Sir Walter Durnford
(1847-1926), College headSitter in 1 portrait
Sir Walter Durnford ('Men of the Day. No. 859.')
by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 4 December 1902
NPG D45147
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Simon Hirst
31 May 2016, 14:11
Walter Durnford (1847-1926) was a popular Housemaster at Eton and was later Provost of King's College, Cambridge. In 1919 he became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. His pupils at Eton included The Duke of Newcastle, Waldorf Astor and twin brothers Francis and Riversdale Grenfell (the former of which was first person to be gazetted the VC in WW1)
Second son of Rt. Rev. Richard Durnford, he attended Eton in 1859. He was elected a Fellow of King's and returned to Eton as a master in 1870. He retired from Eton in 1899 and went to reside as a fellow at his old college in Cambridge where he spent his retirement on various boards and councils. He was elected as the Mayor of Cambridge in 1905 and became the Provost of King's College Cambridge in 1918. In 1919 he was made G.B.E. He was an avid gardener and thespian, often appearing on stage. His retreat, Pit House, in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight was were he indulged his passion for gardening. Sir Walter Durnford was unmarried.