Philosophy flowed through the Oxford family home of Elizabeth Anscombe and her husband Peter Geach, as one regular visitor recalls

After my ordination in 1955 I studied theology and philosophy for two years in Oxford as a graduate student. In the 1950s, the English Dominicans used to organise an annual gathering of Catholic philosophers at their priory at Spode in Staffordshire. It was there that Herbert McCabe introduced me to a remarkable couple – Elizabeth Anscombe and Peter Geach. It quickly became clear to me that Elizabeth and Peter were the most talented philosophers in the Catholic community. While Peter taught philosophy at Birmingham, Elizabeth at that time was a lecturer at Somerville College, Oxford.

I began to see a great deal of Elizabeth. She kept open house at 27 St John Street: one could drop in at any hour of day or night and start a discussion of a philosophical problem. Elizabeth had a houseful of children, to which she would attend from time to time but that did not interrupt the flow of philosophy. She was also a chain smoker, dropping butts into a large wooden bowl. She had an earthy side: she frequently used four-letter words, and from time to time would give me graphic accounts of various aspects of sex that she thought I needed to know about when hearing Confessions, and about which she believed (rightly) I was not well informed.