Terry Millward, my father, passed away at the age of 84. He had a passion for English teaching and choral singing, which he combined by working in schools situated in three cathedral cities – Durham, Bristol, and Lincoln.
Born in Leatherhead, Surrey, Terry’s father, Mick, was an RAF flight engineer who passed away in a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War. His mother, Joyce Kimberley, worked as a school secretary and later as a GP practice manager.
Terry was a former pupil of Ashtead’s City of London Freemen’s school before he became a reporter for two trade journals, namely British Baker and Rubber Journal. He also worked for the Surrey County Advertiser. However, in 1960, he realized that his real calling was teaching. He pursued a general degree at Durham University’s Bede College, which led him to embark on a teaching career at Malory school in Bromley.
Terry returned to the north-east of England in 1966, teaching English at Durham Chorister School, where he taught famous comedian Rowan Atkinson, whom he remembered as a very reserved boy. For four years, he also sang tenor as a chorister at Durham Cathedral.
In 1970, Terry moved to Bristol, where he taught at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School while continuing to sing at Bristol Cathedral. Two years later, he relocated to Lincoln to teach at William Farr school in the nearby village of Welton. He spent 24 years at William Farr, where he eventually became the Head of English and Head of Year 11. During this time, he sang in the choir at Lincoln Cathedral until 1990 and also became a senior lay vicar there.
Terry was passionate about words in any format. He was an enthusiastic reader of The Guardian and particularly enjoyed solving cryptic crosswords while puffing his pipe, especially during bank holiday editions when the puzzles were more challenging. Furthermore, he even created his puzzles, and The Guardian acknowledged that his crosswords could have been published had they needed a setter at the time.
He also had a deep interest in lyrical limericks, books, and any play on words. Scrabble was his game, whereby the impressive score was less important than forming a decent word. Terry possessed an unquenchable thirst for finding answers to various questions he had, reflected in the numerous reference books that his family had in their home.
He met his wife, Rosalind Killick, in the choir of the Leatherhead church, and they married in 1965. They had two children, Philip and me, and three grandchildren, namely Clara, Tom, and Theo.
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