In our last article we noted how the Esher Residents Association successfully lobbied to have both the James Burn name and that of eminent local playwright R C Sherriff memorialised in Lower Green roads to remain a part of Esher’s history.

Now we are drawing upon more of Sherriff’s local legacy: Sherriff Close and Rosebriars are both named for Sherriff but for different reasons. “Sherriff Close” is an obvious naming but what is his connection to “Rosebriars”? “Rosebriars” was the name of Sherriff’s family home in Esher Park Avenue and, when he died in 1975, he gifted the house to the newly formed Elmbridge Borough Council asking that it be used to fund the arts. The council sold the house and 6 acre garden and in 1993 it was demolished. In recognition of the enduring legacy from this sale, the new cul de sac of houses was named Rosebriars and the Rosebriars Trust was also set up to manage the funds to support and advance the arts in Elmbridge. In 2004 the Trust was renamed the R C Sherriff Trust to better honour his enduring legacy.

Robert Cedric Sherriff (1896-1975) was initially an insurance clerk who had served in WWl. He was awarded a Military Cross and injured at the Battle of Passchendaele. Sherriff was a copious letter writer home about his war time experiences and this would lead him to write his renowned play, ‘Journey’s End’. He had begun writing in 1919 as a fundraiser for his beloved Kingston Rowing Club and in 1928 his 7th play ‘Journey’s End’ debuted on the London Apollo stage with Laurence Olivier as lead role. The play was an instant success and has endured; it was made into a TV film in 1988, on the big screen in 2017 and at Esher Theatre in November 2021. It was even gently parodied in the last episode of TVs ‘Blackadder goes Forth’ in the slo-mo ‘going over the top’ sequence.

In Hollywood for 5 years, Sherriff wrote a number of noted and diverse film screenplays such as ‘The Dambusters’ (WWll) , ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’ (nominated for a screenplay Oscar in 1939), ‘That Hamilton Woman’ (an historic drama) and the horror sci fi  ‘The Invisible Man’.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that, “Sherriff was devoted to his mother…. He was an endearingly kind and gentle man, qualities evident in his memoir, ‘No Leading Lady’. He spent much of his life, after his early success, at his home, Rosebriars, Esher Park Avenue.”

Simon Leifer, Chair, Esher Residents Association (who attended R C Sherriff’s funeral representing the boat club of their mutual school, Kingston Grammar)