P J SH 1944-1955
We have been notified of the sad death of Robin Paul who passed away on 12th November, aged 87 at St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey after a short illness. Our thoughts and best wishes go to his family and those who knew him well.
As many will be aware, he was a regular and enthusiastic attendee at our OW gatherings in London. He loved meeting up with young and old OWs and hearing the latest news from the school.
We hope to have a fuller obituary published here, in due course.
If you would like to have your memories of Robin posted on this webpage, please feel free to email them to TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
At Wycliffe:
Queen’s Scout
Rugby 2nd XV, Athletics and Cross-Country, Swimming
Member: Library Committee, Sports Committee, Literary Society, Art, Chess, Choral, Science
I first met Robin as we started our education at St Roses Convent in 1942. It was not long before he involved me in mischief I.e nicking spring onions from the school garden. We were chastised by Sister Mary Joseph with a short but effective whip.
In 1944 we arrived at the Prep School to be treated much more kindly by Nanny at Windrush and enjoyed Miss Sibly riding her very ancient bike and dinging her bell to clear the way. Another teacher caused some awe by riding a penny farthing in the grounds. On to the junior school and Robin started to show a much smarter academic bent than myself as I applied myself to cricket.
As we moved on to senior school our paths moved further apart except for holidays which we spent roaming Randwick Woods and having camp fires with bacon and eggs by the lake at “Longcourt” Robin’s home and rowing and swimming at the lake. Robin often came to my home in Ebley which was about two miles downhill from Longcourt. He used to roller skate down the hill and his arrival would be announced by a great thump on the side of my home as he had no brakes!
If this was not dangerous enough, back at “Longcourt” Robin acquired his father’s cavalry swords and we fought duels on the ledges of the roof. This also brings to mind Robin being confined to his room for some misdemeanour and escaping out of the window over the roof of the conservatory crashing through and suffering cuts which left scars on his legs forever.
After leaving Wycliffe we both went our separate ways to National Service and then I returned to Ebley and Robin travelled the world before taking a job at Britannia House with BP in London while living on a canal boat in Surrey. I enjoyed staying there with him on occasions.
When Robin and Yvonne married And settled in Byfleet I too was married and we led a less mischievous life! Robin used to walk for miles along rivers and canals and often as far as Stroud where we would meet for a pint and a catch-up. In fact it was on one of these occasions that was to be the last time we met.
A great friend who I will always remember. R.I.P. Robin. Your pal, David.
– David Pitt (J S 1946-1953)
My memory is not so good about Wycliffe days! I have only seen Robin twice since I left:
First time between 1961 and 1962, date clouded in time, in the middle of the Serengeti National Park in then Tanganyika, now Tanzania. We both were working in the Colonial Service as District Officers, he in Northen Kenya, I on the southern shore of Lake Victoria at Geita and then Mwanza, very close to the Serengeti. He was on holiday; I was on a weekend visit. I had stopped my Land Rover to look at something when a car pulled up beside me: in it was Robin! A remarkable encounter, this was long before the mass tourism which has been so totally destructive of the environment. I probably had not seen another car all day! What a privilege! We were both planning to overnight at Seronera, the Park headquarters, where there was accommodation in Rondavels and a simple restaurant- not many visitors. We spent a pleasant evening together before going separate ways in the morning. District Officers were the on the ground administrators of the Colonial Government covering very large geographical areas. We were the tax collectors, Magistrates, Court of Appeal for local Courts, supervisors of the prisons, small loan administrators – mainly for agricultural purposes etc. I was member of a team of 3 Officers under a District Commissioner alongside specialists, Medical, Veterinary, Agricultural and Public Works. Robin told me that his District was in Northern Kenya, an area that it would now be unsafe to visit, and the nearest European to his station was 100 miles away! Many do not realise just how large Africa is, it is the largest continent, larger than the USA and Europe combined
Our second encounter was at a reunion of contemporaries many years ago organised, I think, by Paul Biggs (H 1950-1953) at the hotel by the canal and church in Stonehouse. Others there were Peter Treloar (P J SH 1945-1954) who had also been a Colonial Officer in East Africa, Jeremy Beatty, Head Boy (J H 1948-1955) who came from Canada and others I can no longer remember.
Robin was a local man, whose family, I think, owned a woollen mill in Stroud, I think the red brick building which still stands near the railway station.
– Anton Buckoke (W 1950-1955)
