DR Susanna Price-Cabrera 1944-2019
For so many who were at Sevenoaks in the 1980s and 90s , but especially those in the Girls ’ International House , the passing of Susanna Price-Cabrera in September 2019 came as a great sadness .
At a time when co-education and internationalism were being pressed with renewed vigour , Susanna arrived in 1984 with so much to offer : a biologist , a gifted former member of the Argentinian national sailing team , an enthusiastic promoter of Hispanic language and cultures , she made an immediate impact . Her appetite for hard work and involvement quickly led her to become House Tutor in the GIH and then Head of Spanish . Hitherto only taught in the Sixth Form , Susanna extended the language throughout the school , producing plays in Spanish and at all times being its strongest advocate .
In 1988 she became Housemistress of GIH and Sevenoaks School ’ s first woman head of a boarding house . In the words of Caro Spencer , her tutor , she ‘ sought to prepare girls for their future roles as independent women … through her calm , thoughtful and practical care ’. With her experience and international background she was a natural choice to take over as Sixth Form Admissions Registrar in 1990 . Her ability to manage three highly demanding roles , while devoting herself to her family , underlined her determination to show girls of what they were capable . While she left Sevenoaks to become Deputy Head of St Anne ’ s , Windemere in 1993 , her return some years later to take the Headship of Beechwood Sacred Heart School in Tunbridge Wells meant that she was able to resume the many friendships she had made at Sevenoaks .
Elizabeth Crang 1935-2019 Park Grange Matron 1978-2004
Elizabeth Crang was born in Bradford and educated as a boarder at St Hilary ’ s School in Alderley Edge , where she evidently absorbed the school ’ s encouragement towards unselfish service and a sense of responsibility which were so clear to those of us lucky enough to work with her .
On leaving college she became manager of the main BBC canteen , where her striking good looks and warm personality made quite an impression . She married Rodney Crang in 1959 and devoted herself to bringing up her three children , Jeremy , Sarah and Chris . Following the break-up of her marriage , Duncan and Lesley Townson had the inspired idea of asking her to be their matron at Park Grange .
During the following 30 years she established close friendships with the successive heads of PG and other staff , and saw hundreds of pupils through the house . Being a school matron embodied all the things she loved : nurturing young people , providing a listening ear , helping the students ( and the staff !) through difficult times , and being part of a close-knit community . ‘ Mrs C ’ was a firm believer that the best cure for nearly all teenage afflictions was a hot Lemsip and a chat . Elizabeth was devoted to PG and it was a mark of the high regard in which she was held by the school that she was asked to stay on until after retirement age . Even in retirement she loved to catch up with the former students and staff . Elizabeth was a wonderful friend and she will be hugely missed by so many of us .
Arabella Stuart
Susanna was a pioneer who helped transform Sevenoaks School into what many now regard as one of the most successful coeducational schools in the country . Warm , dynamic , energetic , her truest legacy lies in the lives of the many girls whom she inspired to achieve so much more than they had imagined .
John Guyatt , Undermaster 1990-2003
140 ALUMNI REVIEW