Grenville House Staff Richard Knight - Housemaster Richard and Sally Knight joined Stowe in September 2002. After a temporary holding operation for two terms in Grafton their family, and Labrador, moved into Grenville in August 2003. Prior to teaching Mathematics and being Master-in-Charge of Golf at Stowe, Richard had been the Headmaster of St Andrew's Senior School in Kenya for two years; before that he was for twelve years a Housemaster at Cranleigh School. He was educated at Sherborne School, followed by Durham and Cambridge Universities. A member of the Livery of the Grocers' Company and a keen gamesplayer - notably in Cricket, Golf, Fives and Rugby - Richard also enjoys a variety of interests which include music, wild life and trying to solve the Times crossword.
Emma Whitehead - Matron Emma joined Grenville in January 2008, having previously managed a small family-run hotel in Marlborough. She was educated at Leweston and at Idbury Manor, attending finishing school at Redlynch Park. Following her education, Emma worked in the catering industry in London and then in Ireland. Upon returning to England, she was employed by Prue Lane-Fox as an Interior Decorator, before getting married and bringing up her family. Emma has two children (a son and a daughter) and a step-son. Emma is passionate about the countryside and all animals, wild and domestic! She takes a keen interest in equestrian sports, mainly Eventing and National Hunt Racing, and enjoys following Rugby and Tennis. Emma relishes the responsibility of her work at Stowe and considers it a tremendous privilege to care for the boys in Grenville House.
Damien Orr - Under-Housemaster & 4th Form Tutor Damien arrived at Stowe in January 2003 after having served as the National Coaching Officer for English Lacrosse. He grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where he did his secondary education. He then attended Limestone College in the United States as a Scholar-Athlete, studying Liberal Arts. Damien has spent his working career in Australia, the United States, Japan and England. At Stowe, amongst others things, he is Master-in-Charge of Lacrosse and coach to the Stowe 2nd XI Cricket team. Damien is an avid film fan and his favourite past time would have to be following the exploits of the Australian cricket team.
Henry Swayne - 3rd Form Tutor Henry arrived at Stowe in September 2006 as the Chaplain's Assistant. He was educated at Uppingham, then attended Durham University to read History and Politics and graduated in June 2006. At Stowe, Henry runs the Christian meeting, Crossfire, leads Bible study groups, teaches Spam Ed. (Spiritual and Moral Education) and helps with the Confirmation course. Henry is a keen sportsman and coaches hockey, fives and cricket as well as being an enthusiastic golfer and squash player. He also enjoys music and scrapes his violin in the School Orchestra. Cricket is one of his great passions.
Patricia Bennett - 5th Form Tutor Patricia joined Grenville House in September 2001. After graduating from University College London Patricia headed the Mathematics department at South Hampstead High School before moving to Stanford, California. On returning to England she taught at Badminton School in Bristol and was Head of the Mathematics Department at Oxford High School immediately prior to moving to Stowe. Her interests include music, walking and playing bridge and she lives in the village of Westbury with her husband and sons.
Simon Collins - 6th Form Tutor Simon is a specialist physics teacher holding a Natural Sciences Masters degree from Cambridge, he is in his 25th year of teaching at Stowe and still loving it! Simon is a Chartered Physicist, and is a member of both the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Educational Assessors. He has always been interested in curriculum development in Physics, and helped to write the OCR A level Physics (B) which is now taught. Simon is also a Principle Examiner for the A level course, setting papers that are sat nationally. He believes passionately in making physics experiment work and squeezing the laws of Physics from data carefully won from Nature!
Michael Righton - 6th Form Tutor He joined Stowe from the Dragon School in September 2005 to teach Biology. Michael's interests are in outdoor pursuits and rowing. In the last year, Michael has significantly developed the talents of our rowing Stoics.
Roland Johnson - 6th Form Tutor
In September 2007 Roland arrived at Stowe from Concord College in Shropshire, to teach Chemistry. He is a keen sportsman, coaching 3rd XV Rugby and is also the Master in Charge of Squash, which is his favourite game. Roland was educated at Dauntsey's in Wiltshire and Bristol University. Apart from Chemistry (the king of sciences he says!) he is a great fan of classical music, films and foreign languages.
David Smith - 6th Form Tutor David arrived at Stowe in September 2007 after fourteen years at Sevenoaks School in Kent, where he was resident in a boys' boarding House for eight years. He was also Head of History for five years. David joins Stowe as our Head of History and 6th Form Tutor for Grenville, accompanied by his family: his wife, Ann, and their four children (Edward, Toby, Poppy and Sarah). His interests away from school include rugby, politics and walking.
Viscount Cobham's sister, Hester, married Richard Grenville of Wotton Underwood who died relatively young. Cobham brought up Hester's children at Stowe and the eldest, Richard, succeeded him and became Earl Temple. The family surname became Grenville-Temple. Richard Grenville's brother, George, was Prime Minister in 1765 - 66 and fathered both the Marquess of Buckingham and Lord Grenville who was Prime Minister in 1806 - 7. Another brother, Thomas, was a naval captain killed in action in 1747 and thus inspiring the Grenville Column with its boat motifs, and his sister, also Hester, married William Pitt the Elder, later Earl of Chatham.
