Gerald David Burton BA, MSc (Econ)

1944–2008 Co-founder of the St Hugh Singers

Gerald died peacefully – at his home, as he wanted – of lung cancer at around seven o’clock on the

morning of 26 August. He had been ill for several months.

Many have written in tribute to Gerald, and this webpage of the St Hugh Singers – (which he

and I jointly founded) provides a medium in which those tributes can be given a wider coverage.

Also on this page can be found the full text of his memorial service on 10 November.

Gerald and I first met 40 years ago, and were close friends for most of them. He was best man at both

my weddings and, quite apart from our deep interest in church music, we shared both a somewhat

whimsical sense of humour and a near obsession with spotting typographical errors, which we would

with glee relay to each other over our mobile phones. I will miss that – and him.

Robin

We were so saddened with your news

of Gerald’s death – more particularly

because we did not know he was ill.

My connection with him is really as a

fellow tenor with the London Chorale,

which Mary and I joined in 1977, and

were members for about 10 years We

moved back to Scotland in 1990 but

kept in touch with old friends –

Gerald visited us about 14 years ago,

for a long weekend, and had ‘a go’ on

Dunblane Cathedral’s new Flentrop

organ (I was a member of the choir

then).

We saw him several times in Wells

when the Dunblane choir did a week’s

summer services stint there a few

years ago. He would also phone me

from time to time with a civil

engineering terminology translation

query. He spoke often over the years,

with affection, about your St Hugh

Singers. So – a sad passing of a great

chap.

Bill & Mary Craig

Gerald at the Dunblane Cathedral ‘Flentrop’

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On the Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond

Gerald, Bill and Bach

The earth belongs unto the Lord

And all that it contains,

Except the Highland piers and lochs –

For they are all MacBrayne’s.

Anon. – but compare Church Hymnary #73

(metrical version of Psalm 24)

Gerald

Gerald was a gentleman and will be

greatly missed by all St Hugh Singers.

Alison Hodkinson

Gerald and I joined the choir of St Mary’s

Lowgate Hull in 1950, and were together

members of choir and altar guild until the

early ’60s. All good wishes for the future

of the St Hugh Singers.

Arthur Ireland

Jill, and I were very close friends of

Gerald for many years from the time he

arrived in Wells until our moving to Sark

in 2001. We shared the driving duties to

the pub for a late evening drink most days,

and we had his company at many social

events surrounding our lives in Wells and

the Cathedral. It was a greatly valued

friendship.

Brian Garrard

Josie and I were very saddened to learn of

Gerald’s untimely death, although it was

anticipated and must have been a blessed relief.

Speaking as one tenor of another, my abiding

memory is of how he would permanently monitor

all that was going in the tenor line and be ready

with firm by gentle advice. I suspect this service

spilled over into other parts as well from time to

time!

Amongst all his musical activities, he was a

member of the Grove Singers in High Wycombe

and once engineered an invitation for us to join

them in a tour of N Italy. We were privileged to

sing High Mass in St Mark’s Venice on the

occasion and the memory of that day will always

live with us.

Brian Tomlin

The funeral service was beautiful – very clear,

very simple, and it was great to hear Chewton

Mendip filled with the sound of those rousing

hymns from a congregation which knew how to

sing!

Christopher Booker

(parishioner of Litton where Gerald played)

Last weekend we were with the Grove Singers,

which is a group formed out of the remnants of

London Chorale plus some new people. A number

of us there who had sung with Gerald in London

Chorale before he went to Wells, and so there was

much talk about him. I organised a card from all

of us, though sadly it won’t have reached him in

time.

Elizabeth Arndt

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http://www.communitypartners.co.uk/ferry_calmac.html

We have very fond memories of our times spent

in Gerald’s company. He was a lovely gentle man

and had a great sense of humour. I am writing to

tell you also that last week we sent a card to

Gerald and enclosed a photo of him that I took in

Gibralter on 1998 The picture is of Gerald dressed

as an Arab in a towelling dressing gown etc. and

he looked really good and very funny.

Ellen and Robin Horton

It was a privilege to have known Gerald and his

fantastically dry sense of humour, not to mention

his musical talent and frighteningly good general

knowledge.

Fiona Care

It was interesting to read about you and Gerald

founding the choir. A few years ago we very

much enjoyed Gerald’s visit to Wellington. He

persuaded me to go and watch the cricket Test

between NZ and England. I enjoyed every minute.

Richard Acey

I too send my sympathies to Gerald’s family and

friends. The service sounds comforting and

entirely appropriate. I hope those present found it

so.

Helen Perkins

There once was a tenor named Gerald:

He hymned, he psalmed, he carolled.

He called us together:

‘Sing Hell for leather,

St Hugh Singers will never be equalled!’

Sent to Gerald 23 July 2008

Jackie Etheridge

I spent a couple of hours with Gerald just before

leaving for the USA on business early in August,

and we laughed and chatted together about our

genealogy adventures in past years. With best

wishes and happy memories of a fine gentleman

Martin Ladd (cousin)

He was a delightful man and we always enjoyed

meeting him and chatting. He was a mine of

information and he sang so beautifully too.

Jenny and Geoff Mason

Woman: Our Dennis is off school with diarrhoea,

which is all down our street.

Gerald

Jenny and I are both very sad to hear of Gerald’s

death. He was an inspiration to us and, I expect, to

many other people both in and outside the St

Hugh Singers.

David Billam

We knew Gerald very well through our

membership of the London Chorale for many

years. We shared many happy hours with Gerald

in rehearsal, concerts and on tours overseas. We

were able to meet up with Gerald here in Sydney,

Australia on a couple of occasions. We mourn the

loss of someone who contributed a rich

individuality to our lives.

Jo and John Fauvet

He will be sorely missed, the end of an era in

some ways. He was a gentle, humorous, talented,

humble man and I am pleased to have known him.

Judy Craig Peck

Although I didn’t know him so well as many

others in the St Hugh Singers, I enjoyed very

much the weekends that I attended, and they were

greatly enriched by having Gerald present – for

his musical talents, his lovely personality, and

Christian faith, which shone through.

Karen Gedd

Although Helen & I have been very peripheral to

St Hugh over recent years, our memories of

Gerald have all been happy ones. That must say

something about a person.

Stephen & Helen Earwicker

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Just got the sad news about

Gerald, we spent last Christmas

together.

Jorge Daniel Valencia

Although I am a fairly new choir member, I am

extremely grateful to the St Hugh Singers,

particularly the founder members, for enabling me

to partake in the spiritually uplifting experience of

sharing religious music in such historic and

beautiful settings.

Anne Wilkening

Gerald was a sort of cousin of mine. It is all the

saddest thing since I only really discovered him

properly last year at the Cousins’ Reunion at

Wells. He so generously let me stay at Vicars’

Close and there was so much I wanted ask him

about musically. I too have an obsession with

church/choral music and more particularly

renaissance consort stuff – of which in the

‘Colonies’ of course we know nothing!

Gerald seems to have had a very singular attitude

to life, I guess some might say eccentric, but

endearingly so.

Polly Barnes

When we were boys, I became aware of his

tenacity and attention to detail when I asked him

why he was reading a dictionary (He had got to

the letter P). ‘I’m trying to increase my

vocabulary’, he explained. I expect he did exactly

that.

Rob Barnes

Gerald kept his humour to the end and is probably

cracking jokes from his book to St Peter who is no

doubt laughing as we all did.

Geoff and Sally Walker

Whosoever looketh on a plate of bacon and eggs

to lust after it hath committed breakfast with it

already in his heart.

Gerald

I did visit Gerald a couple of times after he’d

returned home the week before. I was singing in

Wells for the week and he gave me such a warm

welcome. He was so interested in what we were

singing and when I told him about the huge

visiting American choir who took over on our day

off, he had some very witty (and dare I say

accurate) observations to make!

Sheena Wilkins

I’m really sorry to hear about Gerald. He was a

lovely man.

Shelagh Carter

I am very sorry about Gerald’s illness and death.

What a loss.

Kerry Beaumont

4

I met Gerald in London, in a choir we both sang

in, probably about twenty years ago. I was just

starting out as a translator, working from Dutch

into English.

Gerald was already a seasoned translator at that

time, and he invited me to his office, where he

gave me a great deal of invaluable advice. I also

caught a glimpse of him at work and I remember

being astounded at the speed with which he could

produce a text: the translation would fly onto the

page as if by magic. He immediately – and with

characteristic generosity – offered me some work:

he was in the middle of translating a book on

Indonesian cookery and was happy to share the

job (years later he said that it had been one of the

few jobs that had caused him nightmares, as he

worried that he might have got the quantities of

chilli powder wrong...).

Over the years we became friends and colleagues;

we worked for some of the same clients and

would occasionally share translation assignments.

When Gerald moved to Wells, we stayed in

contact and continued to collaborate from time to

time. Gerald was the best translator I ever met,

and I picked his brain far more often than he

picked mine. He was always cheerful and chatty

on the phone, always made time for my queries

and was simply a mine of information on the most

unlikely topics.

After I moved to Holland, Gerald visited me on

several occasions. The last time I saw him he

complained of being very tired. But I never

thought I wouldn’t see him again.

I will miss his friendship, his good humour and

his expertise.

Judith Wilkinson

While I hardly knew Gerald, having only recently

sung with the St Hugh Singers, I could tell the

affection in which he was held, and I benefitted

(and hope to continue to benefit) from the fact that

the two of you founded St Hugh.

Stuart White

I’ll always remember him as a very professional

translator and nice person to co-operate with.

Rikki Holtmaat

... a delight to have known Gerald – such a kind

and funny man, apart fom his obvious attribtutes

as very useful tenor. People like him really enrich

other people’s lives.

Rona Liggitt

Gerald is very much missed by his friends at The

Ploughboy Inn, Green Ore, in Somerset. He was a

founder member of the Green Ore Independent

Traders Society, known to the cognoscenti as the

GITS, and as such contributed to many late hours

in the Ploughboy, setting the world and, in

particular, the Government, to rights with much

humour and good banter. We shared his interest in

Telegraph howlers and indeed those of other

organs of the press. His keen appreciation of his

local hostelry and its fine beers was exemplary,

particularly when he was able to reach the top of

Mendip with a heavy fall of snow being

deposited, whilst lesser mortals found it

impossible to leave their homes in the rain on the

Levels below. On one occasion he honoured us

with some splendid singing in the bar, which all

appreciated.

He is missed and not forgotten.

Bryn Davies

He drank so prodigiously that not only were his

sorrows drowned; his joys didn’t stand an earthly

either.

Gerald

I first knew him years ago when he and I shared

the same singing teacher (Richard Austen) and for

a time we used Gerald’s studio in London for

lessons. I met him again when I joined the ECS.

He was always great fun – and a great singer! He

will be missed by many.

Judith Dunworth

Although I did not know Gerald well, having

come to the St Hugh Singers fairly recently, I

always enjoyed conversations with him and am

glad to have known him.

Jane Warren

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While I’ve not seen Gerald since leaving

England in 2001, he is still very much a close,

dear friend and now especially close in our

hearts with your sad news.

While living next door to Gerald in Vicars’

Close, he and I spent many evening hours over a

game of scrabble or, occasionally, chess. At this

time, I had suffered from a small stroke. I credit

much of my recovery to Gerald’s sharp

gamesmanship! While I was no match for him in

chess, we did share victories in Scrabble.

The photo above was taken at our house in late

2000, shortly before Donna and I left the Close.

We had invited choir members and their

significant others over to our place for a massive

Scrabble game. This was taken toward the end

of the game – you can tell by the look on

Gerald’s face that Gerald and his partner were

comfortably in the lead.

Sundays were always a contest to see who could

solve the Daily Telegraph puzzle before the

other could, such was my time spent during the

sermons!

We were close confidants and were able to share

our frustrations living on the Close. Of all the

people I came to know while living in England,

it was Gerald to whom I was most drawn. He

was trustworthy to the core and had a purity of

heart that made me feel very much at ease

whenever I was present with him.

Christian Van Dyck

I am so sorry to hear of Gerald’s passing away. We

knew each other well during our London years. We

collaborated on Dutch translations and became

good friends. Gerald used to come to my house in

Leytonstone for games of chess and we often met

for lunch near his printing business in Homer Row.

Occasionally I attended one of Gerald’s choral

performances and much admired his marvellous

voice.

He was a lovely man and I strongly recall his

dimpled smile. Many a time have I thought back to

those days of quiet friendship and I will continue to

do so.

Tony Akkermans

During the almost 30 years I knew Gerald he never

changed. Nothing seemed to faze him and he never

lost his sense of humour even during his final

illness. A talented musician he will be greatly

missed in musical circles and especially by the St

Hugh Singers. Always ready to do a good turn for

anyone, Gerald was one of those people of whom it

could be said the world was a better place for the

contribution he made to it.

Hilary Spurgeon

He was a lovely gentle and kind man, and I endorse

all the tributes which have been made to him.

I have such happy and very proud memories of

belonging to St Hugh. It has been a privilege to

have been associated with the chor, and the music

and friendship have been a huge influence on my

life.

Clare Harris

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Those of you who visited Gerald in his earlier

first-floor flat in Vicars’ Close may remember

the penguin beaming benevolently from his

sitting room-window onto those passing in the

street below. (I have often wondered what

overseas tourists made of this.) Over the years

Penguin acquired a friend, and I am happy to

report that, before he died, Gerald entrusted

them to the care of my daughter Bethan. Here

they are, basking in the non-arctic sunshine by

my garden pond.

Robin

My girls remember him as the ‘penguin man’.

Frikki Walker

Debbie and I have known Gerald since he

arrived as a Lay Clerk in Wells in the mid 80s

(where Chris was a virger), and were among

those privileged to help him celebrate his

birthday in his early days at Wells, when we

clubbed together to sponsor a penguin for him

at the Cotswold Wildlife Park!

He sang in the cathedral choir for our wedding

in the cathedral in February 1989, and we

remember singing Compline in the Close

Chapel on Friday evenings with him and his

then colleagues, before adjourning to The

Fountain for some sustenance! Gerald was a

unique person and one of the nicest we have

known. We have always had a soft spot for

him.

Chris Crooks

Gerald and Ceridwen

Gerald and Bethan, now guardian of the penguins

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We are saddened to think that Gerald will no

longer be a part of our choral activities and choir

tours. He was a dear friend and musical colleague

for almost 35 years, from the time he first joined

the London Chorale in the 1970s when I was

Musical Director.

On our return from living and working in

Australia, and establishing the English Concert

Singers, Gerald would often help out by

performing as a soloist or as a valued member of

the tenor section of the ECS. He also assisted as a

singer in a number of choral workshops and

summer schools of the British Choral Institute.

He was a true friend, and nothing appeared to be

too much trouble if he agreed to do something for

you. I remember particularly when he had a

printing business in London and he agreed to

compile and print an extensive Souvenir

Programme of a Festival of Scandinavian Music I

was directing at that time. I was so impressed with

the meticulous care he took to ensure that the

spelling and correct accents were given to the

many unusual names of the Swedish, Norwegian,

Danish and Finnish composers and the titles of

their works represented in the Festival.

We not only valued his fine musical contribution

to our choral activities but also appreciated his

clever and dry sense of humour. He clearly

enjoyed the social side of choir tours and events,

and we remember with joy his witty participation

in numerous choir cabarets; in particular, his

performance at Chris’s 60th birthday dinner at

LSO St Luke’s in London was a highlight.

Like his friends and musical colleagues, we will

greatly miss Gerald’s contribution to our lives and

our music making, but so many happy memories

will linger on!

Roy and Chris Wales

Let me relate an image I have of Gerald. His sad and early

death has bought this to the front of my mind.

One Saturday evening on a St Hugh Weekend, Gerald

sang to us at least some of RVW’s setting of the Songs Of

Travel. I am particularly fond of them and find the words

of Robert Louis Stevenson so evocative. I will treasure

that image as I recall the words and remember Gerald,

who I found to be a fun, kind, articulate and generous

person – a description which falls well short of the real

man.

BRIGHT is the ring of words

When the right man rings them,

Fair the fall of songs

When the singer sings them.

Still they are carolled and said –

On wings they are carried –

After the singer is dead

And the maker buried.

Low as the singer lies

In the field of heather,

Songs of his fashion bring

The swains together.

And when the west is red

With the sunset embers,

The lover lingers and sings

And the maid remembers.

We shall miss him.

Sally Walker

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The Cathedral Church of St Andrew in Wells

Service of Thanksgiving

for the life of

Gerald David Burton 1944–2008

Monday 10 November 2008

2.00 p.m.

Welcome

The Chancellor

Hymn

Angel-voices ever singing

round thy throne of light,

angel-harps for ever ringing,

rest not day nor night;

thousands only live to bless thee

and confess thee

Lord of might.

Thou who art beyond the farthest

mortal eye can scan,

can it be that thou regardest

songs of sinful man?

can we know that thou art near us,

and wilt hear us?

yea, we can.

For we know that thou rejoicest

o’er each work of thine;

thou didst ears and hands and voices

for thy praise design;

craftsman’s art and music’s measure

for thy pleasure

all combine.

In thy house, great God, we offer

of thine own to thee;

and for thine acceptance proffer

all unworthily

hearts and minds and hands and voices

in our choicest

psalmody.

Honour, glory, might and merit

thine shall ever be,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

blessèd Trinity.

of the best which thou hast given

earth and heaven

render thee.

Introduction

The Chancellor

We meet in the name of Jesus Christ, who died and

was raised to the glory of God the Father. Grace and

mercy be with you.

All And also with you.

Father in heaven, we praise your name for all who

have finished this life loving and trusting you, for the

example of their lives, the life and grace you gave

them, and the peace in which they rest. We praise you

today for your servant Gerald and for all that you did

through him. Meet us in our sadness and fill our

hearts with praise and thanksgiving, for the sake of

our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

All Amen.

9

Anthem

Great Lord of Lords, supreme immortal King,

O give us grace to sing

Thy praise, which makes earth, air, and heaven

to ring.

O Word of God, from ages unbegun,

The Father’s only Son,

With Him in power, in substance, Thou art one.

O Holy Ghost, Whose care doth all embrace,

Thy watch is o’er our race,

Thou Source of Life, Thou Spring of

peace and grace.

One living Trinity, One unseen Light,

All, all is Thine, Thy light

Beholds alike the bounds of depth and height. Amen.

Text: H.R. Bramley 1833–1917

Music: Charles Wood 1866–1926

New Testament Reading Colossians 3: 12–17

Dr Anthony Crossland

former Cathedral Organist & Master of the Choristers

Hymn

Now thank we all our God,

with heart and hands and voices,

who wondrous things hath done,

in whom his world rejoices;

who from our mother’s arms

hath blessed us on our way

with countless gifts of love,

and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God

through all our life be near us,

with ever joyful hearts

and blessèd peace to cheer us and

keep us in his grace,

and guide us when perplexed,

and free us from all ills

in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God

the Father now be given,

the Son, and him who reigns

with them in highest heaven,

the One eternal God,

whom earth and heaven adore;

for thus it was, is now,

and shall be evermore. Amen.

Tribute Dr Robin Rees

THE Line to heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truth the Rails are laid;

From Earth to Heaven the Line extends

To Life Eternal where it ends.

So begins The Spiritual Railway, an epitaph in the

south porch of Ely Cathedral. Yes, life is sometimes

likened to a journey, but let me tell you instead of

some events that took place around train journeys that

Gerald and I made together in the course of our 40-

year friendship.

We first met on Ealing Broadway station one autumn

morning in 1968. The fact that we spoke to each other

at all is highly unusual for commuters, but, even more

remarkably, we discovered we were both students at

London University’s Bedford College. During that

first journey, through Paddington and on to Baker

Street, it became clear that there was another link

between us, one that was to prove decisive: we shared

a deep interest in church music.

Having attended a summer course run by the Royal

School of Church Music at Lincoln Cathedral, I

thought that this was something that Gerald might

well enjoy, so in 1975 he came too. During the

week’s course we had the privilege of singing the

services in the cathedral. The fact that the sopranos

and altos were all teenage girls was, I have to say, not

entirely a disincentive either. Gerald and I attended

the Lincoln course for about ten years, and each year

we would meet at King’s Cross station before taking

wine with our three-course lunch on the journey

north. One year, on our return to King’s Cross,

Gerald, I and a large number of the girls sang on the

platform – symbolically and very loudly – the

Dismissal from the Rose Responses. In 1979, Gerald

and I founded a group which meets for one or two

weekends a year to deputise for cathedral choirs.

Since most of its founding members had attended the

Lincoln course, we called the group The St Hugh

Singers in honour of St Hugh of Lincoln.

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http://www.lincolncathedral.com/

Over the years, the group has sung in 34 cathedrals,

and celebrates its 30th anniversary at York next year.

A month or so before each weekend we would travel,

usually by train, to visit a member of the cathedral

clergy, and discuss every conceivable detail of each

service, so as to avoid our being caught out by some

subtle local variation during the actual service. Each

cathedral assumed it was self-evident that there was

only one valid interpretation of the rubric – theirs.

This of course was rarely the case, and our

questioning sometimes had to verge on interrogation

in order to elicit the answers we were seeking. Indeed

on at least three occasions we arrived for our weekend

at the cathedral to find that the member of clergy

whom we had met only two months earlier had in the

meantime moved on to another appointment. Was it

something we said?...

One such exploratory trip was to Ely, where we first

saw the epitaph I mentioned earlier. It was on an

incredibly cold January day in 1985, and it seemed

even colder inside the cathedral than outside. To pass

the time on the journey back to Liverpool Street – and

to take our minds off the cold – we made our own

selections for the radio programme Desert Island

Discs. Unfortunately our choice of records has been

lost in the mists of time.

However, I do recall that when it came to our choice

of book, we both felt we could do a lot worse than the

English Hymnal – though it had to be the 1933

edition! – or the Savoy Operas of W. S. Gilbert, as so

many of life’s issues are addressed within those

volumes.

One May weekend in 1982 Gerald and I had been

invited to stay with friends in Taunton. When we met

on the Friday morning at Paddington, he told me that

he had just heard that his mother had been found dead

at her home. For anyone this would be a time of great

sadness, but I sensed that this was in some way

overwhelmingly so for Gerald.

In the spring of 1987 I saw advertised in Church

Times a vacancy for a Vicar Choral here at Wells, and

suggested that Gerald apply. It is probably fair to say

that in more senses of the word than one his

application was successful.

I always enjoyed my visits to him at Wells in general

and at Vicars’ Close in particular – so much more

appropriate for someone like him than his former flat

in central London.

In recent years we enjoyed travelling on two nearby

preserved railways. One was the East Somerset: I

remember the glee in Gerald’s voice when telling me

that, until the line’s closure in the 1960s, it used to

run through Wells and down to Witham where, 800

years earlier, St Hugh (to whom our singing group is

dedicated) had been Prior. The other was the West

Somerset Railway, to the seaside at Minehead,

rekindling memories of the summer holidays of our

childhood.

In describing these train journeys that Gerald and I

made, I have said nothing about his personality: his

gentle modesty and quiet acts of kindness. For both

my weddings I asked him to be best man, and I was

not disappointed – especially when it came to his

speech. When I married Helen four years ago, who

but Gerald, with a totally dead-pan expression on his

face, would dare to say:

This is the right age for Robin to marry, whilst he has the

wisdom of youth and the energy of old age.

Having mentioned the Savoy Operas and English

Hymnal, let me close by quoting from them. On at

least one occasion Gerald played the part of Colonel

Fairfax in The Yeomen of the Guard. In the light of

Gerald’s early death, Fairfax’s words take on a new

poignancy:

Is life a boon?

If so, it must befall,

That Death, whene’er he call,

Must call too soon.

Yet I am reminded that, whenever things got difficult,

Gerald would say:

Plough on regardless.

If we take that as an encouragement to us as well as to

himself, I think Gerald would approve of a similar

sentiment expressed by Percy Dearmer in the final

verse of his hymn Jesus, good above all other:

Lord, in all our doings guide us;

Pride and hate shall ne’er divide us;

We’ll go on with thee beside us,

And with joy we’ll persevere!

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Hymn

O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height;

rejoice in his word, ye angels of light;

ye heavens adore him by whom ye were made,

and worship before him, in brightness arrayed.

O praise ye the Lord! Praise him upon earth,

in tuneful accord, ye sons of new birth;

praise him who hath brought you his grace from

above,

praise him who hath taught you to sing of his love.

O praise ye the Lord, all things that give sound,

each jubilant chord re-echo around;

loud organs, his glory forth tell in deep tone,

and, sweet harp, the story of what he hath done.

O praise ye the Lord! Thanksgiving and song

to him be outpoured all ages along:

for love in creation, for heaven restored,

for grace of salvation, O praise ye the Lord. Amen.

Tribute Mrs Angela Harris

GERALD, MY BROTHER

Gerald was born in Hull to find that he had an older

brother, Roger and a much older half-brother,

Geoffrey. His annoying sister would come along later.

He attended a church school and passed his

scholarship to Hymers College at age 11. He studied

science in the VIth Form but did not want to continue

with science even in ‘the new scientific age’. He went

to work in the printing trade. Our parents ran a shop

and Gerald had a heavy old printing press there with

which he printed small items.

After a brief stay in London he returned to Hull to

complete more ‘A’ levels including languages as he

decided to go to university after all. He entered

Bedford College, London University to study Dutch

Language and Literature. This was followed by 2

years at the London Business School, Regents Park,

where he gained an MSc in Economics (Business

Studies), nowadays an MBA.

After the Business School he worked as a corporate

banker at National and Grindlays Bank in Fenchurch

Street. He decided that wasn’t for him and he started

his own printing business. In 1974 he bought a small

flat in one of the elegant white terraces in London

W2. He had many visitors who used to ‘do London’

from there. He developed a sideline in translating

from Dutch to English. This grew and eventually he

gave up the printing to concentrate on his new career

of translating – at first by fax and then by email.

Gerald was involved with music for all of his life,

learning to play the piano as a young boy and singing

in the school and church choirs. His first piano

teacher was Miss Footey about whom he used to

giggle and say that she put flour on her face instead of

face powder. He learned the ’cello from a kindly man

called John Keenan and befriended him and his wife.

His music teacher at Hymers College was Graham

Watson and Gerald visited him over the years.

Graham Watson and Ron Styles also taught him the

organ. Our church choirmaster, with the illustrious

name of Albert Hall, also taught Gerald piano and

organ.

Starting as a choirboy at St. Mary’s Lowgate in Hull

Gerald sang in choirs ever since. He played the organ

at St Saviour’s in Hull where the vicar happened to be

Dutch. (Latterly of course he played the organ at

churches near Wells.) On moving south he was

recruited to play the organ at Ealing Green Church

and later at other churches in central London.

He joined the London Chorale and thus began his

many foreign trips with choirs. Music is a great social

engine and he took advantage of this, singing in many

venues and countries. Gerald sang with many choirs

and later operatic groups and sang solo parts in choral

works. His commitment to the choir in this Cathedral

lasted for 10 years, the last few of those years as

Vicar Principal, a post he held with skill and

diplomacy, I gather.

He had his parallel careers of translating and music.

He would try to reduce his translation work but

people always came back to him as he was reliable

and accurate. He never knew what would come his

way – legal and technical material, and he had to

learn about many subjects. But that was partly why he

liked it. He always had a thirst for knowledge and was

an avid reader. He wrote a guide to translating Dutch

which is to be published soon and he has collaborated

with his Dutch friend Aart in creating a Legal

Lexicon – many hours of work and many phone calls.

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Gerald delighted in languages – English, Dutch and more. Last February he was pleased to have a witty little letter on comparatives published in the Telegraph. He wrote a pamphlet called ‘Cloth Ears: the destruction of English’ subtitled ‘Don’t mess with my language.’ This makes interesting reading, bemoaning the fact that we don’t use English properly, including me! His mother used to tell the story that when he was 6 years old a fellow train passenger tried and failed to catch him out with difficult spellings and she had been unaware of the extent of his skill.

Family and friends were important to him. He played the organ at family weddings and sang at our wedding. He related well to the young and the not so young and made friends of all ages.

I learned recently that he took part in soirées for special birthdays, making music as part of these evenings. Last year the second of our cousins’ reunions took place, this time organised by Gerald here in Wells. Who could forget his witty and superbly timed speech?

He was a dutiful and kind godfather to Stacey – he related well to children, playing imaginative games with them when their parents had lost interest and I have learned that he would take children on the big fairground rides when their parents opted out.

Gerald was pleased to move to Wells and enjoyed his life here. When first shown the Cathedral and Vicars’ Close he said to himself, ‘I want this job’ – and he got it.

As well as travelling with choirs he had holidays with family and friends – to Japan twice with his brother and sister-in-law, to Australia and New Zealand with me and to other places here and abroad. He visited 21 countries at least.

Genealogy was a big interest and he researched our 4 family trees. His interest started with a small collection of family silver and as a teenager he annotated the church registers at St Mary’s Church in Hull. His searches took him to several counties and he discovered sites such as a fortified manor house, connections to Charlotte Bronte and coastguards in Devon. He met distant relatives, historians and authors sometimes by walking into pubs and asking! That was of course the only reason he went into pubs! He asked me to publish the family trees and that is a promise that I will fulfil.

Gerald’s wit is remembered by many – his asides in choir practice, his superb best man’s speech for Robin and Helen, his quips on postcards and ‘Gerald jokes’

some of which are on the website.

Gerald wrote some memoirs and although unfinished I did find the beginnings of ‘100 oddities of Gerald’s life’. Here are three of them:

- I once saw a cricketer who played in the same side as W.G. Grace.

- I can type faster than anyone I know. [True].

- I am excellent at reading upside down. [The text!]

I can add that as a boy he took a garden spade to dig on the beach on our seaside holidays. He never did anything by halves.

Finally, to some comments that people have written about Gerald:

- [From a cousin], ‘I will remember Gerald for his dry wit and his teenage attempt to read a dictionary to improve his vocabulary!’

- ‘Dependable, always good company.’

- ‘He took the high spirits of the choral scholars in his stride and we were very fond of him.’

- [From New Zealand] ‘The good times we had in his company.’

- ‘We remember a recital when he sang Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams. It was wonderful.’

- ‘A kind and good person with a propensity for giggling’.

- ‘I much admired his marvellous voice’.

- ‘Gerald’s sharp and creative mind.’

- ‘A real Englishman but affected by the Dutch language and style of life.’

- ‘Direct about his wishes but in a polite way.’

- ‘Sense of humour, personal warmth and friendship.’

- ‘He always seemed content with his life.’

- ‘His self-effacing manner, team spirit and droll sense of humour.’

- ‘Such a full life.’

- From New Zealand ‘Only Gerald could relate a joke so well, with his dry humour, clever wit and excellent brain’.

- ‘A very kind and special person.’

- [From our cousin in Canada] ‘Academic, musician, traveller, translator, fun-loving wit.’

- [And from America] ‘He was trustworthy to the core and had a purity of heart that made me feel very much at ease.’

This weekend candles have been lit in memory of Gerald in Notre Dame Cathedral, and in Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Holland, Australia, Canada and the Czech Republic.

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Anthem

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first

heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there

was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new

Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I

heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, Behold, the

tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with

them, and they shall be his people, and God himself

shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall

wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be

no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall

there be any more pain: for the former things are passed

away.

Text: Revelation 21

Music: Edgar Bainton 1880–1956

Prayers The Chancellor

Merciful Father and Lord of all life, we praise you that

we are made in your image and reflect your truth and

light. We thank you for the life of your son Gerald, for

the love he received from you and showed among us.

We thank you for his delight in music, for his

friendship, his love and for all that he will always mean

to us. Above all, we rejoice at your gracious promise to

all your servants, living and departed, that we shall rise

again at the coming of Christ. And we ask that in due

time we may share with our brother that clearer vision,

when we shall see your face in the same Christ our

Lord.

All Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, whose birth was heralded by

angels’ song and whose death for sinners is extolled by

the music of heaven: grant that those who use voices

and instruments which show forth your glory may also

display in their lives that harmony which echoes your

eternal praise; for your own name’s sake.

All Amen.

Almighty God, thank you for this ancient place of

prayer: for the faith that has blossomed here, and for the

worship in all seasons offered here; for the lives that

have been touched in this place and the commitment

stirred into life here. As we build on the faith of those

who have gone before us, and wonder about those who

will come after us, bless all who come here, may your

angels speak to us with the music of your love; for you

are God of renewal and steadfastness, now and for ever.

All Amen.

O Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to

endeavour any great matter grant us also to know that it

is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same

until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true

glory; through him who for the finishing of thy work

laid down his life for us, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

All Amen.

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:

All Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy

name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as

it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And

forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who

trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but

deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the

power and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Commendation

Almighty God, in your great love you crafted us by

your hand and breathed life into us by your Spirit.

Although we became a rebellious people, you did not

abandon us to our sin. In your tender mercy you sent

your Son to restore in us your image. In obedience to

your will he gave up his life for us, bearing in his body

our sins on the cross. By your mighty power you raised

him from the grave and exalted him to the throne of

glory.

Rejoicing in his victory and trusting in your promise to

make alive all who turn to Christ, we commend Gerald

to your mercy, and we join with all your faithful people

and the whole company of heaven in the one unending

song of praise: glory and wisdom and honour be to our

God for ever and ever.

All Amen.

Nunc dimittis The choir

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace

according to thy word;

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples,

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory

of thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy

Ghost:

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be

world without end. Amen Text: Luke 2: 29–32

Music: Collegium Regale, Herbert Howells 1892–1983

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Organ Voluntary

Nun danket alle Gott Sigfrid Karg-Elert 1877–1933

During the voluntary, family and friends will process to the Camery Garden for the

Interment of Ashes.

There will be a retiring collection for the Laura Crane Trust.

From the family album Pictures provided by Gerald's sister, Angela

Gerald and Angela New Zealand

2002

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http://www.lauracranetrust.org/

From this Aged 10

1955

To this Vicar Choral at Wells

1987–97

And this

The only known photograph of, in Gerald's words, his ideal choir

2006

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The Last Word

Though enormously saddened by his death, we can at least rejoice in having known

Gerald, and in the fact that he is no longer suffering. Most important of all, however, is to

remember the ultimate message of our Christian music-making – that death is not the end.

Let us give the last word to Gerald, whose dry sense of humour we so enjoyed. The

following is the final recorded example of it, spoken less than 48 hours before he died.

One of his visitors casually mentioned that on a journey back to Wells earlier that day she

had driven past Stonehenge. Gerald instantly replied:

Yes, that’s probably the best thing to do with it.

Photo by Fiona Care, October 2007

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