THE FOUNDING OF WHS

The Founding of Woolverstone Hall School - Chris Snuggs (Berners/Halls 58-65)

It is at the time of writing over SEVEN DECADES since Woolverstone Hall School opened, but we STILL lack the following:

1) a precise timeline of events for the period from the sale of the Shotley Estate in 1937 to the opening of WHS.

2) personal accounts of life on the estate and in the school during that period and the first few years of the school.

I hope to put this right once and for all and invite OBs to write something about their experience. The following are those who started from 1949 to 1953, some of whom have not surprisingly passed away.

A start was made recently when Ron Gould posted a comment on Facebook, repeated below with the ensuing replies to date:

Ron Gould - Corners 50-54: "I was at WH with Bob Croucher: 1st year in Forecastle in a nissen hut, then Corners, our superb house."

Chris Snuggs - Berners/Halls 58-65: "Thanks. I guessed so. You must have been a close-knit group in those early days!"

Ron Gould: "We certainly were. It was odd. We knew we were experimental; we had this very bizarre experience that almost no one else in the world has had. We were in a Grammar School, and we were the oldest boys in the school from the 2nd year until we left. For those that don't know, the very 1st form were in LNS Woolverstone, but we had all passed "The Scholarship" and had been accepted for grammar schools in London. When LNS closed there were no older boys left. I read here that there were some "left overs from LNS" that is not true. We original first years knew that we were attending "a boarding grammar school" run by the LCC. It really pisses me off to see the dates of WH. They all start a year late."

Chris Snuggs: "Quite moving - and enlightening. To be clear, WHS was born in September 1950, not 51? WHS was an imaginative, risky and therefore courageous, astonishing and somewhat expensive experiment, and I believe (though to what extent I am not sure) that Irene Chaplin was the prime originator and promoter of the idea. The authorities at the time chose wisely in John Smitherman and Leslie Johnston, who with other dedicated colleagues made WHS into a renowned school of excellence within only ten years. The selection of boys also played a major part, as many of that "golden generation" were all-round superstars. Arriving in September 1958 I of course had not the faintest idea about any of this!"

RED below shows the OBs that I know have died, but there must be a good few more.

	LASTNAME	FIRSTNAME	House	FR	TO
1	Brown	David Roger	Unknown	49	52
2	Meager	Anthony	Unknown	49	51
3	Vige	Marcel Maurice	Unknown	49	52
4	Ashworth	John Hugo Bailey	Unknown	50	53
5	Bass	Brian	Corners	50	55
6	Begg	David Alan	Hansons	50	57
7	Betts	Stephen Peter	Unknown	50	52
8	Bicknell	George	Corners	50	56
9	Boyce	Raymond	Corners	50	??
10	Boyce	Raymond	Unknown	50	55
11	Brown	Martyn	Hansons	50	58
12	Burton	Roy Charles	Unknown	50	52
13	Cook	John	Halls	50	54
14	Corbett	Fred	Unknown	50	55
15	Croucher	Robert	Corners	50	??
16	Davies	Thomas J	Corners	50	??
17	Day	Terry	Unknown	50	55
18	Ferrier	Jim	Johnstons	50	52
19	Fowler	Alan William	Unknown	50	53
20	George	Alan J	Hansons	50	??
21	Gilbert	Victor	Unknown	50	55
22	Gillard	Roy Neville	Unknown	50	53
23	Gillingham	Derek	Unknown	50	52
24	Gordon-Smith	Michael Andrew	Unknown	50	55
25	Gould	Nigel	Corners	50	??
26	Gould	Ron	Corners	50	54
27	Grimshaw	David	Unknown	50	54
28	Harding	David	Unknown	50	54
29	Harrington	David Charles	Corners	50	55
30	Haynes	Michael John	Unknown	50	54
31	Hines	David Charles	Unknown	50	52
32	Holland	Brian Ronald	Johnstons	50	??
33	Hopkins	Richard Stephen Arthur	Unknown	50	53
34	Hoyle	William Richard	Unknown	50	52
35	Ian	McCulloch	Corners	50	57
36	Lamb	Norman Charles William	Hansons	50	55
37	Lampon	Alfred	Unknown	50	52
38	Lewis	Albert Charles	Unknown	50	52
39	Lyons	Francis	Unknown	50	53
40	Martin	Brian Robert	Unknown	50	54
41	Matania	Ben	Unknown	50	54
42	Mogford	John Michael	Unknown	50	52
43	Molloy	James William	Unknown	50	52
44	Morgan	Mike	Corners	50	52
45	Morrison	Ronald Edward Richard	Unknown	50	52
46	Moughton	Fred	Hansons	50	55
47	Murphy	Patrick John	Unknown	50	52
48	Newman	Kenneth John	Unknown	50	52
49	Paradine	Ronald	Unknown	50	52
50	Preston	David	Unknown	50	52
51	Quirke	Francis John	Unknown	50	52
52	Reed	Russell	Unknown	50	53
53	Ring	Clement	Unknown	50	52
54	Rix	Peter	Johnstons	50	53
55	Robjohns	Bryan	Unknown	50	53
56	Roderick	Colin	Unknown	50	52
57	Ross	Michael	Unknown	50	53
58	Rowland	John Richard	Unknown	50	52
59	Ryan	Victor	Unknown	50	52
60	Scarbrow	John Lionel	Unknown	50	55
61	Taylor	Keith Leslie	Unknown	50	52
62	Tite	John	Unknown	50	52
63	Vizard	Ron	Johnstons	50	??
64	Warren	Colin	Corners	50	??
65	Wheeler	Edward David Frederick	Unknown	50	52
66	Wilby	???	Corners	50	??
67	Wilby	William	Unknown	50	55
68	Wilson	Alan	Unknown	50	53
69	Wilson	Peter Alan	Unknown	50	55
70	Wood	D B	Unknown	50	54
71	Wood	Derek R	Hansons	50	53
72	Wood	Dudley Victor	Unknown	50	52
73	Woods	David Bernard	Unknown	50	54
74	Workman	Brian	Corners	50	57
75	Addiman	David Edward Alexander	Halls	51	53
76	Bailey	Nicholas Denham	Unknown	51	52
77	Betts	Douglas Alfred	Unknown	51	55
78	Boutall	Michael Carl	Johnstons	51	52
79	Bradley	Norman Thomas	Unknown	51	53
80	Brown	Alan Melvyn Robert	Unknown	51	53
81	Burles	Paul Gordon	Unknown	51	56
82	Byrde	Gerald Gordon	Hansons	51	56
83	Charing	Warren	Halls	51	53
84	Clark	Henry Davis	Johnstons	51	58
85	Clutterbuck	John F	Corners	51	58
86	Cox	Robert Ralph	Halls	51	56
87	Cracknell	Michael	Hansons	51	58
88	Cuffley	John	Unknown	51	55
89	Daniel	Michael George	Johnstons	51	56
90	Davies	Arthur	Corners	51	55
91	Dawson	Peter Alan	Hansons	51	56
92	Fillery	Roland George	Unknown	51	56
93	Glanville	James	Hansons	51	57
94	Godwin	John Christopher	Unknown	51	52
95	Gould	Nigel	Unknown	51	55
96	Green	Arthur	Halls	51	56
97	Guest	Robert	Unknown	51	57
98	Haines	Frederick John	Unknown	51	55
99	Handley	Michael	Hansons	51	56
100	Hansell	John Reder Foy	Halls	51	58
101	Hudson	John	Halls	51	58
102	Hughes	Kenneth Charles	Unknown	51	56
103	James	Godfrey	Unknown	51	51
104	Jenkins	Brian	Corners	51	54
105	Johnson	James William	Unknown	51	55
106	Jones	Anthony Michael	Halls	51	58
107	Keller	Elston John	Unknown	51	53
108	Kensington	Anthony Gordon	Unknown	51	57
109	Laffoney-Lane	Charles Frederick	Unknown	51	56
110	Lane	Percival	Unknown	51	53
111	Langer	Norman Bernard	Unknown	51	54
112	Lassiter	Graham	Hansons	51	54
113	Leigh	Michael John	Unknown	51	52
114	Lenoir	Martin	Unknown	51	54
115	Lewis	Robert	Unknown	51	52
116	Lloyd	William	Unknown	51	56
117	Mackay	George Annal	Unknown	51	52
118	Marriott	Robin Ian	Corners	51	59
119	McCulloch	Ian	Corners	51	57
120	McMaster	Paul Maxwell	Hansons	51	56
121	Miller	William Cook	Corners	51	56
122	Munro	Brian	Unknown	51	56
123	Nawrot	Richard	Corners	51	59
124	Newman	Lawrence Frank Sidney	Unknown	51	56
125	Nicholson	Collin Albert	Unknown	51	54
126	Peacock	Barry George	Unknown	51	??
127	Pettitt	Malcolm	Halls	51	56
128	Piddington	Graham	Johnstons	51	53
129	Ravenscroft	Frank	Corners	51	56
130	Ronan	Douglas V	Hansons	51	56
131	Searle-Shirley	Barry Terence Sydney Walter	Unknown	51	54
132	Shepherd	Brettell	Unknown	51	52
133	Shreeve	Victor Kenneth Neville	Corners	51	57
134	Smith	Anthony George	Unknown	51	56
135	Spicer	Desmond Henry	Unknown	51	56
136	Stevens	Gerald Maurice	Unknown	51	56
137	Sullivan	Robin	Hansons	51	55
138	Swannell	Brian Ernest	Unknown	51	55
139	Thorn	Sam	Halls	51	58

	LASTNAME	FIRSTNAME	House	FR	TO
140	Tilley	Peter	Halls	51	58
141	Tucker	Alan Michael	Unknown	51	56
142	Tyrrell	Geoffrey Robert	Unknown	51	56
143	Warren	Colin Michael	Unknown	51	58
144	Whittaker	Michael John Leslie	Corners	51	57
145	Bailey	David Victor	Unknown	52	58
146	Bailey	Raymond	Hansons	52	59
147	Boyd	Colin Peter	Corners	52	57
148	Brown	G	Corners	52	56
149	Brown	Geoff	Corners	52	58
150	Buckland	Roger V	Unknown	52	60
151	Campling	Charles Leonard	Hansons	52	57
152	Clifford	Frank	Hansons	52	53
153	Coleman	Ian	Johnstons	52	57
154	Collins	Dennis Alfred	Hansons	52	56
155	Collyer	Raymond	Unknown	52	57
156	Coutts	William	Johnstons	52	59
157	Crisp	Ron	Halls	52	55
158	Doo	Donald	Unknown	52	57
159	Drew	John	Johnstons	52	56
160	Edgington	Henry Frederick	Hansons	52	54
161	Ellis	Michael	Unknown	52	53
162	English	James	Unknown	52	57
163	Fox	Arthur	Corners	52	56
164	Fraser-smith	Neil	Hansons	52	57
165	Gerrish	Roy James	Unknown	52	59
166	Glass	Alastair M	Johnstons	52	58
167	Glass	Duncan	Unknown	52	57
168	Grimson	Robert	Unknown	52	58
169	Hallows	Anthony John	Unknown	52	57
170	Hardy	Michael	Unknown	52	55
171	Hitchman	Michael	Unknown	52	57
172	Hollowell	David Bernard	Unknown	52	53
173	House	Dennis	Corners	52	59
174	Howes	Keith	Corners	52	57
175	Kuptz	Andrew	Hansons	52	57
176	Leeson	Harrold	Unknown	52	59
177	Lister	Tony	Hansons	52	57
178	Lucas	Raymond	Hansons	52	59
179	Lucas	Raymond	Unknown	52	53
180	Mantell	Derek	Hansons	52	57
181	Markham	Leonard	Hansons	52	58
182	Mathews	Wiliam B	Unknown	52	57
183	Miller	David	Unknown	52	58
184	Morris	Raymond	Hansons	52	54
185	Moss	Michael	Johnstons	52	56
186	Munday	Harry	Johnstons	52	56
187	Murray	Andrew James	Unknown	52	53
188	Norris	Colin Reginald	Unknown	52	56
189	Oliver	Paul	Hansons	52	54
190	Page	??	Hansons	52	59
191	Page	James	Unknown	52	53
192	Parsons	Edwin	Unknown	52	52
193	Phelps	Barry	Halls	52	58
194	Pinney	Malcolm Delwyn	Corners	52	58
195	Pope	Robert Humphrey	Corners	52	57
196	Sandland	Barry	Halls	52	59
197	Simmons	Ray	Corners	52	57
198	Skerry	Christopher Scott	Halls	52	55
199	Stanton	John Anthony	Hansons	52	57
200	Stephens	Dudley	Halls	52	58
201	Stevens	David John	Corners	52	59
202	Stringer	James Stephen	Corners	52	57
203	Stygall	Russell James	Unknown	52	59
204	Szepesy	Andrew	Johnstons	52	59
205	Townson	Frederick George	Corners	52	57
206	Treby	Michael Timothy	Hansons	52	59
207	Tuddenham (mcgown)	John	Hansons	52	57
208	Tweddle	John	Johnstons	52	58
209	Walmsley	John	Johnstons	52	59
210	Wilds	Alan John	Corners	52	59
211	Williams	Peter	Corners	52	59
212	Aczel	Peter	Corners	53	??
213	Ashdown	Kenneth	Hansons	53	59
214	Auterlonie	Douglas B	Unknown	53	58
215	Bass	Alan	Unknown	53	54
216	Blake	Phillip J	Hansons	53	59
217	Bratt	John	Unknown	53	59
218	Brett	Anthony	Unknown	53	59
219	Brobbel	Christopher J	Hansons	53	60
220	Brooks	Charles Alfred	Unknown	53	58
221	Budden	Morley D.R.	Unknown	53	57
222	Campbell	Iain	Hansons	53	56
223	Chapman	Anthony	Unknown	53	56
224	Cleary	Michael	Unknown	53	58
225	Coles	John	Hansons	53	60
226	Cullen	Dave	Hansons	53	??
227	Cummings	Rodney	Unknown	53	58
228	Cunningham	Anthony Francis	Unknown	53	56
229	Dear	John	Johnstons	53	58
230	Dilley	Robert S	Hansons	53	60
231	Dutton	John	Corners	53	58
232	Fletcher	Nigel John	Halls	53	61
233	Floodgate	Peter R	Corners	53	60
234	Freeman	Lawrence A	Unknown	53	60
235	Golebiowski	Mark	Hansons	53	61
236	Grant Ferguson	Luath	Johnstons	53	57
237	Hammond	Michael	Unknown	53	60
238	Harrop	Michael Vincent	Halls	53	60
239	Hassett	Rodney	Hansons	53	58
240	Hay	Richard Charles	Unknown	53	59
241	Head	Alan William	Unknown	53	54
242	Head	Trevor	Corners	53	61
243	Hunton	Andrew	Johnstons	53	58
244	Jinkinson	Roger	Unknown	53	56
245	Johnston	Angus	Hansons	53	61
246	Jones	Noel T	Unknown	53	55
247	Kohler	Peter	Hansons	53	60
248	Lawrence	Stanley	Unknown	53	60
249	Legon	Anthony Charles	Johnstons	53	54
250	Lowe	Roderick J	Unknown	53	54
251	Marsden	Roy	Unknown	53	54
252	Mason	Brian	Unknown	53	58
253	Mayer	William Edward Michael	Johnstons	53	60
254	Miller	David	Unknown	53	58
255	Moxham	Anthony	Hansons	53	56
256	O'loughlin	Niall	Corners	53	60
257	Otway	David	Hansons	53	60
258	Perkins	James	Unknown	53	60
259	Pope	James	Corners	53	58
260	Potter	Fred	Unknown	53	54
261	Poyntz	Robin	Halls	53	61
262	Pritchet	Paul	Unknown	53	54
263	Smith	Geoffrey William	Halls	53	59
264	Smith	Michael Robin	Unknown	53	56
265	Snell	Stephen	Unknown	53	58
266	Stirling	Derek C	Hansons	53	60
267	Stone	Jon	Corners	53	60
268	Suter	Ian	Halls	53	60
269	Tarling	John	Unknown	53	55
270	Taylor	Colin C	Unknown	53	60
271	Tyler	John	Unknown	53	55
272	Vinall	Nick	Halls	53	60
273	Weinberg	Anthony	Hansons	53	60
274	Wells	Peter	Hansons	53	58
275	Williams	John	Unknown	53	58
276	Williams	Peter G	Hansons	53	60
277	Wilson	James	Unknown	53	54

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