I am very sorry to let you know that John Caudle died on 1st June, at home, after a short illness with pancreatic cancer.  

John was called to the Bar in 1976, and spent his entire career in Chambers. He was not only a fearless prosecutor and defender and a fine advocate, but his colleagues report he was also great fun to be in a case with. Although hard working and dedicated, he always found time for fun and mischief, and was the life and soul of any robing room. John also served as a Recorder since 2000, and will be remembered by those appearing before him as a scrupulously fair and sensible judge.

Outside of work, John was third on the OI Fives Club player list, having played 641 matches, of which he won 345. He is the only OI to have won one of the big three national competitions, the London Tournament. His idea for an Ipswich Tournament (now named the Graves Cup) has encapsulated what many believe to be the true spirit of Eton fives and enabled scores of Ipswich pupils to play alongside OIs and notable guest players.

John served as an Ipswich School Governor from 2002-2016 and was a much loved and valued member of the OI Committee.

We extend our condolences to his sister Rosemary and to all his friends and colleagues.

Rest in peace John, we will all miss you. 

We are conscious that some people who knew John during his time at the School may not be in contact with us and we would be very grateful if you could pass on this information to those that you know.

As is usual practice, we would like to place an obituary for John in the 2024-25 OI Journal. If you know of any stories or memories which you can pass on to us so we can put them together for the publication we would be most grateful. Please address any contributions to me through oldipswichians@ipswich.school

Sally Webber
OI Chair

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So sorry to hear of John’s passing. Very sad news. I mainly knew him from playing Fives together in the OI team, and last saw him at the OI dinner at Lords. He was his usual self, upbeat, witty, irreverent - I would never have guessed he was ill.

On our Fives trips (or more usually in the pub afterwards), he would tell stories of the more notable cases he had worked on. Two in particular have stuck in my mind.

The first one involved a lady who wore an Indian headdress to her first court appearance. The judge repeatedly asked her to “remove that hat”. John recounted that she eventually complied, after initially refusing to do so in quite aggressive terms. On her second appearance it transpired she had changed her name by deed poll, to Ms Iwillnotremovemyhattakethat, which was what she had to be called from then on, to the amusement of many in court, though presumably not the judge.

The second case involved a middle-aged man who was accused of dressing as a fishwife in order to entrap and seduce young soldiers at a nearby garrison, having first plied them with alcohol. John was defending him, and as part of the defence argument, had him appear in his underwear in court, to support the defence case that the soldiers must have known he was a man all along and were not being deceived or entrapped. As John pointed out, “M’lud, you would hardly expect to see my client on page 3 of The Sun” (note to younger readers, The Sun was a tabloid newspaper which used to publish pictures of topless models on its page 3). John’s client was duly acquitted, and the next day The Sun carried a picture of his client in his underwear, on page 3, with the headline “The Sun proves top barrister wrong”.

He will be much missed.

Chris Broyden (OI 1973-81)

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John was always very kind and welcoming to me in both his roles as an OI Committee member and as a governor. I appreciated his wise words and advice especially in my first few months as a complete newby to the School. Despite his trying, he never did get me onto the fives courts despite my old school back in Norwich being one of the few schools who had an active team! I am very sad to hear of his passing, and send my sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Heather Bush (Former Development Director, 2016-2018)

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