My father, David Hughes, who has died aged 101, spent most of his career as a geography teacher in Shropshire. He will be fondly remembered not only by generations of schoolboys, but also as a polymath, Shakespeare expert, raconteur, amateur theologian, Christian humanist, and supporter of peace and justice.
David’s ancestry was largely Scottish and Welsh. He was born in North Berwick, East Lothian, to Mary (nee Stuart) and John Hughes. His father was an Anglican clergyman who became a Quaker after his experiences as a chaplain in the first world war. David and his siblings, Michael and Barbara, went to Quaker schools in York, where the family lived. They spent two years in America in the 1930s, when John was appointed director of the Quaker study centre Pendle Hill, in Pennsylvania – a formative experience for David.
He read geography at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but his studies were interrupted by the second world war and he was awarded a “war degree” after two years. As conscientious objectors, David and Michael both faced military tribunals, but neither was jailed. David took the alternative of joining the Friends Relief Service, delivering relief to war-affected citizens. He spent six years with the FRS, in London and also in Holland, where he drove ambulances and lorries, and in Germany working in refugee camps.
In 1938 he volunteered at Dovercourt camp, Harwich, which took in, and found homes for, Jewish children fleeing the Nazis via the Kindertransport evacuation. David persuaded his parents to take in a young brother and sister. (His mother was already active in refugee work in York.) The boy, Harry Baum, later became very successful in the travel industry. All his life David kept on his key ring a small brass disc with his name and Dovercourt room number on it. He gave public talks about these experiences, into his 90s, and was interviewed by members of the Holocaust Education Trust.
While teaching at Ottershaw school, Surrey, the UK’s first state boarding school for boys, David met Betty Wilson, who had come from Northern Ireland to work as a cook at the school. They married in Antrim in 1951, and I was born a year later. The family emigrated in 1952 as “Ten Pound Poms” to Australia, where my father taught at a Quaker school in Hobart. My parents did not much like Tasmania, however, and returned after two years. The best part of the adventure was sailing round the world and visiting exotic lands.
The family settled in Shropshire, where David began teaching at Wellington boys’ grammar school. My sister, Tanya, was born in 1956. David retired in 1979 and he and Betty later moved to Church Stretton, where they were active in the local United Nations Association and the Lib Dems.
Sadly, Betty’s dementia and move to a care home later forced them to live separately. David moved to Bishop’s Castle at the age of 94 and enjoyed an unexpected new lease of life. In his 90s he published an anthology, The Seven Ages of William Shakespeare (2010), and a book in 2016 on the moral teachings of Jesus.
Betty died in 2019. David is survived by Tanya and me.
