Samuel Waylen, known to everyone as Sam, was born in Putney in South London on 25th October 1952.
At Emanuel, Sam was involved in the arts and sang in several concerts. He also had small parts in productions such as Trial by Jury (1964). Whilst in the Sixth Form, he was also a member of the Student Council.
After Emanuel, Sam took some time out before studying Music at St Gabriel’s where he passed every exam with the highest grades. In terms of playing the guitar, he said that learned everything he knew from Tim Douglas (OE1963-70), a Putney friend, who is now a celebrity photographer. Sam stayed in touch with Tim until the end of his life and considered him a mentor.
Sam carried on with Music after college, giving guitar lessons and later joining a band called Grass Verge. His involvement in a music project for homeless people in St Martin in the Fields Church attracted the attention of the royal family, and he was commissioned to work with the homeless for a year.
Sam later became homeless himself and began to know what life on the streets was really all about. His homeless campaigning continued as he became part of the civil rights movement. He even stood as an independent MSP during one election. His civil rights group drew up the current homeless legislation for Scotland. As he was extremely well spoken and articulate, the media often called him up, and quoted him on issues of homelessness. He also was on BBC Today programme’s Thought for the Day twice during this period.
He started selling The Big Issue as soon as the magazine was launched, believing in the grass roots ethos, but became disillusioned. Sam met with many people every day, taking an interest in their stories. His experiences had taught him that the down and out of this world are so easily forgotten.
With his partner, Angelique, Sam spent summers driving to London and the Henley Boat Race. Later on, the campervan took them to Sam’s childhood stomping grounds in both Bee Sands in Devon and Harmondsworth Moor near Heathrow and then to Wales, Spain, the Netherlands and in the last few years often to Moray.
In the last five years of his life, symptoms of the liver disease which ultimately caused his death began to manifest and an infection acquired during Covid further impacted Sam’s health.
Words taken from Sam’s Eulogy written by his partner, Angelique, with an addition from Tony Jones, Archivist
Sam Waylen by OE Tim Douglas
I first met Sam in Sept 1963 when we were apprehensive first years, uncomfortably dressed in new school uniform with draughty short trousers, all newly acquired from Harrods. He was only 10, as he was almost a year younger (364 days exactly), younger also than our mutual friend for life Dave Bernez. We found ourselves thrown into the highly competitive 1EX in a classroom in the yard opposite the junior hall. Sam was very clever, but in retrospect everyone in that class was and I guess several of us had what would now be called imposter syndrome. However, we progressed through the years and rowed together in a junior colts crew in the Schools Head of the River race and both gravitated towards music and particularly the guitar – he in a folk based direction and myself a pop then Blues direction, but we exchanged musical knowledge whenever we could. I was very aware of what a good player he was; one year several of us went to stay on a campsite at Swiss Farm in Henley to support the school rowing crews at the famous international regatta (and to legitimately avoid school for a few days!). I remember several of us having a little party in a bit of nearby woodland (I’m sure cider was involved!) and he sang the Beatles song With a Little Help from My Friends from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, which I think had just been released, and I was so impressed by him.
On leaving school he trained to be a music teacher and in due course married a Polish lady. When the marriage floundered, he moved up to Edinburgh and became homeless, surviving by selling The Big Issue and busking. We kept in contact – letters, long phone conversations and the occasional visit when he came down to stay in order to attend board meetings for the Stockwell-based homeless charity he was a director of.
He came through this period and got settled accommodation in Edinburgh and we kept in touch with the occasional visit from me at Edinburgh festival time (courtesy of another OE, Mic Dixon).
When he was diagnosed with his illness, we spoke regularly. My last visit was when he was in hospital about a year ago – the time of his cancelled birthday party. Despite the predictions, he survived and returned home (at this point I would like to thank another friend from that first year at school, Peter Ramsay- Baggs, who went on to become a surgeon and was very helpful with his advice to Angelique and myself about Sam’s medical situation). Prior to this incident, Sam had continued to play and to perform for the public, as he had done all his life until the last few months when he was incapable of doing so (you can see clips on YouTube).
I have been in frequent contact with Sam’s lady friend, Angelique, who did a sterling job looking after him and wrote his eulogy. Sam was a unique personality and the world is less colourful now that he is elsewhere – but hopefully he is strumming a few chords somewhere down the bill at the great gig in the sky!
By Tim Douglas (OE1963-70)