Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark‐Maxwell
(Mother Mary Kentigern) SHCJ (December 1925 ‐ February 2015) Mary Elizabeth (Sister Mary Kentigern) was born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, an area long associated with her father’s family. It was a place she always remembered with affection because it was there, as a very small child, that she learned from her Aunt Mary the names of local and garden flowers, including, it seems, the scientific versions. Throughout her long life, this keen interest in plants took various forms: studying botany at Oxford and loving the botanic garden there, teaching biology, growing house plants and persuading them to flower against the odds, keeping an eye on the gardens of the houses in which she lived, and being available to produce the most splendid flower arrangements for an occasion. Mary Elizabeth became a Catholic during her first five years of teaching. She then entered the Society and was professed in 1958, subsequently teaching biology at St Leonards, Preston and Harrogate. After a six-year term as superior at St Leonards, she returned to teach at Mayfield, where she was also Assistant Housemistress (1976 - 86). A sabbatical in Dublin was followed by appointment as a provincial councillor and local superior, first in Mayfield and then in London. Her later years were spent in Harrogate (1996 - 2000), Mayfield (2000-2007), Norham Gardens, Oxford (2007 - 2009) and, finally, Harrogate again.
These many changes of scene and responsibility enabled Mary Elizabeth to draw on her rich store of natural gifts, skills, and the experiences of her early years, all of which she distilled into a wisdom that enabled her to help communities and individuals through difficult times of transition, enriched her friends and pupils, and ensured that she remained open to the possibilities of new learning.
Her delight in the created world was unbounded, and she also loved words and the possibilities that they offered for seeing situations from a different angle. Her lightness of touch came out in puns (sometimes bad), impromptu limericks, and an ability to beat most people at Scrabble that nevertheless left them looking forward to the next game.
Other accomplishments included needlework and painting. In 1999 she had the first of a series of strokes, and her life then became increasingly difficult as gradually she lost mobility. Her final year was even more difficult because of a neurological condition that restricted her ability to interact with those around her. She died in Harrogate on 19th February 2015. Mary Elizabeth was an innately modest, loveable, determined woman of deep faith who might, perhaps, have been surprised to learn how much she was appreciated by her religious sisters, pupils, colleagues, and friends. May she rest in peace.
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2016
Jancis Houston (née Burn, Class of 1947) Jancis was born in 1930 and spent her early childhood in India. At the age of 7 she was sent to St Leonards-Mayfield. Orphaned aged just 12, she was joined in the UK by her three younger siblings and her two younger sisters – Lucinda and Caroline both attended Harrogate and later St Leonards and Mayfield respectively. Jancis was academically gifted and her results at Mayfield were outstanding, despite the turbulence of the war and a fractured family life. Jancis left Mayfield in 1947 and began a successful and rewarding career in the Foreign Office, enjoying postings around Europe. She married in 1959 and, alongside raising her two sons Simon and Angus, spent the next 25 years as a soldier’s wife, travelling extensively before finally settling in Scotland. She kept in touch with some contemporaries, in particular Meg Marr.
Joanne Marie Bush (née Bush, Class of 1987) Joanne Marie Bush was born in Trinidad in January 1969. She attended the Sacred Heart School in Wadhurst before joining Mayfield as a day girl and then subsequently as a boarder when her father was posted to Holland with Shell. After that, she joined her brother for the Sixth Form at Eastbourne College. She always enjoyed Music, Dance, Choir and Acting and for a while she also played the harp!
On leaving school, she took a Design course in Bournemouth whilst studying to become an Accountant. In her spare-time she bacame a motor-racing marshall which is how she met her future husband - Neil Peters. They married in September 2004 and have 3 sons - Henry , Arthur and Bertie.
Joanne was diagnosed with Cancer which spread to her brain and she died peacefully on 26th
July 2015.
John Hudson OBE John Hudson OBE (85) husband of Gretta (née Collins, class of 1949) died peacefully in Bishops Stortford on January 20th 2016 surrounded by three generations of the family.
Sir David Willcocks CBE. MC (1919 – 2015) Many generations of Old Cornelians will remember the inspirational Sir David Willcocks. Here below, is a copy of his obituary written by Kenneth Pont, former Director of Music.
“Of all the tributes I have read and heard about Sir David Willcocks, two outstanding qualities have always been mentioned; his infections enthusiasm and sense of fun in rehearsals and his choral disciplines, focused on achieving the highest possible standard.
His weekends at Mayfield were an inspiration for members of the Festival Choir and, particularly, for the young sopranos of Schola Cantorum 1 & 2 of St Leonards-Mayfield School.
Sir David conducted one of the two choral concerts at every Festival on no fewer than 15 occasions between 1976-2002; these included Bach’s - B minor Mass, Verdi’s - Requiem, Handel’s - Israel in Egypt, Mozart’s - Grand Mass in C minor and 4 performances of the Dream of Gerontius by Sir Edward Elgar. As Director of the Royal College of Music, he brought the Symphony Orchestra and soloists from the College to take part in many of these performances.
Members of the Mayfield Festival Choir and generations of girls will never forget Sir David’s visits – his motivation, humour, encouragement, humility and the demand for a high standard at all times. Chorally the Festival – and Music in Mayfield generally – owes him a huge debt of gratitude for his musical contribution and involvement in this lovely Sussex village”.
Kenneth Pont (Mayfield School 1970 - 2002) OC 39
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