Staff Remembered

Peter in the White Hart, 1969

Peter Attenborough

Member of staff from 1960-1975, Housemaster of The Lodge 1970-1975 Peter arrived at Uppingham in 1960 and soon became a very young and highly regarded Head of the Classics Department, throwing himself into School activities with characteristic zeal and coaching the rugby and cricket teams with infectious enthusiasm. The boys were lucky to experience trips to Greece and Italy under his care and it was occasions such as these that cemented friendships with pupils and staff alike that lasted a lifetime. Peter’s first departure from Uppingham came in 1966 when he took a sabbatical year, entering into voluntary service at a school for orphans, Starehe Boys’ Centre, in Nairobi. His presence there had an enormous impact on the school. On his return, Peter was fortunate to meet Sandy at a Guy Fawkes Night party and by the time the year was over they were engaged and soon married. They were blessed with two children, James and Charlotte. In September 1970, they moved from a tiny cottage situated along School Lane into the gothic splendour of The Lodge, where Peter became Housemaster. The amount of care and attention he lavished upon individual members of his House earned him respect and affection from all the boys. He had the innate ability to empathise and show compassion to everyone. He could also read a situation sensitively and use his wise sense of judgement to offer the guidance needed. In the House, in School, and with their many friends around the town, Peter and Sandy always worked hard for other people. Peter’s tact, diplomacy and humanity were second to none and he was always able to find practical solutions for any challenges that were thrown in his path. After 15 successful years at Uppingham, Peter was persuaded to move north to Sedburgh as Headmaster, where he spent six years, before moving again to another headship at Charterhouse. Keen to experience every play, concert, lecture or match, regardless of the volume of work on his plate, Peter was respected for his quiet wisdom and common sense. Peter spent 12 years at Charterhouse; he’d made his mark but felt that every so often a school benefits from being looked at with a fresh pair of eyes. So, at the age of 55, he surprised everyone by announcing his retirement. He then took up a position with the charity, The Rank Foundation, which couldn’t have been more suitable, supporting children whose school funding was jeopardised and also working with other charities who needed his valuable help and advice. Then, with a move to Linton, Peter became a willing volunteer to whoever needed his support, be it the local church, the History Society and individual residents of the village. Peter passed away in February 2020 and it is impossible, within the confines of the magazine, to do full justice to his life, although in a quote by John Webster (C 70) you get a sense of the dedication he had:

Peter had a profound effect on my life. In my Lower Sixth year, as a bolshy sixteen-year-old, I was in danger of crashing academically. As Head of Classics, he simply refused to let my teenage self get the better of my prospects. This meant extra tuition, delivered one-on-one with great patience, often on Sunday evenings and no doubt in the face of monosyllabic unpleasantries from me.

He helped me turn a corner, and I went on to Oxford to read Greats, and the rest – as they say – is history. I am forever grateful and happy that I got the chance to tell him personally when I last saw him.”

A plaque in Peter’s memory will be placed in The Lodge in tribute to his dedicated service to both the School and pupils and to the lifelong impact he had on so many lives.

Robin Schlich

Member of staff from 1979 to 1991

By his daughter Gill Williams (née Schlich, Fd 82)

It’s quite strange being taught by your father. You hover in a middle ground between your classmates and your teacher, a little unsure whose side to take. It was probably strange for Dad too, but he dealt with it by employing two of his strongest assets – his sense of fair play and his dry humour, often coming out with “You are so badly brought up, Schlich”. So we witnessed first-hand his meticulous teaching, passion for languages, and his coaxing encouragement; and endured, whilst secretly enjoying, his ridiculous German songs. What our classmates did not see was the extraordinary hard work and commitment that Dad put into teaching and running his department. When a new parent said he wanted his son to learn Italian, Dad taught himself Italian so it could be added to the General Studies curriculum. After 10 years as a housemaster and department head at Trent College, we might have expected Dad to take things slightly easier at Uppingham; but boarding school life was a complete package for him. He was a house tutor, coached hockey and tennis, drove pupils to community service at Rushton Hall, acted in staff plays, sang in the Concert Choir and everything else besides. He was lucky that our mum, Heather, embraced school life so well too, working as House Matron at The Lodge, and putting up and feeding an endless stream of foreign visitors to the School. Dad didn’t stop after his retirement from teaching – working in the registrar’s office, as a school inspector, town and county councillor, and above all, establishing a scholarship scheme for East European pupils to spend a year in English boarding schools. Thirty years after the end of the Cold War, it is hard to recall the vast economic and cultural gap that existed. Dad was determined that British private schools not only had a duty to contribute to bridging that gap, but that they would benefit too from a broadening of their perspective. 2000 students later and HMC Projects continues to provide scholarships; a small European collaboration running counter to Brexit.

Charles ‘Michael’ O’Hagan (Fgh 44)

Member of staff from 1954 to 1957

By Peter Lloyd, Member of staff from 1953 to 1988 and former Housemaster of Highfield from 1962 to 1977 Geoff Frowde and I had joined the staff in 1953, and Mike came a year later, straight from Oxford, a hockey Blue of distinction, and an all-round sportsman, with no mean intellect. His arrival at Uppingham was quite a tonic. He had a zest for life, and his enthusiasms were infectious. He skied in a school party in the Christmas holidays, and involved himself with Uppingham’s Summer School in Uppsala, Sweden. A very full involvement. He had a good brain, and must have been an effective teacher, he was certainly a popular one. With long, seemingly endless terms, plus no exeats, there was a bit of time available for enjoyment, and the three of us had great fun. I can’t say that we were hugely responsible always, but the headmaster of the time, Martin Lloyd, was fortunately, tolerant! Mike had obviously been glad to be back at Uppingham. His stay was all too short, but marriage and a life with Shell beckoned. Michael went on to have a successful career with Shell and the Wellcome Foundation, working in Nigeria, Borneo and Indonesia. and admired Housemaster of Fircroft from 1962 to 1977. cry out “Ha Ha, Robotham – give out your sweets

Married to Jo, they had five children, Della, Caroline, Sarah, Lizzie time at Uppingham thoroughly enjoyable.”

and Kevin (Hf 70). A familiar face at many an OU event for many years, he will be greatly missed by his Uppingham friends. In our last issue, we published a tribute to Geoff Frowde, who passed away in April 2019. Geoff was a long-serving member of Uppingham staff from 1953 to 1988 and a much respected Geoff, known to pupils as ‘GCF’, taught Robbie Robotham (WD 63) history who shared the account below. His recollections may bring back some memories of your own.

We had an Upper Buttery in School Lane, just a sweet shop really, the Lower Buttery was more for what we called ‘Slap Ups’ after Games. During break Mr or Mrs Launchbury would sell us some super sweets and then these would be sneaked into lessons and sucked on quietly hoping no-one would notice. If anyone was caught eating them, they’d be confiscated by the teacher immediately, but in Geoffrey’s lessons they were shared out to everybody in the class!

The trouble with GCF’s lessons was that his Labrador Retriever, Jester, used to accompany him. The dog would instantly smell out any sweets, leave his position under Geoffrey’s desk and look longingly at the boy with a pocketful, giving them that rather soulful, Labrador look. Immediately Geoffrey would to everybody”! Just goes to prove that a dog is very useful in a lesson!

Geoffrey was a wonderful teacher, had a great sense of humour and was one of the factors that made my Michael passed away in hospital on 24th August 2020, aged 90.