John Traill Christie (18 October 1899 – 8 September 1980) was headmaster of
Repton School
Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...
(1932–37) and
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
(1937–50), before becoming Principal of
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
(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.
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, 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
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...