Obituaries

Neil Eric Fischer (Be ’97)

25th May 1979 – 10th September 2022

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our friend Neil Eric Fischer, who passed away at the age of 43 on 10th September, 2022.

Neil went under many names over the years, ranging from Nelly, Fisch, Red, Ginge and, most recently and affectionately – Baby Carrot.

Son of Jenny and Eric, Neil was born on 25th May, 1978. He grew up at the family home in Studham, where he had a very happy childhood. He joined his older brother, Chris, at Beechwood Park School in 1983 at the age of 4, where he attended nursery and prep school.

Neil’s competitive nature, unwavering resilience, and natural talent meant he became a key member of the Beechwood A-Teams for football and rugby, as well as captaining the hockey team. Neil also enjoyed cross country; his inexhaustible stamina and determination again positioned him in the School team, where they had some successful wins, beating off the likes of Berkhamsted School, no less! As one would expect, being good at cross country indicated a high likelihood of success in the athletics arena, too. There, he enjoyed taking part in a great many sporting events, and Neil Fischer was a name that appeared on most events and awarded trophies for his house – Sebright.

In 1990, at the age of 11, Neil joined Berkhamsted School. Neil was always up-to-date on current affairs within the School! If there was any news, gossip, or information of interest, he would be the first to share it with the House Room (Bees) in the morning. He knew and talked to everyone and absolutely hated not being in the loop! Beyond the House Room, he was extremely popular with all his classmates, as well as having good friends in the surrounding years.

Neil remained passionate about sport throughout his time at Berkhamsted, excelling at rugby, hockey, athletics and cross country. Neil’s energy, focus, stamina, and dedication made him stand out in everything he did, playing a key role in all sports he played. He became very well known throughout Berkhamsted School and other schools hel competed against for being excessively full of energy and someone who would give 100% up until the final whistle. During his time at Berkhamsted, Neil’s passion weighted more heavily on rugby, where he earned his position as scrum half in the School’s 1st XV. They had a very successful final year under the guidance of Graham Burchnall, where they also enjoyed a memorable tour to South Africa and continued to stay in touch throughout the years.

“He was a bright, brave player, a courageous player, a skilful player but above all a team player. He would be your first name on any team sheet because he would give you everything he had.”

Graham Burchnall

One extracurricular activity Neil undertook during his time at Berkhamsted was the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, where he achieved bronze, silver and gold level, which took him to the Peak District, Snowdonia, as well as St James Palace, where he received his gold award from the Duke of Edinburgh himself. On every single trip, Neil was a positive influence and a motivational force for good.

Academically, Neil breezed through the GCSE years and achieved the A level results he required

to secure his place at his first choice university – of course, ‘the sporting mecca of universities‘, Loughborough, where he attended from 1997 to 2001. Neil embraced everything university life had to offer with his characteristic energy and enthusiasm, excelling at all things – academic, sporting, and social. He graduated with a degree in Management Science, was a key member of the University Rugby Team, and made many great friends along the way.

Whilst at Loughborough Uni, the Otters Invitational 7s Team was created – specifically, by the men of Holt halls of residence. Founded in 2000, it ran for 11 glorious years, always in immaculate, incredibly tight fitting stash, and with an impressively confusing range of nicknames – like Bants, Vease, Merls, Chip, Kipper and so on. Fisch’s beloved Otters competed all over the world and he was so proud of their winning The Winchester 7s twice and The Exeter Uni 7s.

More locally, during the seasons, Fisch was part of the Tring Rugby Team, led by Sam Seaward (Adders). They won three promotions in just a 4-year period where they remained almost entirely unbeaten at home for 4 years. They won county trophies, thrilling National Cup runs, and with Red scoring the winning try, slayed the Channel Island giants of Jersey. Fisch was justifiably proud of everything they achieved, and his memory will live long in the minds of everyone at Tring Rugby Club.

Neil’s career started at ExxonMobil as a Pricing and Support Analyst before successfully acquiring a position at BP, where he worked his way up the corporate ladder for 12 years. At this point, he moved across to Castrol, where he managed a team supporting the Automotive and Industrial side of the business. After four and a half years at Castrol, he was eager for a change and accepted an offer at PDI Software, improving efficiencies and optimising operations across the PDI Fuel Pricing line of business, where he continued to work.

Neil was a larger than life character who made a lasting impression on everyone he met. He had an ability to make meaningful friendships and, more

importantly, maintain them – from the wide range of interests and activities he was always involved with, from school, rugby teams, university, and skiing, to name a few. For Neil, these were never separate groups of friends for separate reasons, they were all simply, his friends, and so he revelled in bringing people together, building networks and connections together, and remained at their core.

Neil was a family man at heart, and was an incredibly devoted son and brother whose personality and warmth will never be forgotten. He leaves behind his two children, Eric and Emily, who were his world. Aged only ten and eight, they have shown enormous courage, strength, and maturity throughout this period of change. We hope that Eric, Emily, and their mum, Pauline, will continue to feel the support that comes from having had such a large and close family, as well as so many good friends.

His passing leaves a huge void in the lives of many. He will be missed hugely, remembered often, and will always have a place in our hearts.

Ben Loch (Sw ’97)

Anthony Michael Tompson (Fr ’66)

23rd November 1948 – 28th May 2022

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of my brother, Tony. I was married and had moved away, so had little contact with Tony in his latter years at the School. I also know only sketchy details of his school activities due to the 4.5 years difference in our ages.

We lived at Cholesbury for most of the time we were growing up, at Manor Farm, next to the Village Hall and among the ancient pre-Roman Earth Works which made up one of the Hilltop Forts. We cycled the five miles to and from school over the hills and down country lanes. What I do know is very restricted and short on detail. He played rugby for the school, I think! He certainly was tough, extremely strong and a good sprinter, enjoying cricket and Scouts and may have gained his Queen’s Scout award. We both played cricket for Hawridge and Cholesbury Cricket Club on the Common (by the Full Moon public house and the Windmill) – but not at the same time.

Tony had an interesting and varied working life. He started at Browns, the agricultural engineers in Chesham Vale, moving on from there to work at Rossway Farm Estate, where he had duties looking after the dairy herd and shepherding their sheep. While at Rossway he met his future wife, Anne, who was staying there at the time as a friend of the farm manager, Rudd, and his wife Barbara Nicolls.

For a time, Tony, who was an accomplished artist, tried his hand at picture restoration with Mr Noel Lee, at his gallery in the old mineral works of W H Lee and Sons in High Street, Berkhamsted.

Upon marriage, Tony moved to Northampton and started work as a sales manager at a Mid Chem. Sadly, after a few years, the firm closed.

In the commercial world, at this time, jobs became redundant on a frequent and unexpected basis, which affected Tony on several occasions. Consequently, he set up his own landscape gardening business, which was very successful for many years, until ill health forced him to retire.

After retirement, Tony spent many happy hours with Anne, creating a beautiful garden around their picturesque stone-built period cottage, close to Althorp in Northampton.

Barry Tompson (Co ’61)

Brian Bennett (Hon)

24th September 1927 – 21st September 2022

Tom Stanier (Lo ’59) and Graham Giles (Be ’60) reminisce about their former Head of Art at Berkhamsted School, renowned local artist, Fellow and Past President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and beloved friend, Brian Bennett. Please do click the link to Tom Stanier’s short film (at the end of this article). It’s a well-produced and thoughtful piece and for anyone, like myself, who didn’t personally know him, it provides a wonderful insight into the magnitude of the character that was Brain Bennett.

From Pupil to Teacher

Tom Stanier (TS): Brian was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father had lost everything in the Depression, and Brian grew up in Cowley – one of the less rarefied areas of Oxford. Fortunately, he had the good fortune to attend East Oxford Council Boys school. I say ‘good’ advisedly because his charismatic Headmaster, Greening Lambourne, was later to be described as ‘the greatest elementary teacher in the United Kingdom’. This excellent schooling enabled Brian to win a scholarship to Magdalen College School, where he then came under the influence of another inspirational figure, Peter Greenham, who was teaching English and Art. Greenham later enjoyed great success as a portrait painter and became Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools. He was to be a lifelong friend and mentor to Brian.

Brian duly graduated from Magdalen College with a History Degree, but his real passion was painting. His first job after University was as an Art Teacher, at Plymouth College, where the Headmaster happened to be Basil Garnons-Williams. GW moved on to Berkhamsted and, when a vacancy fell open there five years later for an art teacher, GW immediately thought of Brian. I can clearly remember the day Brian came up to be

interviewed because I was a prefect in School House, and the senior boys used to have lunch with GW (along with any other visitor who needed entertaining).

During Brian’s visit I distinctly remember chatting with him about Magdalen College School, where my father, Bob Stanier (also an OB, as it happens), was the headmaster. I didn’t realise it at the time, but these were the first buds of a friendship that was to last over 60 years – a friendship many of my fellow pupils shared with him too.

Graham Giles (GG): When Brian Bennett was at school in Oxford he used to go out painting with his teacher, Peter Greenham’, and this was, he said, ‘undoubtedly the greatest influence on my future’. I had the same experience with Brian. When he arrived at Berkhamsted School as head of Art, I was in the fifth form and already knew I wanted to be an artist. Brian gave me exactly the same support that had helped shape his own life, and we painted together in the wonderful Chiltern landscape around Berkhamsted.

Painting

GG: I was transfixed by the pictures he painted on a portable easel out of doors in thick oil paint applied with a knife. To work alongside him, witnessing his focus and concentration as he transformed a white board into a powerful image of his subject, was a deeply formative experience, far more vivid than any words could be, and helped me establish values I still hold. I became the first student at Berkhamsted School ever to study Art in the sixth form on a brand new A level Art course that Brian had inaugurated.

TS: Graham’s description of Brian’s painting technique perfectly encapsulates the essence of the very thing that impressed me most about Brian’s approach. He talked so intriguingly about his philosophy of painting while simultaneously creating wonderful things on the canvas.

Brian taught for 30 years at Berkhamsted, and only retired from teaching when he found he could make more money from painting landscapes. His loves (in no particular order) were plants and the Chilterns – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, many of his paintings included both! The plants usually sit in the foreground, and the landscapes in the background.

Brian became a highly respected member of the painting world and ended up as President of the Royal Oil painters Institute.

Home is where the Heart is

TS: Brian and his beloved wife, Margrit, lived in the same house, in Upper Ashlyns Road, for over 60 years, and although Margrit, as a Fashion Designer, spent a lot of time in Paris attending starry Exhibitions, she was always more than happy to return to her home base. She master-minded (or should that be mistress-minded?) the garden and was a brilliant cook. They were terrific company.

GG: Brian and his wife Margrit were so generous and welcoming to me, and I spent a lot of time at their lovely house where they introduced me to the music they loved – adding another huge dimension to my life. Buoyed up by this early support, as well as the inspiration from Brian at Berkhamsted School, I went to art school in London and became an artist in my own right, living and working in Suffolk. This meant I saw Brian only occasionally over the years, but I knew he was working away with the same focus as ever, with an enviable reputation as the painter of the Chilterns.

A Life Well Lived

TS: Brian lived long into his Nineties, but he never seemed to grow old. His hair remained spectacularly luxuriant – shades of Michael Heseltine – and his creative energy was astonishing – he continued to paint until the very end of his long life and even opened two exhibitions of his paintings, in 2022.

GG: I’m so glad I went to Brian’s exhibition in May, to celebrate his 94th birthday. It was very moving to find him surrounded by his new work, as vigorous as ever, and to be greeted with such warmth and complete recall of our painting expeditions together over sixty years before.

Brian’s knowledge and enthusiasm as a teacher, and his vision as an artist, have enriched so many of our lives. It is truly a blessing he was able to able to work right to the end of his exceptionally long and productive life

TS: The second exhibition (in September), which Brian attended in person, was hugely successful. It went so well, in fact, that two people commissioned him, on the spot, to paint further landscapes. I’ve no doubt this was hugely satisfying for Brian! He died peacefully four days later. While it is sad that the commissions were never completed, it was the perfect way to go. Bravo Brian! A life well lived.

Remembering the Legend

TS: Several Old Boys remembered Brian’s teaching with affection and admiration.

“Brian Bennett was a very good art teacher. I remember when he was teaching us about modern art, he created an amazing Picasso-esque picture on the blackboard, in coloured chalks. It seemed almost sacrilegious to rub it off at the end of the lesson.”

Ian Ward

“I latterly encountered an exhibition of his in an Old Amersham gallery where I purchased an original oil of the river Chess and am looking at it now. Apparently, he discarded brushes in later life and used a palette knife instead.”

David Bird

I can vouch for what David says because I made a film with Brian, 20 years ago, and was fascinated by the way he created blades of grass with a palette knife. He talks eloquently about painting while simultaneously creating wonderful things on the canvas. If you would like to see the legend at work, please see link below.

Brian Bennett Tribute – ‘Celebrating the life of Brian Bennett’: https://youtu.be/9JF5JnlNSP4

Tom Stanier (Lo ’59)

Cameron F. Sinclair (Up ’48)

18th July 1930 – 9th July 2022

Cameron Sinclair, a pupil at Berkhamsted School from 1938 until 1948, passed away peacefully on 9th July 2022 at Broadmead Rest Home, Newbury, Berks. He was 91 years old. Cameron was born in Tring, Herts. in 1930. His father was an RAF pilot stationed at nearby RAF Halton.

Aged 8, Cameron joined Berkhamsted Prep School in September 1938. There, he was joined by David Brent, an OB who now lives in Sydney, Australia.

Cameron recalled that during the Blitz of 1940-41, the boys stayed in the basement of the School. Armed with garden spades, rakes and hoes, the pupils were charged with filling in bomb craters on the sports field.

In the summer of 1943, Cameron returned home from school to join his parents in Lincolnshire, where his father was now stationed at RAF Cranwell. Whilst practising his batting in the cricket nets at the air base, he watched the flight of a strange-looking aircraft which had no propellers. Returning to Berkhamsted, Cameron wrote repeatedly to his father to enquire about this strange aircraft, but all his letters remained unanswered. Only at Christmas 1943 did his father dare mention that the strange aircraft Cameron had seen was Whittle’s Gloster E28./30, Britain’s first jet aircraft.

In 1944, at just 14, Cameron, an avid sportsman, became the youngest boy in the School 1st XI Cricket Team. At 15, he took up boxing – a rather painful experience, especially when he had his jaw broken and lost a front tooth, courtesy of schoolmate, Frankie Pringle.

On the occasion of the engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten in July 1947, a dance was organised at Berkhamsted Girls’ school. Accompanied by John Flashman, they met Brenda Brown, Anne Price and others. Cameron’s school friends at that time included Derek Squires, David Tomkins, John Delafield, Frank Pringle and Tim Simms.

Having left Berkhamsted in 1948, Cameron commenced training with the Royal Marines and joined 42 Commando near Plymouth, Devon.

After completing National Service in 1951, he joined the Metropolitan Police. His police career spanned a total of 29 years, the majority of which was as a detective with the CID, and later with the Special Branch. Attaining the rank of Det. Chief Superintendent, Cameron retired from the police in July 1980, his final post being Head of Security at London Heathrow.

In 1955, Cameron married Margaret Smith. They moved to Whetstone, North London and, soon after, had two children, Helen and Hugh.

Until he finally retired from active duty in 1987, Cameron worked for several years as a government officer in Central London.

Following retirement, Cameron and Margaret enjoyed many a happy holiday in Cyprus.

By the time they celebrated their 40th anniversary in 1995, they had gained three grandchildren. They moved from Hadley Highstone, Hertfordshire to Woolton Hill, West Berkshire in 1997, where Cameron remained until he passed away peacefully on 9th July 2022.

Hugh Sinclair

Further information: hugh.sinclair58@gmail.com

Tel: +49 173 918245

Charles Stuart Brian Rankin (Sw ’47)

8th July 1928 – 10th May 2022

It is with great sadness the family of Brian Rankin share the news of his peaceful passing at GR Baker Hospital, on the evening of March 10th, 2022, aged 93, the end of a life well-lived. Born in Northampton, England in 1928, his early childhood memories were filled with stories of the 2nd World War – of planes being shot down and of being under a table when a bomb hit a neighbouring house. Brian attended Berkhamsted School (a boarding school for boys) where he received a formidable education. In 1945, at the age of 17, he signed up for the British Navy and received training to become a wireless operator, learning morse code.

After leaving the Navy, he took a position as a clerk in an import/export company, work that took him to Holland (where he learned Dutch) and then to Indonesia. In 1952 Brian met the love of his life, Ann Winning. They were married in 1953 and had four daughters. In 1962 Brian began a night school program to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. After 4 years of apprenticing as a clerk during the day and studying at night, he passed his exams and qualified as a CA. In looking for a permanent position he spied an ad for a firm in Quesnel looking for accountants. Being a relatively young and adventurous couple, Brian and Ann decided to accept the offer of employment from Rigsby Lea Accounting. In April 1967 they packed up limited possessions and arrived in Canada.

Life in Quesnel was vastly different than it had been in suburban Bromley, just outside London. Brian often talked about how they were struck by the friendliness and the informality of work and life in Quesnel. He captured the essence of the move in his memoirs: ‘Everybody we met was the same, we could not possibly have come to a friendlier place. Eventually, we got used to the way total strangers on the street would say “hi” and smile, and it was a far cry from the colder social atmosphere of London.’

In July 1985 Brian set up his own accounting office. He served in various capacities with the Institute of Chartered Accountants and was named a Fellow of the Institute, which he considered a great honour. Brian was community minded. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, volunteered with the Fraser Village seniors’ home for many years and he served one term as Councillor with the City of Quesnel. One of Brian’s most satisfying endeavours, after he retired, was helping to establish the Quesnel Community Foundation in 2001. He served as the Foundation’s first president. The Foundation became a focus of his life; he strongly believed in the vision of building a legacy fund to support community service groups. He wanted to make Quesnel an even better place to live.

When not busy working, and once his daughters had left home, Brian and Ann spent many weekends camping in the Chilcotin and Cariboo. Brian would fish the small lakes while Ann sat comfortably at the campsite reading a book or knitting. He was an active member of the Quesnel Golf Club, serving as Handicap Captain before computers and databases. He played with a regular foursome well into his 80s and he enjoyed skiing at Troll until he was 75. Brian loved reading the Globe and Mail and every day he completed the Cryptic Crossword. His love of word games has been lifelong. Later in life, discovering he liked using an IPad, he would play scrabble with his daughters online, which was a great way to connect. Another favourite pastime was playing duplicate bridge at the Senior’s Centre. He also played with ‘the guys’ every Friday afternoon until Covid arrived! Latterly, Brian moved to Maeford Place where his talent for word games, and his memory for the lyrics of old songs, generated fond responses in that caring community.

Brian is survived by his daughters Sarah (Norm), Janet, and Anna (Fred), six grandchildren (Richard, Joanne, Megan, Amber, Jake and Hannah) and five great grandchildren. He was predeceased by wife Ann in 2011 and daughter Katy in 2019. He will be greatly missed.

The family would like to thank the caring staff at Maeford Place, Dr Van Dyk and Fab at Quesnel Medical Clinic and the nurses at GR Baker. We are grateful for their skill and especially their kindness. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Quesnel Community Foundation (Rankin Family Fund) are gratefully accepted. Messages to the family may be sent to rogger@shaw.ca

There will be a private family service held at a later date.

Richard Kew (In ’64)

Diana Worth (OS ’56)

16th June 1939 – 17th July 2022

Diana’s big love in life was Berkhamsted School for Girls, where we were both pupils in the ’40s and ’50s. She was an only child with few relations and with a father often away on business and, living in Amersham, there were not many challenges or interests at home. At school she excelled in science subjects and was a star swimmer and high diver. Her confidence and elegance were unforgettable as she made many a clean and noiseless dive on School Swimming Sports Day.

Diana left School in 1956 and worked as a radio isotopes technician in the fight against cancer at the Amersham Radiochemical Centre. Here she was a friend and colleague of the scientist Mary Troughton, who was sister to well-known actor Patrick Troughton and aunt to Elaine Troughton, who was our fellow pupil.

Diana took increasingly responsible posts at Barts Hospital, Northwick Park Hospital, and finally at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She was accomplished in her career but, as it progressed, she became increasingly and deeply worried by inefficiencies in the system, incompetence among colleagues and the plight of her patients.

Her greatest gift was in keeping up with all Berkhamsted pupils whether she had known them or not, notably Rita Fantham (Woods) and myself. She attended all School reunions, read the magazine from cover to cover, and was a fount of all BSG knowledge!

As a result of this devotion, she had many friends but few close friends as she was a very independent and self-contained person. Unfortunately, Diana’s mother suffered from depression and dementia for most of Diana’s young life and died early on. However, Diana developed a strong daughterly bond with our old headmistress Miss Russell, who showed great concern for her as she, Diana, began to suffer from the same problems and illness as her mother.

In the early ’60s, when we were young, Diana and I shared a flat in London. I remember her as a wonderful flatmate: relaxed, adaptable and unjudgmental. We never had a disagreement and could reminisce all we liked about Berkhamsted School where we were so happy. In Diana, Berkhamsted School has lost, as I have, one of its greatest champions and an unwavering supporter.

Elizabeth Woodman (NS ’57)

George Knox (Ad ’51)

29th June 1932 – 28th April 2022

George Knox, who has died aged 89, was a much-loved family doctor, an inspirational trainer of young GPs, and a committed Quaker. Having practised in Yorkshire for many years, he later ploughed his energy into saving the cottage hospital in Wells-next-the-Sea, in Norfolk

Born in Tring, Hertfordshire, to Margaret (née Willcox) and Norman Knox, both general practitioners, he attended Berkhamsted School and studied medicine at Clare College, Cambridge, graduating in 1954, and then King’s College Hospital, London. After qualifying, he did his national service as a medical officer at RAF Marham, Norfolk.

In 1957 he married Judith Vince and took up his first GP post in Burnham Market. The job then consisted mostly of home visits. “I worked consecutive days and nights without a break,” he told the author Raymond Monbiot. “Village post office workers would hold up a red flag to let me know of emergencies as I drove between calls.”

George grew up as an Anglican, but one day he was called to treat pupils on a field trip to Burnham Overy windmill. George was impressed with these articulate students from Ackworth, a Quaker school in Yorkshire, and this encounter inspired him and Judith to discover Quakerism.

A man with a social conscience, in 1974 George made a dramatic move to a practice in Batley, the industrial heart of West Yorkshire, a community where many patients were deprived. George valued the diversity of the community and found his patients to be appreciative and respectful.

George supervised and mentored trainee GPs, becoming chairman of Yorkshire postgraduate GP education, through which hundreds of young GPs passed. He ran a psychiatric clinic each week at Staincliffe hospital, Dewsbury, so his patients had longer to talk to him about mental health problems. He stayed in Batley until he retired in 1991.

After that he moved to Norfolk, where he ploughed energy into saving the cottage hospital at Wells-next-the-Sea, becoming chairman of the Friends of Wells hospital. The hospital was eventually transformed into a charity, the Wells Community Hospital Trust, providing clinical and non-clinical services for communities in west and north Norfolk.

For 20 years George had attended Huddersfield Quaker meetings, and in 1993, he was appointed clerk of the meeting at Wells. From 1994 to 1999 he was nominated as trustee to oversee the refurbishment of Quaker properties in Norfolk. He was a Quaker elder and served for three years as chairman of Wells Churches Together.

A sociable and ever-curious man, George kept abreast of medical developments, current affairs, history, literature and classical music, and loved playing the piano and organ.

He is survived by Judith, their five children, Robert, Sarah, Catherine, William and Richard, ten grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and his sister, Sue, and brother, John.

John Knox

John Christopher (‘Chris’) Mallet (Fr ’67)

17th September 1948 – 14th September 2022

Chris moved, with his brother Jonny and parents, to Berkhamsted in 1963, and began renovating Brick Kiln Cottage on Berkhamsted Common and joined Berkhamsted School.

Brick Kiln Cottage was a mile off the road and a mile from the nearest neighbour. In helping to renovate Brick Kiln, Chris learned one of his many life skills – renovating brilliantly old things be it bricks and mortar, furniture or anything that had something about it and was salvageable.

Chris was a great athlete and represented the School at 400 and 800 yards under the watchful eye of “JAD” as part of one of the most successful athletics teams the School has ever produced. He also excelled at art which became one of his lifelong passions.

On leaving school, Chris joined The Hudson Bay Company in London and then, six years later, moved to Hurvitz Furs. With both companies, he travelled throughout the world, searching out products for the companies to sell, and sorting, and then selling, their wares at auctions around the world.

We remember vividly Chris’s early horror stories of working in an extremely poor and backward Russia and then, towards the end of his career, his really interesting experiences in China.

After sharing a flat in Kensington with the two of us and many fabulous holidays in MG Midgets around Europe with an assortment of girlfriends, Chris met his Australian wife, Chrissie, in 1980 when working in Australia. They married in Australia in 1985 and then settled back in West London, where their wonderful son, Tom, was born in 1987.

Following several years based in London, Chris was promoted to manage and develop Hurvitz Furs operations in the Far East with a focus on developing the Chinese market.

The family moved to Hong Kong and bought a junk they named “Serendipity” and had it moored in Discovery Bay, Lantau Island, from where Chris used to commute daily by Jetcat to his offices in Hong Kong.

After massively increasing Hurvitz’s sales and operations throughout Asia, Chris and Chrissie eventually retired in 2008 to Australia where, after living in Sydney for a period, they bought and renovated a beautiful country home in Berrima, located in the Southern Highlands, South West of Sydney.

In retirement, Chris and Chrissie continued their worldwide travels, spending their summers in their lovely old country house apartment in Devon and also taking various trips around Europe and Asia.

Whilst in Hong Kong, Chris had developed a passion for sailing and completed many long distance races in the South China Sea, and then subsequently, as it was by now his main hobby, racing yachts in and around Sydney Harbour, with the Sydney Middle Harbour Yacht Club.

Chris also loved walking and cycling, but more recently became passionate about the environment and, with Chrissie, was instrumental in stopping the development of a new coal mine near Berrima after a prolonged fight with a Korean mining company. Chris died unexpectedly from early stage Leukaemia and chest complications in Exeter Hospital.

Chrissie intends spending her time between the UK and Australia, whilst Tom continues to live in Paris with his lovely long term Australian partner, Sarah. Tom works for the French Hotel Group Accor, running their worldwide environmental team.

Chris will be sorely missed – particularly his broad smile, generous nature and enjoyment of life.

Jonny Mallet (Fr ’70) and John Greenwood (Fr ’68)

John Colin Stevens (Ad ’53)

23rd July 1937 – 5th September 2022

John was born in Hemel Hempstead and lived his whole life in Boxmoor. John went to Two Waters School, passed the eleven plus, and went on to Berkhamsted School in 1948. In his teenage years he took holiday jobs, firstly at Sharps watercress beds, but later opted for something a bit drier and worked for Frank Clarke at Longcroft Farm, in Felden, where he met Clifford White, of Wallington, Fabian and White, to whom he became articled. He was formally admitted as a solicitor on his 22nd birthday at a ceremony at The Law Society Hall.

His decision to become a solicitor may have been helped by his Aunt Mary, who told him that a solicitor didn’t need to know anything because it was all in the books on the shelves.

Having had his National Service deferred to enable his legal training, he joined the Army at 22. He gained a commission in the RASC and won selection to the Army Legal Services in Germany, and was promoted to the rank of Captain. At some point in his army service, he was put on the spot to entertain his fellow officers with his Bernard Miles impressions – this had all gone well at church functions – but the Army performance was not so successful as John had to shout (as no microphone was available), whilst the heavy rain hammered down on the tin roof. Bernard Miles didn’t go down so well under these conditions. Not sure where this fitted into the Nation’s defence.

After the Army, he started as an assistant solicitor at Warren Murton in Bloomsbury. Becoming a partner soon after he met his future wife, Sue, John, being a true romantic, took Sue on their first date to inspect boundaries on a building site near High Wycombe in his ancient left hand drive VW beetle, which had a habit of letting the windows disappear into the doors and, also, had a reluctance to start if the engine got wet. Their courtship led to them becoming engaged on Sue’s 21st birthday, and they were married in May 1966 at St John’s Church, Boxmoor.

Their adopted son, Richard, arrived at the age of 2 months in December 1973. He and his family, Jo and two children Callum and Rebecca, have brought much happiness to John and Sue over the years.

On the career front, after leaving the Army in 1961, he resumed his legal career, ultimately starting his own practice, Wainwright and Stevens, with one partner. He ended his career as one of the partners of one the largest legal firms in the county, Taylor Walton. He loved to get his teeth into a lease, but had limited DIY skills. If you needed a switch in one room to turn on a light in another, he was your man.

John joined the Hemel Hempstead Operatic and Dramatic Society in the early 60s, standing in the back row of the chorus because of his height, 6ft 5ins.

A friend in the Society introduced him to Hemel Hempstead Round Table in 1967, with him eventually serving as its Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman. He went on to join the Hemel Hempstead Rotary Club, again, taking on the jobs of Secretary, Treasurer and Club President. He was honoured by becoming a Paul Harris Fellow for his work for Rotary.

Rotary started an Abbeyfield Society in Hemel Hempstead, whose aim is to provide sheltered housing for elderly people. John joined the main committee, which covered the three homes in the Dacorum area, and eventually became Chairman, a position he held for 13 years. A role where John’s legal skills came in useful.

On his retirement from the Abbeyfield Committee, he was presented with the Prince’s Award for Services to Abbeyfield by Baroness Bottomley, the then President of the Society.

In the early eighties, John became a governor of Westbrook Hay Prep School and Chairman in 2002 – and held the post for 10 years, presiding over great improvements to the facilities of the School.

Along with Sue, he joined Whipsnade Park Golf Club in the mid 90s and, in the fullness of time, became Seniors’ Captain. He was also a member of Boxmoor Probus Club, the only organisation where he took no committee role.

John had a strong sense of duty, commitment and concern for others, including his staff. He was always prepared to take on responsible jobs in anything he was associated with. But, of course, he was known as a good friend who always had a joke to share and who could be relied on to give good advice. John was someone who enriched your life and added a dimension which would otherwise not be there. He contributed to everyone’s life who knew him.

The overriding word used by so many in the cards and letters received by his family is the word ‘gentleman’, along with ‘a lovely man’, ‘incredible sense of humour’, ‘very competent and hardworking lawyer’, ‘good company’, ‘always kind and considerate’, ‘respected by all who knew him’ and ‘his wisdom was greatly valued’.

Sue Stevens

Ken Tipton (Ad ’61)

15th July 1943 – 13th August 2022

Ken Tipton died unexpectedly on 13th August 2022, aged 79. He won a County ‘free place’ to Berkhamsted School in 1954, leaving from Adders in 1961 to take a degree in Economics, Economic History and Law at Nottingham University. When, not yet 30 years old, he was appointed as Financial Controller of Unilever’s Research Division, Ken claimed he was then the youngest Senior Manager Unilever had ever had.

Ken was my younger brother by three and a half years. He could not remember his first birthday party on 15 July 1944 in the back garden of our 1938 semi in Belham Road, King’s Langley. But I can. A Doodlebug fell near a farm in Hyde Lane, across the valley, blowing its roof tiles off. Ken’s party was abandoned, and our father, a volunteer fireman, rode off on his bike to the Fire Station. Although that first official ‘occasion’ in his life was not a success, it was eventful. Ken loved creating occasions and events throughout his life, whether it was ‘cousin-fests’ for his relatives or an outdoor performance of Aida to open a new holiday village in Portugal for his business.

We both passed the 11+ at King’s Langley County Primary School. We both attended the 60th anniversary lunch, in Dean Incent’s old schoolroom, of all those pictured in the 1958 Adders house photograph. As I was the House Captain, pictured in the photograph, Ken encouraged me to give a short address after lunch. I entitled it “What has Berkhamsted done for you?” and proceeded to illustrate what I thought Berkhamsted had done for me, and who had been primarily responsible. Afterwards, Ken told me he did not think Berkhamsted had done much for him – if anything. But could he have been mistaken?

At his funeral, I remarked that we were almost exact opposites: Ken taking after our mother, and I after our father. I am a natural conformist and Ken was a non-conformist. Personally, I think Berkhamsted did a great deal for Ken – even if it was only to confirm to him his non-conformity. But I never told him that. He apparently did not aspire to be a school prefect, an Under Officer in the CCF, or to win an Exhibition to Oxford. Instead, Ken enrolled in the School’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award scheme and was in the very first batch nationally to win the Gold Award, which was presented to him by the Duke himself. Ken’s Gold expedition had been in the Derbyshire Peak District during a CCF arduous training week in the Easter vac 1961. His community service had been in the same Fire Station in which his father was serving on Ken’s first birthday in WW2.

When I was accepted at Berkhamsted in 1951, there were 25 County free places. When Ken took his 11+, there were only three. We took a similar route through the school: St George’s and Adders, but I took an accelerated route (one term in 1B, two terms in 2C and three terms in 3A, Upper 4A, Upper 5A). This enabled me to spend three years in the Sixth Form to sit for an Exhibition at Oxford, and a State Scholarship – neither of which I got. Ken took a conventional route in the A stream and bailed out in the Middle Sixth, as soon as he got his A levels in German, French and History.

The Headmaster (Mr B. H. Garnons Williams) learned that Ken was leaving and called him in, with my father, to try to persuade him to stay at Berkhamsted in order to go to Oxford. Ken was adamant he wanted out. My father remarked that the course Ken was enrolled on at Nottingham would give him better job prospects. That elicited Garnons Williams’ “eye to the main chance” expostulation, still much quoted in our family.

It is interesting to speculate what might have been Ken’s career path had he taken the headmaster’s advice. The School History (Davison 113) quotes Keith Hoskin (Lo ’64):

In retrospect I can see that I was one of those possibly irritating people who seem to be good at far too many things valued at the school. What

I didn’t appreciate was that this set certain life pathways in motion very early. So it was, for instance, assumed that I would get an open scholarship in classics to New College, Oxford, which is precisely what happened, but which also … made me unemployable, except as an academic. So my apologies to any I irritated. I got my comeuppance.

Had Ken gone to Oxford, Ken being Ken and being a lifelong Socialist, it seems to me he would more likely have followed a path similar to Michael Meacher (Be ’58), who moved on from studying Classics and Divinity at Oxford to taking a Diploma at the London School of Economics, and a career as a Member of Parliament. Meacher is only mentioned in passing in The School History as the Head of Tennis in 1956 (Davison 111) in a glorious anecdote recalled by another very well-known Old Boy. If you do not have a copy of Berkhamsted School, A 475th Anniversary Portrait, buy it and read page 111. I will not spoil it for you. My own claim to fame is only that I rubbed shoulders with both Meacher and the writer of the anecdote. I was in the fourth Latin Set in the Upper Fifth with the latter and stood next to Meacher in assemblies when he was Head of School in 1957/58.

But Ken neither went to Oxford nor went into politics. So, after getting his 2-1 at Nottingham, how exactly did he seize his “main chance”? His launch into the world of commerce, trade and industry was not altogether auspicious. He joined a stockbroking firm in a capacity which would later evolve into what became ‘boiler rooms’ – but was then very gentlemanly. He sat at the back of a room of young men promoting a particular stock, probably a new issue. He quickly found himself outclassed. He had a list of insurance companies and investment houses to telephone, but he noticed that everyone else in the room, except the one chap sitting next to him, was talking to his relatives and friends.

Ken explained his plight at lunch with a university friend, who told him he should work at Unilever with him. Ken asked how that was possible, as his brother had failed to get onto Unilever’s very competitive Graduate Apprentice Scheme by failing an ink-blot test and a psychological assessment by the Tavistock Institute. Ken’s friend explained that to join Unilever’s Economics and Statistics Department, you just needed an interview with Maurice Zinkin. And so Ken got his “main chance”.

Working for Unilever, at Blackfriars, in the Swinging Sixties was a good time for Ken. Apart from routine tasks such as forecasting the future price of peas for Birdseye, he eventually graduated to authoring the Unilever/CBI estimate of the cost of joining the Common Market. Many colleagues became lifetime friends. On his 24th birthday, he married Gillian, a PhD Biochemistry student at London University. She was the step-daughter of one of our father’s fellow directors at the Abbot (King’s Langley) Limited trade printers. Having flown back from Canada to be his Best Man, I breezed into Wedgwood Benn’s “Reverse the Brain Drain” office and immediately got a job with Monsanto Chemicals Limited in London. So that wedding in 1967 also changed the lives of my wife and me.

Ken spent almost nine years with Unilever, having been promoted to Financial Controller of Unilever’s Research Division. This involved much foreign travel and use of his pretty-fluent German and French. In the 6th form, Berkhamsted had arranged for Ken to exchange a term in a school in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt. They successively lived at each other’s house. He and Gillian were intending to visit that German student and his wife this autumn. To improve our French, we had both spent summer vacs with a family in Paris. Ken reminded me, just a few months ago, that their house was a former Paris residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in exile.

In the same month that Ken left Unilever in 1973 to move to British Leyland, Gillian gave birth to their only son. Luke’s and his new wife’s (a French architect living and working in London) wedding reception was truly the culmination of all the parties, family gatherings and events Ken and Gillian had ever organised. With guests flying in from Mauritius and France, the Wedding Reception was truly an Entente Cordial, held in a pointed-top marquee in their garden at Darland Hall in Rossett in North Wales. It was preceded by the Wedding Breakfast on a canal boat in Chester and succeeded, the following day, by a ‘cousin-fest’ to celebrate Ken and Gill’s Golden Wedding. Felix, his only grandchild, was the apple of Ken’s eye.

I do not know why Ken voluntarily left Unilever to spend 15 months with British Leyland as their International Pricing Manager. I presume his motivation for joining British Leyland was because he thought, with his experience at Unilever, he could make a difference at a national ‘lame duck’. Certainly, he was not successful in his assigned objective of introducing the Austin Allegro into the Common Market, and British Leyland went bankrupt in 1975.

Again, Ken was rescued by a friend from an unhappy choice of employment. This time, a former colleague from Unilever, then working at Wilkinson Sword in High Wycombe, arranged an interview with the Group Director for Human Resources. Reporting to the Group Financial Director as the Group Planning Manager, just after Wilkinson Sword had merged with British Match and was about to grow from a turnover of £60 million to £600 million, was a much more exciting prospect than British Leyland. The US steel giant Allegheny Ludlam bought Wilkinson Match four years later, but Ken stuck it out under American management for a further three years.

Ken says he left “big corporates to do my own thing in 1981.” It was a time of big changes, with Margaret Thatcher sweeping into government. Banks and other institutions with dodgy corporate loans resorted to installing managers to try to turn the companies around. Ken was one of those parachuted in. Ken tells his own story about working as a consultant for the next dozen years:

“I started with the legends at Phoenix Lloyd in Curzon Street in Mayfair. Other clients included the first retail video rental chain in Belgium and an oil rig technical support group. We found an international partner for a Brazilian bank. That introduced me to merchant bankers in the City and into international property development in Portugal, Spain, France – even a hotel in Verbier, Switzerland. Still got the moon boots.”

Whilst still working with Montpellier building holiday villages on the Algarve and in the South of France, Ken, with legal and banking friends, decided to indulge his passion for classical music:

In 1988 I raised £1 million for a business start-up in the record industry and sold out in 1994. Still play the CDs, though. At the same time, I had a crack at the textile industry – airline uniforms, high street and designer fashion. The timing was terrible –double dip recession of 1990/91 and interest rates at 15% per annum. Still wear the Vivienne Westwood blazer, though.

Initially, Dixit sold its recordings on to other record labels. The very first recording of Beethoven’s 10th Symphony, played by the London Symphony Orchestra, was one of these. Ken later set up his own label, The United Recording Company Limited, in an office in the textile factory. United issued its first recording in 1993 (Shostakovich) and went on to issue about 100 more CDs. Ken greatly valued being able to attend the recordings sessions. Right up until this year, he sent congratulatory emails when he spotted the names of the recording engineers in the credits of TV productions. Virtus laudata crescit…

I was a director and shareholder of Woolgrade, Ken’s small factory in a basement in the old garment district north of Oxford Street. We were proud to be making clothes for top British fashion designers including, Bella Freud, Margaret Howell, Betty Jackson, Edina Ronay, Amanda Wakeley and Vivian Westwood. When John Galliano lost his financial backer and missed a season, Ken invited me to lunch with this celebrity designer to discuss financing his next annual collection. Sensibly John Galliano chose Givenchy.

Ken was rescued in 1995, for a third time, by another former colleague from Unilever, who arranged for him to introduce a new business strategy at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. From then on, he worked in Liverpool, eventually moving from Thame to live in North Wales.

“From 1997 to 2000, I was the first Chief Executive of the North West Media Training Consortium based in an office, at the back of a Hollyoaks set. Our Apprenticeship scheme with Liverpool Community College, Granada and the BBC produced the first 15 Skillset Modern Apprentices. Still drinking from the National Training Awards champagne flute.

“From 2000, I hitched my star to Paver Downes Associates (a marketing and communications agency) in Queen Square, Liverpool. Initially, as E-business director, I ran the successful Littlewoods online account. Then we won the SkillWorks contract from the LSC (The Learning and Skills Council), and that kept me busy till 2010. I joined the management buy-out, which led to the formation of Clarity Creation in 2007 until semi-retirement in 2011. Still in contact with many of my colleagues and clients.

“Recently, I have consulted for the City of Liverpool College and have been a non-executive director of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Still looking for new challenges though….”

After he came out of his apprenticeship our father worked all his life at the same company. Our younger brother, Stephen (who did not go to Berkhamsted), worked on mainframe computers, then installed desktop computers at BP, and then developed video conferencing in its early days, before retiring from mobile phone companies. He followed the technology changes in computers. Even I worked for only three different companies before joining the PAYE scheme of my own company. Ken, however, worked for multifarious companies in multifarious industries. In these days of ‘portfolio jobs’, it matters less as to who you work for but more as to what you do. After 1981, Ken was a ‘management consultant’, using the academic knowledge from Nottingham and the management training and skills he learnt at Unilever and Wilkinson Sword. He was working to improve the situation for others – but often without over-generous financial compensation for himself. I think the compensation was that, with the exception of the two 15 month ‘mistakes’, he took satisfaction from what he was doing.

Ken Tipton died unexpectedly at home in Wrexham, North Wales on 13 August 2022. The postmortem revealed undetected heart problems, even though he had been cleared for surgery at Maelor Hospital the following week. His cremation was booked for September – which turned out to be exactly the same time and date as that of Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey: 11 am on 21 September 2022.

As Basil Garnons Williams was about to retire, a film was made to record the School at that time. At the end of the film, he says.

I should like Berkhamsted to be known as producing people who are more interested in their jobs than in the rewards of them, and above all to be known as people who keep their word; that is perhaps the most important part of life.

That exactly describes Ken. So what did Berkhamsted do for Ken Tipton? The School enabled him to live up to his headmaster’s ideal.

Peter J Tipton

Patricia Plumpton (née Robinson, Bu ’49)

24th June 1933 – 17th October 2021

Patricia’s family have shared their eulogy with us.

“Welcome friends and family of Patricia. I am Pat’s youngest daughter, Joanna. Thank you all so very much for coming.

I know the journey for many of you to get here was not easy, and the fact that the church is so full, despite Mum’s advanced age of 88, is so very touching.

Pat was born on June 24, 1933, at home, in the School House of Wareside, where her father, Robbie Robinson, was headmaster. That day it was school sports day, so someone took the message to my grandad (at about 3pm) to say he had a daughter.

Pat was the eldest of 4 sisters, Madeleine (who sadly passed away in 2018), plus Jane and Enid, both of whom I’m grateful are here with us in the church today, and I’m sure could regale us with tales of their own about Mum, if asked!

Mum’s earliest memory was sitting in the back of the car with a dog (or two), while her sister Madeleine, (born 1935), was in her mother’s arms in the front passenger seat. They were driving through Banbury (probably on the way to visit grandparents) and her father sang, “Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross”. I was very touched by this memory, because one of my own earliest memories is giddily sitting on my mum’s knees, going up and down, on the telephone chair by the front door at Arnos Grove, Southgate, while she sang the very same tune to me.

On Sundays growing up, Pat would always wear a hat and gloves, and was never allowed to run. Her father would take her to church for Morning Prayer (1662, of course!) and she particularly remembered enjoying the Te Deum with its repetitive phrase of ‘praise thee’. They always had to face forwards and never look behind. She mentioned the odd occasions when she had to pump up the air into the organ (no electricity there). In the afternoons she would go to Sunday School, run by a ‘Mrs Chalkley’. We still have the book she won as a prize for good attendance.

When Mum was about 10 she won a scholarship to Ware Grammar School for Girls. It was about 2½ miles to Ware, so although she would sometimes go on a bus, she usually cycled there and back. I do wonder if that’s where her love of cycling started.

When Pat was about 11, her father was appointed Headmaster of Park View School, Berkhamsted, on the other side of the county. Pat’s scholarship was transferred to Berkhamsted School for Girls, but she still had to pass an interview. Until her father could find somewhere for the family to live, he decided to find “digs” for the week and go home at weekends. Her father went with Pat, in the family car, via Ware and St Albans – right past the house in Branch Road, St Michaels Village, where we lived many years later, and I spent my teenage years in the 90s.

When Pat left school, she joined her father as a keen member of the Berkhamsted Amateur Operatic Society – her father was still performing, until he passed away at 92, with a splendid tenor voice you could hear throughout the house if he chose to sing in the bathroom. Hence Mum’s early introduction to choral singing which both she and my dad love.

It was Pat’s mother that encouraged her to play the piano, and she very much enjoyed playing duets with her sisters.

My dad, Allan, met Pat, initially through an introduction by his younger sister, Betty, who, like Pat (her office friend), was keen on classical music and concerts, particularly those held at the Royal Albert Hall. Also, they were both keen touring cyclists, as was Allan.

This latter interest was the catalyst that brought my parents together. Betty and Pat planned to do a cycle tour to Germany using YHA hostels. My nanna, told her daughter, Betty, she could only go if they had a man with them, so why not ask your brother, Allan?

Nanna came up again a few days later whilst Allan was at the kitchen sink washing up and said ‘Would you please consider going with Betty on this tour? Please do, as you’ve cycled right through Holland and down the Rhine Valley only a few years ago, with your cousin, Philip, so you know the ropes out there- and Pat is excellent in German, so there’ll be no problem with communication. Think what might happen if they got punctures or had other technical faults right out in the countryside?”

During that epic 2 week tour in July 1957, they both felt growingly close to each other-not unnoticed by sister Betty, who kindly started riding behind them most of the time, whilst Allan set the pace and did the map-reading.

The rest, as they say, is history. The following weekend Pat Robinson was invited for dinner with Allan’s parents at the family home. Allan invited Pat to accompany him up Lover’s Walk, in Finchley. On bended knee, he asked her to share her life with him. And, under that 1930s style gaslamp, she agreed.

When first married, Mum and Dad lived in Croxley Green but attended Watford Parish Church, where Pat quickly got recruited onto the leadership team of their Covenanter group. Meanwhile, she aided and abetted Dad at the activities evenings, run in their little house, for the Crusader group in Croxley Green (now called Urban Saints). At this time, Pat helped out in the office at Watford School of Music, when not doing her weekly trips up to London for secretarial/PA work, for a very elderly American professor she’d met whilst still working full time in London, pre-marriage.

Pat’s secretarial skills really came to the fore several years later, when she helped Dad set up his own accountancy practice, to supplement the salary he got in the charitable world after joining John Grooms Association (now part of Livability), which is one of the charities we are inviting ‘in memoriam’ gifts to be routed towards, (the other being Africa Inland Mission, with which both mum and dad have been voluntarily involved since marriage until the present time).

Now, I really think Mum’s secretarial skills touched most, if not everyone, here today, with her personalised letter writing, birthday, anniversary and Christmas card sending. (I think a big selling point of their house in Goring was the fact there is a postbox right outside.) It’s been wonderful to have so many people share with us how much it meant to them that she remembered. Mum also loved receiving cards, particularly those on Mothering Sunday, although woe betide any of us that got her a card that said Mum or Mother’s Day on it. That was a big faux pas!

In 1965, Pat and Allan moved to Arnos Grove, Southgate. Just 6 months before the move to London, they adopted their first daughter, Sarah, and then their son, Simon, was adopted in 1966, giving them both much joy both at home and in Southgate Parish Church, which I think they helped to ‘liven it up’ just a little! Again, Pat got involved immediately with the local Crusader bible class groups, and she also became a very active member of the Mother’s Union, of which she remained a member to the end. It’s good to see Mum’s friends from these groups with us here today.

In 1976, Mum got a big surprise, and found she was expecting me! And on her last trip to visit me at my then home in Montreal, Canada, 9 years ago, she shared with me, on our visit to the lookout at Mont Royal, that was where she had first felt me kick.

After almost 25 years in London, Mum really wanted to return to be closer to the countryside. I remember how pleased she was that you could see the fields in the distance from our home at Branch Road in St Albans. Once again, she got stuck into the local community, the church at St Michael’s, the Good Neighbour Scheme and the 40+ cycling group, to name but a few. We also went on many cycling and walking holidays, plus several trips overseas, which continued right up until just a few years ago. Dad and I particularly remember Mum deciding she was still going to come and join Dad (who’d been out volunteering with AIM in Kenya), despite being on crutches, having suffered a broken ankle just a couple of weeks earlier!

Just over 10 years ago, Mum and Dad moved here, to Goring-by-Sea, to be closer to Sarah, my sister, and despite Mum’s advancing years, she endeavoured to once again become an active member of the community, particularly here at the Church of St Mary’s. Thank you for welcoming them into the fold in these latter years of their lives. I know Mum was very happy here.

And now, in closing, I’d like to hand over to my Dad…”

“But for Pat’s love and care over these past six years, I doubt I’d be here today. Pat was my much beloved wife over 63 years. Apart from earthly interests, we both believed there was a spiritual dimension to life, which had been inculcated into us by our respective parents at a very young age, leading each of us to become progressively involved in membership. To say we were always in agreement would be a fib, and in spite of initial disagreements on a few occasions, (like how we should educate our three children best), we always came to an amicable compromise-often with me backing down. It really has turned out to be ‘a marriage made in heaven’, I now feel, and I’m so gratified all three of my children are here to witness it.

Thank you again, so much, for attending this memorial and celebration of Patricia’s life, and for listening to a synopsis of her love of God, family, friends, music, cycling, travel and… card writing.

Amen.”

Allan Plumpton

Philip Edward Flint (In ’57)

29th October 1939 – 20th January 2022

Philip Flint had an unquenchable wanderlust and curiosity for life that saw him travel extensively throughout his life, traversing all five continents, and living in six different countries. And whilst he was fearless in facing new challenges, experiences, people and cultures, his bonhomie, together with his infectious sense of humour, allowed him to make friends effortlessly. His charisma and magnetism drew you in irresistibly.

He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 29 October 1939, to Edward Arthur and Keens Flint, who emigrated there during the war, and for the next 82 years of his life he didn’t sit still.

Berkhamsted School proved to be a massive focal point in Philip’s life, as not only was he a boarder during the late 1950s (In ’57), his father was an Old Boy back in the 1920s, and all four of his sons attended the school during the late 1970s and 1980s – Michael (In ’83), Derek (In ’84),

Richard (In ’86) and Stephen (In ’88). Indeed, his son Richard was married in the school chapel and three of his grandchildren were christened there. With all the continual globetrotting, the school provided a place of stability and relative calm for all three generations.

Philip was a successful banker for over five decades, working in the Americas, Asia and Australia, but his real interest and passion was for his family and friends. He was fiercely loyal and he was his family’s centre of gravity, the glue that kept his sons close – to him, as well as to each other. His love for his wife, Frances Robinson, was undoubted and lasted more than 58 years.

He sadly passed away on 20 January 2022, in Florida, where he had retired at the ripe old age of 70. He was a wonderful father and grandfather and will be missed.

Richard Flint

Reginald ‘Reggie’ Herbert Fair (Hon)

29th July 1925 – 20th July 2022

Reggie Fair, who died in July a few days short of his 97th birthday and 58th wedding anniversary, had served for 34 years on the staff at Berkhamsted. He was one of the last of the generation of schoolmasters who had seen military service during the Second World War.

He was born 29 July 1925, the youngest of three children to Charles and Marjorie Fair. He was named Reginald in memory of his mother’s youngest brother, Reggie Secretan, who had been killed in the Battle of Third Ypres on 31 July 1917, aged 22. Reggie and his sisters grew up in a boarding house at Haileybury, where his father was a housemaster and classics teacher.

At the age of about 7 or 8, he started boarding at a prep school in Broadstairs but didn’t enjoy it to begin with. However, he progressed to Marlborough, where he was a fine games player in the 1st XI for cricket and hockey.

He left school in July 1943 and went to an Officer Cadet Training Unit at Hertford College Oxford, where he spent a year. Part of the week was spent as a student with a lot of sport and the rest as an officer cadet. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery. This was on the advice of his father, who had been an infantry officer in the First World War and had survived almost two years on the Western Front. His father advised that gunner officers had a longer training and lower mortality rates than infantry officers. This was prescient given the horrific losses of infantry officers in Normandy and the subsequent campaign.

By the time he had completed artillery training at Larkhill and Catterick, the war in Europe was nearly over. He was sent to join a unit in Egypt and was training in the Canal Zone when the atomic bombs forced the surrender of Japan. He always said, ‘Thank God for the Bomb’ as he was spared what would have been a very bloody campaign to invade the Japanese islands. Instead, Reggie served in Hyderabad, in India, during the last days of the Raj, until partition in 1947. The gunnery meant that he had become fairly deaf in one ear, and this accounted for his loud voice.

He left the Army and went up to his father’s Cambridge college, Pembroke, in the autumn of 1947. He chose to read Geography over his other favourite subject, History. Because of the wartime backlog, universities were graduating students after only two years. However, Reggie chose to stay on for a third year, though much of that was spent playing for the Cambridge University Wanderers (Hockey) and Cambridge Crusaders (Cricket) before going down in the summer of 1950. Sadly, his father died suddenly a few days later on 29 July – Reggie’s 25th birthday.

It is perhaps surprising to learn that Reggie’s very first job after graduation was to work for IBM. He was not good with technology. For someone that could normally be relied on to uphold his end of a conversation, he would be rendered speechless on encountering an answerphone.

This experience of the commercial world did not last long, and he turned to what he knew –teaching. He first joined the staff at Clifton College in Bristol, but moved after a year to Kimbolton School so he could be closer to his mother in Hinxworth in North Hertfordshire.

In January 1954, he joined the staff at Berkhamsted in answer to an advertisement for a master to run the cricket. The Berkhamstedian’s valete in 1988 recorded:

“At that time the pitches were poor and school cricket was at a low ebb. It was not long before Reggie, with characteristic energy, had added the duties of groundsman to his other tasks. At his instigation a regular groundsman and cricket coach was appointed, whose family could live in the house newly built for them beside the playing fields. Alf Pope was one of the successful Derbyshire Championship team of 1936, and his professional expertise, together with Reggie’s infectious enthusiasm, led to a revival of school cricket.” This included an unbeaten season in 1959.

Reggie also ran staff cricket, and one fixture of particular social importance was with the village team at Hinxworth in North Hertfordshire, whence his parents had retired in 1946. He was also one of the founders of school hockey in 1963 and played for many years in the legendary staff side, the Pterodactyls.

However, he didn’t come to the School solely for sport but also as an academic master. He was Head of Geography for almost thirty years. In the early 1960s, the department was small, “with only eight or nine boys taking A level each year.” The Berkhamstedian recorded that when he retired in 1988, the numbers taking A level varied “from 30 to 45. This is partly because of the subject’s greater educational importance and the necessity for boys to take three A levels instead of two, but it also reflects Reggie’s unbounded enthusiasm. In 1970, the department, whose members had previously taught in many different locations, was allotted a portion of the new Thorn building, and this became its centre with the Geography room at the top level.”

In his early years, he was House Tutor of St John’s (senior boarding house) and then Uppers.

He married Janet May in July 1964, and it turned out to be a long and happy marriage that kept Dad young and certainly kept him going in his later years. However, it started not without a hint of scandal. They had met a couple of years earlier when Janet, then a boarder at the Girls’ School, had been invited by the parents of her friend, Jane, to have Sunday tea with them. Jane’s father was the Headmaster, Basil Garnons-Williams, so tea was had at their house in the school grounds. They’d invited one of the house tutors for tea, too – a certain Reggie Fair. As Reggie had been at the school for quite a few years by then, and was 18 years older than Janet May, ‘G-W’ probably didn’t think twice about what might happen. However, once Reggie and Janet had met, the rest, as they say, is history.

They took the next twelve months for honeymoon and travel. This included teaching in New Zealand with a term each at Christ’s College in Christchurch, a prep school St Peter’s in Cambridge in the North Island and time to tour the physical geography of those islands.

On return to Berkhamsted in 1965, he became the first housemaster of the newly created day boy house, Fry’s. The Fairs started a family and had three children in the next five years.

“Finally from 1969 to 1981 he was housemaster of Incents during a particularly happy and successful period. Past members of Incents have reason to feel very grateful to Reggie and Janet for their care and encouragement and for providing, together with their three children, the large family atmosphere of a disciplined but spirited house. Reggie is very much a family man and would be the first to acknowledge that his school life has been enriched by Janet’s constant and unstinting support. Janet has always found time to be interested in the boys’ welfare, and when she and Reggie first went into Incents she undertook the organization of all the catering and domestic arrangements at a period when her own family was very young.”

His interest in sport remained strong, even if he was not actively playing or coaching, whether it was rugby at Twickenham or using his MCC membership for test matches at Lords. Particular highlights were the legendary 1981 Ashes series and Bill Beaumont’s Grand Slam winning side of 1980. In the latter, he took me to see England beat Wales 9-8. It really didn’t matter that it was an ugly game because, at long last, we had beaten Wales, and for once, he could lord it over Berkhamsted’s Welsh rugby masters.

Some of our best memories in this era are from our epic family holidays, which involved packing our Ford Transit camper van and touring round Europe for three weeks and up to 2,500 miles. We ranged as far afield as Denmark, Austria, Northern Italy, Northern Spain and the Western Isles of Scotland. We rarely missed an opportunity for a bit of geography learning. As we moved from country to country, Dad would point out U-shaped valleys in the Alps, or explain the reclamation of the Dutch polders whilst in the Netherlands. He took many photos, which would end up in the extensive library of slides he built up over the years and used for his geography lessons. This could occasionally cause embarrassment as, when he started talking about a geographical feature, you found yourself projected on the classroom wall – included in a photo for scale – but half your current age, with a bad haircut and dodgy 1970s outfit.

He was pleased that his geography gene had been passed on, with all three of his children achieving ‘A’ grade Geography A levels. I followed in his footsteps to read Geography at Cambridge, and the eldest of his grandsons was recently awarded a 1st in Human Geography from Exeter. The passion for maps and volcanoes lives on in the youngest grandchildren.

Reggie retired in 1988 before moving to Hinxworth in 1989. The Berkhamstedian’s appreciation hoped that his “retirement be long, happy, and active.” It was all three. The days were filled with renovating and extending Cammocks, the village bridge club, being a warden at

St Nicholas’ Church and family with seven grandchildren. He particularly loved pottering in the garden and tending the Marjorie Fair roses named after his mother.

I really got to know him better in this phase of his life in the course of researching our book, Marjorie’s War: Four Families in the Great War 1914-1918. I found the first of some 400 letters in 1991, and we pieced together the story over several years until publication in 2012. Reggie had never really known his own father’s war story, or those of his uncles, as veterans usually didn’t like to talk about their experiences. We walked the ground and found where the members of the family had served. This included High Wood on the Somme, an action for which his father had been awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1916, and the spot near Ypres where his uncle Reggie had been killed in 1917.

We learnt in this era that his greatest sadness was that his own father had died so young at 65. He often commented that he felt guilty that he’d outlived his father by so many years. Occasionally his eyes would well up even as the fog of dementia was descending, and invariably we would find that he had been thinking about his father.

Life became harder in the final few years of his life as Reggie slowly became more and more frail in body and mind, but Janet faced it with her usual stoicism and practicality, along with the support of wonderful neighbours in Hinxworth. His lively persona slowly disappeared, leaving just a ghost of the man we all knew. Occasionally there were lighter moments, when a little of the old Reggie would briefly surface. One of these was when Reggie and Janet moved down to the Isle of Wight permanently in April 2021. Reggie went to stay at a nursing home run by a friend of his son-in-law, so Janet had a few days to manage the packing and unpacking. Having been told that Reggie couldn’t get out of a chair on his own, the manager kindly found him a lovely room on the top floor, so he had a view of the sea to enjoy. The next day we got a rather panicked phone call,

“I thought you told me he’d stay put!” she said. “We’ve just found him wandering the top landing dangerously near the stairs, asking for a gin and tonic!” Reggie was clearly enjoying himself and thought he was in a hotel.

To OBs, however, it is as a geography teacher –in the de rigeur tweed jacket with elbow patches – and housemaster that he will be remembered. As one of his former pupils wrote in a message of condolence, he was “an inspirational teacher and a wise and sympathetic housemaster”. “We learned so much more in his classes than just the subject that was being taught”, said another. We would like to thank the OB community for the many kind messages, of which many noted: ‘he had a good innings’.

Charles Fair (Be ’84), Alex Moss (née Fair, ’89)

Reverend James Laird Maclelland (“Mac”) Farmborough (SJ ’41)

23rd December 1922 – 20th February 2022

Mac’s son, Mark, has kindly provided this tribute which includes many charming and vivid personal reminiscences, in his father’s own words.

My family have been farmers for many generations. The museum in Aylesbury has documents which show that Farmboroughs have farmed there for 600 years. Our family tree goes back to the 13th century and all living Farmboroughs are related. Mac did much research on behalf of our family and produced an updated family tree tracing back to Peter Farmborough in 1270.

Mac’s great-grandfather, Francis Farmborough, had 16 children and died at the age of 99 in 1904. Mac’s father was an oil engineer who lived much of his life in Trinidad, West Indies.

At 9 years old, Mac went to Swanbourne House School. This is the headmaster’s comment about him when he left: ‘I don’t remember any boy whom I shall miss more and whose character I admire more than Mac. The small boys love him. He is bound to do well.’ After that, at the age of 14, Mac gained a scholarship to Berkhamsted, where he was in the First 15 Rugby Team and was awarded the ‘Victor Ludorum’ on Sports Day. He was an exceptional shot and also threw the javelin with distinction.

During the Second World War, Mac was accepted for pilot training. He flew Tiger Moths and qualified to be a pilot. “We always used to say if you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good one.”

Mac trained pilots at Woodley and then flew in 118 Squadron of Mustangs, at about the same time as the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. The Mustang was really a long-range escort plane – the Spitfire could fly for three and a half hours with extra tanks, but the Mustang for over 11 – meaning they could escort the daylight bombers. On one flight Mac’s pupil misread the petrol gauge. “We had not gone far before we had run out of petrol. To see our propeller stationery in front of us, indeed silent, was not welcome. I took control of the plane and headed towards a field with a nice long stretch into the wind. As we were coming down, I noticed an electric cattle fence… thankfully I was able to clear it and land in the top half.”

Mac rose to become a flying officer in the RAF. “As the war ended, we escorted Churchill to the Potsdam conference and then the Berlin conference.” This is the squadron leader’s report on Mac: “He is at all times most loyal; is a keen athlete and is of most temperate habits.”

After the war, Mac was accepted to study at Magdalene College. He asked if the offer was conditional on passing exams in physics and chemistry: “The interviewer said no, but he hoped

I would have a good reason if I failed.” Mac’s parents had attended Broadwater Church, a fine Evangelical church, worshipping there for many years. Mac joined the Young People’s Fellowship and an ex-pilot, David Harris, befriended him –“In the summer, after one of the meetings, we went for a walk together on the Downs. As we talked about our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, he asked me if I would like to pray that His cross would pay for my sins. I agreed; so David suggested we kneel on the grass to do so. I was a little uneasy, as below us was the golf course of which I was a member. However, I knew I needed to go through with this and it made me a committed Christian, the basis of my relationship with God ever since”.

Mac went on to say, “In my first year at Cambridge, David Harris wrote to say another member of Broadwater Youth Fellowship, Peggy Howells was at Cambridge. She was nursing at the Evelyn Nursing Home and I should look her up. I replied that I was far too busy. However, we did meet in Worthing on one occasion when we were both on holiday, and then managed to enjoy some Christian meetings in Cambridge.”

After Magdalene College, Cambridge, Mac studied at Ridley Hall for one year, then moved to the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary College, Bristol, “In my second year, on the 28 March 1952, Peggy and I married, in Broadwater Church (of course!) – over 70 years ago now. I remember I bought a sidecar for my Norton motorbike, and we took it over to Jersey for our honeymoon”.

“After working in several churches in England, we went, by ship, to Brazil. David, the eldest, was 7 and was happy all night long if he had his teddy, the Reverend Ted Brown. Simon, two years old, on the other hand needed his red tricycle alongside him for a good night. Mark (18 months) slept in a cot in our cabin. All he needed was his shawlie –which was often chewed, and gradually reduced in size! He only had to brush it under his nose and his eyes would become dreamy, even in the middle of the day.

As we lay in our cabin, we felt a thrill of adventure as we watched the lights of Swansea disappear through the porthole. Pegs was 34 and had 3 sons, yet here was the start of a new life. It was a rough crossing at the Bay of Biscay. When the Captain saw Mark tucking into his scrambled eggs, with both hands, perhaps one of his anxieties was eased. After further stops for engine trouble, we finally anchored and a launch came out to meet us. The Captain explained to us that in Brazil everything had to be achieved by bribery: The Dock Official would expect a case of whisky and when this had been give all arrangements would go smoothly. Without whisky, there would be untold complications. Because everyone accepted this, the Dock Official would receive a poor salary. Who profited in the end I do not know, but I was foolish enough to try to put an end to the system.”

Mac worked for many years in South America, first in Brazil for 6 years, and later in Chile for 12. Whilst working in Brazil, Peggy became increasingly ill and had to return to the UK for medical treatment. Mac was in sole charge of his boys: “It is a bit cooler at night. The three boys have slept with me since Pegs left and there are now quarrels about who has the counterpane. We are always awakened by the loud greetings of the nightwatchman across the road at the supermarket. He seems to have so many friends who are hard of hearing! Our church is on a busy corner and surrounded by a 3-foot wall. This keeps the boys off the roads, but the top of the wall provides a good area for the sellers of vegetables. They spread out their wares, and often sit on the wall beside them. When we got our giant poodle, Chocky, he took exception to this, and used to nip their backsides”.

Commonwealth Sports Day at the Cricket Club

"Simon went in for the Boys Under 5 Racer. He did not win but liked it so much that he went in for the Girls Under 5 as well! Fortunately, he did not win, or I would have had some explaining to do! Mark was given a generous handicap because of his vision problems and was in a good position to win. I shouted encouragement to him from the touchline and he veered off the track to give me a cuddle. I went in for the Father’s Race, but I only came fourth out of seven and the boys were disgusted.

We have a lot of fun out of Mark now. We are all in fits trying to teach him how to say mosquito. He says quite a lot and even some Portuguese words. He is still eating like a horse, and growing fast, I think he will be the biggest of all my sons".

In a letter home to Pegs, Mac wrote: “You must not worry about the boys. They are slow to obey, and I think they always have been. I do not remember a time where Simon has done what he has been told immediately, unless he was going to do it anyway!”

We received a cable from Pegs to say she was out of hospital, but the boys got the wrong message, and went round the house, singing “Mummy is coming home!” The maid caught the meaning of this and started a major cleaning of the house, walls and everything. “I wondered whether to correct her but decided I should as we want the job done when she is really coming back”.

Mac bought some budgies in a cage. “The boys were so thrilled with them, and Simon took them for a walk in the garden – still in the cage fortunately! We cover them and they normally settle. If we have the gramophone on too loudly, then there is a great flutter in protest. We keep them on top of the glass cupboard in the dining room (above “Simon” level)”.

“The boys are in good form. We get on well with Simon’s teacher but find that Simon has a bit of a reputation. His teacher is well aware of the problems, but thinks he is bright, and will have more to interest him next year. She also thinks he is a good shot (she is the one he threw a brick at). Mark is a friend to everyone and does his best to keep Simon out of trouble”.

Fancy Dress Competition

“We were hard put to think of a costume. Happily, I had been to visit an elderly lady who had a table lamp hanging from a 3-foot brass cobra. I borrowed this from her. We put a yellow shirt on David, wrapped a red turban around his head, and with a sash and plenty of beads he looked the part.

Pegs found a penny whistle, and David sat in front of his cobra blowing the whistle like mad. He got first prize for originality. He offered to share his prize with the owner of the snake, but as it was a game of horse racing with dice, she let it all go to him. Simon was a French onion seller with a moustache and a beret. Mark looked sweet. I had found a set of blonde plaits in the restroom and, with a straw hat, he went as Miss World. We all thought he was the best, but the judges did not give him a prize – I think they thought he was really a girl”.

"The boys have done some rock climbing at Adam and Eve Beach. I was glad to see that David would tackle anything that Simon did. I built a shed for the Lambretta. The boys are keen to ride it. I find that with our basket on the carrier, to keep pegs on the backseat, David can sit between us, Simon stands on the floor between my knees at the front and mark is on one of Peggy’s knees. The Brazilians welcome this kind of initiative and even a policeman gave us a cheery wave”.

Mac returned to work in parishes in the UK and was a representative for the South American Missionary Society. Towards the end of his fulfilling career, in 1989, he was awarded an MBE, which he received whilst out in Chile.

You know you have an exceptional father when you ask to go fishing and he takes you down the Amazon, to Fish for Piranhas.

Well Dad, you didn’t quite beat Francis Farmborough, your great grandfather, and make your century in years – nor in the number of offspring (falling short by 14 to win)! You were never a betting man, but always relied on God’s help and guidance throughout your long and successful life of public service, living out our family’s motto: God is our Refuge. Deus Noster Refugium.

Mark Robert Farmborough

Robin Stanier (Lo ’57)

3rd August 1938 – 17th July 2021

My brother, Robin, had strong ties with Berkhamsted. His father (Bob Stanier) and uncle (Tom Stanier), had both been at Berkhamsted in the 1920s, as, coincidentally, had Robin’s future Australian father-in-law, Harry Hopkins. The ties were further cemented when two of Robin’s sons, Michael and Angus, each spent a year at Berkhamsted as Assistant Teachers under a reciprocal scheme with Canberra Grammar School. All of them had fond memories of the school. As do I.

Robin did well at Berkhamsted. He ended up as Head of Lowers and flourished on the sports fields. He broke the 220 yards record, opened the batting for the School in cavalier fashion, and captained a Rugby team that went through the season unbeaten for the first time in living memory. They became known, rather grandly, as “the Invincibles”.

Robin is holding the ball and I am top far left

From Berkhamsted, Robin went up to Magdalen College Oxford, to read Engineering. The college was a stone’s throw away from where his father, Bob, was the headmaster of Magdalen College School (at the opposite end of Magdalen bridge). Students in those days were required to be back in college by midnight, and Robin’s athletic prowess came in very handy. He found that if he heard midnight start to strike while visiting his parents, he could then sprint the 200 yards back to College, before the midnight chimes had completed, and so avoid the obligatory fine. In a more conventional athletic environment, he also ran in the relays for Oxford against Cambridge.

Robin had always had a particular interest in aeroplanes. After graduating, he worked for two years with Rolls Royce, in Derby, on aero engine development. He then developed itchy feet. He spotted a job going in Australia and wanderlust, plus the twin temptations of doubling his salary and a first-class ticket to Australia, carried the day. It was to prove a happy decision. Within two years, he had married a Queensland girl, Rosey Hopkins, and settled down in Canberra to combine a very happy family life with working for the Australian government on various aeronautical projects. The cost of flights to and from the UK in those early days was astronomical, and I was very touched when Robin agreed, in 1965, to become Best Man at my wedding. I only discovered much later that the ticket to the UK had cost him a third of his salary.

Robin never lost his interest in aeroplanes and was particularly proud of his involvement in the Nomad Searchmaster Project. The Searchmaster planes were designed to detect drug smuggler boats at night time, through infra-red detection and radar equipment. So successful were they, that the drug traffic in Australia was severely curtailed and redirected by the smugglers to land routes through Mexico. Two months before he died, Robin was profoundly gratified when the Royal Aeronautical Society of Australia gave him a Distinguished Service Award.

Robin’s final visit to the UK was in 2015. Berkhamsted School had decided to mark the centenary of playing rugby union. There was to be a day of celebrations, culminating in a dinner for 100 people. They contacted the members of Robin’s unbeaten 1956 side, the Invincibles. ‘Would we like to be their guests at the dinner?’, they asked. I told Robin about it without for a moment thinking that he would accept. To my amazement, he said ‘Yes’ I’m coming.’ You can take the boy out of Berkhamsted, as they say, but you can’t take Berkhamsted out of the boy.

It turned out there were seven of us Invincibles willing and able to attend. We met in a pub for lunch and were hugely relieved to find that we were all recognisably the same. We then went up to the Playing Fields to watch the school score a handsome victory over Abingdon School. The game had definitely moved on since our day, and they were far better than we had ever been. On then to the main event. The average age of the diners was 25, while our table looked about a hundred years older than everyone else. We were amused and amazed, therefore, to find that these superb young athletes viewed us clapped out veterans with awed respect and treated us like gods from a past age. A heady experience. As we drove away, Robin said to me ‘That was the best day of my life.’

Robin’s sons are all passionate supporters of Australian sporting teams. Robin was initially loyal to England, but as the years went by, he ‘went native’ and transferred his loyalties. On the last day of his life – by a wonderful piece of timing – he and his sons watched on television, as 14-man Australia held on to score a nail-biting victory over France. Robin was spellbound. An hour later he died. What a way to go.

Tom Stanier (Lo ’59)

Jane Moore, Robin’s wife, shares her personal tribute to him below.

Robin Williamson MBE CTA (Fellow) MA (Oxon)

22nd February 1955 – 4th September 2022

Robin Williamson, who died in September this year, was born in Edinburgh. His father, Ken Williamson, was a noted ornithologist. His mother, Esther, was from the Faroe Islands; his parents met when Ken was posted there in the Second World War. Robin was hugely proud of his Faroese and Scottish heritage. In fact, he had a full outfit of Highland dress, which he wore to Burns nights and to a garden party at Holyrood House.

The Williamson family moved south to Tring when Ken started working for the British Trust for Ornithology. Robin attended Berkhamsted School, and his time there had a strong positive influence on the rest of his life. His career was in the tax profession, but his good grounding at school in classics, music and English meant that these remained life-long interests. His happy memories of the School led him to continue to support it throughout his life, both financially and as a regular attendee at Old Berkhamstedian events.

After leaving school in 1972, Robin read Classics at Worcester College, Oxford. He then qualified as a solicitor and worked in general practice, before specialising in tax law at publishers CCH, where he was a highly-regarded senior writer and editor.

In 1999, Robin volunteered for the newly-formed Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), a charity that works to improve the tax and benefit systems for people on low incomes. He later became its technical director, and under his guidance, LITRG had many successes. For example: getting better protections for digitally-excluded taxpayers, for those in tax debt, and for disabled people and carers. His work included consultations with government, briefing MPs and appearing on radio and TV to explain topical tax issues.

Robin retired from LITRG in 2018, but he did not retire from tax. He spent a year as a senior policy adviser at the Office of Tax Simplification and wrote a textbook on taxpayer rights.

Robin was well known, liked and respected in the world of tax, as demonstrated by a plethora of tributes to him in the tax press, and the many friends and colleagues who came to his funeral. He had a passion for tax justice but was always self-deprecating about his achievements.

In 2015, he was surprised and delighted to be awarded an MBE for his work on behalf of low income taxpayers. In 2020, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Tolley’s Taxation Awards (the Oscars of the tax profession!). Both were very well deserved.

There was much more in Robin’s life than tax. A talented viola player, he benefited from music teaching at school and formed a good relationship with Adrian Davis, then Director of Music. He played in the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra, and later in various chamber music groups and in the Bridgewater Sinfonia under Adrian’s baton. For the past 20 years, Robin was a member of the Sevenoaks Symphony Orchestra, playing and also writing programme notes. The Orchestra is dedicating its November concert to him.

Robin’s interest in English language and literature was developed at school by two inspiring teachers, David Pearce (who was also his Housemaster) and John Davison. It is no coincidence that Graham Greene was one of Robin’s favourite authors, and we regularly attended the Graham Greene Festival in Berkhamsted. Robin always kept in touch with DRAP and his wife Liz, and happily, we were able to attend JAD’s memorial service and an OB dinner earlier this year.

Classics remained a lifelong interest for Robin, as did languages, history, theology, and more besides – he was a real polymath. But he also enjoyed less cerebral pleasures, such as cooking, fine wine and scotch whisky, travelling and walking.

Robin was diagnosed with renal failure in his late twenties. He had a kidney transplant in 1995, which served him well for 27 years. He always made light of his health problems and never let them hold him back. One friend said this was

made clear when they flew to Switzerland on a skiing holiday, and Robin was accompanied by 12 boxes of dialysis fluid! I often found that at social gatherings, people would buttonhole me to ask how Robin really was, as he would invariably have told them he was fine. Even in this last year, when his health deteriorated, and he had a lot of pain and illness, he bore it all stoically and with great courage.

Robin had a talent for making lifelong friends. I don’t think anyone has ever had a bad word to say about him, and it was very rare for him to say a bad word about anyone else. I have been overwhelmed with tributes to Robin from friends and colleagues. Typical comments include: “Robin was a gentleman”, “He was always polite, kind and supportive”, “He was a good friend and good company”, “He had a dry sense of humour, a fund of anecdotes and a memorable laugh”, “He was one of the nicest men it’s been my privilege to know”.

Robin was my best friend and companion. We were happily married for 20 years, just reaching our 20th anniversary in the July before he died. To me and many others, he was a very special person, and will be greatly missed.

Jane Moore (Mrs Robin Williamson)

Sidney Russell Smith (Sw ’42)

27th September 1924 – 26th September 2022

The Russell Smith family were raised in a spacious country home named ‘Savona’ in Berkhamsted. The house name was derived from the port in the south of Italy where his father, Henry Russell Smith, was rescued following the torpedoing of the troop ship SS Transylvania on May 4th, 1917.

Sidney was sent to the nearby Berkhamsted School. It became clear to Sidney’s father that his son was not cut out for university, and, towards the end of his school days, he suggested that he might join the Royal Air Force and avoid impending conscription.

The advice was duly followed, and at the age of 17, he was shipped out to New York on the Queen Mary and then onward bound to Assiniboia, Canada, where he trained in Tiger Moths and gained his ‘Wings’. Further training (instrument flying, navigation) followed in various aircraft.

At some point in his training schedule, he had a couple of weeks’ leave and ended up spending the time at the mansion of Spyros Panagiotis Skouras, a Greek American and President of 20th Century Fox at the time. As ever, family connections brought about this unlikely event as Sidney’s sister, Beryl, had been a friend of Spyros’s daughter whilst they were both at a finishing school in Switzerland. Although Spyros was in Hollywood at the time, Sidney received an invitation to stay at the family home on Staten Island, where they were ‘spoiled rotten’. He joined the family’s daughters’ chauffeur-driven trips to New York for shows (Frank Sinatra live) and fine dining – a very far cry from the reality of war at home.

He spent further time in Canada at Weyburn flying Harvards, then on to Quebec and, finally, to No 1 Advanced Tactical Training at RCAF Greenwood, Nova Scotia.

At this point, his training was complete, and he was flown back to the UK on a Liberator bomber.

Once his conversion training was completed, he was assigned to 174 Typhoon Squadron and took part in the Rhine Crossing in March 1945. Interestingly, the rest of his ‘buddies’ were shipped back from Canada on the Queen Mary and did not get to fly operationally as the war drew to a close.

At the end of the war, he left the RAF and returned to base – back to Watford. Here he found ‘civvie life’ pretty flat after the times he had had over such formative years. The camaraderie of the training environment, coupled with the ‘Canadian’ experience, must have been quite exhilarating in many ways. His love of ball games, combined with a real aptitude, made West Herts Hockey and Watford Tennis Club his social spheres. He met and married Dorothy Taylor, and they lived in Orchard Close, Watford. As the children came along, he decided that a return to the Royal Air Force would give him and his family greater lifestyle opportunities, so he retrained as a Fighter Controller and was sent to Cyprus and then on to Iraq to train the Iraqi Air Force.

He spent many of his ensuing years in the RAF based at RAF Bawdsey, in Suffolk, and this is where the family were eventually grounded. However, tours of Saxa Vord (Shetlands), Kai Tak (Hong Kong), and Akrotiri (Cyprus again) were interspersed with time in the UK before he retired in 1974.

He and Dorothy then turned their hands to creating their own ‘Savona’ in Lower Ufford, Suffolk. With a little bit of help, they built and landscaped a home of their own to provide a true haven following the series of married quarters and hirings necessitated by the RAF.

His eldest granddaughter, Louise, met and married another old boy, Michael Taylor, in 2016, and Sidney was able to revisit the School and his old junior school house, St George’s, which he remembered fondly.

He lived long, he lived well and will forever be loved and respected as we remember him and his life.

Mike Taylor (Ch ’04)

Thomas Addiscott (Ad ’60)

29th June 1942 – 27th January 2022

My colleague, mentor and friend Tom Addiscott, who has died aged 79, was an agricultural research scientist who helped to determine the benefits and the environmental consequences of using fertiliser on the soil.

Born in Brocket Hall, near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, which was then being used as a maternity hospital, to Dorothy (née May), who died when Tom was eight, and Martin Addiscott, a second lieutenant in the Second World War then manager of a fur factory, Tom was educated at Berkhamsted School, before studying Chemistry at Hertford College, Oxford, graduating in 1963.

He then spent a year as a United Nations Volunteer, working on improving soil quality in Tanzania. He helped to develop methodology to assess what quantity of nutrients, such as phosphorus, potassium and calcium, would be available to a farmer’s crops, and which nutrients were economically worth testing for and how to do it. In 1966, Tom started work at Rothamsted, the agricultural research organisation, completing an MA the following year and a PhD in 1973, both at Oxford University.

At Rothamsted, Tom developed some of the first computer models for the leaching of nitrate, and later phosphate, from soil, which can have damaging effects on the environment, including the creation of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, and green algal blooms in lakes. His work laid the foundations for much of the environmental computer modelling of the movement of water, nutrients and pollutants today.

Tom had a strong social conscience and retained a lifelong interest in Africa. As a member of the Farm Africa charity, he visited Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. For many years he led the local branch of the IPMS trade union at Rothamsted, and was endlessly considerate and encouraging to his colleagues, with a mischievous sense of humour.

The Prince of Wales presented him with the gold medal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1991. He was appointed a visiting professor at the University of East London in 1997 and awarded a DSc by Oxford University in 1999.

Tom retired from Rothamsted in 2002, but continued publishing articles on a range of issues related to soil quality in agriculture, on nitrate and human health, and complexity theory in a soils context. He was also licensed as a reader in the Church of England and was actively involved in the parish of Harpenden. He would happily discuss science, politics, and religion over a pint. He also loved music, especially Bach and jazz.

In 1974 he developed a glioma, a type of brain tumour, requiring surgery and high-dose radiotherapy. Having almost died, he treated every moment from then on as a gift. The effects of the radiotherapy started 30 years later, leading to a slow deterioration in his mobility, speech and memory.

He is survived by his wife, Sally (née Nicholas), whom he married in 1970, their daughter, Catherine, two granddaughters, Erin and Lucy, and his brother, Tony, and sister, Susanne.

Andy Whitmore

We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those listed below, who have passed away recently:

• Alan Poulter (SJ ’63)

• Ann Askins (née Weekes, Sc ’57)

• Charles Dunham (Co ’69)

• Christopher Smith (Up ’64)

• David Brackley (SG ’55)

• David Haslam (Sw ’67)

• Ian Golding (Ad ’53)

• John Bradford (SJ ’51)

• John Sunderland (Sw ’42)

• Onome Oyaide (Sc ’93)

• Pat Webb (Hon)

• Philip Wright (In ’58)

• Richard Purkess (Ad ’53)

• Richard Wilding (Be ’50)

• Roger Emery (Sw ’53)

• Roger Rogers (SJ ’55)

• Sheila Dalton (née Gibson, OS ’54)

• Sheila Long (née Weatherill, OS ’43)

• Susan Carling (née Wheatley, ’54)

• Timothy Knight (SJ ’69)