1900 - 1939

Christopher Tolkien

Christopher Tolkien

Christopher Reuel Tolkien (OD 1937, Former Parent) joined the Dragon in 1932, before continuing his education at The Oratory School, Reading. He entered the Royal Air Force in mid-1943 and was sent to South Africa for flight training. He was commissioned into the...

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Sir William Mallalieu

Sir William Mallalieu

Sir William 'Per' Mallalieu (OD 1922) attended the Dragon between 1916 and 1922 before progressing, via Cheltenham College to Trinity College, Oxford. He was considered something of a schoolboy hero: the winner of cups for diving, gymnastics, cricket; captain of the...

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Ronald Poulton Palmer

Ronald Poulton Palmer

Ronald 'Ronnie' Poulton (OD 1903) was born in Headington, Oxford to Edward Bagnall Poulton, Hope Professor of Zoology at Oxford University, and his wife Emily Palmer Poulton. He was educated at Dragon School from 1897 to 1903, and Rugby School from 1903 to 1908 before...

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Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill

Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill

'Mad Jack' Churchill (OD 1920) was a British Army officer, known for his bag-pipe playing and sword-wielding, who fought during World War II. Churchill entered the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, and graduated in 1926, moving to Burma with the Manchester...

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Sir Lennox Berkeley

Sir Lennox Berkeley

Sir Lennox Berkeley (OD 1912) was born in Boars Hill, Oxfordshire, and attended the Dragon from 1909 through to 1912. He went on to Merton College, Oxford, where he read French, Old French, and Philology before going to Paris to study Music. He is a British composer...

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John Betjeman CBE

John Betjeman CBE

Sir John Betjeman (OD 1920) was born in London and joined the Dragon in 1917, before being educated at Marlborough College and then Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a British poet known for his nostalgia for the near past, his exact sense of place, and his precise...

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Sir Lancelot Mallalieu

Sir Lancelot Mallalieu

Sir Edward Lancelot Mallalieu (OD 1918) known as Lance Mallalieu, was a British politician. He was educated at the Dragon School, before Cheltenham College and then on to Trinity College, Oxford. At the 1931 general election, Lance was elected as the Liberal Party...

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Sir John Mortimer CBE

Sir John Mortimer CBE

Sir John Mortimer (OD 1937), was born in Hampstead, London, he joined the Dragon in 1932 and went on to be educated at Harrow and at Brasenose College, Oxford. He began writing before he was called to the bar in 1948. Sir John was an English barrister and writer who...

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Sir John Kendrew CBE FRS

Sir John Kendrew CBE FRS

John C. Kendrew (OD 1930) attended the Dragon between 1923 and 1930 before being educated at Clifton College, Bristol (1930-1936), and then Trinity College, Cambridge in 1936 as a Major Scholar. He was a pioneer in structural biology and a catalyst for the emergence...

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Naomi Mitchison OBE

Naomi Mitchison OBE

Naomi Mitchison CBE (OD 1911), (née Haldane) followed her brother to the Dragon (then known as Oxford Preparatory School) in 1904, as the only girl. She qualified for the University of Oxford in 1914, via the Oxford higher local examination and entered the Society of...

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Leonard Cheshire VC, OM, DSO & Two Bars, DFC

Leonard Cheshire VC, OM, DSO & Two Bars, DFC

Leonard was born in Chester and moved to Oxford at a young age, where he studied at the Dragon and Stowe School. He was later accepted to Merton College, Oxford University, joined the RAF and trained as a pilot. Assigned to Bomber Command, Leonard become one of the...

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Nevil Shute Norway

Nevil Shute Norway

Nevil Norway (OD 1913) left the Dragon at the end of the Easter Term 1913. He went on to graduate from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1922 with a degree in Engineering Science. Nevil was an aeronautical engineer and novelist. He used his pen name Nevil Shute to separate...

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Join us for our Saturday Dragon Quest: a thrilling enrichment programme where children learn new skills and try out new things. Some of the activities have direct academic benefits; others are focused on building friendships and life skills. 

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