John Cross (SH 70-74) has sent in the following regarding M.G. (Michael) Chisholm (FS/AC 70-75). “I have always enjoyed reading the OSB Bulletins which bring back many good memories. In recent years I have recognised more names and often these names are sadly within the Obituary section of the Bulletins. A few months ago I spoke to Michael (known to most of us at school as ‘Chiz’) on this and how sad that we are losing people we both knew at school! Never did I think that so soon after that conversation I would be sat at my kitchen table writing this obituary for my closest and most loyal friend for the last 56 years. Chiz leaves a sister, Felicity, and a niece Lucinda and her three boys, Max, Toby and Charlie, who currently attend Austin Friars School in Carlisle. The boys will dearly miss Michael as they grow up. They will miss his wisdom, eccentricity, sense of humour, and his guidance. Not marrying until much later in life, Chiz never had children but he was Godfather to my daughter, Emily. She is now 44 and Chiz never missed a single birthday in all those years! Such was his loyalty to his duty and everyone he cared for.
	During his final year at St Bees School, He was appointed as a school and house prefect and flight sergeant in the RAF section of the CCF. He was awarded the Sword of Honour and the school Hedley Award. On the rugby field he was a formidable full back for the 1st XV. As a team playing together since the Under14s we often struggled against our opposition, who were inevitably heavier in the scrums and taller in the lineouts. Chiz put our smaller statures down to having shorter legs due St. Bees’ close proximity to Sellafield! In other sports Chiz excelled at Eton Fives (very dangerous game to be avoided in my view!) and was captain of the school judo team.
Michael in 2006
It was on stage for the annual school plays where I have some of my best memories of him. He persuaded me to become a stagehand during the rehearsals and production of ‘Waiting for Godot’ and I became a willing volunteer on the promise that you got to wear ‘civvies’ and there was always a good party after the final performance. And so, there was! The following year we performed together in ‘John Ford’s Cuban Missile Crisis’ under the direction of ‘Butch’ Broadhurst. I should also mention Chiz acting alongside Rowan Atkinson in Dr Faustus and Baron Bollingrew. So, if you ever wondered what Sean Connery and he have in common, it is that they both performed with Rowan Atkinson, but Chiz did so first! During the latter part of our school career, a small group of us (you know who you are!) made it our mission to reach out to the local St Bees village community; a task that we took very seriously as we joined locals at the cribbage and dominoes’ tables and dartboard of the Oddfellows Arms at the top of the village. Under the watchful eye of the landlord, George Cornish, we enjoyed many happy hours when a pint of Jennings bitter was about 20p. Ultimately, this was probably a contributing factor towards my early departure from the school in 1974, but that’s a story for another time!
	St Bees School Rugby Team Under 15s XV 1971-1972 Chiz seated far right
Academically, Chiz excelled in the 6th form and gained a place at St Andrews University to study theology and after five years departed for the real world with a Masters Degree. I think he rather enjoyed university life too much as he never wanted to leave! When he did return to Carlisle after a stint of working in Australia, he put all his academic learning to good use and became a bin man for BIFFA waste management in Carlisle. Clearly identified as a good prospect by the company, he was promoted to driver and then foreman of the Carlisle operation. I can safely say that he was the only binman in the world who lived within the grounds of a magnificent cathedral (Carlisle) and drove a Mk 2 Jag! After clearing up the rubbish in Carlisle, Chiz had a change of career direction and became an antique furniture dealer for a while. He would occasionally visit us in Middlesbrough and spend most of that visit scouring the scrap yards of Teeside for parts to fit an ageing and battered Volvo 240 estate with a huge roof rack, this being the workhorse and trademark car for any credible antique furniture dealer! Alas, the life as the Lovejoy of the North West became a little too routine and a more varied occupation beckoned. He had already passed his Class 1 HGV driving test prior to his time in Australia and therefore became a lorry driver. However, academia pulled him back to university as a mature student at the University of Northumbria studying Law. He qualified first as a solicitor and then went on to sit for the bar, and you might have expected him then to settle for life as a barrister. No, of course not! Instead, he returned to Carlisle, asked Eddie Stobart for his old job back, and when not driving, also worked as a Pro Bono lawyer in and around Carlisle. He believed passionately in access to justice, helping many people who would not otherwise be able to afford legal assistance.  He continued to work for Eddie Stobart up until his sudden passing on 7th March 2026 aged 69. In recent years we had met up at St Bees, sadly not at the Oddfellows Arms, which like many small village locals’ pubs, closed some years ago. We shared precious time together talking and laughing about our teenage adventures (and misadventures) at school. I was always astonished at his recall of people and events that had long since slipped my memory! His impressions of teachers like ‘Butch’ Broadhurst, the Major, the Headmaster Geoffrey Lees and Sam (Lem) Parkinson and many others will be sadly missed over a glass or two. I know that all OSBs reading this obituary will join me in offering our deepest condolences to Felicity, Lucinda and her boys for their terrible and sudden loss and I know they will forever miss Michael. I know I will. On a final note, just a year ago, in an email exchange between us following our discussion about obituaries, Chiz wrote to me: ‘Obituaries all seem to be about our achievements rather than accepting our worthiness for simply being who we really are.’ Rest in peace my friend, we will remember you for who you really were, for your loyalty, kindness and generosity towards everyone who had the pleasure of knowing you.”

 

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St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

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