IN MEMORIAM John Ferguson (L 30) Roger Mather (LH 30) Richard Gilliat (SH 31) Paul Hackforth-Jones (R 31) Charles Steer (Fgh 33) Graham Bourne (R 34) Edward Fawcett (Fgh 34) * Richard Vernon (H 35) * Peter Gresswell (WD 36) Geoffrey Bullock (LH 38) David Kater (L 38) Reginald Keeling (SH 38) J Michael Prosser (F 39) * Martin Bates (R & LH 40) * John Macdonald (LH 40) John Nicol (Fgh 40) Patrick Thomas (Fgh 40) Atherton West (WD 40) Ian Miller (WD 41) * Thomas Barker (Hf 42) * Lionel Holliday (C 42) Alan Nicol (C 42) * Peter Morton (Hf 43) James Brown (B 44) Ronald MacDougall (L 44) * Dick Malthouse (F 44) * Robin Stewart (M 44) Richard Bigger (WD 45) David Laycock (SH 45) John Samworth (F 46) * William Stockton (H 46) Douglas Baird (LH 47) Ronald Brown (SH 47) John Carrodus (B 48) Peter Muir (L 48) * Richard Nicholson (WD 48) A Jamie Henderson (C 49) Michael Briggs (L 51) * Anthony Harrison (C 52) * Allan Martin (H 52) John Garratt (H 53) Robert Lugg (L 54) Neil Smith (C 54) Michael Taylor (L 57) Alan Tomlins (WD 58) Nigel Williamson (M 58) Stephen Kershaw (LH 60) * Martin Robinson (C 60) Peter Gee (M 61) * Robert Leader (L 61) * Justin Court (WD 62) Richard Fawcett (F 70) * John Attwood (M 78) * Ben Wood (C 81) * Susan Kerr (née Atherton) (J 93) *
OBITUARIES Oct 2014 Apr 2013 Sep 2012 Mar 2013 Dec 2011 Jun 2014 Oct 2013 Feb 2014 Aug 2011 Jan 2013 Oct 2012 Oct 2013 Jul 2014 Apr 2014 Jun 2014 Jun 2014 Jun 2014 Jun 2014 May 2013 Jan 2014 Apr 2014 Dec 2013 Mar 2014 Aug 2014 Apr 2014 Jun 2013 Apr 2014 May 2014 Sep 2013 Sep 2014 Jan 2014 Feb 2013 Aug 2014 Dec 2012 Apr 2014 Sep 2013 Feb 2014 Apr 2014 Sep 2014 2013 Apr 2014 Nov 2013 Nov 2013 Feb 2014 Nov 2013 Sep 2014 Jun 2013 Sep 2014 Sep 2013 Apr 2014 Jul 2014 May 2013 Sep 2014 May 2014 Sep 2014
Edward Fawcett OBE (Fgh 34) Edward ‘Ted’ Fawcett died in October 2013 at the age of 93. He was a promoter of garden history and conservation and was responsible for transforming the National Trust. Ted joined the Trust in 1969 – it was not the most promising start to a new job as soon after being appointed as its first director of public relations he was told: ‘The National Trust has nothing to do with people.’ Fortunately he ignored this advice and set about revolutionizing the Trust’s approach to PR. Membership stood at a meagre 226,000 when he started and in 10 years he played a significant role in taking it up to one million. Property managers were encouraged to welcome visitors and recruit new members; there were cafes and shops with approved merchandise and attractive guidebooks. Today membership stands at more than four million. Ted was born in 1920 near Glasgow and brought up in Harrogate. As a boarder at Northaw School and later at Uppingham, Ted developed interests in natural history, particularly birds and plants. He joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and was called up when war broke out. He served worldwide: in the Atlantic, where he was mentioned in dispatches, in the Far East, in North Africa and in the D-Day landings, first in motor launches and later on the fast, Hunt-class destroyers. Protecting the Malta relief convoy in 1942, he bravely spent a night in a boat collecting survivors from an oil-slicked sea, finding his way back to his ship HMS Bramham by the light of exploding shells. His several sorties saved many lives. After the War, Ted continued with his education and built a career with Shell and Lucas. Eventually Ted joined the National Trust and in what was a dream job for him, he set about changing that mindset. He founded the Young National Trust Theatre, creating site-specific plays about great houses for families and schools. Ted Fawcett pushed what was an old-fashioned institution into a more popular age at an astonishing rate, managing to avoid serious dissent and fulfilling the Trust’s mission. His work was recognised when he was appointed OBE in 1988. Ted is survived by his wife and their three children.
Richard Vernon (H 35) By Richard Speight from Winchester House School Richard ‘Dick’ Vernon died peacefully at home in February 2014. In his last years, Dick has been wonderfully supported by Anne and Richard, his children. He joined the RAF as a rear-gunner in Bomber Command. Shot down over the Baltic, he was a POW till the end of WW2. He joined Winchester House School in 1946 and was an enthusiastic teacher of Geography and a skilled Rugger and Hockey Coach. He went on to become Bursar and Assistant Headmaster. Over the years, Dick contributed so much to WHS and the local community. Michael Prosser (F 39) By his son Simon Prosser (F 72)
Michael Prosser came to Fircroft in September 1939 as the youngest boy in the school for three terms and smallest for five. He left as Head Boy (last under the Wolfenden regime), member of the Games Committee, Editor of the School magazine and hooker for the 1st XV. After a brief stint in the Army, he matriculated to St. John’s Cambridge to read History, playing hooker when they won the intercollege cup. Subsequent to Cambridge, he returned to Birmingham and qualified as an accountant with Peat Marwick before working in industry for the rest of his career at Tucker Fasteners, interrupted only by a brief interlude at Harvard Business School. Throughout he maintained his lifelong love of rugby via Moseley Rugby Club both as a player (also representing the North Midlands) and as a devoted administrator, culminating as president when they drew in the final of the John Player Cup.
obituaries
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