THE PETERITE Vol. XXXVII
FEBRUARY, 1945
No.
EDITORIAL. The Winter Term, the first of the academic year, has its peculiar problems.. Not least is that created by the admission of large numbers of new boys whose absorption into our " body politic " may involve no small upheaval in our school life. A correspondingly large " leave "—always to be expected at the end of July—often means that tried and tested monitors and heads of houses are no longer with us, and a great responsibility rests upon successors, who have yet to gain their experience. A glance at the " Salvete " lists in this issue will reveal that the influx in September last was exceptionally large ; and the calls of the Services seemed to have taken an undue toll of our more responsible senior boys. It is a great tribute to the new School and House monitors that the transition period was bridged easily, and in a very short time we had settled smoothly to the work of yet another year. Speech Day this year was the fifth of our modified war-time ceremonies. It is becoming increasingly clear that this substitute for the more elaborate festivities of the days of peace can have a very real significance. There can be no substitute, of course, for the pleasant camaraderie which marked the re-union of Peterites of all generations at the old Founder's Day celebration, but as an annual " stock-taking " and an opportunity for Governors, School and Parents— three partners in one .enterprise—to meet on a formal occasion, our war-time Speech Day serves a valuable purpose, the need of which would have been soon apparent had we bowed to circumstances and put nothing in the place of the festival which was prohibited. And with experience we have learnt to make these gatherings really satisfying by their very simplicity and compact unity. The cameo can be as pleasing in its own way as the mural painting. On such occasions much inevitably depends on our principal guest, and in 1944 we were ne less happy in our choice than in the previous year. Sir Ronald Matthews proved to have exactly the right touch. His friendly yet dignified approach admirably created an atmosphere of intimacy without sacrificing anything of the seriousness of purpose which underlies the proceedings. We should like to set on record here the appreciation which all of us felt (and expressed) at the, actual ceremony. Almost as we go to press, news has come which splendidly justifies the confidence which we have felt in the growing strength of the Classical side of the School. The January Open Scholarships at Oxford have brought to St. Peter's a prize indeed in the offer to J. D. Taylor Thompson of the Senior, Balliol Exhibition in Classics. Taylor Thompson took the examination a year younger than the maximum age-limit, and after less than three and a half years' study of Greek, and he is to be congratulated heartily on his award. The Balliol Classical Scholarships invariably attract a formidable field, and his success against such redoubtable competition is a magnificent achievement, of which the School is proud.
OBITUARY. THE REV. FRANCIS LLOYD GRINDROD.
We regret to record the death, on the 6th January, 1945, of the Reverend. Francis. Lloyd Grindrod. He was in his 81st year, and passed- awa.y .after a stroke at his home, Quarry House, Aughton, near Ormskirk, LancaShire. The end was rather sudden and quite unexpected, since, despite his advanced years,
