Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Here's a suggested new topic about OBs sent to jail, that may not be allowed by our censors.

One of my contemporaries and friends was sentenced to a jail term. Have any others? Obviously I won't indicate who he was, apart from saying he was an unusual type at school, with no obvious criminal tendencies. Although very bright, he was dead lazy so never went beyond O level (that dates him!). His family background was totally normal. A couple of years after leaving CH and working in menial jobs he realised that further education was the way to go. So he tried to enter the University of London via A level courses taken at a Technical College. But his becoming a 'guest' of HM intervened, alas. Have there been other OBs with jail terms? I suspect very few, if any at all.

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The magic word 'ALLEGEDLY' might be handy here !

I do remember in the late 1940s there was one boy expelled "for the usual reason". Some years later a group of us were in the house master's study for a play-reading and he, having had a few drinks, reminisced about this boy and said, last he had heard was that he had been in prison.

The OB expelled for 'the usual reason' was NOT the chap I mentioned above.

Martin wrote:Have there been other OBs with jail terms? I suspect very few, if any at all.

The classic instance is Leigh Hunt (CH 1791-99) who served two years - in fairly civilised conditions, admittedly - for libelling the Prince Regent. Byron dubbed him "the wit in the dungeon".

Charles Lamb (CH 1782-89) refers in his essay "Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago" to a particularly cruel monitor "who, I learned in after days, was seen expiating some maturer offence in the hulks" (i.e. he served a jail term aboard a prison ship) and who may subsequently have been hanged in the West Indies.

Martin Amis in his memoir Experience (2000) wrote about his close friend Rob Henderson (CH Prep School 59-63) whose stream of misfortunes included a spell in Wormwood Scrubs for "a domino effect of drink-driving offences".

And during the last war the artist Keith Vaughan (PeA 21-29) spent a week in the cells awaiting trial for contravening defence regulations by (blamelessly) painting a picture of a tank trap, but being remanded in custody doesn't constitute a jail term.

Rex wrote:

Martin wrote:Have there been other OBs with jail terms? I suspect very few, if any at all.

The classic instance is Leigh Hunt (CH 1791-99) who served two years - in fairly civilised conditions, admittedly - for libelling the Prince Regent. Byron dubbed him "the wit in the dungeon".

Charles Lamb (CH 1782-89) refers in his essay "Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago" to a particularly cruel monitor "who, I learned in after days, was seen expiating some maturer offence in the hulks" (i.e. he served a jail term aboard a prison ship) and who may subsequently have been hanged in the West Indies.

Martin Amis in his memoir Experience (2000) wrote about his close friend Rob Henderson (CH Prep School 59-63) whose stream of misfortunes included a spell in Wormwood Scrubs for "a domino effect of drink-driving offences".

And during the last war the artist Keith Vaughan (PeA 21-29) spent a week in the cells awaiting trial for contravening defence regulations by (blamelessly) painting a picture of a tank trap, but being remanded in custody doesn't constitute a jail term.

WOW !!

That name rings a distant bell, but I just cannot put a face to the name.

Can anyone help ??

One more 'for the record'. William Miller was deputy House Captain of Lamb B and a Grecian who left in about 1951-3(-ish). He did his National Service learning Russian with the Royal Navy and subsequently went to University. At some stage he published an article on the national defence plans in a nuclear war, and as he had signed the Official Secrets Act he was 'done' by the system and served three months "as a guest of Her Majesty" or, perhaps, it was "His Majesty" - not sure of the dates.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/no ... r-obituary

That obituary fails to mention his school, but it was Christ's Hospital.

David

Foureyes wrote:One more 'for the record'. William Miller was deputy House Captain of Lamb B and a Grecian who left in about 1951-3(-ish). He did his National Service learning Russian with the Royal Navy and subsequently went to University. At some stage he published an article on the national defence plans in a nuclear war, and as he had signed the Official Secrets Act he was 'done' by the system and served three months "as a guest of Her Majesty" or, perhaps, it was "His Majesty" - not sure of the dates.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/no ... r-obituary

That obituary fails to mention his school, but it was Christ's Hospital.

David

I remember this event and I believe the particular item that provoked the ire of the authorities was the information that the airforce would deliberately fly aircraft close to the iron curtain border and cause the Russians to scramble their aircraft and give an opportunity for the West to pick up their signals and collect data to be able to break the codes that were used.

I'd forgotten about him. I did his obituary in the Spring 2010 issue of The Old Blue. His prison sentence would have been in the early 50s, probably at Her Majesty's Pleasure. Quite a colourful character, founded his own publishing house (Quartet) which was responsible for The Joy of Sex.

Jo wrote:I'd forgotten about him. I did his obituary in the Spring 2010 issue of The Old Blue. His prison sentence would have been in the early 50s, probably at Her Majesty's Pleasure. Quite a colourful character, founded his own publishing house (Quartet) which was responsible for The Joy of Sex.

.... and I thought that was Adam & Eve !!

There was a Barnes A Old Blue who robbed the Post Office at Barns Green although I am not certain if he actually received a prison sentence. Also a Middleton A Old Blue who was a solicitor was sent to prison in connection with legal offences in the nineteen sixties.
I do know their names and believe that they both have died.
Does anyone recall Miss Marie A. Crofton-Sleigh, on the staff 1944-48 who stole a violin from the music school?
She was certainly dismissed but I do not think that she went to prison.
Chris Bartlett