We are sorry to hear from the Bradfield Waifs cricketers, the incredibly sad news that Michael Seymour (H 54-60) died on Wednesday 11 September peacefully at home surrounded by his family. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in July. His son Stuart Seymour (F 87-92) followed his father to Bradfield with both being keen cricketers and Waifs supporters. While at Bradfield Michael played for the Football First XI, Cricket and Hockey and was Captain of the Fives. He went on to Clare College, Cambridge in 1960.

Michael was playing Real Tennis for Great Britain in May of this year at the World Over 80s Real Tennis Championships, so this is very sad news for the Bradfield Society community to hear.

James Wyatt remembers Michael as being "ahead of me at Bradfield where he was a much respected Senior Prefect (Head Boy). Following Cambridge he spent several years in Australia as a geologist. On his  return to UK in his early 30s he resumed playing football for the OBs.  He played cricket regularly for the Waifs and efficiently managed many matches for them in addition to taking several wickets with his accurate seam bowling. He was a regular attender at our home Cricketer Cup matches. I believe that he taught at Stowe for a few years. In his own quiet way he gave much support to Bradfield. He will be much missed."

Tom Robertson remembers Michael as "A loyal Waif and national fives champion in his day."

The picture below features Michael front left in 1962 as part of the Cambridge University Rugby Fives VIII and is shared courtesy of the RFA Archive.

A Memorial Service was held for Michael at Bradfield on Friday 21 February 2025 which included tributes to all aspects of his life. Michael's Sporting Life was covered by university friend John Denison and his tribute follows:

Good morning everybody! I must say how honoured, indeed humbled, I am to be addressing you today on the VAST topic of Michael’s sporting achievements.

I first met and knew Michael when we were at Cambridge University together from 1960 to 1963, and we have remained close friends ever since. However this was not the first time I actually saw Michael: this in fact was on an occasion not yet mentioned in all the accounts of his achievements – the Bradfield Greek Play of 1958!! He was a member of the chorus in a memorable production of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, and I – a budding Classicist - was there! Not only had he to learn parrot-fashion 100s of lines of ancient Greek, but also master the precise and coordinated steps and movements required.

However SPORT!!….Michael always had a deep interest in every type of sport and of course possessed no mean ability. Before I outline the detail of his achievements, I would make two points that I found were always true of Michael:

1. He was very competitive, he always loved a challenge when skill and dexterity were required.

2: allied to this, his sense of fair play was second to none, and he was always very charitable towards his defeated opponent.

The records of Michael’s sporting career begin in fact in 1948 when still under 7 at Gayhurst Prep School he took 3 wickets in his first over in an all-important match for the school against…..the Mothers XI!! But obviously his sporting talents were nurtured here at Bradfield, where he represented the school in a number of activities: football, hockey (as captain), fives (as captain), cricket, and tennis (he was finalist in the Buckinghamshire under 18 tournament). 

And of course it was through tennis that he first met Philippa, on a bus, aged 15 or 16, going to Gerrards Cross Tennis Club. Sport has a lot to answer for!!

He carried on these sporting activities at Cambridge, which of course is where I got to know him. He was an outstanding fives player, winning a half blue in each of his three years, and playing in the coveted singles matches in two of those. Although Oxford’s strength in depth gave them victory in two of those 3 years, Michael’s prowess was undisputed.

It was in these years, the early 1960s, that Michael and I became close friends. Sport of course drew us together, but he also shared with me a passion for hiking. There were numerous holidays in the Yorkshire Dales, in the Lake District, and in North Wales. He was a geologist, and I remember cursing him for all the samples of rock I was having to carry home in my rucksack. And an abiding memory I have of him is bidding farewell to him and Ian Judge in Patterdale in pouring rain as they headed off for a ‘final ascent of Helvellyn’, while I chickened out and drove off to the warmth and comfort of my parents’ home in Yorkshire.

I digress: but please forgive me if I mention here something which may not be a sport, but it is certainly a game – a card game, lethal, called two pack snap skat. Michael and fellow geologists adapted/invented this game when isolated on Spitzbergen, and on return he introduced us all to it. A great game to play, involving speed, skill, luck, and above all nastiness (in the nicest possible sense!). Michael loved it, so did we all, but he was very adept at it. We had a lot of fun playing it.

After Cambridge, Michael’s sporting interests continued: he played cricket and football regularly for at least 20 years for the Old Bradfieldians. Every year he went on a cricket tour with them to Sussex, coping no doubt with balancing the physical demands by day of bowling and the consumption of wine and beer in the evening. His footballing career with the Old Bradfieldians too prospered for many years, and only came to an end in 1990 when they were TROUNCED by the school under 16s, of whom a leading player is present here today..… Stuart!!

Michael’s tennis playing skills continued (he had played at junior level for Buckinghamshire, and at Cambridge he had been captain of Clare College’s team) but he was master i/c at Stowe from 1965-8, and played frequently at high club level both in Australia and for Gerrards Cross in the Buckinghamshire Division One.

His fives playing skills he transformed into squash, and in this too he excelled. After Cambridge he gained a purple (equivalent of an Oxford or Cambridge Blue) for squash at Imperial College London. He regularly played in Leagues, both in Western Australia (1970-72) and for the Windsor and Temple clubs in the Berkshire League (1973-94). A formidable player….

However, gradually, as he grew older, he became more and more interested in Real Tennis, and it was this that gave an outlet to all his sporting instincts. And of course he excelled! He learnt the game at Hampton Court with George Todd here, but then played regularly at Hardwick House, here at Whitchurch on Thames, and loved to go on tour with them, a different venue each year. Triumphant in various championships through the early 2000s, he was selected in 2017 to play for Great Britain over 70s in the World Championships in Hobart, Tasmania, where they were runners-up; and he was a finalist in the over 75 Championships in Melbourne. In 2022 he represented Great Britain over 80s in The Munoz Trophy in Paris, where they were victorious, and he was a finalist in the over 80s world championships. Two years later, in May 2024, Michael was a member of the Great Britain team which retained the Munoz trophy, recording victories over Australia, USA and the Rest of the World.

Here, we are left to consider the sporting career of one for whom records began at the age of 6 with 3 wickets against the mothers’ XI, flourished with 3 Blues at Cambridge, continued over such a wide variety of sports, and ended with retaining world championship trophies only a few months before his death. For all round skill, commitment, and always embracing the true qualities of a sportsman, he was second to none. We salute him.