MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE MARKS ALEX MOULTON'S CENTENARY

Alex Moulton was a boarder at Marlborough College from 1933 to 1938, and he appreciated the quality of education that he gained there - perhaps not at the time, but certainly later in life. There is no shortage of accomplished and famous Marlburians but the College has not forgotten the boy from Bradford on Avon who famously used his spare time to build his own steam car. In an article in the 2020 issue of the Marlburian Club Magazine, Michael Orange, Holly Scott-Donaldson and James Meredith, together with editor Catherine Brumwell and with a little help from from ourselves, cover some of Alex Moulton’s achievements as well as the unusual baggage he would bring to the school - frustrated by the lack of metal-working equipment he arrived for each term carrying a 3 1/2” Drummond Lathe.

Alex did of course have the luxury of chauffer-driven transport in the form of his Grandmother’s 20/60 Vauxhall, unlike many of the other boys who made their way to Marlborough by railways that have long since vanished. One adventure not covered in the Marlburian was the young Alex’s desire for a Morgan three-wheeler motor car that led to a night-time breakout (with another boy, Warren) from the College with an ignominious ending. The Morgan was in Devizes and Alex’s Raleigh motorcycle was pushed into service, but the ‘bike broke down and whilst the two boys struggled to mend it they were apprehended by the Police. With no licence, no insurance, and no permission to be out of school, the situation was redeemed only by the weight of Alex’s home address and the fact that his Grandfather had been HIgh Sheriff of Wiltshire. Alex was “thankful but not proud”.

The article in the Marlburian is reproduced below (three pages) and you can read the full magazine here. You can read more about Alex Moulton’s time at Marlborough College in our ‘Life and Works’ series here and in Alex Moulton’s autobiography A Lifetime in Engineering.