From the Master of the Queen’s Scholars COLLEGE 3 LITTLE DEAN’S YARD LONDON SW1P 3PH Tel 020 7963 1035 e-mail: [email protected]

COLLEGE SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 16 (2011-12) Dear Friends, Greetings from the College community. I am happy to report that the House is in very good heart and full of the best mixture of fruitful and thoughtful endeavour combined with the customary cheerful banter. After the razzmatazz of 2010, it was business as usual in 2011. Well, nothing is quite “as usual” in College but we returned to our routine with Little Commem. Not that the year lacked significant other Abbey events for the three scholars who attended the Royal Wedding. The Captain and the two cantors were chosen to represent us in recognition of their contributions to the link between Abbey and School. I watched the event from my breakfast table but my day was to come when I was introduced to The President on the occasion of his Abbey visit. It fell to me to explain to him who the Queen’s Scholars are and what my role is. We got there in the end, as was recognised with his comment “ah, so you put them to work”. A slightly Faginesque picture you might think but I was happy that we had arrived at the right ball-park, as he might say. Either way, I hope you are pleased to know that, if only temporarily, our institution was the focus of the man with his finger on the button, or is it pulse. I hope that those who attended the College Society Dinner found the Compline afterwards as moving an occasion as I did. The three boys recognised the significance of the event too. I think that the Dean is amenable to us making this a regular part of the evening. Interestingly, Compline is very much in fashion with the boarding community; the other boarding houses sing the service on a termly basis, usually in pairs. It would be good to know the history of College’s singing of Compline and the school has relatively little on it. It will be a project for the coming year so watch this space. Very many thanks to those old QSS and KSS who have sent in books for the College window sills. The request remains very much active so do please keep them coming in. It is also good to have our own Gobbets section back in service so do send in news for the next edition. I am grateful to Michael Sweet-Escott who has sent in a list of words and phrases used in College and the School in the 1930s. Rather than publish the list in its entirety I have chosen the more colourful entries; other such offerings will be very welcome. I am also grateful to our School Archivist, Elizabeth Wells, for her contribution on A.A.Milne’s time at Westminster. Lastly, the House has decided to compile a Queen’s Scholars Chronicle for the year; it may well make its way on to the web-site some time in July. With my best wishes,

College 2011-12 Tutors Sinan Savaskan (Music), Charles Low (Classics), Eddie Smith (Maths), Gareth Brocklesby (Maths), Katharine Radice (Classics), Ulf Hennig (German). Matron Mrs Geraldine Brotherton. New pupils The new 1st Election is as follows: Lawrence Berry (The New Beacon School) Oliver Black (Dulwich Preparatory school) Barnaby Graff (The Hall) Archie Hall (Westminster Under School) Nathan Malik (The Hall) Giovanni Musella (Westminster Under School) Edward Rong (Westminster Under School) Tibo Rushbrooke (The Hall) The new Sixth Form girls are: Francesca Greenstreet (North London Collegiate School) Gabrielle Michotte (St Paul’s Girls School) Sophia Omar (The New School Rome) Academic and Other Snippets The destinations of the 2011 leavers are: Vir Bannerjee-Bulchandani to read Mathematics at St John’s College, Cambridge Ben Bayley to read History at Queens’ College, Cambridge Susanna Bennett to read German and Hebrew at St John’s College, Oxford Soojean Choi to read Law at Christ Church, Oxford Ellie Daniel to read History at either Bristol University or King’s College London Alexander Entwistle to read Mathematics and Philosophy at Bristol University Jonathon Hazell to read Economics at Pembroke College, Cambridge William Lim to read an Economics related course at Warwick University, The London School of Economics or University College London Patrick Perryman-Owens to read Medicine at Christ’s College, Cambridge Gabriel Trueblood to read Medicine at St Peter’s College, Oxford Noah Viner to read French and Russian at Trinity College, Oxford Since the last edition, College has won The House Chess Cup twice, this year’s final having moved forward in the calendar. With two first election and two second election in the team we will seek to emulate the achievement of the King’s Scholars who held the cup from 1945 through to 1948! College completed a clean sweep at G.C.S.E. with all grades awarded being A*s. It was a similar story at AS level with all grades awarded being As. At A2, over three quarters of the grades were A* or better and there were no grades below A.

Kshitij Sabnis won the Maskelyne Essay Prize for his essay entitled “What is the likelihood of string theory achieving its aims”. Patrick Perryman-Owens represented the U.K. in the 2011 National Biology Olympiad team. Charlie Houseago and Kshitij Sabnis were awarded Gold Medals in both the Physics Olympiad and the Chemistry Olympiad. David Wong was awarded Gold Medals in both the Biology Olympiad and the Chemistry Olympiad. Shyam Gokani and Nick Lorch were awarded Gold Medals in the Biology Olympiad. Audrey Sheng and David Wong have both won places in The National Youth Orchestra. This will be David’s fourth year and he will be the principal clarinet. Audrey will play the double bass.

College Society Gobbets Max Bryant (QS 2002-07) completed his three-year undergraduate course in English Language and Literature at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, in June 2010, gaining the top first of all English finalists in Course 1 (1st out of 239). He was awarded Oxford University's Gibbs Prize for best overall performance in English Language and Literature. He has just completed his M.Phil. degree at St. John's, Cambridge, in the History of Architecture. *** Antony Smith (QS 2001-06) gave a lecture to The Classics Society on “Anger and Stoicism in Virgil’s Aeneid”.

Words and Phrases used in college in the 1930s Lumber Room: this was the common room of the juniors. Subsequent years had small cubby-hole-like studies (Boxes) in larger rooms. The Lumber Room was well-named, being in a perpetual mess. Poon (David Simpson, Master of KSS) once came in and angrily ticked us off for fiddling with the three-bar electric fire, which was constantly short circuiting and being mended with non-standard bits of wire. He said only two bars still worked, but when he switched it on to demonstrate only one bar came on. Japs: the lavatory cubicles in College, so named after a supposed likeness to a Japanese building in the Great Exhibition of 1851. Saines: the sanatorium or sick room in College, presided over by Miss Lorimer, a gruff, kindly old Scot spinster. “French Dictionary”: to which the answer was “cake”. “Have some!” and there was a pile of slices of cake to help yourself to. With thanks to Michael Sweet-Escott (KS 1936-1941)

COLLEGE SOCIETY - CHAIRMAN’S REPORT For the College Society also it was again business as usual. May 2011 saw the return of the College Society Lecture, given by Adam Boulton (QS 197276), and Oliver Gillie writes about this elsewhere in this newsletter. In September 2011 a well-attended AGM and dinner confirmed the demand amongst members for this as an annual event; however, a change in school policy means that in future it is likely to happen only every other year. The after dinner innovation was very successful as, by kind permission of the Dean, we moved out of College Hall and through the half-lit Abbey to sing Compline in St Faith’s Chapel; many thanks to Mark Feltham for arranging this and providing the cantors. We were saddened to learn of the death of William Barnes (KS 1932-1936), who was the first Chairman of the Society when it was set up in 1996; it was under his guidance, as Chairman for five years, that the Society became firmly established on foundations on which it has since built and we are very grateful for all he did for it. It was also a shock to read of the death of the art historian John House (QS 1959-1963) who gave us such a delightful and informative lecture four years ago. Westminster has a new and very active archivist, Elizabeth Wells, and we are delighted that she has agreed to contribute to this newsletter. The College archive, which was started by Jonathan Katz and housed in a cupboard in the roof of College next to the shooting gallery, has been transferred to the main school archive, where it will be more accessible and well looked after, while still retaining a separate identity. In November Elizabeth arranged a very enjoyable screening of various films made at the school before, during and after the war; this concluded with the (fictional) 1971 film ‘Red’, about a revolt against a tyrannical Praefectus by a group of Scholars, enthusiastically supported by the Master, Martin Rogers! My contributions to last year’s newsletter were marred by two errors, for which I apologise: -I attributed the genesis of the College Society Annual Lecture to Jonathan Katz but he has put me right; it was the brainchild of my predecessor as Chairman, Tom Sooke; -the reunion of war-time Scholars at Whitbourne, when an aumbry light and plaque were installed in the church, took place in 1987 not 1978; many thanks to Sir Roger Young for pointing this out. Please do continue to send Mark Feltham your news, information and reminiscences for future editions of this newsletter. As always I would like to thank the members of the committee and the Master for their support over the course of the year.

Jonathan Rawes (1963-1968)

A 1930’s SCHOLAR - THE HENRY VERNON KING ARCHIVE Once despatched, the fate of this newsletter is largely unknown; consigned to dustbin or recycling bag, used to light the fire, maybe occasionally even read. So the editorial heart is warmed by hearing that Newsletter 12 (2007-08) was found by the bedside of one former Scholar on his death. Henry Vernon King (known as Bob) was at Westminster in the 1930s. A box file of documents relating to his schooldays (including said Newsletter) has come into my possession and will be deposited in the school archives; it opens a window into pre-war school life, and we can learn something about King from the items from that era which he chose to retain throughout his long life. Initially up Rigaud’s as an exhibitioner he took the Challenge internally and entered College in Play Term 1932. The instructions for the Challenge make it clear that the value of the scholarship was 100%, although it was “earnestly desired” that parents should “forgo the pecuniary benefits” if possible. They also show that each Scholar had to pass an annual exam or “forfeit his place on the Foundation”. He was clearly clever, and versatile. Starting on the ‘Classical Side’ he then switched to the ‘Modern Side’, passing his Higher School Certificate in modern languages and Latin. He then spent his final year in the Mathematics Seventh before winning a place at an aeronautical college - testimonials describe him as “exceptionally competent and dependable” with an “excellent moral character”. His progress can be tracked through a collection of School Rolls (forerunners to the Pink Lists) - each of which bears the injunction “All Boys shall bring a Certificate that they have not been in recent contact with infectious disease”. A common room of around thirty indicates the comparatively small size of the school in those days, the forty Scholars - listed by year and house, other boys only by class forming a higher proportion than in the post-war era. Having been for four years a boy Chorister at King’s College, Cambridge he was a talented musician; the box contains some sheet music from his schooldays, including Bach’s cello suites, some songs and Ketelbey’s In a Monastery Garden. In his last year Mr Lofthouse, the master in charge of music, wrote to congratulate him on his musical achievements, including creating and conducting a College orchestra, and to thank him for his help and hard work. A competent artist, he kept two of his pencil sketches, of the East side of Dean’s Yard and of College under scaffolding. These complement a set of postcards showing black and white photographs of various school buildings - the original Busby’s was where Church House now stands, and the fives court was between the entrance Up School and the gate into College Garden. His school career culminated in attendance at the 1936 Election Dinner, reciting an epigram on the thesis ‘Amantium Irae’; the dinner was presided over by the Dean (the Head Master Harold CostleyWhite had resigned that year on the grounds of ill health), and among the guests was the Bishop of Accra. His school bill in April 1936, showing retrospective charges for Lent Term and prospective fees for Election Term, amounted to £22 16s 6d. Though leaving Westminster too soon to sing the ‘vivats’ at the 1937 Coronation he was privileged to attend the event, presumably as a recent former Scholar, and the invitation from Earl Marshal and the Order of Service are in the file. The link with the Abbey, in particular on Royal occasions, clearly meant a lot to him, and he is not unusual in that. The last item in the box is a letter he wrote to the Queen in 2006 on her 80th birthday, reminding her of her attendance in 1935, aged nine, with her grandparents George V and Queen Mary at a service in the Abbey; he was one of the Scholars who waited by the Great West Door and followed the royal party in procession to the choir. A note on the envelope records “sent by email - no reply!”. Jonathan Rawes

The College Society Lecture - 11 May 2011 This was given by Adam Boulton (QS 1972-76) who has been Political Editor of Sky since 1989. The evening was a tour de force by a man supremely happy in his job (the BBC have had four political editors during his tenure). Adam clearly loved being a watcher, analyst and interpreter of politics. He denied having political leanings of his own (or at least allowing them to show) and scrupulously avoids voting in elections and referendums. His talk ranged over many issues of current politics. Among the highlights was the Con-Lib Dem coalition. He felt that there was a major disconnect between journalists and public opinion, with the profession warming to it. He thought it had every chance for survival as the mechanism for breaking it would be difficult to trigger. Britain would look better in a few years (hard to look worse!) and it would not cause the wreck of the Lib Dems. Indeed he felt that the man to feel sorry for at the next election could well be Ed Miliband. The recently held alternative vote referendum was another obvious topic. His view was firstly that the timing was extremely badly chosen by Nick Clegg, resulting in a campaign that was unworthy and far too confused with the dreaded cuts, but also that it was not a particularly important issue (only 4% of elected candidates in Australia are not the leading candidate counting first choice voters alone). Inevitably the subject of Murdoch was raised in the general context of television in the UK and USA (his talk predated the hacking scandal - his views on that would have been fascinating). From his viewpoint Murdoch are excellent employers who take a much more long term view than most businesses. The Sky formula (TV you pay for explicitly) and the BBC (which you pay for implicitly) both work, while ITV increasingly does not and clearly he felt had a very uncertain future. All media is driven by technology and the rapid rate of change. In the current environment, TV is only preeminent in handling anything live (news and sport). Newspapers are in search of a role and their only strength is in handling lots of information and analysis, supported by a trend towards exaggeration; holding the trust of their readers is key, otherwise their role will be lost to blogs and the internet. He was very willing to talk about Sky and Fox News which are clearly very different animals. He pointed out that Sky must be balanced by law and is competing against other (supposedly) balanced operations. In the USA there is no such law and with Fox, Murdoch spotted a void in the market. Its development has been driven by its own success. It is now the largest and most profitable part of the Murdoch empire. Sky News is essentially a charitable operation and costs Murdoch a significant sum (though it is important for credibility). He felt that both BBC and Sky News made great efforts at balance, but that the public service status of The BBC versus capitalist Sky brought inevitably different attitudes. A good evening and he left me feeling that I might start watching Sky News occasionally! Oliver Gillie

A. A. Milne In what I hope will become a regular feature, I will be taking a look at famous Scholars through the records held in the School’s Archive. You could be forgiven for forgetting that Alan Alexander Milne spent his time at Westminster as a Queen’s Scholar. His generous donation of a quarter share of his rights in Winnie-the-Pooh coupled with the founding, in 1997, of a day house bearing his name, has led to Milne being appropriated by the whole school, rather than remaining a preserve of College. But it was Milne’s fond recollections of his time as a Scholar that led to Westminster’s largest legacy to date. Milne was born in Kilburn on 18th January 1882, the youngest of three sons born to John Vine Milne and Sarah Marie Heginbotham. His father was Head Master of a small prep school called Henley House; the writer H. G. Wells also taught at the school, years later Milne would describe him as ‘a great writer and a great friend’. With such an advantageous start in life it is hardly surprising that in 1893, at the age of eleven, Milne was elected as a Queen’s Scholar. Milne became involved in all aspects of School life, although he didn’t always get the rave reviews he was to enjoy later in his career! The account of a football match played between Westminster School and Old Brightonians in early 1899 notes that ‘Milne made a fairly successful first appearance, but he plays in lazy fashion, and requires much more dash and energy.’ Later in the season it is commented that ‘A. A. Milne would improve his play considerably if he displayed more inclination to “go for” the opposing half and back’. He was more successful at Cricket, which was to become a lasting love, first making his appearance for the College team in July 1898 alongside his elder brother, also a Queen’s Scholar. An account of a later match reveal’s A. A. Milne’s determination on the pitch: Lonsdale and Milne opened the innings of the Queen's Scholars, the former being caught by Pashley off Foster with 4 runs on the board, having already given two chances. Young was bowled directly after by a beauty from the same bowler. On Harrison joining Milne a useful stand was made, and 40 runs were added before Harrison was bowled by Willett. He had batted in good style, and should be useful next year. Lock was l.b.w. to Willett after making 10, and Palmer was easily stumped with the score at 89. Milne was next out, caught and bowled by Foster, for a very plucky innings of 38. He was suffering from a badly damaged finger, which he had hurt while fielding. He went on to play in the Cambridge Freshman’s match, and for the OWW team in the years to come. Milne’s interest in the sport also appears to have lured him into the school’s Debating Society. When the House met on Thursday, Oct. 12th, 1899, he proposed the following motion: ‘That the rules of cricket require revision.' In his speech Milne ‘mentioned several expedients to render drawn games more unlikely, but seemed most in favour of a proposal to take an inch or two off the width of the bat’. A subsequent speech, proposing the motion ‘That censure of generals while at the front is highly undesirable' was not as well received. The Secretary records: ‘A. A. MILNE (the Proposer) used as his chief argument the frequent fallacy of the reports spread by newspapers. He laid particular stress on such cases as that of Gatacre and his guide, the newspaper accounts of which were hopelessly untrue. He had few

other arguments to bring before the House ; indeed, considering the important part he should have taken in the debate, Milne's speech was decidedly unsatisfactory. He had a sufficiently strong case to make a far lengthier and more conclusive speech than he did.’ Naturally, Milne also took a role in the Latin play, taking the part of Geta in 1899’s Adelphi. The review notes that ‘Mr. A. A. Milne was somewhat stiff as the confidential slave Geta. Walking steadily to and fro across the front of the stage is apt to become rather a comic method of displaying agitation. His Ruerem, agerem, raperem, tunderem, et prosternerem,' was very well given.’ Knowing Milne’s talent for comedy, it seems understandable that he would play such a role for laughs. Of course, his real gift for comedy was as a writer, initially for Punch and as a playwright before the success of the Winnie-the-Pooh books placed him firmly into the category of much-loved children’s author. His old house keenly followed his progress and celebrated his success and Milne never forgot what he felt to be the debt he owed Westminster for his education. In the School Archive is a first edition of Winnie-the-Pooh, which was given by Milne to College Library. Its condition indicates that it was well read by subsequent generations of Scholars. The School has been fortunate enough to acquire for the Archive an early manuscript of Milne’s: a short comic play which he wrote to amuse a fellow soldier whilst he served in the First World War. The work, never staged to our knowledge, will hopefully finally be performed at the school next year. It will be wonderful to have Milne return to the Westminster stage. Elizabeth Wells (School Archivist)

Programme from the 1899 performance of Terrence’s Adelphi and illustration depicting A. A. Milne as Geta from a newspaper review.