We have been made aware that Christopher Dams has died.
Christopher Dams (1943-48).
July 5 1934 – April 6 2026
Christopher was born in The Cloisters at St. George’s Chapel Windsor and lived there until he was eight. His Father was a Minor Canon with a musical background having been an Organ Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford before he was ordained. This early background living in the Castle and watching Changing of The Guard’ and other ceremonies, was the basis for Christopher’s love of pageantry and precision – in later life he never missed watching Trooping the Colour!
In 1943, at the age of 8, he went to St Michael’s College where his involvement in the Choir gave him the love of choral music which continued throughout his life. In all the different places his work took him, he joined the local Choral Society: Newcastle, Rugby, Henley on Thames and Miami! When he eventually came to live in a new Retirement Village in his eighties, he instigated and helped to organise the first Christmas Carol singing, supported the development of a Choir and sang with it unKl recently.
Following Windsor, Christopher’s father’s career included a period as Succentor of Lincoln Cathedral before being appointed Minor Canon and Precentor at Westminster Abbey from 1951-1963. This meant that the family were invited to the Coronation in 1953; this was perhaps the most memorable day of Christopher’s life in that it brought together the pageantry, precision and choral singing of great quality which he appreciated.
After leaving St. Michael’s College Christopher went to Lincoln School, Westminster City School and then went up to Jesus College, Cambridge to read English and Foreign Languages. His newly acquired knowledge of Italian gave him the opportunity to spend a year as a teacher’s assistant in Rome which he enjoyed and spent many subsequent holidays in Italy.
His business career started with Proctor and Gamble in their purchasing department and he continued working in purchasing and quality control, throughout his career, his last position being Senior Vice President at Burger King’s headquarters in Miami Florida, where he lived for 3 years.On retirement, he pursued an interest in the question of the authorship of Shakespeare plays, taking on the roles of secretary, and later Honorary President of the de Vere Society. He combined this with a move to a house in Somerset where he and his wife were able to enjoy turning a one and a half acre site into a garden and orchard where they had time to spend with their three children and six grandchildren.