OVs Here, There and Everywere: 1974 - Part 1
Jersey’s chief immigration officer, Alan J. Le Brun was (so far as we know) the only OV to be honoured in the New Year Honours He was made an O.B.E. At College from 1924 to 1929 and the son of an Old Victorian, he has held his present post for 27 years, during which time he has also taken over control of the States Impots Department, the Passport Office and, recently, HM. Customs Ofiice in Jersey. He is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Jersey.
Two Old Victorians opposed each other in the election for a new Constable of St. Helier to replace another O.V., Mr. Keith Baal, following his death. They were Peter Gorton Baker (1930—1936), one of three brothers who were at College, and Donald George Filleul (1937-1942), then a Centenier in the parish.
Peter Baker, whose association with the family business of Frederick Baker’s (now sold) was interrupted by distinguished war Service with the Parachute Regiment, emerged the victor by polling almost double the number of votes cast for Donald Filleul, who has in recent years developed the family stationery business into a thriving business equipment supply company.
A letter unique in the correspondence of the O.V.A. arrived some months ago from R. A. Laurens—to whom apologies are due for this belated recognition of his generosity. He wrote: “ I became a Life Member of the Association of Old Victorians as long ago as 1918 and paid. For that privilege what would today be regarded as a very nominal sum. I have therefore had copies of ‘ The Victorian ’ for some 50 years without expense to me and I think it appropriate that I should make some contribution towards printing costs. I therefore have pleasure in enclosing my cheque for £100 for this purpose. It would, perhaps, be superfluous here to add to those very sincere thanks he has officially received for such generosity.
After a long and distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service, Sir Arthur de la Mare (1926- 1932) retired in March and has made his home at Walton on Thames. Highlights of his life to date included winning an Open Major Scholarship to Pembroke College, Cambridge, entry into the Consular Service in Tokyo, his appointment as Head of the Foreign Office Security Department, holding the position of Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington, three years as High Commissioner in Singapore and a further three as Ambassador in Bangkok.
Writing to notify his change of address, he says: “I am happy to get back to the British climate, which I am persuaded is the best in the world, and happy too to be able to get back to satisfactory pursuits such as gardening. But I don’t know how long this will last. The call of the East is still strong and if anything turns up to take me back from time to time east of India, I shall probably not be able to resist.”
R. J. Guppy (1926—1935) has been appointed Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District. An assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office, he acted as secretary to the Royal Commission on the Constitution when it visited Jersey in 1970.
Major John Blashford-Snell (1950—1955), whose trail-blazing expeditionary exploits to the Blue Nile and the Darien Gap have been chronicled in these columns in the past, is in the throes of preparing for yet another assault in tortuous terrain. With military blessing and the assistance, among others, of various Jersey stalwarts, including three other O.V.s, he plans to travel down the Zaire River, 2,718 miles of often uncharted waterway and dangerous rapids, from the Zambian border to the Atlantic.
The expedition is due to set out on 1st October and will include among its members Major, Kelvin Kent (1950—1956), a veteran of the Darien Gap and a Royal Signals expert whose knowledge of Gurkhas and expertise in Gurkhali earned,him the post of supplies and communications officer with the 1970 Anna-purna expedition ; Capt. Peter Marett, the son of an O.V. ; Adrian Troy (1949—1955), local hotelier, travel agent and president of the Chamber of Commerce; and Keith Bower (1947—1953), now retired as a Jersey hotelier but, in his immediate post-school days, a member of the British South African Police in what was then Southern Rhodesia. Another O.V., Col. A. J. Le Seelleur, whose obituary appears elsewhere in this edition, had been due to act as the expedition’s philatelic adviser.
'Now at the Ministry of Defence in London, Michael Lanyon, at College from 1954, went to the R.M.A. Sandhurst and was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1964. After a spell in Cyprus and then with a Regiment armed with tactical nuclear weapons in Germany, he returned to the UK in 1968 to become a pilot with the Army Air Corps. Qualifying as a pilot he flew Sioux and Alouette helicopters with the 7th Armoured Brigade in Germany and visited several European countries, at one stage in a team which won a round-Europe air rally starting from a North Sea oil rig. Back with the Royal Artillery in Ulster, he was posted to the Parachute Brigade and was then nominated for selection to transfer to the Army Air Corps and also for a place at Staff College, whose course he is about to commence.
Manager of Jersey’s shooting team at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, S. J. Payn (1949—1954) emerged with flying colours. At one meeting he lodged a protest that a Canadian arriving late had disturbed the concentration of a Jersey shot and, as a result, the offender was disqualified. In the Shooting VIII in 1953 and 1954 he has coached beginners at College and, in recent times, has helped the Jersey Unit of the Sea Cadet Corps on the ranges. He is keen to form a shooting section of the O.V.A.
Jersey’s chief immigration officer, Alan J. Le Brun was (so far as we know) the only OV to be honoured in the New Year Honours He was made an O.B.E. At College from 1924 to 1929 and the son of an Old Victorian, he has held his present post for 27 years, during which time he has also taken over control of the States Impots Department, the Passport Office and, recently, HM. Customs Ofiice in Jersey. He is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Jersey.
Two Old Victorians opposed each other in the election for a new Constable of St. Helier to replace another O.V., Mr. Keith Baal, following his death. They were Peter Gorton Baker (1930—1936), one of three brothers who were at College, and Donald George Filleul (1937-1942), then a Centenier in the parish.
Peter Baker, whose association with the family business of Frederick Baker’s (now sold) was interrupted by distinguished war Service with the Parachute Regiment, emerged the victor by polling almost double the number of votes cast for Donald Filleul, who has in recent years developed the family stationery business into a thriving business equipment supply company.
A letter unique in the correspondence of the O.V.A. arrived some months ago from R. A. Laurens—to whom apologies are due for this belated recognition of his generosity. He wrote: “ I became a Life Member of the Association of Old Victorians as long ago as 1918 and paid. For that privilege what would today be regarded as a very nominal sum. I have therefore had copies of ‘ The Victorian ’ for some 50 years without expense to me and I think it appropriate that I should make some contribution towards printing costs. I therefore have pleasure in enclosing my cheque for £100 for this purpose. It would, perhaps, be superfluous here to add to those very sincere thanks he has officially received for such generosity.
After a long and distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service, Sir Arthur de la Mare (1926- 1932) retired in March and has made his home at Walton on Thames. Highlights of his life to date included winning an Open Major Scholarship to Pembroke College, Cambridge, entry into the Consular Service in Tokyo, his appointment as Head of the Foreign Office Security Department, holding the position of Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington, three years as High Commissioner in Singapore and a further three as Ambassador in Bangkok.
Writing to notify his change of address, he says: “I am happy to get back to the British climate, which I am persuaded is the best in the world, and happy too to be able to get back to satisfactory pursuits such as gardening. But I don’t know how long this will last. The call of the East is still strong and if anything turns up to take me back from time to time east of India, I shall probably not be able to resist.”
R. J. Guppy (1926—1935) has been appointed Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District. An assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office, he acted as secretary to the Royal Commission on the Constitution when it visited Jersey in 1970.
Major John Blashford-Snell (1950—1955), whose trail-blazing expeditionary exploits to the Blue Nile and the Darien Gap have been chronicled in these columns in the past, is in the throes of preparing for yet another assault in tortuous terrain. With military blessing and the assistance, among others, of various Jersey stalwarts, including three other O.V.s, he plans to travel down the Zaire River, 2,718 miles of often uncharted waterway and dangerous rapids, from the Zambian border to the Atlantic.
The expedition is due to set out on 1st October and will include among its members Major, Kelvin Kent (1950—1956), a veteran of the Darien Gap and a Royal Signals expert whose knowledge of Gurkhas and expertise in Gurkhali earned,him the post of supplies and communications officer with the 1970 Anna-purna expedition ; Capt. Peter Marett, the son of an O.V. ; Adrian Troy (1949—1955), local hotelier, travel agent and president of the Chamber of Commerce; and Keith Bower (1947—1953), now retired as a Jersey hotelier but, in his immediate post-school days, a member of the British South African Police in what was then Southern Rhodesia. Another O.V., Col. A. J. Le Seelleur, whose obituary appears elsewhere in this edition, had been due to act as the expedition’s philatelic adviser.
'Now at the Ministry of Defence in London, Michael Lanyon, at College from 1954, went to the R.M.A. Sandhurst and was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1964. After a spell in Cyprus and then with a Regiment armed with tactical nuclear weapons in Germany, he returned to the UK in 1968 to become a pilot with the Army Air Corps. Qualifying as a pilot he flew Sioux and Alouette helicopters with the 7th Armoured Brigade in Germany and visited several European countries, at one stage in a team which won a round-Europe air rally starting from a North Sea oil rig. Back with the Royal Artillery in Ulster, he was posted to the Parachute Brigade and was then nominated for selection to transfer to the Army Air Corps and also for a place at Staff College, whose course he is about to commence.
Manager of Jersey’s shooting team at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, S. J. Payn (1949—1954) emerged with flying colours. At one meeting he lodged a protest that a Canadian arriving late had disturbed the concentration of a Jersey shot and, as a result, the offender was disqualified. In the Shooting VIII in 1953 and 1954 he has coached beginners at College and, in recent times, has helped the Jersey Unit of the Sea Cadet Corps on the ranges. He is keen to form a shooting section of the O.V.A.
Posts
1 comment:
Yes I remember Peter Baker, John Blashford-Snell and Michael Lanyon who became I believe the last Airport Commandant here in Jersey before the post was abolished in a major shake up of States departments.
Post a Comment