Obituaries
His family meant a great deal to Terry and some of his greatest delights came from spending time discussing current affairs with his older son John, or watching his younger son Nicholas playing rugby at Dulwich. He enjoyed the company of his grandsons William and George, and he was delighted when George also went to the College. Terry commanded enormous respect among his friends, not only for his talents and achievements, but also for his essential decency and modesty. He is survived by his four children, and by two grandchildren. His OA friend, Peter Lyon (1952-60), along with Terry’s family, contributed significantly to this obituary.
Duncan John Perkins (1956-63) 26.07.1945 – 17.08.2014
Like his older brother Bruce, Duncan Perkins came to Dulwich from Eltham C of E School and was in Marlowe. At the College, he sang as a Treble in Alan Morgan’s Madrigal Group, but his voice broke early and by the age of 14 he was
the youngest ever bass soloist singer to perform in the school concerts at the Royal Festival Hall. He also performed in the first school concert at the then new Fairfield Halls in Croydon. During his years at Dulwich, he specialised in Modern Languages, was a prefect, and played 2nd XI cricket and also rugby and hockey for the school. Alan Morgan helped to train him for the demanding examinations that precede the award of Choral Scholarships and Exhibitions at Cambridge, where he had the daunting experience of singing in front of David Willcocks amongst others from the music establishment. He won an Exhibition to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to study Modern and Medieval Languages. At Corpus Christi, the Organ Scholar and Director of the choir was Richard Armstrong, who later became the head of Welsh National Opera. Duncan had happy memories of singing in one of the first ever performances of Britten’s War Requiem in Ely Cathedral, and in Berlioz’s opera Beatrice and Benedict under David Atherton. After Cambridge, Duncan started teaching modern languages at Kent College, Canterbury, where he stayed for the whole of his working life, not least because he was taken on as a Lay Clerk and sang bass in the Cathedral Choir, a post he occupied with distinction for 40 years. In this role, he witnessed the enthronement of five Archbishops of Canterbury, visits by the Queen and the Pope, and made countless recordings, especially at Christmas. Despite his teaching and cathedral commitments, Duncan managed to make time for other interests, that included fine wines, France, Italy, fine art, cryptic crosswords and other word games, and he created a very successful Europe quiz, which still survives today. He also coached cricket, hockey and rugby for many years, and was a talented chef and a generous host. After retirement he joined the newly formed Canterbury Cathedral Garden Opera Group which performs Mozart operas in some of the loveliest settings in East Kent. With them he sang, co-produced, and prepared new translations of original Italian libretti, which were praised for their wit and precision, as well as their regard for the singer’s vocal needs. Duncan died surrounded by family and friends at the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury from cancer of the liver. His funeral took place in Canterbury Cathedral and his
David Francis Osborne (1949-56) 24.10.1937 – 07.03.2014
David Osborne was born in Essex, but his family soon moved to Sutton, and he came to Dulwich with a scholarship from Homefield Prep, and was in Sidney while at the College. From an early age, he had been fascinated by the study
of Classics, and his other great passion was cricket. He was a talented cricketer, and was an aggressive, unorthodox, right-handed opening batsman with a great eye who took on bowlers from the first ball. He played for the 1st XI in all of his last three years at the College. When he left Dulwich, he gained a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, to study Classics. While at Oxford, he was the Jesus College Captain of Cricket and elected to the Oxford University Authentics Cricket Club. After graduating in 1960, David joined Unilever before moving on to PA International Management Consulting for whom he worked with various overseas governments to transform their nationalised industries. During the 1970s, he enjoyed lengthy spells in Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, and he later became a specialist in mergers and acquisitions, ending up leading PA’s M&A advisory business. In 1982, he made the move into merchant banking and private equity with Hill Samuel, where he developed an exceptional eye for identifying businesses with great potential, before ending his career on the board at Electra Fleming. David served as Chairman of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, and as a board member of numerous UK, Italian and Spanish companies. David married his childhood sweetheart, Sheila Atkins, in 1961 and had three children, Martin, Katy and Juliet, but the marriage ended. David spent the last 27 years of his life with his partner, Jane. In retirement, he indulged his love of bridge, gardening, travelling and languages, and spending time with Jane, his three children and eight grandchildren. His daughter Juliet contributed significantly to this obituary.
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