atomic Works of the Ministry

of Supply at Preston before turning to teaching. After qualifying he began as an assistant teacher of science at Peterhead and Fyvie before moving to a similar post at Galashiels Academy.

Three years later he took up a post at Kelso High School. While in these Borders towns he played hockey for the Gala Reivers. In 1964 he moved to Falkirk and at this time played hockey for one of the ICI teams at Grangemouth. Bill continued playing hockey until in his mid ‘40s and tennis until his late ‘50s.

From 1969 he taught chemistry at St Mirin’s and St Margaret’s High School in Paisley from which time the family home was in Bridge of Weir. Bill retired in 1986 and moved first to Stirling and later to Cornton, next to Bridge of Allan.

Bill was awarded membership of the Royal Institute of Chemists in 1963 and became a chartered chemist in 1976. His wife predeceased him in 2013, but he is survived by his son and a granddaughter.

Brian Dignan (1952-55) died peacefully in hospital in Aberdeen on 31 May 2021 aged 80. He left School at age 15 and worked initially for George Mellis & Sons grocery store in Aberdeen before moving to the Aberdeen Coal & Shipping Company. There he rose to be manager and later managing director of the company. He had a keen sense of business and a meticulous eye for book-keeping but business was not his main interest.

Golf was Brian’s true passion, his enthusiasm dating from his primary school days. Aged nine, and despite having suffered before then with polio, he could be seen with golf clubs strapped to his back cycling from his home near the Duthie Park to Murcar Golf Course. In his teens he was an avid golfer, spending such free time as had with his friend and future Scotland International Sandy Pirie. He won Hazlehead Golf Club’s Champion of Champions tournament in his 20s.

Brian became secretary of Hazlehead Golf club before moving to Westhill in later years where he had a spell as Club Captain. He served as President of the North-East District Scottish Golf Union and was for a time their Youth and Coaching convener.

Brian is survived by his wife, Paula, a son and two grandchildren.

William James Farquhar (1938-42) died peacefully at his home in Peterculter on 19 October 2019 aged 93. From School he joined the then Aberdeen Savings Bank, and continued in the service of Lloyds TSB when they took over. He became branch manager at Strichen/New Pitsligo, at Stornoway and finally at Torry, from which he retired in 1985. While in Stornoway he was Secretary of the local branch of Rotary and Treasurer of Martin’s Memorial Church. On his return to Aberdeen he continued as an elder at St Peter’s Church, Culter, edited the church magazine and assisted the Treasurer. A keen golfer, he continued to enjoy this in retirement. William is survived by his wife to whom he had been married for sixty-five years, by his son Peter James Farquhar (1961-68) and by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. William’s brother-in-law Joseph Farquharson (1929-43) died on 30 January 2020 aged 95. Following war service as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, latterly in the Pacific, he studied accountancy and was admitted to membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Both these Former Pupils were ranked among the Club’s distinguished Nonagenarians.

Francois Louis Pierre Fouin (1944-47) MB.ChB, DObst.RCOG died peacefully at his home in Milltimber after a short illness. He was aged 92. Born in Torphins and brought up on the Glentanar estate, where his French-born father was butler to Lord Glentanar, Pierre was schooled in Glen Tanar and Aboyne before moving into Aberdeen and the Grammar School. From there he went up to Aberdeen University to study Medicine. He graduated in 1954, and after the usual house posts at the Royal Infirmary he completed National Service in the RAMC. In 1957-58 he was a post-graduate obstetrics house officer at Aberdeen maternity hospital, at which time he received his doctorate from the Royal College in London.

Pierre became an assistant to Charles Liddell (1920-31) at Cults and thereafter practised in Cults and Culter. Married, and with a young family growing up, the surgery was in the family home, which led to Pierre being a driving force behind the building of new health centres in Cults and Culter. He also played a part in the mentoring of new GPs and he was for many years actively involved on medical boards. He retired some years ago.

Pierre played an active role in the Aberdeen University Alumnus Association, serving on its committee, was keenly interested in the affairs of the University and never afraid to make his views known.

Pierre was passionately interested in the area of his birth and published two books on the area. The first The Early Times of a Glen Tanar Exile focused on his own childhood. The second book Glen Tanar Valley of Echoes and Hidden Treasures focused on his search for the rocks and plaques on the estate which bear phrases and poetry. A third book, Kick Those Sleeping Dogs was a reflection of his political views and opinions which he was never slow to express, often in the letters pages of the Press & Journal newspaper.

Pierre was predeceased by his wife and by his daughter. He is survived by his son Peter and by four grandchildren.

George Leslie Fraser (1936-49) BSc died peacefully at Inchmarlo Care Home, Banchory on 14 August 2019 aged 82. He underwent National Service as a Sergeant in the RAEC attached to the King’s African Rifles in Nairobi. He then went up to Aberdeen University graduating with Honours in Geography in 1956. While at University George was part of a Rectorial team which went to London and engineered the kidnap and ransom of Group-Captain Douglas Bader. He was heavily involved in golf and was one of four FPs in a team of ten which won the Scottish Universities team championship. He also had a half blue in basketball.

George took up a post as a prospecting field geologist with the Aluminium Company of Canada and worked first in Greenland before a posting to French West Africa. Two years later he returned to Britain and was an educational representative in Scotland and Ireland. From 1962 he was principal teacher of Geography at Ross High School, Tranent before moving to the English School in Nicosia, Cyprus where both George and his wife taught for four years. After a short spell in Penicuik he became a company director in Broxburn.

In retirement George was in 2001 vice-chair of the Campaign for Border Rail, which campaigned for the restoration of the Waverley line from Edinburgh to Carlisle. George was a frequent attendee at the regular reunions of the 1947-49 school leavers held in Aberdeen and always reported in the Magazine. 79

George is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.

James Edward Fraser (1936-49) CB, MA, BA, FSA(Scot) died peacefully at his home in Edinburgh on 20 July 2021 following a period of declining health. He was aged 89. At School he was a prefect, president of both the Debater and the Dramatic Society and was School editor of the Magazine. He was a patrol leader in the 1st Troop of Boy Scouts. Eddie left School as Classical Dux, proceeding to Aberdeen University to read Classics. While there he was editor of the student newspaper Gaudie and was for several years administrator of the annual Students’ Show in which he also participated. He graduated with First Class honours in Classics in 1953, winning a number of prizes in addition to a Classics scholarship to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge.

National Service in the Royal Artillery followed and once commissioned he was stationed in the Suez Canal Zone where in his second year he was Staff Captain “Q” at Tel-el-Kebir, itself a mark of distinction as NS officers were seldom promoted beyond 2nd Lieutenant. On his return he took up his Cambridge scholarship, but instead of Classics he read Law. He was successful in the administrative grades examinations for the Civil Service and in the autumn of 1957 he entered the administrative grade as an Assistant Principal.

During a thirty-four year career Edward was successively Private Secretary to the Permanent Under Secretary of State and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scottish Office, and held posts in the Cabinet Office, the Treasury, the Scottish Office Finance Division and, as Under Secretary, in the Local Government Finance Group at the Scottish Office. He was recognised as an exceptionally able high calibre civil servant with a sharp mind and a charming personality. He retired in 1991 and for two years thereafter was Secretary of Commissions for Scotland.

Edward was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a pastPresident of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland branch of the Scottish Hellenic Society.

Edward’s involvement with the FP Club spanned all the years since he left the School in 1949. He regularly attended the reunions of the 1947-49 Leavers and was a member of the Edinburgh Centre, serving on its committee for several terms and being its President in 1992-93. The Club’s highest honour was conferred on him with his election as President in 1996. He undertook his duties with characteristic diligence and was warmly welcomed at all the Centre dinners. Presiding over the annual dinner in 1997 he welcomed the guests and followed this by saying ‘Grace’ at some length in fluent Latin. After a brief silence the company showed its appreciation of this departure from the norm by applauding warmly.

Always a keen traveller and with an enthusiasm for all things Hellenic Eddie and family in his retirement spent several weeks each summer in the Eastern Mediterranean and especially in the Greek Islands enjoying the way of life of the locals and with a keen appreciation of the wonderful scenery and customs.

Edward is survived by his wife, Patricia, to whom he had been married for sixty-one years, and by two sons and three grandchildren. His brother is John George Nevill Fraser (1942-65).

Alan John Gardner (1957-70) CA died suddenly at his home in Aberdeen on 15 March 2020 aged 67. Alistair Adam (1957-70) writes: “Born in Aberdeen, where his father was a senior manager with the Clydesdale Bank, Alan attended St Margaret’s Nursery School before 80

entering the Grammar Kindergarten department. He performed well academically, was gifted at sports and served as a monitor in the Lower School. A popular and sporty pupil, Alan’s secondary education was interrupted in 1966 by a lengthy spell of radiotherapy for lymphoma, from which he made a full recovery. In spite of this he achieved excellent grades and applied successfully to study architecture at Scott Sutherland’s.

“Alan was particularly good at tennis, winning the School championship, and was a fine footballer, displaying his cultured mid-field skills for the legendary, but short-lived, Byron Athletic amateur team. Other interests which he maintained for the rest of his life were music, cycling and passionately following Aberdeen Football Club.

“Alan found himself ill-suited to the study of architecture and after a year found his true metier as an accountant. He studied at the University of Aberdeen and with the firm of Williamson & Dunn, was admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1976 and became a partner in the firm in 1979. In 1998 he left to set up his own business, Gardner Chartered Accountants in Queen’s Road. He remained there for the rest of his life, working tirelessly for his clients. Many trainees were employed learning their profession under Alan and going on to successful careers of their own.

“Alan enjoyed football, swimming and cycling and was passionate about music as a regular concert-goer. He was cheerful and friendly, with a splendid and self-deprecating sense of humour, and almost impossible to offend.”

Alan is survived by his wife, Mary, and by one son and two grandsons. His younger son predeceased him.

Alan George Gibb (1926-36) MB, ChB, FRCSE died peacefully at his home at Ballater on 5 September 2020 aged 101. From school he went up to Aberdeen University to read Medicine, graduating in 1941. After house posts at Aberdeen and Stracathro he was called up to the Royal Air Force in 1944, serving with the rank of Major as a specialist otologist in West Africa and other areas until 1948.

Following his demobilisation Alan obtained a diploma in Laryngology and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was a registrar in Carlisle and West Cumberland for two years before taking up a post as an Ear, Nose and Throat consultant at Dundee and lecturing on that subject at St Andrews University Medical School. He became senior consultant at Tayside in 1960 and continued in post until retiring in the 1980s, after which he set up teaching departments in Malaya, Hong Kong and Singapore and lectured in the USA, Canada and the Far East.

Alan was a keen golfer all his life with a handicap of 3. He won the Cullen Open in 1950 and played 90 holes on his ninetieth birthday in 2009. He was a keen skier from the early ‘50s and was skiing at the Lecht and Glenshee until the age of 93. He remained active until his last two years, fishing as often as he could.

Alan is survived by his wife, a son and daughter and grandchildren.

Eric John Grove (1960-1966) MA, MA(Lond), PhD died at his home at Bispham, Blackpool on 15th April 2021 aged 72. Born in Bolton, Lancashire he moved to Aberdeen 1960 when his doctor father took up a senior appointment with the Blood Transfusion Service at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Eric joined the Grammar School class 1S in August of that year and became a keen member of the school choir and of the St Andrews Cathedral choir, both then under the leadership of John Cullen. His lifelong interest in rail and road transport and matters military was evident even at school and in 1965, with fellow pupil 81

Forbes McCallum (1959-65) he co-authored a handbook, published by Ian Allan Ltd, on Scottish Bus Fleets. In 6th Year he was President of the Railway Society.

From School he went up to Aberdeen University to study Arts, graduating with Honours in History in 1970. After obtaining a post-graduate degree in War Studies at Kings College London he joined the civilian staff of the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, during which time he became the first Dartmouth Academic to exchange for a year with the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

For much of the 1980s Eric became a freelance Academic and Defence Consultant, and developed a proficiency on Soviet military matters, thanks to several visits to the then USSR, to add to his British and American expertise. During this period he authored several very highly regarded books including “From Vanguard to Trident; British Naval Policy Since 1945” and “The Future of Sea Power”. Working closely with the Royal Navy he coauthored in 1995 the British Maritime Doctrine, helping to shape British defence policies in the 1990s and beyond, including the recent procurement of two aircraft carriers.

In 1993 Eric joined the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull, obtaining a Doctorate three years later based on his growing number of academic works. In 1997 he spent a year away as a visiting fellow at the University of Woolongong, Australia. In 2005 he moved to the University of Salford as Professor of Naval History and Director of the Centre for International Security and War Studies. To add to his busy schedule he lectured at many conferences and seminars throughout the world, published articles and academic papers and continued his close relationship with the Royal Navy.

In 2015, after a final two years as professor of Naval History at Hope University, Liverpool, he stepped down from full-time teaching but continued to lecture, write and act as a visiting supervisor and examiner for PhDs at Cambridge University. He was an entertaining enthusiastic and hugely knowledgeable lecturer who rarely used notes but always wore a trademark bow-tie. Eric frequently appeared in television documentaries on naval matters including on BBCs “Timewatch” programme and Channel 4s “Hunt for the Hood and the Bismarck”. He was frequently called on to comment on naval and defence policy matters on radio and television news programmes.

A larger-than-life character and a “bon viveur” who enjoyed good food and wine, Eric is survived by his wife Swee Poh and his brother Peter (1969-74)

John Louis Harper (1940-54) BSc, MEng, died suddenly on 25 September 2020, following elective cardiac surgery. He was aged 84. From school he went on to the University of Aberdeen, graduating BSc in mechanical engineering in 1958. He secured a position as a graduate trainee with Babcock & Wilcox in Renfrew. After posts as a project engineer at Dalmuir and as a contract engineer at Clydebank he returned to Babcock as a mechanical engineer in 1965, later becoming production systems manager. When Babcock won the contract to manage Rosyth Royal Dockyard in the mid-1980s John was part of the management team which was seconded there and he worked through in Fife until he retired in 1993.

At School John was a hockey player, a member of the 9th Scouts and Pipe Major of Army Cadet Corps pipe band. His main passion was hill walking, rock climbing with other Grammarians such as W.W.Hutchison and the Grassick brothers (Ken and Brian). Bob Scott’s Bothy was his second home.

In retirement John took up golf and played regularly at Douglas Park Golf Club in Bearsden. He was an elder of New Kilpatrick Parish Church for 49 years. 82

John is survived by his wife Fiona, two children and three grandchildren. Several members of the family attended the School, including his father Louis Reginald (191017),grandfather Louis (1881-83) and brother Douglas Ross (1944-58).

Gordon Frederick Hendry (1927-39) CBE, MA died peacefully in Yorkshire on 12 September 2020 aged 98. He was born in Aberdeen in June 1922. His grandfather had originally been a domestic gardener at Lumphanan and the family moved to Mannofield, Aberdeen in 1891. Gordon’s father, John, was the eldest son and having started as office boy was ultimately a partner in William Leslie and Company, a herring merchant company.

Gordon had a happy boyhood and, like his older brother, Ian, attended the School in the pre-war years. He was a well-motivated and bright pupil. Thereafter he went up to Aberdeen University, graduating with first class honours in Economics in 1942. He was called up to serve in the Royal Air Force as a radio mechanic. After demobilisation in 1947, he began work in the Scottish Office in Edinburgh as an assistant agricultural economist. Promotion followed rapidly and in 1952 he was a principal economist. There followed a long, successful and interesting career at an exciting stage of Scotland’s development - New Towns, North Sea oil, roads and transport infrastructure. Having attained a senior position as Assistant Secretary, he was awarded a CBE for public service in 1982.

Gordon was a strong family man and an Elder in the Church of Scotland for over sixty years. He was proud of his son and daughter, Ian and Susan, and then all of his five grandchildren with their various pursuits all over the world, and two great-grandchildren in Australia. He was married for 67 years and latterly cared for his wife Elsa, who he had met at University, until her death in 2013. He continued to live at Buckstone, Edinburgh until late 2017 after which he moved to Yorkshire to be near Susan. People constantly remarked upon Gordon as a gentleman, both because of his impeccable appearance, and his dignity and gentle polite manner.

Gordon’s elder brother John (Ian) Maddison Hendry (1920-31) died in 1991.

Lorraine (Lori) Houlihan neé McKenna (1979-85) BA died peacefully at her home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire on 19 April 2021 following a lengthy illness. After primary education at Mile End School she came to the Grammar two years after the first intake of girls to the school. She then went up to Robert Gordon University, graduating with a degree in Business Studies in 1988. Her first post was as director of marketing for Health Promotions with the NHS.

In 1999 Lori was appointed as Aberdeen University’s first director of student recruitment and admissions. Two years later she became the first director of marketing and then director of development and external affairs. She was in the lead of the hugely successful fundraising campaign marking the six hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University. This campaign saw the building of the Sir Duncan Rice Library, the Suttie Centre for Teaching & Learning in Healthcare and assistance with the funding of the Aberdeen Sports Village. She was most proud of the Library, which at the outset she saw as an impossible dream.

In 2011 Lori moved to University College London to take up the post of executive director of development and alumni relations. In 2016 she was promoted to Vice-provost (development) and again, in 2018, to vice-provost (advancement). One of her notable 83

achievements was to devise and lead the It’s All Academic campaign which was launched in 2016 with the object of supporting the university’s research and teaching, expanding scholarships and other provision for students, and building up an engaged and involved global alumni community. This campaign met its targets in 2020, a year ahead of schedule. Her portfolio also included the communication and marketing function for UCL and the university’s London Strategy. Lori was also a champion of equity and inclusion as a member of UCL’s LGBTQ+advisory group and Friend of Out@UCL. She was the university’s first Interfaith Champion, a role which she established to improve understanding and awareness of faith on the campus.

In 2015 Lori completed the advanced management programme at Columbia University and in 2018 was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Europe. In addition to being a member of numerous committees and a board member of several organisations she was a Burgess of the City of Aberdeen.

In the spring of 2019 Lori became suddenly unwell and following a seizure glioblastoma was diagnosed. Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy all followed to no effect, forcing her to retire in March 2020. She was aware how little the treatment for her disease had changed over the last twenty years and that the drugs which she was receiving had been in clinical trials when she was at primary school. In light of this she set up the UCL Lori Houlihan Glioblastoma Fund to enable research to bring about advances in the understanding and treatment of this disease similar to those seen in other cancers.

Lori was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCL in December 2020 in recognition of her exceptional and dedicated service to the university and the wider sector.

Lori served on the Executive Committee of the F.P. Club for a few years prior to her move to London and as one would expect her input was always focussed and relevant.

Lori is survived by her husband Dominic, an emeritus professor of Aberdeen University, by her daughter, Poppy, and three step-children. She is also survived by her sister Alison McKenna (1982-88).

Archibald Stewart Hunter (1945-54) MB,ChB, DCH(Glas), MRCP, MRCPE died peacefully in a care home in Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries & Galloway on 18 February 2021 aged 84. At School he was a prefect, played both Rugby and Cricket and was CSM of the Combined Cadet Force. From School he went up to Aberdeen University to read Medicine. He was elected to the Students Representative Council, served as its secretary for a year and was later Senior Vice-President. Stewart graduated in 1960.

Stewart held the usual junior hospital appointments in Aberdeen before deciding on a career in paediatrics and while training at Great Ormond Street in London became interested in children with heart disease. After further training in Edinburgh he was appointed as senior resident associate in the department of child health in Newcastle where he started the development of one of the UK’s most outstanding Children’s Heart Units.

Stewart next held a research post in Pennsylvania State University where he was a resident Fellow for a year and helped to develop cine angiography in adults. On his return he became a consultant in the Newcastle Heart Unit and worked in close collaboration with a radiologist at Harefield Hospital in establishing the principal diagnostic tool in establishing the types of heart malformation in children. He set up the first

echocardiography course in Britain which ran between Newcastle and Harefield and which was attended by most practitioners. Stewart earned a reputation as an excellent teacher.

In 1987 the first heart transplant in a baby in Britain was carried out in Newcastle, which is still one of only two centres in the UK authorised for this. Stewart, as a good organiser and team-builder, set up the Children’s Heart Unit Fund in 1984 which has raised over £10million for its support.

Stewart was heavily involved in two major inquiries into the outcomes of the treatment of child heart disease, first in Bristol and later in Harefield Hospital. As a result of these the need for reliable data was established leading to the establishment of a national database so that risk-based assessments can be made. Stewart was the co-author of Echocardiography for the Neonatologist published in 2000.

Stewart enjoyed hill-walking in the Scottish hills and was a keen golfer and cricketer. After retiring to Gatehouse he became an elder of the local Church of Scotland, particularly important as his father had been Professor of New Testament Theology in Aberdeen.

Stewart is survived by his wife Val, to whom he had been married for sixty years, three children and seven grandchildren.

Michael Sutherland Jamieson (1936-49) MA died in a nursing home in Brighton on 28 July 2020 aged 89. After school years, he studied at the University of Aberdeen, graduating in 1953.After National Service as a Flying Officer in the Education branch of the RAF he studied at Princeton and as a Carnegie Research Scholar at King's College, Cambridge. He was on the staff of the University of Keele for two years before moving to the University of Sussex in 1962 as a lecturer in the School of English and American Studies. Here, under the professorship of the late David Daiches, he taught alongside Dr Patty Thomson and Dr Maurice Evans, both of whom had earlier been on the staff of the English Department at Aberdeen. Michael later became resident Warden at Sussex's Falmar House, where his gift of sociability made him a popular figure among the students. He also taught briefly at the University of Rome and the University of California at Santa Cruz. His publications included a study of As You Like It and articles on Elizabethan acting, on Shakespeare's celibate stage and on modern theatres for Shakespearean production. Douglas Kynoch (1948-56) writes: “An engaging conversationalist, Michael was no less arresting as a correspondent (his letters characteristically being written in several colours of ink). On a greetings card decorated with a painting by Duncan Bell of Bloomsbury (and Rothiemurchus), he once recalled being 'shown round Charleston by Quentin Bell when Duncan was asleep upstairs and the remains of his lunch were visible on the DIY Bloomsbury painted table.' A more lasting brush with celebrity had come as a boy at the Grammar School during WW2, when he first made the acquaintance of the worldrenowned opera singer, Mary Garden. When the great lady left Paris in 1940, it was to return to the North-east, where she spent the war years in and around Aberdeen. The home she bought in town after the war was situated only a few stone-throws from the School. Michael remembered it years later as 'a charming flat where she re-created in Aberdeen something essentially Parisian. There, surrounded by mementoes, she would sometimes talk animatedly but without regrets of her career in a musical world that had vanished.' So well acquainted did the star and the schoolboy become that, when Miss Garden died in

1967, he not only paid tribute to her in The Times but pointed out a number of inaccuracies in their obituary!”

Michael's younger brother, Gavin (1944-52), predeceased him in 2010.

Neil Roderick Johnston (1935-53) MBChB DObstRGOG MRCGP died peacefully in Edinburgh on 5 November 2019 following a long illness. He was 84. Neil was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1935, where his father Herbert Johnston worked for Cable & Wireless. Herbert was transferred to Hong Kong in 1937 and Neil lived there with his father and mother Betha.

After the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, Neil and his mother were evacuated to Australia and then home to Great Britain under convoy, which he recalled was an exciting experience for a small boy. He was reunited with his older brother Leslie and his grandparents in Aberdeen. Herbert Johnston was detained in Hong Kong in Stanley Internment Camp and remained there until 1945 when Japanese forces surrendered.

On his arrival in Aberdeen, Neil joined the School Boarding House and often spoke fondly of his time there, in particular the food! He was a keen rugby player and forged many lasting friendships during this time, including John ‘Toby’ Chalmers and Ronnie Duncan.

In 1953 Neil gained a place at Aberdeen University to study Medicine. He continued playing rugby, becoming part of Aberdeen University Rugby Club First XV in 1957-59. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in Medicine and after house officer posts in Aberdeen spent a further year of study in Hull, specialising in obstetrics.

In 1962 he married Moyra and they moved, first to Eastbourne as a trainee general practitioner, and then to Norwich, before finally settling in Edinburgh in 1964. There he became a founding partner at the Grange Medical Group and worked with them for thirty -four years until retiring in 1998.

He loved his job as the local GP and delivered many babies during his career. As his family later recalled “He would often get up at night and head out to deliver a patient’s baby – we grew up thinking all dads wore pyjamas under their suits!”

Neil enjoyed playing golf at The Kilspindie Golf Club in East Lothian. He also enjoyed travel, probably inspired by spending his formative years living abroad. Family holidays were caravanning trips across the UK and Europe, including one memorable trip around the sights of London on the way home from a summer holiday – with caravan attached!

Neil and the rest of the family retained strong links to Aberdeen, regularly returning to visit family and friends. A trip North was never complete without stocking up on treats –rowies and ‘mealy puddings’ were carefully stowed in the car and brought home to Edinburgh to be enjoyed.

Neil is survived by his wife Moyra, to whom he had been married for fifty seven years, by a son David, a daughter Judith and five grandchildren. His older brother Leslie Graeme Johnston (1932-45) died in 2009.

Raymond George Lascelles (1940-49) MB,ChB, MD, FRCP, died at his home in Altrincham, Cheshire on 17 February 2020 aged 87. From School he went up to Aberdeen University to study Medicine, graduating with honours in 1955. As the most distinguished graduate in Medicine for 1954-55 he was awarded the Murray Medal and Scholarship.

National Service in the R.A.F. followed which he spent in the Neurology Centre of the R.A.F. Hospital at Hatton, Bucks.

From 1962 Raymond was for three years registrar in neurology at St Thomas’ Hospital, followed by five years as senior registrar at Guys Hospital. In 1970 he moved to Manchester as senior consulting neuro-physician at Manchester Royal Infirmary and honorary lecturer in neurology at Manchester University. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine having graduated as Doctor of Medicine in 1964 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians ten years later. He had been retired for several years.

Alastair Moyes Lessells (1963-65) MB,ChB died peacefully at his home in Edinburgh on 16 May 2021 following a short illness. He was aged 63. He came to the Grammar to Upper V(1) from Fraserburgh Academy, leaving two years later to go up to Aberdeen University to read Medicine. He graduated in 1971 and following the usual house posts in Aberdeen hospitals and after a period on probation he became a lecturer in Pathology at the University. Three years later he moved to Manchester and then in 1984 relocated to Edinburgh as a pathologist at the Western General Hospital, where he remained until retiring in 2012.

In 1978, just before moving south, Alastair was introduced to Orienteering by his wife who had become aware of the sport through her connections with the Girl Guide movement. He attended his first event in Aberdeen and continued in Manchester where he displayed great enthusiasm for the sport, acting as competitor, helper and official. On moving to Edinburgh he joined the East Scotland Orienteering Club where he soon became a member of the committee and by 1990 was Club President. He was a very competent event official, with extremely good planning and controlling skills.

In retirement Alastair threw his energies into volunteering. He was a volunteer with Lothian Conservation Volunteers, Edinburgh City Council Rangers on Corstorphine Hill and Cammo, National Trust Volunteers and Bawsinch Nature Reserve where he picked up many new skills.

As well as an orienteer, Alastair was a keen and extremely good golfer and bowler. He was Seniors Captain at his golf club and the Seniors Champion at his bowling club.

Alastair is survived by his wife, Katy, and by a son and daughter. His brothers Gordon Stewart Lessells (1963-66) and James Stewart Lessels (1963-69) also attended the School.

Alan Richards Lyall (1933-46) MB.ChB, DObst.RCOG, MRCGP died peacefully in London on 24 May 2021. Keenly involved in Swimming while at School, he went up to Aberdeen University to study Medicine, graduating in 1951. After the usual house posts at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary he was called up for National Service in the RAMC, serving as a senior medical officer with HM Troopships. He was a house surgeon at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital in 1955 before spending thirty years as a very popular family doctor in Laurencekirk. He became a Doctor of Obstetrics of the Royal College of Gynaecologists of London in 1957.

Alan is survived by his widow, Fiona, a son and daughter, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. His younger brother Malcolm George Lyall (1935-48) is a retired consultant ophthalmic surgeon. His elder brother Alexander David Lyall (1932-45) drowned in a yachting accident off Shetland in 1965. 87

Ian Robert MacDonald (1940-52) died unexpectedly but peacefully at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on 18 November 2020 aged 85. He entered school at Nursery and, not being particularly academic, left school at 16 and took employment with the Commercial Union Assurance Co. in Aberdeen prior to carrying out his National Service in the Army. Rugby was his main interest during this time, and he played for the Army against several of the English County sides before returning to play for the FP 1st XV for many seasons. He was frequently selected for the North-Midlands XV, culminating in representing them against the South African Springboks at Linksfield in 1961. In the meantime, on his return from National Service, Ian joined the family business of The Aberdeen Glass & China Co Ltd which had just begun trading. He remained there as Managing Director until selling the business 35 years later.

Ian’s main interests were hill-walking and golfing at Deeside Golf Club where he had three holes in one, although in his own words he “wasn’t much of a golfer”!

Ian’s wife, Betty, to whom he had been married for 59 years, died in 2019. He is survived by his daughters Diane and Claire, his son, Alan, and six grandchildren. His elder brother Alistair Gordon MacDonald (1942-52) died in 2007.

Colin Campbell Reith Macpherson (1935-40, 1942-44) MA, BD died peacefully at his home in Edinburgh on 2 July 2020 aged 89. After completing his schooling elsewhere in Scotland Colin went up to Aberdeen University to study Arts, and graduated with 1 st Class Honours in History in 1952. He was awarded the Forbes Gold Medal and the Caithness Prize for History. He also received the Clark Bursary from Aberdeen Presbytery for three years to enable him to go on to study Divinity. During this second course Colin became a member of the Students Representative Council, rising to be its Senior Vice-President. He was awarded the Primrose Prize in Church History, graduated with distinction in 1955 and was again a prize-winner.

Having been awarded a King William scholarship to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Colin studied there for three years. He also studied at Götingen University in Germany.

Having been licensed to preach after graduation Colin became assistant minister at the Auld Kirk, Ayr in 1959 before being called to Inverurie West Church the following year. He was granted a TA commission as chaplain to the 3 rd Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders. In 1966 he was called to St Margaret’s Parish Church in Dunfermline where he remained until retiring in 1997 after a ministry of 38 years. In retirement Colin lived in Edinburgh.

Colin had a reputation as a scholarly but powerful preacher and his keen analytical mind was critical to solving organisational and other problems as they arose on the courts of the church.

Barrie Mitchell (1959 -61) died at Woodchurch, Kent on 24 January 1921 aged 73. Considering his career as a footballer, it is interesting that he did not play in any of the then recognised sports teams, although he did turn out to play hockey on sports afternoons. He preferred to pursue his football skills with outside teams as the School did not play soccer.

Barrie turned down advances from Arsenal as a youth to join Sunnybank Football Club before moving on to Arbroath. After only a few games for the Second Division side he signed for Dunfermline for the then record fee of £13,000. He had a difficult first season, 88

having broken a bone in his foot and injuring himself in a car crash. After scoring his first goal he became a first team regular.

Barrie made his European debut against Olympiakos, scoring and then being sent off in the first leg of the contest. That red card gave him the unwanted honour of being the first British player to receive a three-match ban from UEFA.

After five years at Dunfermline, for whom he had scored 40 goals in 177 appearances, Barrie moved back to Aberdeen to sign for the Dons. Injury struck again before his Aberdeen career even started. He suffered a slipped disc which inhibited his most important attribute, speed, with the result that he spent only one season with the Dons.

Barrie next signed for Tranmere Rovers with whom he spent three seasons. He then had a spell in Canada with the Vancouver Whitecaps. There he lined up against Pele, Eusebio, George Best and Franz Beckenbauer and scoring a winning goal against the New York Cosmos. He next returned to England to play for Preston North End, York City, Morton and Wigan Athletic.

After retiring from playing Barrie returned to Merseyside to establish a popular public house named the Coach and Horses.

William Murray Moncur (1945-48) died in hospital in Camberley on 3 April 2020, aged 90. After his earlier education at Culter he was awarded a Drum Scholarship to attend the Grammar. He was a Prefect in 1947-48 and was a dedicated member of the Army Cadets rising to the rank of CSM and achieving his cert A. He was later associated with the University Training Corps. Whilst awaiting post war prioritisation for call-up or University, Bill worked as an Engineer’s assistant on the Glen Affric Dam construction.

Called up in 1948 he started a lifetime’s happy and proud association with the Corps of Royal Engineers. He was rated for Officer selection and underwent Officer training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in 1948/49 followed by a 2Lt Training Officer appointment with 8 Training Regiment, RE at Elgin. Troop Commander appointments to two Field Regiments and a Junior Officer course at the School of Mechanical Engineering between 1950/53 was followed by Battle School in Japan before deployment to HQ Royal Engineers in 1 Commonwealth Division, Korea. There he was tasked with constructing permanent winter divisional accommodation with limited material and manpower. Bill’s next posting was to HQ Malaya Command as a staff officer with responsibility for Plant and Equipment.

On his return to the UK Bill was part of the War Office Selection Board team at Barton Stacy, before posting to the Army Apprentice School Harrogate as OC Electrical Trades Training from 1956/58. He then underwent Long Transportation Course between 1959/61 consisting of six months of studies each on Railways and Port Operations followed by another six months of detachments to the Port of London Authority and British Rail.

One of Bill’s most enjoyable postings was as exchange officer to the Royal Australian Engineers Training Centre at Cowder Bay, Sydney as Senior Instructor in 1963/65. This involved the end of an era of sea passage for service postings, going out on a cargo ship and back on a liner.

Part of his responsibilities was to set up a long Transportation Course for Officers and Warrant Officers culminating in a Tactical Exercise involving the survey of the remote and infrequently used Queensland Railway system for the mobilisation of forces from the South and follow-up US reinforcements. The subsequent study was developed

for early computer modelling. Training with RAE LSM vessels consisted of deep sea navigation capabilities.

A special duties detachment to BAOR in 1967/68 was followed by Bill’s final posting as OC 59 Port Squadron and Port Commandant at Famagusta, Cyprus in 1968/69.

After taking voluntary retirement Bill worked with Easams on Military, Aviation and Transportation Organisation, Methods and Project management. Other appointments followed with P&O Sealine Services as Logistics Manager and the setting up of a North Sea Re-supply Base for International Watts Fincham. Finally he set up his own consultancy and engineering equipment sales company.

Bill had a keen and detailed knowledge of Engineer Corps history, and a particular interest in the Corps’ involvement with the design, construction and installation of the Mulberry Harbour on D-Day. On a visit to Arromanches, he was fired up by seeing that the only commemoration of the Corps war-winning Mulberry achievements was in the form of a small plaque from the RLC. He was determined to put this right with a fitting memorial, singlehandedly raising £90,000. He commissioned designs for the memorial and the elaborate castings to be incorporated in it, coordinated with the civic authorities of Arromanches for the construction work and made arrangements for appropriate ceremonies. His efforts culminated in a spectacular unveiling ceremony by Lady Soames, daughter of Winston Churchill, who conceived the idea of the floating harbour, on the 2000 D-Day anniversary.

Subsequently, Bill played a major part in ensuring that Major Allan Beckett’s design work of the Kite Anchor and Floating Roadways, so crucial to the Mulberry success, was commemorated in a similar manner.

Bill is survived by his three sons.

Derek Ogston (1937-39,1946-47) CBE, MA, MB.ChB, PhD, MD, DSc, MLitt, BTh FRCP, FRCPE, FRSE died peacefully at his home in Aberdeen on 27 February following a short illness. He was aged 88. He finished his schooling at a London boarding school before going up to Aberdeen University to study Arts. After graduating in 1952 he studied Medicine, graduating in 1957. After the usual house officer posts at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary he was a Gordon Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University. He became a lecturer in Medicine in 1962, in which year he was awarded a PhD for which his thesis was based on “A study of fibrinolysis with particular reference to intravascular thrombosis”.

Professor Ogston became a senior lecturer in 1969 and a reader in 1975. During this time a Medical Research Council travelling scholarship enabled him to spend a year in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1977 he was appointed Regius Professor of Physiology and six years later became Professor of Clinical Medicine. From 1984 to 1987 he was dean of the Faculty of Medicine before promotion to Vice-Principal in 1988. During his last four years of service he was senior Vice-Principal and as such played a leading part in the organisation of the celebrations to mark the Quincentenary of the University in 1995.

Outside his University posts Professor Ogston was for a time a member of the General Medical Council and was a governor of the Rowett Research Institute. He also served on Grampian Health Board, including a spell as chairman. His services to medicine and education were recognised by the award of a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 1995.

Following his retiral Professor Ogston returned to the University to study fine arts, graduating with an M.Litt degree and followed this by a course of studies in theology earning him the degree of B.Th. Always deeply interested in music, he contributed to the cost of the purchase and installation of the Aubertin organ in the University chapel. His support for the Opera Society and the Chapel Choir led to opportunities for students backed up by several Ogston Scholarships and Ogston Awards as well as the Ogston Music Prize awarded annually at a Music Festival in the University which attracted many highly gifted entrants.

In 1999 Professor Ogston co-authored a book celebrating the 500-year-old University buildings in Old Aberdeen, charting the history of King’s College through a series of photographs, illustrations and paintings. All profits from the sale of the book were donated to the funding drive for the Duncan Rice Library.

Professor Ogston’s outstanding contribution to University life was recognised by an honorary degree in 2007. In 2016 he was presented with a Benefactor’s Medal.

Professor Ogston is survived by his wife to whom he had been married for nearly sixty years, by a son and two daughters, one of them Nicola (1985-91).

Alastair Graeme Robertson (1930-40) MRCVS died at his home in Como, Australia on 4 October 2020 aged 95. His father Douglas Graeme Robertson (1904-15) worked in the Far East and Alastair initially resided in the Boarding House. He finished his schooling in Western Australia but returned to Scotland to qualify as a veterinary surgeon at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in Edinburgh in 1952.

For a time he was in private practice before spending fifteen years with the Ministry of Agriculture in Aberdeen. He then moved abroad and was employed with the Department of Agriculture in Western Australia.

An interesting article by Alastair, Random Reflections of a 1930-40 Pupil was published at page 35 of the Magazine of 1992. He was one of the Club’s distinguished Nonagenarians.

Donald Macbeth Thomson (1962–65) B.A., C.A. died peacefully at home in Glasgow on 30 April 2021 aged 71. Donald left the School at the end of his third year when the family moved south to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On leaving school in Newcastle, he completed an economics degree at Newcastle University and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before returning to Aberdeen to work as an auditor with the North of Scotland HydroElectric Board. He had a wide range of interests, including music, skiing and climbing, and was a member of the Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Team for several years.

After moving to Glasgow, he was promoted to Director of Finance of Greater Glasgow Community Mental Health Trust. In retirement, Donald volunteered with Citizens Advice Bureau for several years, as well as singing with a number of choirs and continuing to display his musical talents, of which he had many, on the guitar. In distilling the essence of the person Donald was, we might say that he surrounded himself with the things that mattered to him most – the music he made, his professional improvements to the lives of others, and the friends, family and people he loved.

Donald is survived by his much loved wife Morag and his son Jamie, his older brothers Kenneth (1949-63) and Alan (1951-64), and his younger sister Julie.

Harry Law Warder (1937-44) died in hospital in East Hills, Sidney, New South Wales following a short illness aged 94. His father was a captain in the merchant navy and for some years the family lived in India and Burma from where Harry and his twin brother came to Aberdeen where they boarded until their parents moved back to Scotland. Both boys entered the Lower School at the age of ten. At School Harry enjoyed sport playing both hockey and cricket and together with his twin being opening batsmen for Melvin House.

Leaving school at the end of 1944 Harry was conscripted in the Army and served in the Middle East with a Light Cavalry Regiment. In 1948 the family decided to emigrate to New Zealand but engine trouble on the ship enforced a long delay in Sydney and they liked the place so much that they remained in Australia. Harry went into the field of audit and accountancy, although without professional qualifications. He worked for many years with an audit firm and after retiral worked in internal audit for a local authority.

Harry continued to play hockey and played for Sydney against the New Zealand national side. He also continued to play cricket with a reputation as a medium-fast bowler whose action batsmen found it hard to read as he used to bowl off the wrong foot. In his later years Harry was a member of Bankstown Sports Club. He was also a passionate trout fisher, having learned this as a youth in the Aboyne area.

Harry was predeceased by his wife but is survived by his two sons and by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His twin George Wyllie Warder (1937-45) is still resident in New South Wales.

Alan Rodger Webster (1943-56) BEng, PEng passed away peacefully in Surrey, Vancouver on 23rd August 2021 at the age of 82. He had fought a long and brave battle with debilitating illnesses for some years. He is survived by his wife, Lucille, a son and daughter and three grandchildren.

At the Grammar Alan was a bright, friendly and lively individual who was well liked by pupils and staff. He did well academically and was also a talented all-round sportsman. Then suddenly, in the late summer of 1956, much to the consternation of his classmates, he disappeared off the radar. His father had accepted the post of Director of Ship Construction with the Canadian Federal Government and the family emigrated at very short notice to Ottawa.

Martin Jeffrey (1942-57) writes: “I have a very clear recollection of Alan as a friend and classmate at the Grammar School in the early/mid 1950’s. A friendly, dark haired, loose-limbed, athletic individual and good looking with it. Alan was a talented all-round sportsman with a particular interest in rugby, cricket and athletics – he had a wonderful throwing arm which served him well in throwing the Cricket Ball and Javelin at Sports Days - all important accomplishments at that time of life! Alan was also very good academically and a fellow School Prefect in 5th year (1955-56).

“Scouts (Aberdeen 1st Group) were an important activity on Friday evenings and at various camps at Clinterty and at sites round the North-East in the summer. Alan was always good company and an excellent leader. I have a wonderful photo of him as a Patrol Leader with his Patrol ready for morning inspection at a summer camp at Corriemulzie (1954) a few miles outside Braemar. We had some great times, particularly at camps and hikes/adventures that we did together to qualify for various badges. Barrie Harper and Ken “Tucker” Thomson were often part of the group. They also shared an interest in Rugby.

“As the family adjusted to their new home, Alan finished his schooling in Ottawa and then studied engineering at Carlton University. He was a very keen rugby player and was selected to represent Canada in an Under-25 Select Team against the unbeaten 1964 All Blacks Touring Team. They came very close to beating them, the final score being 6-3 to the All Blacks. Alan graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and throughout his career he was involved in large construction projects in Calgary and then Vancouver. In 1980 he was appointed vice-president of CANA Construction, a company in CANA Construction Group of Calgary, with responsibility for the company’s building projects in Southern Alberta.

“I, like many other classmates, was so disappointed when Alan suddenly emigrated to Canada with his family in 1956. For many years we only had very occasional snippets of news about him, so it was a great joy to be able to meet up with him at the Canadian FP Centre Dinner in 2013. It was the first time I had seen Alan for 57 years – the black hair was now distinctly grey, but the same friendly smile was still very much in evidence. It was also so nice for my wife, Whilma, and I to meet his wife Lucille.

“I meet up with a small group of old classmates for lunch every few months and it so happens that we gathered last Thursday, 26th August. They all immediately recognised Alan in a Class Photograph from 1956 that I had taken along and a few stories emerged. All were saddened by the news of his death.”

Alan was a member of the Canadian Centre of the FP Club and a regular attendee at its annual reunions.

Michael James Watt Wilson (1962-68) MA, MEd died in an Aberdeen hospice on 22 August 2021 after a short illness. He was aged 71. After leaving school he went up to Aberdeen University to read Arts, graduating with honours in 1972. After teacher training he took up a post at Dunottar Primary school, from which he moved to Newtonhill. In 1977 he was appointed as head teacher at Rhynie Primary school. While in these posts Mike continued to study and in 1987 graduated with a Master’s degree in Education. He and his family lived in Rhynie until 1990 when he returned to Aberdeen, continuing a daily commute to Rhynie until retiring in 2005.

Outside education Mike’s interests were diverse. He was a drummer in the rock band Mr Fantasy playing gigs around Aberdeen. In retirement he took on a variety of part-time jobs, including voluntary driving. He was for many years a member of the Caravan Club and spent many weekends travelling around Scotland and taking summer trips into Europe. Mike was also a keen skier at Aviemore and Glenshee. He golfed at Craibstone and was both a freshwater and a sea fisherman.

Mike and his wife had a holiday flat in southern Spain where they spent the winter months.

Mike is survived by his wife, Muriel, by three children and two grandchildren.

The death of Mrs Isabel Mary Gill, the widow of former Rector the late Robert Gill, has been noted with regret. Isabel died peacefully at Inchmarlo Nursing Home on 15 June 2021 aged 93 following a period of declining health. Isabel had

a wonderful contralto voice which was a great asset to her. An ever welcoming hostess at and following School functions she was a strong loyal support to her husband who had to over-see the closure of the Lower School, the introduction of girls to the new Rubislaw Academy and the renaming of the School. Isabel is survived by two sons and two grandchildren.

Abstract of Accounts for Year ended 31 December 2020 Former Pupils’ Club

Income and Expenditure Account

2020 2019 £ £

INCOME

Subscriptions Existing Members – Annual New Members Life Members Transfer from Life Members’ Account Top-up Payments Donations: Club Centre Members’ Donations and Bequests Interest Magazine – advertising Fund Raising – Big Draw Share of Rent – 1 Bayview Road Book & Tie Sales 2,649 3,958 -

592 1,450 1,000 4,518 -

612 930 1,000 2,908 6 1,445 2,490 1,195 1,195 120 - 10 12 12,979 13,111

EXPENDITURE

Magazine – Printing, stationery and postage Club Secretary – Printing, stationery & postage Website Operations Stationery & Printing Grants – Capitation to Regional Centres School – Amenities Fund School Prizes Accountancy Fee Corporation Tax Bank Charges Bank Interest paid Miscellaneous Bayview Road Property Expenses

SURPLUS / (DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR

4,965 4,530 200 400 1,898 - 61 - 500 3,500 3,500 200 200 1,320 1,320 - 78 78 - - 1,757 (198) 1,832 6,850 17,241 17,241

(2,771) (4,130 )