Obituaries & Tributes

As previously reported, Bryan Short Headmaster of Borden Grammar School from 1968 to 1998 died on 19th May, aged 87. We have compiled an Obituary which is featured below. We also invited Old Bordenians to provide their own reminisces and some of these are woven into this obituary. All submissions from Old Bordenians will be published in a separate article as well.

With great sadness we report news that Bryan Short, School Headmaster from 1968-1998, has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family at this time. 

It is no exaggeration to say Bryan was a towering figure in the history of the School and generations of Old Bordenians will have passed through the School under his leadership. He emobodied much of the School ethos - discipline, tradition and the power of education - and many of us will have strong personal memories of his time at the School and as President of this Association.

We will be publishing a more fuller obituary in coming days. Old Bordenians are welcome to send to this website any personal memories they wish to be published - please send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

It is with sadness we have been informed of the death of Michael (Mike) Symons on February 9th 2021.

Mike was at the School until 1969 and afterwards went to UMIST. Following University, Mike became a chemical engineer with ICI.

It is with sadness that we report the death of Ray Hill at the end of September 2020. He died peacefully at home in Minster.

We have learnt that Old Bordenian Trevor Dadson, 72, died in January 2020. 

We have been contacted by the son of Lewis William Leonard Chelton to inform us of the sad news of his death on 11 February 2020. Lewis attended Borden Grammar School from around 1946 to 1950.

Simon (his son) tells us that on a holiday last year to Montrichard in the Loire valley, Lewis talked fondly of a school trip there likely in 1947 or 1948. 

After leaving the School, Lewis joined the Royal Navy as a 16 year old entry in January 1951. 

If any Old Bordenians have further recollections of Lewis, please send to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We have received the sad news that the Rev. Stanley Evans passed away in December 2019. Rev. Evans was a stalwart of the OBA and known by many Old Boys through his work with the School and Association.

Richard Charles Harris (who attended the school 1955-1961) died on December 30th at his home in Essex. His funeral will be held on 10th February at 1.30pm at the South Chapel, Chelmsford Crematorium. His family, who informed us of this sad news, noted that Richard often spoke fondly of his memories of the School and enjoyed attending the Old Boys Reunions.

Dennis Fowle has contacted the Association to report the recent death of Tony Whibley (1944-52). Although living in Hampshire, Tony maintained friendships with other OBs and attended Dinners as recently as 2018. Dennis has provided this obituary to the OBA.

It is with sadness that we have been informed of the recent passing of Alun Davies, teacher at the School from 1959 to the mid-1990s. John Gardiner (1987-92) is a friend of the family and has provided an obituary for us. Many (including this website editor) will have had Mr Davies as a teacher at some point in their time at the School. The funeral will be held on Wednesday 12th December, 2pm, at the Garden of England Crematorium, Bobbing.