Life Stories
Robin Senter Davis
Robin Senter Davis (1958 BA History) died in 2025.
Robin was born in Worcester in July 1937. His senior school years started at Worcester Royal Grammer School, before receiving a scholarship to Plymouth College, where in his final year he was Head of School and very active in a variety of sports. The college had a long history of sending boys to Oxbridge and he took the Oxford Entrance Exams late 1955, he was offered a place to read Modern History starting October 1958 after his national service.
His national service was in the RAF; starting with Office Cadet Training a RAF Jurby, Isle of Man, at the end of which he received a commission as a Pilot Officer in the Secretarial Branch of the Royal Air Force in November 1956 and was based at the RAF Staff College in Bracknell for the remainder of his 2 years of service. Part of his responsibilities was to arrange College entertainments, including dances, and this was how he first met his future wife Barbara (Babs), who was training as a nurse at Windsor King Edward VII Hospital. Their romance continued through his years at Keble College, and they were married in February 1963.
At Keble he met several lifelong friends, including John Fidler. The college years passed quickly and in September 1961 he started work as a Sales and Marketing trainee at Metal Box, eventually working as manager for 37 years starting in Worcester, Reading and Wantage. In 1989, he moved to the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association as their Director, a trade organisation representing the packing industry in the UK. He enjoyed working with his European counterparts, attending annual award ceremonies, becoming a member of the London Livery: Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers Alias Wire Workers, and a couple of appearances on Radio 4’s Today programme to present industry perspectives on packaging safety concerns. He retired in 1999.
Sport, both playing and watching, was a significant part of his life: at Plymouth College he was in the 1st XI Hockey and captained the 2nd XV Rugby; at Keble he was 1st XI Hockey Captain and played a few matches with the University Occasionals (2nd XI Hockey); going on to play hockey competitively with Maidenhead Hockey Club as well as enjoying tennis and squash. Even in old age he was still playing short tennis and badminton with friends in Windsor. His joy of watching sport is evidenced by scorecards for Worcester Country Cricket matches in the 1950’s, Blues Rugby fixtures from his time in Oxford, through to programmes from Worcester Rugby Club and Harlequins in the 2010’s.
In retirement, he and Babs travelled extensively, especially to the South of France and enjoyed life in and around Windsor where they lived for over 50 years. Robin had always remained connected to Keble College and for a ~5 year period in the early 2000’s he jointly ran the 1958-year group, was a regular at the College reunions including the 50th year anniversary lunch in 2008 and supported the College fundraising activities through the Talbot Fund. Active until his early 80’s, various cancer conditions eventually took hold, and he died in the peaceful and dignified surroundings of Thames Hospice, Maidenhead.
Kindly provided by his sons Jonathan and Nigel Davis