Legendary Wicket

Obituaries

aged 70. Never has Burbage Village Hall been so busy than at his retirement party – there was even overspill into the car park! Despite his retirement, he continued to do locums in the local area up until his late 80s. He also volunteered at the Merchant House in Marlborough and at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, where he was a regular until well into his 90s.

He was always very proud of his association with the College, so much so that he sent two of his sons to follow in his footsteps. He would also make every effort to attend OM Club Day until his failing health prevented him from attending. He died peacefully in Marlborough on 17th December 2020 at the ripe old age of 97 – a life very well lived. Roddy Chisholm Batten (LI 1986-91)

Neil Lockhart

(B1 1939-43)

Lt Col Neil Lockhart, son of General Sir Rob Lockhart KCB CIE MC, was born in Edinburgh on 1st June 1925 and died in Gillingham, Dorset, on 1st May 2020. He was educated at Cargilfield School, Edinburgh and Marlborough College, where he represented the school at Rugby and Cricket. On leaving school in 1943, Neil enlisted at Fort George and went on to pass his War Office Selection Board. Shortly after, he sailed out to India to complete officer training. He joined 1st Battalion The Seaforth Highlanders in October 1944, then part of 23 Indian Division in Burma. Appointed OC 4 Platoon, B Company, Neil returned to India with the Battalion before VJ Day for assault landing training that was then despatched on Operation Zipper to recapture Malaya and Singapore. After a few months, the Battalion was embarked at Port Dickson bound for Batavia, to secure the Dutch East Indies. After about 10 days there, Neil was wounded in an accident. He recovered and rejoined his platoon before, in early 1946, attending the Far East Regular Commissions Board in Singapore. He returned in time to suppress fighting that broke out between the Indonesians and Japanese Forces in West Java. Neil left the Battalion for nine months to be ADC to his father, now GOC Southern Command India. He returned to 1 Seaforth in Dec 1946, to Scotland via Bombay. He then had a succession of training posts at Pinefield Camp in Elgin, near Belfast, Fort George with 1 HLI and the Highland Brigade Training Centre there before it moved to Cameron Barracks.

In 1951, Neil was posted to East Africa Command and joined the Northern Rhodesia Regiment in Lusaka as a training officer and subsequently paymaster – an appointment he held for 24 years until retirement from the Army in 1979. Neil married Audrey at Malabar Hill, near Bombay, in 1947 and had three daughters. On retirement, they settled down in Kington Magna, Dorset, where they were involved with the church and where he taught Scottish Country Dancing – woe betide anyone who was out of step!

Douglas Garrad

(B1 1939-44)

When Douglas Garrad was asked how he felt about spending all his time with children as a headmaster, he said, ‘I don’t see children, I just see people.’ For his family, neighbours and former pupils at Hawford Lodge, which he founded in 1955 and ran for 30 years, this response would come as no surprise. It was this generosity of spirit and belief in children’s abilities that defined his career and long life. Douglas grew up in Myanmar, where his parents worked as Anglican missionaries. The family returned to England when Douglas was seven and he headed off to board at a prep school. He had a miserable time there, and later would recall how these early experiences influenced his vision for a more homely, enjoyable educational environment.

As war broke out, he was sent to Marlborough. He played Hockey for the first XI and trumpet in Brasser. He joined the Navy after school, becoming an officer. When the war ended, he served on minesweepers in the Mediterranean until his return to England in 1947. Douglas studied forestry at Oxford and, in August 1951, he married Mary Ann Willson, whom he had known since childhood. In 1955, the couple opened Hawford Lodge in Worcestershire – a day school in the countryside for boys aged seven to 13, which was a rarity in the independent sector at the time. Starting with 15 boys in the first September, it quickly flourished and was recognised by the Independent Association of Prep Schools in 1959. After 30 years at the helm, Douglas moved on and co-founded what is now TFH

John Worlidge

Special Needs Toys in 1984, designing and manufacturing disability awareness toys for sensory education. The qualities admired by so many in his role as founder and headmaster were also much loved by his four children: Charles (C3 1965-69), Andrew (C3 1967-71), Caroline and Alice, and ten grandchildren, including Florence (LI 2009-14) and Grace Armstrong (LI 2013-15), and four great-grandchildren. Douglas was formidable but kind, sometimes fierce but unfalteringly fair, generous privately and publicly, and held a steadfast belief in the importance of fun.

John Worlidge

(C2 1942-46)

One of the joys of being the Secretary of the Marlburian Club was meeting so many outstanding OMs over the years, one of whom was John Worlidge. An extremely modest man, he excelled at school, and on joining the Royal Engineers for National Service, won the award for best officer in his entry. John then went on to St John’s College, Cambridge, to read Mechanical Sciences and it was here that he took up rowing for the first time. He helped St John’s win Head of the River twice and the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in 1951, the same year he was in the winning Boat Race crew. This eight went on to beat Yale, Harvard, MIT and Boston. 1952 was the year John was selected to represent Great Britain in the Helsinki Olympics – not a bad achievement for someone who had only taken rowing four years previously! In his final year, he took the Larmor Award, for the undergraduate who had contributed most to the College in any one year. After Cambridge, John joined Wiggins Teape, the quality paper manufacturer, effectively applying the principles of teamwork to build a successful management structure when he became Chairman in 1984. He was also appointed a Director of BAT Industries in 1980.

John had a long association with Marlborough College and was elected President of the Marlburian Club in 1986. In 1988, he joined the College Council and was soon appointed Chairman of the Finance Committee, in which role he worked tirelessly on the school’s behalf. He was always immense fun to be with and irrepressible in the company of his two brothers and his three sons. He was also an accomplished sailor and an enthusiastic golfer, possessed of the most-lovely backswing. His life centred around his wife, Margot, to whom he was devoted. Sadly, she suffered from Alzheimer’s; typically, John worked hard to support research into this debilitating disease, setting up and funding the Hunter Centre in Haslemere. In addition, John had a strong Christian faith that underpinned his belief in family and fairness. He was a keen supporter of his local church, where he was Treasurer of the Friends until the age of 90. John lived a great life and gave a lot to this world. It was fitting that he should celebrate his ninetieth birthday at the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, with a wonderful lunch for family and friends – a lovely gesture from a kind and generous gentleman. Martin Evans (CR 1968-2018)

Peter Dunn

(C2 1942-47)

Peter Dunn was a pioneer of perinatal medicine who introduced many innovations and developments that made immense improvements to the care of new-borns: his impact and influence cannot be understated. He introduced the term ‘perinatal medicine’ in 1957 and developed the specialty in the UK and internationally. Under his influence, the perinatal mortality rate fell in England from 30 out of 1,000 births in 1965 to six in 1,000 by 2019. Within three years of his lectureship (the first for this specialty in the world) in Bristol, neonatal mortality fell by 74%. His contributions to perinatal classification systems were central, and he led the establishment of regional neonatal networks; the perinatal mortality in south-west England, where he was based at Bristol University, moved from being the highest for any region in 1980 to the lowest in 1983.