Blackadder Blows Off? It doesn't quite work, does it.

The New Yorker magazine of 2 July 2007 prints an interesting review of Alexander Waugh's "Fathers and Sons" by Joan Acocella. The book is about father-son relationships in five generations of the Waugh family. The Brute begat Arthur who begat both Evelyn and his older, but now less well known brother Alec. Evelyn begat Auberon who begat Alexander. I hope all is clear. Here is a quotation:

"No man ever loved a child more than Arthur loved Alec - 'son of my soul,' as  he called him. He seems to have spent almost every hour of his non-work time talking to the boy, reading to him, taking walks with him. When Alec went away to his father's alma mater, Sherborne, the child and the school fused, in Arthur's mind, into one refulgent idol. He spent every weekend at Sherborne, visiting Alec and his friends, whom he wooed to become his friends. He said that he dreamed every night of being a new boy at the school. He and Alec wrote to each other daily, and Arthur awaited Alec's letters, Alexander says, like a teen-ager in love".

Now, this is far from exactly the same as the relationship between JMB and Michael, but it is striking to think that at more or less the same time as daily letters were going back and forth between Eton and the Adelphi, the same was happening between Sherborne and Golders Green, and I wonder how common this kind of obsessive communication was. We only know about these two cases because of the celebrity of some of the people involved, and because they committed their thoughts to paper. Now of course we have emails, text messages, whatsapp and so on, which leave little trace - except in that big computer in the desert. So here's a plea for more understanding of Barry's loneliness and emptiness: he wasn't/isn't/never will be the only one. As the review continues:

"Alexander thinks that Arthur, because of his tortured relations with the Brute, never had a proper childhood. Now he had one: Alec's".

Michael probably died intestate so the money went to the head of Michael's branch of the Llewelyn-Davies family, John.

I am not sure what would be considered "quite right" about any drowning.  Of course, Oxford and Christchurch did not want a scandal, but that does not mean that either institution faked evidence. You say the more you read the more you think Rupert might have drowned Michael; but what have you been reading? The descriptions of the event by the witnesses are clear and indicate that Michael got into difficulties (after all he could not swim) and Rupert swam over to him, in my opinion to see what was wrong.  But you like to cast Rupert as a murderer, so he has to swim over to Michael, push him under and then drown himself.  Why?  Did Rupert hate Michael?  Did he think that Michael really wanted to die?  Did he think that the pair of them were better off dead?  Was Rupert completely deluded and should not be held responsible for his actions?  Rupert did not throw Michael into Sandford Pool so maybe Michael lured Rupert over to drag him down.  Maybe Michael was deluded and should not be held responsible.  Maybe it was just a hopeless string of silly errors (the worst of which was that Michael should never have gone into deep water) and neither of them intended to die that afternoon.
As this question of suicide/murder keeps coming up I think that some people just want it to be true and nothing will will ever dissuade them.

Thanks a lot Andrew.  What a beautiful family they were.

I received the following reply from the University Archivist:
Dear Nicholas
We do not hold the records of the University Coroner.  I recall making enquiries of a local firm of solicitors, a partner of which had been the last to hold the office, about these records some years ago when I came to the conclusion that they had not survived.
Regards etc

One door closes, another slams in your face.

mb0521 All the answers to your questions are here on this website, you just have look. As far as the accident goes there is nothing more to be said - unless new information comes along. If you would like to break new ground, you could try writing to the current head of the Hogg family and see if they have kept any correspondence from their relative Edward Marjoribanks, who was a friend of Michael's and was deeply disturbed by his death.  If you do find something please share it.

There are no definitive answers but in your order of questions:
Sandford is less than 5 miles from Oxford and is generally much quieter than the Thames nearer Oxford.  Latterly, Michael and Rupert tended to avoid their fellow students.
Michael attempted to learn to swim before at Silchester Road baths in North Kensington and may have been having lessons from Rupert. 
The post mortem examination did not mention a heart attack, but who knows how thorough it was.
They enjoyed walking together.
Witnesses did hear a shout.  There is no evidence of a suicide pact, and I wonder how much Peter Pan figured in Michael's life in 1921.
You will find at least one of Michael's Oxford addresses on this website.  Michael's private life is not well recorded, but he was visited by Barry occasionally.
It's up to the Davies family to look after the grave.  In a way, I like the idea that it is decaying as it reminds us that this story is approaching its 100th anniversary, and Andrew's wonderful book and television play are (incredibly) nearly 50 years old.  The funeral was a very unhappy event for everyone and you will find the names of some of the people who attended on this website.
May 2021 will mark the centenary of the accident at Sandford, and so the official papers (whatever has been kept) will be opened to the public.