“Wellington helped bring out the very best in him. Being educated at Wellington led him to find interest in everything in life.”

Last month, Peter Raymond Charlton Fletcher, OW, received an invitation to a reunion of all pre-1956 leavers. Although unable to attend the event next March, his daughter, Veronique, took the opportunity to write to the College to let us know that her father will be celebrating his 100th birthday on 7th March 2019: “… in order to share this event with you, we wanted to write this e-mail as a testimony from an old 100-year-old Wellingtonian”.

Peter left Wellington in 1935, having enjoyed an illustrious career at the College. On receiving Veronique’s email, Caroline Jones, the College archivist, delved into the digital archives and compiled some extracts from the Wellingtonian magazine and College Year Books that record Peter’s time at the College. It seems he was a very competent runner and indeed, on one occasion, a record breaker: in 1934 he held the record for the Under-15 half-mile. Caroline also found two photographs of members of Blücher dormitory in 1933 and 1934.

Peter’s daughter, Veronique, wrote to us to share her father’s fond memories of his time at the College: “He still remembers very well his years at Wellington and has spent all his life telling us, his children, then his grandchildren and now his great grandchildren how lucky he had been to receive such an education in England.

Although Wellington has of course changed a lot over the time since his College years, he is very happy to hear that it is considered as an outstanding boarding school and even, frequently, proudly wears the Wellington tie that we purchased for him from ‘Grubbies’ a few years ago.

He thinks Wellington helped bring out the very best in him. Being educated at Wellington led him to find interest in everything in life, which probably contributed to him reaching this old age still very mentally alert”.

Happy birthday, Peter!

Biography of Peter Raymond Charlton Fletcher, OW

After leaving Wellington in 1935, Peter returned to his mother’s home in France, where he has lived ever since.  After serving briefly as an interpreter in the French Army during the Second World War, he joined the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company in the department of Jura, before being called to join the headquarters in Dijon. He was later appointed as General Secretary then as Managing Director.

After the war, Peter, along with two friends, founded Rover Scout Clan for both civilian boys and soldiers and this began a life-long involvement with the Scout Association. Later, Peter served as regional commissioner for the Scouts in Dijon, became a member of the National Board of The Scouts De France and was elected as Chairman in 1963. It was through the Scouts that Peter met Emmanuelle Gros, who was to become his wife in 1942. They were to have five children (one boy and four girls), 14 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

In 1975, Peter decided to retire to focus on volunteering work. When the Bishop of Dijon asked Peter if he would like to help the diocese and become treasurer, he was more than happy to help – and so began an active role that was to last 17 years.