The right hand man of Senior Bursar – who collects the money – Junior Bursar is the slightly sinister other half of the Bursary who has the happy job of spending the money. As the Fellow with the responsibility of overseeing the teams of College Servants, Junior Bursar always has a beady eye trained on the Porters’ Lodge, and on Head Porter in particular. Very little escapes his attention and he takes especial delight in uncovering even the slightest wisp of misbehaviour.
Junior Bursar first came to Old College as a narrow-kneed undergraduate, with nothing but a keen mathematical mind and a ferocious appetite for academic excellence. His devotions to both Old College and his studies bought him entry to The Fellowship soon after completing his PhD, and proprietorship of the purse strings swiftly followed. Such an alacritous ascent may seem surprising in an institution such as Old College, but it is rumoured that Junior Bursar has ancestral underpinnings stretching right back to the very foundations of College itself – and Old College loves nothing more than its own illustrious heritage.
Junior Bursar is a slight man of advancing years, who exudes machiavellian malice from every pore. He seems to warm a little towards Deputy Head Porter, however he takes a stance of bemused spite towards her unlikely association with The Dean. Junior Bursar has long held an active dislike of Head Porter, which can be almost callous at times – although there are complex machinations behind this malevolence that make his attitude at least partly justified.
It’s not all bad news where our bothersome bean-counter is concerned, though. Junior Bursar is rather keen on a party and he steadfastly refuses to engage with The Committee For The Prevention Of Drunken Behaviour. One very much gets the impression that there is something of a mischievous side to Junior Bursar that he has become very adept at concealing.
Lucy Brazier 
But I thought the Committee for the Prevention of Drunken Behaviour was a great idea – I think students should be poked as often as possible and never allowed to sleep! And I really really wanted to see Deputy Head Porter wresting a fully conscious and somewhat inebriated six-foot rugby-playing student into the recovery position…
Haha! She never quite got that opportunity, at least so far! DHP has missed out on quite a lot of wrestling activity by always being involved in shenanigans of some sort. Something that must be rectified, I think.
On another not – do you see Sophie Hannah has another Poirot novel coming out? It’s called The Closed Casket. I read a review this morning and it was very good, although the reviewer said he was a big fan of the Monogram Murders, so not sure what to make of that! I wonder if that bloody idiot Catchpool will actually do any investigating this time round or just fiddle about with crosswords? Hmm!
Aaaarghhh!!! Just goes to prove that sticking needles in wax dolls does NOT work!! It’s your turn to read it first this time… I shall stand by with cake and tea to bring you round should Catchpool induce a fainting fit…
I am going to read it, hopefully it will be as entertaining for all the wrong reasons as the last one 🙂 The reviewer is a massive fan of Catchpool, it seems, and that really makes me laugh. The bloke was completely useless in every way! But that didn’t matter, because Poirot was the greatest psychic the world has ever known and didn’t need his help anyway. Lucky, that 😉
You are either a glutton for punishment or a great adventurer – haven’t decided which yet! 😉 I think my review has had more comments on Goodreads and Amazon than any other one I’ve written (except Rebel Yell when I accidentally restarted the American Civil War and it’s still rumbling on two years later…) nearly all agreeing with me. It amazes me she had the courage to write another…
I am certifiably bonkers, that’s what it is 😉 I quite enjoyed shouting at the last one, and openly mocking it as I read. If I were her I would have thanked the world for the opportunity then quietly skulked off to write something that doesn’t partially destroy great literary characters. But she seems to have quite a few fans, which seems really weird. I will let you know how I get on with it!
Always fun to restart the Civil War – I’m sure they will settle down soon. Ish. Ha!
I feel an affinity to/with the Junior Bursar, more human than appears with a liking for the curved ways of Porter Girl in her Old College days ….
SUCH a way with words! I am quite jealous of your prose, sir. Jealous – and flattered, of course. I thank you.
You lose me to a tart … ‘Bake Off’ calls at 8 … momentarily of course.
I hope the tarts don’t have soggy bottoms 🙂 enjoy!