Christopher Grose-Hodge 1924 - 1998

Christopher Dorrien Moresby Grose-Hodge, who died on 14 February 1998, was the son of Pamela and Humfrey Grose-Hodge, a famous headmaster of Bedford School (1928-1951).

Born in Godalming, Surrey, on 6 March 1924, Christopher first attended the pre-junior school at Bedford School but was then educated, not at Bedford School, as might have been expected, but at Scaitcliffe, Englefield Green, near Egham, his father wisely deeming that an outside preparatory school would be more appropriate. There was no fencing at Scaitcliffe, but Christopher claimed to have developed an interest in the sport when he and some friends dismantled an old umbrella and began fighting ("fencing") with the spokes!

In 1938 came the transfer to Eton College (Keate House) and Christopher found himself in an atmosphere then dominated by classics. Each summer holiday, the boys were required to read a book on which they were afterwards examined. At Eton Christopher's main sporting interests were boxing, fencing and Eton fives; but it was fencing he most enjoyed. Later at Cambridge he came under the fencing wing of Professor Dab, a good but severe master if, somewhat naturally, out of date by modern electric epee standards.

Most fencers would think of Christopher as a left-handed epeeist but, although epee became his favourite weapon, his ability was all round, with successes at foil and sabre as well as epee, as the following list of achievements shows:

1941 Public Schools Sabre Champion

1942 Public Schools Sabre Champion

1947 Junior Epee Champion and University Foil Champion

1948 University Foil and Epee Champion

1949 Junior Foil Champion and 3rd in the Amateur Epee Championship

1950 Winner of the Miller Hallet International Epee Competition

1952 Member British Epee Team, Olympic Games, Helsinki

In 1944, following his first sojourn at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, having taken the Natural Sciences Tripos, Christopher joined the Army Organisational Research Group where he was engaged in bomb disposal work. In due course AORG became better known through the novel The Small Back Room by Nigel Balchin. That Christopher read Natural Sciences has been ascribed to the fact that he was brought up on the writings of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne.

Back to Trinity Hall after the war to read English where Christopher gained a Double First, then on to distinguished roles in the Civil Service, including a posting to Hong Kong in 1952 which he described as "one of the happiest times of my life everything new". He confessed, however, to struggling with Mandarin and Cantonese without notable success but with a number of specific and phonetically memorised phrases, the translation of which he'd had to take these on trust - rocked the equilibrium of his hearers! In this he was the totally unoffended and forgiving butt of the HK Chinese.

It was in Hong Kong that Christopher, George Brewer, whom he had known as a Hungarian fencer at Cambridge, together with Peter Williams "more or less" formed the Hong Kong Fencing Club. It was in Hong Kong he met his first wife Stephanie (who pre-deceased him, as did his son Andrew). They married in England with a reception at the Lansdowne Club.

In 1962 Christopher was posted to the British High Commission, New Delhi, as First Secretary, travelling on what must have been the last passenger ship service to the East (thereafter everyone went by air). There was no opportunity for fencing in India, the nearest club being a thousand miles away.

Back in the UK Christopher fenced at the Lansdowne and then, for at least 16 years at the London Thames Fencing Club, until shortly before his death. Not until 1989, when he succeeded John Creek as President of the Epee Club, did Christopher undertake an administrative role in fencing, In this he was ably assisted by Jenny his second wife whom he married in 1982. They were excellent hosts and brought new life to the Epee Club. Under his Presidency, the constitution was amended to admit women members to the Club.

All who knew him appreciated his knowledge and ability to uncover a reference on a wide range of differing subjects. His sensitive and skilful use of the English language, minus irritating verbiage, was a source of help and pleasure to many. Sometimes appearing to be what is called 'laid back', Christopher was an academic of outstanding encyclopaedical knowledge, never reducing others, but rather sharing, so helping to uncover their potential. A sense of the ridiculous revealed lively touches of humour. Furthermore, he was unafraid to laugh at himself-a gentleman, and a 'big' man, indeed.

Christopher will be much missed by his wife, Jenny, daughter Susan, brother Nicolas and his family, and his many friends from varying walks of life - wherever his influence impinged.

Mary Glen Haig