Robert Nigel Ralph Wallace (MHS 1998-2011)

It was with deep shock that we received notice of the death of Robert Wallace on 8 October. He was on his bicycle - that being the only apposite part of this dreadful news - when he was the victim of a hit-and-run incident. He was 67, and seemed much younger.

There is clear consensus that he was made to be in Africa, his post-MHS destination. Tanzania yielded for him a spiritual freedom that he cherished. He loved the bushcraft, his elemental life there, the mend and make-do, the self-reliance, the deep skies and the primacy of the outdoors. He was able, with no third-party frowns - to eschew status-hunting, materialistic living and suburban comfortableness. 

In point of fact, while at Mill Hill he was never didactic or overtly critical of things he perhaps inwardly didn’t respect. But he was different. He once at Staff Unplugged did an astonishing reassembling of a broken bicycle that was completely at odds with the rest of the easy listening programme. It was hilarious and a piece of maverick genius. I was compèring! 

Rob was a singular and engaging man who’d help others without a thought: pupils, colleagues and all others in his orbit. He never calculated his time given. His Biology lessons at Mill Hill were, as you will imagine, sometimes unorthodox, but all the more memorable for that. His extracurricular contributions were meaningful and broad-ranging. I hope it is not trite to say that schools benefit from the splashes of colour provided by people like him. 

It is hard to believe that he has gone. He leaves a grieving family, of course. Our thoughts are with them.

Peter Lawson