Mark Hichens (OK ex-staff) died November 26, 2022

Mark Lyttelton Hichens was head of History at the Junior School. He lived to the age of 96, and his funeral is on 21st January 2023 at 2 pm at St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Walk, North Aston OX25 6JA. No flowers but donations to the National Trust to plant a tree. Tony Hein (Vice President) writes “He was an elegant gentleman of the old school, a fine tennis player and a much-published historian”.

Old King’s Club Newsletter 71, October 1987
As the Junior School approaches its 75th Anniversary, it has published a commemorative magazine to celebrate its third jubilee. This has been edited and largely written by Mark Hichens, who retired at the end of the Summer Term after seventeen distinguished years of service as Head of English, Head of History, Librarian and Editor of ‘Cabbages and Kings‘. The magazine will be particularly interesting to members of the Old King’s Club. It traces the history of the Junior School and sets this in the context of the family life of its boys, their neighbourhood of Wimbledon and the events of the wider
world beyond. Using the reminiscences of Old Boys and masters, it is rich in anecdotes and is well illustrated and engagingly told.

Old King’s Club Newsletter 86, April 1995
“The Troubled Century – British and World History 1914-1993” by Mark Hichens
OK’s who remember Mark Hichens’ first book, “Great Britain and Europe 1814 – 1914“, may be interested in its successor which has just been published. Of “The Troubled Century“, Colin Holloway writes: “It provides in a delightfully accessible style a panoramic introduction to British and World history since 1914”. For intelligent young adults grown weary of picture-book generalities and not yet geared to the technical approaches of the contemporary historian, Mark Hichens tells a story clearly, wittily, and comprehensively. His readers will feel that they understand a complex period in a proper perspective – surely a gift to be treasured in an age which often sees itself in the flickering media image of the present. They will also find incidents and characters to savour; this is history to be enjoyed.

Since retiring from KCJS in 1987, Mark Hichens has also written “West Downs, Portrait of an English Prep School” One reviewer wrote of this: “For once, the book justifies the claim to be of interest to a much wider readership than its own community”. Elegant, charitable and yet penetrating, it is both a social document and a sad object lesson in how good things can go wrong.
Published by Pentland Press Ltd.

Old King’s Club Newsletter 105, October 2004
Mark Hitchens (Honorary member) has had another book published, entitled “Prime Ministers’ Wives – and One Husband“. The result of ten years of intensive research, it was the first work of its kind for almost two decades and has since been followed by a book on the same subject by Cherie Blair. In his book, Mark examines these women – and one husband, Denis Thatcher – in light of their personalities and achievements, as well as the roles they have played in British history. Norma Major, in a review in the “Mail on Sunday“, wrote “He has wisely avoided the fictions of press cuttings and made a genuine attempt to get behind the public facade. He paints a sympathetic and convincing picture of Prime Ministers’ spouses, from Catherine Walpole to Cherie Blair”.
Published by Peter Owen, 256 pp.