Winchester College – one of England’s nobbiest public schools (means private, fee-paying) has been in the news recently in connection with a notorious, serial sadist and abuser called John Smyth. It seems that despite being warned that John Smyth was preying on young men in the school in 1982 the then headmaster, a certain John Thorn, did not alert police. [1]
My experiences of this school did not include an encounter with John Smyth (though at the age of 13 I was viciously flogged by John Thorn – which may explain why he didn’t think that what John Smyth was doing needed reporting).
My “housemaster” at this school was a certain Peter Tombling. This creep died in 2021, not a moment too soon. He was an alcoholic. Relentlessly blind drunk. Frequently paralytic to the point of being unable to function. This man was in charge of, the sole guardian of, about 50 boys and young men (13-18) for many years. I suffered a full 5 year dose. He caused me immense harm. He will have caused others immense harm. At least two boys that I know of from my contemporaries died soon after leaving the house, one in a car crash and one by suicide. I don’t think it would be going too far to see a connection. He caused harm by occupying the role of care-giver and adviser when he was totally incapable of carrying out these functions. We can’t even begin to talk about “role-model”. (In fact the episode I mention in the previous paragraph concerned my stealing and using alcohol). This creep also taught maths in the school. I had the misfortune to be in his maths class as well. I would arrive and check – is he drunk today? Often he was. All of this, his rampant drunkenness, was widely known throughout the school. It cannot have been otherwise. I now know that parents frequently wrote to the headmaster with complaints. At one point he was even convicted of drink driving. Still, he kept his job. It seems that no grotesque behaviour was too much for John Thorn.
Nor for the present leadership of “Win Coll” it seems. The best one can say about this was that it all happened a long time ago when people did not know any better. Indeed; some years ago I wrote to the then headmaster of the school with a post-event complaint. In his reply he said that it had all happened a long time ago. (This man left his post shortly afterwards). So; one could say, “Well, it was all a long time ago, it wouldn’t happen now, the school has indeed moved on”. But it seems not. Last night, I was reflecting on how I sometimes don’t act as pro-actively as I could. I have a fault that I sometimes leave things till the last moment; even too late. I was speculating that this was part of the psychological legacy and conditioning I got from having spent 5 of my formative years with my main care-giver rolling around drunk on the floor in front of me, unable to speak. I did an Internet search on his name. I was stunned to see that the school now has a music prize which was inaugurated by the family of this drunkard: “The prize was inaugurated last year with the ‘Tombling Pot’ being donated by the family of Peter Tombling (1934-2021), former Collegeman, Don and Housemaster of Du Boulay’s, who was a very fine pianist and a great devotee of Bach.” This gaslighting about “very fine pianist” is part of the school mythology about this wretch. It is used to cover up his “sins”. “We know he was a drunkard, but all the same, he was a fine pianist, so we can accept him”. In most expressions of the myth we are supposed to see him as some kind of tortured genius. He may, at one point, have been a good pianist. I saw him play once. I was about 14. Remember that this man is my main care-giver. I wanted to see this fine pianist. At least, something. It was a public concert in the school. He was playing Dvorak. At first, I could not work it out. Are all these crashes and pauses part of the music? Maybe. But, slowly it dawned on me. No. Once again, he is blind drunk. I thought; he can’t even manage this. A public concert, one moment when he could be sober and redeem himself. But no.
Schools like Winchester have a strong history which is known to the teachers and leadership of the school. Indeed; having a history is part of the attraction of these kinds of institutions, for some people. I am 100% confident that the present leadership of the school who accepted this drunk-washing gift from this alcoholic’s family knew perfectly well what and who Peter Tombling had been. They may not have known every sickening detail; but they will have known the broad outlines. This is 2024; they cannot claim that they don’t know that someone who is a serious alcoholic is not fit to be the sole (legal) guardian for 50 children. What were they doing? Unfortunately, we can only conclude that, just as in the 1980s, they don’t care. Any abuse of children is acceptable. All that matters is “the name of the school”. They have not moved on at all.
Notes
- https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jan/18/winchester-college-christian-forum-society-report-child-abuse
- https://www.winchestercollege.org/stories/the-bach-prize
