N o .123
learnt Telugu, the local language – well
beyond the expectations of development
workers. He later worked in Sri Lanka
in the no man’s land between the
Indian Army, the rampant Sinhalese
soldiers and the crazy cowboy-inspired
Tamil Tigers. He once went on a recce
with an Indian Officer when they were
ambushed by the Tamils. The Indian
Army Officer was shot a short distance
from him but he survived because of his
reputation as a long-term development
officer. He indented for bras for all the
women to make them feel respectable
and also for 300 sewing machines so
that the women’s new-found confidence
could be translated into remunerative
work. Such requests were greeted at the
Oxford office with, ‘If Sam says it is OK,
then it probably is OK.’ He was later
sent to assess the situation in Darfur,
Western Sudan, where he identified the
triangular flow of corrupt money from
oil men to the Sudanese Government to
the recruitment of the Janjaweed militia.
He finally returned to England, where he
covered consultancy and project work for
Oxfam. He was described by his Oxfam
boss as ‘a gentle soul and a very warm,
committed and skilled development
worker’. He is survived by his brother
and sister.
Richard Willoughby Ward-Perkins (B,
66-70): died 1.3.2016. Son of CNW-P
(B, 30-36). A member of Deb Soc.
St Peter’s College, Oxford, History
1974. He was called to the Bar, Middle
Temple in 1977. He suffered three brain
haemorrhages that left him progressively
more disabled. He never, however, lost
his charm and his love of life. Married
1991 Gail Hall, who survives him with
their son. (This obituary replaces the one
included in TS 122.)
Rupert James David Mozley (F, 72-76):
died 31.8.2016. Brother of JCM (F, 69-
73). John Mills Memorial Prize – both
Jun and Sen. VIII 1976 and Shooting
T he T rusty S ervant
Colours. Edinburgh University 1977-81
BSc Civil Engineering. RMAS 1981-
82, Hockey. Commissioned into the
Royal Engineers, with whom he served
in Cyprus, Denmark, BAOR, Bosnia,
Northern Ireland, and the Falklands,
where he met his elder son on a
television link-up between the Falklands
and the UK on Christmas Day. Resigned
as Captain 2006. He then worked for the
MOD (Navy) as a civil servant. He was a
passionate blood donor. He met his first
grandchild in Sydney, Australia when
he and his wife flew down during a brief
respite in his final illness. A conference
room was named after him in recognition
of his dedicated work for the Royal Navy.
Married 1983 Janice McKie Williamson,
who survives him with their two sons.
Jeffrey (Jay) Michael Sheldon (G,
99-04): died 15.12.2016. Editor The
Wykehamist. Winchester nurtured and
gave direction to his love of drama,
music, literature and language. He played
Geronte in Moliere’s The Doctor in Spite
of Himself to great acclaim. He took a
gap year in China and studied Mandarin
at Qingdao University. Edinburgh
University, Double First in French
and Chinese. He won a Taiwanese
government scholarship and spent six
months studying traditional Chinese.
He spent his year out of Edinburgh at
Kunming, Yunnan Province, where his
ambition was to be mistaken for a native,
but at 6’ 2” this was impossible, although
once on the phone he was asked from
which province he came! He first
worked for GCHQ but after two years
he returned to China. By the time of his
diagnosis with the rare cancer, DSRCT,
in 2015 he had returned to Britain to
study for his PhD at Edinburgh. He did
everything with an urgency and passion.
His love of language was so rooted – he
was fluent in French and Chinese and
proficient in German and Russian –
that he took Japanese lessons before
a short trip to Japan. Never without a
camera, one of his photographs won The
31
Guardian Travel Photo of the Month.
Music was always important to him and
he played the piano until shortly before
he died, when he put on Instagram: ‘The
piece is Brahms’ G minor Ballade, angry
but rounded and at the end mournful.
For me it’s almost impossibly difficult, but
if not now, when?’ He is survived by his
wife Ailsa and their two sons.
We are aware of the following deaths and
will be including further information in
the next issue:
Raymond George Humphrey
(Co Ro, 53-79) died 22.4.2017
Cecil Herbert William Hodges
(Coll, 35-40) died 14.11.2016
Henry Anthony Lillingston
(K, 39-43) died 8.3.2017
Kenneth David Gibson
(K, 39-43) died 6.4.2017
Graham Starforth Hill
(Coll, 40-45) died 11.4.2017
Keith Pelham Walker
(I, 41-45) died 27.3.2017
Bernard Grant Campbell
(B, 43-48) died 11.3.2017
David Gerald Sears
(A, 45-48) died 26.2.2017
Godfrey (Garry) Garrett Campbell
(F, 47-52) died 14.2.2017
Richard Tracy Charles Whatmore
(K, 48-53) died 3.2.2017
Richard Noel Robert Cross
(F, 49-54) died 25.2.2017
Jonathan Henry Silley
(D, 50-55) died 30.3.2017
Nicholas Adam Ridley
(K, 51-55) died 6.3.2017
David Stafford Crossman
(Coll, 56-61) died15.3.2017
Rupert Howard Cornwell
(E, 59-64) died 31.3.2017
Brian Peter Harvey Orange
(A, 60-64) died 23.2.2017