The Halliday Cup for music was presented to Sherborne School by Ronald James Rivers Halliday (1902-1963) in memory of his brother, Second Lieutenant Charles Graham Rivers Halliday (1897-1917) who was killed in action at Ypres on 13 June 1917.
Charles Graham Rivers Halliday was born on 28 June 1897 at Shawford, Hampshire. His parents were Charles George Halliday, a Professor of Music, and Francis Amy Halliday (née Rivers).
Charles attended Highfield School at Liphook, Hampshire, and in September 1911 followed his brothers, Gerard Rivers Halliday (1894-1952) and Ronald James Rivers Halliday (1902-1963), to Sherborne School where he was awarded a Scholarship. Charles remained at Sherborne School until December 1914, during which time he boarded at Lyon House and was a member of the 1st XV rugby football team (1914). He was also a Company Sergeant-Major in the Officer Training Corps (1914) and a member of The Sophists (a debating society).
After leaving Sherborne, Charles went straight Woolwich, transferring in July 1915 to Chatham. In February 1916, 2nd Lieutenant Halliday was sent to France with the 1st Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, attached to the 1st Cavalry Division. On 1 June 1917, he was transferred to 225th Field Company, Royal Engineers, and was killed in action just twelve days later at Ypres on 13 June 1917, fifteen days before his twentieth birthday.
Charles’s death was announced at Sherborne School by his former housemaster, Alec Trelawny-Ross, in the Lyon House Letter:
‘C.G. Halliday (R.E.) was killed in action “in front of the very front line” on June 13th. He was one of the “builders” of the House, a tower of strength when it was in the making and a great friend. He died as he would have wished, for he was every inch a soldier and a man. No.2 Dormitory will be called after him, that members of the House may learn and remember the qualities that helped him to help the House so much.’
2nd Lieutenant Charles Halliday was buried at Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery in Belgium (III. A. 17). The inscription on his headstone reads: ‘Upright in all his ways. Honoured by all. Till the day break. The shadows flee away.’ He is also remembered on a memorial plaque at All Saints church at Farringdon, Hampshire.
At Sherborne School, 2nd Lieutenant Halliday is remembered in the Book of Remembrance and on the School war memorial. He is also commemorated on no. 31 memorial pew in the School Chapel and on the Lyon House war memorial.
The Halliday Cup was first awarded at Sherborne School in 1925. It was won that year by George Weldon, who would go on to become Chief Conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1944-1950) and Associate Conductor with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester (1952-1963).
For many years the cup became a House Cup, awarded to the House which produced the best combination of senior and junior pianists, before reverting in 2008 to its original purpose.
Winners of the Halliday Cup:
| 1925 | George Anthony Thomas Weldon – piano |
| 1926 | Kenneth Desmond Findeisen – piano |
| 1927 | Kenneth Desmond Findeisen – piano |
| 1928 | Ronald Ernest Woodham – piano |
| 1929 | Maurice Pettitt – piano |
| 1930 | Ronald Ernest Woodham – piano & general musicianship |
| 1931 | Maurice Pettitt – piano & general musicianship |
| 1932 | John Percy Hotchkis – piano & general musicianship |
| 1933 | Geoffrey Albert Collings – piano & general musicianship |
| 1934 | Competition not held. |
| 1935 | Geoffrey Albert Collings – piano & general musicianship John Rodie Peters – piano & general musicianship Adjudicator: A.E. Brent Smith |
| 2008 | Edward Fauchon Hughes (L6e) – piano, organ Adjudicator: Philip Fowke (Fellow of Trinity Laban Conservatoire & International Concert Pianist) |
| 2009 | Competition not held. |
| 2010 | James Benjamin Hewat Craw (L6d) – baritone Adjudicator: David Bednall (OS) (Teaching Fellow of Bristol University) |
| 2011 | James Benjamin Hewat Craw (U6d) – baritone Adjudicator: Robert Aldwinckle (International pianist & harpsichordist) |
| 2012 | Theodore George Irvine (U6e) – piano Adjudicator: Roderick Swanston (Professor of Music, RCM) |
| 2013 | Yuk Chun (Calvin) Tsang (U6f) – piano Adjudicator: Dr Stephen Darlington (Organist & Tutor in Music, Christ Church, Oxford) |
| 2014 | Robert Paul Kerr Folkes (U6a) – baritone Sau Tak (Douglas) Mak (4c) – piano Adjudicator: Paul Drayton (Composer, conductor & pianist) |
| 2015 | Finnbar Blakey (5a) – piano, baritone Adjudicator: Martin Walker (ABRSM & Diploma examiner; pianist) |
| 2016 | Joshua Cook (3f) – piano, organ Adjudicator: Philip Fowke (Fellow of Trinity Laban Conservatoire & International Concert Pianist) |
| 2017 | Finnbar Blakey (U6a) – tenor Adjudicator: Susie Allan (Concert pianist & accompanist to Roderick Williams) |
| 2018 | Charlie Smith LTCL (U6g) – voice Adjudicator: Frederick Brown (Chorus Master and Répétiteur of Hamburg Opera) |
| 2019 | Hector Fiennes (U6a) – piano, organ and tenor Adjudicator: Dr Stephen Darlington (Organist & Tutor in Music, Christ Church, Oxford) |
| 2020 | Nathanael Fagerson ATCL (U6c) – voice Adjudicator: Paul Drayton (composer, pianist, conductor) |
| 2021 | Competition not held. |
| 2022 | Angus Williams (L6c) – piano, organ, and voice Adjudicator: Clare Toomer (Head of Academic Music, Marlborough College) |
| 2022/23 | Chi Yat (Ian) Liu Sch.Mus (3d) – piano Adjudicator: Frederick Brown (Chorus Master and Répétiteur of Hamburg Opera, formerly gap-year Organ Scholar at Sherborne School, and subsequently conductor and pianist of the Welsh National Opera). |
| 2023 | Chi Yat (Ian) Liu Sch.Mus (3d) – piano Adjudicator: Paul Drayton (Composer, conductor and pianist) |
| 2024 | Chi Yat (Ian) Liu Sch.Mus (4d) – piano Adjudicator: Libby Burgess (Pianist, founding Artistic Director of New Path Music, Co-Artistic Director of the Beverley Chamber Music Festival) |
| 2025 | Edward Kennerley (5g) – Voice Adjudicator: James Oldfield (Singer and Singing Teacher; Singing Teacher of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge) |
| 2026 | Louis Rippon (L6e) – Piano Adjudicator: Alex Aitken (West End Musical Director, conductor, pianist, organist and writer) |
For further information about the Sherborne School Archives please contact the School Archivist
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