CHAPTER 2 .sx School and University .sx GEOFFREY Fisher always regarded his going from Lindley Lodge to Marlborough College on a Foundation Scholarship in September 1901 as a decisive break with his previous environment into a wider world .sx Marlborough , in the early years of this century , was a small market town on the outskirts of Savernake Forest with a population of some three thousand inhabitants .sx It was not without its historic associations .sx Samuel Pepys in 1668 eyed with satisfaction its broad High Street .sx Its parish church contains the huge basalt font in which King John was baptised and within its walls Cardinal Wolsey was ordained .sx Marlborough College , housed in a country mansion , was opened in 1843 for the sons of clergymen .sx The half century which preceded Geoffrey Fisher's entry represented the heyday of English public schools , fed from the sons of the professional classes , many of whom had newly acquired wealth and were prepared to invest it in education .sx The young men thus produced were for the most part self-assured and conditioned to take their place in an e lite class , in a privileged society .sx Although Geoffrey Fisher's days at Marlborough cannot have been quite so idyllic as he later supposed , they were certainly happy and fulfilling .sx He was now beginning to find his feet and he refused to be daunted by a new and unknown environment .sx When his father proposed to escort him to Marlborough on his first day Geoffrey insisted that he accompany him only so far as Birmingham .sx " I'd rather meet this new situation on my own without any protecting wing " , so he explained .sx Perhaps he suspected that so far he had not flexed his own muscles because of his privileged family position in Higham .sx His first few days at Marlborough , however , turned out in a way he could not possibly have foreseen .sx On arrival at the College he sat shivering by a fire in the Common Room of the Junior House until he was taken by the Matron and promptly placed in the Sanatorium where he spent his first week .sx Still , so he alleged , even this misfortune proved beneficial in encouraging him to be independent since , when he began to mix with his schoolmates , he found that the other new boys had already made friends .sx Thus he had " to pick up his way by himself " .sx The headmaster of the College was G.C. Bell , then approaching the end of his twenty-six years' reign .sx Apocryphal stories about him inevitably circulated .sx When meeting a boy he did not immediately recognise he was reputed to say :sx " Hi , boy , who are you ?sx " and when given the appropriate information replied :sx " Are you the son of your father ?sx " .sx Geoffrey began in the remove form A , the master of which was the redoubtable and eccentric P.W. Taylor , a " notorious figure " who earned a reputation for " hardness , sternness and gruffness " .sx Many thought , however , that he kept the best house in the school , largely because he ran it in co-operation with the senior boys most of whom were " considerate , clear-minded and capable " .sx Two other masters left a permanent impression upon the receptive Geoffrey - V.B. Malim whose exposition of the Old Testament long remained in Geoffrey's memory , and C.T. Wood , an outstanding preacher , even capable of enthusing schoolboys - no mean achievement !sx .sx It did not take Geoffrey long to settle down in his new surroundings , the extrovert side of his character coming to his aid .sx Indeed he did more than settle down .sx He determined to leave his mark upon the college - which he did .sx Geoffrey's progress through the school was easy and straight - forward , presenting no apparent problems .sx When he entered the sixth form at the age of fifteen he was asked if he wished to specialise in mathematics .sx His reply indicates his ability to look objectively at his own aptitude and talent .sx He enjoyed maths , he admitted , but he always knew that there was a point at which he was out of his depth .sx This was a shrewd assessment for though Geoffrey Fisher's intellectual brilliance cannot be doubted he yet lacked the imagination which higher flights in mathematics undoubtedly demand .sx G.C. Bell was followed as headmaster by Frank Fletcher who was thirty-two years of age and very different from his predecessor .sx In appearance he was not impressive ; nor had he any ready conversation .sx But as is sometimes the case with a schoolmaster the brilliance of his mind and the great integrity of his character 'got through' and Geoffrey Fisher freely acknowledged a life-long debt .sx From him he learned " never to be content with a superficial impression ; never to take a thing at second hand but wade through it until [one] found an underlying and satisfying reason so far as there was one to be found .sx " .sx Geoffrey Fisher was the first prefect to be appointed under the new r e gime , an office which he entered into with both zest and relish ; and which he was later to reform by removing the dominance of the athletic boys in the life of the school to whom the prefects had been forced to play second fiddle .sx When things came to a crisis , Geoffrey , as head prefect , acted decisively .sx After this he never looked back .sx Geoffrey Fisher certainly made his mark on the life of the school and himself regarded his years at Marlborough as giving him a purposeful and moral training centring on self-discipline .sx However , he had his disappointments .sx His first attempt in the debating society was a disaster , a 'mini' reduplication of Disraeli's initiation into the House of Commons .sx The subject for discussion was Dickens and Thackeray but , on his own admission , Geoffrey's intervention was disastrous and he sat down amid general laughter and personal humiliation .sx As to the influence of Marlborough on his spiritual development Geoffrey Fisher saw it as confirming what he had learned in his own home and family .sx It engendered an unquestioning acceptance of Christ as the master of the good life .sx " I learned , " he writes , " how to tackle everything that came along in what I now recognise was an intelligent Christian way , not borrowing from Christ , but translating into my daily duties and occupations and pleasures the spirit which flowed from His revelation of the Kingdom of God .sx " This points to an evangelical faith which was simple , uncomplicated and fervent .sx In its essence this faith accompanied him for the rest of his life .sx Geoffrey Fisher may certainly claim to have made the maximum use of his school days .sx He left , scooping up many a prize , in 'a blaze of glory' .sx By no means every adult looks back in later years upon his school days as a time of almost unalloyed bliss .sx Often recollection is darkened by 'the shades of the prison house' .sx Not so , for a moment , with Geoffrey Fisher .sx " Marlborough was wonderful " , he claimed later .sx " I enjoyed every bit of it from beginning to end and I was enjoying it because in every kind of way I was growing happily and securely .sx " .sx The time had now come for him , in more ways than one , to move on .sx Departing from the family tradition - his grandfather , father and brothers had gone to Cambridge - Geoffrey Fisher proceeded to Exeter College , Oxford .sx This seat of learning which then consisted of eight Fellows and 182 students was founded in 1314 by Walter Stapeldon , Bishop of Exeter , who in the course of his career held high office of state including that of Lord High Treasurer , before being murdered by a mob while in charge of the City of London .sx The College - as befits its name - still today retains a connection with Devon .sx The Rector , during Geoffrey's five years there , was the Reverend W.W. Jackson who held office from 1887 to 1913 .sx During his last vacation before going up to the University he considered with his usual earnestness how he ought to disport himself on his arrival .sx Maybe his older brothers had told him something of the kind of life which awaited him .sx It was the social side which constituted his main concern , in particular how he would fit into it .sx Ruefully he had to admit that he had " none of the ordinary social vices which are also graces " .sx Ought he to smoke or drink ?sx The latter he rejected on the grounds that you have to consider again and again , have I had enough ?sx Smoking , however - this was years prior to any suggestion of a link-up with lung cancer - was different .sx " You could smoke as much as you liked and as long as you liked ; " so he became an inveterate pipe smoker and was so for forty years until he gave it up while on holiday - suddenly , completely and finally .sx The Oxford to which Geoffrey Fisher went up in October 1906 was very different from the Oxford of today .sx The College then loomed much larger in the life of the undergraduate than did the University .sx This meant that members of the College knew each other with an intimacy which no longer obtains to the same extent .sx The facilities , compared with today , were spartan .sx There were few bathrooms and hot water had to be fetched from the kitchen to fill the tin baths usually placed in front of the sitting room fire .sx However , this had its compensations .sx J.C. Masterman writes that " lying in a tin bath , in front of a coal fire , drinking tea and eating well-buttered crumpets , is an experience which few can have today " .sx O tempora !sx Or mores !sx .sx The standard of living for most undergraduates was conditioned by their income and Geoffrey Fisher's was not large .sx In those pre-radio , pre-television days students had to provide their own amusements .sx Clubs proliferated .sx The Oxford of Geoffrey Fisher's day was in the main still clerically dominated .sx Compulsory chapel was the order of the day and undergraduates were required to attend one service , matins or evensong , on Sundays and in addition four services during the week .sx Yet on the whole politics interested them more than religion .sx The national background of Geoffrey Fisher's five years at the University may be briefly summarised .sx In 1908 Asquith had succeeded the less flamboyant Campbell Bannerman , and a period of liberal legislation , long deferred , was set in motion .sx It is not surprising that on the crest of this wave Oxford itself became a sitting target for radical reformers .sx In a letter dated 14 February 1909 , Geoffrey Fisher informed his family that " the academic side of Oxford is very much disturbed at present by rumours of reformation to come .sx First our Chancellor , Lord Curzon , intends to introduce degrees for women and twelve-week terms .sx Then a report is issued by a committee of dons and labour leaders advocating and pointing the way for working men to come up to Oxford as undergraduates .sx That of course has roused great indignation amongst the useless people here who do nothing else but spend too much money in disreputable ways - they could not stand having to consort with working-men .sx " .sx We shall not be surprised that having arrived at Exeter Geoffrey Fisher threw himself into the life of the College with his usual enthusiasm , and that it was not long before he became President of the Junior Common Room .sx An injury to his collarbone made him decide to abandon rugby for the river .sx In this he followed the example of his brothers at Cambridge who all rowed with some distinction .sx It was perhaps a surprising choice in view of his meagre ten stones but in spite of this he ended up being elected captain of boats and rowed in the trial eights .sx He describes himself as a " neat oar " , " vigorous and energetic " .sx Undoubtedly Geoffrey took rowing seriously and on 14 February 1909 duly reported to his parents :sx " .sx .. a day or two ago I received a notification that I had been elected to the Leander Rowing Club , and today am appearing resplendent in a pink tie and scarf with a beautiful dark blue waistcoat and gilt buttons " .sx To keep busy was , with Geoffrey Fisher , a life-long preoccupation .sx Of his university days he writes :sx " My day is usually fully occupied by one thing or another - matters concerned with the Church Union of which I am President , various societies , the river , social engagements - occasionally a little work , though that normally consists of the minimum - lectures and two essays a week for my history and philosophy dons .sx "