St Edward's Rhubarb Issue 5

30 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

HARRISON – On 21st December 2015, William Harrison (E, 1942-1945). William joined Sandhurst in 1946. He leaves behind his wife, sons, grandchildren and great- grandchildren. HERDMAN – On 5th August 2015, John Mark Ambrose Herdman CBE, LVO, (F, 1945- 1949), aged 83. The following obituary has kindly been provided by John’s brother Anthony (B, 1959-1964); John, or Mark as he was known, was father of Bridget Herdman (D, 1987-1989) and brother of Nigel Herdman (B, 1960-1963). Following the award of a degree in History at Trinity College Dublin, Mark applied for and was selected to join Her Majesty’s British Overseas Civil Service (better known as the Colonial Office) and spent a year at Queen’s College, Oxford in preparation for an appointment as an administrator and to learn Swahili. In 1955 he was appointed to Kenya as a District Officer, a beautiful country which he came to love – particularly its people: his early years under constant threat from the Mau Mau terror, sharing campsites with Joy and George Adamson of Born Free fame, building villages, dams, irrigation schemes, roads and so much more. A lasting legacy which remains for all to see was his pioneering and promotion of athletics, particularly long- distance running. In 1963 he was promoted District Commissioner and saw through the transition of the country to independence in 1964. The dismantling of the Colonial Service over an astonishingly short period meant that there were many administrators who found themselves without a job. The vast majority of them were offered a small redundancy package but for the very fortunate few, transfers to Her Majesty’s Diplomatic

Service were available. Mark was selected for one of these rare options and, following a period learning Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in Shemlan near Beirut, he was posted to Amman in Jordan. On his return to the UK in 1969 he joined the Gibraltar and South Atlantic Department with the slightly long-winded but accurately named: “Head of Gibraltar economic and St Helena and Dependencies Section” which included Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. He continued his career with postings to Zambia, Saudi Arabia and Malawi interspersed with further periods as a desk officer in London. 1981 Mark returned to cover the Atlantic Islands in what was then called the West Indian and Atlantic Department which included, at this point, Bermuda. It was therefore an appropriate honour that in 1983 he was appointed Deputy Governor of Bermuda, becoming for about a year, Acting Governor during an interregnum between Governors. His final appointment was as Governor of the British Virgin Islands from 1986 to 1991. In a glowing tribute to Mark the present Prime Minister, Dr The Honourable D Orlando Smith, OBE wrote the following: “During his time as Governor, Mr Herdman helped to lay the foundation for the development of the modern Virgin Islands’ disaster management systems and operations. As Governor, he had overall responsibility for the Territory’s emergency management programme and recovery during the passage of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the first major storm to hit the Territory since 1960. Mr Herdman otherwise provided stable and sound leadership during a difficult period, but one that saw important new developments in the Virgin Islands. We are grateful that he

GILKES – On 22nd December 2014, Michael John Gilkes (G, 1937-1941), aged 91. The following obituary has kindly been provided by Michael’s son Oliver; Michael trained as a doctor at St Thomas’ Hospital qualifying in 1946. One of his first posts was as ships' and base surgeon with the Antarctic whaling fleet in South Georgia between 1946 and 1948. He then returned to Moorfields Eye Hospital where he specialised as an ophthalmic surgeon, working briefly in Jerusalem and then taking up a post at the Sussex Eye Hospital in 1957, becoming senior consultant and being involved in national medical politics. He retired in 1987. He was a keen yachtsman, completing a transatlantic race in 1960, and later building his own cruising yacht from scratch. He also became a passionate model engineer, creating a fully-equipped workshop with lathes and forges at his home, and participating in live steam events. Very much a larger than life figure, greatly missed by all. GLOVER – In 2015, Michael Glover (F, 1944-1947). Michael entered National Service in 1950 before going into insurance in 1952. He became Director of Alexander Howden Insurance Brokers in 1962 before becoming Chairman in 1974. In 1977 he became Director for South Eastern Aviation Underwriters, and Deputy Chairman and CEO at Alexander Howden Group PLC in 1981, and Director of Alexander and Alexander Services Inc in 1982, and Chairman of Wentworth Building Development PLC in 1985. Michael was a member of Lloyd’s of London, the Guild of Air Pilots and air Navigators and a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman.

and marked by a third party afterwards; he was also convinced that it was necessary to ask candidates to do things which were more typical of real life. The result was the ARELS Oral examinations, which started in the late 1960s. His passion – and it really was a passion, about which he would talk animatedly even in extreme old age – was for language acquisition. He had strong views, but one of his views was that he shouldn’t impose his opinion – one reason why there has never really been a standard LSE ‘method’. I remember a classic example of this: I installed a new reception desk which had a very high fascia – it made a real barrier. Peter said ‘why don’t you install machine guns on it too?’. That certainly did the trick - the fascia was cut down. The Friday lecture, which he gave every week for many years, lives on to this day in our Westcroft Square General English Centre. No obituary of Peter could ignore cigarettes. He smoked incessantly – at least 60 a day, maybe more, anywhere and everywhere, leaving a trail of ash behind him. Peter exemplified the origins of our industry in creative – at times eccentric – individuals, running their schools for love. He was a very generous employer, who inspired loyalty and great affection. One year I remember we got a 27% pay rise, although this was classic Peter, acting from the heart not the head – the move almost bankrupted the company. Peter’s life partner was Sydney Cruickshank, and they were together for nearly 70 years, having met shortly after the war. Until quite recently they were living independently but after Sydney died in November 2014, Peter struggled, and after a couple of months in a retirement home, and a short illness, he died of pneumonia.

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