Francis Peter Beck

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

(27 June 1909 – 17 May 2002) was an English soldier and

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...

. In the 1930s Beck was a peace campaigner, but in 1938, a year before the Second World War, he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. After the war he became headmaster of

Cheam School Cheam School is a mixed preparatory school located in Headley, in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in Hampshire. Originally a boys school, Cheam was founded in 1645 by George Aldrich. History The school started in Cheam, Surrey. ...

, serving there from 1947 to 1963.

Life

The son of Arthur C. Beck CVO, of Heydon, Norfolk, nephew of Captain Frank Beck, Beck was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

(where he was a cadet CSM in the Officers' Training Corps) and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

."PETER BECK Headmaster who caned Prince Charles – twice" (obituary) in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' dated 4 June 2002, p. 27, from The Times Digital Archive, accessed 16 September 2013 There, he graduated BA in 1931 and proceeded to MA in 1944. In 1932, while working at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

, he became a member and local representative of the

New Commonwealth Society The New Commonwealth was an international organisation created in London in 1932 with branches in France and Germany. It advocated pacifism, disarmament and multilateral resolution of conflicts through political lobbying and different publications. ...

, a group campaigning to secure world peace by giving the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

a military capability. This led to his working closely with Sir Norman Angell, the Labour member of parliament, winner of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

for 1933. In December 1938 Beck was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he continued to serve in the same regiment, becoming

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of its 1st Battalion. In 1942 he passed the

Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For ex ...

, and from 1942 to 1946 was brigade major of the 35th and 1st Army Tank Brigades. In 1947, Beck was appointed as headmaster of Cheam. On 23 September 1957, he found himself at the centre of intense press interest when Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, then aged eight, arrived at his school, accompanied by his parents,

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

. Beck called a press conference at the school and made an appeal to the news media to be left in peace, but in the eighty-eight days of Charles's first term, no fewer than sixty-eight of them saw stories about the prince and the school carried in national newspapers. Beck twice caned Charles for "

ragging Ragging is the term used for the so-called "initiation ritual" practiced in higher education institutions in the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The practise is similar to hazing in North America, in Fra ...

". In 1959, Beck resigned his commission in the

Regular Army Reserve of Officers The Regular Reserve is the component of the military reserve of the British Armed Forces whose members have formerly served in the " Regular" (full-time professional) forces. (Other components of the Reserve are the Volunteer Reserves and the Spons ...

. In 1962, he was appointed a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

, and in 1963 retired from Cheam. In retirement, he lived at Hopton House, near Diss, Norfolk, and died in 2002 at the age of 92.

Private life

In 1946 Beck married Anne Frances, a daughter of Douglas Crossman, of

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

.'Beck, Francis Peter, c.v.o.' in ''Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes'' (London: Kelly's Directories, 1969), p. 237 They had one son, Philip, and one daughter, Mary. In retirement, Beck became the Secretary of the West Suffolk Horse Show Society.'' Country Life'', vol. 153 (1973), p. 653

Notes

External links

Peter Beck obituary
at kingsmeadschool.co.uk

Alamy {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Peter 1909 births 2002 deaths Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order English anti-war activists People educated at Gresham's School Royal Norfolk Regiment officers Heads of schools in England People from Heydon, Norfolk Schoolteachers from Norfolk