Remembering Charles Henry Scott

Charles arrived at Malvern in 1971 and was in No.4. Garnett Scott was housemaster during that time. Charles had previously attended The Ryleys School in Alderley Edge in Cheshire. At that time there were a lot of boys from Cheshire who came to Malvern.

Charles excelled academically and always held fond memories of being taught by Alan Carter, Douglas Mensforth and other great teachers of that period. Besides his academic work, Charles was a keen sportsman and played house football, rugby and cricket. He acted in both house and school plays and generally had a rich Malvern experience.

In 1975 he won a place at Brasenose College Oxford to read law and started there in Michaelmas Term 1976. Brasenose was one of the early colleges to be mixed at that time and was a very sociable place. Charles was an outgoing and popular member of college and in his second year he was elected president of the Junior Common Room, a role he really enjoyed. His affiliation with Brasenose continued over the years and his friendships with many of his Brasenose and other Oxford contemporaries similarly lasted throughout his life.

On going down from Oxford in 1979 he started a career in finance and his first job was with the Canadian stock brokerage Wood Gundy. He was based in their London office, but a year’s secondment to their Toronto HQ was the beginning of an enduring affection for the American continent.

In the early 1980’s Charles was recruited by the Wall St Bank Morgan Stanley. He worked there for the rest of his professional life, rising up to serve and lead the firm as a Managing Director for over thirteen years. During this period of hard work and extensive global travel, Charles held a number of positions at Morgan Stanley, including Director of European Investment Research, Head of Equity Sales in Europe, Co-Head, Global Asset Manager Client Coverage Group and Chief Operating Officer, Morgan Stanley UK. Charles was also Chairman of Trustees of the Morgan Stanley International Foundation.

He retired in his early fifties and he and the family left London and moved to the village of Shalbourne on the North Wessex Downs. Much time was spent renovating their home Shalbourne Manor into a wonderful rural retreat for family and friends, who were regularly and royally entertained by Charles and his wife Donna.

Charles spent a year at the Royal Agricultural University where he attained a graduate diploma in Agriculture and if that wasn’t enough education, he then achieved a postgraduate diploma in History at his alma mater Oxford University.

His retirement years were also spent devoting his energies to a wide range of charities both in the UK and in Africa. He was a member of the board of trustees for Muscular Dystrophy UK,  a number of development charities in Africa and was due to take over the Chair of the Brasenose College Investment Advisory Committee.

Charles was a polymath.  He got into things with both gusto and depth, and it almost didn’t matter what the subject was. He was very widely-read, he adored (and had a compendious knowledge of) a hugely wide range of music, and his love for and knowledge of sport – every single sport that you could possibly imagine – was the stuff of legend. Unsurprisingly, he was a dream pick for any charity or pub quiz team.

Another passion was travel and adventure. He made a couple of trips to the Alps for some serious mountaineering, went to Japan during the rugby world cup, trekked in the Himalayas and spent a lot of time in New England where the family had a house for vacations.

Charles leaves behind his wonderful family; his wife of thirty eight years Donna, his three children Will, Caitlin and Emma and grandchildren Jude and Dahlia.

The fact that literally hundreds of people attended his funeral in his beloved Shalbourne is testament to his sociability and popularity.

Charles had a rich and happy life. It was cut all too short.

A memorial service is being planned at Brasenose College Oxford. Date TBC.