Sebastian Bullock (College staff 1998-2025)

A Memorial Service for Sebastian was held on Sunday 18 May 2025 in College Chapel.
Click here to read details of the Memorial Service.

Sebastian was part of the College community for nearly 30 years. He was hugely well-respected in the many different roles he fulfilled at College, especially as Housemaster of Boyne House, teacher and Head of Economics, Duke of Edinburgh leader, rowing enthusiast, and latterly, Cheltonian Society & Development Director. His loss is felt deeply by us all. 

The following are abridged versions of tributes from two colleagues. 

Jim Walton (Cheltenham Prep teacher and Houseparent 2001-2013) 
Abridged tribute given at Sebastian’s Memorial Service in College Chapel on 18 May 

Each of us joining Sebastian’s wonderful family today will have our own memories of Baz, Sebastian, Seb, Mr Bullock, Sir. Baz would hate being the centre of attention and we all wish it was not the case. Here are a few words about a man of few words. 

Modest 

Sebastian never spoke of his own achievements but they were many, from the moment of his birth and his adoption by Mr and Mrs Bullock, to serving with the SAS, gaining his British Military Parachute Wings, and climbing Mount Everest. Along the way he married the wonderful Katherine and they welcomed Xander, Jago and Claudie into the world. 

He was so very competent at so many things but you never knew until you saw it. Lighting fires, building houses, climbing mountains, teaching – all done calmly without fanfare. In the world today such modesty is very rare to find. 

Brave 

Bravery comes in many forms and the quiet inner strength and resolve that Sebastian possessed has passed to his children. Baz loved the adrenaline rush of risk taking. Not simply jumping out of aeroplanes and balloons but buying properties at auction without having seen them and, in the last months of his life, heading to Greece in October to skipper a yacht with his family – without insurance. 

Kind 

I first met Sebastian when he was Housemaster of Boyne House. His kindness towards the boys who were lucky enough to be in his House was not so much the hot chocolate and marshmallows type of kindness, as the ‘you’ll feel better after a run on the Cotswold Way’ type of kindness. A kindness that prepared the boys for life beyond the warmth and happiness of Boyne House but a very genuine kindness indeed.  

He brought out the individual strengths of the quieter characters in his care. He always put others first. Sometimes this was in high stakes situations on Everest but more often in daily life and in every moment and every interaction. 

Adventurous 

Sebastian was a man of action who led by example. He led numerous running adventures on the Cotswold Way and many Duke of Edinburgh expeditions over the years. 

I joined several exhibitions to Mull in the early days of getting to know Sebastian. We would leave Boyne House at 6am, each with a minibus of sixth formers. Baz would load up and leave me to follow with the words, ‘See you in Oban.’ Nine or so hours later, on arrival in Oban, the joining instructions would be, ‘‘Bikes or food?’ I would collect the mountain bikes and Baz would take the boys shopping for a week’s supplies. The following morning, we would cross on the CalMac ferry from Oban to Mull. On arrival Baz would ask me, ‘North or South?’ That was often the extent of the conversation for a week.  

Sebastian was a man of few words, yet his actions and values say so much about the man he was and the people he has shown us we can be. Words that can never do justice to the actions and values that Sebastian lived by but words that can allow us to reflect on how he continues to enrich each of our lives:  

Modest, brave, kind and adventurous. 

Dominic Faulkner (College staff 2000-present) 
Abridged tribute given at a reflection service for current staff held in Chapel on 7 March. 

Thirty years ago, Sebastian and I passed the same selection course into our Army regiment. I didn’t know him well at the time but was soon in awe of his ability and speed in the hills. He was an enigmatic character, rarely giving anything away and modest in the extreme. In those early days I never recall seeing him tire. Just as with Everest, he was drawn to the most demanding of challenges and completed them with typical understatement and humility. I learnt a huge amount from him when I joined College a couple of years after he did. It has been a privilege to travel and climb with him in Norway, Peru, the French Alps, Nepal, Tibet and of course those countless days in Snowdonia and the Beacons. 

One of our first College trips together was to Norway. I had planned a suitably arduous trek in the Hardanger with a dozen pupils and on the first night we camped in a remote spot. I had struggled more than usual with my weighty rucksack and, feeling exhausted, collapsed into my tent for an hour. On emerging, Seb was nowhere to be found. One of the boys pointed toward the mountain on the far ridgeline. ‘Sir, Mr Bullock said to tell you that he thought the day had been quite light and he was going for a run to stretch his legs.’ Later that evening, I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved when I unpacked my bag to find a mid-sized boulder placed at the bottom. He loved a practical joke and had a great sense of humour. 

On Sebastian’s Everest summit day in 2006, I was in basecamp, watching events unfold. He and his climbing partner Chris had set off from the top camp the previous night, timing their ascent to reach the summit for dawn. Their pace was such that they arrived in the dark – after all that effort I’m not sure they had much of a view. Their descent was more eventful. Not far below the summit, Chris suffered with a blocked oxygen mask and resulting hypoxia. This scenario, in the so-called death zone, is every climber’s worst nightmare. I can still recall the strain in Seb’s voice on the radio, followed by an hour of agonising silence. Three thousand metres below there was little we could do to help. Later, with the mask cleared and Chris revived, Seb’s follow up call referred only to ‘a spot of bother.’ He never again mentioned the incident. He did not warm to being labelled a hero. 

‘If only fighting cancer was like climbing a mountain,’ he wrote to me in a letter last summer. For a man used to meeting challenges head on, he was confronted very cruelly with something insurmountable. Even then he maintained his characteristic dignity and his legendary work ethic never left him. Here in Chapel, we sit beneath the fortitude window and the famous depiction of Edward Wilson. Fortitude is a quality that very much describes both men. Edward Wilson and Sebastian Bullock held a deep reverence for the outdoors, both driven by conviction in the path they followed, both defined by their integrity and fierce loyalty to family and colleagues. Both were great Cheltonians. 

I can only echo Scott’s words in a final letter to Edward Wilson’s wife Oriana; they are every bit as relevant to Sebastian Bullock as they were to Edward Wilson: 

‘He died as he lived, a brave, true man – the best of comrades and the staunchest of friends.’