Our brief mention of former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke reminded several readers of his claim to fame while a student in Oxford.

He set a world record after drinking a yard of ale (2½ pints) in 11 seconds.

His feat, at the Turf Tavern in 1954, earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Signs were later erected in the pub recording his achievement, which remained a talking point for years to come.

He featured in our story about Christine Radburn, who worked with Mr Hawke’s future wife, then Hazel Masterson, at the Oxford University Institute of Statistics (Memory Lane, April 26).

They were pictured together with other colleagues.

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Mrs Radburn, then Christine Brucker, now of Wheatfields, Didcot, remembered their close association after hearing about the proposed ‘Temple to Science’ in the University Science Area.

This will be a short distance from the old Army huts, at the junction of St Cross Road and Manor Road, where the women carried out their statistical work in the 1950s.

Mr Hawke had come to Oxford in 1953 on a Rhodes scholarship to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, politics and economics at University College.

However, it was his beer drinking and zest for life rather than his studying that brought him prominence and some notoriety in Oxford.

In his memoirs, he suggested his feat of drinking a yard of ale so quickly contributed more than anything to his political success, by endearing him to an electorate with a strong beer culture.

He was a keen cricketer in Oxford, starring as a batsman and fielder for North Oxford and the Authentics, the university second string.

He left his boots and pads behind when he left Oxford, promising to return one day – they were stored in the loft of the St John’s College pavilion for many years.

In later life, he re-established his links with the city, though not through cricket.

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He was appointed an honorary fellow of University College a year into his premiership in 1984.

And he returned to Oxford in 2003 to receive an honorary degree from Oxford University.

He married Hazel Masterson, the woman he met in Oxford, in Perth in 1956 after returning to Australia.

They had three children – a fourth died in infancy.

They divorced in 1995 after he left her for writer Blanche d’Alpuget, who remained with him until he died in 2019, aged 89.

Here’s a footnote - in his memoirs, Mr Hawke wrote that he achieved his drinking record not at the Turf but in the University College dining hall.

Apparently it was a ‘punishment’ for failing to wear his academic gown at dinner.

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Perhaps he downed a yard of ale in record time twice!

Mr Hawke was born in December,1929 and died in May, 2019.

He served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.

He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wills from 1980 to 1992.