Former Headmaster Alan Tammadge dies

February 29, 2016

Alan Tammadge, Sevenoaks Headmaster 1971-1981, died last Thursday. There will be a private family service.

Alan came to Sevenoaks from Magdalen College School, Oxford, where he was Master. Educated at Dulwich College, he was commissioned in the Royal Navy and spent most of his war service with the Mediterranean Fleet. After the War he graduated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

His teaching experience was broad and his forte was mathematics. Previous teaching posts included that of senior lecturer in mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He travelled widely, lecturing on mathematics in Nigeria, USA, South Africa and Ceylon. Additionally, he was a major contributor to many books and articles and he took part in television and radio programmes.

During his ten-year headship of Sevenoaks the school continued to expand and flourish, and key decisions were taken that would continue to influence the school today. The Sixth Form became co-educational in 1976, and the Girls International House opened in 1977. In 1978 the International Baccalaureate was introduced.

An Appeal and a period of generous gifts from the Aisher family and Marley Tile, the Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipemakers and Tobacco Blenders, the Elia Salzman Estate, the Johnson Trust, and parents and other well-wishers enabled the school to build a range of new facilities including the Marley Sports Hall, the Sackville Theatre, new Biology laboratories, the extension to the Aisher Hall and the Johnson Hall was converted into the library.

Alan and his wife, Rosemary, did much to cement the ties of friendship between the town and the school; he had an acute sense of the school’s responsibility to the community, offering use of the facilities to a range of local organisations. 

Alan Tammadge was a very modest man who laid significant foundations for the school today.

Photo: Alan Tammadge (right) with Brian Raynor, 1970s