David Briggs (headmaster)

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For other people named David Briggs, see David Briggs (disambiguation).

David Briggs
George Wallace Briggs
, Constance Barrow

John Davidson Briggs (7 November 1917 – 16 March 2020), known as David Briggs, was an English educator and headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge.[1]

Life

Early life and education

Briggs was born on 7 November 1917 in

chorister, from 1927 to 1931, and as a choral scholar, from 1936 to 1939.[2] He attended Marlborough College as a Foundation scholar, and then studied classics and history at King's College, Cambridge
, where he held simultaneously an academic exhibition and a choral scholarship.

He sang in the first broadcast Christmas Eve carol service from King’s College Chapel in 1928, and continued to sing in a church choir throughout his life. He was interviewed by Mishal Husain in A Celebration of Christmas Carols broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 25 December 2013, making his broadcasting career span 85 years. He was again interviewed on the BBC Today programme on 24 December 2015 in which Briggs, aged 98, believed he was the last survivor of the 1928 choir.[3]

Marriage and family

In 1940, he married Catherine Mary Lormer,

Rouse Ball Professor at Cambridge. The children of David and Mary Briggs are Johnny, who farms in Wales, Andrew, Professor of Nanomaterials at Oxford, Catherine, a teacher of the visually impaired, and Anne Atkins, novelist, writer and broadcaster.[citation needed
]

Wartime

During

Geneva Convention, and for the rest of the war he continued as a corporal, being ineligible for promotion or decoration as a conscientious objector. He took part in the Normandy landings and help set up a field hospital, 102 British General Hospital[5] near Bayeux, where he formed a choir of about 25 doctors and nurses which subsequently performed in different parts of Normandy
.

In early June 2014, Briggs recounted his experiences from this time in a

D-Day anniversary presentation.[6]

Career

From 1946, he taught classics at Bryanston School Dorset.[4] With his wife’s mathematical help in the planning and the boys' labour, he built the Greek Theatre at Bryanston which led to the highly reputed[citation needed] Greek summer school which is now held there every year.[7]

In 1959, following a short hiatus, Briggs succeeded Donald George Butters

co-educational. The school's Briggs Building, created to house science, languages and maths classrooms and a library, is named after him and his wife Mary.[10]

Friendships

After returning to Cambridge he became a close friend of conductor, organist and composer

Sir David Willcocks,[11] and of church historian The Revd Professor Owen Chadwick
.

Death

The couple moved to live with their daughter Anne and her family, where Briggs celebrated his 100th birthday with a hundred friends and past pupils. He died on 16 March 2020, aged 102.[12][13] The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions allowed only five people to attend his funeral and his grandson Ben Atkins compiled a virtual choir and chamber group in which family members, friends, and former choristers performed a song written by his daughter Anne Atkins with music arranged by Ben.[14]

References

  1. ^ Atkins, Anne (24 December 2014). "Carolling: a tradition that binds the generations". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. ^ "King's College Choir Association Archive Photos - 1927, 1930, 1937 & 1939". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  3. ^ BBC Today programme 24 December 2015. "98-year-old former King's College carol chorister". iPlayer. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b "Former staff at Bryanston" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  5. ^ 102 British General Hospital
  6. ^ BBC News - Beds, Bucks, Herts. 6 June 2017
  7. ^ "Drama at Bryanston School". Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  8. ^ "History of King's College Cambridge chapel choir - of choristers ancient and modern". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011. Web accessible article on the school's history by Anne Page, B. mus (b 1920)
  9. ^ "King's College Choir Association Archive Photos - 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973 & 1976". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Duchess opens new building fit for King's". Cambridge News. Cambridge Newspapers Ltd. 5 May 2004. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2016. The new building is named after David Briggs, who attended the school as a chorister...The new building houses science, languages and maths classrooms and a new library...
  11. ^ "King's College Choir Association Archive Photos - 1962, 1964, 1965, 1968 & 1973". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Broadcaster Anne Atkins reveals father's death in 'moving' Thought for the Day". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  13. ^ Atkins, Anne (17 March 2020). "Thought for the Day". iPlayer. BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  14. ^ Anthem for Mary and David
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