No . 136
The Trusty Servant
Paul Williams ( Co Ro , 77-03 ; Ho Do H , 87-01 )
Nicholas Fennell ( Co Ro , 77-13 ) remembers a beloved friend and colleague :
In desperation I asked for Paul ’ s help : I needed to distract my bored div in an upcoming double hour . He ’ d just arrived at the College , having completed his PhD on tribal magic and religion in Brazil . Paul delivered a scintillating talk , illustrated with slides of witch doctors , sacrifices and people in trances . I was embarrassed . For the next week I had to explain to members of my div that no , they couldn ’ t transfer to his , and ‘ learn something interesting and useful for a change .’
Paul burst onto the fusty College scene in 1977 . He was handsome , with not an ounce of fat on him . A female colleague remembers : ‘ I saw that unmistakable tall figure with the distinguished flowing hair and deerstalker hat slope past .’ He dressed impeccably and with flair . No one looked better in a linen suit or bow tie .
Doc Bill belongs to the College ’ s pantheon of great teachers . To quote his former pupils : ‘ a brilliant and glamorous don … the living div .’; ‘ clever , sparky , funny ’; ‘ genuinely one of the most inspirational teachers imaginable .’ A member of his div recollects : ‘ He tried with irrepressible enthusiasm to teach us a few phrases of Guaraní . It was quite fruitless at the time but it sparked an interest in languages that bore fruit later .’
Paul ’ s sense of humour and roars of laughter are legendary . He gave people memorable nicknames , some of them , such as my own , unfortunately unrepeatable . A favourite pupil recollects : ‘ I felt perfectly comfortable being addressed as Cream Bun ( derived from Doc Bill ’ s view that I spoke as if having to accommodate a cream bun in my mouth ).’ In 1976 Paul and Rosie invited me to my first meal with them , a roast pork luncheon with exceptionally crisp crackling . One of the other guests , a naval officer , described the intricacies of squarerigged ships and was instantly dubbed Futtock Shrouds .
The oral exams caused much hilarity . His son Patrick ’ s chosen GCSE topic was Mon père excentrique , which he prepared with irreverent zeal only to be examined by Paul himself , as his usual teacher-examiner was unwell on the day of the oral . ‘ When it was over ,’ Patrick remembers , ‘ he hit pause , and we both roared with laughter .’ On another occasion a Collegeman was to be examined in a French for Business AS oral exam : ‘ I [ was to ] play a British table purchaser , against Paul as a Hungarian table manufacturer , between whom French was to be the literal lingua franca . I taught myself sufficient Hungarian to say in initial greeting Jó reggelt , Dr Williams — nagyon örülök , hogy találkoztunk . It was perhaps the only time I saw him speechless , although drop-jawed silence was followed rapidly by characteristic guffaws of delight , Paul almost falling off his chair , and a rewind of the tape for ( he told me ) the only time in his career .’
As housemaster of Trant ’ s Doc Bill had to deal with plenty of naughty boys . An old friend writes : ‘ He was seen in Branston ’ s as being a total hoot , a terrific teacher , and … firm but fair .’ Just as in Blight the fictitious housemaster Theo discovers a secret underground room used by his charges for debauched misdemeanours , so Doc Bill was unaware until near the end of his housemastership of a cubbyhole , The Hatch , under Trant ’ s mugging hall . At the end of his time in Trant ’ s , armed with a mobile ’ phone — in those days a sophisticated device one associated with the police — he went on a massive raid throughout the college and up town . I believe he busted hundreds that night .
Paul ’ s successful Winchester career and the vastness of his circle of friends were much due to his marriage to Rosie , his perfect foil : he the flamboyant extrovert ; she calm , kind , a brilliant linguist with a Cambridge First and , to quote The Banker Who Turned to Voodoo , ‘ a very fine cook ’. They were generous hosts . In termtime they invited people round virtually every week to a feast with much laughter . They gave a memorable bash in Trant ’ s for all their friends in the late 80s . It lasted until dawn ; I have never since stayed to the end of so long a party or enjoyed myself so much . Their hospitality extended initially from Pittenweem in Fife , then to Winchester , and to Berdoulat in Condom-en-Armagnac , South-West France , and finally to Málaga — all places where countless guests stayed and dined .
The three Williams children , each like their parents Oxbridge-educated , are fine reflections of Paul and Rosie . Significantly , Patrick ’ s house and business in Bath are called Berdoulat . Paul was immensely proud of his children . He showed me a photograph taken in the mid-80s of Rosie , Melissa , Ed and Patrick : ‘ There ’ s the ball and chain with the brats . Pretty marvellous , eh ?’ Latterly , Paul ’ s pride
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