Ian Honeysett 1962 to 1969
Ian Honeysett was born in 1951 at the long-since-gone Bromley Cottage Hospital and spent his early years living in a council house on the huge Downham Estate before the family moved to a house just off Hillcrest Road when Ian was six.
Ian went to the Good Shepherd Primary school and was an altar-server at the neighbouring church with the same name: “When I passed the 11+, the Parish Priest somehow found me a place at St Mary's. I was the only pupil to go there. I'm not sure what went on behind the scenes but it proved a good move for me.”
Ian arrived at St Mary’s in September 1962, when Fr Charles Howarth was beginning his five year stint as headmaster following in the shoes of Fr Leo McIver.
A very able schoolboy, Ian enjoyed History under Michael Lynch (himself an old boy of the school) and has fond memories of learning Spanish with Sidney Kenny-Levick and Fr ‘Pop’ Cassidy’s music lessons.
In the summer of 1969, after gaining A-Levels in History, British Constitution, French and Latin, Ian passed the entrance exam for Corpus Christi, Oxford and went on to read History.
“I recall the pleasure of my parents when the letter arrived informing me that I had gained a place at Oxford. I was the first in our family to go to university and my dad, who was a low-ranking civil servant, was very proud.”
After Oxford, Ian trained as a teacher and then became a school’s careers officer before moving into personnel and training with the GLC, ILEA and BT.
He looks back on St Mary’s with fondness: “I gained a great deal as I was a rather academic child and thoroughly enjoyed a very wide range of subjects (Ian gained 11 O-Levels in the summer of 1967).
Now happily retired, Ian lives a very full life writing historical crime novels with an old college friend, Pete Stevens. Most notable are The Bastille Mysteries, a series of crime and suspense novels set during the French Revolution.
Ian has also helped to produce three books of short stories with local writers called Godalming Tales.
As well as this Ian is a keen painter, ukulele player, quiz master, military historian and editor of a cancer magazine.
He enjoys travelling with his wife Jan and, when the opportunity presents itself, their grown-up children, Louise, Amy and Sam.