John Traill Christie (18 October 1899 – 8 September 1980) was headmaster of Repton School (1932–37) and Westminster School (1937–50), before becoming Principal of Jesus College, Oxford (1949–67). Christie married Lucie Catherine, only daughter of

Thomas Philip Le Fanu Thomas Philip Le Fanu (1784–1845) was an Irish Dean in the first half of the 19th century. He was the son of Joseph Le Fanu and Alicia Sheridan, and the father of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and William Richard Le Fanu. He married Emma Lucretia Do ...

; they had two daughters. The elder was Catherine (born 1935); the younger, Jane (born 1936) married

Henry Galton Darwin Henry Galton Darwin (6 November 1929 – 17 September 1992) was a British lawyer and diplomat specialising in international law. Biography Darwin was born in Edinburgh, the second son (of four) and third child (of five) of the physicist Sir ...

. Author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

attended Repton from 1929, where, according to '' Boy: Tales of Childhood'', a friend named Michael was viciously caned by headmaster

Geoffrey Fisher Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, (5 May 1887 – 15 September 1972) was an English Anglican priest, and 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from 1945 to 1961. From a long line of parish priests, Fisher was educated at Marlb ...

, who later became the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. However, according to Dahl's biographer

Jeremy Treglown The biographer, cultural historian and critic Jeremy Treglown (born 24 May 1946) is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick. He was editor of ''The Times Literary Supplement'' through the 1980s and Chair of the Arvon Foundation, 2017-2 ...

,Jeremy Treglown, ''Roald Dahl: A Biography'' (1994), Faber and Faber, page 21. Treglown's source note is as follows: "Several people who were at the top of Priory House at the time have discussed it with me, particularly B.L.L. Reuss and John Bradburn." the caning took place in May 1933, a year after Fisher had left Repton and Christie, in fact, was the headmaster concerned. Hugh Lloyd-Jones, a British classical scholar who became Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, recounted that, during his years as a student at Westminster School, he had been interested in Modern History before being converted to Classics by Christie.Obituary
in '' The Times'' October 9, 2009

References

1899 births 1980 deaths Principals of Jesus College, Oxford Headmasters of Repton School Head Masters of Westminster School {{UK-academic-stub