Major General Robert Hedderwick is General Officer Commanding 1st (United Kingdom) Division. After Brockhurst, he attended Radley College before being commissioned into the Black Watch in 1997 and served as the regiment’s Commanding Officer (2016-2018) during operational deployments to Iraq. He received the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in 2019 and commanded the Army Special Operations Brigade (2022-2025) before assuming command of 1st Division in August 2025.

Abigail Morris is the lead vocalist of The Last Dinner Party, one of Britain’s most exciting breakthrough bands. After Marlston House, she attended Bedales School in Hampshire before studying English with Film Studies at King’s College London. Their debut album “Prelude to Ecstasy” debuted at number one in February 2024, becoming the biggest first-week selling debut album in over nine years. The band won the BBC Sound of 2024 poll and the Rising Star BRIT Award. Their single “Nothing Matters” has over 200 million Spotify streams. Morris’s theatrical vocal style draws comparisons to Florence Welch and Kate Bush, while their baroque-pop aesthetic combines Renaissance costumes with maximalist arrangements.

Paul Benney is one of Britain’s most distinguished contemporary portrait artists, personally selected to paint Queen Camilla’s official Coronation State Portrait, unveiled at the National Gallery in May 2025. After Brockhurst, he attended Charterhouse before pursuing his artistic career. He spent nearly a year at Clarence House conducting six sittings with Her Majesty. His portraits grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Portrait Gallery, and Royal Collection, with subjects including HM Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Mick Jagger, and Lord Rothschild. In the 1980s, he exhibited alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat in New York’s Neo-Expressionist movement. He has twice won the BP Portrait Award Visitors’ Choice Award.

Mark Howarth is the Shield Professor of Pharmacology at Cambridge University, internationally recognised for inventing “protein superglue” technology used in vaccine development worldwide. After winning a scholarship from Brockhurst to Lancing College, he completed his doctorate at Oxford and postdoctoral work at MIT. He received the Royal Society of Chemistry Norman Heatley Prize and co-founded SpyBiotech, which developed COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Nine alumni from his research group have founded their own biotech companies, reflecting his commitment to translating scientific breakthroughs into practical solutions.

Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Leyland Harrison holds a unique place in history as the only England rugby international ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross. After Brockhurst, he attended Dover College and was capped twice for England in the 1914 Five Nations Championship when England won the Grand Slam . During the Zeebrugge Raid on 23rd April 1918, despite being shot through the jaw before landing, he led a frontal assault against heavily fortified enemy positions, displaying what his citation called “indomitable resolution and courage of the highest order.” He made the ultimate sacrifice at age 32 and is remembered every Armistice Day at Brockhurst School.

Michael Heseltine was a pupil when Brockhurst amalgamated with another prep school, Broughton Hall, in 1942 and he befriended fellow pupil Julian Critchley.  Both went on to Shrewsbury and parallel political careers. He co-founded Haymarket Media Group in 1957, building a publishing empire before entering Parliament in 1966. His political career featured passionate “One Nation” conservatism and dramatic moments including his resignation over Westland and the leadership challenge that ended Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. He served as Deputy Prime Minister (1995-97) and remains active in public life, celebrated for his magnificent arboretum at Thenford House.

Julian Critchley attended Brockhurst at Church Stretton before Shrewsbury School, where he befriended Michael Heseltine. A Conservative MP for nearly four decades, he became the youngest member of Parliament at age 29 and Father of the House. Distinguished by his independent mind, literary talent, and acerbic wit, Critchley wrote political novels, biographies including “Heseltine: The Unauthorised Biography,” and his celebrated autobiography “A Bag of Boiled Sweets.” Never seeking ministerial office, he carved out a unique role as an eloquent backbencher unafraid to criticise his own party. He was knighted in 1995.

Richard Austen “Rab” Butler was one of Britain’s most distinguished 20th-century statesmen. After Brockhurst, he attended Marlborough College and Cambridge, where he became President of the Cambridge Union. As Conservative MP for Saffron Walden (1929-1965), his greatest legacy is the 1944 Education Act which provided free secondary education for all and transformed British education. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, and effectively as Deputy Prime Minister to both Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan. He concluded his career as Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Frederick Corfield attended Brockhurst before Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy. Commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1935, he was captured in France in 1940 and spent five years as a prisoner of war. After qualifying as a barrister, he served as Conservative MP for South Gloucestershire (1955-1974) and held ministerial positions including Aerospace Minister (1970-72), where he oversaw the first full-scale roll-out of Concorde. He later became a Queen’s Counsel and published his memoirs “Well Briefed” in 2000.

Charlotte Absolom (often referred to as Lottie) is a British junior weightlifting record holder in the 87kg category. After Marlston House, she attended Downe House before pursuing her athletic career. In 2024/2025, she achieved significant records, including a 117kg clean & jerk (212kg total) at the 2024 European Junior Championships, followed by a 118kg clean & jerk and 218kg total in May 2025, and later a 120kg clean & jerk and 224kg total. She previously competed in athletics with Team Kennet Athletics Club, breaking the club’s under-17 women’s triple jump record at the South of England Track and Field Championships in 2021 with 9.93m. Her dedication to elite sport exemplifies the determination and excellence fostered at Marlston House.