We have received news of the death of alumna Rosemary James (née Brook, 1942-45), at the age of 94.
Rosemary led a remarkable life; she was a medical student when she married her army officer husband, Philip in the month the NHS was created. Army life took them to Singapore and Malaya. Her activities alongside her husband required her to sign the Official Secrets Act as at one point she used her work in a shipping agency to spy on people moving weapons and personnel around the Middle East.
After her husband’s military service, together they founded Streete Court School, a prep school in Surrey, which they ran for 20 years. Rosemary also took on other roles, including being on the governing board of Guy’s Hospital. In 1977 she was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal for her services to the NHS.
After this the couple moved to the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands, where Rosemary’s passion for public service and for helping young people remained unabated! A keen tennis coach, she led the campaign for a tennis club on the island and received the British Empire Medal for services to sport and the community in Alderney in 2018.
Many thanks to alumna Bridget McEwen (1956-68) for alerting us to this news and for sending us two obituaries from local press in Alderney, which are included below.
