CARD, Tim(othy) S. B. 1931-2001

PERSONAL: Born November 19, 1931, in Lichfield, England; died, September 13, 2001; son of A. T. T. (a military officer and schoolteacher) and Monica (Beardsley) Card. Education: Attended Trinity College, Cambridge, 1952-55. Politics: "Central." Religion: Church of England.

CAREER: Eton College, Windsor, England, assistant master, 1955-88, vice-provost, beginning 1988. Military service: British Army, Infantry, 1950-52; became second lieutenant.

WRITINGS:

Eton Renewed: A History from 1860 to the Present Day, J. Murray (London, England), 1994.

Eton Established, a History from 1440 to 1860, John Murray (London, England), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Tim S. B. Card once told CA: "I began writing an up-to-date history of Eton College when my two predecessors as vice-provost died on the job. It seemed sensible for marketing reasons to begin with the more recent history, and then go back to the beginning. Honesty and entertainment were my guiding principles, but I hope to have written with some insight about the education of the young male."

Tim Card's second book Eton Established, a History from 1440 to 1860, was reviewed by David Horspool in the Times Literary Supplement as a "thorough, well-researched continuation of . . . Henry-Maxwell-Lyte['s] . . . History of Eton College . . . to recommend it to the Queen as a model for all schools." However, there is little about the school in 1860, according to Card, that supports the reputation of the institution's educational system. Card's history describes the many reforms that took the school from a disorganized "slum tenement" to the respected institution it is today. C. J. Tyerman related in the English Historical Review that "Eton Established stands as one of the more distinguished in the long line of traditional public school histories; affectionate; introspective; undemanding; often slightly defensive; indulgently critical, regarding human and institutional faults as peccadilloes; a work of homage as much as revelation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Contemporary Review, November, 2001, review of Eton Established, pp. 315-316.

English Historical Review, June, 2002, C. J. Tyerman, review of Eton Established, pp. 730-732.

Times Educational Supplement, May 27, 1994, Andrew Davies, review of Eton Renewed, p. A12.

Times Literary Supplement, July 8, 1994, David Horspool, review of Eton Renewed, p. 32.

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

Times, September 28, 2001, p. 23.*