It is a story that, in its horror, is a very believable depiction of the dark side of human nature and the depravity of young boys if left to their own devices.
Lord of the Flies, the first and perhaps greatest work of celebrated author William Golding, has sold more than 10 million copies since being published 71 years ago.
But what if that novel, which has now been turned into a new BBC TV drama, was based on real boys – the grammar school pupils Golding encountered as a teacher?
What if the tragic and ignored ‘Piggy’, the cocky but ultimately decent Ralph, the villainous Jack, the Christ-like figure of Simon and the other boys who end up stranded on a desert island without adults, had their origins in reality?
Now, more than 85 years since Golding was mysteriously fired from his post at Maidstone Grammar School in Kent, the Daily Mail can reveal the author taught a pupil who ‘rejoiced’ in the incredibly similar nickname of ‘Piglet’.
The boy, who fellow students spoken to by the Mail remembered was called Raymond Boorman, also had a role in a school production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which Golding – who taught English and Music – co-produced.
A remarkable photo from the school’s archive showing the cast of the play in costume, with some of the pupils wearing make-up, helps explain how Golding would have been inspired by the boys he encountered.
Raymond was in the same class as another pupil who recalled how Golding – popularly known to the boys as ‘Goldilocks’ – taught them to recite the verses of a 13th century English song.
Raymond’s daughter, tracked down to her home in southern Spain, recounted her own vivid memories of her late father insisting that she read Lord of the Flies when she was young.
Records also show how the boy was both a brilliant sportsman – like Golding he played rugby while at MGS – and an excellent musician, two facts which further suggest he was well known to the author.
Raymond Boorman pictured as a young boy, posing proudly with his bicycle. He was taught by Lord of the Flies author William Golding at Maidstone Grammar School. He had the nickname of ‘Piglet’ – strikingly similar to the name of the character known only as ‘Piggy’ in Golding’s novel
The cast of a 1939 production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that was performed at Maidstone Grammar School, where William Golding taught from 1938 to 1940. He co-produced the play. Raymond Boorman – nicknamed ‘Piglet’ – is believed to be the boy wearing the helmet and holding the sign, far right, third row. He played ‘First Citizen – Act III
So Raymond’s uncanny nickname and his links to Golding raise the possibility that – although he was in many ways very different from the murdered Piggy – he may have been in the author’s mind when he formed his most famous character.
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Scholars have previously questioned whether Golding drew inspiration from his second, longer-held teaching post – at Bishop Wordsworth’s in Salisbury, where the author taught at briefly in 1940 and then again from 1945 until 1961.
John Carey, Golding’s biographer, told how boys at Bishop Wordsworth’s remembered the author ‘stirred up antagonism between them to observe their reactions’, and he admitted to the pupils that ‘you might recognise bits of yourself’ in his characters.
When approached by the Daily Mail Golding’s daughter Judy Carver reserved judgement on the link between Raymond and her father, but believes that the Piglet nickname could have stemmed from the name of A.A.Milne’s character of the same name in his Winnie the Pooh series, which was very popular at the time.
She added: ‘If he [Raymond] was in Julius Caesar, then I expect my dad did know him – and you have established that he taught him.’
Raymond’s daughter Pilar Boorman, 71, who was stunned when told about her father’s school nickname and his links to Golding, told the Daily Mail: ‘To write that sort of book, you have to have an insight into school kids, to look at them and see what they are capable of if left unsupervised.’
She added: ‘I remember reading Lord of the Flies with my father. He was an incredibly smart and intelligent man, and he made me read it.’
Pilar also revealed that her father, like Golding, had a difficult childhood.
Raymond, who passed away from a heart attack in 1997, grew up believing that his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his sister after being born out of wedlock in 1924.
The boy’s father, a married local man, always refused to have any contact with him, and his identity remains a mystery to the family.
Raymond joined MGS aged 11 in 1935 and departed at 18 in 1942, before going on to study science and maths at Imperial College in London and then enjoying a successful career as a geologist.
In a sign of his difficult start in life, Raymond got into MGS – which like all secondary schools at the time charged fees – on a scholarship.
Golding’s staff record, seen by the Daily Mail, blandly lists his own academic history – he had studied at Oxford until 1934 – and gives his dates of employment at the school.
Raymond Boorman as a young boy and in middle age. He went on to work as a geologist
Raymond Boorman pictured back row, centre, as part of the 1941-42 First XV rugby team at Maidstone Grammar School
Raymond Boorman (back row, third from left) pictured with fellow classmates and a teacher at Maidstone Grammar School, around 1939
The cast of the new BBC production of Lord of the Flies. Pictured left to right: David McKenna as Piggy, Winston Sawyers as Ralph and Ike Talbut as Simon, with other unnamed cast members
The author, who was born in Cornwall in 1911, made it to Oxford despite the lack of affection shown by his mother, who would throw things at him and terrify her son with ghost stories.
His MGS ‘register sheet’ says he started a ‘regular’ post in September 1938 and then departed in March 1940, but makes no mention of the fact that he was sacked.
The exact reason for his departure remains a mystery, but Golding later admitted it was down to an ‘unacademic combination of drink, women and politics’.
In letters sent to this reporter in 2014, ex-MGS students – all but one of whom have since passed away – recalled their memories of Golding.
One, Denis Gosby, the boy in the same class as Raymond, remembered: ‘As a member of 3A I do remember Mr Golding who took us for a couple of terms and taught us to recite an old English poem.’
That ‘poem’ – better described as a song – was ‘Sumer Is Icumen In’, a Medieval ditty written in Middle English.
Another ex-MGS boy, John Foster, who was at the school from 1933 to 1939, recalled of Golding: ‘I remember him quite well, and that some referred to him affectionately as “Goldilocks”.
‘He always seemed to me a shy and perhaps timid character.’
Professor Carey, who died aged 91 earlier this month, said in his biography of Golding that the author was remembered at MGS as a ‘popular, keen young schoolmaster who gave his best both in and out of the classroom’.
His status as a published poet gave him respect among the more intellectual pupils, while he took three wickets in a June 1939 school cricket match and also ‘showed his prowess’ on the rugby field.
In his role as a music teacher, he directed a small choir and oversaw Christmas carol concerts.
The first mention of Raymond, who like Golding played the piano, came in a letter from another former student.
William Golding pictured in the garden of his home in Wiltshire, 1983
A page from the programme of the 1939 school production of Julius Caesar, showing that ‘R.M. Boorman’ was ‘First Citizen – Act III’
The page from the the programme of the 1939 school production of Julius Caesar that lists William Golding as one of the producers
William Golding’s staff record at Maidstone Grammar School. It shows how he started a ‘regular’ teaching post in 1938 and departed in 1940. He was fired from his post, but the reason why remains mysterious
Norman Gibson, who admitted he did not remember Golding, said: ‘There was a boy a couple of years older than me who rejoiced in the nickname of Piglet.
‘He was well known as a rather irresponsible practical joker; but I also happened to be aware he had a less well known deep interest in science: his exceptional talent as an” ideas” person easily overlooked.’
Although Mr Gibson could not initially remember the boy’s name, his memory was jigged by the recollection of another former pupil.
Keith Mitchell said: ‘Thank you for your letter from the dim, distant past concerning William Golding and “piglet”.
‘I only vaguely remember Mr Golding but I think I can help you to identify “Piglet”.
‘I am nearly 100% certain that his name was Ray(mond) Boorman.’
He added: ‘I don’t like saying this but I believe the nickname came from his facial appearance rather than his nature.
‘He wasn’t ugly but his features included small eyes and a snubby nose. He was very fair skinned with blondish hair.’
Readers of Golding’s story are never told what the overweight, bullied Piggy’s real name is.
Instead, Ralph cruelly reveals the nickname to rest of the group after Piggy tells him that it is what he used to be known as at school.
His weight, poor eyesight, and asthma affliction all combine to make a target, and his nickname instantly sticks.
As for his poor grammar, it is a sign that he is not nearly as ‘posh’ as the other boys.
readers are told were being evacuated amidst the threat of war when the plane carrying them crashed on an isolated island.
Forced to fend for themselves without any adults present, the boys’ attempts to institute a semblance of order swiftly break down.
Piggy, who it emerges is being brought up by his auntie after the death of his parents, is the most logical of the boys.
At one point, when they become terrified of a rumoured ‘beast’ that they think is stalking them, he expounds that ‘life is scientific… in a year or two when the war’s over they’ll be travelling to Mars and back.’
‘I know there isn’t no beast – not with claws and all that. I mean but I know there isn’t no fear, either.’
But his wisdom is always destined to fall on deaf ears, and he ultimately meets a grisly end as the other boys descend totally into savagery.
Piggy’s love of science, his logical brain and the fact that he is not being raised by his mother and father all align with Raymond’s own character and background – though the real pupil is not believed to have been bullied by his classmates.
Mr Gibson, now aged 99, is the only survivor from the group of ex-MGS pupils who shared their memories of the school and Raymond.
Speaking to the Daily Mail from his home in Chigwell, Essex, he was able to give further insight into his old friend’s character and the atmosphere at MGS in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Raymond Boorman pictured with his daughter Pilar and first wife Esperanza in the late 1950s
Raymond Boorman with his wife Esperanza on their wedding day, around 1950
He revealed that he met Raymond, who was two years older than him, through a mutual friend who attended the same youth club.
‘Raymond was very lovable. Everyone in the school knew him,’ he added. ‘He was a funny character. He was a light-hearted character, and very likeable.’
Recalling his practical jokes, Mr Gibson remembered how on one occasion one of the school’s chickens – kept to help the war effort – was found in the library.
‘When Mr Phillips, the bookroom master, found the chicken, there was a great kerfuffle,’ he recalled.
A day later – when the chicken had been caught and returned to its coop – an egg was discovered amongst the books.
‘That was the sort of thing that got around the school, that was why Ray Boorman was so well known,’ Mr Gibson added.
Like many schools at the time, discipline was then largely administered by prefects rather than teachers.
Mr Gibson, a veteran of the wartime Merchant Navy, remembered: ‘Being cheeky to a prefect, we would get called to the prefects’ room.
Raymond Boorman pictured sitting a top a camel while in Egypt
Raymond Boorman in later life with his dog. He died from a heart attack aged 73 in Spain in 1997
‘A charge would be made against us, and then we would be told we were to have six swipes of the slipper.’
Raymond’s school record shows his sporting and academic prowess. In 1939 he came first in the under-14 high jump and second in a swimming race.
That same year he performed as ‘First Citizen – Act III’ in Julius Caesar.
The surviving programme names ‘R.M. Boorman’ amongst the cast, while ‘Mr W.G. Golding’ is listed as the co-producer along with senior English master Mr J.C.B Carter.
According to Professor Carey’s biography, the scene depicting Caesar’s assassination ‘was preceded by an initially soft but gradually increasing drum-roll to create an atmosphere of menace’.
Then, ‘there was silence and the sound of Caesar’s body falling backwards with a thump from the high point on the stage where he had been standing’.
‘As well as thinking up this stage effect, Golding taught the boy who played Caesar how to fall backwards without hurting himself,’ Professor Carey continued.
Raymond’s other successes at MGS included victories in rugby matches, and in 1942 he was made the school’s ‘Captain of Swimming’.
Further prizes came for excelling in both French and science classes and his record also shows that he became one of those powerful prefects mentioned by Mr Gibson.
Mr Gibson last saw Raymond in around 1943, after they had both left MGS and were serving in their respective civilian and military roles.
‘I was on leave [from the Merchant Navy]. It was Easter I think. We went on a church ramble. My friend Ian Saunders brought Raymond along.
‘At that time he was at university, he told us he was working on bombing aircraft, he used to drop bits of foil and stuff, to do with radar.
‘He told us he was working for the Air Ministry.’
Mr Gibson’s recollection represents the only snippet about his military service, with his daughter only sure that he recounted being sent to Scotland during the war.
Child stars Hugh Edwards and James Aubrey as Piggy and Jack in the 1963 film version of Lord of the Flies
By 1942, Golding – who met his wife Ann while living in Maidstone – was serving in the Royal Navy.
His war service saw him take part in the hunt for the famous German battleship the Bismarck, and he also commanded a landing ship heading for Gold Beach on D-Day.
Golding’s son David, born in 1940, was followed by his and Ann’s second child – daughter Judy – five years later.
After his war service, the writer returned to his post at Bishop Wordsworth’s.
He did, however, continue observing the boys he taught.
Golding would go on to confess that he had come to understand what small boys were like with ‘awful precision’ because of the way he had introduced ‘a measure of experimental science’ into teaching them.
‘Well, I gave them more liberty, and I gave them more liberty, and more, and more, and more – I drew further away,’ he added, when speaking in the US in 1961.
‘My eyes came out like organ stops as I watched what was happening.’
One such ‘experiment’ allegedly saw Golding arrange the boys in his care into two groups of attackers and defenders during a school trip to see Neolithic earthworks in Salisbury.
He then stood back and watched what happened.
Ms Carver also highlighted how, at Bishop Wordsworth’s, her father taught twins who may have inspired his Lord of the Flies characters Sam and Eric.
‘He knew them quite well. They were astoundingly alike and apparently played tricks using this,’ she said.
‘It is very possible that Sam and Eric were partly based on them, at least in practical terms.’
‘But it doesn’t sound to me as if they were.
‘I think they both became GPs but I don’t know that for certain. In later life, one of them wrote to my dad asking him to sign some books, which he did.
‘He also said that the parcel was wrapped with the care he remembered was typical of this boy, so he evidently knew them well and I would guess liked them.’
With several years worth of experience of teaching boys now under his belt, Golding decided to write Lord of the Flies one night after putting his children to bed and discussing the idea with his wife.
The cast of 1963 film Lord of the Flies, chillingly daubed with face paint
Originally called Strangers From Within, the novel was initially completed in 1952.
But it was rejected by a dozen publishers, before finally being accepted by editor Charles Monteith at Faber and Faber.
Significant edits were made to the book by Golding at Monteith’s request in 1953 and early 1954, whilst the title change was also accepted by the author.
Although not an instant bestseller, Golding’s book rocketed in popularity after the first film adaptation was released in 1963.
Today, it is universally known and has been a fixture of school syllabuses all around the world for decades.
The sales boost after the film version of Lord of the Flies was released helped to make Golding a rich man.
He went on to be awarded both the Booker Prize – for his 1980 novel Rites of Passage – and the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Lord of the Flies was published in 1954. It was not an instant bestseller but instead became hugely popular after the first film adaptation was released in 1963
But his troubled relationship with alcohol eventually caught up with him. He died from a massive heart attack in 1993.
Now though, his legacy is being celebrated once again with the BBC’s TV adaptation of Lord of the Flies.
Set to be released early next year, it has been written by the celebrated writer Jack Thorne, the man behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Many of the cast members are making their professional debuts.
Pilar, who is now retired and lives with her partner of 20 years in the picturesque Spanish town of Conil de la Frontera, had not been aware of the extent of her father’s achievements at school.
Nor does she have any firm memory of him having mentioned that Golding taught him.
But she fondly remembers her own childhood, which was – due to her father’s work for American oil behemoth Halliburton – marked by frequent house moves, to countries including the USA, Algeria and Lebanon.
Pilar remembers her father insisting that she read a wide array of books, but also how he gave her the freedom to choose titles from his copious shelves.
On having to read Lord of the Flies aged around 12, she said: ‘I do remember it specifically.
‘I think it’s a very powerful book, you know, especially to read as an adolescent or a teenager.’
Recounting his childhood, Pilar believes that it was his grandmother who broke the news to him about his parentage.
‘Apparently she said to him, “I’m not your mother, your sister’s your mother”, that’s how I think he found out. He was obviously a little older.’
Raymond remained close to his real mother – who was called Margaret but known by her middle name of Kathleen – until her death in 1995.
But the pair continued to view each other as siblings even after Raymond was told the momentous news that she was his mother.
‘He and his real mother were inseparable. I have letters that he wrote to her.’
‘Wherever we went, she’d always come visit, or we would always go and visit her,’ Pilar said.
‘They were always very close, to the point where I believe when my mother went on honeymoon with my father, she kind of tagged along.’
Raymond married first wife Esperanza, who was Spanish and from the Canary Islands, in 1950.
After Pilar, the couple had sons George and Martin. Whilst George lives near Pilar in Spain, Martin tragically passed away in 2023.
After he and Esperanza got divorced, Raymond went on to marry his second wife, Kathleen.
He died four years after suffering an initial heart attack while on tour in the Spanish town of Toro with an orchestra group he was part of.
The second, fatal heart attack struck on the same day that he and his wife – having decided to settle permanently in Toro, had arrived at their new home.
‘I miss him to this day. He was very hard and very strict but he and I got on very well,’ Pilar said.
Now that she knows of his remarkable links to William Golding, and is aware of the glowing recollections of his classmates, she has many more reasons to remember him fondly.
