became a partner in the firm and years later took over the practice, specialising in private client and family business, before retiring in 2004. He was also a Councillor for Poole Borough Council for 45 years, finally stepping down in May 2015. During his long service as a Councillor, he was a Cabinet member for several council departments, and also served on Poole’s adoption panel. He was Chairman of the Dorset County Pension Fund, responsible for the pensions of 49,000 present and retired local government employees in the county, and was Honorary Secretary to the directors of Poole Lighthouse, the largest regional arts centre in the country. Neil met Anita in Poole in 1985 and they soon realised that she had been a pupil at Sydenham Grammar School for Girls (now Sydenham School) at around the same time as Neil had been at Dulwich. They married in 1988 and had many happy years together. Neil had two children from his first marriage to Doris, and Anita had three daughters from hers. Luckily the five children all get on well. So far, they have one granddaughter from Neil’s daughter. Most of Neil’s spare time was taken up by Poole Council duties, but he was a keen cyclist in his youth and later a committee member of the Hertford College Boat Club Society and always attended the last day of Eights races with his family. He attended the Wessex OA dinners arranged by Douglas Knowlden for many years.
a Boeing 747 at Nairobi, as well as travelling throughout Africa on insurance surveys. In all his work, Doug was ably supported, not only by his colleagues, but by his wife Elizabeth (Lisbe), whose hospitality for those passing through Nairobi was renowned. With his ARB/CAA career and retirement totalling 67 years, he led the field of those with experience of aviation in the late 1940s; and only 3 or 4 now remain. Doug died in February 2013, just before his 95th birthday, marking the passing of a true gentleman with a friendly and relaxed manner which endeared him to so many. He is survived by Lisbe who contributed significantly to this obituary. Martin William Suthers [1951-58] 27.06.1940 – 21.05.2016 Church of England vicar and the family lived in Chislehurst, Kent. Martin came to Dulwich from Bickley Park School and was in Drake. After leaving Dulwich, he went with a Harvey Exhibition scholarship to Christ’s College, Cambridge, and gaining an MA in Law. His working career began in 1961 as an articled clerk at Wells and Hind Solicitors. He moved to Simpson and Coulby as a partner in 1971, later becoming senior partner. In 2005, he retired from Simpson & Coulby and became a consultant at Fraser Brown Solicitors. During his legal career, he was a member of the Council of Nottinghamshire Law Society from 1989 to 2000 and President in 1998/99, their Parliamentary Liaison Officer from 1989 to 2007 and recipient of Martin Suthers was the son of a
Douglas Carl Stewart [1931-34] 20.03.1918 – 26.02.2013 Douglas Stewart was born just before the end of the First World War. His family lived in Sydenham and he came to Dulwich from West Hill school there. After leaving Dulwich, he trained at the College of Aeronautical Engineering in Chelsea. His first job in aviation was as a ground engineer with Personal Airways in Croydon, followed by becoming a flight shed inspector with Armstrong Siddeley Motors in Coventry as WW2 began. Douglas tried to join the armed forces but was in a “Reserved Occupation” so he was turned away, although he did try five times to join up. Through the Civil Repair Organisation he worked with the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm specialising in the repair and overhaul of fighter and bomber aircraft. Aged 22, he was Deputy Chief Inspector with 60 inspectors under his command, all older than himself. In 1946 he joined the Air Registration Board (ARB) as a surveyor in their Croydon office, followed by his first spell in Nairobi, Kenya between 1949 and 1952. Then he had two years at Heathrow, the new London airport, supervising the entry into BEA service of the Viscount. Another move to Karachi, Pakistan, followed in 1954 but only a year later he returned to Kenya as Surveyor-in- Charge. Unlike later years, when overseas “tours” were limited to two or three years at most, Doug managed to remain in Nairobi until retirement in 1983, by which time he had completed 37 years with ARB/ Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Doug was Mr Aviation in Kenya and some of the surrounding countries for most of those years. In 1975, he was responsible, when acting as Inspector of Accidents, for the investigation report into a major accident involving
He died in December 2015 after a long battle with cancer.
Anita ontributed significantly to this obituary.
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