John Hansford was a headmaster who had the distinction of rebuilding, literally and metaphorically, three famous schools: Bury Grammar, King Edward’s, Witley, and his alma mater, Christ’s Hospital.
John Talbot Hansford was born in Wallington, Surrey, in 1922. At the age of 7 he lost his father, Dr Richard Hansford, who fell downstairs and broke his neck. His older brother, Norman, won a scholarship to Shrewsbury School while he subsequently found himself being educated on a free place at the original Blue Coat School, Christ’s Hospital, near Horsham in Sussex, which accepted him on the recommendation of the GPO as the son of an important, pioneering Post Office engineer.
He flourished, became a committed Christian and devoted the rest of his life to following wherever