The 2025 Chronicle

found deeply moving and humbling. Tony died peacefully at home following a bout of Covid on 28 January 2025, two months short of his 101st birthday. He is survived by his children Pippa, Jenny, Diana and James, and by ten grandchil dren and three great-grandchildren. Written by James Meyer (Farfield, 1973) MORPHET, TONY Born 1940, Died 2021 Michaelhouse 1957-1961 In treasured memory, acknowledged af ter his passing Tony came to East from Merchiston. As a Cack he was kind, very convivial and well liked. I should know, as I was his mentor. As he matured he became considerably more serious. He was always an A student, although he was not known to exert him self unduly. Sports were not a big interest, but he did his fair share in House leagues. His real interests were reading serious lit erature and books not in the syllabus. He was known to have a copy of Aristotle in his back pocket, much to everyone’s amaze ment. Tony was not gregarious but was respected by his peers. He was offered a House prefecture but declined it because the idea of elitism was anathema to him as he became increasingly left wing. After leaving Michaelhouse, Tony went to Natal University, where he became inter ested in politics and joined Alan Paton’s Liberal Party. He took a legal BA but then dropped law and took up English litera ture. He was often seen in his Singer car with his girlfriend Cathy, whom he even tually married. On completion of his BA, Tony went to England and did a graduate degree in English literature at Exeter University. A few years later, he returned to South Africa and got a job at the University of Cape Town in its continuing studies de partment, which is where he felt he could do the most good. After a few years he moved to the new University of the Western Cape. There, Tony initiated a system for those stu dents unable to afford textbooks, where by they could borrow books throughout their university years. God bless you, Tony. The good you did for others throughout your lifetime was sub stantial. Written by Michael Brooke

they lived in Cape Town, Tony revising the supply chain and logistics of the major Cape hospitals, including Groote Schuur. Following a 12-month stint working with the tin mines in Nigeria, Tony and Peg gy settled in Johannesburg, where they built their family home Stoney Barrow for their expanding family of four children. Tony’s memories of, and relationship with, Michaelhouse were a source of pleasure and “moral compass” during his life. He was proud of the role he played on the committee of the first Michaelhouse trust, set up in 1957. His specific role was to devise and actually run a system to raise £250 000 (a huge amount in those days). In doing this, he received valuable sup port from Cecil Kinahan (Tatham, 1943). Tony was always aware of the political pressures mounting in South Africa. Hav ing worked himself into a respected posi tion with Barlow Rand, he seized on the offer to become international finance di rector, moving his family to London at the end of 1973. This proved to be an exciting and rewarding time, with new business contacts, new financial partners and ex tensive travel around Europe and the US. After retiring from Barlows, Tony and Peg gy moved to Cheltenham. He diverted his new-found time and energies to lighting the local church, travelling around Europe and South Africa, supporting various start ups and spending time with grandchildren. After Peggy died in 2010, Tony re-married to Barbara Rawlings, the combined age of the bride and groom being 168 years. He continued to live an active life, surround ed by dogs (including his chocolate lab Purdy), friends and family. He retained his curiosity for the workings of the world, was always ready for a good political de bate and enjoyed telling his stories – in creasingly not permitting the truth to get in the way of a good story. He enjoyed birding and continued to travel to South Africa, Canada and Portugal. The internet enabled him to nurture relationships with his grandchildren around the world. His 100th birthday year was one of the many highlights of his long life – he spent valuable time with all ten grand children and three great-grandchildren. And in November he was invited to par ticipate in the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of his Majesty King Charles, as one of a very small handful of surviving veterans of the three major battles of 1944 – Nor mandy in France, Monte Cassino in Italy and Kohima in Burma. It was an event he

He fought with the 8th Army in North Afri ca, before joining the Italian campaign at Taranto and fighting in the battle for Mon te Cassino, which was crucial in capturing Italy. It was incredibly brutal, with heavy casualties on both sides. Tony spent four months building bridges under fire and clearing the town of mines and booby traps. His war experience, particularly Monte Cassino, occupied his thoughts greatly in his later years and this extract is taken from his written notes. “One’s memory is extraordinary. Episodes come up as sort of video clips – almost brief pictures of an episode complete with immediate background detail. There is ab solutely no sense of imagination involved. There is no before or after, just a clear picture of a few seconds – like that poor Indian Labour Corps man who reached for a shovel, a new, unused shovel in a pile on the side of the road in the town. I shouted, “Don’t touch!” which he either did not hear or understand. He disappeared into the air in a red, bloody mist of dirty mud and met al. Out of that stunned silence, one had to move on. Feelings of emotion just did not occur, only instant shock and self-preser vation – move on and away – one’s mind concentrated on survival and a job to do. To survive in an emotional vacuum.” He was just 20 years old. While at Monte Cassino, Tony managed to survive a mortar shell blast with shrapnel injuries to his leg and a fractured neck. From this he rapidly recovered, although unbeknown to him at the time, the neck injury was to have serious long-term con sequences. The war denied him the lib eral rebellion of youth and he returned to Johannesburg, as a captain, to dutifully complete his accountancy studies. He never did take up his place at Brasenose. Tony had a passion for horse jumping, both before and after the war. He com peted across South Africa on his black stallion Perona, winning the SA Grand Prix event in 1948. This would have qualified him to compete at the 1948 Olympics, had the SA government not pulled funding and had he not had his face re-arranged by Perona’s hoof in a serious fall. This fall disrupted the war neck injury; he was par alysed for a while, and had to give up all physical sport from then onwards. In 1948 he returned to Europe, working as a financial consultant with Production Engineering in London. There he met Peggy Lagden, whom he married in Sur rey in August 1951. Thus started a time of great happiness. As young marrieds

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