John M Roberts OH 1954-1959
Sunday 02 February 2020
The Club has been informed of the death of John Roberts.He was Head of School House, House Monitor, part of the Somerset Society & debating team he also played in the school rugby XV. The Dean's History Prize'58. Bull French Prize '59.
My cousin John Mervyn Roberts died on 2 February 2020 after a long illness. John went into the 4th form of HCS in September 1954 from Beaumaris Grammar School. He took his A level examinations in History and Modern Languages, winning the Dean’s Prize for History in 1958 and the Bull Prize for French in 1959, and left the school for King’s College London where he read Law.John was a sportsman, although I suspect more for the camaraderie than a driving ambition for success. He was chosen to represent the school in three very different sports. He rowed in one of the lower boats in several regattas; he played for the invincible 2nd XV in 1957 gaining his colours, and a commendation for his ‘encouragement of the pack’; and he was one of those rare boys to be chosen for the school Boxing team. How good a boxer he was we will never know since the one match against Monmouth School was cancelled due to an outbreak of mumps at Monmouth, and no Boxing team was chosen again while he was at the school. He was one of the many from both boarding houses who went to Cardiff Arms Park to support Wales, and continued to do so for the rest of his life, his last visit to the Principality Stadium being in a wheelchair. While he was fit he was a keen golfer, and race-goer.John was sociable, and enjoyed the company of his friends more than anything else. He was however a member of the Dramatic Society, largely working behind the scenes, although coming to the front in House Acting Competitions; an active member of the Debating Society; an officer of the Somerset Society; and he was Head of School House in his final year.He got his LL.B. at King’s College in 1962 and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1963. He practiced as a barrister for many years, largely specialising in insurance work. It was during this time that he underwent a name change. He was one of a group of young barristers several of whom were called John Roberts. Allegedly, they drew lots as to who should be called John - he lost and so, while remaining John to his family and school friends, professionally, he became Mervyn Roberts.In 1972 he married Philippa Critien and they had one daughter, Victoria.From 1994-99 he was a Recorder and in 1999 he was appointed a Circuit judge in the South Eastern Circuit, becoming His Honour Judge Mervyn Roberts. He was a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, and from 2002 a Member of the Parole Board, a position he continued to hold for some years after his retirement in 2011. He was elected a Governing Bencher of Inner Temple in 2007.His success did not change him. On a visit to us shortly after he had been made a judge my Swedish wife asked him about his role in the British judicial system which he explained enthusiastically. After he left my wife turned to me and said, ‘John is so humane’. I can think of no better nor more fitting epitaph. David Roberts (OH 1949-56)