G.D. (David) Clayton - Bolton Branch President

It is with great sorrow that the Bolton Branch marks the passing of its President, David Clayton, who died on 29 August 2014 following a prolonged period of ill-health.

David was awarded an Open Scholarship to study modern history at Merton College, Oxford, and he retained a deep affection for his college throughout his life.  He was awarded B.A. in 1958 and M.A. in 1962.  He went on to teach history at schools in Bolton and Burnley, rising through the ranks to become Headmaster of Habergham High School in 1984.  Under his leadership, the school received ministerial commendations from the government and became a Beacon School in 1997.  Despite the demands of leading a growing school community, David continued to teach history until the final term of his Headship in 2001.

David joined the Historical Association in 1960.  A staunch supporter of the H.A. at both a local and a national level, he served the Bolton Branch as Secretary and Vice-President, before being elected President and Chairman in 1987.   He was a member of the National Council of the Historical Association from 2002 to 2005 and was made a Fellow of the Historical Association in 2013.  Always the first to ask an erudite question of a speaker, David's interest in history was wide-ranging and well-informed.

David was also an author of note.  His first book, Britain and the Eastern Question, was published in 1971, and upon his retirement from teaching he took up his pen again to write a history of the early years of the Hayward Grammar School, which had closed in 1982.  Having discovered that no formal records of the school remained, David described his book as an attempt to ‘create an archive in defiance of imposed oblivion'.  As a scholar, however, David chose not to write merely a celebratory memoir, but instead to make an academic judgement on the school and to comment on the effects of the 1944 Education Act.  His final book was the 2011 Lost Farms of Brinscall Moors, which led to an appearance on the BBC's Countryfile programme in 2012. 

In addition to his interest in history, David was passionate about music and was a keen walker.  He sang with the Brixi Singers, a leading chamber choir in the north-west, and supported the Choral Foundation at Merton College.  He had completed all of Wainwright's 214 walks on the Cumbria fells, and was still walking the moors above his home in Brinscall, Lancashire until shortly before his final illness.  He will be sadly missed by many.