Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Miss Norris (3s) was either Nobs or The Hag, depending on her mood. I was convinced that she, and by extension all the House Mistresses were underemployed as she seemed to have so much to snoop on her charges and their possessions.

These were of course legion and I give below those remembered from my era of the nineteen forties. Some masters were known affectionately (generally) by their Christian name such as Arthur Rider. Reggie Dean, and Fred Hazlehust, although his real name was Francis. Some are self explanatory . The origins of others are often difficult to fathom.
D.S. Macnutt. (Boom) Voice.
W.C.M. Cochrane (Corks) Name contraction and alcohol consumption.
J.E. Massen (The Gangster) General appearance.
G. Van Pragh (VP or Veepy)
M.B. Jones (Dangle) Stammer when he once said "dad angle equals dad angle".
C. Blamire-Brown (Blam)
D.H. Burleigh (Snugs or Tugs) ? origin.
E.A. Littlefield (Pongo) ?
H.L.O. Flecker (The Oil or Oily). Remarks to the Grecians or School monitors that they were the cogs of the school and he was the oil.
P.G. Matthews (Phallic) Something concerning his anatomy I presume. In my youthful innocence at the time I once thought it was spelt Falic.
M.H. Jones (Jonah) More to come and all contributions welcomed.

A few more lest I forget.
C.W.S. Averill (Bons) ?
Dr. C.S. Lang (Beaky) size of proboscis
A.C.W. Edwards (Teddy)
M.D. Hallowes (Shish) Lisp.
G.W. Newberry (Pip) Name contraction.
Hon D.S. Roberts (Daddy)
G.W. Pink (Pinker)
W.R. Macklin (Horse) ? appearance
L.W. Tidmarsh (Tid)
H.D. Sills (Kappa) Shape of legs.
A few from other eras.
E. Hyde (Dido) ?
E.C. Wright (Brushie) ?
H.S. Goodwin (Gooder)

E.C Aitken (Kit) contraction of Christopher
Mr Potts (Potty) (well he was a bit)


There were also AC and DC - one (I don't remember which) was a science master, the other his brother who hung around occasionally

Here are some more nicknames. Perhaps other readers can give explanations for them, where this is possible. It’s odd that some masters never had a nickname (eg M Barker, E Bullard, LM Carey and GW Deakin). A possible reason is that they were simply colourless characters. But LM Carey is an obvious exception to that ‘rule’. If they did have a nickname it could well have been an expression of affection, or detestation, or recognition of some unusual characteristic. Were nicknames common for Hertford teachers?

W Armistead (Bill)
W Archbold (Archie)
P Beaven (Pop)
AH Buck (Buckie)
DCF Chaundy (Blotto)
MT Cherniavsky (The Chern)
R Crosland (Croz, or Crozzy)
WPC Davies (Beaky)
P Dore (Pip)
CO Healey (Co)
Mrs R Hurst (Hag)
W Jenkins (Basher)
D Jesson-Dibley (JD)
AL Johnstone (Johnny)
CF Kirby (Uncle)
EG Malins (Gad)
Mrs B Massen (Ma)
F McCracken (Windy)
IR Maconnell (Slim)
JH Page (Crapsack)
M Peto (Curious)
Mrs O Peto (Olive)
Dr T Scott (Tommy)
K Senior (Ken)
N Sergent (Sam)
GME Seaman (George)
FH Stagg (Bandy)
R Stiles (Ronny)
AA Kent (Kipper)
N Todd (Nell, or Nelly)
WA Upcott (Butch, or The Butcher)
LF Whitfield (Windy)

Buckie was also known as Chinky; Johnstone as bl**dy Johnnie; Massen as Pop Massen; Mrs Hurst as Fanny.

Two I've just remembered from Coleridge B, though I'm sure they,ve been mentioned before.

N.T. Fryer (Bogey) Not sure why

R. Hewitt (O.K) Because he always finished an instruction by turning it into a question.. "Lights out in 10 minutes..... OK ???????????"

Bwana Goodall

Two more masters without nicknames were JC Tod and JD Swale. The nickname ‘Pongo’ for EA Littlefield has as a possible explanation that his walk was penguin-like and the French word for penguin is pingouin, which sounds somewhat like ’pongo’.

It seems that over the years some masters’ nicknames apparently changed and examples which differ from those in previous postings are:
JE Massen (Jack)
NT Fryer (Man)

Additional nicknames are:
Rev A Pullin (The Chain) - pulling a chain to flush a toilet
Miss Stevenson (Hag Steve) – she was the Lady Superintendent
R Rae (Bob)
Mr Myers (Punk)
JD Hutchings (Hutch)
Rev CAC Hann (Cack)

One well known nickname was Rev. W.C.S. Johns (Boggy) from his first two initials. His full names incidentally were
William Claude Stabback.
Others C.J. Leighton (Lengthy) Size of his male member. Do not ask how this was known to boys though !
Dr. R.T. Johnson (Gan) ? reason.
Mr. J.F. Codd, Estate Manager , a difficult character to both masters and boys, was known with the c pronounced softly as with a cedilla.

Clarence Milton Edwards Seaman was known as George to his friends and family, and on his gravestone (see Richard III, Act 1 Scene1 for the explanation), but not to the boys, to whom he was 'Clarrie' or 'Clarence' until about 1963, when he became 'Milt' (presumably under the influence of Milt Jackson, the MJQ vibraphonist).

AL Johnstone was as often as not known as 'Stine'.

ML Barker was 'Bocker'.

Bullard was 'the Wop'.

Whitfield as 'the Wind' or 'Yo' (both from the sound of the wind in the rafters of his classroom).

ARider not only Arthur but also as 'Chaps' and 'Brass-arse' (he was alleged to have such a prosthesis)

Thomas P. Law was known as 'Tim'.

John F. Rust was known to the ThorntonB monitors as 'Jack Frust'

In my day, JHPage was known as 'Baldy' rather than 'Crapsack', also 'the Major'

Ingledew was 'Goon'

JH Edwards was 'Fish'

Bill Armistead also as 'Goat'

A maths master named Gower was called 'Bogbrush' (from his wiry hair)

In his memoirs, Bryan Magee says Littlefield brought the name Pongo with him when he arrived after the war. It's the zoological name for an orang-utan, and already his nickname in the RAF.

There is another possible origin for Windy Whitfield’s nickname. His predecessor as junior housemaster in Barnes B was Windy McCracken and so unsurprisingly Whitfield inherited the nickname, perhaps because of the alliteration. McCracken had acquired the name after an occasion when he released flatus in public.

One corrrection, DR. R..T> Johnson was not nicknamed Gan, This was a boy D.H. Johnson who had that name.
P. Curgenven, Sniff Jangle, He used to sniff and then jangle the keys in his pocket all the time.
M.R. Warneford-Brown, Warney B.

alterblau wrote:There is another possible origin for Windy Whitfield’s nickname. His predecessor as junior housemaster in Barnes B was Windy McCracken and so unsurprisingly Whitfield inherited the nickname, perhaps because of the alliteration. McCracken had acquired the name after an occasion when he released flatus in public.

I seem to remember Whitfield and McCracken both being Australian, and always thought the Windy name referred in some way to the accent.

PeteC wrote:

alterblau wrote:There is another possible origin for Windy Whitfield’s nickname. His predecessor as junior housemaster in Barnes B was Windy McCracken and so unsurprisingly Whitfield inherited the nickname, perhaps because of the alliteration. McCracken had acquired the name after an occasion when he released flatus in public.

I seem to remember Whitfield and McCracken both being Australian, and always thought the Windy name referred in some way to the accent.

That may all be so, but Whitfeld's classroom was in the ModLang corridor between Morton Peto and Reggie Dean (3rd along from the quad end) and the wind certainly howled in the rafters. Curiously, only in that classroom, not the neighbouring ones. Perhaps it still does.