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Tommy Garnett (1915-2006)

Tommy Garnett, who has died at the age of 91, was Kinnaird champion with fellow Carthusian, A J Wreford-Brown in 1949. Both returned to Charterhouse to teach and both were mentors to the legendary May brothers, themselves Kinnaird winners in 1951, 52 and 53 and who were never defeated.

At Charterhouse, the Garnett family were represented over a period of fifty years, Tommy was regarded as being the most distinguished of the clan, winning numerous scholastic prizes and being a gifted athlete. He was captain of Fives and cricket and in 1933 he set a record for Charterhouse cricket with five centuries and an aggregate of over 1,000 runs. It is also recorded that no house could have had a better head.

At Cambridge, where he won a full scholarship in classics, he was captain of Fives, represented Somerset at cricket, and also played hockey and squash.

In 1936, he was appointed to Westminster School as an assistant master and he returned to Charterhouse in 1938 where he made his mark as a classics teacher.

The war saw him serve in India with the RAF Regiment and he was mentioned in dispatches. On returning to Charterhouse, he was effectively housemaster and he also took charge of the 60-acre school farm, believing very strongly in the benefit of contact with animals. He was considering whether to become a full-time farmer when he was appointed Master of Marlborough in 1952, where his headmastership was to be described as outstanding.

In 1961, he was appointed headmaster of Geelong Grammar School, one of Australia's oldest and illustrious schools. In 1965, Australian Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, asked Tommy if he would be prepared to take Prince Charles for two terms. Tommy replied that he would be very pleased to do so, but that first he would need "to see the boy and interview the parents". It was recognised that under Garnetts' tutelage the visit transformed Prince Charles from boy to man.

In his retirement in Australia, to an old stone cottage, he and his wife cleared the waste ground by hand, to create one of Australia's most beautiful gardens, comprising an astonishing range of 3,000 native plant species. The garden was opened to the public -- an innovation in Australia. He became Gardening Editor of the newspaper, The Melbourne Age, for five years, introducing variety, scholarship and humour to Australian gardening. Later, he wrote a biweekly column "From the Country", a collection of which was published in 2001. He also wrote three other books on the subject. After a lifetime of passion for bird watching he was honary secretary of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union for a decade. He was also active in encouraging the state government to rejuvenate the historic Botanic Gardens in Victoria. In 1996, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to horticulture.

To his wife, three sons and two daughters, we offer our deepest sympathy.

Gordon Stringer