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OBA NEWSLETTER 2005 LETTER FROM THE HON. SECRETARY Dear Old Brutonians, Once again I find myself having to bid a fond farewell to an admired colleague. This summer, Chris Rhys- Jones steps down as President of the Association. Three years ago, when he took over from Sally Snook, our first lady President, Chris was the first to admit that he had a hard act to follow: far prettier than most of us, endlessly patient and with a very sharp mind, Sally had set distinguished standards. Chris recognised this challenge and faced it squarely. As a result, his presidency has been innovative, vigorous and huge fun. Wonderfully affable, unfailingly courteous and unshakeably determined, Chris has driven forward a number of important reforms. He has worked tirelessly with the Governing Body to overhaul the system whereby pupils become (or all too often at present do not become) members of the Association; his energy in that area looks set to be rewarded, and that will lead to a stronger and even more inclusive Association in the years to come. Another crusade has been raising the value of bursaries and scholarships available to pupils in the School from the OBA Charitable Trust. Already, young Brutonians are benefiting from that particular vision. Chris has also sought to establish outposts of the Brutonian empire, whereby members of the Association in – say – Hong Kong can get together, as we do here, to celebrate the School and enjoy the unique geniality of Brutonian friendship. He instituted the scheme of ‘welcome packs’, so that every new member of the Association now receives a folder containing greetings, membership details, a copy of the latest Newsletter, contact details of current Committee members and the rules of the Association. Chris’s immense pride in his old school was never more evident than on the day his daughter, Sophie, married Prince Edward. The Old Brutonian tie gleamed from a million television screens and has subsequently graced the pages of 'Hello' magazine on more than one occasion. It is a pride that we all share; and we are, as an Association, deeply in his debt for the inspiration and energy that he has shown as our President. With Chris charging ahead, the troops have been following with enthusiasm. It is good to see the burgeoning of so much sporting activity amongst Old Brutonians, as much as anything because this means regular social contact and the strengthening of ties. Elsewhere in this Newsletter, you will find accounts of the splendid Apple Growers Sports Club; of the memorial rugby match for the late Alex Edwards; of Golf at Trevose, thanks to the efforts of David Graham and the generosity of the Gammon family, while, for the first time ever, there was an Old Girls hockey team playing against the School as part of the OB Hockey Day on March 13th. One of Chris Rhys-Jones’s campaigns as President (not mentioned above) has been the developing of ‘regalia’ available to Old Brutonians. At the moment, we are reduced to a choice of ties and yet more ties. The School Shop did not feel that it had the physical capacity to take on more items, so it was agreed that we should deal direct with the suppliers, Pinder and Tuckwell. This move has been spear-headed by the indefatigable Jamie Reach (L91/95) who has provided full details of the move later in the Newsletter. We hope that by next year, we shall have a wider range of items to offer you. The President, for example, has shown an especial interest in Old Brutonian socks. Thanks to the invaluable help of Jan Juneman and Harry Witherby, I continue to enjoy life as your Hon. Secretary very much. Please go on making every effort to stay in contact, and don’t forget to tell us when you change your address, have a baby, scale Everest, make a million, etc. As ever, my very best wishes to you all. David Hindley 6 OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2005
AGM AND BRUTON DINNER MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2004 The Annual General Meeting of the Old Brutonian Association was held in the John Davie Room at King’s School, Bruton at 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 26th, 2004. The President, Mr Christopher Rhys-Jones was in the chair and 32 members of the Association were present. Apologies were received from John Beauchamp (O44/48), Nick Evelyn (L56/59), Keith Lilly (O39/42), Keith Loney (O48/53), Robert Snook (B62/65) and Mary Stonham-Ask (79/81). 1. The Minutes The Minutes of the last AGM, held on Saturday, June 21st, 2003, having been circulated with the Newsletter for 2004, were agreed and signed as a true record. 2. Matters Arising There were no matters arising 3. President’s Items The President thanked the members of the Committee for all their hard work, especially the Vice-President, Richard Sullivan; the Hon. Secretary, David Hindley and the Hon.Treasurer, Colin Hughes. He singled out too the contribution of Harry Witherby, who organises the OBA website and the e-mail address book and of John-Kai Fleming, the new Sports Co-ordinator. The President wished to thank the Hon. Secretary also for another outstanding Newsletter. The President told the Meeting of the problem created by parents opting out of paying the OBA Life Subscription on behalf of their children: not only was the Association losing valued members but also income of potentially £10,000 per annum. Representations had been made to the Governors with the result that contributions were no longer to be shown as optional on the School Bill. The Committee were looking to develop the OBA regalia available to members. The School Shop would be unable to cope with the proposed expansion, so E.J. Parker & Son had agreed to take back the OBA franchise with a view to expanding OBA stock. Old Boys of the School were well served at the moment but there was little available for Old Girls. Jamie Reach would remain a member of the Committee by invitation, following his retirement this year by rote, in order to work with Parker’s on the expansion of OBA items. The President was keen to develop OBA activities abroad. A letter requesting help in forming local OBA groups in other countries had been included in the last Newsletter, though, as yet, no volunteers had been forthcoming. The President informed the Meeting of the Committee’s ambition to increase either the number or the size of scholarships offered by the Association. The Graduate Prize for 2004 had been awarded to John Walton (O94/99) who had gained a First at St Andrews in International Relations. The President announced that an engraved silver salver would be presented to Richard Smyth during the Dinner to mark the Association’s appreciation of his headmastership. 4. Hon. Secretary’s Report The Hon. Secretary reported that the Association continues to benefit enormously from the secretarial skills of Mrs Jan Juneman. Since her arrival in the OBA Office, the huge amount of information that passes through the Office has moved with much greater speed and efficiency. He felt it was important to stress, however, that ours is primarily and of necessity an amateur organisation, dependent on volunteers, so it is not always possible to respond to requests with the swiftness that could be expected of a fully professional secretariat. Paul Davies, the School’s careers master, has been granted by the Committee limited access to the database. This is so that he may approach Old Brutonians for possible advice about their particular career field, the information then to be made available to boys and girls in the School. As a result of his contacts, many Old Brutonians have come to speak to the Sixth Form about their line of work. The Committee have agreed to pay for the poppy wreath laid each year by the School at the Menin Gate in Ypres. The wreath is always dedicated to the Old Brutonians who died in the Great War and is laid by three Third Formers attending the evening remembrance service (which is held daily at the Gate) as part of their trip to the WWI battlefields. The School Song continues to enjoy a renaissance. It was recently sung by the whole School at the House music festival and will be sung at the end of term at the final assembly of the year. THE BRUTON DINNER Jamie Reach, Kate Sedgman and the Hon. Secretary have continued to make an annual presentation to the Upper Sixth about the OBA, and this has proved hugely successful, with a lot of enthusiasm being shown by the young School leavers. Much of the success of these evenings was owing to the computing skills of Jamie Reach, which gave the presentations a professional edge 5. Hon. Treasurer’s Report Copies of most of the full accounts were distributed at the Meeting as only abbreviated accounts had appeared in the Newsletter. The Hon. Treasurer then took the Meeting through the Accounts of the Association and of the Charitable Trust. Both sets of Accounts were duly proposed, seconded and adopted by the Meeting. The Hon. Treasurer took the opportunity to express his thanks to John M. Graves (P68/73), the Association’s Hon. Auditor. 6. The Charitable Trust: Vice-President's Report The Vice-President reminded the Meeting of the objects of the OBA Charitable Trust, namely, the relief of poverty among former pupils of the School and their immediate dependants; the provision of scholarships, and the provision of School prizes. He was pleased to report that there had been no applications for the relief of poverty. The Committee, at its meeting on May 15th, and with appropriate advice from the Headmaster, agreed to award a scholarship of £1500 p.a. for five years to Matthew Wilcox. Matthew is 13 and a pupil at Chafyn Grove School, Salisbury. He plays rugby for Dorset and has been a Wessex trialist. He plays the saxophone and is a good middle distance athlete. He is skilled at Design and Technology. The School has awarded him a 12.5% All-Rounder Award. There are five other OBA Scholarship holders in the School, with scholarships worth £750 p.a., one of whom leaves at the end of this term. School fees are currently running at £18,000, towards which £1500 is quite a small contribution. The Committee is considering if, and how, this amount could be increased. The Vice-President announced the names of those who had been awarded the OBA School Prizes for 2004. The OBA Prize for excellence in GCSE was awarded to two candidates this year: Victoria Barns- Graham (P) and Matthew Gardner (N), both of whom had achieved a complete run of A* grades. The OBA Progress Prizes had gone to Roger Beach (N), son of Roger Beach (N60/64); Thomas Meacher (N) and Tom O’Brian (P/A). The Vice-President reported that there are currently only twenty OB’s who make regular contributions to the Charitable Trust; these contributions amount to a total of £2050 p.a. This was a disappointing response, given that the Association was in touch with about 3000 Old Brutonians. The Trust received £800 in lump sum donations from four OB’s in the past year.. 7. Officers and Committee The President thanked the two retiring members of the Committee for their hard work on behalf of the Association: William Newton (L73/75) and Jamie Reach (L91/95). Jamie would remain on the Committee ‘by invitation’ in order to develop OBA regalia, to help with the organisation of the Dinner and to make the annual OBA presentations to the Upper Sixth. The Meeting unanimously endorsed the Committee’s recommendation of two new members of the Committee: Jamie Wills (B64/68) and Hannah Carew-Gibbs (W96/98). Both the Hon. Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer agreed to serve for another year, as did the Hon. Auditor. 8. Election of Honorary Members On a proposal by the Committee in accordance with Article 2 (c) of the Rules of the Association, Mr Colin Jones, Director of Studies, and Mrs Jan Juneman, secretary to the OBA and formerly Headmaster’s Secretary were unanimously elected Honorary Members of the Association. 9. A.O.B. Mrs Sally Snook (Past President) queried whether Peter Rudorf (L90/96), who was killed last year while working in a civilian capacity in Iraq, should be commemorated in the Memorial Hall as some other civilian OB’s killed in a theatre of war had been before him. This met with a sympathetic response, at which point Simon Jacobs (O77/81) suggested that under those circumstances, Julian Gregson (N74/79), killed while working in Afghanistan, also deserved to be commemorated. It was agreed that further research was required, both as to the details of Julian’s death and the feasibility of the proposal. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 6.45 p.m. OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2005 7
Page 1 and 2: OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTE
Page 3 and 4: OBA NEWSLETTER 2005 A HUNDRED YEARS
Page 5: OBA NEWSLETTER 2005 LETTER FROM THE
Page 9 and 10: THE BRUTON DINNER 1963 Harry Wither
Page 11 and 12: INSIGNIA & SOUVENIERS OLD BRUTONIAN
Page 13 and 14: ACCOUNTS Balance Sheet at 31 Decemb
Page 15 and 16: Present at the Lunch: Guest of Hono
Page 17 and 18: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS New Members
Page 19 and 20: The OBA portrait of Sir Peter Squir
Page 22 and 23: Old Brutonian Golf Society Contact:
Page 24 and 25: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS 1962 Carl BE
Page 26 and 27: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS Americanism
Page 28 and 29: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS More than th
Page 30 and 31: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS good; we eve
Page 32 and 33: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS flying bombe
Page 34 and 35: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS CHANGES OF A
Page 36 and 37: NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS OB HOCKEY -
Page 38 and 39: THE SCHOOL HEADMASTER'S LETTER Scho
Page 40: EDITOR: DAVID HINDLEY. © DESIGN &

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