List of Old Haberdashers

The Haberdashers' Boys' School (commonly referred to as Habs) is a British independent school for pupils aged 4 to 18 in Hertfordshire which is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Haileybury Group.

Former students at Haberdashers' are referred to as Old Haberdashers. A number of former Haberdashers' students have entered the comedy and acting professions, of whom Sacha Baron Cohen, Matt Lucas and Jason Isaacs are particularly prominent.

Haberdashers' has also produced a number of statesmen and others in the political sphere, with the former Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, David Lidington, and former Home Secretary, Leon Brittan (Baron Brittan of Spennithorne), being former pupils of the School. The historian Simon Schama, a frequent contributor to television and radio programmes, and the late Brian Sewell, 'Britain's most famous and controversial art critic',^[1] are also Old Haberdashers' of the School.

Politics

Frederick Augustus Voigt (1892–1957), journalist, known for campaigning against Hitler and Communist Russia

The Rt Hon Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, QC, DL
Roy W Brown, former President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, now its Chief Representative to UN
The Rt Hon Lord Feldman of Elstree, Conservative Party Chairman
Lance Forman (Anisfeld), former MEP
The Rt Hon Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
The Lord Harris of Haringey, Labour politician and former President of the Cambridge Union
The Hon Daniel Levy, lobbyist and one of the architects of the Geneva Accord
The Rt Hon Sir David Lidington, KCB, CBE, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from January 2018 to July 2019, Conservative MP
Alderman Ian Luder CBE, 681st Lord Mayor of the City of London
Sir Henry Phillips CMG, MBE (1914–2004), colonial administrator
Daniel Taub, former Israeli Ambassador to the UK
Frederick Augustus Voigt, 1892–1957, known for his work with the Manchester Guardian and his opposition to dictatorship and totalitarianism on the Continent
Matt Warman MP
The Rt Hon Lord Wills
Tony Kerpel, former Conservative politician and adviser

Scientists

Professor Sir Michael Stratton, Director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Chief Executive Office of the Wellcome Genome Campus
Sir Richard Treisman FRS, Research Director of the Francis Crick Institute

Academia

Professor John Bamborough, Founder of Linacre College, Oxford^[2]
Professor Jeremy Black, historian and broadcaster
Andrew Donald Booth (1918–2009), computer pioneer^[3]
Dr. Alan J. Charig (1927–1997), paleontologist
Geoffrey Crossick PhD FRHistS, Professor of the Humanities, School of Advanced Study, University of London. Formerly Vice-Chancellor of London University 2010–2012
Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, Fellow - Trinity College, Cambridge
Mark Damazer CBE, former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford and former Controller of BBC Radio 4
Dr Anthony Freeling, President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Sir Ralph Freeman (1880–1950), engineer and architect of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Professor George Garnett, Professor of Medieval History and former Senior Proctor, the University of Oxford
Dr. Laurence Godfrey, physicist, lecturer and technical consultant/expert witness in internet-related litigation
Professor Lawrence Goldman, former Director of the Institute of Historical Research
I.J. Good (1916–2009), mathematician and code breaker at Bletchley Park
Professor Albert E. Green FRS, applied mathematician
Professor David Latchman CBE, Master of Birkbeck, University of London
The Lord Mendoza, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford
Peter Oppenheimer, economist
John Rutherford, fellow in Spanish and director of the Centre for Galician Studies at The Queen's College, Oxford, translator of Don Quixote
Professor Sir Simon Schama CBE, historian
Emeritus Professor Ian Swingland OBE DSc, founder of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent
Adam Thirlwell, author, Fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford
Professor John Urry, sociologist

Musicians

Erran Baron Cohen (born 1968), composer and trumpet player
Edric Cundell (1893–1961), conductor and composer
Isidore Godfrey (1900–1977), conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Peter Perrett (born 1952), composer and lyricist for The Only Ones
Chris Squire (1948–2015), musician in progressive rock band Yes
Roderick Williams OBE, operatic baritone, composer and broadcaster
Richard Wright (1943–2008), keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter in Pink Floyd

Arts

Darien Angadi (1949–1981), actor and boy soprano
Ben Ashenden writer, actor and comedian
David Baddiel, comedian and novelist
Sacha Baron Cohen, comedian (aka Ali G, Borat, or Brüno), actor, Academy Award Nominee, Golden Globe nominee, Screen Actors Guild Award nominee
Ashley Blaker, comedian and broadcaster
Derek Bond, Derek William Douglas Bond MC (1920–2006) was a British actor, Officer (World War II), director and playwright
Simon Boswell, film score composer
Peter Bradshaw, author and film critic
Michael John Bukht, OBE (1941–2011), the "Crafty Cook" from the BBC2 television show Food and Drink who went by the name Michael Barry
Dean Craig, film writer (Death at a Funeral)
Paul Darrow (1941–2019), actor
Roger Deakin, English writer, documentary-maker and environmentalist
Malcolm Edwards, science fiction editor and critic
David Elstein, founder and CEO of Channel 5 and Chairman of Opendemocracy.net
Adam Gee, BAFTA-winning interactive media producer
Malcolm Guite, poet, priest, singer-songwriter, currently Bye-Fellow and Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge
Jason Isaacs, actor, played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series
Adam Jacobs, photographer
Mark Kermode, film critic
Matt Lucas, comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter
Andrew Miller journalist and author
Oscar Moore, author. His partly autobiographical novel, A Matter of Life and Sex, made mention of the school.^[4]
Jonny Persey, film producer
A. D. Peters (1892–1973), literary agent
Jay Rayner, food critic, author
Jonathan Scott-Taylor, actor most notable for playling Damien Thorn in Damien: Omen II
Sir Nicholas Serota, director of Tate Galleries (1988–present)
Brian Sewell (1931–2015), "Britain's most famous and controversial art critic"^[1]
William Sutcliffe, author of New Boy, a fictional book inspired by his experiences at the school
Michael Wojas (1956–2010), owner and proprietor of The Colony Room Club in Soho, London^[5]
Gabriel Woolf, film, radio and television actor

Business

Michael Green (born 1947), founder of Carlton Television
Herman Narula, co-founder and CEO of Improbable^[6]
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP plc (1986–2018)
Tim Steiner, businessman, CEO of Ocado^[7]
Joshua Stevens, entrepreneur and CEO of OneRetail Group
John Vincent, co-founder and CEO of Leon Restaurants

Sport

Myles Anderson, professional football player
Benedict Bermange, cricket statistician
Julian Goater, athlete
Damon Hill OBE, F1 World Champion, racing driver
Dilan Markanday, professional footballer
Victor Matthews, Commonwealth (1958) and Olympic (1960) athlete, AAA Champion (1959)
Roger Moulding, former cricketer
David Price, former cricketer
Michael Yeabsley, former cricketer
Richard Yeabsley, former cricketer
Scott Spurling, professional rugby player, U20 Eng World Cup winner 2013, Junior Commonwealth Games 7s Gold Medalist 2011

Broadcasting

Dotun Adebayo, BBC journalist and presenter of Up All Night on BBC Radio 5 Live
Kevin Buckhurst, Director General, RTE (Irish national broadcaster)
Nick Goldsmith, film and TV producer
Peter Kosminsky, writer and film director
Zac Lichman, Big Brother (UK) Contestant ('Ziggy') 2007 and member of boyband Northern Line
Dan Mazer, TV producer
Adam Parsons, BBC journalist
Robert Popper, producer and author under the pseudonym Robin Cooper
Matthew Price, journalist and Chief Correspondent for BBC Radio 4 Today programme
Aris Roussinos, Vice News journalist
Ian Toynton, television director, producer and editor
David Tyler (aka David Meek) (born 1961), TV and radio producer
Alan Whicker CBE (1925–2013), journalist and broadcaster

References

^ ^a ^b Cooke, Rachel. "We pee on things and call it art". Guardian, 13 November 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
^ "John Bamborough: Creator of Linacre College, Oxford". The Independent. London. 4 August 2009.
^ "Andrew Booth scientist who invented the magnetic storage device". The Times. London. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
^ Picardie, Justine. "Obituary: Oscar Moore". Guardian, 13 November 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2008
^ Willetts, Paul (11 June 2010). "Michael Wojas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^ "Meet Improbable, The Startup Building The World's Most Powerful Simulations". Forbes.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^ Turner, Camilla (19 March 2016). "Ocado boss is dating Polish model twenty years his junior after filing for divorce from wife". Retrieved 27 January 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.

[We_pee_on_things_and_call_it_art-1] Cooke, Rachel. "We pee on things and call it art". Guardian, 13 November 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2008.

[2] "John Bamborough: Creator of Linacre College, Oxford". The Independent. London. 4 August 2009.

[3] "Andrew Booth scientist who invented the magnetic storage device". The Times. London. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.

[4] Picardie, Justine. "Obituary: Oscar Moore". Guardian, 13 November 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2008

[5] Willetts, Paul (11 June 2010). "Michael Wojas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2021.

[forbes1-6] "Meet Improbable, The Startup Building The World's Most Powerful Simulations". Forbes.com. Retrieved 12 May 2017.

[7] Turner, Camilla (19 March 2016). "Ocado boss is dating Polish model twenty years his junior after filing for divorce from wife". Retrieved 27 January 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.

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