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31 St Edward’s r hubarb
V a l e t e
would have done credit to the
Black Douglas – unsurprising,
perhaps, given his Scottish
ancestry.
On the river he rowed in
the 1st VIII for two years and
was Captain of Boats in 1957.
The Chronicle described John
as ‘a fine captain of both crew
and club’ and the VIII as ‘the
fittest and most successful St
Edward’s crew at Henley so
far’, which undoubtedly helped
to lay the foundations for the
Princess Elizabeth Cup wins
in 1958 and 1959. After two
years at Sandhurst John was
commissioned into the Black
Watch, serving in Cyprus
during a period of relative calm
and later in Germany, as well
as in various UK postings.
He left the Army in 1969
and joined Rank Xerox,
working in Scotland and
England, then as General
Manager of South Asia based in
Singapore where his son Toby
was tragically killed in a road
accident, and finally in India.
Following a brief period
running his own management
and marketing training
consultancy in India and then
initiating and managing the
marketing of an American
alloys company’s products, John
joined Knight-Ridder’s financial
information service as Manager,
Asia and Australia, moving first
to Singapore and then to Hong
Kong to cover Japan.
Blessed with enthusiasm for
any task, a wonderful sense
of humour and the ability to
lead, it was while working in
Hong Kong that John met his
second wife, Toni. They made
an immensely happy marriage,
and she looked after him with
skill and devotion for more
than 30 years, moving after a
while to London and then on
retirement to the south-west
of Scotland.
John was instrumental in
arranging reunions of the six
who joined Field House in
September 1952 – himself,
Malcolm Axtell (C, 1952-1956),
Philip Darley (C, 1952-1957),
Hugh Privett (C, 1952-1957),
Iain Wilkinson (C, 1952-1956)
and me. We last dined together
in Oxford in July 2012, by which
time the cancer from which he
had begun to suffer in 2000 had
taken hold, but of which he
made light both then and in the
months that remained to him.
We shall miss him.
1966-1971) has kindly provided
the following obituaries for both
Nicholas and Nigel.
Nick died suddenly near
his home in Sri Lanka. He was
born in Kenya in 1949 and
after St Edward’s spent all of
his working life with animals.
For most of his career he was
with Chester Zoo, where he
was Curator of Mammals;
after leaving there Nick ran the
animals side of the Knowsley
Safari Park. On retirement, Nick
went to a relatively isolated part
of Sri Lanka where, with his
courageous partner Penny Boyd,
he built a home from scratch
and developed a large garden, in
spite of the worst intentions of
the elephants that he managed
to keep out, with a combination
of ditches and fences. Nick had
no academic qualifications but
became an expert of world
renown on elephants and on
improving the life quality of
animals in captivity. Nick was a
larger than life character with
a huge appetite for living; he
found compromise with people
he disagreed with a difficult
skill but had an enormous and
sensitive empathy with the
natural world. Shortly before his
death in his adopted country,
Nick encountered an elephant
which had been struck by a bus,
and was dying by the side of the
road and having to helplessly
endure the idle curiosity,
prodding and other torments
from passers-by. Lacking the
means to deliver the animal a
humane death, Nick stayed with
the elephant and protected her,
refusing to leave her side for
the two days it took her to die.
Nick leaves his partner Penny
and his daughter Kate.
ELLERTON – In May 2014,
Nigel Ellerton (D, 1960-1966).
Nigel was born in Amersham in
1947. He had recently retired
from a peripatetic series of
careers ranging from design
to catering and was living in
Chipping Campden. A few
weeks before Nick died, Nigel
learned that he had a malignant
melanoma, an unwelcome
legacy from an idyllic but suntan
lotion-free childhood in Kenya.
He told no one of his condition
until the cancer prevented him
from walking, just a fortnight
before his death. He endured
the chronic pain with patient and
uncomplaining fortitude. Nigel
leaves a son, Timothy, and two
daughters, Chloe and Jessica.
FOX – On 18th July 2013,
Douglas Charles Fox (D, 1935-
1939), after a short illness. His
son Richard kindly provided the
following obituary.
Born in Blackheath, London
on 30th December 1921,
Douglas Charles Fox lived his
early life in South East London.
He attended Belmont Prep
School and then in 1935, passed
Common Entrance to become
a pupil at St Edward’s School in
Anthony Dodd
Nick Ellerton
Douglas Fox
DODD – On 15th August
2014, Anthony Robert
Fletcher Dodd (A, 1947-1952),
aged 80, after a long illness.
The brother of Philip Dodd
(A, 1943-1948), he went
to Magdalene, Cambridge,
from 1954-1957, obtaining an
MA in Mechanical Sciences.
He worked in Management
Services in New Zealand, and
was an Information Systems
Manager at Pitman Moore
New Zealand Ltd.
His widow Mrs Lynley
Dodd told us “Tony loved
his years at St Edward’s and
although he made his home
here in New Zealand, he never
lost his interest in the doings of
the School.”
ELLERTON – On 28th March
2014, Nicholas G Ellerton (D,
1962-1967), in Sri Lanka. His
brother Chris Ellerton (D,
O b i t u a r i e s