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ST EDWARD’S
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V A L E T E
O B I T U A R I E S
sponsored the prize, saying that
it exploited Caribbean workers,
and announced that he would
split his winnings with the Black
Panthers.)
In 1974, when his critical
influence was probably at its
height in Britain, he left London
for Paris and then Geneva. He
later decided to leave cities
altogether, moving to a remote
peasant community, Quincy, in
the French Alps, where he lived
with his wife, Beverly Bancroft,
who died in 2013, and their
son, Yves. (Besides his son,
he is survived by another son,
Jacob, and a daughter, Katya,
from a previous marriage.) In
the Alps, where he learned to
raise cattle, he wrote a trilogy
of unconventional books called
Into Their Labors
- cominglings
of short story, poetry and
essay - examining the migration
of peasants away from their
traditions and into cities.
Despite his many forays
into hard-to-classify forms of
writing, he returned again and
again to the essay, the bedrock
of his reputation, whose
underlying theme was almost
always the impossibility of
disentangling the aesthetic from
the moral.
BEST
– On 6th March 2015,
Andrew D’Ewes Best (C, 1944-
1947), in Teignmouth.
BUNN
– In 2016, Robert Bunn
(B, 1939-1943). Robert studied
at King’s College London from
1943 to 1950, and worked
as a medical practitioner in
Cambridge.
CARDEW
-On 13th February
2016, Martin Cardew (E,
1941-1945), brother of Hugh
Cardew (E, 1938-1941).
Martin joined the RAF in
1945, before attending the
University of Bristol from 1948
to 1954. He went on to the
University of Nottingham and
the Northwestern University
Illinois, becoming a lecturer in
Chemical Engineering in 1958 at
the University of Birmingham.
Martin was an author on
thermodynamics and retired
in 1987.
DURNFORD
– On 24th
December 2015, Rev John
Durnford, (A, 1944-1948),
brother of Peter Durnford (A,
1948-1952). John studied at
the University of Cambridge
from 1950 to 1953, becoming a
priest in 1956. He was a Curate
in Selby from 1956 to 1958,
Newland from 1958 to 1962,
and Umtali, Mashonaland from
1962 to 1964. He was Rector
at Mazoe Valley from 1964 to
1976, Vicar at Hebden Bridge
from 1976 to1984, and Rector
at Blanchland until 1994, when
he retired.
EVANS
– In 2015, John Lloyd
Evans (C, 1937 – 1939) died
2015. Father of Martin Evans (C,
1972-1977). John was in the RAF
from 1942 to 1946, latterly as a
Flying Officer. He then became a
Motor and Agricultural Engineer
in Carmarthen.
GAMON
– On 16th April
2016, Hugh Gamon (C, 1935-
1940). The following obituary
has been taken from
The
Telegraph
:
Hugh Gamon, who has
died aged 95, was awarded
an immediate MC at Monte
Grande in December 1944
when the Allies were fighting
their way up Italy after landing
at Anzio; later as a legal expert
he helped to steer the Channel
Tunnel Bill through Parliament.
The Germans were counter-
attacking in considerable
strength, resulting in all voice
communications being cut off to
the forward battalions. Lieutenant
Gamon, as a young officer in
the Royal Signals, was instructed
to repair the radio lines. As
dusk fell on 12th December, he
went forward into the fire zone
without cover for nine hours,
harassed by mortar and small
arms fire, and laid a completely
new line. His citation praised his
energy and enthusiasm, without
regard to his own safety.
Billeted in a hotel in Florence,
he inadvertently took a pillow
with him from the hotel; after
the war he posted this back to
the hotel, receiving an effusive
letter of thanks from the
manager for his courtesy.
Hugh Wynell Gamon was
born in Hartley Wintney,
Berkshire, on 31 March 1921.
His father was a judge in York; an
eccentric uncle drew cartoons
for
Punch
. Young Hugh had
volunteered for military service
while still a pupil at St Edward’s
School, Oxford. At school, he
joined the Home Guard and while
on night duty reported unusual
activity on the other side of the
Thames. In the half-light this was
ascribed to cows – as dawn rose
it became apparent that it was
a major Army encampment on
Port Meadow to accommodate
survivors from Dunkirk. He was
commissioned in 1941.
Gamon was demobbed in
1947 after service in Palestine.
He took a delayed degree in
Jurisprudence at Exeter College,
Oxford, getting a starred First.
There he met June Temple, who
was reading History at LMH;
they later married.
Hugh Gamon