Notable Alumni of Whitgift School
Academia
Stafford Beer, cybernetics expert, businessman and author
Sir Robert Boyd, space research scientist
Donald Broom, biologist
Sir Bernard Crick, academic, British political theorist, author
Dalziel Hammick, research chemist
Bryan Harrison, virologist
Michael Hart, political scientist
Michael Hassell, biologist
Arthur Robert Hinks, astronomer and geographer
Liam Hudson, social psychologist and author
Kenneth H. Jackson, linguist and translator
Euan MacKie, archaeologist and anthropologist
Michael Posner, economist
John Tedder, 2nd Baron Tedder, professor of chemistry
Business
Jerry Buhlmann, Chief Executive of Aegis Group
Andy Duncan, former Chief Executive, Channel 4; Managing Director Camelot
Gerry Grimstone, Chairman, Standard Life and Chairman, TheCityUK
Kevin Kalkhoven, venture capitalist
Sir Peter Michael, entrepreneur
Derek Tullett, Financial Services
Law, government and politics
Edward Archer, Australian politician
Lord Bowness, Conservative politician
Eddy Butler, politician
Cllr Robert W Coatman MBE, Croydon Mayor, Chair of Whitgift Governors
Sir Jeremy Cooke, High Court judge
Lord Diplock, judge and Law Lord
Lord Freeman, Conservative politician
Lord Freud, senior government advisor on welfare reform
David Kerr, Labour politician
Sir Keith Lindblom, High Court judge
Lord Prentice, politician
Lord Trend, civil servant
Lord Tope, Liberal Democrat politician
Media, music and the arts
Derren Brown, illusionist
Leonard Barden, chess columnist
Eric Barker, writer and comedian
Pip Burley, television producer and music composer
Tim Davie, CEO, BBC Worldwide & Director, Global
Robert Dougall, BBC newsreader and President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
Sir Newman Flower, publisher and author
Neil Gaiman, author
Jonathan “JB” Gill, member of the band JLS
Tim Gudgin, BBC radio presenter and voiceover artist
Martin Jarvis, actor
Michael Legat, author, publisher d. 2011
Conrad Leonard, composer and pianist
Peter Ling, creator of TV soap Crossroads
Peter Long, music, jazz saxophonist, clarinet
Anthony McCall, avant-garde artist
Tarik O’Regan, composer
Steve Punt, writer, comedian and actor
Jeremy Sams, director, writer, orchestrator and lyricist
Mark Shivas, film and television producer
Anthony Strong, singer and jazz pianist
Alan Truscott, bridge player, columnist, author
William Waterhouse, bassoonist and musicologist
Colin Watson, author
Pete Wiggs, musician and composer, member of pop/dance group St Etienne
Guy Woolfenden, conductor and composer with around 150 scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Anthony Strong, singer and jazz pianist
Military
Lt Col Colin “Mad Mitch” Mitchell, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, politician, founder of the Halo Trust
Lt Col James Coates OBE, Commanding Officer of 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
Group Captain John “Cats Eyes” Cunningham, RAF officer and ace pilot
Captain Alex Eida RHA, army officer, killed in action in Afghanistan, 1 August 2006
Captain Kenneth Lockwood, prisoner at Colditz, honorary secretary of Colditz Association
Air Vice Marshal Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, officer, Chief of the Air Staff and Governor of Bombay
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of D-Day, and Deputy Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe under Dwight D. Eisenhower
General Sir Peter Wall, officer and head of the British Army as Chief of the General Staff
Air Vice Marshal John Downey, Deputy Controller of Aircraft
Rear Admiral Peter La Niece, Flag Officer Spithead & Port Admiral Portsmouth
Air Vice Marshal Sir Alfred William Iredell, Director of Royal Air Force Medical Services, Hon Physician to HRH George V
Sport
Ross Broadfoot , rugby, Leicester Tigers, Cambridge University
Troy Brown, football, Ipswich, Rotherham
Rory Burns, cricket, Surrey and England
Chris Catling, rugby, Gloucester, Exeter Chiefs and England
Joseph Choong, pentathlon, England
Danny Cipriani, rugby, London Wasps, Sale Sharks, Gloucester and England
Henry Cheeseman, rugby, England Under 18s, 7s and Harlequins
Elliot Daly, rugby, London Wasps, Saracens, England and British Lions
Lorcan Dow, rugby, Ulster
Neville Edwards, rugby, Sale Sharks
Laurie Evans, cricket, Surrey, Warwickshire
Mark Foster, rugby, Gloucester, Exeter Chiefs, Jersey
Lee Hills, football, Crystal Palace
Callum Hudson-Odoi, football, Chelsea and England
Tom Lancefield, cricket, Surrey
Tosh Masson, rugby, Harlequins
George Merrick, rugby, Harlequins
Lawrence Okoye, athletics, GB Olympic Team 2012, GB discus record-holder, American football
Eddie Peglau, Romania Under 20s
Luca Petrozzi, rugby, Italy Under 20s
Victor Moses, football, Wigan, Chelsea, Liverpool and Nigeria
Will Robinson, rugby, England Under 18s, London Welsh
Jason Roy, cricket, Surrey and England
Dominic Sibley, cricket, Surrey, Warwickshire and England
Stan South, England Under 18s and Harlequins
Matt Spriegel, cricket, Surrey, Northamptonshire
Jamie Stevenson, rugby, Scotland Under 20s, London Scottish
Raman Subba Row, cricket, Surrey, Northamptonshire and England
Adam Thompstone, rugby, London Irish, Leicester Tigers, England Saxons
Gavin Thompson, rugby, Harlequins and England
Richard Thorpe, rugby, London Irish, Leicester Tigers, London Welsh
Bertrand Traore, football, Chelsea, Vitesse Arnhem and Burkina Faso
Dudley Tredger, England fencer
Martin Turner, rugby, England
John Ufton, London Wasps, Cambridge University, England
Freddie van der Bergh, cricket, Surrey
Harry Williams, rugby, Exeter Chiefs and England
Marland Yarde, rugby, London Irish, Sale Sharks and England
Other
Peter Bourne, physician, anthropologist, biographer, author and international civil servant
Frank Buttle, founder of Buttle UK
Harold Davidson, “The Prostitute’s Padre”, killed by a lion
Michael Manktelow, priest, former Bishop of Basingstoke
James Roxburgh, priest, former Bishop of Barking
Francis Skeat, church stained glass designer
Graham Smith, priest, current Dean of Norwich
Dafydd Stephens, audiological physician d. 2012
Southern Railway Schools Class
The school lent its name to a locomotive in the Southern Railway V Class. This class was known as the Schools Class because all 40 locomotives were named after prominent English public schools. “Whitgift”, no. 916, was built in 1934 and withdrawn in 1962.
