Deaths & Obituaries

He fell in love with the ancient lifestyle of the Maasai, photographing their rituals. He was tasked to pursue Mau Mau rebels, but never caught them. He adopted a lion cub, got boils from riding camels, and read the Riot Act in Kenya’s wild northern frontier-land.

Hugh liked ‘wild and woolly’ places and was not unhappy to be posted next to the Aden Insurgency. He supplied favoured Yemeni tribes with guns, ammunition and silver Maria Theresa dollars, surviving assassination threats and escaping Aden just one week before his successor was blown up by a bomb placed in a plane. ‘There but for the grace of God went I’, he once told me; ‘it was shocking’.

He decided to leave the colonial service, which he loved for its open air life in untamed places. He had disagreed with some decisions taken by his superiors, and later in life wrote bitterly about how the British government broke its promises to Kenya’s Somali population that they would be allowed to secede after Kenyan independence.

Talking to me later, he admitted that colonialism could be seen as a ‘huge disaster’, but he still believed British rule gave many countries a structure and stability from which they benefited then, and even today.

In the 1970s, he headed the BBC’s Somali Service and then moved to Hong Kong as a civil administrator.

In 1982, a long letter arrived from a woman called Deirdre, my mother. She told him, gently, she was his sister, and he had another sister, Audrey. Deirdre had tracked down her birth mother who confessed there were three siblings. Hugh flew over from Hong Kong and we were able to meet and offer him the family love he had never known. My mother and aunt were with him at Buckingham Palace when he was awarded the MBE.

He eventually retired to Sherborne in Dorset, and married the artist Anne Moorse whom he had first met in Aden, living a happy life with her extended family. (PH/SH 44-48)

ROSS, Michael Ian (Ian)

Died on 18 January 2020, aged 89. (SH 45-50)

GARNETT, Robin Miles

Died in Zimbabwe on 16 December 2020, aged 88. (HS 46-50)

NATHAN, Bruce

Died on 5 February 2020, aged 88, after a short illness. (SH 47-50)

GARDNER, Christopher

Died on 13 June 2019, aged 85. (PH 47-52)

KITCHING, John

Died after a short illness on 27 December 2020, aged 85. Distinguished Past President of the OTS, he will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.

The following obituary was written by Robert Lisvane (SH 63-68)

With the death of John Kitching on 27 December 2020 the School, Trinity Hall and the Skinners’ Company have lost a faithful friend, advocate and supporter; his widow Aline and his children Dodo, Johnny, Nicola and Hélène a kindly, generous and beloved husband and father; and a world-wide circle of friends a delightful companion.

John was born on 10 December 1934 in Colombo, Ceylon (as it then was). He went to a boarding school in Nuwara Eliya and then, aged 10, travelled to England to go to Brunswick School and then to Tonbridge, to Manor House. His sporting and academic career at Tonbridge was stellar: he was in the XI, the XV, the Hockey XI, and also in first teams for athletics and squash. He was successively Head of House and Head of the School; and he won a scholarship to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. No wonder that several of his Tonbridge contemporaries describe him as “an Olympian figure”.

John’s National Service was spent in the Royal Air Force (where he made lifelong friends), first at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey in Lincolnshire, where he was appointed Senior Cadet and became one of 20 Acting Pilot Officers selected for pilot training in Canada. At RCAF Penhold in Alberta John trained on Harvards (making many friends among the cosmopolitan course) and then graduated to the T33 Silver Star jet aircraft. He was awarded his Wings in February 1955, returned to the UK and trained on Meteor IVs at RAF Driffield, followed by a course at RAF Pembrey battle school flying Vampire Vs. He continued as a Flying Officer in the RAAF until the Auxiliary Squadrons were disbanded in 1957.

At Cambridge, as well as being an all-round sportsman and scholar (he described himself as reading “athletics and history, in roughly that order”) it was in athletics that he excelled, gaining an athletics Blue and coming first in the high jump in the 1957 Varsity Match and second in the javelin (reversing those places in the following year’s Match). He was a member of the combined Oxford and Cambridge athletics team which toured the USA in 1957, and he

won the javelin in matches against Harvard & Yale, and Penn & Cornell. Ranked No 1 in the UK with the javelin, he represented England at the Commonwealth Games in both javelin and high jump.

After Cambridge, he went on a Harkness Scholarship to Stanford Business School. He married Anne Healey and came back to the UK to work for McKinsey and then Standard Telephones, specialising in take-overs. With his young family he went to Harvard Business School, took an MBA and published articles in Harvard Business Review, which he continued to do over succeeding years. He ran the Boston Consulting Group and following his divorce worked in Monaco, turning round failing companies; and then set up as an independent consultant. During a year’s Fellowship at the Wissenschaftzentrum in Berlin he wrote a book describing, as he put it, “why takeovers don’t work”; and he lectured at Davos. He met his future wife Aline (a Professor of Spanish Literature at the Sorbonne) on the Côte d’Azur. As he said: “The romance covered Berlin, Paris and London, and we finally settled down in the 16me arrondissement”.

His consulting career was extensive, including the flotation of Abbey National, biotechnology development for Monsanto, and a number of highly successful venture capital initiatives.

It was typical of John that he should give his loyalty, time and effort to the institutions that had figured in his life. He was a Governor of Tonbridge during the greatest building programme since Victorian times, and as a member of the School’s Foundation Board he injected energy and expertise into fundraising, and later was a great supporter of the move of the Old Tonbridgian Society from its venerable role to a much closer engagement between the OTs and the School. He was an enthusiastic and active President of the OTs, always making time to come over from Paris for School events.

He was an enthusiastic Skinner and frequent attender at Company events. He joined the Livery in 1969 and served as an Extra Member of the Court 1991-94. He was a robust but constructive critic of the Company’s investment policies (and of “year-on-year” as a measure of performance); and when I was Master he asked me to guess the present value of a £1,000 endowment given by my predecessor in 1350 (at 2 ½ % compound interest). I fell well short of the answer: £14.217 billion…

At Trinity Hall he was Chairman of the Development Board, spearheading an immensely successful fund-raising campaign, as well as acting as adviser to successive Masters.

John was the most hospitable of men. He was a staunch member of Brooks’s, and at lunch there the conversation would range far and wide, always with John’s astute observations and insights on an extraordinary range of topics. He had the rare skill of resuming a conversation months or years later with the impression that only a few minutes had passed. And he maintained his enthusiasms and passions – one of which was improving the life chances of the young – long after lesser men would have hung up their ambitions.

Those who knew John Kitching will have counted it a privilege. He was a man of generosity, humanity, wisdom, imagination – and humility: his autobiographical note for one grand Cambridge occasion was headed Apologia pro vita sua. We are the richer for having known him, and the poorer for having lost him. (MH 48-53)

LEWIS, John David (David)

Died in February 2021, shortly before his 86th birthday. David had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease in recent years but passed away from natural causes. A true gentleman who will be sadly missed. (PS 48-53)

FLEETWOOD, Colin Stuart

Died peacefully on 30 December 2020, aged 85. Much loved and sorely missed by all his family and friends: Jonathan (MH 81-86), Andrew (MH 83-88), Tim (MH 86-91) (JH 48-53)

THROWER, Harold Rayner

Died peacefully at home on 26 September 2020, aged 84. Adored husband, father and grandpa. (Sc 49-54)

BATEMAN, Christopher Norman Rea, Lt Col OBE (Chris)

Died on 18 August 2020, aged 85. (Sc 49-53)

de St CROIX, John, Lt-Cmdr

Died on 28 April 2020, aged 83. (PH 49-52)

MOSS, John Newton

Died peacefully on 3 January 2020, aged 83, after having pancreatic cancer and dementia. (JH 49-54)

BOWEN, Simon

Died on 27 July 2019, after he lost his battle with cancer at the age of 83. (Sc 49-52)

MILNER SMITH QC, His Honour Colin

Died on 10 July 2020, aged 83, in Teddington, London. Graduate of Brasenose, Oxford and Chicago Law School. Cricketer extraordinaire (Old Tonbridgians, Yellowhammers, Band of Brothers, Limpsfield CC) well into his 70s. His wit, intellect and kindness will be sadly missed by his family and friends. There will be a private funeral.

The following obituary appeared in the Times on Wednesday August 26 2020.

Colin Milner Smith, QC, was born on November 2, 1936. He died of the effects of strokes and dementia on July 10, 2020, aged 83.

Judge and commercial silk who played backgammon with Roger Moore and once outscored Colin Cowdrey at cricket.

Although a high-minded and studious commercial lawyer, Colin Milner Smith, QC, derived his greatest pleasure from his sporting pursuits. While representing the producers of the James Bond films, he was particularly chuffed to play Roger Moore, 007 himself, at backgammon. He obtained even greater satisfaction through outscoring the England batsman Colin Cowdrey in the final of a cricket competition.

The demands of advocacy and, later, of a circuit judge, were not permitted to interfere with his love of games, particularly cricket. Milner Smith had followed Cowdrey to Tonbridge School and to Brasenose College, Oxford, as an exhibitioner, but had been prevented from gaining a Blue by the presence of another England cricketer in the making, Alan Smith. He was no relation but was a fellow wicketkeeper.

Hence Milner Smith played in just one first-class match, in 1958, while his namesake was taking an exam. Far from being deflated, he continued to keep wicket for a variety of clubs into his seventies. Weekends were sacrosanct: if he was not behind the stumps he was in the pavilion at Lord’s, where he knew any number of MCC members.

He outscored Cowdrey, one of England’s finest batsmen, for Old Tonbridgians in the final of the Cricketer Cup in 1972. He made 90 and Cowdrey 49 in a victory over Old Malvernians. The reward for the winners was to be flown to Epernay when the sponsors of the competition were Moët & Chandon Milner Smith’s brother, Martin, the more gregarious of the two (obituary, April 29, 2017) drank so much champagne after another victory in 1984 that he was unable to give his speech at the celebratory lunch at Château de Saran, amusing himself by urinating into the hat of the portentous cricket writer EW Swanton, who had left it on a peg outside the dining room. Fortunately for him, his hosts did not notice as one brother stood in for the other.

Colin Milner Smith was the son of Alan Milner Smith, a lawyer who became town clerk of Lewisham in south London, and Vera (née Cannon). He grew up in Otford, Kent, and excelled at sport and academia at Tonbridge. In his two subsequent years of National Service a relaxed existence of drinking gin gimlets in Malta was followed by the grim task of being in charge of a marine landing boat during the Suez crisis, picking up injured commandos under fire. “He combined a touch of lunacy with utter charm,” his friend Ted Rose said. “Fancy electing to join the Royal Marines, then later being renowned as the most polite judge on his circuit.”

Alan Smith, who was in the same college at Oxford and who was to become chief executive of the Test and County Cricket Board, recalled Milner Smith as “a very nice chap” but surprisingly they never discussed the art of wicketkeeping. In his one first-class appearance, in the Parks against Sussex, Milner Smith brought off a stumping and was twice dismissed cheaply. Much of the rest of his time was spent reading history and then studying law, in which he got an upper second, and wearing a brown tailcoat in the Phoenix, believed to be the oldest of the Oxford dining clubs.

He then attended University of Chicago Law School. “My father always said it was an exciting time to be in America,” said his son, Alexander. “Kennedy had just been elected and there was a school of thought developing among lawyers which was to influence some of the president’s key advisers. By the time he returned to Britain, the Swinging Sixties had begun and my mother was part of that scene.” He met her through gatecrashing a party in Notting Hill.

Milner Smith became a circuit judge in 1991 A contemporary who became a close friend when he worked in the Middle Temple was Tony Blair’s brother, William, who is Alexander’s godfather. Several decades later, Milner Smith would be invited to Chequers. He would be predominantly a commercial silk — he met Moore through acting for Eon Productions over a dispute when a rival James Bond film, Never Say Never Again, was released in the early 1980s — before becoming a circuit judge in 1991. He wrote books concerned with the laws on gaming and betting.

Milner Smith was sensitive to any criticism in the press for being too lenient in sentencing criminals. “He would make every effort to prevent defendants from having to deal with sneaky questions,” said Alexander. “And he was prepared to be flown into the Maze in

Northern Ireland to do internment without trial hearings. A lot of people didn’t want to do that.”

He could always escape to a cricket ground or to another favourite venue, Glyndebourne for the opera. As well as attending matches at Lord’s, he was a keen supporter of Kent and would watch them at Canterbury. Among the other clubs he played for was Limpsfield on the border of Kent and Surrey, for which he was to score more than 20,000 runs. He arrived late for one Limpsfield Strollers’ tour of the West Country when he was supposed to be opening the batting and was out first ball but then propped up the bar until closing time.

“Colin played both days every weekend, three if it included a bank holiday, yet still contrived to appear in court on Monday mornings, evidently in complete control of his brief. Extraordinary really,” said Rose. The only time this seemed a problem was when he was hit on the nose by a ball and was worried about his starring image. In the days before drink-driving restrictions, he would race home in his little white sports car late in the evening. “On one occasion, he took great delight in relating that the police had to admit in court that they had been unable to keep up.”

Milner Smith married, in Gray’s Inn Chapel in 1979, Moira Braybrooke, the daughter of Contessa Teresa Marcello Stopponi, who was the first public relations representative for Laura Ashley, having been taken on initially as a shop manageress. According to Laura Ashley: A Life By Design she had “style, good looks and an exotic family background”. They made their home in Wimbledon and had two children: Alexander, who became a lawyer, and Camilla, a doctor. Moira died last year.

Milner Smith and his brother were nothing if not competitive. “My father was extremely generous with his time but parsimonious by nature,” said Alexander. “If he could find a suit for £6, he would buy it. When Martin staged a party once, my father told him he had found the “champers deal of the century” and would bring this with him — only what he had in mind was not champagne but “Shampa” (Sovetskoe Shampanskoye, which was cheap sparkling wine from the Soviet Union). Generally they got on well but Martin took this very poorly. There was always a bit of needle about who was the better cricketer.” (MH 50-55)

COTTRALL, Malcolm Frederick, Dr

Died on 27 May 2020, aged 84. Beloved husband of Khursheed and father to Simon and Yasmeen. (HS 50-54)

ELVY, Roger Thomas

Died on 10 May 2020, aged 82. (Sc 50-54)

PETTMAN, Marcus Edward Frank

Died on 29 December 2020, aged 83, after a long illness with Cancer and Covid-19. (SH 50-55)

MOORE, Richard Hugh

Died peacefully on 24 October 2017, aged 80, after a prolonged illness. (SH 50-55)

COBB, Peter George

Died on 6 September 2020, aged 83. (MH 50-55)

UNDERWOOD, Richard Henry

Died peacefully in Ipswich Hospital on 27 April 2020, aged 83. Husband of Jane and father of Susan and Joanne. (JH 51-55)

LUCKHURST, Timothy Anderson

Died on 28 July 2018, aged 80.

The following obituary was written by his brother, David (SH 48-52)

Died on 28 July 2018, aged 80. Brother to David (SH 1948 - 1952). Born in Sevenoaks, he left Tonbridge early when the family moved away, later graduating in Agricultural Science at Reading University. He then taught science at Harlow College and worked as a geneticist in a poultry business. In 1965 with his first wife and three children he emigrated to Australia where he was to spend the rest of his life. Continuing his involvement with poultry, in a number of locations and managerial positions, he finished his career as CEO of the New South Wales Chicken Growers Association. In 1975 he remarried, finally moving to Bowral SW of Sydney, a town closely associated with the famed cricketer Don Bradman. His principal recreations were property renovation (doing much of the work himself) and foreign travel in Asia and Europe, allegedly visiting 26 countries, many more than once. In later life he was plagued with a number of illness involving spells in hospital from a variety of causes, finally dying of smoking related cancer. As well as his wife, three children and three stepchildren, he leaves behind seven grandchildren, one stepgrandchild and four great-grandchildren. (SH 51-53)

WINNIFRITH, Tom John

Died in November 2020, aged 82. (SH 51-56)

The following obituary was written by Tabitha Gilchrist and appeared in The Guardian

Tom Winnifrith was an unorthodox lecturer. On one occasion he took classics students to his allotment,

My father, Tom Winnifrith, who has died aged 82, was an academic who was instrumental in founding the department of classics at Warwick University and inspired generations of students in their love of classics and English literature.

Born in London to John Winnifrith, a civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture who became director general of the National Trust, and his wife, Lesbia (nee Cochrane), he grew up in Edenbridge, Kent, and attended Tonbridge school. He was a classics scholar at Christchurch, Oxford, graduating in 1960.

After teaching at Emanuel School, Wandsworth (1960-1961), and Eton (1961-66), he returned to academic studies at Oxford, undertaking a BPhil in 19th century literature, and Liverpool University, where his doctoral thesis on the Brontës (later published as The Brontës and their Background) made scholars aware that some primary sources were untrustworthy because of careless editing.

In 1967 he married Joanna Booker, and three years later was appointed a lecturer in English and comparative literary studies at Warwick University. His research interests expanded to include the Vlachs, a nomadic Balkan race who spoke a Latinate language. On trips to remote villages, he befriended them, learned about their history and language and helped give them a national identity.

At Warwick he became the driving force behind the development of a new department of classics which opened in 1976, and which thrives today. He not only felt that studying classics should be possible for those without traditional classical schooling, but was also a strong promoter of the arts and humanities in an increasingly technological world. He continued to teach both classics and English until retirement.

He was popular with students thanks to his amusing lectures and unorthodox approach, exemplified by a visit to his allotment to illustrate Virgil’s Georgics. His outspoken criticism of sloppy thinking, poor grammar and philistinism did not always endear him to colleagues.

Simultaneously, he was bravely facing the challenges of bringing up three young children alone, after Joanna took her own life in 1976. Things at home were far from conventional; order was lacking, but the clues in birthday treasure hunts were written in Latin rhyming couplets, and his contributions to a game of Consequences consisted entirely of quotations from Wuthering Heights.

A reacquaintance with a cousin, Helen Norton, in 1987, resulted in marriage and a move to Shipstonon-Stour, Warwickshire.

He retired in 1998, and with Helen enjoyed travel, opera, church and community life and his grandchildren.

His Christian faith appeared unshaken despite the difficulties of his life, and underpinned his courage, sense of justice and abhorrence of vanity.

Helen died in 2016. He is survived by his children, Tom, Naomi and me, his stepchildren, Tallulah, Tom and Felicity, and by 18 grandchildren. (SH 51-56)

HALL, Simon Robert Dawson

Died on 22 January 2021, aged 82. Beloved husband of Jenny, much loved by his sons Stephen and Andrew, and Grandpa to Alexander, Guy, Stephanie, Taylor and Robin. (WH 51-56)

MONSON, Barry Edward Philip

Died on 23 January 2021, aged 84. (WH 51-56)

CARDWELL, Anthony Bruce (Tony)

Anthony (Tone the Bone) Cardwell, 1938-2020. Musician (New Orleans trombone), Teacher (Bethany School), Historian (local archaeology), Author (books: Limen and From Acorn to Oak Tree, history of Bethany School), Thatcher, Philosopher and true gentleman, died peacefully on 26 June 2020. He is survived by wife Maggy, children James and Joanna, grandchildren Felix, Rosie and Bo and will be sadly missed. (SH 51-57)

MACKINTOSH, John Ian Hamilton (Ian)

Died on 22 January 2021, aged 80. Head of School, Tennis VI (Capt.), Rugby 1st XV. A dedicated member of the OT Golf Society, Ian was one of the longest serving and most consistent attendees at OTGS events. He was also a keen angler. Husband to Victoria, father to Alex, Juliet, Evelyn and Henry (Sc 96-01) and grandfather. An exceptional man who will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.

Obituary written by Peter Aspbury, David Evans (Sc 53-58), Michael Noël-Clarke (Sc 53-58) and Richard Stocks (Sc 53-58)

John Ian Hamilton Mackintosh, born in Scotland, 3 March 1940, died peacefully at home on January 22 2021. Ian’s father died in 1945 in Istanbul where he was serving as a clandestine British intelligence officer and Ian was raised with his older sister, Sarah after the war by his mother, Betty Goldie, and grandmother: first in Sunningdale, moving later to Tunbridge Wells. It was his mother who introduced him to golf in Scotland, where, under 5, he could hit the ball 50 yards and later, to fishing.

Ian was to become a high flyer known for his wit and intellect and won the top scholarship to Tonbridge, where he flourished, not just in his studies, where he ended top of his class but also in sport, becoming Captain of Tennis and capped for the Rugby XV. He was also musical and totally at home on the piano, which he played effortlessly by ear. He was an accompanist at School House prayers and hymns and with an excellent voice, his command was such that he conducted the “House Shout” with aplomb. But he did have the odd brush with authority; once, when in the Combined Cadet Force, he loosed off a blank round on exercise without orders, terrifying an Officer and was summarily “court-martialled” and dismissed!

However, such was Ian’s calibre as he progressed through Tonbridge, that he received the distinction of appointment to Head of School in his final year.

After a gap year he entered Clare College, his father’s alma mater, as an academic scholar but the lures of golf and angling followed, as did an early demotion from Scholar to Exhibitioner. Nevertheless he graduated in 1961 and seldom, if ever, disabused an interviewer impressed by the dual distinctions of Scholar and Exhibitioner on his CV. After Cambridge Ian embarked on a career in the City with Schroders, as a merchant banker and shared a flat in Manchester Street with fellow OTs. It is reported that many evenings were had, with curries, singsongs, Ian on keyboard and jolly girls from flats above!

On a trip to Verbier in Switzerland, in his late twenties, he fell for a young American lady from New York, Victoria Cobb, “Vicky” to friends and family, proposing in Rome a few months later and marrying in 1970. Initially living in Paris (Ian was a fluent linguist) they moved with his career through London, Beirut and Athens and back to London, when he acquired a weekend house in Hampshire. Along the way their first three children were born, Alex, Juliet and then Evelyn.

In 1982 Ian landed a dream assignment, a banking job in New York, where the family welcomed the arrival of a son, Henry, in 1983. They loved Manhattan, the sea and availability of the Catskill rivers and he joined the Anglers Club there. Such was his enthusiasm for fishing that Ian and his young son once boarded the ferry in Lower Manhattan and disembarking, with rod and tackle in hand, made their way to the water’s edge where Ian began to cast in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. To Henry’s mortification, the National Park Rangers arrived, were not amused and abruptly terminated this experiment!

Returning eventually to the UK, the family settled in Alresford close to Ian’s beloved chalk streams and its golf club. He joined an angling syndicate on the nearby River Itchen, with its brown trout and grayling. Caring deeply about the fragility of the chalk stream ecosystem, he fought hard to protect it. He was particularly proud of the advisory work he and a friend contributed to the restoration of habitat on a stretch of the river, rewarded by a growing population of fish and even of salmon redds.

As an accomplished golfer, he renewed playing with the OTGS and was a popular attendee and team member for many years. On one occasion he was summoned, very early from his bed, to stand in for an injured player in the play-off for the Senior Bernard Darwin Trophy. Tonbridge won! In recent years he was a member of no less than 5 golf clubs, including Rye, Porthcawl and Knole Park: Ian did nothing by half!

Despite his losing a leg in 2020, he had hopes of a return, first to fishing and to golf in 2021, such was his determination: indeed, his electric buggy was held ready for action at the end of lockdown. Sadly, golf was not to be but he did catch a last fish, a 5lb grilse in September 2020, his angling finale.

His health problems though in no way deterred him. With everlasting support from his wife and family, his deep Christian faith, his positive attitude, his self-deprecating charm, his sense of humour, his love of family and life in all its forms never dimmed. He is survived by Victoria, his wife of almost 51 years, their daughters, Alexandra, Juliet, Evelyn, their son, Henry (OT Sc. 96-01) and four granddaughters. He will be much missed by his family and a multitude of friends but never forgotten. (Sc 53-58)

SEVERIN, Tim

Died on 19th December 2020, aged 80.

Source: The Telegraph Obituaries, posted on 19 December 2020

Tim Severin, explorer who retraced the journeys of Ulysses and Genghis Khan: Obituary

In his most famous expedition he crossed the Atlantic in the wake of St Brendan the Navigator in a 36-ft wooden ox-hide covered currach.

Tim Severin, the explorer, who has died aged 80, made his name in a highly specialised niche of travel literature: retracing epic journeys made by historical and mythological figures.

Inspired by the voyages of his hero Thor Heyerdahl, Severin’s “replica journeys” included riding through Europe along the route of the first Crusade; captaining an Arab sailing ship from Muscat to China to investigate the legend of Sinbad the Sailor; steering a replica of a Bronze Age galley to trace the Mediterranean journeys of Jason and Ulysses; galloping across Mongolia on horseback in search of Genghis Khan, and sailing the Pacific on a bamboo raft to test the theory that ancient Chinese mariners could have reached the west coast of America several hundred years before the birth of Christ.

His most famous expedition, and the subject of his bestseller The Brendan Voyage (1979), involved sailing a 36-foot wooden ox-hide covered currach, a traditional Irish boat handcrafted using traditional tools, across the Atlantic in the wake of St Brendan the Navigator, an Irish monk who is believed to have established monasteries across northern Europe during the 6th century and is reputed to have discovered North America.

The voyage, in 1976, took Severin from the Dingle peninsula in Ireland to Newfoundland, via the Hebrides and Iceland, during which the boat dodged circling killer whales (Brendan’s “sea monsters”, Severin surmised) and was punctured by pack ice. As a reviewer observed in National Geographic, “you begin to wonder whether Severin is out of his mind. Few modern yachts would attempt this route so how on earth would a boat made out of medieval materials and using medieval technology complete the journey?”

Yet, after several false starts, Severin did complete it, and he concluded that the Irish monks of the 6th century had the technology to reach America. Moreover many of the natural wonders described by St Brendan (the “Island of Sheep”, the “Paradise of Birds”, “pillars of crystal”, “mountains that hurled rocks” at voyagers) had their counterparts in the real world.

Severin published an impressive collection of books, but his formula varied little. His travelling arrangements replicated historic accounts as closely as possible, and the resulting books were collages of previous writings on the subject and Severin’s own experiences.

Outside the ranks of travel writing connoisseurs, however, Severin was little known because he refused to play up to expectations. Interviewers expecting the explorer’s rugged features and shaggy locks were surprised by his dapper, upper middle-class English grooming, his tweed jackets and cravats – “more captain of the golf club than Sir Ranulph Fiennes” as one observed.

Naturally reticent, in his writing Severin tended to stick to his theme rather than indulge in agonised Ellen MacArthur-style tussles with his own psyche. In the films he made of his journeys he remained steadfastly behind the camera.

This approach may have cost him popular fame, but his well-crafted writing and academic sure-footedness won him a fan club of seriousminded readers- as well as a slew of awards, including both the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society and the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Giles Timothy Severin was born on September 25 1940 in Jorhat, Assam, India, where his father was a tea planter. He was the fourth generation of his family to be born in India, and at the age of six, like other “colonial brats” he was sent “home” to boarding school in England. But he never felt that England was home and the romance of travel always held an allure. At Tonbridge School, he devoured adventure stories in the school library and won a scholarship to Keble College, Oxford to read Geography.

His adventures began when he and a couple of student friends (one of them was Stanley Johnson, father of Boris) took off on motor bikes across central Asia, with the aim of retracing Marco Polo’s journey to Cathay. The plan was that one of Severin’s friends would write a book about the journey, but when it was rejected Severin himself was approached by a publisher. His book, Tracking Marco Polo, was published in 1964 to favourable reviews, one critic praising its “entrancing blend of hilarity and high adventure, chaos and revelation”.

He went on to combine graduate work as a Commonwealth fellow in the United States with two further books based on the history of exploration – one on the Mississippi, another on the Caribbean.

In the early 1970s Severin moved to west Cork, Ireland, because “it was the only place I could afford”. He remained there for the rest of his life, subsidising his adventures by renting out holiday cottages and making television documentaries.

Oddly, perhaps, given the rickety character of the vessels on which he plied the oceans, it was

Severin’s land-based travels that proved the most hazardous. After he mounted the saddle in 1987 to relive the 11th Century Christian crusades that took 100,000 European knights and pilgrims across 16 countries to conquer Jerusalem, he and his horses were hit by an army truck, buzzed by a military helicopter, stoned by children, covered in boils and gashed in accidents.

Moreover as one reviewer pointed out, in emulating the assault of the Infidel on the Holy Places, Severin was blithely risking the wrath of every Islamic militant in the world.

Severin’s earlier voyages captured the imagination, but some felt that his later adventures – such as sailing in the tracks of the Pequod in search of Moby Dick or searching for the “real” Robinson Crusoe (not Alexander Selkirk, Severin claimed, but a ship’s surgeon called Henry Pitman) – were more gimmicky and less scientifically useful.

Eventually Severin decided to turn some of his adventures into fiction and embarked on a new phase of his career as an author of historical novels. His first fictional efforts, the Viking trilogy, were set in the Norse world of the 11th century, with a hero called Thorgils who travels from Byzantium to the shores of America, surviving the battle of Clontarf and other historical engagements. Another series was set in the 17th century and focused on the exploits of a half-Irish, half-Spanish hero, Hector Lynch.

Tim Severin married, in 1966, Dorothy Sherman, but the marriage was dissolved. He is survived by his second wife Dee and by a daughter from his first marriage.

Tim Severin, born September 25 1940, died December 18 2020 (MH 54-57)

HOGBEN, Michael Anthony

Died on 26 July 2020, aged 78. Michael passed away after a short illness. (Sc 55-60)

MACFARLAN, John Donald Cameron

Died on 1 March 2020. (JH 58-62)

HANDFORD, Michael Harold

Died unexpectedly but peacefully in May 2020. (SH 58-63)

CRAVEN, Timothy John

Died on 5 November 2020 aged 74, after a courageous battle with vascular dementia. (JH 59-63)

HORNSBY, Nicholas John

Died peacefully at home in Cape Town on Sunday 6th September 2020, aged 73, after many years of disability cheerfully borne. Dearly loved and missed by his wife Anita, sons Alex, Freddy and Philip, sister Gia Selmon and nephews Thomas and Guy. Nick Hornsby came to Ferox Hall in 1962. He led an active and fully rounded life at Tonbridge, enjoying everything and making his mark in many ways. He was selected for the Ist XV for three years as a prop forward. He was also a member of the Athena Society and enjoyed taking on roles in senior school plays. It was as an oarsman, however, that he was perhaps the most celebrated. Rowing was his main sport. He was Captain of the Tonbridge Boat Club and when he went up to Cambridge his rowing career flourished.

The tribute below was written by Patrick Delafield, who was Nick’s oldest friend

Nick came up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in the Michaelmas Term of 1966 and established himself immediately as one of the most affable and goodhumoured men one could possibly hope to meet. Built like a buffalo and weighing in at something between 14 and 15 stones he was soon making a name for himself on the river and was promptly selected for the CUBC Trial Vlll’s. Memory fails me as to whether he won the Trial Vlll’s race of 1966, but he was immediately thereafter selected for the CUBC squad for the 1967 Boat Race. We were delighted to have him in the boat.

As (bad) luck would have it we (Cambridge) contrived to come second in the 1967 Boat Race which was, as it happened, the third element of the first Oxford hat-trick since the First World War. The collective vow to remedy this lamentable state of affairs could be heard aloud as we crossed the finish line and, with four of us returning to Cambridge the following year we had the nucleus upon which to build our revenge.

Cambridge won the 1968 Boat Race with a comfortable margin. We won the Isis v. Goldie Race as well. We went on to repeat this feat in each of the next 5 years giving us the memorable “double, double hat-trick” and Nick was a massively important physical and mental contributor to the first two years of those six. His outstandingly good nature, cool temperament, physical power and all-round

good-oarsmanship were an example to all. He stood for the Presidency of the Cambridge University Boat Club for 1969 but was beaten a short canvas by Bob Winckless under whose driving determination the Cambridge Crew of 1969 went on to win in style, as the film will clearly avouch.

I never knew what Nick actually read at Cambridge - or at least I can’t recall for it’s over half a century ago. I’m sure he got an admirable degree. He certainly got a Triple First on the river.

We went on rowing together after Cambridge. Nick was a member of London Rowing Club, but he moved his attentions to the Tideway Scullers and we had some truly memorable international events in which we both competed. Our exertions in celebration of the completion of these brilliant events around the European Rowing circuit were every bit as admirable as what happened on the water- as many a European brewer would nostalgically confirm. We rowed in the GB VIII in Copenhagen for the 1971 European Championships where our lack of racing achievement was more than made up for by our enthusiastic embracing of the Copenhagen atmosphere - notably the products of a local brewery company called Carlsberg (after the racing, of course).

The 1972 Munich Olympics were the next major international event, but I don’t think Nick quite made the selection. The selectors decided, in their unquestionable wisdom, not to send an VIII, otherwise he would surely have been in it. He should have been there, but that’s life. In any event one’s rowing career was inevitably foreshortened in those days by the simple, stark reality of having to earn a living. There was no subsidy. We had to cover all our own expenses, except travel to international competitions and, I suppose it’s obvious, employers required their employees to earn their wages.

Nick was elected a member of The Archetypals, a colourful group of Cambridge oarsmen who have demonstrated outstanding rowing ability, brilliant character and geniality and the ability to know, from remarkable experience, that Rowing, universally recognised as by far the most physiologically demanding sport of all is, after all, a physical pastime best enjoyed in the company of good friends on the bank with a glass in one’s hand. Nick was a veritable Champion of the Thames, as any Cambridge King Street Runner would tell you...................................... (FH 60-65)

DENHAM, Tim Maurice

Sadly passed away in his 74th year on 8 April 2021. Tim was a dedicated member of the OT Community, he spent many years as the Secretary of the Old Tonbridgian Society, and was honoured with Vice Presidency for his outstanding commitment. Tim was spoken of with warmth and affection by other OTs and was known for his wit and humour, he will be sadly missed. The following obituary was provided by Phillip Roberts (Sc 62-66).

The last time Tim Denham trod the boards was 20 years ago when he joined a dozen equally unlikely chanteurs in a Chelsea Arts Club review – clasping green carnations and singing Coward’s “Mad about the Boy”. In doubtful taste? Perhaps – but Tim was never one to conform despite appearances to the contrary.

Tim Denham who died in April at the age of 74 was in many ways an unlikely – albeit successful – accountant. At Tonbridge – in Park House between 1960 and 1965 – he embraced the theatrical side of life. He was the First Gentleman in King Lear (produced by Jeffrey Summers and Vernon Hedley Jones), Fabian in Twelfth Night, Roderigo in Othello and he produced Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer. He came from an acting family – his father (at Tonbridge in the 1920’s) was Maurice Denham who was a fine character actor and who had made his name in radio comedy appearing in ITMA and Much Binding in the Marsh.

Tim was articled to Smith & Williamson in the City and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in November, 1970. He joined Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners who were consulting civil engineers and then subsequently spent the rest of his working life between Woodsford – a family finance consultancy business – and variously in separate roles as Finance and Managing Director with the British American Drama Academy based in Regent’s Park. This proved an ideal existence; it meant Tim could exercise financial oversight running a busy artistic college within an atmosphere of congenial theatricality. He subsequently became involved with kindred charitable organisations including the Actors’ Charitable Trust and with Denville Hall, the retirement home for those in the acting profession where he was a Trustee.

Tim immersed himself in his work; so it must have taken a huge amount of effort – and juggled responsibilities – when he then also took on the role of OT Secretary – at that time, effectively the Chief Executive of the Society – in 1982 after the death of Colin Schooling. He held this post until November, 2002 when he was succeeded by Peter Morris and then by John Gibbs. There were few weekends when Tim didn’t visit the School – for matches, for concerts and reunions as well as liaison with Headmaster and

staff. As always Tim’s sense of commitment meant that he threw himself wholeheartedly into this role. When Tim took over the post as Secretary, the Society was more of a record-keeping organisation and hardly proactive as regards the needs of OTs – real or perceived. Tim was instrumental in modernising the organisation while working closely with the Presidents during his tenure – including Colin Cowdrey, David Kemp and Anthony Hudson.

Tim used to take a few weeks off each year to travel – and he fell in love with India. Indeed he was so smitten he decided he would like to spend some months there each year with the possibility of living there full time during his retirement. After much research he found what he believed would be the ideal spot – just outside Delhi. But it was not to be; the challenge of acquiring the property and the huge effort in dealing with improvements and furnishings meant it was never ready for his occupation.

Despite Tim’s gregarious nature and disarmingly warm personality, he proved to be a very private person whose daily existence was compartmentalised to a high degree. Friends and colleagues from one sector of his life were not encouraged to mix with those involved in other areas. He wished his divided life to remain separate in each particular facet of what he did in a very definite way.

Notwithstanding – or perhaps because of – these sometimes keenly defined parts of his routine – he led a fulfilled life. He was always charming company with a ready wit and an arch humour. Sometimes he came across as serious but there was always mischief lurking beneath. Under Prospero there was always Puck. No question, he was sometimes sharp of tongue and did not always suffer fools – but he loved an argument and had the softest of hearts despite the carefully constructed carapace he built for himself. We will miss the gregariousness that shone through and the friendships engendered. The Tonbridge community is the poorer for losing a loyal and dedicated friend, supporter and servant. (PH 60-65)

KEEVIL, Julian

Died suddenly on 18 September 2020, aged 72.

The following obituary was published by City of London College.

Julian Keevil, of Manakin-Sabot, Va., died suddenly on September 18, 2020. Julian was born May 24, 1948, in London, England, to Olwen and Clement Keevil. Julian was a graduate of Tonbridge School and attended City of London College and the University of Dijon.

He was a lieutenant in the Royal Marine Reserve, where he served proudly for four years. In September of 1973, he was married to Mary Tayloe Harrison of Old Brookville N.Y. In 1977, the Keevils settled in Manakin-Sabot, Va. Julian worked for Robertshaw Controls for 12 years and then spent the balance of his career at Universal Corporation as their International Financial Liaison.

Along with his wife, he is survived by their sons, Harrison and his wife, Jennifer, Alexander; his two granddaughters, Caroline Tayloe and Henrietta Grace. Additionally, he is survived by his brother, Philip and his wife, Daisy; his sister, Harriett; as well as a multitude of nieces and nephews.

He was a man of richly varied interests both in the U.S. and the UK. He was past Master of both the Worshipful Company of Poulters and the Worshipful Company of Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders in the City of London. He was also a member of the Naval and Military Club in London, Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, N.Y., The Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande, Fla. and The Commonwealth Club, The Country Club of Virginia and the Deep Run Hunt Club, all in Virginia.

Julian was a classic car enthusiast, a keen foxhunter, an avid gardener, and he cherished any time spent with friends and family. (JH 62-66)

COWDREY, Graham Robert

Former Kent batsman died on 11 November 2020, aged 56, following a short illness. Son of former Kent and England captain Colin Cowdrey (FH 4651), Graham’s 450 appearances for Kent saw him score more than 14,000 runs. Brother of Chris (PH 71-75) and Jeremy (PS 73-78) and uncle to Fabian (WH 06-11) and Julius (PH 06-11).

The following obituary was written by Ed Smith (WH 90-95), in The Sunday Times, from Sunday November 15 2020:

Graham Cowdrey, who died aged 56 last week, was a one-off. Forget cricket. He was a unique person — unpredictable, brilliantly funny, restless, authentic, often on the road, always searching for something.

Graham was born into cricket — his father, Colin, and brother Chris both captained England — and he was a natural competitor on the field. But in many respects his character was more fundamentally artistic.

I knew him first through his friendship with my father, who had taught him, then as a Kent fan while he was a player, then as a team-mate. We were close friends at one time. Though, as all his friends sensed, there were sides to him that none of us really knew.

At times, when his batting was in sync with his

restless, creative nature, he could be an inspired match-winner. He could bat with greater destructive freedom than many conventionally superior batsmen ever experience.

But cricket, which he deeply loved and revered, didn’t easily accommodate his full personality. Endless repetition and discipline, two touchstones of modern sport, weren’t really his style. He wanted to play the game and to engage with contest — but also to keep moving, in every sense.

That’s why he loved gigs. He was always going to concerts, usually Van Morrison, but anything live that wasn’t phoney. Travel, anticipation, the sense of event, a gathering crowd, moving anonymously among strangers with a shared connection, the curtain raised, real life suspended (or transcended) — that sphere was Graham’s sanctuary. Cricket, and the whole theatre of sport, obviously intersects with the world of artistic performance. But the two aren’t quite the same thing. When Graham drove off from the ground to the concert hall, he was entering his natural domain as much as leaving it.

Graham was both highly introspective and also touched by genius in a social setting. He could take over a day or an evening in the life of a team and make it entirely his own. Impressions of team-mates, re-enactments of funny moments from the field, uncanny mimicry — when the force was with him, he was irresistibly funny. And, as is often the case, we all had that hint of gentle anxiety that his brilliant wit may turn in our direction.

His legendary ability to get away with things — missing fitness sessions, practice, meetings, tolerating boring people — owed much to the fact that his captains and coaches, quite sensibly, knew that Graham could make people laugh at will. How can you stay cross with someone who is making you laugh? He disarmed people.

Cowdrey had a match-winning ability to bat with “destructive freedom”.

He had a conspiratorial gift, and we all found ourselves helping his next escape. I passed him on the dressing-room stairs at the St Lawrence ground one day during pre-season. “Could you just pop over to outfield and check the fitness trainers have left? If they’re still here, I’ll be in the loos.”

For all his mischief, he also had a sense of the right way to behave. In one of my first county matches, I was disappointed with my dismissal and dragged myself off the field far too slowly. Graham, next man in, made a point of skipping past me as fast as he could on the way to the middle. “Sorry about that,” I said to him afterwards, “you’d probably taken guard before I got off the outfield.” “Taken guard?” he replied, “I was in double figures.”

Graham poured his creativity into his mischief and sparkle. I think he possessed a kind of social perfectionism. If he couldn’t be funny, surprising or memorable, he disappeared from view. That same gift that made him so easy to love also made him so hard to help. They were two sides of the same coin.

In his twenties, when I was a cricket-loving schoolboy, Graham would often pop in at our house on the drive back from county matches. He’d bring a CD or a novel for Dad, something from the Zenith cricket bat factory for me. He always wanted to talk, seriously: was this book any good, how about that album, is this guy a genius? He had a gift for connecting with the young; no wonder his children adored him.

Graham revered - needed - the arts more than anyone I’ve ever known. He had no time for erudition or pretension. He just wanted to be moved, and then to talk with real fans about the things he loved. He was a reader and listener because he had to be, not because he wanted to give the impression of being “cultured”.

His tastes and temperament put him outside class boundaries. He had no interest in genteel polish or social aspiration. He lined up with the man queueing for a ticket to the show, or a punt at the races. He was in step with the wider world.

When I was a kid, before Sunday League games, he’d sometimes get me to bowl at him on the outfield or in the nets before play. Then I’d climb back over the boundary boards and watch the match, so often, it seemed, with Graham at the heart of the contest. Fading light, a game to be won, fully alive. After it was over we’d all get together in front of the pavilion, chat through the match, with him still in his light blue one-day kit.

His last game for Kent, a few years later, was a tour match against Sri Lanka. In the dressing room, as next man in, he picked up my bat. “I like it. Mind if I use this out there?”

He put it back in my bag after a typically entertaining innings. “Thanks for the bat. That was fun.”

Many cricketers are admired. Graham — brilliant, vulnerable, to some extent unknowable — was loved. (PH 77-82)

NEATHERCOAT, James Carrington

James, beloved husband of Katherine, son of Jackie and Simon and brother of Tim (PS 92-97), died tragically and unexpectedly at his home on 19th February, aged 44.

The following obituary was written by James Stanley (PS 90-95)

Affectionately known as Nevs and Nevsie, James arrived at Tonbridge and Parkside from New Beacon. He was one of those people that you naturally warmed to on first meeting. On arriving at the Novi visit, you could immediately see that here was a chap, an all-rounder, that would always be the centre of any friendship group. True testament to this is the number of OTs that he counted as friends to this very day and whom can tell you many a story of a friend that always brought the best out of any situation, whether it be through work, socially or on the golf course.

Although not an academic over achiever (albeit a member of MENSA), Nevs was an over achiever in life. His ability to light up any encounter and add value was without comparison. Many of those who have commented of his passing, have mentioned him being the truest of gentleman, a kind and generous man. But to those who knew him best, he was the best definition of a friend there can be. Someone who, simply put, was always there for you and cared immensely for your success and betterment. Nevs was always the first man on any ‘team sheet’, be it a dinner invitation, a game of golf or indeed just a chat or catch-up. In a world where there is seemingly so very little time, he would always make time for you. But more than this he was the best of company; wives and friends have always remarked that they really had lucked out if they were ever sat next to him at a dinner or party. A more genuinely witty and charming man you will not find elsewhere, was a sentiment conveyed by many.

Following on from Tonbridge and Leeds Metropolitan University (where his met his Katherine, wooing her with charm and dodgy Hawaiian shirts), Nevs entered the property world, becoming a chartered surveyor and specialising in commercial retail. His passion, integrity and knowledge were always his focus in delivering success. He was always held in the highest regard and many that knew him professionally have remarked in his passing of a true gentleman and a real loss to the industry.

Outside of work and friendship, Nevs had a massive love of fine wine, soft rock, James Bond, golf and pale chinos. What a mix one might think, but a mix that showed his appreciation for the finest and best things in life and that captures a joie de vivre which typified his positive and fun outlook on the world. His enthusiasm for life rarely faltered, and he would often be the first man at the bar and the last to leave.

There are few words that in summary can really describe Nevs, but he was one of the very best, and he will be missed by all those he came into contact with. He was an outstanding friend and someone who just added value to you. There will be an empty glass at every table that he would have been at, but a toast (of decent claret) will be always raised in memory of all the great times together. He was the most generous and big hearted friend, and someone that will be remembered as brilliant fun who provided so many funny, enjoyable and special times.

A celebration of James’ life is planned for 3pm on 16th October at St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Seal, Kent. Continued fundraising in his memory for The Wooden Spoon Charity can be seen through www. justgiving.com/fundraising/James-Neathercoat. (PS 90-95)

COMMON ROOM AND FRIENDS

BRUCE-LOCKHART, Logie

Died after a short illness on 7 September 2020, aged 98. (CR 47-55)

The following obituary appeared in the Times on Friday 18 September 2020.

Logie Bruce-Lockhart, headmaster and rugby international, was born on October 12, 1921. He died after a short illness on September 7, 2020, aged 98.

Longest-serving headmaster of Gresham’s School and dashing fly half for Scotland, renowned for his speed off the mark.

When a young pupil at Gresham’s School approached Logie Bruce-Lockhart and asked him to sign his absence slip, he found the task a little more difficult than he expected. “He refused to sign my sick note until I spelt ‘diarrhoea’ correctly,” he recalled many years later. The boy would grow up to become Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner. Just as well he was not one for bearing a grudge. He returned to Gresham’s last year with a cheque for nearly £20 million to endow a new teaching block and research facility at the school.

Dyson had reason to feel indebted to the school and Bruce-Lockhart, its charismatic headmaster. At the age of nine his father, a classics teacher, had died of cancer and his family was unable to continue paying his fees. Bruce-Lockhart pulled strings, came up with a scholarship, and set Dyson on his way.

If Dyson’s inventions displayed his gift for lateral thinking, then perhaps some of that came from Bruce-Lockhart, who was not a man for committees or minute-taking, nor greatly concerned about length of hair or width of trousers. He was headmaster of Gresham’s, in Norfolk, from 1955 to 1982, the longest-serving in the school’s 450-plus history, during which he oversaw its transformation into a coeducational establishment.

Logie Bruce-Lockhart was born in Warwickshire in 1921, the youngest of four sons of JH (Rufus) Bruce-Lockhart, a teacher, and Mona. Rufus was a housemaster at Rugby when Logie was born. The family moved to Edinburgh when he became headmaster of Cargilfield, and then to Cumbria when he took the same position at Sedbergh. It was at Sedbergh that Logie’s sporting talents emerged. He broke the school record for discus and shot and became head of school.

After the outbreak of war, he began studying languages at St John’s College, Cambridge, before being commissioned into the 9th Sherwood Foresters, an armoured car regiment. When that was disbanded he joined the 2nd Household Cavalry, the reconnaissance unit for the Guards Armoured Division. He took part in the northwest European campaign as a troop commander, where his skills in French and German proved useful.

He was one of the first of the Allied forces to arrive at Belsen concentration camp after its liberation but found many of the inmates “looking like ghosts from Hell, not yet fit for freedom”. Bruce-Lockhart oversaw a refugee camp for 5,000 displaced people, mostly Poles, before returning to Cambridge to resume his studies.

Boarding a crowded train in March 1944, he had struggled to find a seat but eventually settled down in a first-class carriage opposite “an extraordinarily pretty girl in a smart civvy suit”. Her name was Jo Agnew and they bonded over a shared love of Rupert Brooke, whose poetry he was reading on the journey. They were married for 64 years until her death in 2009. He is survived by four of their five children: Jennifer, Rhuraidh, a property developer, Fiona, a retired English teacher, and Duncan, who worked in the City. Kirsty died aged seven when she was run over by a car, an event that affected Bruce-Lockhart deeply.

Returning to Cambridge after the war, he gained honours in French and German, won the Wright prize for languages and was awarded Blues for rugby and squash. On graduation he joined Tonbridge School to teach modern languages and played rugby for London Scottish, eventually captaining the Richmond-based side. A fly half, renowned for his speed off the mark and a devastating sidestep, Bruce-Lockhart was widely viewed as one of the most skilful players in English rugby. The first of his five caps for Scotland was in the Calcutta Cup win against England at Murrayfield in 1948, but he had to wait two years for his second, against France in 1950. He played once more that year, against Wales, but had to wait another three years before being recalled to face Ireland and England in 1953.

Bruce-Lockhart was just 33 when he assumed the headship at Gresham’s. While his style was enlightened and he was no stern disciplinarian, he had little time for fashionable left-wing educational theories. His school speeches were renowned for being funny and down to earth.

Bruce-Lockhart published books on fishing, birdwatching, poetry and conservation. He was a talented musician with a particular love of Schubert. For a year before his death he held the distinction of being Scotland’s oldest surviving international rugby player. (CR 47-55)

FRANCIS, Timothy Donald Died on 23 February 2018, aged 81.

The following obituary was written by Jonathan Smith (CR 67-02)

In the 1960s Tim Francis was Head of PE at Tonbridge, he ran the 1st XV, and he ran the tennis, but much more than all that, he was a creative, free-spirited, inspiring figure in the school.

The son of an officer in the Indian Army, Tim spent the first ten years of his life in the Kurram valley, very close to the Afghan border in what is now Pakistan, and his teenage years in Ireland, both of which experiences had a shaping influence on him. At St Columba’s College, in the hills overlooking Dublin Bay, he mysteriously acquired and trained a young peregrine falcon.

Later, at Loughborough College, he excelled at rugby and was captain of the rugby team. He also, perhaps more unusually in that world, read extensively, particularly poetry.

From there he joined the staff at Tonbridge, met and fell in love with Sue de Glanville, and so, in 1966, began a wonderful, strong and happy marriage. Tim died just one day short of his 82nd birthday.

Below, slightly edited, are my words at his funeral:

The first time I remember seeing Tim Francis was at a party in Ravenswood, this was in 1967, in Geoff Parker’s flat. You were with him, Sue, as you always were and always would be, a glamorous, exciting couple at the very heart of everything that I came to love about Tonbridge.

Tim was a breath of fresh and challenging air. He seemed to embody ‘let’s do things’. He did not seem conservative or easy to pigeon-hole, a sportsman who loved poetry and modern dance, a young man who seemed to have lived more, more adventurously than most school teachers, someone who thought out of the box.

Now, over 50 years later, we are looking back over Tim’s life, at Tonbridge, Dulwich College, Collacott, and Exeter, not to mention in Africa, Cyprus, Egypt and France, and always remembering those great chats over wine, that heady mixture of close friendship and wide conversation.

Tim had a long-lasting influence not only on his friends but on many pupils and many colleagues. He made us less fearful, less hide-bound, less narrow. He encouraged us to break new ground, as he himself later did in developing the Rhino scrummaging machine or by taking up painting.

He was brave and yet sensitive and kind. He cared deeply but was resilient. He loved horses and he was a natural with people.

Everything Tim did was based on his deep love of Sue, a remarkable team but also remarkable individuals with lives of their own. I can’t think of anyone with a greater and more varied circle of friends.

Every time I think of Tim I see a different picture, I see a different painting of his, a different scene from his life, I hear different music, yet these all come together, they’re all Tim, an original man with the most generous heart: Tim, Tim and Sue, Tim and Sue and family, Tim and Sue with friends, together. (Director of PE 63-70)

HACKETT, Roger Quentin, Dr

Died suddenly thirty hours after emergency surgery on 3 November 2020, aged 76. Much loved husband of Caroline (School Librarian between 1971 and 1974) and father to Elizabeth and Robert. Roger, Caroline and their family remember their time at Tonbridge fondly. Both Elizabeth and Robert were Christened in the old School Chapel by The Reverend Martin Francis.

Alongside teaching Physics, Roger was the author of a number of Physics textbooks, helped with the development of Nuffield Physics and examined and set A-Level Physics papers for the Oxford and Cambridge Board (OCR) over a fifty-year period. (CR 1968-1974)

HOLCOMBE, Anthony John (Tony)

Died in September 2018, aged 83

The following obituary was written by Martin King (CR 75-98) I knew Tony as a Modern Linguist over many years in Old Judd at Tonbridge. I enjoyed his warm, enthusiastic, and invariably friendly company, but, though I knew of his ornithological expertise, I neither shared it nor expected to have any first-hand knowledge of it. This changed, however, in 1988, when our paths crossed unexpectedly in the small Pyrenean town of Jaca in northern Spain. I was on a recce for a trip I intended to make the following year with Bill Burn and an A level Spanish group to investigate some of the Ebro Valley battle grounds in the Spanish Civil War. One could do that in those days. I discovered Tony was also going to be in Jaca leading a small bird watching party and agreed to meet him one evening when I was passing. He taught French and Russian at Tonbridge but had a working knowledge of several other languages and would have had no problem in ordering the cerveza (or two) and tapas that we enjoyed in his hotel. He generously invited me to join his trip next day. So a group of about half a dozen avidly keen twitchers, binoculars and cameras and maybe a bird book or two at the ready, and me, who could just about tell a robin from a blackbird, set off in a small mini-bus into the mountains. Various birds flew in and out of sight, not raising much interest, but suddenly the mini-bus screeched to a halt and all the twitchers clambered out, pointing skywards at what to me looked like a large grey smudge circling above them. To them, though, it wasn’t a smudge but a rare bird that really shouldn’t have been there and justification of Tony’s inspiring leadership and knowledge in having enabled them to see it. Next day I continued on my way to the Ebro with an enhanced appreciation of the intense exhilaration that bird watching can create. Tony will have explained to me, though I can’t remember now, what the bird was, but I do know it was neither a robin or a blackbird. Thank you, Tony, for the experience.

Tony joined Tonbridge in 1971, as a teacher of Modern Languages and Master i/c of the Natural History Society. Leaving Tonbridge in 1976 to join St Olave’s Grammar School, Tony returned to the Modern Languages Department in a part time capacity in 1978 until he retired in 1995. All boys who came into contact with him will remember his courtesy, tolerance, modesty and endless patience, and the occasional quietly wicked aside.

Tony led expeditions for ‘birders’ all over the world. He was a world expert in this area and very highly regarded. It was on one of these trips that he met Brenda, his future wife and they married in later life.

Tony died in September 2018, aged 83. (CR 71-76 / 78-95)

NOTICES

HILL

The engagement is announced between Charlie, son of Mike and Janie Hill of Penshurst, Kent, and Annabelle, daughter of Dr Gary and Dr Judith Painter of Shepperton, Middlesex. CH 99-04

HILL

On 2nd December 2020, to Ed and his wife Lindsay, a daughter, Coco Arabella. CH 01-06

GILLESPIE

The engagement is announced between Clayton, elder son of Gary Gillespie, of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Ingrid Gillespie, of Warlingham, Surrey, and Caroline, younger daughter of Christopher and Alison Heath-Taylor, of Yealmpton, Devon. WH 08-13

ROGERS

The civil partnership is announced between James and his partner Tommy Ross, on Friday 13th September at Wandsworth Town Hall. They celebrated their happiness with friends and family in Hampshire the following day. PH 95-00

SNAPE

The engagement is announced between Hugo, elder son of Mr and Mrs Nigel Snape of Alkham, Kent, and Jessica, daughter of Mr and Mrs Tim Martin, of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. PH 04-09

FLEMINGTON

The engagement is announced between James, son of Mark and Min Flemington of Speldhurst, Kent, and Louisa, daughter of Stephen and Jenny Johns, of Ickford, Buckinghamshire. SH 07-12

To add a notice online, or in the next edition of OT Magazine, contact us at:

 tonbridgesociety@tonbridge-school.org

+44 (0) 1732 304253

Tonbridge School High Street Tonbridge Kent TN9 1JP +44 (0) 1732 304253 tonbridgesociety@tonbridge-school.org tonbridgesociety.co.uk tonbridgeconnect.org

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