OE Chronicle
There is no brief for this page except… if you feel you might have something of interest to other OE Members along the lines of historical research that you have done on school matters or anything that you might feel is of general interest to OEs….ie the work done by OEs in various professions, or the feats of endurance such as a cross channel swim or cross continent bike rides done by OEs…you get the point.
Newly added to this page (early May) is the story of the search for a painting of our founder, Lady Anne Dacre. It joins some research on the Coat of Arms of Emanuel School; the extensive long-read programme that accompanied our Farewell to Blagdons Afternoon in winter 2022.... and a description of an amazing feat undertaken by our esteemed long distance swimmer, Ed Horne.
You might not have time to read these "longer" articles now but make yourself a note to come back to them when that relaxing chair is gently rocking.
Portrait of An Unknown Lady
An Attempt to Find A Portrait of Our Founder, Lady Anne Dacre (1542-1595
By Andy Bryce (OE1963-70) and Stuart Cameron-Waller (OE1961-69) with contributions from Tony Jones, Archivist and Tom Sackville, a descendent of our founder.
My word, there are so many of them... portraits of unknown ladies. We feel we must have looked at hundreds wondering, “Is this the one?” There is a famous painting by eminent Tudor court portraitist Hans Eworth (1520-1574) of Lady Anne Dacre's husband, Gregory Fiennes and his mother, Lady Mary Neville that led us to believe there surely must be one of Anne by the same artist, somewhere. The mother and son work was probably painted in 1558, 7 years before Gregory’s marriage to Anne. In due course, the artist must surely have been introduced to his sitter's wife, we thought...but, from this strongest of leads, no joy, and certainly no painting of Lady Anne.
The Coat of Arms
THE 10th BARON DACRE’S COAT OF ARMS (Or what have the ancient families of Fiennes, de Dacre, de Moulton, de Vaux, de Morville, Fitzhugh, de Staveley, de Fourneaux, de Grey, de Marmion, St. Quintin and Jernegan....to do with Emanuel School?)
By Andy Bryce; Marlborough 1963-70
I must have been lost in music whilst at school in the sixties. It was indeed a time to enjoy musical evolution but being in the chapel choir... well mine was a different kind of music. And glorious it was too - choral music appreciation became a very important part of my school-life.
I thus attended chapel nearly every day...but did I look around me? Did I ask myself the relevance of the ten family names and coat of arms emblazoned in the glass windows therein? No, of course not. And did I ever stop to look at the coat of arms in the school's reception area and wonder what comprised it? No. Like most of us I suspect, I was highly uninquisitive!!
Our Farewell to Blagdons
After nearly 100 years at Blagdons the Old Emanuel Association (OEA) along with its affiliated clubs are saying farewell and seeking pastures new.
Blagdons exists because back in 1904 some 70 heroic OEs along with the Headmaster met at the School to form the OEA. The Rugby Club was subsequently formed in 1909, but initially had to rent pitches in Wandsworth and Osterley Park near Isleworth. The need for additional playing fields for the School and a “home” for the Club resulted in a search for a suitable ground. On 2nd July 1925 after “over 300 OEs signed a document pledging their financial assistance for a number of years” the 13 acre Blagdon Estate was “most nobly” purchased by the School. Initially “the ground was remarkable for a profusion of long tangled grass; in the winter it became an actual swamp”. So a Ground Fund of nearly £800 from subscriptions and donations was collected to carry out improvements. In 1926 the Association was strengthened when the Cricket and Tennis Clubs were formed.
Oldest Person to Earn Triple Crown
Ed Horne tackles 20 Bridges in ‘life-threatening’ rainstorm. Brooklyn-based journalist
Margaret Hetherman reports.
On Friday 29 September, while most New Yorkers were hunkered down amid record-setting rainfall that flooded cars and knocked-out subway lines, 68 year-old Brit, Ed Horne, was swimming his way around Manhattan. It wasn’t his first brush with tumultuous weather. Forced to call it quits in July due to lightning, Ed was determined to nail 20 Bridges: a 28.5 mile loop that starts and ends at Battery Park in New York City. That victory, combined with the English Channel and Catalina Channel, puts Ed in the elite category of Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming achievers. To boot (ratification pending), he’s the oldest person to have done so!
When the adventure got underway at 7am, it had been merely drizzling. Nathaniel Johnston tucked under the spray skirt of his kayak. Thomas Crystall readied a RHIB with observer Louise Darlington on deck. The crew set to strategising timing for getting around the massive Staten Island Ferry.