N o .125
T he T rusty S ervant
Geoffrey Hewitson
(Co Ro, 63-00; Second Master, 91-97)
Tommy Cookson (I, 55-60; Co Ro, 64-65,
67-72, 74-90; Headmaster, 03-05) writes:
Geoffrey Hewitson, who has died at
the age of 83, was an outstanding
don, housedon and Second Master
at Winchester for 37 years until his
retirement in 2000.
As a gifted soccer player, he was awarded
his Cambridge Blue in 1957 and from
2001-2006 was chairman of the amateur
football club, the Corinthian-Casuals,
for whom he played over 80 games as a
young man.
He was, however, a greater man
than the sum of his achievements.
Widely respected and trusted by his
colleagues, who elected him chairman
of Common Room, he was known for
his good humour, his modesty, his deft
handling of all types of situation and
the fairness of his judgements. When he
became acting Head for a term in the
Headmaster’s absence on sabbatical, he
immediately showed how easily he would
have filled the role in any school. The
standard imitation of him began with a
characteristic shrug of the shoulders and
the words, ‘I’m a reasonable man’ – and
so he appeared to generations of pupils
Geoffrey Hewitson was born in Hackney
in 1935, the only child of devoted
parents determined to do their best for
him. His father, who had started work
at the age of 14 as a mining engineer
in the Northumberland coal mines at
Allendale, re-mortgaged the house to
buy him the Cambridge Soccer Blue
blazer. In later years he would recall with
a blush how his mother would bring him
breakfast in bed when he was well into
his 20s; and how she would clean his
football boots after a match and proceed
to iron the laces.
Evacuated during the war to
Hertfordshire and something of a late
developer, he surprised everyone by
passing the 11-Plus exam and going
to the prestigious Sir George Monoux
Grammar School in Walthamstow.
After a slow start as an A Level scientist
he switched to History, discovered a
lifelong interest and won a place at
Selwyn College, Cambridge.
Before going up he did his national
service in the RAF, where he spent
much time playing football and tennis,
representing the RAF at doubles.
Asked later whether he had ever been
to Wimbledon, he would reply with an
ironic smile, ‘Only as a competitor.’ He
would then add, ‘We lost 6-0, 6-0.’
At Cambridge he was coached by Bill
Nicholson, who would later manage
Tottenham Hotspur. Hewitson loved
recounting one of Nicholson’s half-time
talks: ‘You’re the most intelligent side
I’ve coached – and the worst footballers.’
After Cambridge, he had a difficult
choice. Fascinated by how such things
as classic cars worked, he became a
management trainee at a large building
firm. But his academic ability, his
sporting skill and natural affinity with
people of all kinds marked him out as
a schoolmaster, first at Forest School in
East London (where he later became a
governor) and afterwards at Winchester
where he became a member of its
outstanding History department. His tenure as Housedon of Beloe’s began
in 1970. He brought to it an instinctive
understanding and amused tolerance
of teenage boys at a time when the
enforcement of traditional disciplines
had become harder. For the nervous or
vulnerable his manner was reassuring
and his attention constant. But he set
clear boundaries. On one occasion he
refused a boy’s request for an absence.
‘Aren’t you even willing to discuss it?’
cried the boy. ‘Perfectly will