St Edward's, 150 Years

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 3 / Houses

Below: Ruairi Willis, Head of House, looking after his HM’s baby.

Below: James Coker, Frazer Martin and Paddy Mark.

Below: Lewis Faulkner, Housemaster. Far right: Tilly’s by night.

Tilly’s (F) Arthur Tilly took over what was known as ‘Set F’ in 1920 and remained Housemaster for 27 years. He was a legendary Housemaster and in his obituary it stated that Tilly never feared to reproach people if he thought they deserved it; he was sparing in his praise and vigorous in his invective. In 1931, Tilly oversaw the move into the ‘War Memorial Buildings’ which is our current home on one of the most beautiful Quadrangles in Oxford. I am always very proud when I take visitors around; it is a great blend of imposing formal exterior, giving way to a comfortable homely interior. It has seen numerous changes over the years and we were very lucky to have further building work in 2010 and 2011 which has given us two new flats for Tilly’s staff, an extended entrance lobby, four new Upper Sixth studies and a much enlarged Common Room and games room with a purpose-built and very popular House shop, designed by the boys. However, it is not just buildings and facilities that define Tilly’s but the people who live here. The fact that all the Tilly’s boys share a large central kitchen and Common Room fosters a strong ‘House Spirit’ where all the boys know each other very well and the different year groups mix with ease. Our much-loved House Matron, Mrs P., keeps a watchful and motherly eye from her room next

door. I’m sure that this House spirit has helped our success in inter-House competitions in recent years (particularly the Junior House Rugby) and it regularly comes to the fore in events such as the Tilly’s canoeing trip on the Thames in the summer term. It is hard to sum up the typical Tilly’s boy as they are seemingly united through diversity. The House motto is ‘ mens sana in corpore sano’ and the boys certainly live up to this. Frazer Martin achieved straight A* grades in his GCSE exams,

Jake Anderson and Dan Brady play rugby for Northampton Saints Academy, Ruairi Willis (Head of House) plays cricket for Ireland, and Freddie Simon plays cricket for Gloucestershire as well as excelling in four musical instruments and playing in just about every musical group in the School. These are just a few examples that spring to mind and it is a shame that there isn’t the space to talk about every boy in the House. It was superb to see the House coming together in 2010 for the ‘Tilly’s Climbs Everest’ charity event. The boys ascended the main central staircase in relay teams throughout the night, encouraging each other up the combined height of Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga. The event raised over £5,000 for a primary school in Zimbabwe. The House will be coming together for another charity event at the end of this term but, sadly, under very different circumstances. During the 2012 Christmas holidays we learned of the untimely and tragic death of one of our Lower Sixth boys, Ivan Kolchanov, through leukaemia. I was incredibly proud of how the Lower Sixth organised and led a moving memorial service for Ivan on 1 March, and they were equally impressive when organising a charity event in Ivan’s memory at the end of the Summer Term. Lewis Faulkner Housemaster, Tilly’s (F)

Left: Senior House Hockey 2011.

Below: Charlie Capaldi working on his Design andTechnologyproject.

Sammy Virji’s 16th birthday.

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