ST MARY'S
THE TOWN & COUNTRY SCHOOL
38-40 Eton Avenue, London, NW3
also at Stanford Hall, Nr. Rugby & Hedgerley Wood, Nr. Chinnor

A retrospective of this unique school, by a former pupil (1961-1968)
with a massive and still growing number of contributions from others, spanning the1930s until closure

UPDATED 1st November 2026 I have included some recent additional names to the list of former pupils linked below at ALUMNI TIME CRITICAL NEWS FLASH If you read this email from Kevin Mathewson in good time, please pass on to those who may be interested Out of the blue Dear friends, I was in the 2nd form at St. Mary’s in the 1967-1968 school year, with Matthew Rees and Alfred Nathan, Peter Nissen, James, Lindy Rappoport, Georgina and Carolina, Lynne, Robin and Diana (Di-Di … I won’t say it), and many others – forgive me if memory is a bit dodgy. If any of you see this, I hope this finds you all well and thriving half a century after our moment in the sun. Greetings! I write you from the coast of Maine in the northeast United States, where I’ve been living for the past 10 years, after many years in Brazil. Next week I’m coming to England for a somewhat unusual reason – the screening of a film I made in Paris in 1968. It was filmed in the summer of 1968, but then, for a variety of reasons, the project was abandoned after completion. 50 years later, the late director’s son gathered up the pieces and completed the film, which is now appearing at film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. I just thought I’d check to see if anyone would like to get together, either to come see the film on Saturday, November 7, or perhaps have lunch, or a drink, or a walk in the park in London on Sunday, November 8? Unfortunately, I have to get back to the U.S. on Monday. I have all kinds of memories of our time at St Mary’s, of all of you and our teachers, of Mrs. Paul, Mr. Gayton, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Meulleman (whose disheartening refrain, “you’re not very bright, are you?” was a prelude to months of fruitless coaching in maths), Miss Bevan teaching us Beowulf, Macbeth and Huckleberry Finn, and of course, Mr. Neville. I remember struggling through a Latin translation in class, and Mr. Neville glaring with terrible severity, saying “bo, bis, bit, bimus, bitis, bunt,” over and over again, or else, “bam, bas, bat, bamus, batis, bant!” Well, I won’t dive into the memories here. It would be wonderful to see anyone from our class during the weekend of November 7-8. Please write if you’re free that weekend and would like to get together. My email is kmathewson@gmail.com Affectionately, Kevin Mathewson 1st November 2026   Gwen O'Sullivan is something of an expert when it comes to geneology. Elisabeth Paul evidently used different birth dates on the various extant documents, seemingly to suit the occasion. For example portraying herself as younger, for her entry to the university in Paris, but older when applying for a license to run the school in Hampstead, and her age on her death certificate differs from that on her marriage certificate. Gwen has unearthed Mrs Paul's original birth certificate, and thus we now have a definitive age for the lady. I have added said record in  Mrs Paul's section and included a translation, the German gothic style being very hard to read, even for a German. Latest addition: An excellent set of photographs from the early 1979s, sent in by Anna Evans née Papadopoulos In the guest book & latest gallery (Number 24) PreviouslyAudio from a BBC Programme featuring essays from Jennifer Beacham & Melanie King High quality recording courtesy John Ker Independent Television For Schools programme 'Ways With Words' - Jennifer Beacham - Melanie King The two were winners in the nationwide competition within the ITV series for schools. Lovingly recorded by John Ker in the old music room and preserved for you here. I have created a new photo page (Number 24) to accomodate the new influx of pictures, with an additional section featuring Mr Tolstoy, some new to this website. There are some new nam es in the alumni list. If you find that you are missing, just let me know, it is not a nice feeling to be written out of history! I have also added a fascinating article about our art teacher Mary Gorrara who taught at the school from 1966-1968 Click here for her special page In addition John O'Sullivan has discovered a great deal more about Mr & Mrs Paul's history from their days in Germany. I have an english translation added to here page at  Mrs Paul's section added in below the existing content, or you can download the article as pdf here I should mention that the wiki article borrows heavily from this website when covering the Paul's later life.