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ST EDWARD’S
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V A L E T E
throughout their marriage. She
pre-deceased him in December
2014. He is survived by their two
daughters, Fiona and Sandy, and
son, David.
Cameron Buchanan (C, 1960-
1965) MSP, a pupil of Cochrane’s
has kindly provided the following
memories. Cameron Cochrane,
or AJCC to his pupils or even
‘Jock Coc’, was my first English
teacher when I went to St
Edward’s. He was an excellent
teacher and we all learnt a lot
from him with his very innovative
ideas; he was also very active on
the sports field which we found
very encouraging. As I was in Field
House he was our House Tutor
so we tended to see more of
him up in Field House Drive than
would be the case for a normal
master. Being Scottish I also had
some affinity with him as there
were very few Scots apart from
Joe McPartlin and AJCC. I will
never forget when he decided
to enliven T S Eliot’s
Murder in
the Cathedral
by having a reading
in the Chapel. Several of us
didn’t find it as interesting as he
wanted us to so we escaped up
to the bell tower to explore and
read the graffiti. Unfortunately
we were caught, sent to Frank
Fisher and soundly beaten for our
escapade. AJCC however never
held it against us and the feeling
was mutual. English lessons were
always instructive and original.
We also went to the Yvonne
Arnaud Theatre in Guildford as
well as to the Oxford Playhouse
where we enjoyed seeing the
plays we were studying – this
innovative way of teaching kept
the interest of all of us. After
he left Teddies, after nine years,
he had a career which has been
well documented as Head of
various Outward Bound schools
in the Lake District, Netherlands
and other places. He also had
a period back in his home
town of Edinburgh working for
local government during the
Commonwealth Games of 1986
for which he was awarded an
MBE. He was soon off again
to a headship in Blackpool and
eventually to the headship of
Fettes College here in Edinburgh.
He was finally Head at the British
International School in Cairo. As
far as Teddies was concerned
it was always, I think, his first
love because he was very fond
of the OSE and kept up a lively
correspondence with many of
the former Common Room.
He always attended reunions of
pupils from his time at Teddies
and even the 150th anniversary.
He once asked me to speak at a
meeting of Probus and I seemed
to keep them amused with tales
of my 20 years as Honorary
Consul of Iceland. I remember his
kindness and gentleness and when
I was ill he came to see me and
vice versa. I am just sorry that his
rather untimely passing deprived
us of further contact.
VERNON
– On 20th December
2015, John Vernon, ‘JJV’, (MCR,
1955-1972), died peacefully at
home aged 83 after a long illness.
The following obituary has
kindly been provided by his
son William;
My father was educated at St
Peter’s School, in Seaford East
Sussex, but evacuated to Devon
during the Second World War.
He then went on to Radley
College from 1946 to 1951.
He undertook National Service
with the Royal Warwickshire
Regiment before going up to
Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to
read English in 1952, where he
developed a specialist interest in
Thomas Hardy. Both at school
and university he was a keen
sportsman, playing in Radley’s 1st
XV rugby team, but it was rowing
at which he excelled. In 1955 he
made the Blue Boat and they
beat Oxford by an impressive 16
lengths. He also won the Visitor’s
Cup at Henley Royal Regatta
in 1955 with the Trinity Hall IV.
JJV was appointed to the English
Department by Warden Fisher
who, to quote the
Chronicle
,
‘sensibly decided to add some
Cambridge yeast to the Oxford
dough’. He quickly found his
way down to Godstow and was
soon given responsibility for the
1st VIII coaching them to their
first Henley win in the Princess
Elizabeth Cup in 1958, and then
managing to successfully retain
the crown the following year.
Back-to-back wins are still a rarity.
His success as a school coach,
as much as his accomplishments
as an oarsman, led CUBC to
invite him back to the Cam to
coach University crews and he
continued throughout much of
the 1960s. JJV was appointed
senior Editor of the
Chronicle
for six years from January 1958.
These years covered many
milestones in the School’s
History; The Inspection of the
CCF by Field Marshall Viscount
Montgomery, the two Henley
wins, the building of the new
Chemistry laboratories, the
unbeaten 1st and 2nd XVs in
1960 (a first for the School), the
sale of Field House on the original
Apsley Paddox site, the untimely
death of Warden Kendall and
the launch of the Centenary
Development Fund Campaign
as well as the Centenary
celebrations themselves. In due
course, JJV became Head of
English and was promoted to
Contingent Commander of
the Combined Cadet Force
(CCF) with the rank of Wing
Commander (having switched
from the Army section). He
was ever the optimist, as his
large frame just defied gravity
in unpowered flight and he
qualified as a glider pilot. JJV
worked tirelessly and always
retained a forceful enthusiasm
throughout his 17 years at St
Edward’s. He directed much of
this energy into the teaching of
English and directing numerous
school productions. He also did
much to build up the Library and
encourage reading for pleasure.
He was appointed Headmaster
of Hordle House in Hampshire
in 1972; a school which he was
to lead very successfully for 22
years until his retirement in 1994.
Throughout his life John was a
regular church-goer and, at one
point, considered taking up the
cloth but in his retirement opted
to serve his church, St Mary’s
South Baddesley, as a warden and
lay reader. John is survived by Liz,
his wife of 56 years and to whom
he was devoted, by their four
children (Michael, Julia, Peter and
William) and by 11 grandchildren.
Michael (B, 1974-1979) Peter and
(B, 1976-1981) William (B, 1978-
1983) are all proud OSE.
O B I T U A R I E S
John Vernon