Michael George MacDonald Kidson (24 August 1929 – 20 June 2015) was a British schoolmaster who taught history at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. Among Kidson's pupils was former Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. Kidson was born in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

, London. His parents separated when he was an infant and his father died a few years later. He was brought up in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

by his grandfather until the age of seven. Following his grandfather's death he was placed into the care of the

Royal Wolverhampton School The Royal School, Wolverhampton is a co-educational free school and sixth form for day and boarding pupils in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is the only state school of its type in the UK to have a Royal Charter and it has been a f ...

, which at that time was a charitable institution for children who had lost one or both parents.Michael Kidson, schoolmaster – obituary
''Daily Telegraph'', Obiits. 3 July 2015. (Retrieved 15 July 2015). After five months' training at the

Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. The training course at Mons was for National Servic ...

, Kidson served in the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I, World War II and Korea ...

as a national service officer, then went up to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, where he read economics and history. In 1956, he joined

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

as a graduate trainee, but soon moved into teaching, initially at Papplewick, a private school in

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

, and then at Eton. He retired in 1994. Commenting on Kidson, David Cameron said: "If he caught you napping, he’d throw this block of wood at your head .... Health and safety means you can’t do this anymore."''The Nation,'' Pakistan, 18 October 2014. "Cameron to become first Tory PM sending his children to a state school" http://nation.com.pk/snippets/18-Oct-2014/cameron-to-become-first-tory-pm-sending-his-children-to-a-state-school Kidson's life is portrayed in the 2017 book by Jamie Blackett, ''The Enigma of Kidson: The Portrait of an Eton Schoolmaster'', published by Quiller ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidson, Michael 1929 births 2015 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School Schoolteachers from Shropshire King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers People from Belgravia People educated at the Royal Wolverhampton School Teachers at Eton College 20th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from the City of Westminster