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Vice Admiral Sir John Webster KCB (46-50) died peacefully on 5 October 2020 aged 87. He had been suffering from Alzheimer Disease and was living in a care home in the south of England. Chairman of the Board of Governors at Pangbourne College 1993-2001, he left two daughters. His wife Valerie pre-deceased him as did his son Tom.

John joined the Royal Navy in 1951 and had a stellar career in the Senior Service. He commanded his first ship, the frigate HMS Argonaut in 1970 and his second, the frigate HMS Cleopatra in 1977. After that, he had a succession of high-level shore-based jobs as Director of Naval Warfare at the Ministry of Defence in 1980, as Flag Officer Sea Training in 1982 and as Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief Fleet in 1984. He went on to serve as Flag Officer Plymouth and Port Admiral Devonport in 1987 before retiring in 1990. He was appointed KCB in 1986.

In retirement John held a succession of important voluntary jobs as President of the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust 1991-98, as a governor at Canford School and as chairman of the Board of Governors at Pangbourne College. Yet his main focus in retirement was on landscape and marine painting at which he became both highly competent and prolific, holding many one-man exhibitions in London and also in Cornwall and abroad. In 1998, the year he became an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, he was commissioned to paint HMY Britannia for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen.

His eight years as Chairman of the Board at Pangbourne “coincided with a difficult time for the school,” writes Robin Knight (56-61) who was a governor in this period. “Money was tight, John frequently found himself baffled by the Headmaster’s (Anthony Hudson) semi-detached attitude to management, he never had confidence in the Bursary and, three months after he became Chairman, he found himself under headline-level public pressure as a result of a controversial pupil suicide. Later, the decision to go co-educational in 1995 owed much to his skilful chairmanship as he manoeuvred a disparate Board – the consequence of his deliberate drive to widen its membership by including, among others, two women, a journalist and several bankers – to get behind the move, despite a chronic lack of funds to pay for the changes.

Ever determined to “feel the pulse” of the College, John felt that he managed to ‘muddle along’ with the Headmaster throughout his tenure. However, the pair were never close socially. After he resigned, he said that he was glad to have introduced a couple of reforms ‘such as governors’ private business when everyone could say exactly what they liked at the end of Board meetings, and the practice of governors sitting in classrooms once a year. That certainly improved our understanding of some of the educational issues we faced.’

To me, he was ever-courteous, supportive and prepared to reach out. A decent, straight man who took his time to make up his mind but then acted decisively, John had a deep understanding of the importance of subtle leadership. At Board meetings he termed me ‘his tame rottweiler’ but was always prepared to listen and was receptive to fresh ideas wherever they originated. Freely admitting that business was not his forte, it was left to his successor, Michael Allsop, to sort out the school’s finances which, by 1997, were heavily reliant on a hefty bank overdraft.

Most likely, John Webster would wish to be remembered above all for his paintings. In an Introduction to his 1999 exhibition at the Tryon & Swann Galleries in St. James’s, London, he wrote: ‘I only paint subjects the sight of which has enriched my life in some way, however briefly. My motivation comes from the sheer joy of painting, always dependent on the richness and subtlety of light and often inspired by travel.’”

Michael Allsop adds: “As time passes it is easy to forget the contribution of so many to Pangbourne over its history. John was chair for some eight years at perhaps the College's most difficult period in its history. Pupil numbers were declining, the myriad of buildings dotted across the campus were increasingly in need of urgent repair, the finances were in a dire situation. And then on top of all of this there was an event which anyone involved in Education will tell you is the worst nightmare of all - the death of a pupil in tragic circumstances.

Being chair at this critical time was a truly unenviable task; others, I am sure, would have resigned in the face of what had happened but true to form John, ever-conscious that his was not a business background, put a brave face on things and stuck at the task of steering the College through this nightmare period. John once confided to me that there was a time when he thought the College would have to close its doors, being overwhelmed by all the issues being faced. That he remained in office during this unprecedented period, and came out the other side, speaks volumes for his integrity, commitment and leadership.”