No.129
The Trusty Servant
‘Ouvrez le Vouvray!’ -
Modern Foreign Languages
Henry Thompson (Co Ro, 64-00 & 05)
recalls:
and expected the same from members
of his department. One summer
evening at about 8.30 John Woolmer
(Co Ro, 63-75) and I were returning
from a cricket net, when I realised
that we would have to pass Leslie’s
study window in 22 Kingsgate Street,
and that my idle pursuit was about to
be exposed. There was nothing for it
but to go down on hands and knees
and crawl past the window, while
John, a mathematician, walked beside
me.
Henry Thompson
‘We must not let Leslie down!’
Ronald Hamilton (Co Ro, 33-69),
tall, patrician figure, past Housedon
of Trant’s now nearing retirement
age, never in living memory having
been seen proceeding faster than at
a dignified walk, was observed by
astonished Wykehamists at 3.58 pm,
positively cantering along Meads
path, urged on by Agatha, Mrs LJ
Russon. Her husband Leslie (Co Ro,
40-69; HoD 53-69), my first head
of the Mod Lang department, was
unwell and Agatha was standing in
for him up to books – and Agatha
had standards, notably German
standards of punctuality, somewhat
stricter than those of the more laid-
back Ronnie Hamilton. Leslie always
affirmed that Agatha was not German
but American, though you could
have fooled me, and as a young don
in 1964 new to the trade, I certainly
wouldn’t have argued with the rather
austere Leslie who, with Agatha,
had written the standard German
language textbooks of my schooldays.
Leslie worked extremely hard himself
Leslie Russon
Leslie mellowed, as we do, and
became a warm friend. ‘Leslie,’ I asked
him a year or two down the line, ‘It’s
very impressive that you require three
copies of our end-of-term marks – do
you run a filing system in triplicate?’
‘Oh no, it’s because I know I’m bound
to lose two of them….’
John Surry (Co Ro, 53-84) took over
the Modern Languages department
in 1967. Similar standards were
expected, to match phenomenal
industry on his part, but with a
lighter touch, and a great sense of
humour. ‘Ouvrez le Vouvray!’ was
the welcoming epigram for our
12
departmental meetings. John was a
showman, in his element in the QEII
theatre and New Hall, in dons’ revues
and dons’ pantomimes, loving every
minute of it and infecting the rest of
us too, as producer/director, actor,
singer – comedian par excellence. His
non-PC take-offs of Adolf Hitler were
a joy in the days when one could
do that sort of thing; and there was
his German version of ‘Come into
the garden, Maud’ (Kommen Sie in
den Garten, Maud, / Die schwarze
Fledermaus Nacht ist geflogen, usw.)
John’s departmental successor from
1983 was Alan Conn (Co Ro, 69 & 70-
07), at a time when Northern Ireland
seemed to run Win Coll, with Alan
at Mod Langs, Stephen Anderson
(Co Ro, 80-15) head of Classics and
Eli McCullough for many years at
what was then the centre of power
as Headmaster’s Secretary. Robert
Alan Conn came to Win Coll on
temporary appointment as a student
teacher in Common Time 1969, and
Leslie Russon duly addressed him
and referred to him as Robert. Not
venturing to contradict Leslie (cf.
above), RAC went along with that
appellation for the term. However,
when he was subsequently appointed
as a don in Short Half 1970 he had
a hard struggle to persuade Leslie
and everyone else to call him Alan.
By the time he became head of
department Alan had married Helen,
and departmental meetings were
enhanced by her prodigious culinary
skills. Alan’s energy in running the
department reflected his attitude to
all his life and work, and his untimely
death within months of his retirement
in 2007 was a grievous blow to
everyone.