Peter Seaton Burrows (1945-2025)
Born just a few days after the end of World War II, Peter was the second child of Daphne and Walter ‘Buzz’ Burrows, the then Director of Holywell Press.
Peter shared his parents' passion for country sports and developed a love of horses from an early age. He learned to ride when he was 4, and became an accomplished horseman, riding with the Old Berks Hunt and taking part in individual and team cross-country events, as well as helping to organise point-to-points and fundraising activities.
Educated at The Dragon School, Oxford, and Cokethorpe, near Witney, Peter left school at 15 and became an apprentice at Holywell Press. He undertook a 3-year Block Release Course at the Oxford Technical College (now Oxford Brookes University) and worked as a compositor, learning to set type by hand, make up pages, imposition, and mechanical typesetting with Linotype and Monotype.
When Peter was 20, his father died, and he started to attend Director’s meetings alongside his mother, Daphne, who helped to run Holywell Press until he was ready to take over. Peter became Composing Room Foreman in 1967 and Company Manager in 1969, whereupon he immediately threw himself into modernising the business.
Peter married Susan (Sue) Thompson-Rudge in 1966, and demonstrated a remarkable talent for building and renovating, making their first home in Freeland more comfortable, and then creating their second home by converting two four-hundred-year-old thatched cottages and a village shop in South Hinksey, where they raised their three children – my sisters, Lucy and Florence, and me.
Peter spent well over three decades at the helm of Holywell Press, successfully steering the company through periods of rapid change in printing technology and automation. He invested in state-of-the-art printing presses, developed a skilled team, and choreographed the Company’s move from the cramped old Oxford University Gymnasium (MacLaren’s Gymnasium), on Alfred Street in the centre of Oxford, to Holywell’s current site in Osney Mead.
As a businessman, Peter took time to get to know every aspect of the Company he was running – from the people to the machinery. He was laser-focused on delivering the best quality possible, ensuring 100% reliability, and carefully looking after the pennies. At a time when many Oxford printing firms have fallen by the wayside, Peter created the foundations upon which Holywell has continued to invest, adapt, and improve.
When he wasn't busy running Holywell Press, Peter contributed to Oxford life in many other ways. As Chair of the Oxford Round Table and 41 Club, he oversaw a host of local events which raised thousands of pounds for charity. He was President of the Isis Rotary Club, where in 2008, he established the Cowley Classic Car Show, an annual event that is still going strong today. He was also a Trustee of the Oxford Preservation Trust.
Peter retired from Holywell Press in 2005, and in 2010, he and Sue moved to a small farm above the Wye Valley, where they kept chickens and sheep – finally fulfilling his dream of country living.
His funeral is being held on Monday, 22nd December, in the Forest of Dean, with donations in memory to Cancer Research UK and St David’s Hospice.