N O. 1 2 2 T H E T R U S T Y S E R VA N T
Archie Campbell Murdoch( 1911-2016)
Christopher Van der Noot( K, 53-57), our obituarist, writes:
After more than ten years as our Sen Man, Archie Campbell Murdoch died on 29th June 2016, aged 105. Having converted to Roman Catholicism in 1941, he was a great lover of the Extraordinary Latin Mass and wished to have his own Requiem Mass celebrated in Latin. Thus it was that, when a congregation of 300 attended St Osmund’ s, Salisbury, there were five robed clergy conducting the Mass and a further six in the congregation. Fortunately, English was printed alongside the Latin in the order of service!
Archie was born in Casablanca in 1911 and remembered well waving his father off at the railway station on his way to the Somme, where he was killed.
After attending preparatory school at Langley Place, St Leonard’ s on Sea, he came to Winchester in 1924. He left a term early and travelled with his stepfather in the Middle East, through Palestine and on to Damascus. Whilst at Oxford he fell in love with Sheila Haigh and they married secretly in September 1932. However, they were spotted whilst on their honeymoon by members of the family, who were horrified, and so a public wedding took place at St Andrew’ s Church, Pont Street, much to the delight of the Scottish and Irish Presbyterian members of the family.
He studied singing at the Royal College of Music, was a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio and
successfully auditioned for Glyndebourne in 1939, although the war intervened. Because of poor eyesight, which prevented him joining the Royal Navy, he joined the London Auxiliary Fire Service, working long hours of two days on and one off: he called himself George to avoid ribbing by his Cockney fellow fire-fighters.
After the War, he started his career as a teacher, ending up as Headmaster of the Thomas More School, which catered for 54 disadvantaged children. He then retired to Malta, with its strong Catholic and musical roots and a pleasant climate. Life was good for those expatriate‘ sixpenny settlers’ who paid tax at 6d in the pound until Dom Mintoff raised the rate, whereupon he returned to the UK in 1985. His stoicism and commendable attitude of not wanting to cause a fuss are well known: when he was in hospital just before his 100th birthday, the occupational therapy team were assessing him and wanted to know who his carers were, who did his shopping, cleaning and cooking. He had to ask them what a carer actually was, and they struggled to grasp that Archie was completely self-sufficient. As his 105th birthday approached he was asked if he would like to receive a card from Her Majesty.‘ Oh no – I really do not want to bother her,’ came his reply. But Her Majesty did bother and her card duly arrived. When his distinctive battlescarred red Renault failed its MOT, he gave up driving at age 102, much to the relief of the citizens of Salisbury. Sheila, his wife of 71 years, died in 2000: Archie was devastated for they had still giggled together like young lovers.
And so Archie’ s life was acknowledged with dignity at that masterly Requiem Mass at St Osmund’ s Roman Catholic Church in Salisbury.
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