The following obituary was written by Charles Statham

Philip was in Manor House between 1948-1953. To say that he loved his time in Manor and at the School itself would be an understatement. Whilst at School he developed many of the loves of his life which stayed with him – cricket, bridge, Gilbert & Sullivan and the Army. He served in the Cadet Force where he excelled reaching the rank of Sergeant in the Royal Artillery Troop with its 25-Pounder and it was this and the fact that he was comfortable in a rigidly structured and highly disciplined way of life at School that led to a 38-year career in the Royal Artillery.

After leaving School Philip wrote down his memories in a book called “From Prep-Room to Praes’ Room”, near the end of the book he wrote “The thing that strikes most as I look back on my school days and see the School as it is today, is how very pleased I am that I was at the School when I was and not now.  The School and the house have improved, I do not question the value of improvements; I accept that both School and house are now much better than they used to be but still I would not swap my school days for those of the present”.

Philip retired from the Army on his 58th birthday in 1993 to Thorpe Bay, a suburb of Southend on Sea. There he enjoyed playing golf and bridge, watching cricket, going to the theatre, walking a succession of dogs, travelling the world and returning to the School whenever possible.

After a long illness he passed away peacefully at home a couple of weeks after his 88th birthday leaving his beloved wife Caroline of 52 years and his two sons Charles (MH 85-90) and Christopher (MH 91-96) and five grandchildren Freya, Brooklyn, Barney, Bella and Brendan.

(MH 48-53)