Dates

• Existence: 1899 - 1995

Biography

James Osbert Roach, known as Jack, was born in 1899. He attended Christ’s Hospital School from 1911 to 1916. After leaving school he joined the military training college in Wellington, India. In 1918 Roach was admitted to the British Indian Army as a Lieutenant in the 56th Punjabi Rifles.

In 1922 Jack Roach retired from the British Indian Army and matriculated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1925 with a first class degree in Modern and Medieval Languages. Roach then joined the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) as Assistant Secretary. Roach had principal responsibility for the Cambridge Proficiency Examinations.

Jack Roach left UCLES in 1945 for position with the Civil Service Commission, where he helped to set up the Civil Service Selection Board.

In 1922 Jack Roach and Patricia Blanchfield married. They had three children: Veronica, born in 1928, Gillian, born 1931, and Timothy, born 1935.

Jack Roach died in 04 September 1995 in Cambridge.

Note: James “Jack” Roach is not to be confused with Dr John Peter Charles Roach (1920-2015), historian and author of “Public Examinations in England 1850-1900” (1971).

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