No.127
The Trusty Servant
Obituary
We write obituaries for all Old
Wykehamists and it would be invaluable
to us if OWs were to send us some notes
about their life, covering a little bit more
than appears in the Winchester College
Register. These should be addressed to: The
Obituarist, Winchester College Society, 73
Kingsgate Street, Winchester SO23 9PE.
Julian John Hamling Smith (Co Ro,
53-92): died 22.2.2019 aged 89. Father
of CNNS (K, 78-83) and EMGS (K, 85-
86). He was first a chorister at King’s
College, Cambridge 1940-44 then
attended Dulwich College where he
was in the Cricket XI for three years.
National Service with the Intelligence
Corps, with whom he served in
Austria. Edinburgh University, Mus B
1950-53. He came to Winchester in 1953
when he began a long and successful
career. He taught singing, German
and the piano, and was responsible
for Yearlings cricket for ten years. He
founded and directed Chantry Choir
before becoming Director of Chapel
Music 1979-92. He led numerous
overseas choral tours and under his
direction the Quiristers won a major
ITV competition. He performed in the
Premier of Lloyd-Webber’s Requiem
and was a soloist in Winchester
College opera; he remained a member
of the Visiting Music Staff until 2012.
He is survived by Fiona, his wife of
55 years with whom he was a stalwart
supporter of the Winchester College
community, and their daughter. See
Keith Pusey’s appreciation above.
David Hugh Martin Foster (Co
Ro, 64-69): died 4.10.2018. He was
educated at Kingswood School, Bath;
Caius College, Cambridge, Modern
Languages, BA 1961; Dip Ed, Oxford.
He came to Winchester in 1964 and
taught German and French, moving
to Trinity Comprehensive School
Carlisle in 1969. He then started a new
venture in North Devon combining
Sixth Forms with a Technical College.
In 1980, he was invited to become an
HM Inspector of Schools based in
Norwich, after a year of which he was
seconded to the Audit Commission.
Wishing to return to teaching, he
applied to VSO who were looking
for teachers in English after the
fall of communism and joined the
Pedagogical Faculty at the University
of Nitra in Slovakia, where western
teaching methods were revolutionary.
Always wishing to explore new ideas,
he finally ran University of the Third
Age classes in Norwich. He is survived
by Pat, his wife of 50 years, and their
two sons and a daughter.
Roger Macbeth Rigby (I, 36-40): died
19.1.2019 aged 96 as our 9 th Sen Man. Art
Prize. Magdalene Cambridge, following
which he joined 18 th KEO Cavalry on
the North West Frontier. After the war
he was ADC to Deputy Chief of Staff,
Control Commission Germany and
retired in 1951. He then became General
Manager, GKN, where he set up factories
in Pakistan using his Urdu learnt during
the war. He later worked for various
architects including Sir Basil Spence
whose practice he ran 1956-61. Then
finally he was Director of Ave Arup
Partnership, consulting engineers, 1962-
85, where he was responsible for setting
up their innovative partnership scheme
(similar to John Lewis). He was pivotal
in allowing the company to flourish and
become internationally renowned. One
of his major achievements was designing
and building Ansty Plum, a modernist
open-plan house in Ansty, Wiltshire,
which in 2016 received an RIBA House
of the Year award. He was a gifted and
productive artist exhibiting his paintings
and glass engravings in both London
and Wiltshire. Married 1957 Patricia
Tufnell who predeceased him. He is
survived by their two daughters.
25
John Nicholas Somerville (I, 36-42):
died 9.9.2018 aged 94. Son of DHSS
(I, 03-08) and brother of CS (I, 35-40).
RMC OCTU Sword of Honour 1943
and commissioned into the South
Wales Borderers. He landed on Gold
Beach at 10.30am on D-Day and,
having gathered his party, he cycled
inland for 15 miles to the assembly area
and reached the objective, the bridge
at Vaux-sur-Aure, before last light. He
later celebrated his 21 st birthday as a
company commander, took part in the
second Battle of Arnhem and led his
company into Hamburg on 2 nd May
1945. Mentioned in Despatches. After
being an Instructor at RMAS and
attending Staff College, he was with the
South Wales Borderers in the Malayan
Emergency 1957-58 and commanded
them in Hong Kong and Aden, 1966.
Mentioned in Despatches a second
time. He was promoted Colonel and
was the driving force in establishing
the Junior Division of the Staff College
as its first Commandant1969-73.
He was appointed CBE in 1972 and
promoted Brigadier to became one
of the most successful Directors of
Army Recruiting 1973-75, when he
reversed a downward trend. A hip
operation blocked his promotion to
Major-General so finally he was Vice
President, the Regular Commissions
Board, 1975-78. In 1980 he became
consultant, Personnel Selection, for
the Conservative Party for which he
devised a 36-hour residential course
to assess candidates. He was knighted
in 1985. He was Commodore of the
South Cork Sailing Club 1987-2005
when it went from strength to strength.
He was churchwarden at Greywell for
many years. David Fellowes (I, 63-
67) read at Hopper’s Preces from the
delightful exchange of letters between
Sommerville and his housemaster,
the Bobber, covering the time that he
entered the Army until after D-Day.
(Recorded in TS116, Nov 2013). His