This replies belatedly to message 105 (Robert Holland, 17 July 2010). Peter Garrett Arnold Gem (I think that's right) taught me history at Lewes County Grammar School in Sussex from 1954 to 1957. I believe he was a Wykehamist, and went up to Trinity College Oxford in the late 1940s. He had enormous enthusiasm for his subject and to the boys seemed an authoritarian figure, albeit an extremely amusing one. At about 6 ft 4 in (I should think) he was certainly imposing, and an expert at maintaining order and respect by gentle humiliation. "What films or plays have you seen recently?" he asked one class : "'Call me Madam', sir" called out one boy, rather pleased with himself. For the rest of the lesson he was indeed called "Madam". An unruly and lazy boy disgraced himself with some idiotic answer to a question : he was made to spend the rest of the lesson standing on his desk with his tie round his head (like a head band), the knot immediately under his nose. Mr Gem was also a practical joker, and there are amusing stories of his exploits on the Old Lewesian Organisation's website (as well as some pictures). But I believe he was also a serious scholar, probably the leading light of the History Society, organizing interesting trips for the boys---e.g., to Hadrian's Wall. He seems to have been very sociable, e.g., entertaining other staff at home. I believe he might easily have taken holy orders, being among the first (if not the first) master to conduct a service at the new school chapel after I had left. I'm sure the school felt it a great loss when he left some years after that to take up an appointment as headmaster of Oswestry School. After only a few years it appears that he moved on to another post at The Victoria College, Jersey, before he retired. He died in 2005, no doubt worthy of no less celebration generally than he had at Lewes ; at any rate, many of about my generation continue to hold him in very high and affectionate regard.
