Baron W H Spicer (Bd 61)
30 June 2025William Michael Hardy Spicer, Baron Spicer, PC (22 January 1943 – 29th May 2019) Michael joined Wellington in The Beresford in 1956. As a schoolboy, he was a keen actor and sportsman. In 1960 he was appointed Head of School and in later years became a College Governor. At his memorial service in 2019, his best […]
Darcy Bourne (C 20) GB Hockey player and Founder of Raising Her Game
15 May 2025Darcy Bourne (C 20) is a GB Hockey Player and has recently set up Raising Her Game, a charity which works to improve the lives of young girls from underprivileged backgrounds through sport. RHG offers free sports opportunities to girls in lower-socioeconomic communities who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to play – ultimately aiming to […]
Brother on a Bus: John Green’s (T 58) UK Circumnavigation by Bus
25 March 2025At 85 years young, John Green (T 58) will soon be setting off an extraordinary eight-week journey around the British Isles using nothing but public buses and donated accommodation, to support The Hospital of St Cross & Almshouse of Noble Poverty. Launching on May 1st 2025, John will travel around the British Isles using his […]
Join the OW Men’s Football Club!
25 March 2025The OWFC has had a great 2024/25 season, and are currently looking ahead to the 2025/26 season. Max Burke (Bl 18, OWFC Rep) and Henry Gadd (R 18, OWFC Rep) are keen to recruit new, active players based in London, who are able to commit to playing a few games per season, as well as casual […]
Beyond the Prospectus: OW University Ambassador Scheme 2024
07 February 2025Navigating the university application process can be a daunting task, from deciding which subject to take to exploring the possibility of a gap year. While prospectuses, open days and online research can provide valuable information, speaking with someone who has lived it can provide a comprehensive insight – which is why we created the OW […]
Graham Stephenson (C 57)
09 January 2025Graham went to Eagle House before entering the Combermere in 1953. He was a keen cricketer and played two seasons in the 1st XI winning the Prince Christian Victor Bowling Prize in 1957. He also won a RAF Flying Scholarship and learned to fly in Tiger Moths and Chipmunks at White Waltham before joining BEA […]
Brigadier Hugh Pye OBE (C 56)
09 January 2025Brigadier Hugh Pye, who has died aged 86, was a regimental soldier to the core; he had firm opinions and expressed them with great clarity. He also had enormous energy, a fierce determination to do things properly, a great sense of fun and a willingness to take on any challenge. Hugh William Kellow Pye was […]
Captain David Pike (Hn 54)
06 January 2025David Brian Elwes Pike (often known as Pikey) was born on 16th March 1936, and served with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars in Neumunster and Aden. Like many 13th/18th Officers, he attended Wellington College in Berkshire. During his time at College, he became a Sergeant in the CCF and enjoyed Amateur Dramatics, with his most notable […]
Michael Nicholas (T 75)
06 January 2025Michael Nicolas joined the Talbot in 1970 as top scholar. In fact, the scholarship was worth more the following year so he elected to retake it the next year, and won it again. No surprise then that he gained six top grade A Levels and won a postmastership to Merton to read either Maths or […]
David Kirke (C 63)
03 January 2025DAVID KIRKE, who has died aged 78, was the guiding spirit and enfant terrible of the Dangerous Sports Club, whose colourful exploits caused global scandal and delight in the 1980s. He was perhaps best known for having invented modern bungee jumping (he always spelt it ‘bungy’) when early on the morning of 1st April 1979 […]
Patrick Grubb (L 49)
03 January 2025Former Sotheby’s wine director, Madeira expert and Master of Wine, Patrick Grubb died on 23rd March, leaving behind his wife, Jennie, and two sons, Hugo (Bl 92) and Harry (P 98). The Institute of Masters of Wine has written the following words about Patrick’s impressive career in wine: Patrick Grubb passed the MW exam in 1958 aged […]
Major General Nick Ansell (L 55)
02 January 2025In 1989, not long before the Gulf War, Major General Nick Ansell, Director of the Royal Armoured Corps (DRAC), was preoccupied with one thing: the problems encountered in the planned upgrade of the Army’s new tank, the Challenger. Nick was not responsible for procurement policy but as professional head of the Royal Armoured Corps, whose […]
Hugh Aldridge (Hl 60)
02 January 2025Hugh began life in India where his father was a colonel in the Army in the Signals Regiment, engaged in breaking Japanese codes. In due course Hugh was sent to Wellington College, where he was a scholar. A contemporary writes of him that he was always very popular, extremely clever and a brilliant sportsman. From […]
Warner Haldane (Hl 64) appointed Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
12 December 2024On 3rd June 2024, Warner Haldane (Hl 64) was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM, equivalent to an MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours (NZ) for services to arts administration, particularly music. Mr Haldane’s investiture was held on Tuesday 10th September and was awarded by the Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro […]
Life Beyond Wellington Week 2024
21 October 2024Life Beyond Wellington Week is an integral part of Wellington College’s commitment to preparing students for the complexities of life after school. The programme is designed to bridge the gap between academic life and the ‘real’ world, offering students essential skills and insights that will help them navigate their future with confidence. Through a mix […]
OWXC at the Annual Alumni Race 2024
09 October 2024On Saturday 14th September, OWXC took part in the 72nd Annual Alumni Race on Wimbledon Common, an 8k undulating cross-country course. This is a long-standing challenge amongst the alumni/ae of all the top schools and is as much social as it is competitive. We were again joined by four current College students and the staff […]
Long Service Celebration
03 September 2024On Friday 30th August we unveiled our new Long Service Boards, to honour and celebrate long-serving members of Wellington staff. Up until now, long-serving members of the teaching staff were commemorated with a stone plaque in Chapel, but only after their death, while most other members of College staff received no memorial, no matter how […]
Speech Day – Then and Now
22 May 2024In the early days, Speech Days were much smaller than they are now – there were only a couple of hundred boys in the school, and it was less common for parents to attend the day – it wasn’t expected, and many of them lived a long way away, quite possibly overseas. In 1894, Bertram […]
Building the Wellington Community’s Mental Resilience Podcast
10 May 2024Patrick Melville (Hn 97) is a mental health expert and founder of Melville Mental Solutions (MMS). Prior to starting MMS, Patrick worked in the media and marketing sector, but factors beyond his control encouraged him to switch career paths and launch MMS in 2013. Patrick has firsthand experience of dealing with personal trauma and having […]
Congratulations to our OW runners Oscar Chambers (Hg 17) and Francesca Sweet (W 22) who ran the London Marathon in aid of the Prince Albert Foundation (PAF) Scholarship programme.
28 April 2024In April 2024 we celebrated 165 years of OW Giving at Wellington College in a number of ways one of which was that we had two fantastic OWs who rose to the challenge of running this year’s London Marathon in aid of the Prince Albert Foundation, Oscar Chambers (Hg 17) and Francesca Sweet (W 22). […]
In memory of George Harcourt (Pn 19)
05 April 2024On Sunday 7th April 3 OWs, Bertie Morgan (Bl 19), Jack Reid (S 19) and Finn Sykes (Bd 19) will be running the Paris marathon in loving memory of George Harcourt (Pn 19) and to raise funds for Papyrus UK. In January, George tragically took his own life. George was a friend and a brother […]
London Marathon Sunday 21st April 2024 – OW Runners in aid of the Prince Albert Foundation (PAF) Scholarship programme.
21 March 2024In April we are celebrating 165 years of OW Giving at Wellington College and as part of this we are thrilled to announce that we have two OWs Oscar Chambers (Hg 17) and Francesca Sweet (W 22) running this year’s London Marathon, which were kindly donated by a current Wellington parent which takes place on […]
A trip down memory lane with Robin Dyer
20 March 2024Last Monday evening College Archivist, Caroline Jones, chatted to Robin Dyer about his remarkable life at Wellington – from a pupil in the 1970s, through a 33-year career as teacher and Housemaster, and encompassing 16 years as Second Master. He was joined by special guests Nick Moss – Robin’s contemporary in the Talbot and lifelong […]
Richard Aylmer (Bl 49)
01 March 2024Despite being born in Devonport, it was in the British Army that Richard Aylmer made his way in life. With a degree from London University, he joined the Royal Artillery in 1952 before retiring with rank of Captain in 1959. He was selected for the 1956 Winter Olympics in his chosen sport of cross-country skiing, […]
John Sworder (C 49)
01 March 2024John arrived at College as a Foundationer and left as Head of Dorm and member of the UX, joining the RMA in 1949 before regimental duties with the RA and the RHA between 1954 and 1957 and retiring in 1968. He married Jillian in 1957 and they had 3 daughters before her untimely death in […]