Obituaries
released after convincing his captors that he was only in the country as a guest of their president. He first married Margaret Williams in 1960 and they had a son, Alex, named after Alexander the Great, but they divorced in 1966. He then married Maria Gomez- Cristobel, a Spanish language teacher, and they adopted a daughter, Caroline. Malcolm was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 1995 and was later confined to a wheelchair after an operation to repair a broken hip. He continued to practice art with painting, sculpture and mosaic work, visiting exhibitions whenever possible. He died in London in June 2015, unaware of the destruction of Palmyra structures and artefacts by Islamic State militants. An obituary by Dr St John Simpson was published in The Times, on which this obituary is based.
Cadet Forces Medal. The College used his talents for organisation by appointing him Master in Charge of Examinations, and he was elected President of the Common Room by his colleagues in 1973, serving for three years. In 1947 he met Enid at the badminton club at their church in Sydenham and they were married in 1949 in the Presbyterian Church in Wallington, beginning a long and happy marriage of more than 65 years. They had three sons, Ken, Ian and Peter, all born in the 1950s and all Old Alleynians. Basil loved motorbikes, commuting to work on one, maintaining them and even going on family holidays on them. In 1957, the same year as starting at Dulwich, he bought his pride and joy, a brand new Triumph Tiger Cub, which is still in existence, owned by a friend. The family moved to Beckenham in 1963 and Basil and Enid’s worship continued at what was then known as Beckenham Congregational Church. He became a deacon and also captain and organiser of the badminton club there, aided by his enviable administration skills. They had ‘adventurous’ family holidays, from going to north Wales on a motorbike with a sidecar to stay in a basic hut with no electricity or running water, through a three week trip to the south of France with two adults and three children in the family Ford Anglia, flying to Guernsey on holiday the year after the France trip, and enjoying a family skiing holiday in the Austrian Tirol, travelling there and back by ferry and overnight train in the 1960s. With the College retirement age looming, Basil and Enid bought Courtlands Nurseries in Sharpthorne, near West Hoathly, Sussex, in 1980. After many years of gardening with a growing family, where edible fruit and vegetables were the priority, on his retirement from teaching they both threw themselves into a life in the open air, in poly tunnels and heated greenhouses, cultivating fruit and vegetables to deliver to local greengrocers, which lasted for another 15 years. They also threw themselves into village life as members of the congregation at St Margaret’s Church, where Basil was a churchwarden, and they were both members of the church choir, called the Madeleine Ensemble, for 24 years. After retiring for a second time, from the nursery in 1998, Basil kept his mind and life active still by becoming a governor of West Hoathly Primary School and ending up as chairman of the governors. He also researched the history of the school in the Sussex County Record Office and talked to many past teachers and pupils, before publishing a book on the school’s history, The Story so far . Somehow they also found time to keep in touch with friends and family, visiting Enid’s brother, Bob, and his family in Australia no fewer than seven times. In 2012, at the launch of the fundraising campaign for a new Science building at Dulwich, Basil wrote to share his appreciation of the College and in particular its science facilities: ‘When a teacher of Chemistry at Dulwich
Basil Humphrey Cridland (Staff 1957-83) 08.12.1924 – 28.03.2015
Basil Cridland was born in Sydenham and went to school at St Dunstan’s College, Catford, until his parents decided that he and his mother should get away from the wartime bombing
in London and be evacuated to Somerset. He finished his schooling education at Huish’s Grammar School, Taunton. After leaving school he was called for military service and joined the Royal Air Force. He was training to be a navigator and would have flown in a two seater Mosquito, but the war ended before he had to fight. After the war, Basil continued his education with a Chemistry degree at King’s College London, graduating in 1948 and taking a postgraduate teaching diploma in 1949. His first teaching post saw him return to St Dunstan’s as an assistant master for four years, before moving to Purley County Grammar School for three years. In January 1957 he was appointed as an assistant master at Dulwich College to teach Chemistry, remaining at the College for 27 years. His pupils quickly learned that he expected hard work from them but soon realised that they were fortunate to be taught by him, as the examination results obtained by his classes over the years were quite outstanding. His knowledge of the subject was comprehensive and he clarified numerous areas where the textbooks were less helpful. His research on the experimental determination of the gravimetric composition of water was published, jointly with Ian Mallinson. He sang as a tenor in the College choir and, as a practising Christian, his addresses to morning assembly were both thoughtful and thought-provoking. He was a flight lieutenant in command of the RAF section of the CCF for six years and with a total of more than 20 years of cadet force experience he was awarded the
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