a long and hard battle against his ailments, much to the admiration of his friends and family. His passing is very sad but his struggle in the last few months had been immense, and it was a relief to him and to his family that he is now at peace. He is survived by Pam, all three of their children and by one granddaughter. He is sorely missed by those he leaves behind but strong memories of his sense of humour, his love of his family, his compassion for his fellow man and his never-ending determination will remain with them. This obituary was contributed by Pam.
second row forward, but thereafter he played at No. 8. In 1950, he was appointed as captain of Wales before the first Five Nations match of that year’s campaign against England, mainly because other, more senior players were injured. One of the Welsh selectors told him that he was free to play his own game, but then promptly listed the things he should not do. “These provisos contained almost all my limited ideas on winning a rugby match at the time” John said later. Despite having six new cap in the team, Wales beat England that day. Wales then also beat Scotland, Ireland and France, securing their first Triple Crown and Grand Slam since 1911. He would undoubtedly have been chosen for the British Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1950 and, having led the Grand Slam winners, might even have been made captain, but as a schoolmaster he was not allowed to take several months off. He was dropped from the Welsh team in 1951 after they suffered two defeats. One of them, losing 19 points to nil against Scotland at Murrayfield has been described as “the most unexpected result in the history of the Five Nations Championship”. He returned to the team as captain in 1952 to win all four matches again and record a second Grand Slam, earning John a grand-slam record for a Welsh captain that still stands today. He was also a member of the last Welsh team to beat the All Blacks, in Cardiff in 1953. His last match for Wales was against England in 1954. In 2005 he was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. John’s first teaching post was at Glenalmond College, in Perth; while in Scotland he played rugby for Edinburgh Wanderers. He then moved to teach at Bromsgrove
Charles (Chas) Goodwin [Staff, 1985-2010] 05.01.1945 – 29.04.2017
Chas Goodwin was born in Ledbury, Herefordshire, and was one of five children, having three brothers and
one sister. He attended Ledbury Grammar School from the age of nine, but left at fourteen to take up an apprenticeship as an electrical engineer. He enjoyed life in the country and found the move to London quite a shock. But when he was appointed Senior Electrician at the College, he had found his calling and remained here for 25 years. He loved working at Dulwich and considered himself fortunate to receive many accolades during his career and upon his retirement. He enjoyed the working relationships with colleagues and had a passion for the beautiful buildings and grounds. Although he enjoyed life in the West Country, love changes everything and marriage to Pam was the reason he was prepared to make the sacrifice and move to Wimbledon in crowded London. Children followed and he became the proud father of two daughters and a son. He had a passion for sport, particularly rugby and cricket, which he played in his youth and watched from the side-lines after injury prevented his continued participation at a standard he considered worthwhile. He had a love of music, classical and jazz in particular, and the strain of it could be heard wherever he was working. He took pleasure from completing the Telegraph crossword and the book shelves at home were full of dictionaries and thesauruses to enable him to check the answer to a clue.
John Albert Gwilliam [Staff, 1956-63] 28.02.1923 – 21.12.2016
John Gwilliam was born in Pontypridd, Wales, the son of Thomas and Adela Gwilliam. He attended Monmouth
School and went to Trinity College, Cambridge, to read history. He had been at Cambridge for only a year when he was called up and sent to Sandhurst where Matt Busby, later to manage Manchester United, was in charge of PE. for the D-Day landings in 1944 as a second lieutenant. Historian and journalist Max Hastings recounted a story in which John, by then a tank commander fighting in Europe and a physically imposing figure, was seen carrying a German prisoner by the scruff of the neck. His CO asked him “Why didn’t you shoot him?” to which John replied “Oh no, sir. Much too small.” He returned to Cambridge after the War and won two rugby blues. He was awarded the first of his 23 Welsh rugby caps against Australia in 1947. Five of his first six caps were as a He was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment and sent to Normandy
Chas was diagnosed with cancer soon after his retirement, but he fought
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