Robert Bairamian (18 March 1935 – 7 September 2018) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and educator. Bairamian was born at

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

British Cyprus British Cyprus was the island of Cyprus under the dominion of the British Empire, administered sequentially from 1878 to 1914 as a British protectorate, from 1914 to 1925 as a unilaterally annexed military occupation, and from 1925 to 1960 as a ...

to Sir Vahe Bairamian, a

Chief Justice of Sierra Leone The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone is the highest court in Sierra Leone. It has final jurisdiction in all civil, criminal, and constitutional cases within Sierra Leone, and its decisions cannot be appealed. The Supreme Court has the exclusive co ...

, and his wife Eileen Elsie Connelly, a headmistress of

The English School, Nicosia The English School is a selective secondary school in Nicosia, Cyprus. It has a rigorous selection process for admittance. It is one of the secondary schools in Nicosia designated to be bi-communal, with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots being educ ...

. After spending ten years living in Cyprus, he was sent to England where he attended

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, before going up to

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

, where he read classics. While studying at Cambridge, he made two appearances in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Will ...

in 1957, scoring 45 runs and taking a single wicket with his

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowling. In addition to playing cricket while at Cambridge, he also played

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, for which he gained a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

. After graduating from Cambridge, he became the assistant headmaster at

Holmewood House School Holmewood House School is an IAPS independent, co-educational preparatory school for boys and girls aged 3–13, in Langton Green, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The building is a Decimus Burton mansion, originally called Mitchells, rebuilt in 18 ...

in Kent in 1957 and two years later he became its headmaster. At Holmewood he encouraged admissions from

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, who among those he taught in the 1950s was

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

, the future

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

. He moved on to

Aberdour School Aberdour School, founded in 1933, is a co-educational preparatory school for ages 2–11 in Burgh Heath (near Banstead), Surrey, England. It is a nursery department, pre-preparatory school and preparatory school, and covers , 10 of which a ...

in Surrey in 1975, where he taught

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

, and shortly thereafter to

North Bridge House School North Bridge House School is a private school located in London for children aged 2 to 18-year-olds. The school has six different locations for different age groups. The Nursery School, in Hampstead on Fitzjohn's Avenue, is for 2 to 4-year-ol ...

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, where he was a classics master. From there he taught at Claremont School in

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...

, before ending his teaching career in 2001 at St Christopher's School, Hove. Bairamian was married four times and had two sons, both of whom survived him. He died at

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

in September 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bairamian, Robert 1935 births 2018 deaths People from Nicosia Schoolteachers from Sussex British people of Armenian descent People educated at Dover College Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Schoolteachers from Kent