Hillian Committee

Nanci Austin was Head of Alumni Relations at Kingham Hill School from August 2017 -August 2024. After a few years working as Director of External Relations, she has returned to her KHS roots, working with Hillians. An American who has lived in the UK for 25 years, prior to joining the School she worked in the computer industry in a number of international sales and business development roles. She has extensive knowledge of the charity sector and helps run her son’s charity which raises funds for Guatemala. Away from work she is a stained glass artist and a keen enthusiast of motorsport. She is married to Richard (an Englishman) and they have a son Henry who attended Kingham Hill from 2016-2022.

After leaving KHS, Andrew worked for a small UK clearing bank, leaving them to train in an accountancy practice. On qualification he joined a Canadian financial institution and spent twenty-five years working there and, following a takeover, for its acquirer, also Canadian. Home was a grassland smallholding in West Sussex keeping a small array of farm livestock. He has three adult children who attended local schools and were very involved in their chosen sports. Andrew now works part time for a local company. He and his wife Tania dance regularly.

Plymouth and Bradford, 1945 - 1955

Simon arrived on the Hill the day before his sixth birthday, an event that he states was the most important in his life. For the next ten years he was educated, rounded, nurtured, fed, boarded, clothed and comforted at times of trouble and stress. Simon became a life member of the Kingham Hill Old Boys Association (circa 1960), with the permission of his bank manager who allowed him an overdraft to do so.

There was only a ten year gap in Simon's involvement with the Hill during his years in Royal Artillery and Hotel Training, which he followed for the greater part of his working life. Whilst running a small hotel group in North Yorkshire he was sought out to support the City and Guilds of London and was their North of England assessor for all food and beverage operations in some 15 catering colleges and universities.

Simon sold the company and moved south. He is currently retired and very active. He is a director of six companies, involved in a trust fund and the secretary of his residents association. He is married with three adult children, two boys, one girl and a number of grandchildren.

Sheffield House, 1948 - 1952

Brian Dean is a Chartered Engineer with a first class honours degree from Imperial College London and a postgraduate diploma in Nuclear Engineering. Following a student apprenticeship at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, he spent 11 years in the design and commissioning of the early nuclear power stations. He then moved to IBM for 21 years where he had sales and marketing responsibility for computing systems for various industries including world-wide business with Royal Dutch Shell. Finally, he was a business director of a software company, a Member of the Institute of Directors, and then self-employed for seven years as a business and management consultant.

Brian is married to Anne with whom he has a daughter, a son and four grandchildren. In retirement his interests are reading, cricket and the ongoing support of Kingham Hill School.

Plymouth and Clyde, 1963 - 1969

Mark was born in Singapore, the second of four children to an English father (Colonial Service - General Manager of the Malayan Railways) and Dutch mother. At Kingham Hill School he was Head boy and then went on to study Architecture at the University of Newcastle from 1969 - 71 and post-grad from 1973 - 75 with a year-long practical work experience in Japan during1971-72. In 1975 he set up his own practice working in association with the London practice Rock Townsend, to undertake a commission for a new theatre and dance school, a project that resulted from his final student thesis design. In 1982, he formed Burrell Foley Fischer LLP, an award winning practice undertaking a wide range of projects from theatres and cultural buildings, to cinema and media, historic buildings, residential and master planning and urban design. Mark is married to Lisa Foster, an environmental and community lawyer and they have one son, Emile, living in Cambridge.

Liz and her husband Bob became Houseparents of Bradford in 1981, ready for a new challenge. It wasn’t long before they realised that this had been a great move and stayed in Bradford for 21 years. After her first year as Houseparent, Liz returned to teaching Art and Design part time for several years, eventually taking on the Careers Department and being part of the Life Skills teaching team.

Liz looks back fondly on her time as a Houseparent, saying, “Life in Bradford was never dull, teenage boys were always so interesting! The endless piles of muddy games kit needing to be washed did seem to take over my life at times and I still don’t fully understand the game of rugby but it was all well worth it!”

In 1997 Liz organised the Bradford Centenary, which she notes as “one of the best days of my life! So many old boys and former staff joined us for a service in Chapel & lunch in the garden. A very special day indeed.”

After leaving Bradford, Liz was a tutor in Severn House for 4 years. At the end of her 25 years on the Hill Liz went on to do various things to keep herself busy but is now retired in Moreton-in-Marsh. She has been a Samaritan for nearly 30 years, and enjoys quilting and gardening.

Liz and Bob’s eldest son has lived in Melbourne for 20 years, the youngest in Portishead with his family, with their two grandchildren keeping them on their toes in recent years.

Nick joined the committee after recently finishing 35 years of full time teaching, primarily at The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School. There, he was Head of Design Technology for 21 years and Senior Tutor of The Middle School over-seeing the Pastoral Welfare of 520 thirteen to sixteen year old boys!

Nick and his wife Nikki have three children. Chloe works in London for a Start-Up company organising Apprenticeship Schemes, Zack is an Officer in the Army’s Intelligence Corp and Kitty is a Sheep Farm Manager in New Zealand.

Nick and Nikki have recently moved to the Cotswolds and are enjoying more free time to pursue personal interests such as hiking, skiing, sailing and canoeing.

Liza left KHS in 2020 and has since become our youngest member of the committee, having formerly been Head Girl. She graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing in 2023, and has since continued at Warwick to complete her Masters in the same field. Liza is a keen artist, writer, and is currently Student Representative of The Arts Society.

Liza currently lives in Leamington Spa. 

Plymouth and Bradford, 1951 - 1959

Mike joined Plymouth House in 1951 as an illiterate but happy nine and a half year old boy. He progressed to Bradford House and left in 1959 with seven GCE O levels. He participated in all sport gaining full colours in rugby and cricket. While still loving most sports, his current focus is golf.

Mike spent forty years in electronics with the same company reaching the grade of Senior Principal Design Engineer and Project Manager on post design of electronic warfare systems in the Royal Navy. His further education was with with Croydon, Paddington, Chelsea and Cranfield Technical Colleges also the Ashridge Management College.

Mike's hobbies and interests range from sport, D.I.Y (he renovated his family's 300 year old cottage doing all the the work himself), re-building car engines, building motorcycle specials, metal detectors and radios, and gardening.

Mike's wife, a registered nurse, is now also retired. They have two university educated children, their daughter, a qualified solicitor, is CEO of a highly regarded advocacy charity helping people with learning difficulties and their families. Their son is a research/design engineering scientist with a large international engineering company and is married to a vet. They have one granddaughter.

Mike was originally elected as sports secretary for the Kingham Hill Association. He has been a Trustee and Treasurer of the Hillian Association since 2009.

Norwich, 1971 – 1977

David was born in York and was Head Boy at Kingham in 1977. His brother also was at KHS from 1972 - 1978. David spent six years in the Hong Kong Police and the Metropolitan Police. He served occasionally as body guard to the Queen Mother. David went on to serve ten years in finance, four of which were with Chase Manhattan Bank. For the last 21 years he has been involved in the office interiors business and has sold two businesses. He currently has a son attending KHS who is in Norwich. David's interests include rugby, history (thanks to Mr Gilmore and Mr Mann), architecture, travel, cars and the sea.

After leaving KHS, David trained as a pilot with the Royal Navy and operated worldwide on carriers, frigates and latterly destroyers. When he left the Royal Navy he flew with UK airlines throughout Europe and the Middle East and joined a small start-up company latterly bought out by Bombardier.

Leo attended Kingham Hill from 1943 to 1951 and belonged to Clyde House. He came to the Hill with his brother Stan and served as Head Boy in 1951. Leo lives in Portsmouth.

David was on the Hill from 1961-1968. A member of Clyde House he served as Head Boy in 1968.

Plymouth and Norwich, 1958-1962

Ken was born in Selly Oak, Birmingham in 1946. He had a poor home background until he was taken into care in a children’s home in Leicester in 1957.

In 1958 Ken was taken to KHS for an assessment exam under the LEA scheme run by Leicestershire Council. He cites the years that he spent at Kingham as the ones that changed his life. After four years at the School he started an apprenticeship in Agricultural Engineering gaining his City in Guilds in 1968.

Ken's children Rachel and Matthew were born in 1969 and 1971 and it was during the period of the three day week that he joined HM Prison Service in 1975. He passed the senior management exams and interview in 1980 and served for 25 years as a Senior Officer.

In 2004 Ken received an MBE at Buckingham Palace for his work running a charity committee dealing with difficult offenders aged over 28.

Ken's hobbies are rugby (he learned to love the sport at KHS and played for 25 years after he left the Hill), painting, gardening, and more recently he has been on stage in local operatic musical productions. Ken has served on the Kingham Hillians committee for over ten years.