The Chronicle 682

36 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Jonny Lambe

Jonny Lambe was Head of History at St Edward’s from 2003 until shortly before his death in December. Mark Taylor, Anna Fielding, and Nick and Zanah Coram-Wright look back at his long service in the History Department and the countless other ways in which he contributed to the life of the School, sharing memories of a man who was a much loved member of the Teddies community.

Jonny the Teacher, Jonny the Man A personal view of Jonny by Mark Taylor, Head of Classics

The two are inseparable: Jonny the teacher, Jonny the man. Equally apt is the old adage: You can take the man out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the man . In this case that country is Wales, specifically South Wales. For as much as the accent ‘had well-nigh slipt’, doubtless through 30 years of teaching in England, his Welshness was part of his very essence. His hometown was Swansea. He regularly returned to visit his parents, sister, niece and nephew; there was not much anyone could teach Jonny about the Gower

and Mumbles’ fine drinking establishments. It was here he learned to surf and he had a great painting of it in pride of place in his Oxford ‘apartment’ (see below). Jonny was undoubtedly enigmatic: a man of interesting, yet striking contrasts - a Catholic convert from a chapel background but with a preference for Oxford college evensongs. He was as staunch a Thatcherite as he was an outstanding and brave NEU rep at an extremely difficult time for all here. He famously curated a Lenin exhibition in

The North Wall which was opened, but of course, with a Champagne reception (he should perhaps have at least made it Shampanskoye - Сове́тское шампа́нское). His personal appearance evolved over his 17 years at Teddies, from Californian surf dude, accoutred with wrist thongs and rope necklace, to distinguished Cotswold gent, sporter of the red trouser and cap of tweed. Linguistically traditional in many ways – even in 2020 he spoke fondly of his trips to Peking (sic) and Leningrad (sic) yet often preferred Americanisms to our limey counterparts – always a cell phone, never a mobile, the trunk not the boot, and speaking of cars, his was a bomb site, his ‘apartment’ (as above) was immaculate. Those who dared venture into the History Dept office, or worse, the locked cupboard on the half-landing, had need of safety wear for fear of being crushed by a veritable avalanche of stuff (clothes, camping equipment, unopened and sadly, long-undrinkable wine). Jonny loved to travel, exploring the world, and those that travelled with him retain fantastic memories of holidays, yet he had quite a profound fear of flying (not that this ever stopped him, mind). On a Kenya Airways flight, having spotted some clouds he didn’t much like the look of, he unbuckled and walked up to a member of cabin crew, suggesting he might like to inform the pilot in case these had not been spotted. Other than the quirky, or maybe partly because of it, he was an inspirational teacher, not only encouraging many to read History, but converting some even into the teaching profession. He didn’t just support his charges, he believed in them, teaching them that it is okay to stay firm to your beliefs and not feel the need to follow every new trend and fad - particularly not when it came to matters technological, let alone data-driven. For Jonny,

Jonny Lambe