It was an honour to welcome the family of alumna, Mary Seager (nee Griffin) (Class of 1947), back to NHEHS a few weeks ago to plant a tree in her memory to mark her generous legacy gift to the OGA Bursary Fund.

Mary didn’t have children so on the day we were delighted to meet her godson, David Argent, the son of alumna Joy Hicks (Class of 1945), as well as her nephew, Chris Seager, whose mother was alumna Delia Coulton (Class of 1948). We spent the afternoon sharing photos, memories and anecdotes about their time together at school.

The three girls Mary, Delia and Joy formed a lifelong friendship and bond at school that survived over 70 years. They were all sporty, enjoying netball and hockey lessons. They were also members of the Sea Rangers where they learned how to be safe on the water and protect wildlife, as well as non nautical activities such as swimming, camping, climbing and orienteering. Their lives became increasingly intertwined when Mary and Delia later married brothers!

David shared a story that Mary had told him about her time at NHEHS during the war when, in the middle of a mock exam, a bomb went off. She was in a room where the windows were bricked up and described how, as a result of the force of the explosion, the wall imploded and then got sucked out again and all the inkwells shattered on the desks. Unlike Mary, who stayed in London during the war, Joy left London and went back to her parents’ house in Streetly, north of Birmingham. Mary used to stay with her and her family during the holidays.

Mary was an eccentric character; she had a great sense of fun and loved to laugh. She enjoyed art and painting and had a big passion for travelling and sailing, stemming from her childhood days as a Sea Ranger. She frequently took holidays with her husband John on their yacht, sailing all over the world.

From the 1990 NHEHS school magazine, Chris was delighted to read Mary’s description of staying with his sister Nicola and Delia’s daughter: “Mary Griffin (Mrs Seager) has been for a four month round-the-world trip with her husband, stopping at Hong Kong, Guila (China), Maleny 70 km north of Brisbane, Queensland, New Zealand, Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Los Angeles and the Grand Canyon. In New Zealand she was based at our niece, Nicola’s home (she is the daughter of my school friend, Delia Coulton) and, using her car, we toured around the South Island for three weeks and the North Island for another three weeks. We also sailed with friends in the Marlborough Sounds and Hanraks Gulf (Bay of Islands). She also did a great deal of sketching and painting.”

We learned that Mary was very philanthropic throughout her life. She wasn’t a spender herself, preferring to recycle and repurpose clothes rather than throwing them away, and was hugely generous, supporting hundreds of charities. She left gifts to all sorts of charities, from Hull University to Ham Library, which had never had a gift before and didn’t know how to take the money without it being lost in Richmond council!

We are incredibly grateful to Mary for including a legacy gift in her will to our OGA Bursary Campaign. Legacies do more than support the cause. They build connection. The importance of friendships is one of the few things in life that never changes and Mary remained connected to her school friends, and to her school, throughout her life. As our pupils and staff go about their busy lives on our school grounds, today and into the future, we will remember this lady’s love for our school and its long-term commitment to providing an aspirational yet grounded education for all girls.