Nicholas Hatswell
Chorister 1958-1962
Memoirs
Edited by Mike Dobson (alto 1976-2023). Editorial comments are italicised between [ ]. The following is based on written memoirs and email exchanges between Nicholas and Mike Dobson, 2021.
Nicholas Hatswell, far left.
At the age of 8, I was sent to the Exeter Cathedral Choristers' School. My Mother, a school teacher wishing for her only son to have the best in education, believed that I had some musical talent. This was reinforced by the Rev R.T. Venn, former Queen's Chaplain in the Royal Navy who lodged with my grandmother. I would later experience the kindness of the Rev Venn, when he used to take a number of Choristers to Woolacombe beach in the summer. [Father Venn still attended services in full robes etc for many years from when I joined in the 1970s. He used to treat a bass to Sunday lunch, with copious red wine, in the White Hart Hotel, in return for a lift to and from the cathedral. He was still there until at least the mid 1980s. We only ever knew him as 'Father Venn'. No one knew his first name.]
Prior to going to Exeter I had been receiving piano forte lessons for several years; however, I was in no way a talented musician!
One can imagine the shock of moving from a small Devonshire country town to a school where harsh discipline was administered. Choristers wore gowns and mortar boards, to the Cathedral each day. We had to clean the underside of our shoes black so that when we kneeled down, the sole of the shoe could be clearly seen.
There was a servant style hierarchical system in the school, known as the "Fag" system, where senior Choristers basically had a younger member as their servant. If one was unfortunate to be caught talking after lights out one would be given 100 lines to be written by the morning stating "I must not talk after lights out". In the dormitories were bunk beds and a bucket in the centre of the room for people to urinate in.
A typical day commenced at 6.00am, where Choristers were paraded to the bathroom where a bath full of COLD water was ready for each person to get in, turn over and then get out and dry. This happened winter and summer! This was followed by a brisk walk around the Cathedral Close, with breakfast being served at 7.15, followed with a walk to the Cathedral for choir practice. School commenced at 8.30am.
At 4.00pm we had to practise our instruments, which would be the piano and one other instrument that we had nominated to play. In my case it was the violin. There was an expectation that everyone would sit and pass the exams set by the Royal School of Church Music. The exams went up to grade 12, with one Chorister namely Watana Petchsingh, from Thailand having excelled in passing exams to this level [Watana became a book editor and publisher, the proprietor of TYS Books, Bangkok. He died of ill health in 2004.]. As for myself I managed to pass grade 3 for the piano and grade 1 for the violin. Not everyone was a talented musician!
On a Sunday in the summer we were taken to the grounds at Wonford (now the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital) to play cricket. In the winter we walked to the suburb of Pennsylvania to play soccer. I recall that we played cricket at Pennsylvania with the D'Oyly Carte Opera cast, who kindly treated us to cider after the match. At evensong Lionel Dakers was conducting in front of the choir, raised his baton for everyone to start singing, to be greeted with no one singing but laughing. Needless to say we received a good dressing down after the service.
The education at the school was fragmented as teachers came and went with no stability. When the principal, Rev Treneer, retired in 1959, the new Headmaster was Mr Reginald Pitkin. My mother was concerned that I was not learning to the standard she expected [events unfolded which led to Pitkin's headship being very short-lived and his departure in 1960]. We were declining Latin verbs which I had no idea what they meant. French, both written and aural, was taught by Mr Morgan, whose nickname was "Moggy", and being deaf we used to mine French words and watch him turn up his hearing aid to try and catch what we were saying. One day someone saw a cat walk outside the classroom and yelled out Moggy. Immediately Mr Morgan threw the blackboard duster at the offending student, which to our amusement promptly went through the glass window.
The Choristers school was not a happy place during my stay there; several boys ran away to escape the harsh conditions only to be brought back to continue their education. Perhaps the harsh discipline galvanised us for success in future life, not necessarily establishing a musical career.
I recall being involved in two BBC recordings. The first one was probably 1959-1960 ironically to Australasia ['ironically', as Nicholas emigrated to Australia - see below] and the second one to the whole world, one Christmas.
For the first BBC recording we were paid ten shillings, a lovely new crisp ten shilling note, which I treasured, as that equated to a whole term's pocket money. The second BBC recording we were to receive a pound, which was very exciting, except that the Headmaster thought it would be "nice" if we donated the money to OXFAM. Accordingly our dreams of wealth were shattered!
At the Dean's installation we made an LP, with a trumpet playing from the organ loft. An amazing evensong as I recall. My parents purchased an LP from this occasion, however, over the years it vanished, never to be seem again!
David Cooper [became organist of Blackburn Cathedral in 1983 and Norwich in 1995 for 18 months, then a music moderator and examiner. Born 1949. Died 2008] was a Chorister whilst I was at the Cathedral school, as was Richard Brown another talented musician.
A number of Choristers I have met in recent years, namely Piers Dudgeon, Richard Brown, David Acres, and Harry Williamson have made a lifelong career utilising their musical and other talents. As for myself, I left school at the age of 16, worked for Barclays Bank for two years before leaving England on my own when just 18 years old and going to Australia to work for the Commonwealth Banking Corporation in Sydney. Over the years, until my retirement at 71 (!), I worked as a Trainee Accountant, Health Executive, Farmer and Property Developer.
My very limited musical talents continue to be utilised, as I play the organ at the local Anglican Church in Ararat and the Masonic Lodge.