114 THE REEDER 2021
THE FOUNDATION
We often say that the Reed’s Foundation changes not only the lives of the child it supports, but also their immediate and future families. These two short articles from ORs proves that our theory is spot on!
The Generation Game Simon Molesey
VERBENA ANNE MERCER / SIMON MOSELEY Lady Anne Moseley, with an “e” as she always introduced herself, was enormously grateful to Reed’s School and what it did for her and her family.
being treated at St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth, with a new cure that involved excruciating pain by wearing a helmet of Cobalt pins. Sadly, he died in 1932 leaving Anne and her mother all but destitute and the latter went into service to make ends meet.
She was born Verbena Anne Mercer in Slough in 1921. Her family owned a successful grain business and were well off but, by the late twenties, the money had gone and her father, an accomplished oarsman, had advanced cancer. He was
Fortunately St Thomas’ were very supportive after her father’s death and had a relationship with The London Orphan School. Anne was sent to Watford and then to Dogmersfield during the War where she flourished and made lifelong friends.
Lady Anne Molesey
She became a successful primary school teacher and married George, a civil servant who would go on to the top of his profession and be knighted by Her Majesty. When it was time for Anne’s son to go to secondary school, she had no hesitation in considering Reed’s for him, by then located at Cobham and only 15 miles away from the family home in Hampton. It was a long journey for Anne from very humble beginnings but one that Reed’s featured largely in and she was always grateful for the friends she made and her association with the school. As for that son, Simon, his time at Reed’s was more successful on the sports field than in the classroom, though his role as Susannah in the Marriage of Figaro was a highlight! He served in the British Army in the Inniskilling Dragoons for 18 years in some weird and wonderful places and then spent 22 years building infrastructure for Goldman Sachs through Europe and Asia Pacific. Yes, the Moseley family have a lot to thank Reed’s for! Simon Moseley (Capel 1975)
