Dennis Riddiford (1927 - 2024)

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Dennis Riddiford, on 22nd September 2024, in Pisa, at the age of 97, after a short illness. A graduate of Brasenose, Oxford, Dennis joined our staff in 1951 after military service. He became the first of a golden post-war generation of long-serving teachers who came to Brentwood during that decade (alongside his great friends Terence Best and Frank Halford, Brian Tymms, Mickey Hall, Bob Jackson and Godfrey Thomas) and formed the backbone of the School for three decades.  As Head of Classics, and tutor of VI (21) - his beloved Classical Sixth - he inspired a generation of pupils not just with a deep understanding of classical texts but a love of the ancient world and Greek and Roman civilisations. 

Living in the tiny cottage on The Chase with his wife Maria - with whom he retired to Venice in 1988 - and his son George and daughter Luisa (both OBs), he was seen every day making his way to the Common Room with his trade-mark pipe locked firmly between his teeth - the origin of his affectionate nickname "Bubbles" - and a volume of Vergil or another poet under his arm. And in the evenings he would often be seen on the golf course - a sport he relished playing until only a few years ago. (At the course in Venice, he once famously found himself playing alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood who were visiting the City and asked him to join them.)

He celebrated his 85th and 90th birthdays at the School, and enjoyed keeping in touch with many of the pupils whom he had inspired - exchanging e-mails which dispensed his profound wisdom, news about his beloved family, political gossip, intense scholarship, and observations about those great loves of his life, Italian food, wine and music (particularly the operas of Verdi). He remained active until very recently, his idea of slowing down being to translate Juvenal or Horace in the mornings and then enjoy a glass (or two) of Soave at lunchtime before taking siesta, and to reminisce about his time at Brentwood, among the happiest days of his remarkable and long life.

Written by Lord Black of Brentwood (OB 1971-1981)