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Bryan Bosomworth was born in 1942, but he repeated a year or two along the way and so matriculated with the 1961 year. He was captain of the 1st XV. He had a physically powerful presence and a gregarious but aggressive personality. He was made a school prefect, perhaps on the theory that it was easier to co-opt him than contain him.
In later years Bryan changed his name to Bosworth. He had a career in the clothing industry. Bryan died of renal cancer in Kloof, on 29th September, 1996. Please see classmates' words about Bryan below.
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Terence Dowdall
There were certainly people among our cohort who liked "Boezie". Personally I thought he was a piece of work. His school persona was the archetypal bully, "owning" the corridors, trailing a little group of admirers and 'momes', and aggressively threatening and domineering others. He extended this outside the school - my friend John Vear spoke once about going to a party which Boezie had gate-crashed, only to find Boezie walking aggressively out of the front door and shouting to 'legit' guests - "What do you want here? Fuck off!" He would sometimes make a progress in school corridors with his entourage and find some third former that appealed to him, and badger him aggressively. I remember seeing him meet his match on one occasion when he was doing this, and John Poacher (remember, that hatchet-faced tall very wiry athletics guy) came up to him and said "Leave that kid alone." Boezie looked carefully at Poacher, weighed the odds and decided he didn't want to risk it, and moved on. On the positive side, I once saw him standing in a group of prefects, Bosomworth being behind McIver, and doing a 'gersh' sign just out of McIver's eyesight, over his head. And I heard tell of a situation in military training when, on the big day that the camp Commandant came to do room inspection, he and the officers with him came up to a guy and looked closely at him. Bosomworth was standing behind the backs of the inspecting officers, and as the colonel looked carefully at the uniform of this guy, Bosomworth leaned forward and silently mouthed to the guy the words "Grab his knob". Of course the guy exploded in a snort of embarrassed hilarity and then had to explain it away. So there are two positive stories of Bosomworth's creative anti-authority moments. Perhaps there were really nice sides to him, but I didn't know him at all well and I never saw them. I didn't much like most of what I did see. I know one shouldn't speak ill of the departed and all that, but I'm sure that wherever he abides at the moment, he'll take it as fair comment.
Peter Heath
Boezzie had a very dark side and I was unfortunate enough to be forced to satisfy that side. My mother worked for his father and I was too nervous to expose him. If I was a little more powerful I would have beaten the shit out of him. It still hurts. There were others . . .
Terence Dowdall
Despite the old injunction about not speaking ill of the dead, I have to say I always thought there was something creepy about Bosomworth and that there were probably ugly needs that lay just below the surface. He seemed to work through menace and intimidation and horrible oily blandishments. I often wondered if the absolute refusal of one of his "friends" and apparent admirers of those days, to be involved with the school reunion or website in any way, had something to do with what this guy may have been put through by "Boezzie".
Ian Robertson
Here is some some new information about Bryan Bosomworth from Terry Sandy (Class of 1965), who knew him after he left school.
Bryan's elder brother Michael was a successful businesman. One of Michael's projects was a clothing distributorship in Aliwal Street, and he installed Bryan there as manager, a job he held throughout his life.
Bryan, who had already changed his name from Bosomworth to Bosworth, married Elaine in 1971. They had two children. Terry Sandy comments:
"Elaine was a very kind, gentle but smart person who worked in the emerging computer industry and had a great deal to do with the computerisation of the Tote at Durban Turf Club. I guess she was the primary bread winner. She had a significant impact on Brian’s behaviour and he became a very different character to the bully I remembered from school. Elain's family seemed to be constantly beset by misfortune and tragedy and Brian proved to be a pillar of generosity and support for her siblings."
Unfortunately further misfortune followed. Elaine died of breast cancer in 1994 at the age of 45, and Bryan died two years later in 1996 of renal cancer. His brother Michael became guardian of the children, but he committed suicide in 1998.
Bryan is survived by his son Lloyd and daughter Kirsten, who are believed to be living in the UK.