09 Mr. J. F. G. Williams (2014)

Joseph Francis Geoffrey Williams  died on 12 January 2014 aged 87. Educated at Wolstanton Grammar School in Staffordshire he came up to Trinity College Oxford as a Naval Cadet (1944). After two terms reading History and receiving specialist cipher training he was called up and commissioned into the Royal Navy.

He served as a (Cipher) Officer in Malta on the staff of Sir Algernon Willis, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean. After the war he taught for eight months while waiting for a place at Oxford. He migrated to Keble as the waiting list was shorter and school friends Michael Johnson (1942), Sir Roy Griffiths (1945) and others were at the College. He played football for the College (1949-50), was a member of the Athletics Team (1948-49) and commented that he greatly enjoyed the brilliant teaching of history at Keble. He became a Trainee Manager at Lotus and Delta Ltd (1950) but decided to teach and gained a Diploma in Education at the Institute of Education, London University. He was appointed History Master at Watford Grammar School (1952-56), Marling School, Stroud (1956), St Nicholas Grammar School, Northwood and then Principal of Bexhill Sixth Form College (1977). He served on the National Council of the Secondary Heads Association and held a Page Scholarship to the USA. He also served on the Parliamentary Committee on Globalisation chaired by Shirley Williams and John Selwyn Gummer. He had close links with the Pestalozzi International Village and Pestalozzi aims. He wrote three volumes for 11-16 year-olds Portrait of World History (pub. Ed Arnold), Britain and Europe (pub. Ed Arnold), Britain and Empire (pub. UNESCO) and The Irish Problem (pub. HMSO). After twelve years as Principal of Bexhill he retired, trained for five years as a chiropractor at what became Bournemouth University and practised for another 8-10 years. His interests were walking, music, church, theatre, French language and culture and his family. He leaves a wife Jennie and children, Rosamund a Psychotherapist, Andrew a Priest, Alison a former OUP and Amnesty International Editor and Rachel (Keble 1982 then DPhil at St Hugh’s) a Clinical Psychologist.