b'THE ELLESMERIAN 18Carolyn Newbold31/01/1943 to 27/02/2022Carolyn Newbold was a great friend to the College and a good friend to me personally. As a young Headmaster arriving at a school in a time of flux and transition I could not have asked for a wiser and more supportive Head of Lower School.Carolyns time at Lower School was coming to an end at that stage, but it had been a hugely distinguished time. She had been appointed to Head of Lower School when it was simply two classrooms consisting of 23 boys.By the time she relinquished the post, numbers had grown to 151 and we had constructed the Lower School building that still stands today and that is very much a testament to her foundational development of that part of the College. I know that one of the highlights for her was the official opening of the Lower School when we were graced by a visit from the Princess Royal.From what Carolyn told me, however, things could have been quite different.She was appointed to her post at the College following a telephone conversation with the then Headmaster in which he told her that he needed to offer her the job because (and I quote here) we are desperate.Rarely can an appointment made in alleged desperation have turned out so well.Beyond Carolyns work in Lower School she was a highly effective mathematics teacher who had a particular talent for encouraging and developing the skills of those less able mathematicians who often find the subject hard.Many Ellesmerians have reason to be extremely grateful to her for their maths skills alone, without regard for the considerable pastoral care that she showed to so many of them.Following the conclusion of her time at Lower School, Carolyn was appointed to the post of Senior Mistress and finished her time in employment at the College as Deputy Head.Her retirement from teaching did not mark her disconnection from the College, however and the year after her retirement she was appointed to the Governing Body, on which she served with great distinction for 14 years.In her time on the Governing Body she took a particular role in pastoral and staffing matters.She was also Director of Ellesmere College Enterprises and the Founding Chairman of Ellesmere College International, a project that is now coming to fruition.A measure of the regard in which Carolyn was held by the many Ellesmerians with whom she came into contact can be taken by the flood of messages on social media and into the College through other means on the news of her passing.Throughout her time at Ellesmere, Carolyn was fantastically well supported by her husband, Bill, who survives her.She will be greatly missed.'