No. 123
The Trusty Servant
Health Act. He was Director and actor in the Detling Players and he was an active participant in the Detling Singers. That Detling was known to punch above its weight was in large part due to him. In all that he did he was led by the axiom to try to leave the world a slightly better place than you found it. Married 1967 Susan Brown, who survives him with their son and daughter.
Peter Gordon Davey( A, 48-53): died 5.9.2016. Exhibitioner, Senior Science Prize. National Service, Royal Signals, Best Cadet Catterick School of Signals 1954. Scholarship, Caius College, Cambridge, 1 Mechanical Science 1958, MA 1962. He led the group which put a van on the Senate House roof. He first went to Berkeley, California as guest researcher at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, which was up a steep hill, so he developed California’ s first electric bicycle, Pegasus. He then moved to University of Heidelberg as the first Gastarbeiter at Heinz Filthuth’ s Institute. In 1967 he moved to Oxford University, where he took on the challenge of robotics. He founded and was Director of Electro – Pneumatic Equipment in 1968. He developed the MetaTorch, a laser-camera-controlled arc-welding system, which won the BTG Academic Enterprise Award in 1985. It is in production worldwide. He spent five years as co-ordinator of SERC’ s Industrial Robotics Initiative, planning, implementing and directing a UK-wide robotics-research programme. He was appointed CBE in 1986 for this work. He co-founded Meat Machines and Oxford Intelligent Machines, enabling the UK to sell robots to Japan. In retirement, he was active in the National Coastwatch Institution and a key figure in the Mousehole Harbour Lights, overseeing the change of all the lights to low-energy LEDs. He is survived by Jane, his wife of 55 years, and their two sons and two daughters.
Richard Arthur Moss( Coll, 48-53): died 26.12.2016. After some home schooling he won a scholarship to Winchester. Ross Homer Prize and Junior Senior Kenneth Freeman Prizes. Exhibitioner, New College, Oxford 2 Lit Hum and 3 Honours Law Finals. After private practice as a solicitor he became a partner with Oppenheimer, Nathan & Vandyk 1971-75. He later set up his own firm, Dooley Moss, specialising in company and commercial law. After retirement, he became a quiet philanthropist, befriending Age UK, regular at National Trust’ s Sutton Manor House and Trustee for Alms Houses in Southwark. He spent time reading with disadvantaged children at Hungerford School, King’ s Cross. When his health deteriorated, he worried less about his own condition than that the inevitable increasing expenditure would affect his legacy to the School. Married 1974 Patsy O’ Mullane who died in 1986.
John Cameron Deas( Coll, 50-55): died 30.12.2016. Member of winning Richardson Pot – House Gymna. National Service as a signals officer with the RAF. Scholarship, Trinity College, Cambridge, 2 Maths, BA 1960. Whilst at Cambridge he was a member of the Cambridge Gliding Club – he built his own glider. He then embarked on a long career in computer systems, first with Ferranti, which successively became ICT, ICL and finally Fujitsu. During his time with ICL he spent five years in Australia and New Zealand. In the latter he won the prize for the‘ Most Honest Golfer in New Zealand’. In retirement, his main interest was in Wikipedia. As an administrator, he devoted energy to developing and enforcing the standards of verifiability required. Of the millions of contributors, he was the 264 th most active Wikipedian. He was made a life member of the Chartered Institute of IT. He was at the forefront of early British computing. He is survived by Elizabeth, his wife of 53 years, and their two sons.
Anthony Shayle Owen Houchen( H, 51-55): died 11.8.2016. Bisley 1954-55. National Service, Royal Fusiliers 1955- 57. He represented the Royal Fusiliers at Bisley in 1957. Magdalene College, Cambridge, 2( 1) History BA 1960. Cambridge University Rifle Shooting Team and was elected to the Hawks Club. He first worked with the Bank of England 1960-64. He then joined Moneytype Corporation and began a long career in printing machinery. He worked in India, where he set up printing factories and modernising printing operations. He became Service Director on the main board. When Moneytype closed in 1981 he moved to McCorquodale PLC, a company specialising in security printing. He particularly enjoyed three business trips to the USA on Concorde. In 1987, he joined Oxydry( UK), which was an American company in the Printing Machinery Industry. In 1996 he set up his own business focusing on international markets for printing machinery. He was also a very skilled photographer – he had taken a cine film of the Queen in her carriage in the Mall during the Coronation when he was still at school. In 2001, he was diagnosed with Pick’ s disease, a progressive form of dementia. Married 1976 Andra Morris, who survives him with their two daughters.
Nigel Warrack( H, 51-56): died 17.11.2016. Son of GDHW( B, 13- 18), brother of AGW( H, 58-63) and half-brother of JHW( H, 41-46). Athlā Colours, winning both the high jump and the hurdles, pipping Peter Jay( C, 50-55) at the post. National Service, 3 rd Hussars 1957-59, serving in BAOR. He worked as a documentary director for various television companies including ITN, ATV, Central Television and the BBC. He directed numerous documentaries, notably The Malvern Enigma( about Elgar), and Where are the Lads from the Village Tonight? about the World War
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