The Haileybury Society is saddened to learn of the death of Barry Paulett Nicholson (E 40) on 10th November 2022, aged 95

A prefect and Head of House at Haileybury and a member of the 1945 shooting VIII, he later served as a Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade before reading History at Cambridge, graduating in 1950. His son Tim Nicholson (E 71) has written this brief obituary of his father.

Image of Barry Nicholson in his army days

Early days

Barry Nicholson (E 40) enjoyed his time at Haileybury becoming Head of House in his last year when doodlebugs were flying over 20 Acre.

Despite his father having been wounded in the First War and his brother Tony (E 38) on D-Day he was still prepared to enlist although he wisely left this until VJ Day. He had an interesting time touring Germany in The Rifle Brigade before going up to Magdalene College, Cambridge with Tony.

The photograph (above) shows a young Barry alongside the Rifle Brigade Cup, which he won in 1947.

Farming achievements

Although he was a crack shot and had been a champion cadet he then decided he wanted to farm. He eventually secured the tenancy on a small hill farm on the North York Moors and was soon afterwards able to take on more land where he spent the next fifty years.

He improved the farm by growing barley at one thousand feet where heather had started to invade, bred award winning Limousin cattle and great numbers of sheep. He loved this land for its beauty, for its history and for its people.

Sadness and successes

Triumphs were accompanied by disasters. His other children died prematurely and he stoically endured this as well as fire, flood and pestilence in the guise of Foot and Mouth. On the other hand he became NFU County Chairman and served forty years as churchwarden at Hawnby. In 2012 this earned him the gift of Maundy Money from The Queen at York Minster which was opportune coming soon after he lost his wife Prue (nee Pumphrey). He then retired from the Hambleton to the Howardian Hills where he married Margaret Thomas in 2015.

Barry died peacefully aged 95 after saying that he was grateful for a full and worthwhile life and is survived by her, his daughter in law, Catherine and three grandchildren as well as me.

I preferred to advise farmers rather than take over the farm and have been a Chartered Surveyor in Norfolk since coming down from Magdalene in 1979. I intend to retire shortly but my cousin Edward (E 66), Tony’s son, still works as a private banker while restoring an old parsonage on the Isle of Wight.

Tim Nicholson (E 71)