42 / 60
40
ST EDWARD’S
r
h
u
b
a
r
b
VAUDREY
– On 22nd
September 2015, Thomas
Henry Vaudrey (F, 1967-1972),
son of late Denis Vaudrey (F,
1942-1945) and nephew of
David Vaudrey (F, 1949-1953).
The following obituary has
been provided by Thomas’s
uncle David Vaudrey;
Thomas died aged 61 after
a short illness of cancer of
the pancreas. We knew of his
illness but the suddenness of
his passing came as a shock.
We are relieved that he has
been spared any further
suffering. He was able to come
to my 80th birthday party in
March when he showed no sign
of ill health.
After leaving St Edward’s,
Tom, as he was universally
known, went to Southampton
University where he was
awarded a BSc in Economics;
he had won the Economics
Prize at St Edward’s two
years running. In a gap year,
before training and qualifying
as a Chartered Accountant,
he taught Maths at his father’s
prep school, Wicken Park, near
Buckingham. He then joined a
firm of accountants, but when
it was taken over by a larger
company, he and a colleague
set up their own accountancy
practice in London. Later they
were joined by a third partner.
Although taciturn by nature,
Tom was regarded by all who
knew him as being solid, steady
and dependable. Once you
got to know him, you found
a warm, friendly and good
humoured character; he was
always hospitable, frequently
putting up visitors, especially
his cousins, in his London
flat. One of his pastimes was
long distance walking, mainly
in Kent. He, and his long-
time partner, Rosie Culmer,
a widow, who survives him,
enjoyed regular visits abroad,
mainly to the Canary Islands,
Malta and the Balearics. He
will be sadly missed by all who
knew him.
VERITY
– On 17th October
2014, Donald Verity (C, 1938-
1942), brother of Colin Verity
(C, 1940-1944).
The following obituary
has kindly been provided by
Donald’s son Tom;
A private man. An introvert.
Old school. A devout
Yorkshireman. Duty, reliability,
discipline and understatement
would have been some of
Dad’s watchwords. Although
he followed Medicine and had
a very successful career as a
GP, Dad really wished he had
studied Classics and would
have loved to have remained
in academia. When he was 13,
having had some happy years
at Bradford Grammar School,
he received a scholarship to St
Edward’s School in Oxford. He
then went on to study Medicine
at Exeter College, Oxford,
and from there he landed at
St George’s Hospital on Hyde
Park Corner where he started
to ply his trade. While he was
in London he played rugby for
London Scottish and then aged
26 he did his National Service
as a medic with the Parachute
Regiment. He loved the
Regiment and jumped hundreds
of times from low levels for the
next 15 years as part of the TA.
I imagine that he had a pretty
exciting life training in Greece
and spending time on campaign
in Suez and Palestine. Dad came
back to Yorkshire aged 30 to
become the senior house officer
at Bradford Royal Infirmary and
within four years was made
registrar in General Medicine.
Dad then met Mum and moved
to become a GP in Tadcaster
where he spent 30 years
devoted to the practice and his
patients. Whilst joined with the
Hartley family Dad developed
a love of animals and country
sports especially hunting and
racing. Latterly when he moved
from the Dales to Boston Spa,
he would walk the dog to a field
on the edge of the village so he
could look at some horses in a
field there. More recently Dad
combined his passion for walking
with hunting by following the fell
hounds under the mastership
of Morris Bell. Dad adored the
Dales and through his life they
were an important reference
point. It was fitting that he spent
17 years at Blea Busk happily
walking his dogs (which he had
no control of ) and he extended
his reach into the Lake District
and Scotland. At the end of his
first year up there he proudly
told us that he had driven 2500
miles that year but reckoned
he had walked further. In fact
he ascended all the Wainwright
peaks higher than 1000 feet,
some of them many times. He
especially enjoyed being able to
dip in and out of the community
in and around Askrigg without
having the responsibility of being
the local doctor. He would
often call in on people in the
village when he came through
and he would attend church
most Sundays. Towards the
end of 1999, I asked him how
he planned to mark Millennium
Eve. He told me that he planned
to walk up to the top of Scafell
Pike and watch the sun come
up. I thought I had better change
my plans and join him as I wasn’t
convinced a 75 year old should
be attempting this kind of thing
on his own in the dark. It had
been very wet and the gills
were all full and as we started
to ascend we came across a
couple of lads who couldn’t
find the bridge on account of
not having torches and being
very drunk. They were both
beyond taking our advice and
we observed them dramatically
slip off the rocks and plunge
into the icy cold torrents which
sobered them up immediately.
Dad thought this was hilarious
and we merrily wandered up
to the summit where we found
about 30 people with the same
idea, bracing themselves for a
cold night to await the dawn of
a new Millennium. As midnight
came it was an amazing sight
with a 360 degree view of the
lowlands lit up by hundreds
of firework displays. I turned
round to share the experience
with Dad only to see the back
of him disappearing into the
gloom. Dad actually had a good
sense of humour although
rather twisted at times. I am so
pleased that he got to meet his
granddaughters and they got to
know Papa-Donald and I hope
they remember him.
WALLER
– On 3rd
September 2015, The Rt
Revered John Stephen Waller
(F, 1937-1942), brother of
Richard Waller (F, 1933-1939).
Thomas Vaudrey
V A L E T E
O B I T U A R I E S