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Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
Old Borlasians
something of value from it. He was a fine and good man,
I feel privileged to have been taught by him and I’ll miss
him.
John Barry Hon. Sec.
Many of us, of course, did not knowRoy as our headteacher,
but knew him as an Honorary Old Borlasian. Among his
many friends at the Old Borlasian Annual Dinner was
where he thoroughly enjoyed being, especially when he
could be seated with the crowd instead of at the top table.
He was happy to be ‘one of the boys’ after his retirement
when he could come down from his lofty perch!
Those of us who served on the Committee of the Club have
always been privileged to get to know our headteachers
very well in the friendly atmosphere of our termly
meetings. It fell to Roy to usher in the era of co-education,
an historic event in the story of Borlase. I think Roy was a
little apprehensive of the enormity of the task ahead but
the whole of the Committee assured him of their support.
Such was our esteem!
It is noteworthy that Roy, early in his headship, at one of our
committee meetings, suggested that we should reinstate
a section for the Old Borlasian Club in the Borlasian
Magazine, A brief entry had been written many years
before but had fallen by the wayside when the Magazine
hit a rocky patch (costwise) a number of years earlier. It has
continued to appear ever since!
An insert for Rebecca Cain’s obituary for Roy Smith in the
Maidenhead Advertiser.
The Old Borlasian Club valued Roy as a loyal and keen
Honorary Member during his headship and for the
remainder of his life. His abundant friendship earned
him universal respect and affection.
Though few of us were contemporaries of Roy’s, keen
eyes and ears discerned an outstanding head teacher at
the helm. Working away, quietly, Roy carried the school
forward into a new age of co-education.
Such was our confidence in Roy in this historic
endeavour, we urged him on – ‘Roy, if anyone can do
it, you can!’
Welcomed wherever and whenever Old Borlasians met,
Roy, ever a gentleman, will be greatly missed by all of
us and remembered for his stoic resolve during his last
years.
Peter Phillips OBE, DL, 1934 – 2012
Dr Peter Phillips died on the 18
th
September 2012 aged 78.
He was not an Old Borlasian by education, but was largely
responsible for the continued existence of the School
when it was threatened with closure in the 1980s. After
that he was Chairman of the Governors and Chairman
of the Trustees for several years. He was Chairman of the
Governors at the time of the appointment of Dr Holding
as Head.
Peter was born in Wales in 1934. He was educated at
Sheffield University where he was awarded First Class
Honours in Mining Engineering and he worked for a PhD
at the same time as working for the National Coal Board.
He then trained as a Mechanical Engineer and worked for
Mowlems for some years. He moved to Marlow and in the
early 1980s he became a Consulting Engineer.
Self-employed he started a long period of public service.
He became a member of Bucks CC for Marlow, and in
due course was Chairman of the Finance Committee and
then the Policy and Resources Committee. It was at this
time that the Education Committee found there was an
over-supply of Grammar School places and proposed the
closure of Borlase, which was not thought to be as good as
the Wycombe Grammar Schools.
Peter persuaded his colleagues to close Lady Verney
School in High Wycombe and convert Borlase to a co-
educational school to compensate for the loss of Lady
Verney which was a girls’ school. He joined the Governing
Body becoming Chairman and set about establishing a
Trust to own the school in case of a proposal that it should
become a Comprehensive school. Mr Smy became the
Head and whilst he was not universally popular he raised
the standards of the school.
In 1996Mr Smy left and Peter ran the search for a successor.
In due time Dr Holding was chosen, but he could not start
full-time until the following April. Peter ceased to be a
Governor in December 1996, but continued as Chairman
of the Trustees until 2002. As a parting gift he gave the
painting in the Chapel.
He had many other interests: he was a Chairman of
Tax Commissioners, which heard appeals from Tax
assessments, he was involved in his professional body.
Notably he was Chairman of the West Berkshire Health
Authority and then the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospital
Trust. It was for this work he was awarded an OBE. He was
appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the Royal County of
Berkshire in 2000.
Without any formal training he opened an Art Gallery in
Marlow and built up an expertise in paintings by English
