Huddy
name – indeed almost every map reference, without drawing breath. It was a stunning tour de force. Then, just as suddenly, she sat down, saying, ‘Now Patrick, you go on inspiring them . . . ’ “Patrick and I tried, of course, but it was pale beer after such a virtuoso performance.” All the while Hudson was continuing his day job as headmaster at Pangbourne. He and his wife Liz galvanised the school, throwing it open to new ideas and reversing years of decline. The school was modernised from top to bottom and one of his biggest achievements was the introduction of co-education throughout the school. Anthony Bruce Edward Hudson was born in London in 1938. His father, George Hudson, was a family solicitor who had wanted to be a teacher himself. Hudson was an only child and he and his mother were evacuated to Exeter during the war after their house was bombed. The young boy learnt to spend many hours on his own, something that gave him great self-reliance and an ability to empathise with boys struggling away from home at boarding school. He also learnt magic tricks in childhood and became an accomplished magician, often sawing his wife and daughters in half as part of his well-practised illusions. Hudson attended Marlborough House prep school in Kent and Tonbridge where he was head boy and captain of cricket, rugby and boxing. During a stint at Grenoble University in 1958, he met Elizabeth Willis; they were married in 1963. She survives him along with his three children: Robin, an industrialist, Nicola, a teacher, and Lucy, a marketing executive. After reading history at Lincoln College, Oxford and gaining an education diploma at London University, the young Hudson became a teacher at Radley College in 1964. He was deputy headmaster from 1970 until 1988. He never stepped into an aeroplane, preferring to drive to holiday destinations, whether they be in Europe or north Africa. He was something of a wine buff and cricket remained a passion. He retired in 2000. 34
the old radleian 2015
His lifelong friend David Kemp believed his playful streak was key to his success as a teacher. “He had a gift of putting himself in their [the boys] shoes, which wasn’t hard because there was a boyish quality about him, which I think parents found attractive.” When he left Radley for Pangbourne, the warden, Dennis Silk, recalled Hudson on the touchline on match days. “Clad in a dilapidated, faded blue anorak and pigeon-toed gum-boots, he is once again willing his junior colts to give their all.” Anthony Hudson, MBE, headmaster and founder of the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, was born on October 11, 1938. He died of cancer on March 8, aged 76. From The Times website: Mr P. J. LeRoy: Your fitting tribute to Anthony Hudson, the visionary Head of Pangbourne College whose enterprise and drive resulted in the brilliantly designed Falklands Memorial Chapel understandably had less space for his other achievements. He was a most remarkable schoolmaster, in the best sense of this word: someone committed to the all-round development and total well-being of his pupils. To those of us who were his colleagues at Radley, during Dennis Silk’s Wardenship, his flair, inspirational teaching and remarkable drive as a housemaster of the most successful ‘Social’, put most of us in the shade. Your final paragraph pictured this slender, unathletic-looking, bespectacled figure urging on a junior rugby team – possibly the one captained by ITV’s Mark Durden-Smith. However, 1st XV Rugby coaches during the 1970s on one of the most competitive circuits will remember how difficult it was to overcome their Huddy-coached opponents. Mike Davis, England international and Grand Slam coach thought very highly of him. His teams always came on the pitch highlymotivated and fully prepared; probably with historical allusions to brilliant attackers such as Frederick the Great or Gustavus Adolphus, or bullish defenders such as Vauban or Petain, with “Ils ne passeront pas” ringing in their ears. His History reports, with similar content
relating to the particular pupil, must have required some interpretation for puzzled, but highly appreciative parents. It was typical of jargon-averse Huddy, newly Head of Pangbourne College, to advertise in the Times Educational Supplement for “An old-fashioned schoolmaster with a young pair of legs”. That his eternal youthfulness and remarkable vigour enabled him in retirement to chair the governors of a new academy in a demanding locality was testimony to his total devotion to the well-being of young people. Mark Rushon’s address at Huddy’s Funeral: Huddy said, and would be telling us now, “Get the tears over and done with.” So today we cry, we smile and we remember an exceptional man, a “Veray Parfit Gentil Knight”, who touched all of us with his enthusiasm, wisdom and joyful friendship. This, the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, is the result of his relentless endeavours, and a fitting a place for us to pray and say goodbye in a quiet, intimate and familiar way to Anthony Bruce Edward Hudson. Judged by those who knew him, this was a very special man with many, many friends and admirers – and now we share some of their words written and spoken about him. We recall his smile, that enduring smile, the love and laughter that permeated his existence, his warmth, his interest in others, the generous amusement in those kind blue eyes and that inimitable sparkle. For here was a great contributor to life – a wise, perceptive and gentle man who had a most distinguished career in education, but a man who wore his talents lightly, merging humility and humour. He epitomised fairness and decency, possessing a remarkable sense of equality and a quiet and effective authority in his many roles. Yet Huddy claimed to have had NO friends at all until he was eight. He was the only child of his loving parents Audrey and George Edward, known as “London Granny and Grandpa” to