Obituaries

Robert Gerald (Rob) Matthewman - passed away May 2015
John Matthewman (1965 leaver) has written to advise that his brother, Rob Matthewman
(1964 Leaver), died at the end of May 2015. He died very quickly. He had 6 daughters. John
writes : "We played rugby for the Old Haberdashers together, he loved his time with Julian
Littlewood as captain."
Roger Walters writes - "I have vivid memories of playing with Rob under Julian's leadership.
They were indeed happy days. I remember Rob's forthright approach to playing as a quick,
open-side flanker. A no-nonsense type of player, direct and uncomplicated Always
enthusiastic and always going forward."
1963
Bryan Heiser, who has died of polio aged 67, spent most of his adult life fighting for the
rights of the disadvantaged and, through the poetry he wrote, highlighting life's subtle twists
and turns. He was perhaps best known as the pioneer of Dial-a-Ride, a free door-to-door
scheme for people with disabilities who cannot use public transport, which was launched in
London in 1980 and now operates throughout Britain.
Born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, Bryan was brought up in Finchley, north London. He won a
scholarship to Haberdashers' Aske's school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, then went on to read
philosophy, politics and economics at Durham University and, on a Fulbright scholarship, at
Harvard.
Bryan contracted polio at the age of 27 on a hedonistic trip to Morocco. He found himself
paralysed and in an iron lung and from that point on always used a wheelchair. But, as
Bryan put it: "It isn't what you've got, it's how you use it: if you define the race you needn't
lose it!"
For 17 years from 1980, he worked for Camden borough council in London – latterly as an
internal ombudsman, helping to solve the problems of local residents. Bryan also undertook
a research project on the lot of under-fives in the borough. He launched the first Dial-a-Ride