My friend Haydn Middleton, who has died aged 92, was considered the “soul” of Wolverhampton Chamber Choir, with which he sang tenor for nearly 40 years. A Welsh-speaking Methodist, Haydn had had a distinguished career in education as a head teacher in Jamaica and the Bahamas.
He was born in the south Wales village of Tonyrefail, eldest of three children of William, a miner, and Margaret. His mother’s wish that “he’s not going underground” was not to be. Haydn was conscripted as a Bevin boy during the second world war and spent three years working underground. In 1946 he went to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, graduating in 1953 in geography and geology.
He moved to Staffordshire as a planning officer and then taught at Wobaston secondary school in Wolverhampton, where he met Isabel Onion, whom he married in 1959. With her encouragement, they moved to Jamaica, and Haydn taught at Clarendon college, Chapelton.
As the founding head teacher in 1961 of Morant Bay high school, in the parish of St Thomas, he transformed a school of, initially, 62 pupils, housed in the old Methodist manse, into an academic and sporting success. His strong discipline, tempered by great kindness and expert teaching, is still remembered there. Haydn left Morant Bay in 1965 to become principal of the prestigious boys’ boarding school Jamaica college. At Queens’ college, Bahamas, where he was principal from 1968 to 1979, his motto “manners maketh man” still resonates.
He introduced his pupils to European composers and Welsh authors including Dylan Thomas, reading from A Child’s Christmas in Wales at Christmas assembly.
Haydn and Isabel returned in 1979 to Staffordshire, where Haydn became a lay preacher with several local churches. He studied at Birmingham University, gaining BA and MPhil degrees in theology. Isabel died in 1993, making retirement to their home in the Bahamas a broken dream.
A courteous and caring man, with boundless energy, Haydn loved rugby, singing and Wales. His father had conducted a male voice choir, and Haydn inherited his appreciation of choral and classical music. Fellow members of Wolverhampton Chamber Choir, with which he travelled to Germany in 2015 for a choir exchange, will miss his generosity and friendship.
He is survived by two nieces and a nephew.
