C. M. Mason (SH 48-53).

Peter Graham (SH 47-52) has kindly supplied the following:

“Christopher Miles Mason (Chris) died at his home in Australia in February 2011. He had been ill for some time and his death came at home after dinner with his family. Chris’s father had been a day boy at St Bees from 1915 to 1922 and his grandfather had been the station master at St. Bees.

Chris was one of Mr Reekie’s “prospective scholars”. On entering school, he went straight into the upper fifth, the intention being that he would then have four years in the sixth form and would thereby get a place at Oxbridge. In this he succeeded, going up to Downing, Cambridge, only the second OSB in about ten years to go to Cambridge, though earlier OSBs had gone to Oxford. At the time of his last two years at school, teaching was almost one to one in the Upper Sixth Arts, and this undoubtedly bore fruit – not just with Chris.

Chris was a quiet, unassuming character, obviously with considerable intellect. This was not, perhaps, the image projected at that time by many St Beghians, but he did have one characteristic which was much appreciated by his fellows. He was good at sport. In particular, he was an accomplished cricketer, being awarded his blazer in 1953. He played badminton for the school, becoming Captain in 1953. He was a member of the Senior Running VIII. He was also Librarian in his final year. Moreover, despite a "secret" love of soccer, following Birmingham, Everton and Liverpool, Chris also played rugby for the school. It almost goes without saying that he won the Latin prize two years in a row.

On going down from St Bees Chris did his national service in the army – but not in the "usual way": he became an officer in counter intelligence, serving in Germany and Holland. Apart from his good looks, he did not have much in common with James Bond and this no doubt served him well in this part of his career! On leaving the services, Chris duly took up his place at Cambridge in 1955 and studied law, followed by accountancy. He then qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked in London. During the course of this relatively sober career he went skiing in Austria and met a young lady doctor, Mary, who was Australian.

The result of this encounter was that Chris "upped sticks" and got a £10 fare to Australia where, in 1968, he married Mary. Thereafter he made his life in Australia with his new family, although various trips were made back to Europe, though not, it seems, as far north as St. Bees.

In Australia, Chris again took up his profession, this time with Legal and General, where he rose to be company secretary.
Throughout his married life Chris was a devoted family man and he leaves his widow Mary, two children, Miles and Kate and four grandchildren. They are all fortunate to have shared their lives with such a true gentleman.”

 

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