Chichele Essay prize
This year’s Chichele Essay prize was awarded by examiner, Dr Peter Candy OT (OH 03-08), Director of Studies in Law at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and University Assistant Professor in Civil Law. Dr Candy is a legal historian and is currently working on a history of Roman Commercial Law.
The Chichele Essay is named after Henry Chichele (1363-1443), Archbishop of Canterbury and Founder of All Souls College Oxford. The prize was established by John Sparrow, a Skinner and Warden of Souls 1952-77. The competition takes the traditional form of an essay written in examination conditions, with a one-word title not disclosed in advance. Boys in their final year take part by invitation. This year Dr Candy chose the word ‘Friendship’ as the stimulus and nineteen boys took part.
Dr Candy commenced his address by praising all the entrants, saying, “It was a genuine pleasure to read the essays… I was very impressed… [and] would have been very happy if some of my first-year students had written these essays, so I have a lot of confidence that these boys will go on to very good things”. He gave special commendation to Hiroki (HS5), Jacob (WH5) prior to confirming Alex (FH5) as the winner of this year’s prize.
James Burbidge, Head of Classics and organiser of the competition, added, “We are very grateful to Dr Candy for coming back to Tonbridge to judge the competition. The boys who took part clearly enjoyed the opportunity to write on the topic of friendship, and their essays exhibited a wide range of approaches and styles”.
All those in attendance received a hard copy of Alex’s essay. The poignancy of his penultimate paragraph will have no doubt resonated with our Upper Sixth leavers. Alex reflected, “So much depends upon a good friendship – not because it is perfect, or equal, or even permanent, but because it is one of the few things that pulls us out of ourselves. Against the illusion that we are ‘islands’, friendship reminds us that we are, and always have been, connected”. Likewise, we hope the friendships the boys have made at Tonbridge will endure, regardless of the paths they choose to pursue.
