JOHN Harrington, who was a teacher at Bradford Grammar School for 30 years, has died aged 84.

After initially teaching maths there for two terms in 1967, a post in chemistry became available in September, 1968, and John specialised in that subject until his retirement in 1997, becoming head of chemistry in 1974.

Although he was awarded a major scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge in December 1953, John did not take a typical path to teaching.

After spending his childhood in Aberdare, South Wales, he went to Ratcliffe College – a Roman catholic boarding school run by the Rosminians, a Roman catholic religious institute founded by Antonio Rosmini in the 1820s.

While at the Leicestershire school, John passed the School Certificate in 1949 and the Higher School Certificate in 1950, the latter just before it was superceded by GCE A-Levels.

He entered the Rosminian order in September 1950, spending time as a novice in Sussex and in the scholisticate in Rugby before going to Cambridge University.

There he matriculated in 1954 before going on to gain a First in natural science prelims the following year and Part One and Part Two (chemistry) of Tripos in 1956 and 1957.

John's first teaching assignment was back at Ratcliffe College in 1957, where he taught chemistry and maths to S-Level before becoming head of chemistry there in 1960.

In 1963-64, John studied philosophy at St John's Seminary in Wonersh, Guildford before going to Italy to study theology at the Lateran University in San Giovanni, Porta Latina.

While there he also studied for a diploma in Christian Architecture and was principal cantor at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Rome.

On his return to England, John was, not surprisingly due to his intellect and wide experiences, snapped up by Bradford Grammar School, where his contribution went way beyond teaching.

His love of cricket and rugby was transmitted through coaching the junior teams at the school, sports he had also coached while at Ratcliffe.

John was also playing cricket in the Bradford Central League then, and became their secretary from 1975-1995 before undergoing a job swap with assistant secretary Andy Kellett until 2005.

A life vice-president of the league, John was also involved with school productions, notably singing roles as Poo-Bah in the Mikado and the Sergeant in the Pirates of Penzance, which were ideally suited to his deportment and whimsical humour.

The role of the Constable in the 1985 production of Jonathan Wild, written and composed by two members of staff, was specifically written for him.

John was secretary and then president of the Common Room and was largely instrumental in the end-of-term parties, where ample quantities of home-made wine and beer were available.

Latterly he was treasurer of the Dramatic Society.