Susannah's knack was to convince people that they could do things they felt were completely beyond their reach; getting them to try things they didn’t think they had the ability or time to achieve. She came from a line of indomitable women: her aunts were missionaries in Uganda and Nigeria and her Doctor mother had worked in a field hospital in the First World War. The word ‘impossible’ did not feature in her vocabulary.  Women, in her view, could and should do anything. To limit perspective or choice was ‘feeble’. If something was worth doing nothing should get in the way.

She brought up 4 sons and about 200 daughters in her 10 years as a housemistress at Lancing. She transformed a personal tragedy into care and inspiration for the Sixth Form girls under her wing. She did not waste a minute of her life. She could be impossible and reckless but she was always hopeful and had the energy and zest of a young woman up to the day of her death, aged 78.

Please be generous; This page will provide funding for a local grassroots charity - The One World Group Oxted.