John Christopher Dancy (13 November 1920 – 28 December 2019) was an English headmaster, at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

, where he was appointed to improve academic standards, and

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, and academic. He was best known for his reforms at Marlborough, including the introduction of a coeducational

Sixth Form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

Life

The son of Dr. John Dancy of

Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

, and Dr. Naomi Dancy, he was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, and studied at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. Dancy served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, first as a 2nd lieutenant in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

in 1940. He was in its 8th Battalion to 1944, when he became an intelligence officer in the Second Army. He was a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

in 30 Corps 1944–5, and in the I Airborne Corps in 1945.

Educator

After the war, Dancy lectured in classics at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, from 1946 to 1948. He taught as an assistant master at Winchester College from 1948 to 1953, and became headmaster of Lancing College in 1953. where academic standards had fallen. He went on to become Master of Marlborough College, in 1961. In 1965 Dancy introduced

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

into the Marlborough curriculum, a high profile reaction to the

Robbins Report The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lionel Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions ...

. In 1968 came the introduction of girls to the Sixth Form, Marlborough being the first of the

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools an ...

institutions for boys (including most of the traditional British public schools) to take this step.

Later life

After leaving his post at Marlborough, Dancy was Principal of St Luke's College, Exeter, from 1972 to 1978. St Luke's became part of the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, and Dancy was Professor of Education there. Dancy died aged 99. He walked with a limp, caused by

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

Works

* ''Commentary on I Maccabees'' (1954) * ''The Public Schools and the Future'' (1963) * ''Commentary on the Shorter Books of the Apocrypha'' (1972) * ''Walter Oakeshott: a diversity of gifts'' (1995) * ''The Divine Drama: The Old Testament as Literature'' (2001)

Family

In 1944 Dancy married Angela Bryant, daughter of C. L. Bryant of Harrow. They had two sons and a daughter.

Jonathan Dancy Jonathan Peter Dancy (born 8 May 1946) is a British philosopher, who has written on ethics and epistemology. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin and Research Professor at the University of Reading. He taugh ...

is one of the sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dancy, John Christopher 1920 births 2019 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Schoolteachers from Surrey Head Masters of Lancing College Masters of Marlborough College People educated at Winchester College Rifle Brigade officers Teachers at Winchester College