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Concordia Winter 2022 Obituaries

Brian Edgar Farr (1944-1949) died on 21st September 2022 aged 91 D ad’s sudden death in September is a great loss to family and friends; he had become quite tired in Dad’s first job after qualifying as a solicitor was with the Law Society,

Dad joined BICC’s Secretarial Department, becoming the Company Secretary. The Secretary is a key post in any company, the keeper of the seals, the goalkeeper in many ways, but especially in an industrial group with ninety wholly or partly owned subsidiaries in the UK and factories in fifteen countries abroad. That required relentless attention to detail in the documents which the company issued and the meetings held. Dad carried out his duties assiduously, but it required so many late evenings at work, that Mum and boys sometimes hardly saw him midweek. Noting Dad’s working style, he also had an extraordinary need to create detailed files on all aspects of his life and which we are diligently working through now. However, all of us learned the value of hard work and serving others before self. We all admired his willingness not only to pick us up when we fell down in whatever we were doing, but to constantly support and encourage us to do our best. Indeed, whilst times were not always harmonious, in general we can all say that the school motto applied. In retirement, Mum and Dad settled in Charlbury, down-sizing into a property with a most convenient small swimming pool, which kept him fit. Up until shortly before his death, it was a rare day when Dad did not swim many lengths of that pool. Dad’s key project in retirement was taking an unusual leap of faith, answering an advertisement in the paper and buying a house with an olive grove at Granaio in Tuscany. This became a home from home for many months of the year, a base to explore other parts of Italy and Europe and a place for family to spend time as well. In addition, Mum and Dad were generous in having friends to stay, showing them round the glories of Florence and neighbouring towns. Remarkably, given Dad’s long association with the Conservative party, he ended up selling the house to that well known Labour firebrand – Joan Ruddock. Back home, Dad’s great love was music. He and Mum frequented Wigmore Hall and delighted in the country house operas, at Glyndebourne, Grange Park and nearby Garsington. He was also a

working in Chancery Lane and helping in the administration of his profession. After a couple of years there he joined the great industrial concern British Insulated Callender’s Cables, which was, at the time one of the top twenty companies in the UK. Dad had a keen social conscience and always did his bit in service to the community. For OMT, he not only played rugby and captained the swimming team, but he also became a trustee of the War Memorial Trust which supported the sports club, was a Vice President and attended Earliest Vintage events. In that period when OMT was looking to move from Durrants to the School, he provided his views on the License Agreement and helpfully identified that the school’s lawyers were proposing terms for an agreement which did not truly reflect the relatively symbiotic nature of school and its alumni; fortunately, good sense prevailed and the agreement is now safely gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. In the 1960s, Dad’s philanthropic efforts centred round the Chorleywood Round Table, which raised funds for a swimming pool at a local school and other projects. One initiative of the Round Table led to an unusual adventure. In 1969 there were several earthquakes in Banja Luka in Yugoslavia, causing, besides the deaths and injuries, a quarter of a million people to be made homeless. Brian was Chairman of the Round Table at the time, and they decided to help by donating a 16ft. caravan. Brian led the three men who delivered it. The trio drove a small car, towing the caravan 1,300 miles across Europe non-stop, night and day, taking turns at the wheel. On Dad’s return, Mum greeted him with enormous relief, mainly of course at seeing him back home safely, but partly, it must be admitted, because he had taken the keys of the family car, leaving her stranded with three young boys! Dad chaired the PTA at Chestnut Lane primary school in Chesham Bois and helped raise money for their swimming pool. He also chaired the MTS school liaison committee for a while in the 80s.

recent months, and we found out only a day or so before he passed that he had been suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer for some while. It seems that his physical resilience and fortitude had successfully masked his condition but whilst the time was so short in saying our goodbyes, we all take heart that a good man suffered little pain or discomfort. Dad was born in Barnes in south-west London. His second name, Edgar, came from his mother’s family name and included Edgar Wallace the author and his uncle Marriott Edgar, who is primarily known for the monologues recited by Stanley Holloway; readers may recall Albert – and the Lion, who, ‘swallowed the little lad whole’. When war came, Dad was evacuated to Southport in Lancashire, where he went to Winterdyne prep school, before going at the war’s end in 1944 to Merchant Taylors'. He did well there, working hard in the Classical Side, captaining the school swimming team, indeed breaking a school swimming record, and gaining a place at Cambridge. After National Service in the Royal Artillery, he went up to Sidney Sussex College, where he achieved a half Blue for swimming and read law. The choice of law may have been unexpected, in the light of one of his early school reports – Farr, B.E. age 14 and 8 months, Fifth form, 8th out of 14 in the class. That ranking is no shame, because he was a full year younger than the average age of the class. What is surprising is that he came top in maths and one other subject, which you wouldn’t guess. He was top in Divinity. Yet he went into the unholy field of law! Dad and Mum first met when Mum was renting a room in her cousin’s flat in Barnes and Dad succeeded in passing the required, quite weird, aniseed ball test. Dad used to play rugby for the Old Merchant Taylors', and he took Mum to their Rugby Club Ball. It was their first date, but the ball was clearly a success, because not so long afterwards, Dad proposed to Mum in a pub, which was suitably named, The Case is Altered. They were married in July 1959.

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Obituaries

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