The Adair

AH “Billy” Adair, an early recruit of Todd’s, appointed to the staff in 1903 and charged with establishing science as a subject in the fledgling school, was the very embodiment of the “can-do attitude”. He would spend the next 21 years confidently trying his hand at just about anything, and with inimitable Irish flair, left his mark on many and varied aspects of life at Michaelhouse. Intermittently stepping into the breach as Deputy Rector and Acting Rector upon both Brown and Pascoe’s deaths, Adair is remembered as a kindly man, famous for carrying his hurricane lamp around the dormitories at night, even after the advent of electricity obviated its necessity, to share stories, anecdotes and jokes with the boys.

Adair rolled up his sleeves alongside CW Hannah to accomplish the urgent task of creating turf wickets with grass outfields at Michaelhouse, and when numbers began to wane, he engaged in the unedifying task of recruiting boys for the school during the winter of 1909. He is remembered for his too meticulous refereeing of home matches for 15 years, and his establishment of the first military band, instructing the early buglers and drummers despite being distinctly unmusical himself! Adair designed and manufactured the school cadet uniform, furniture for the dormitories and classrooms of the new buildings on the South East of the Main Quadrangle, a stage for the hall, upon which he himself performed; and when funding became tight at the outbreak of the Great War, Adair put on his architect’s cap and designed and oversaw the construction of the school sanatorium.

The uncomplicated yet versatile Adair T Shirt is up for anything, and is as equally at home at the mall as it is with sheepskin slippers at home or dressed up with jeans for an Autumn afternoon on the banks of Meadows.

 - 160g combed ring-spun, pre-shrunk cotton fabric (locally sourced/knitted)
 - Made in Durban, South Africa

NB - Import duty into UK of 12% plus 20% VAT applied to price and portion of shipping cost.