St Edward's Rhubarb - 2018

ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

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get my hair cut rather than put up with the army style haircut administered by the Sergeant – Major in the Junior Training Corps. On another occasion, I managed to get a pass into Oxford with the object of seeing a film. All went well until the lights went up – to my horror, one of the staff was seated right behind me! This was a ‘fair cop’ but it was not reported. On Sundays, we went for walks along the towpath of the Oxford Canal to the village of Wolvercote, Port Meadow and Wytham Woods. These excursions had an ulterior motive; it gave us the opportunity for a smoke and a visit to the pub. On one of these outings, I went to a small abattoir to watch pigs being slaughtered – the sound of their screeching remained with me for many days after. At St Edward’s it was expected that each boy supplemented school food by bringing a tuck-box to school containing some of their chosen goodies. Each house had a basement called ‘Hell’ where tuck boxes were kept and gas rings were available for cooking. I remember writing home for some ‘SOSAGES’! My mother replied that until I learnt how to spell correctly I would not receive anything – one sure way of making me learn how to spell! I played a lot of sport whilst at St Edward’s, Colts XV and Second XV rugby, captained the House cricket XI and became interested in squash rackets. I remember working alongside Guy Gibson, who later gained fame as a wartime fighter pilot and was awarded the VC for bravery, in Lower VI Latin in Room 17 under the old school hall. One event which I remember well is when in 1935 I was taken to see the parade through London to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V

of conductors including Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Martin Campbell-White, former Joint Chief Executive, writes: “I first met Robert in 1973; he was downstairs at Ibbs and Tillett, which I left the previous year to join Harold Holt, the floor above. We quickly became friends. His gifts were evident even then in his mid- twenties; his knowledge and love for opera and lieder; his elegantly fluent German; his persistent attention to detail; his realistic appreciation of an artist’s strong points (and the weak points) made him the perfect manager of important careers, especially singers, for the ensuing 40 years. His mentor was of course the legendary Lies Askonas. It was she who helped him feel completely at home in Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Salzburg, not to mention Paris and New York. It took until 1998 to persuade Robert that the strengths of Askonas and Holt were made for a fruitful and strong partnership. For the next 15 years, we had tremendous fun together working for our artists and our projects and helping to develop the next generation of managers and artists. I know that Robert was slightly apprehensive to leave the management treadmill at the end of 2013; but the Met came with the perfect offer at just the right time. Serendipity! He loved his new job; he loved greeting all his old mates. He loved being in New York. How he was appreciated. Witness all the moving tributes. I still can’t believe that there will be no more wicked, erudite and informative e-mails to chuckle over. Thank you, Robert, for so many things.” The Met honoured Robert’s memory by dedicating the opening performance of  Parsifal  – conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin – on Monday 5th February to him.

and Queen Mary. We had seats on the first-floor balcony of one of the big stores in Oxford Street, so we had a wonderful view of the procession as it passed by. I sat the Oxford and Cambridge School Certificate examination in 1936 and gained four credits. In my final year, I was made prefect and became vice-captain of the House. MOORSHEAD – In October 2017, John Courtney Moorshead (E, 1943-1948). Brother of Davis (E, 1945- 1948). John was born on 30th May 1929. At School he was a Scholar and a member of the Cricket XI. He left in 1948 to become a doctor, qualifying at Guy’s Hospital with an MB BS in 1955. Between 1955-2009 his career encompassed Guy’s, Great Ormond Street and military hospitals in the UK, Berlin, Hong Kong and Nepal with the Royal Army Medical Corps in which he was Lt Col and Consultant Paediatrician. He was a member RYA and Governor RNLI. NICHOLSON – In December 2017, David John Elliot Nicholson (A, 1953-1957) Brother of Frank (A, 1951- 1955) and Edward (F, 1960- 1964). David was born on 12th October 1939. At School he was a School Prefect and sang in the choir. On leaving in 1957 he pursued a career in banking and worked with Barclays from 1961 until his retirement in 1996. PUDSEY – On 8th December 2016, David Margerison Pudsey (B, 1952-1957). Reading University 1959- 1962, BSc. SEH, Oxford 1962-3 Dip Agric. Economist in Uganda and Zambia 1963-1972, Iraq 1972-1973, Tanzania 1975- 1978, then back to Zambia. In

1970 he developed a 2½-acre garden-cum-arboretum which was open to the public in aid of charity. RATTRAY – On 30th January 2018, Robert Sutherland Rattray (A, 1963-1967). The following is taken from the tribute paid by his colleagues at Askonas Holt: Born and raised in England, Robert attended St Edward’s School, Oxford where he played clarinet in the orchestra and sang in the choir. Then on to Edinburgh University, before beginning his career as a trainee artist manager with Ibbs and Tillett in 1973. He then joined Lies Askonas in 1977, becoming Joint Chief Executive of Askonas Holt when the company merged with Harold Holt in 1998. Made an MBE in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Robert joined the Metropolitan Opera in the same year, as the company’s Assistant General Manager for Artistic Administration. Among the many exceptional artists Robert worked with are Janet Baker, Sir Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd, John Mark Ainsley, Ann Murray, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Simon Keenlyside, Dame Felicity Lott, and Ian Bostridge. Alongside fellow Joint Chief Executive Martin Campbell-White, Robert was also involved in the management

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Robert Rattray