DCS ODs Time Line Nov 2015_Layout 1 13/01/2016 15:38 Page 1
1891 - Following the 1st Past vs Present cricket match, a dinner was held at which it was decided an Old Boys Association should be started. At this dinner the 1st secretary, G.B. Webb was elected.
1891
The First Annual Dinner
Arthur Niemann Smith
1892 - On January 6th the Society met for the first dinner. Tickets cost 5s. As First President Dr Flecker made a speech in which he asked “…the Old Boys to muster in strong force at the school on speech day”.
(Secretary 1899-1906)
At this meeting an important topic of discussion was what to call past pupils… suggestions included Old Closians, Old Dean Closians, Decanians or Decimus Society made up of the initials DCMS. The First football match between the school and Old Boys in December resulted in a win for the school 9-2.
Gerald Bertram Webb (1st Secretary of the OD Society 1891-1894)
1891 - As secretary, Webb was responsible for contacting school leavers from the previous five years. Webb established the Colorado Foundation for Research in Tuberculosis in 1924. This was renamed the Webb Waring Centre at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine following his death in 1948.
1899 - Founding member of the Society. He was credited with reigniting the Society following a lull in activity. He recounted his experience having taken over “I received no Minute Book, no list of members, no constitution or rules or funds - nothing, in fact, except the name…”. 1902 - Membership 150
1895 - The annual subscription was 5s for London members and 2s 6d for country members.
1893 - At the 2nd annual gathering a tie for the Society was chosen of maroon with two narrow white stripes. This was subsequently amended to encompass the Cambridge University ODs black stripe.
George Owen Birch 1912 - To celebrate the ‘coming of age Dinner of the Society’ 20 years in total, a musical programme was included which saw Dr Flecker deliver ‘Come into the garden, Maud’. ODs won the first hockey fixture vs the School (5-4).
E.W. Willett Treasurer (1912-1927, President 1927-28)
The first issue of the school magazine was called The Decanian, however it is not until 1896 the Society formally adopted the name. 1906 - The Cambridge OD Society held a dinner in Deane’s Rooms (St John’s) with Dr and Mrs Flecker as guests. 1906 - Membership 218
Edward Ellam
1912 - Willett worked hard to establish relations between the ODS and the School, a link he felt mutually beneficial and of great importance. Following service in the First World War he resumed his role as Secretary and began revising the rules of the Society.
FOLD
(President 1926-1927)
1914 - On 14th September George Owen Birch OD became the first OD to fall in the Great War, aged 19.
1925 - In March, the 100th edition of the Decanian was issued. In July it was decided that every member of the Society would get a copy henceforth, with a section devoted to the ODS.
1919 - Over 770 ODs joined the armed forces in World War I and 35 are known to have been killed. 1923 - On 1st November dedication of the chapel took place in memory of all those ODs who fell. Mr Ellam read the roll of honour. 1915 - OD subscription is half a crown a year
1926 - In 1891 Ellam arrived at Dean Close and died there in 1941. It was during his Presidency, and due to his commitment, that in 1926 the OD Society donated £2000 to the chapel fund.
1936-1938 - The ODS launched an Endowment Appeal in 1936 to mark the School’s jubilee. The money raised helped support the School through the financially difficult 1930s and the Society continued to provide assistance during the Second World War. Individual gifts from ODs have continued to benefit Dean Close and stand as testimony to the affection of past pupils for the School.
1960 - Annual membership abolished. All boys join as life members paying 6 guineas.
1958 - The first OD newsletter was produced in November.
Ernest Stanley Hoare
H.E. Newnham
(Honorary Treasurer 1927-1963, Honorary Secretary 1927-1957 School Secretary & Registrar 1957-1968, President 1965-66)
(President 1947-1949)
1927 - Arriving as a pupil in 1914, Hoare returned to Dean Close after Cambridge University as a maths and geography teacher. He was Housemaster of Brook and eventually Second Master until his retirement in 1968. He won 35 England Hockey caps and managed the Melbourne GB Olympic Men’s Hockey Team with Denys Carnhill as Captain.
1973 - Membership 2000
1956 - As of January the annual subscription is 10 shillings
1947 - Having returned from Ceylon where he held the highest rank in the treasury, Newnham was elected President and it was under his presidency that regional branches were introduced.
FOLD
1963 - The inaugural OD Dance was held at the Rembrandt Hotel.
1965 - In April R.J.H. Gaunt consented to act as secretary for the new OD Golfing Society.
Mike Girling (Secretary and Registrar 1969-1987)
2016 - The OD Office is in contact with, and arranges events for, 4,000 ODs in 65 countries. The Society remains an integral part of the Dean Close Community.
1969 - As OD Registrar and Secretary of the Endowment Fund, Mike was central to the preparation of the centenary celebrations in 1986. It was his activity during this period that formed the basis of the School Archive Collection to which many ODs have donated.
1970 - Membership stands at 1900 and the first Old Girl, Pamela Rowles, joins the Society.
1966 - Publication of R.F.Neile ODs School History. Price listed as 25s or 27s 6d inc postage.
Richard Padfield (Honorary Secretary, President 20052009, School Secretary and Registrar)
1989 - Richard was charged with updating the full OD register which was completed in 1971 and made available for 25p.
1972 - The Annual Dinner was held at the Majestic Hotel. It marked a departure from tradition as wives attended for the first time and Old Girl, Sue Bowes, was present.
Current President: The Lord Bernard Ribeiro CBE.
2016 2016 - Decanian Online launched January 2016 bringing the history of the School alive. ODs are kept up to date through an annual magazine which is now called The Flecker.