James Warwick Hele
James Warwick Hele, High Master 1973–1986, died on 4 August.
Warwick Hele was the first High Master to be appointed after the school moved to Barnes. After the many reforms of his predecessor, Tom Howarth, it was a time for consolidation.
A former housemaster and Second Master at Rugby, Warwick Hele knew the value of a rounded education. Although his portrait in the Montgomery Room conveys an austere air, he was held in warm regard by the Paulines of his day for his scholarly teaching of Eighth Form (Years 12–13) historians and characteristically wise words in Chapel and assemblies.
He was awarded the CBE in 1986 for services to education — he had been Chairman of HMC and served on many educational committees — but with typical modesty he regarded the award as a tribute to St Paul’s and Paulines. In a valedictory celebration of Warwick Hele for The Pauline, the late Peter Thomson (Surmaster 1976–84) described his defining characteristics: absolute dedication and integrity.
