Former Pupils
Former Pupil Peter McColl (MCB 1991-98) - Rector of University of Edinburgh
Congratulations to Peter McColl who has been confirmed as the new Rector of the University of Edinburgh.He was named as Rector following an uncontested election and took up the post on 1 March 2012. He succeeds writer and broadcaster Iain Macwhirter as Rector.
For more information, please follow the links:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/rector-120212
Link to Edinburgh Evening News
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Class of 1980 - Reunion Report
The Class of 1980 recently held a reunion - please click to read the report of this very successful evening.
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Former Pupil John Roberts takes Yale University to Victory in an historic match!
Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut is one of the top Ivy League varsities in USA. Trinity is a prestigious private university which held an unenviable record of not losing a competitive squash match since 1998 a winning streak of 252 matches.
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However, thanks to three top squash players from Belfast studying at Yale and playing for the Yale Bulldogs Squash team, this winning streak finally came to an end.
Brothers John and Joey Roberts (aged 22 and 20) and Neil Martin (aged20), all former MCB Squash Club captains who also played for Belfast Boat Club prior to commencing their USA scholarships, were part of the team who beat Trinity.
The climax of the night was John's victory defeating Trinity 11-4 in the fifth game thus becoming a local hero at Yale.
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As with any US college sport, there is a fanatical and partisan culture so the win was extensively celebrated right around New Haven.
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The result was so historic that it has made national sports news on ESPN with John Roberts - "the Irishman" - being praised in an interview with the team captain for his achievement in the deciding match. To view Yale University's coverage please click: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/m-squash/2011-12/releases/201201180rchrx
Former Pupils at Celebrating Excellence Event
Two former pupils recently attended the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment's (CCEA) Celebrating Excellence event at the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn.
This event is an award ceremony held to recognise those students who have achieved top marks in CCEA's summer 2011 A level examinations.
Congratulations to David Bennett and Mark Jamison for these outstanding achievements!
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David Bennett and Mrs Stott with Gavin Boyd (CCEA) for 1st Place in A Level Physics
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Mark Jamison and Mr Lindsay with Gavin Boyd (CCEA) for 1st Place in A Level Economics
For more information about the awards, please visit the CCEA website
Former Pupil Niall plays for Barbarians RFC
Niall Annett (captain of MCB 1st XV in 2008-09) represented the Barbarians RFC on Tuesday 12th October against The South of Scotland at Hawick Rugby Club.
Niall Annett (player closest to camera) representing Barbarians RFC
This is a very prestigious honour and we are only aware of 5 previous members of the college who have achieved this.
These include N. Malone, J Davidson, R. Young, M. Grimshaw and S. Jackson.
{Apologies for any omissions!}
Gap Year Report - Edward Hamill - Volunteer Cricket Coaching in South Africa
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Edward Hamill, a former pupil who left MCB in 2010, has recently been in touch with his report from part of his Gap Year spent coaching cricket in South Africa. Edward received funding for his gap year from HMC through being a recipient of a Bulkeley-Evans scholarship award.
To read his report please click here.
For more information about this award please click here
Former Pupil Success at Cambridge
It is always good to hear that our pupils continue to achieve the highest academic standards when they progress to university, and I am pleased to report that three of our recent FPs have had a very successful year at Cambridge:
Anandagopal Srinivasan has been awarded a Hyett Senior Scholarship for his “First Class” performance in his examinations. Jill Christy also impressed her examiners and as a reward for her exceptional results has been elected to a Moses Holway (1695) Scholarship. While Piers Murphy has sustained his high level of achievement and has been re-elected to a Senior Exhibition for the coming year.
They are all a credit to the College.
S. Naismith
Principal
Obituary - John Herivel
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John Herivel, a former pupil of Methodist College Belfast, who went on to become one of the leading codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War Two, has died. He was 92.
Mr Herivel attended Methody from 1924 until 1936 and was then awarded a scholarship to study mathematics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
While there he was recruited by his former supervisor Gordon Welchman, head of the newly formed Hut 6 team which was set up to crack German army and airforce Enigma ciphers.
Aged 21, he arrived at the top secret Bletchley Park Centre in Buckinghamshire at the start of 1940. After being trained how to break the Enigma network by Alan Turing, he was set to work.
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At the time, Hut 6 was having limited success in cracking the Luftwaffe’s Enigma code, used to liaise, between the German airforce and ground forces, but Mr Herivel was determined to find a solution. He spent many days and evenings wrestling with the problem and one night in February 1940 he made his breakthrough.
He identified potential slack practice by German operators when using Enigma. This led to his being able to break the Enigma ciphers by hand, a system which became known as the “Herivel Tip” or “herivelismus”.It was relied upon by Bletchley Park over the crucial summer of 1940, a time when England was under threat of invasion by the Germans.
Welchman later said that without Herivel, Bletchley might have been unable to break the Luftwaffe cipher – with disastrous results for Britain.Historians agree that the role played by the team at Bletchley Park and the use of the Herivel Tip helped to shorten the war.
In recognition of the contribution he had made to the war effort, Mr Herivel was singled out and introduced to Winston Churchill during a visit to Bletchley Park.
John William Herivel was born in Malone Avenue, Belfast. His distinctive name came from his father, who was from Alderney in the Channel Islands and who married a Belfast woman.
During his time at Methody he spent a summer holiday youth hostelling by bicycle in Germany, an experience which convinced him of the seriousness of the threat posed by the rise of Hitler.
After the war Mr Herivel returned to Belfast where he taught for a year, but struggled to control “the rumbustious boys”. Instead he took a post as a lecturer at Queen’s University, where he was a reader in history and the philosophy of science. In 1978 he retired to Oxford, where he was a Fellow of All Souls. Mr Herivel was honoured by being made a member of the International Academy of History of Science.
He published a number of books, his subjects including Isaac Newton, Joseph Fourier and Christiaan Huygens. In 2008 he published his final book, called Herivelismus and the German Military Enigma.
Mr Herivel married in 1947 and his wife, Elizabeth Maude Jones, who was also from Northern Ireland, died in 2005.
Mr Herivel, who had always prided himself in keeping fit, died suddenly on January 18. He had driven to the library to collect some books and upon his return home parked his car safely but then suffered a massive heart attack. He is survived by the couple’s daughters, Susan and Mary.
(Note: the text of this Obituary originally appeared in the Belfast Telegraph 27/1/11)
For more information, please click on the links below:
Telegraph Obituary
Tribute on Bletchley Park Website
2011 MCB London Association Dinner
The London Association Dinner took place in the RAF Club, Picadilly on Friday 11th February.
A big thank you to Alison Wright-Reid for her organisation of this event, and to Trevor Campbell Davis for agreeing to be speaker.
MCB FPA Travel Bursary 2010/11
The Methodist College Former Pupils Association ("MCBFPA") has announced that it will again award a Travel Bursary to a pupil in the 5th or 6th form. The Travel Bursary will be a single payment for a minimum of £500, with the MCB FPA reserving the right to increase the award/make an additional award depending on applications received.
To read the criteria and details of the application process, please click here
Celebration of Boarding
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Celebration of Boarding events July 2nd & 3rd and August 27th & 28th. It was lovely to meet so many of you, to hear your stories about your time in boarding and to see you enjoy meeting up with old friends.
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Headmaster Mr Scott Naismith, Former Headmaster Dr Wilfred Mulryne and former boarder Christopher Brown (aka Chris Barrie) with the Celebration of Boarding book
Please visit the Reunions page for more information about these events and links to some of the many photographs that were taken over the two weekends.
With warm best wishes
Alison Weir
Alumni and Development Office
Denise Lowry
Event Organiser
Former Pupil Success at Henley
Congratulations to former pupil Michael Ewing who stroked the Nottingham and Union Rowing Club Coxless 4 to an impressive victory in the Wyfold Challenge cup at Henley Royal Regatta on Sunday 4th July 2010. The cup was presented by Dame Kelly Holmes. For more information please visit the NURC site
(please note, the College takes no responsibility for content of external sites.)
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Mike and team-mates following their win at Henley