Issue 64 — April, 2008
In Memoriam
Jack Webster – Jack, who lived in Great Clarendon Street, died in January aged 91. He was born in St. Giles where his family had a shop in what is now the Royal Bank of Scotland. He attended Bedford House School in Walton Street, the building for which is still standing next to Uddins restaurant. Jack started his working life in the Bodleian Library, in 1931, winning the Curator’s prize for ‘good conduct, industry and intelligence.’ Visiting a former school friend in Great Clarendon Street, he spied young Phyllis Carr over the garden wall and they fell in love. They married in 1940 when he was on leave from the RAF and he then went to Norway. After the War, Jack returned to the library where he eventually became ‘Superintendant of the Book Stack’, a position he held for 20 years. His expertise was also called upon by college libraries and the public library in Westgate. Jack was very active at St. Barnabas Church where he was assistant treasurer, and also looked after the church’s candles, no small job. Jack and Phyllis were to live the rest of their lives in Great Clarendon Street, celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary in June 2000. They were also together for the double wedding of their twin granddaughters in 2001.
