Charles Reader Englefield (OW 1965)

The Waynflete Office has been informed by his wife Janet of the death of Reader Englefield. At MCS, Reader was involved in the Choral Society, Astronomical Society, Scientific Society, Printing Society and Fencing.

We are grateful for this obituary provided by Janet:

Reader was born Charles Reader Englefield Birkbeck at the family home in Bromley (his father was in the RAF) in 1946. His father changed his name to Joseph Englefield in February 1947 and Reader became Charles Reader Englefield, known thereafter as Reader Englefield.

In 1950, the family moved to Iffley, Oxford. Then in 1958, Reader passed the 11+ exam and was awarded a scholarship to MCS.

In his own words, Reader wasn’t a good student at school, being too lazy to do his homework, although he understood and did well at the subjects that he enjoyed. Reader described himself as a bit of a loner and didn’t enjoy sports, although he did join the fencing club and achieved a bronze medal at the foil. He participated in lots of the school’s extracurricular activities, many of them musical. In 1963, Reader took eight O Level exams, passing six of them, failing the ones that required work: English Literature and Additional Mathematics. Reader entered the Sixth Form to study for A Level exams but left in Easter 1964.

Reader absolutely loved growing up in Oxford and recounting stories of playing at the water meadows. It was in Oxford that he also developed his love of all things railway and right up until last year we would still have outings on steam trains.

In July 1966, Reader got his first job in computing as an operator for the UKAEA at Culham, Oxford. In 1967, he retrained as a programmer and moved to London where he met his first wife Isabel, marrying in 1975.

In 1978, looking for adventure, Reader found a job in Libya, helping the Real Estate Bank of Libya to computerise. In 1979, his son Tareq was born and in 1981, his daughter Karima. In 1984, Isabel and Reader separated and she returned to the UK with the children.

Reader returned to UK in 1987 and met Janet in the autumn of 1990. In 1995, they moved to Hampshire together and married on 9 September 1999 – forever the computer programmer!

Reader commuted to London and then North Hampshire in further senior computing roles until finally he took early retirement in 2004 after he and Janet bought the land adjoining their home. From then, Reader enjoyed life as an ‘estate manager’ with grounds to lay out, hard landscaping to install, perennial fruit and vegetables to plant, paths and fences to maintain and grass and weeds to be controlled.

In later life, Reader developed a keen interest in independent travel and visited South America, Panama Canal, Cape Horn, the US and Canada on extended visits.

Reader is survived by his wife Janet, his children Tareq and Karima and his three granddaughters Thalia, Yasmin and Indira.