Congratulations to OP Charlotte Jenkins, (Class of 2010) and husband Ollie on the safe arrival of baby Evie Louise Jenkins.
Evie was born on Tuesday 6 September 2022, weighing 7lbs 2oz. Her big brother Henry was very excited to meet his little sister and has stepped up to his new role extremely well.
Now adjusting to the life as a family of four, we with them all the best of luck for their future ahead.
Congratulations to OP Charlotte Spencer, (Class of 2016) and partner Alexander Hood, on the safe arrival of their baby girl, Grace Georgina Ellen Hood.
Baby Grace was born on 28 July 2022, weighing 8lb 10oz at 2.00am at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry.
The couple also recently celebrated their engagement whilst on holiday.
We wish the new family all the very best for the future ahead!
Past members of St Joseph's School have been deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Lesley Cox, a much loved and respected headmistress of the school during the 90s. Tributes have poured in, all reflecting her kindness, patience, good humour and professionalism. She always regarded as calm and fair, even in the most challenging of circumstances and was supportive of pupils and staff alike, going above and beyond her duty to ensure the well-being of everyone in her care. Her life, besides her responsibilities in school, was caring for her family of which she was proud - her late husband Professor Alan Cox, and her son, Andrew to whom we send our deepest condolences.
Having previously taught in Leamington, Lesley transferred to St Joseph's Convent in the late 60s to teach maths, a subject which she loved, passing on her enthusiasm to her pupils. So many who believed that they could never succeed in the subject came to appreciate and enjoy her lessons and were surprised at the progress they made under her gentle support and guidance.
Lesley's commitment and dedication to St Joseph's during all the changes which took place led to her appointment, first as Deputy Head, and then in 1994 as Headmistress. These were challenging times but Lesley, with her unflappable calmness and professionalism, led and guided the school until her retirement in 1999.
Such was Lesley's humility that she never sought promotion or high position; rather, they sought her, recognising those sterling qualities in her. We all owe you a great debt, Lesley, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
May you rest in peace.
We here at Princethorpe were saddened to hear of the death of Matt Audinwood (Class of 1985), who passed away suddenly in August, aged 56.
Matt had lived and worked as a successful architect for a number of years in South Africa where he lived with his family. He leaves behind his wife Amelia and his fantastic children, Saskia and Benji.
Our thoughts are with Matt's family and friends at this difficult time.
In June we shared the sad news of the death of OP Chris Tyrone Patterson (Class of 1972) on Sunday 20 February after a valiant battle against prostate cancer. Chris's funeral service and cremation took place in Leamington in March.
His brother Paul wrote: Chris was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, the eldest of five children to Robert 'Pat' Patterson, an army officer, and Kaye (née Devlin), a housewife. He and I started together at Princethorpe as full-time boarders in 1968 when Father JK Fleming was the headmaster. Chris would laughingly recall Fr Fleming's proud boast that he knew each and every school boy’s Christian names – except he always got ours mixed-up.
Having passed his 'A' levels Chris left Princethorpe to train as a Quantity Surveyor. Once qualified he put his career on hold and headed to Perth, Australia where he tried his hand as a modern-day gold prospector in Kalgoorlie, a rugged outback town.
After a year or two Chris returned overland to England. The nomadic life clearly suited him as he got a job as a guide with Sundowners Adventure Travel, an Australian tour company. With them Chris took coachloads of passengers across Europe to Asia, repeatedly crisscrossing the highways of Scandinavia, Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, Nepal and India.
His story telling was legendary. From fending-off gun wielding Pathans in the Khyber Pass to hurtling through the streets of Tel Aviv with one of his passengers suffering from acute dysentery to get urgent medical help – Chris took it all in his stride.
Along the way he became proficient in a number of languages, used-up a large amount of passports – and met his wife, Jude, a fellow traveller backpacking her way from Australia. They bought a cottage in Stratford upon Avon which, over the years, they made into a delightful home.
He returned to surveying, primarily in Saudi Arabia, where he worked on vast new-builds. His last was the Red Sea Project. He was proud to have been the first on site, arranging and supervising the infrastructure from the bare sand. Always affable Chris was relied on to appease the local Bedouin who didn't take kindly to what they perceived as their ancestral lands being usurped. Thanks to his skilful diplomacy – and a deal that entailed building them a decent water well – armed conflict was avoided.
In his leisure time Chris expanded his encyclopaedic knowledge of rock music, of which he was an aficionado. And researching into our father's war record from when he was a Pathfinder with the SOE in India and Burma. Both hobbies which he was looking forward to developing in his retirement.
An excerpt from Chris' sister, Clare's eulogy: Thank you, Chris, for the immeasurable impact you had on us throughout our lives; for sharing the most wonderful growing up years, brimming full of happy memories and such laughter. You are my treasured eldest brother and we are always connected, no matter where we are. Now our love travels with you. Rest your body, rest your mind, rest your heart, rest every ounce of your being. Your shadow will never ever fade. With a broken-open heart. Your ever-loving sister Clare.
We send our deepest condolences to Chris' family and friends and are happy to pass any messages back to the family.
We were very saddened to hear the news that Brian Ray, former Chair of Governors passed away earlier this year. His funeral took place in Saffron Waldron on Tuesday 26 April.
Brian was a very long-established friend of the Foundation and was a trustee from the formation of the Foundation in 2001 until 2016. He was closely involved with the College before that time as his son Richard was a pupil at the school in the 1980s.
Our sincere condolences go to Brian's widow Susan, son Richard and all their family and friends.
Congratulations to OP Sam Bagshaw (Class of 2009) and his new wife Annabel, who married on 25 April 2022 in Whitechurch, Alderminster. The couple held their reception on Annabel's parents' farm, just one field over from the Church in which they were married.
Sam now works as an agricultural contractor and farmer and his wife is a food advisor for the NFU. The couple are hoping to honeymoon in the near future.
We wish them all the very best for their life together!
Imi Hornsby (now Watts) married Charlie Watts at St Peter’s Church, Claybrooke Parva on Saturday 28 May 2022. They married in the same church as Imi’s parents and grandparents, and on the same bank holiday weekend as Charlie’s parents, grandparents and Imi’s parents wedding anniversaries.
The ceremony was perfect, filled with happy tears, nervous laughter and made all the more special as OP Georgina Dadson (Maid of Honour) performed Queen’s Love of My Life on the Classical Guitar, while they signed the marriage certificate.
The reception was held in a Tipi nearby, which set the tone for their relaxed celebrations. Imi, comments, "We didn’t stop smiling all day, and felt like we could have burst with the amount of love and support we have for one another and from everyone around us."
We wish them all the very best for the future!
Old Princethorpian, Megan Roberts, (Class of 2006) got engaged to husband to be, Charlie, on 21 July 2022, sharing the occasion with Megan's birthday.
Megan takes up the story: "Charlie had booked for us to stay at No.131 in Cheltenham and popped the question in the hotel room before we headed down to dinner.
It's an exciting time for us both at the moment with lots of milestones - In the space of six weeks, Charlie has changed career, we got engaged and we moved into our new home together!
The proposal came as a complete surprise to me, his family and all of our friends as he had chosen the ring himself and had only discussed with my Dad to ask permission!"
We wish the happy couple all the very best for their big day!
Congratulations to OP Lucy Butler, now Caviezel Cox, (Class of 2015) and her new husband Alex who were married on 13 August 2022.
Despite the temperatures soaring to a whopping 35 degrees, the couple shared their special day with friends and family, including some of Lucy's friends from Princethorpe.
The couple have been together for five and a half years and own a sausage dog called Puddle! We wish them all the best for their future together.
OPs Charlotte Jackson and Ben Cattrell, both Class of 2012, were married on Friday 29 July in the glorious Malvern Hills. There were a number of fellow OPs in the bridal party including James Cattrell, Victoria Lowe and Ben Fish.
Ben now works for a hotel development company and Charlotte has a health and wellness clinic in Leamington, the Odyssey Clinic.
We wish the happy couple all the very best with their future together.
Julie Wyer and Felix van Spall, both Class of 2008, were married at the beautiful Scrivelsby Walled Garden in Lincolnshire on 16 July 2022.
It was a very Princethorpe affair with many old friends from the College in attendance and in the bridal party.
Many congratulations to the happy couple!
