3 minute read
Pauline Relatives
If you were to type Pauline Family into a search engine, one of your first hits would be the Vaizeys. Polly and Ed (1981-85) are first generation Paulina and Pauline. Their brother, Tom (1978-82) was at School between them. Ed’s wife Alex was at the Girls’ School for the 6th form. The second generation is working its way through with Kate in her final year at the Girls’ School and Martha and Joseph are at Brook Green and Barnes.
Our conversation was over lunch at a restaurant suitably equidistant from the two schools. Polly and Ed’s mix of tenderness and shared intellect was palpably bright against the view of the wintery sun and grey Thames. They have the ease of a shared life.
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Why St Paul’s?
The short answer is that the family home was in Chiswick and their mother (Marina Vaizey, the renowned arts writer) still lives close to it.
There is also the longer answer. Their father, John Vaizey, who died when Polly was at Oxford and Ed was at School, was an Economics professor specialising in education. In the late 1960s he was appointed to Harold Wilson’s Public Schools Commission. While serving on the Commission, Lord Vaizey met Tom Howarth (High Master 1962-73) and decided St Paul’s was the route for his children, despite the controversy of his Labour Party membership at the time. Polly started at Bute House (where she is now a governor) in 1971 and Ed left St Paul’s 14 years later in 1985. John and Tom
became firm friends; and the High Master (by then retired from St Paul’s and Magdalene College) gave the address at John’s funeral in 1984.
How did the six-year age gap work?
Polly still cannot understand why her parents had more children after achieving perfection first time round. She describes Ed as cheerful and effortlessly clever as a boy. She was and remains a protective elder sister; a role defined by their father’s early death. Polly obviously blazed a trail that both Tom and Ed followed as they all went on to read History at Oxford.
Was there much contact between the schools?
Ed’s answer is short. “Yes, my first snog was with a Paulina”. Polly mentions plays and debates. One of Polly’s oldest friends is Eliza Thompson so she knew her brothers Piers (1972-76) and Barnaby (1974-78) and through them she met other Paulines.
What is the most useful thing you learnt at St Paul’s?
They both answer almost immediately: Ed, “the importance of friendship” and Polly, “the value of friendship”. Polly cannot understand where Alicia Friedman was when the group photo of still her closest friends was taken. Ed’s closest friends from School remain Stuart Williams, Kirk Zavieh, Matthew Slotover, Antoine Palmer and Piers Pressdee (all 1981-85).
What about girls at St Paul’s now?
Both believe that it will improve the School if girls are admitted to the Eighth Form. The boys will have an improved experience and the girls will be going to an excellent school, although Polly worries about the possible impact on the Girls’ School. They see boys at the Girls’ School as a non-starter.
QUICKFIRE
Duty or Ambition? Polly Duty, Ed Ambition
Cameron or Osborne? Both Cameron
Premiership or Six Nations? Both Premiership
Twitter or Instagram? Both both
Fame or Fortune? Both Fortune
Radio 4 or LBC? Polly LBC, Ed Radio 4
Lord Bercow Yes or No? Both No
Lunch with a Pauline or a Wykehamist? Both Pauline (Polly’s husband Charlie is a Wykehamist)
