Martin Spencer Scott, who has died aged 76, was second master of Winchester College from 1962 to 1979.

Born in Hampstead, London, he was educated at Rugby and after National Service took up a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge, where he took a first in History.

His first job as a schoolmaster was at Clifton College, where he taught from 1950 to 1962 and it was here that he met his wife, Mary, the elder sister of one of his first pupils.

In 1962, he moved to Winchester where, as second master, he was in charge of 70 scholars.

Michael Fontes recalled: "I was Martin's tutor from 1967 to 1975 and I shall always look back on those years with amusement and affection. Martin and Mary were very inclusive: boys, animals, dons, college staff, were quickly absorbed into his extended family and given the affection they needed to be happy and successful."

Martin was good-humoured as well as humorous, he went on. "Not many boys failed to respond to his active and sustained benevolence - the number who remained in touch with him after they left testifies to the affection in which they held him.

"He had time for people. He knew his boys and he looked after them The little boys on arrival quickly came to see that the large, rather untidy, figure in charge of them could be firm if they stepped out of line, but would always protect and give them help when they needed it.

"Martin's tastes were strongly interrelated and they made him wonderfully apt for encouraging the young. He loved and knew about England and English people and the English language and the spirit of compromise of the Anglican Church."

He loved English church architecture - and he loved getting out: "We would take our dogs over New Field after lunch and often further if we had time, up onto the downs so that we could smell the wind coming up the valley from Southampton."

The second master's interest in his pupils continued after they left. Many went on to become historians and writers, including Antony Beevor, Edward Chancellor, and Professor Rabb of Princeton.

After stepping down as second master, Martin continued to teach at Winchester for several years before retiring, in 1986, to a farmhouse on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Martin was a devout and practising Christian, whose faith was an unintrusive but important part of his personality, Mr Fontes said. He died "after an illness borne with very remarkable fortitude".