Obituaries
Sheila joined the famous publishing house of Victor Gollancz in 1936, very soon becoming secretary to the founder himself. When Victor had a serious breakdown on learning about the Nazi concentration camps, Sheila was appointed Joint Managing Director; her husband, John, was later Company Secretary, then Managing Director, and finally Chairman of Gollancz. Sheila wrote and published Gollancz’s 50th anniversary history in 1988. Zealous as a researcher and author, other topics included Lorenzo Da Ponte (Mozart’s librettist), the soprano Nancy Storace (1765-1817) and what it was like to have been Daphne Du Maurier’s editor. Wonderfully generous as hostess at Peckarmans Wood in Dulwich, and at their cottage near Petworth, Sussex, her dinners might be preceded by an actual string quartet performing, or a CD of arias performed by a favourite contralto. Over drinks and dinner, with trenchant questions and conversation, guests met actors, writers and, once, Donald Woods, the anti-apartheid activist, who features in Richard Attenborough’s film Cry Freedom. A brilliant cook, Sheila also wrote three recipe books with Helge Rubinstein, including Ices Galore. When the College’s former Director of Music, Alan Morgan, became ill, Sheila and John did his grocery shopping and bought him a digital radio. Her idealism and integrity were practical and often covert: she was tutor and mentor to a seven-year-old girl in Brixton and also moderated a weekly telephone link-up organised by the RNIB for six partially-sighted people to chat. Latterly Sheila and John lived in Canada near their daughter, Clarissa, but her interest in the College and her old friends persisted and she kept up to date with developments via email and telephone. She is survived by John and Clarissa. This obituary was contributed by College Historian, Jan Piggott (Staff 72-05).
the Junior Training Corps. He was a member of the unbeaten 1st XV team of 1946-47. It was the first full season after the end of the war, when the College was trying to get back to normal after returning from evacuation. The rugby team’s unbeaten season was a tremendous morale booster for the whole school. In recent years, Peter organised the 50th and 60th anniversary reunions for that team. After leaving Dulwich he went to do his National Service, serving for two years as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Catering Corps, returning for a second stint in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. Catering was in the Byford family blood: Peter’s father, Richard, had been in catering all his working life, joining the Army in 1938 to become the first Chief Inspector of Army Catering. He set up the Army Catering Corps and became its first commanding officer. After completing his National Service in 1950, Peter joined Joe Lyons as a management trainee, receiving training in all aspects of the catering industry during the four year scheme. He started off working in the kitchens of the Regent Palace Hotel before moving on to the Trocadero to learn the skills of being Front of House. This was the early 1950s and many of his friends were playing rugby for the OAs, although work commitments on Saturdays prevented Peter from playing regular rugby. It was not uncommon for several of his friends to roll up at the Trocadero on a Saturday evening to tease him, while also trying to cadge a free beer or meal! He soon moved on to spend 10 years at the Lyons Corner Houses, eventually becoming Operations Manager for the whole chain. He then moved to manage the London Steakhouse chain of 43 restaurants, the Robley group of pubs and inns, and an associated chain of fish restaurants. His final career move occurred in 1973, when he was appointed Managing Director of Town and County Catering. He transformed the company from a relatively small operation into the largest outdoor catering company in the country. Some of the prestige events they provided catering for included the Open Golf Championship, the Ryder Cup and the Farnborough Air Show. They also had a royal warrant and supplied catering for garden parties and household balls at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. The jewel in the crown for the company though was supplying catering to The Championships, Wimbledon, which was the largest outdoor catering event in the world, providing refreshments to more than 33,000 people each day. While still at Dulwich, Peter first met Shirley Brock and they were married in 1952. They had two children, Susan, and and Richard, who is also an OA (67-76). Peter retired from work in 1986 at the relatively young age of 56 and became a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the same year, awarded for distinguished personal service to the reigning monarch,
Peter John Richard Byford MVO (1941-47) 06.07.1929 – 28.05.2015
Peter Byford came to the College from the Prep during the Second World War. In 1937 he had started at the Prep school, which was evacuated to Cranbrook in Kent at the outbreak of war in 1939, but the school was subsequently
re-evacuated to Betws-y-Coed in Wales. He greatly enjoyed his time at both Dulwich schools and excelled at sport. He was a very fast rugby winger and received his 1st XV colours as a Colt in 1945, and captained the team in 1947, when he also played for Surrey Public Schools. He played cricket for the 2nd XI, was House Captain of Drake, a school prefect and a sergeant on
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