St Anselm Hall Archive
Roshan Lal Bahita
c.1928
Engineering
Born in Punjab, India, in 1905, Roshan Lal Bahita was from a middle-class Indian family. His father, also called Roshan, was a native of Punjab and achieved a BSc at Punjab University in the same year as Roshan was born. He later worked for the Government College, Lahore, as a demonstrator in Zoology, becoming the first person at Punjab University to achieve the MSc in Zoology. Roshan was the eldest son, and had three sisters and one younger brother. In 1927, the family moved to Hoshiarpur, Pubjab, when their father was made Principal of the Government College. Both Roshan and his younger brother Shri were sent abroad to study at engineering. For Roshan, this meant being sent to the University of Manchester, where he was a student of St Anselm Hall in the late 1920s. Unfortunately little of his hall file has survived and so nothing is known of his life in hall or at University. After graduating Roshan returned to India where in later life he was Principal of the Punjab Textile Institute.
Leslie David Bale
1927- November 1929
Leslie Bale was born in July 1908 in Tondu, a small mining village close to Bridgend in Glamorganshire, Wales. He was the eldest child of Adrian Bale and Clara Jones, who had married that year. Adrian was a train driver for Great Western Railway, who were responsible for the various railway lines in the area. Leslie remained an only child until he was 10, when his younger brother Eric was born. The families’ parish priest provided an insight into family in Leslie’s hall reference, describing him as ‘[coming] from a very respectable home; the parents are faithful communicants…’
As a young boy Leslie attended Tondu Council school from 1914-1921. From 1921-1927 he was a student at Bridgend County School, where he achieved his school certificate in 1926. John Rankin, headmaster of the school from 1898 to 1928, wrote in his reference to the hall ‘[Leslie] is a boy of exceptionally fine type and has intellectual powers of a very high order.’ Keen on economics, he was also a prefect and a member of the School Rugby XV.
On the basis of his Higher Certificate Examinations, Leslie was awarded a Glamorgan County Scholarship. His first known contact with St Anselm dates from September 1927, when he wrote to the Warden explaining that he was considering studying at Victoria University in the next session and would like the particulars of the hall.
Leslie entered St Anselm Hall in October 1927 and remained there until he was sent down in November 1929. In a somewhat tactful letter sent to his father, the Warden claimed that Leslie had been sent down for ‘taking one of the parlour maids out in the evenings… as he frankly admitted he knew, it is very strictly forbidden to students to have any dealings with the domestic staff, except those of an absolutely official nature…’
It is probable, however, that Leslie was in fact the student recorded in the hall history book who was found in his room with the Warden’s personal maid at 6AM one morning. The student [Leslie] was sent down, the maid was kept on and the resulting wrath of the JCR was managed by the Warden’s right hand man who proposed that ‘members of the Junior Common Room request completed licence with the domestic staff’, thus turning the whole affair into a bit of fun on the JCR’s part.
A further incident followed in December 1929, at the end of the Michaelmas term. While the exact details are unclear, a letter written by the Warden to the JCR president of the time (James Colling) does give some insight into the night. It is implied that some kind of end of term ‘festivities’ occurred, and that Bale and a fellow student named Downham had refused to leave these when asked. This resulted in a half-hour argument with Colling. Whilst Colling was given a dressing down by the Warden, Bale was forbidden to come onto hall premises except at the express invitation of the Warden or Sub-Warden. He was warned that any further disobedience to the Warden would result in his being reported to the University Court of Discipline.
It is unclear whether Bale completed his University education. The next surviving record of him is his marriage to Alice Jones in Laleston in 1938. In 1939, they were living with Alice’s widowded mother in Port Talbot and Leslie was working as a Brewers Representative. The details of Leslie’s later life remain unclear, however it is known that he lived only a short life. He died in Bridport, Dorset, in April 1951, when he was 42 years old.
Andrew Beattie
1936-37
B.Sc Maths
Andrew Beattie was born in 1919 in the village of Frizington, Cumberland. He was the eldest of the three sons of Andrew Beattie, a police constable, and his wife Jane Bosher. By 1921, the family had moved to the town of Dalton-in-Furness and a later move later placed them in Bury. Lancashire. As a young man, Andrew initially attended Ulverston Grammar School, between 1930 and 1935, before attending Bury Grammar School between 1935 and 1937. Andrew’s headmaster at Bury Grammar wrote to the Warden of him ‘I can recommend him to you without any hesitation… he will be a useful member in the common life of the hall and his moral character Is thoroughly good.’
Andrew nearly didn’t enter hall as he failed to secure a hall scholarship. However a change of circumstances in September 1937, the details of which are unspecified, allowed Andrew to secure his place in hall. Andrew was in hall for the 1937-38 but, again for reasons unspecified, was unable to return for the 1938-39 session.
During the Second World War, Andrew served with the Royal Engineers. In 1944, he married Jean Crabbe, a Scottish girl, and after the war they settled in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, where Andrew worked in a local secondary school. In 1949 he wrote to Tommy Lawrenson, a senior member of the hall staff, ‘Life in Scotland is very pleasant… We are not affected with the “Manchester dirt & rain”…’ By 1954, the family had moved to Cardenden, Fifeshire, where Andrew taught Maths and Science at a local school. There is little evidence regarding Andrew’s life post 1955. He died in Invernessshire in 2004, at the age of 85.
Jack Beetham
1929-1932
B.Sc Maths
JCR Treasurer 1930-31 &1931-32
Jack Beetham was born in April 1911 and was the second child of William Newton Beetham and Edith Annie Beetham. He had one older sibling, William, and two younger siblings, Alice and Richard. The family lived in Burnley, Lancashire, where William senior worked as the assistant superintendent for the local Post Office. Although he volunteered for service in the Signal Service during the First World War, William was listed as a Class W Army Reserve, meaning that as a fit, married man, over the age of 35, he was considered to be performing important war work in his day job and as such was not called to fight.
A young Jack attended Coal Clough school (1915-17), Spring Bank School (1917-19) and Todmorden Road School (1919-22.) In 1922, at the age of 11, Jack was awarded a place at Burnley Grammar School. Jack did well at school. His specialist subject was Maths, with his headteacher describing him in a reference written to the hall as ‘certainly the best mathematician we have turned out for 3 or 4 years.’ Jack was also a keen sportsman, eventually achieving school colours in Football and Cricket, where he played for the First XI, being vice-captain for both teams at different times. In Tennis, a sport for which he was later well-known in the Burnley area, he was captain in 1928 and 1929. In summing up, William Howarth, Director of Education for Burnley, wrote of Jack ‘I have no doubt he would be an acquisition to the Hall, and would highly value its privileges’
Jack had originally intended to study at Cambridge but a lack of scholarships forced his hand and he instead studied at the University of Manchester. On the advice of Edward Graham, a close friend of Jack’s and a former resident of St. Anselm Hall, Jack applied to be a student in hall. In support of his friend’s application, Graham wrote specially to the Warden, stating that ‘He is very sound in his ‘academics’ [and] very useful in the sport. In character he is extremely sound… I know him very well & am quite confident that you will like him- although his speech is decidedly north country…’
Granted a Stocks Massey Scholarship by the local authority, Jack came up to St Anselm Hall in 1929. Little evidence of Jack’s time in hall has survived, however he was Junior Treasurer in the 1930-31 and 1931-32 sessions. Jack obtained his B.Sc. in Maths in 1932, after which he returned home. He initially worked for a local builder, before being appointed to the engineering staff of the Borough Surveyor in Burnley in 1935. In August 1938, at the Manchester Road Methodist Church, Burnley, Jack married Nora Lancaster, a 23-year-old who lived in Burnley with her widowed mother. They had two sons together.
In 1941, Jack, by now engineering assistant for the Burney Borough Surveyor Department, achieved first place in the order of merit for associate membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Jack was briefly appointed chief engineering assistant to the County Borough of Wigan but by 1948 he was back in Burnley where he was made chief engineering assistant for the Borough. In 1955, Jack was promoted to Deputy Engineer for Blackburn with a salary of £1400. Jack lived in Blackburn until his death in October 1975. He was outlived by Nora who died in Blackburn in 1981.
Harry Leslie Beswick
1936-37
Teaching Diploma
Harry Beswick was the younger child of Arthur and Fanny Beswick (nee Mason), and had one older sister, Margery, who was born three years before him. Although they had been living in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, when Margery was born, both Arthur and Fanny were natives of Warrington, Lancashire, and had returned to the town by the time Harry was born in June 1915. Arthur was a engineer who in the early 1920s worked for Pearson & Knowles Coal & Iron Co. Ltd, a mining and engineering company which had been founded in Warrington in the 1870s.
As a child Harry initially attended Beaumont boys Council School, where he was a pupil from 1920-26. Harry then attended the Warrington Boys Secondary School, a local fee paying school established in 1903 in Palmyra Square, central Warrington. At school, Harry was a prefect and also a keen sportsman. Described as ‘exceedingly good’ at games, Harry was captain of the school Football XI for two seasons as well as captain of the cricket XI. In his reference Harry’s headteacher recommended him unreservedly to the hall as ‘one who will contribute not a little to the social & intellectual life of a Hall of Residence’
At home, Harry’s family were Methodist and attended Padgate Methodist church under the ministry of the Rev. John Henry Saunders who also wrote to the hall to support Harry’s application, echoing the words of Harrys’ headteacher that ‘His social qualities are above the average & I feel confidant he will settle down happily in the Common life of the Hall & will contribute… to its general well-being’
Harry had studied for a BA in Manchester, most likely from 1933-36, however he was not a resident in hall until the 1936-37 session. Harry came into Hall as a postgraduate student studying for the Teaching Diploma. Although little is known of Harry’s life in hall, he did take part in the 1937 hall play, ‘The Terror’, where he played criminal sidekick Joe Conner. He also took part in hall sports, at one point obtaining a knee injury during a football game.
After achieving his Teaching Diploma, Harry worked in an elementary (primary) school, most likely in the Warrington area. During the Second World War, Harry served although in what section remains unclear. He came through the war unscathed, excepting a cartridge operation on the knee he had originally injured at Slems. In 1942, at Beswey Road Methodist Church, Warrington, Harry married Joyce Stephenson, a local farmers daughter. They had one daughter, born shortly after the war.
Between 1950 and 1958 Harry was headmaster of the Church of England school at Galgate, a village in Lancaster, Lancashire. When Slems caught up with him in 1954 (a long process which involved going through the Girls Secondary School at Palmya Square- in Harry's words ‘thank goodness I’m so far away that I’ll never have to live it down’), he wrote to ‘Dicky’ Richardson, a stalwart of hall life in the 1930s, of his life at Galgate ‘I’ve rusticated here in the most beautiful countryside… complete with pigs, poultry and garden, now my enthusiasms.’ In 1958, Harry and Joyce returned to Warrington where he came full circle, becoming headmaster of his own former school Beaumont Boys Council School, now Beaumont Junior School. Harry was headmaster of Beaumont Junior School from 1958 until he retired in 1976.
In later life, Harry lived in Arnside, a village on the Cumbria-Lancashire boarder. He died in April 1996, at the age of 80 and was outlived by Joyce.
Miles Emmett Birtwell
1928-1932
B.A. French
Hall Scholarship Student
Miles Birtwell was born in February 1909 in Great Harwood, Lancashire. He was the only child of Wilfrid Birtwell and Ann Bentley, who had already been married for seven years by the time of his birth. Both Wilfrid and Ann worked in the cotton weaving industry, Wilfrid as a cotton tape sizer and Ann as a weaver. As a child, Miles attended the Boys National School from 1914 to 1921, before becoming a student at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackburn where he contributed to school life by being in the 1st football team ‘[playing] a useful game as half back.’ In supporting his application to hall Miles’ headteacher, Mr. Holden wrote ‘He is a steady, persevering & earnest student… In personality he is pleasing & modest… He is a genuinely sound fellow with a high sense of duty and loyalty… Personally I have high regard for him…’ As a part of his application for hall, Miles applied for and was granted a Hall Scholarship. He was one of two successful candidates that year, the other being C. B. Elliott.
Miles came up to hall in the autumn of 1928, whilst he completed a B.A. French at the University. A year into his degree, the Warden wrote to Professor Bompas Smith (Director of the Department of Education at the University) his views of Miles ‘he justified our choice by getting a 1st-class in his particular subject … Of his personal character I can speak most highly. He is a quiet, modest, unassuming fellow… He gets on well here, and I have great respect for him… He has the makings of a first class person’
Miles remained a resident of hall through all four years of his University education, three years of his degree and one year completing his teaching diploma. During his time as a resident, Miles contributed to hall life in a number of ways. In addition to taking part in several hall plays, he was President of the Debating Society and Captain of the Hall Football team.
Little is known of Miles later life. He became a schoolteacher and in 1941 married Eliza Murgatroyd, a Durham graduate who was also a schoolteacher. As far as can be ascertained, they had no children. Miles and Eliza lived in Whalley, Lancashire, in about 1950, and later settled in Lytham, Lancashire, where he died in 1992 and she in 1995.
Alan Kay Bisbrown
1936-1939
Alan Kay Bisbrown was born in the village of Preesall, Lancashire, in 1916, and was the only child of Samuel Kay Bisbrown, a joiner and wheelwright, and his wife Stella Strizaker. Alan’s childhood appears to have been sheltered. His vicar, in providing a reference to the hall, wrote ‘I have always found him to be of an exceedingly shy nature disposition, but I partly attribute this to the fact that his parents never allowed him to associate with the village children.’ His head teacher echoed the comments of his vicar, writing that ‘Bisbrown gets on well with the other boys and with members of the teaching staff. He is just a little different from the average school-boy—possibly both in manner and in his view. This is due, I think, to the fact that he has been brought up in a rather narrow home circle.’
In spite of his retiring personality, Alan was nevertheless reported to be of good character, with another reference noting that ‘I cannot speak too highly of his character, his parents are charming people, the boy is humble in spirit and kindly in his attitude towards others.’
As a young man, Alan attended Baines Grammar School in Poulton-Le-Fylde a former endowed school which had been transformed into a respectable grammar school in the early 20th century. Although described as ‘not brilliant’ academically by his mother, he was hardworking with what the vicar called ‘the Grace of perseverance.’ He also played regularly for the school 1st football XI and took part in field events and cross-country runs. His headmaster had found him particularly helpful in the school holiday camps where ‘his experience and willingness to help have been most valuable on trips aborad.’
Alan was one of several prospective priests influenced in this period by Canon Arthur Boddington, an authority figure in the Blackburn diocese. In Alan’s case, it was Canon Boddington who encourage him to enter the hall. In a private letter to the Warden, Boddington spoke positively of that lad, writing that although he was ‘certainly short of development’, ‘I rather liked him.’
Alan was a student in hall from 1936-1939. In a reference written for him December 1939, Rev. Inglis wrote ‘He does not come to Chapel as regularly as some of the other Candidates for Ordination. I understand from the later Warden [Rev. South] that his conduct has always been satisfactory, and I know that he is popular with the other Students.’ Owing to the War, however, Alan would have to wait another 50 years to formally graduate. After leaving hall, he completed theological training (although where remains unclear) and was ordained in 1942. On ordination, Alan was appointed curate of Darwen, Lancashire, for a time being in charge of the parish whilst the vicar served in the armed forces. In 1946, Alan himself went into the Armed Forces and was an honorary chaplain in Palestine.
In 1949 Alan married Margaret Bury, with whom he had four children, three daughters and a son. In 1951, the family moved to the nearby village of Tockholes, where Alan was vicar of St. Stephen’s until 1955. From 1955 to 1959, Alan was vicar of St. Michael’s at Weeton-with-Preese, in the Lancashire Fylde. During his time in the parish he played a significant role in modernizing the school and began a scheme to install a new floor and windows in the church. A further appointed followed at St. Paul’s in Low Moor, a hamlet of Clitheroe, Lancashire. Alan’s final appointment was as Vicar of Christ Church, Glasson, Lancashire, where he served from 1972 to 1982.
On retirement Alan and Margaret returned to Preesall, where Alan remained active in the Garstang Deanery. In September 1990, fifty years after he had left University, Alan was one of 82 students who were able to attend the graduation ceremony which had been cancelled in 1940. In speaking to the local paper, Alan, although delighted to finally graduate, spoke of the bittersweet nature of the occasion, recalling ‘Some of the lads I shared my best times with at university were killed during the war so our numbers are sadly depleted.’
Alan died shortly after his graduation, in November 1990. He was survived by Margaret who died in 2016.
John Limond Blain
1932-1936
JCR President 1935-36
‘Jack’ Blain, as he was always known, was born in Northwich, Cheshire, in 1913. He was the eldest of the two sons of William Blain and Frances Ann Samples. His father, William, was a commercial manager. Unfortunately Jack’s hall file has not survived so little is known about his childhood but it seems probable that, like his younger brother Geoff, he attended Danbridge Church of England School. It is known, however, that Jack then went to Sir John Deane’s Grammar School where, in 1927, when he was in the Fourth Form, he was awarded a prize for English and History. The headmaster, in writing a hall reference for Geoff, later recalled Jacks’ dramatic abilities, which he rated as better than Geoff’s. In 1931, Jack appeared in the school production of ‘The Gentle craft’ (an adaptation of Dekker’s ‘Shoemaker’s holiday,’) playing master shoemaker Simon Eyre, a role in which he was described as ‘very entertaining… the outstanding performance in the play…’
Jack was also a participant in school sports and in the 1931-32 session was captain of the School Rugby team, a role in which was he was succeeded by his fellow Slemsman Leonard Bradbury.
Jack matriculated in 1932 and subsequently came up to the University of Manchester and St. Anselm Hall. Little is known about his time in hall but other sources indicate that he continued to play Rugby and by 1934 was playing for the Manchester University Team as well as for his home team, Winnington Park. In 1936, Jack was a part of the Manchester team who played Liverpool in the deciding match of that year’s Christie Cup. Unfortunately, Manchester lost and Jack was forced to leave the field in the 2nd half due to a broken nose.
Jack also continued to develop his theatrical abilities and in 1935 took part in the Manchester University Playgoers production of Eric Linklater’s ‘The Devil’s in the News,’ playing Roger Duff. He was joined by fellow Slemsmen Eric Rothwell, who played the Friar and Percy Snape, who was the producer. Closer to home, Jack also appeared in a number of hall plays. In 1934’s ‘The Forest’, the play which has the earliest surviving cast list, he played Adrian Bastaple, while in the 1935 play, ‘Wings Over Europe,’ Jack was given the role of Walter Grantley, the Prime Minister.
There was some doubt as to whether Jack could return to hall for the 1935-36 session as his younger brother Geoff was coming up and his father was unsure whether the family’s finances could stretch to hall fees for both boys. The situation appears to have been resolved, however, by the Rev. South who arranged for a reduction of hall fees for families who had more than one son in hall at the same time.
During the 1935-36 session Jack was president of the JCR. He also appeared in that year’s hall play ‘Who Goes Next?’, playing Regular Infantry Officer Captain Royde, acting alongside his brother Geoff who took the role of Temporary Infantry Officer Lieutenant McKenzie.
Jack most likely left hall at the end of the 1935-36 session. Unfortunately, little is known about his life after University. For a time, he seems to have returned to the Northwich area, where he continued to play Rugby for Winnington Park. By 1940, when he married Iris Snowman, Jack was a Corporal in the Queen’s Westminster’s. Jack and Iris had two children together and by the 1950s were living in London. Jack died in Hampton, Surrey, in 2003 at the age of 90.
Robert Geoffrey Blain
1935-38
B.Sc. (Tech) Electrical Engineering
Geoff Blain (he was always known by his middle name) was born in May 1917 in Northwich, Cheshire. He was the youngest of the two sons of William Blain, a commercial manager, and his wife Frances Ann Samples. As a child Geoff attended Danbridge Church of England School and then followed in his older brother Jack’s footsteps, attending Sir John Deane’s Grammar School in Northwich, for which he had an intermediate scholarship. The headmaster, in his reference to the hall, noted that Geoff was ‘probably a better forward than [Jack]’ but that in his dramatic work he was ‘not as good as [Jack.]’ The headmaster, in summing up, wrote that ‘he has been for 5 years my own elder boys closest friend with my full approval- need I say more’ In actual fact, however, Geoff had already been offered a place in hall without a headmaster’s reference (it arrived later), most likely because the Warden knew the family well, having already had Jack in hall for several years.
Geoff came up to University in 1935 to study Electrical Engineering. Although little is known about his life in hall, he graduated with First Class Honours in 1938. On the back of his success, Geoff was awarded a research scholarship at the University but when the Second World War broke out he abandoned his studies to join the Royal Navy. Initially assigned to the H.M.S Pegasus, where he was awarded his M.Sc., Geoff was transferred in 1941 to the H.M.S Exeter, which was undergoing repairs following the Battle of the River Plate. Earlier that year he had married Doramy Scholes.
Transferred to active service in February 1942, the Exeter was badly damaged in the First and Second Battles of Java and when it became clear that she could not be saved the order was given to scuttle the ship rather than let her fall into enemy hands. Geoff later recalled of the experience ‘The awful realisation slowly dawned on me that there was only one thing left to do: jump overboard and swim… I carefully [took my shoes] off and placed them neatly at the rail… unfortunately the instinct to remove one’s shoes didn’t extend to life belt inflation, and I had a hard time swimming until I reached a float…’ In the middle of the Java Sea, thirty miles from the nearest land Geoff, along with the majority of the crew, spent almost 24 hours in the water, before being collected by Japanese destroyers and taken to southern Borneo. From there, the prisoners were taken to the camp at Makassar, Indonesia.
During his five months at Makassar, Geoff caught a number of diseases including thirteen bouts of malaria. As the holder of a degree in electrical engineering, however, he was soon identified as a skilled technical worker and in October 1942 was one of 1000 men transferred to Fukuoka 2 Camp at Koyagi, Nagasaki. In a thinly disguised slave labour operation, Geoff and 1500 other men were put to work at Kawanami Shipyard, building merchant cargo ships and oil tankers. During the first winter there exposure and psychological trauma all contributed to an environment which Geoff later described as the hardest period of his captivity, with one source putting the death rate at one man per day.
In early 1944, Geoff received mail for the first time and learned that he had, officially, been dead for thirteen months and his wife Doramy had been a widow. Geoff’s revival had come from the British Red Cross who picked up his name on a PoW list and passed the information on to the British Government. As the year, progressed, however, more evidence of the Japanese failures were starting to filter through to the prisoners as food got shorter, work hours got longer, and the general atmosphere in the shipyard deteriorated.
In April 1945, Geoff, along with the other officers in Fukuoka 2, was taken to Hoten Camp in Manchuria, which he found was ‘the strangest camps of all the camp we had experienced.’ Geoff wrote little about his time in Hoten, feeling that daily life was so monotonous that there was nothing to say. As the Japanese war machine continue to falter, however, food was reduced, with two bowls of corn meal each day providing an estimated 700 calories. One effect of this was that by the time the Russian army arrived to liberate the camp in August 1945, Geoff was spending around 20 hours each day asleep.
After liberation, Geoff was returned to England and reunited with Doramy, who he had not seen for five years. Finding England ‘very drab’, however Geoff made the decision to return to the Navy for several more years, resigning his commission in 1948, after which he joined British Petroleum, the start of a career in the oil industry which was to last thirty-five years and took him around the world. In 1970, as a part of a new job, Geoff returned to Japan for the first time since had been liberated. On a later trip, he was one of the only PoWs to return to the camp at Nagasaki where he had spent much of the War.
Walter Henry Bleby
1936-39
B.A. French
Born in Tokyo, Japan, in September 1918, Walter Bleby was from a religious family. His father, Henry, an ordained priest, was a missionary in Japan from 1890 to 1907 and then from 1917 to 1921, when he was the Church Missionary Society representative in Tokyo. Henry had one older daughter, from his first marriage, and married Walter’s mother, Emmeline, in 1912, by whom he had two sons.
The family returned to England in the early 1920s, when Henry was made rector of East-Lydford-with Wheathill, Somerset. He was later vicar of of St. Augustine’s, Derby. Whilst the family were in Derby, Walter attended Derby School, the local grammar school. As a student there he took a keen interest in games, with colours in Cricket and Hockey. He was also a praepostor (prefect) and sergeant-major in the O.T.C (Officer Training Corps.) Walter’s headmaster wrote of him in the reference written for hall ‘… he may be a little conceited and lacking in tact, but I do not doubt as to his essential soundness. He is a boy of marked personality, who should become a good School Master.’
Walter was a resident of hall between 1936 and 1939, whilst studying for a B.A. in French. He had likely intended to stay in hall for a further year whilst he took his Teaching Diploma, however on the outbreak of World War II he found himself called up to fulfil his obligations in the R.A.F.
After the war, Walter returned to the University (although not to St. Anselm) and achieved his Teaching Diploma. Walter had wanted, since he was at school, to be a teacher of the deaf and after receiving his Teaching Diploma he worked at the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby. In 1953, Walter was appointed headmaster of Stoneleigh Special School, a school for the deaf in Leicester. In speaking about his job with a local paper in 1968, Walter spoke of how the staff at the school were ‘not only teachers but also salvage experts.’ He was keen to ensure his pupils went on to live full lives, stating that they should grow up ‘as sturdy and independently as possible… They need to be tough mentally… Tremendous obstacles must be faced.’ A core part of his approach to headmastership was his belief that ‘You must assess their needs with your head, and apply the remedies with your heart.’
In the late 1950s, Walter was married to Particia Cudd, with whom he had two sons. Walter retired from teaching in 1981. He died in 2001.
William Henry Bone
1929-34
M.Sc., Chemistry (2nd Class Honours)
Born in November 1911, William Bone was the eldest of the three children of Tom Cuppage Bone and Hannah Prince. He had one younger brother, Gordon, and a younger sister, Hannah. The family lived in Whitehaven, Cumberland, where Tom worked for the town council, initially as an assistant to the Town Clerk and, from 1927, as the Town Clerk. A young William attended the Irish Road Council School and from 1923 to 1929 he was a student at the local grammar school, Whitehaven County Secondary School. His headmaster summed his school performance as ‘He is not brilliant, but he is a good worker, and should take a good Honours degree in Science... His moral character is beyond reproach.’ His vicar, Rev. Edward Walker, added ‘He is a thoroughly… honourable young man, rather reserved in manner, but staunch in his friendship, and I believe he will… settle down to community life.’
William’s admission to St. Anselm hall was a somewhat unusual one. As his decision, in 1929, to join the Chemistry Honors School was taken at the last minute there had not been time to arrange proper accommodation. The secretary of Professor Arthur Lapworth, a chemistry professor at the University, arranged for William to have for an interview with Rev. Armytage who wrote to his father the same day ‘I interviewed [your son] and liked him, and am keeping him.’ William was initially admitted to the hall of a temporary basis pending the approval of his father and the receipt of several references, however this soon became permanent, and he remained a hall resident for five years, between 1929 and 1934. In this time, William achieved a 2nd Class Honours degree in Chemistry and then completed a research project on the ‘Physical and Chemical Effects of the Evaporation of Water from Cellulose.’
After leaving hall, William became a research chemist and by 1939 he was living with his wife and daughter in Cheshire. Little is known of William’s later life. He died in 2004 in Buckinghamshire, at the age of 92.
George Henry Bottomley
1935-36
Teaching Diploma
George Bottomley was born in April 1913 and was the eldest child of Henry Muir Bottomley and Annie Lea Warburton. George and his younger sister Edna grew up in Warrington, on the Cheshire-Lancashire boarder, where their father worked for the Railway as a relief station master (a station master who didn’t have any assigned station but provided relief for absent station masters in the local area.)
As a boy, George attended Boteler Grammar School in Warrington, although little is known of his time there. He came up to Manchester in 1931 to study for a Chemistry degree, with honours, after which he took his M.Sc. with a research thesis. George did not come into St Anselm, however, until 1935 when he became a resident for a year whilst studying for his teaching diploma.
Having achieved his teaching diploma in 1936, George taught for two years at a school in Devon, after which he spent brief spells at Weymouth Grammar School and Sheffield Grammar School. In 1939, at Warrington, he married Phyllis Bowering. They had two children, a son and daughter, together. During the Second World War George’s chemistry background led to him being appointed to an ordnance factory, where he was chief of the chemical department.
After the end of the War, in 1946, George worked for Windes College of Further Education in Cheshire. Starting as a chemistry master, he worked his way up to Head of Department and in 1959 was appointed Vice Principal. A further move for the family followed in 1963 when George was appointed principal of the Norfolk County Technical College in King’s Lynn. The technical college was George’s final appointment. He died in the post in 1966, at the age of 52.
Stanley Allen Fawcett Bowen
1936-39
B.A. Geography
Stanley Bowen was born in May 1917 in South Africa, where his parents Walter and Bertha were farmers at Zoutpans Drift, near the town of Douglas. He had two older sisters, Jessie and Elsie, and one younger brother, Dennis. Stanley’s father most likely died when he was young and in December 1926 his mother brought the family back to England. Unfortunately, she died shortly after arriving in the country, leaving the Bowen children as orphans.
Afterwards’ Stanley’s childhood seems to have spent in Manchester, most likely with relatives. Records show that he attended Ardwick Central School between 1929 and 1933 and then spent a year at Manchester Central High School. In the mid-1930s, for reasons which are unclear, the four siblings moved from Manchester to Huddersfield, where they lived with their uncle and aunt, Stuart and Elizabeth Wilson. After the move, Stanely attended Almondbury Grammar School. His local vicar later wrote, in support of his application to hall ‘He is a fine young fellow, capable and straightforward… He mixes well and converses well and no doubt will contribute his share to the well-being of the Collegiate Institution.’
Sidney came up to Manchester in 1936 to study geography and was a resident in hall for three years, until 1939. He struggled at University, however, at one point losing his place in the Honours school. Although he had initially intended to go into teaching, he later went off the idea. On leaving the hall, Stanley entered the R.A.F where he was a Flight Lieutenant through the Second World War.
Stanley married Beryl Bottrill, a home economics teacher from the Isle of Wight, in 1945 and they had two children. After the war, he worked for B.P., splitting his time between the Isle of Wight and the Middle East. Stanley died April 1988.
Stanley Graham Brade Birks
1912-1913
BA Arts
Born in Burnage, Lancashire, in 1888, Stanley (Graham) Birks was the eldest child of Brooklyn Birks, a grey cloth merchant, and his wife Annie. One younger sister, Marianne, was born in 1896. Graham grew up with his parents and sister in Burnage, attending Hulme grammar school and later the University of Manchester. He was a resident of St Anselm Hall 1912-1913, prior to being awarded a Masters of Science degree from the University of Manchester, along with his future wife Hilda Brade.
Ordained as a deacon in 1914, Birks was appointed to Holy Trinity, Darwen and later to a lectureship at the South East Agricultural College (Wye College), Kent, where he served until 1948. In addition to his lectureship, he was made vicar of Godmersham, Kent, in 1930 and later given the additional appointments of Crundale and Rural Dean of Westbridge Cantebury.
On his marriage in 1917, Graham joined his name with that of his wife to become Brade Birks and the pair together published twenty-three papers on myriapoda, with a further twelve papers published by Graham alone. This was in addition to Graham’s variety of other interests, which included history and archaeology. In 1972, at the age of 84, he presided over the Second International Congress of Myriapodology at the University of Manchester, welcoming members in three languages. Graham died in 1982, just a few months before Hilda.
You can find out more about Graham’s story here.
Leonard Bradbury
Early 1930s
Leonard Bradbury was born in around 1914 in Northwich, Cheshire, and was the second of four the four children born to James Bradbury, a chemical clerk, and his wife Dorothy Buckley between in Northwich between 1911 and 1923.
Unfortunately, Leonard’s hall file has not survived and so details of his childhood are limited but as a young man he is known to have attended Sir John Deane’s Grammar School. While the reference which would have been written by Leonards’ headmaster to support his application to hall has not survived, Bradbury is mentioned in passing in a reference written for another student, Herbert Clayton, in 1934. In recommending Clayton to hall, the headmaster wrote that ‘you will find [Clayton] as sterling a fellow in his way as [Jack] Blain or [Leonard] Bradbury’
It was at the Grammar School that Leonard first demonstrated his not insignificant sporting abilities. Coached by Mr. Valentine, a former Liverpool University and Lancashire County Player his ‘brilliance as a forward’ earned him a space, while still in the lower forms, in the school football team and, after the school switched to rugby, he ‘developed into a very dangerous fly-half, whose dodging runs were notorious among the school’s opponents.’
Later in his school career, Leonard was made Captain of the school rugby team, taking over from fellow Slemsman Jack Blain who had held the role in the 1931-32 season. At the same time, Leonard was also playing in Northwich Victoria’s team in the Cheshire League side.
Although nothing is known of Bradbury’s time at Slems, much is recorded about his sporting prowess during his years at University. On his arrival in Manchester, he returned to playing Football and was awarded colours during his first year at University. He also played for the University Athletics Union and in F.A. representative Matches, gaining amateur international honours.
After graduating from University, Leonard worked as a student-teacher at Altringham Grammar School. He also continued his passion for football and in 1937/38 was a part of the Islington Corinthians now infamous world tour. Travelling across Europe and into Egypt and India, then to Asia and eventually China, the team played 95 games over a period of eight months and 40,000 miles. Other tour activities included being shot at by the British Army at Khyber Pass (in what is now Pakistan), becoming caught up in an Opium Den raid in Hong Kong and, on their eventual arrival in China, getting arrested by the Japanese for breaching curfew.
In January 1939, Leonard achieved a further milestone in his football career when he was chosen to play the position of inside-left for Manchester United in their league one match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The match was one 1-0, with Leonard scoring the winning goal at 85 minutes. He later played a second match with the team.
The Second World War, however, intervened. Although it is not clear what Leonard did in the War, he served in the years afterwards with the U.N.R.R.A (United Nationals Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.) Initially working with displaced people in Europe, he later went to Palestine and then Yugoslavia. Among his other adventures, Leonard was responsible for securing petrol cans for water storage in the Dalmatian Coast, locomotives in Paris and fertilisers from the German Soviet Zone.
After leaving the U.N.R.R.A, Leonard returned to teaching at Altringham Grammar. In 1998, he was invited back to Old Trafford as a VIP. Photographed for the local paper with Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs, Leaonard told them that ‘The whole place has become a world of its own… I hope it can retain its community atmosphere.’ Leonard died in 2007 at the age of 92 and is buried at Delamere, Cheshire.
Leslie Rowland Brasher
c.1911
Matriculation
Born in Cheltenham in 1894, Leslie Rowland Brasher was the eldest son of William Brasher and Jessie Folley and had two younger siblings, a sister and brother. His father- who had been educated at Nottingham University College- ran a Stationer’s and booksellers in Cheltenham High Street. In 1901, Leslie was living with his parents, his siblings and his spinster aunt, Alice Folley, a schoolmistress, at Langton Grove Road in Charlton Kings, a village just outside of Cheltenham. By 1911, Leslie now aged 16, was a matriculation student residing at St. Anselm’s Hostel, Rusholme. It is, however, unclear whether Leslie went on to take a degree. Leslie served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the in the Royal Berkshire (Princes Charlotte of Wales) Regiment and at the end of the war, in 1919, married Olive Spencer. The couple settled in Cheltenham & had two children. Leslie worked as an Insurance Broker. He died in Kent in 1956.
Harold Barnes Brayford
Gartness Hostel 1919-1921
St Anselm Hall 1921-1922
B.A. History
From Tunstall in Staffordshire, Harry Barnes Brayford was the son of Edwin and Sarah Ann Brayford. Edwin worked as a potter’s manager and Harry (who was born in 1900) was the second of four siblings, including his older sister Kate who had learning difficulties from a young age. As a young boy, Harry attended Christ Church, Tunstall, where he eventually became a Sunday School teacher.. During the First World War Harry served with the Sherwood Foresters.
After the War, Harry joined the Ordination Test School (Knutsford) in Le Touquest France, remaining with it after its transfer to Knutsford, Cheshire. During his subsequent studies at the University of Manchester, Harry was initially a student at Gartness Hostel and was one of the students who transferred to St. Anselm’s during the 1921 merger.
Harry graduated with honours in history in 1922 and spent a further two years studying at Rippon Theological College in Cuddesdon, Oxford. He was ordained as a deacon in 1924 and appointed to St Mark’s in Woodcote, Purley, Surrey. Ordained as a priest at the Southwark Trinity Ordination of 1925, Harry was appointed curate of Eltham, Kent, in 1926 and in 1927 married Ethel King. The marriage service was conducted by his fellow Slemsman Thomas Gribbin.
Harry’s next appoint saw him move to Yorkshire where he was made curate of Hebden Bridge, Kent, with a living of St. John’s, Bradshaw, to which he was officially appointed vicar in 1934. In 1937, Harry again collaborated with Thomas Gribbin, preaching at the St Chad’s Ascension Day service.
Harry’s next appointment was to Spetisbury in Dorset in 1943, and from there he was appointed to nearby Frampton in 1959. Harry died in Hereford in May 1972.
Alan Hardman Bridge
1930-1933
Pharmaceuticals & Science
Alan Hardman Bridge was born in July 1910. The younger child of Arthur Bridge and Hannah Dunkerley, he and his older sister Joyce grew up in Oldham where their father was a school teacher. Alan attended Werneth Council School from 1915 until 1920 and was then a student at Oldham Municipal High School between 1920 and 1926. One reference- written on his application to hall- describes how ‘he has… first rate ability and applies himself most assiduously to any work he has to undertake.’ Alan was also a keen walker, walking around 36 miles a day and completing several walking tours of Germany. After leaving school, however, for reasons which are unclear, Alan was unable to continue his education. It was not until 1930 that he came up to the University to study Pharmaceuticals & Science. During the three years he was at University, Alan remained a resident of St. Anselm Hall.
After graduating, Alan spent short periods teaching in Liverpool and in business in Manchester. In 1938, at the age of 27, he emigrated to South Africa. Having built up experience in the country, he secured a post as Lecturer in Pharmacy at the Witwatersrand Technical College, Johannesberg. In 1941, Alan married Mona Mccreadie, a Johannesberg girl, and they had two sons together. In 1942, Alan was made head of the Chemistry department which, in Alan’s words ‘really is 100% Pharmacy Department. I thus became established in the realm of South African vocational education in the pharmaceutical sphere.’ With a staff of six lecturers, he prepared 300 students annually for the Intermediate and Qualifying examinations of the South African Pharmacy Board. Alan died in 1990 and is buried with Mona, who had died several years earlier, in South Africa.
James Cadden Bridge
1930-1933
Chemistry student. Went down without a degree.
Sacristian 1932-33
Born in December 1911, James Cadden Bridge was the eldest child and only son of William Bridge and Mary Cadden. Originally from Bury, Lancashire, James initially attended St. Stephen’s primary school, Bury, but in 1918 his parents moved to Chesterfield, Derbyshire, where William worked as a shop manager for the local co-operative society. Whilst they were there James attended Chesterfield Old Road School and then Chesterfield Central School. It was also in Derbyshire that James’ younger sisters Norah and Ella were born.
Between 1923 and 1924 James attended Chesterfield Grammar School but after the family moved again to Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, he transferred to Gainsborough Grammar School where he was a student from 1924 to 1930. His headteacher wrote in his hall reference that ‘He has no discovered athletic abilities; but he is a very sociable fellow and well liked… His moral character is excellent in itself, and he is a very solid asset in the discipline of the school…’ James home life, however, was marked in this period by the fact that his mother was a ‘semi-invalid’ for many years, eventually spending four years, including the three years that he was at University, completely confined to bed.
James came up to the University of Manchester in 1930 to study for honours in chemistry. Academically, James struggled, ultimately failing his final examinations. The Rev. South later wrote that he believed the boy should have taken a humanities degree rather than a science. James made a significant contribution to hall, however, as a ‘remarkably efficient, loyal and valuable Sacristan.’ To quote the Warden in the same letter ‘while, for example, his own time-table might be badly organized, his duties as Sacristian would be carried out with absolute accuracy and reliability.’
In a series of letters written after he had left the hall, James discussed at length with the Warden what he wanted to do. Following work experience in Gainsborough, he considered taking a Teaching Diploma but later went off the idea, declaring that ‘I found evenings were so full of various forms of school work that it was quite impossible to do any serious work.’ Instead, he attempted to go into ordination, and conducted a detailed series of communications with the Warden regarding choice of theological college and available funding. On one occasion, James met with the Bishop of Lincoln whom he described to the Warden as ‘very gracious though artfully long winded (he loves the sound of his voice)…’
Having failed to secure ordination training, however, James eventually found work as an Insurance Agent in Gainsborough. During the Second World War, James served at home with the R.A.S.C (Royal Army Service Corps.) In June 1943, at St. Michael’s, South Shields, James married Eva Garven. They had two sons, born in 1945 and 1947. Unfortunately, little is known of James’ life after the Second World War. He died in Bexley, London, in 1990.
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George William Brindley
1923-1927
B.Sc. Physics (1st class honours.) Teaching Diploma.
Born in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1905, George William Brindley was a descendant the 18th century canal pioneer James Brindley, a connection of which he was always proud. A childhood in the potteries likely inspired George’s own life’s work in clay mineralogy, a subject in which he became, in later years, a world leading expert.
George’s father, John William Brindley, was an elementary (primary) school teacher working at a local boys school. With his wife, Florence Salt, John had three sons, of whom George was the eldest. Spending his childhood in Hanley, George attended Newcastle High School, a local fee paying school, between 1917 and 1923.
In 1923, George was awarded a Major Scholarship by the City of Stoke-on-Trent. Worth £40 per annum, it funded his undergraduate studies at the University of Manchester. George, probably a resident of St Anselm Hall throughout his undergraduate degree, did well at University. In 1924 he was awarded the Higginbottom Exhibition for Physics and in 1925 he was jointly awarded the Moseley Memorial Prize. In 1926 George achieved first class honours in physics and in 1927 he completed his teaching diploma, after which he was awarded an advanced studentship in education and a research scholarship in education.
In this period George was working with Professor Reginald William James, a pioneer of X-ray crystallography, on x-ray diffraction, and in 1928 a joint paper, George’s first, was published. In the same year, George completed his M.Sc. and was subsequently awarded a Darbishire Fellowship, providing him with funded study for the next year.
In the late 1920s, George was awarded the post of Assistant Lecturer in the Physics Department at the University of Leeds, with a subsequent promotion to reader (a professor without a chair) in Physics. George’s particular focuses at that time were the deformation of metals, x-ray physics and lattice vibration. An obituary written shortly after George’s death noted that ‘His research was always carried out with meticulous attention to detail… [His papers] logical argument and lucidity serve as a model for others…’ By the time he was awarded his PhD from Leeds University in 1933, George had published 27 research papers.
In his personal life, meanwhile, George had married Caroline Fenton in May 1931. They had two children together, a son and daughter.
The outbreak of the Second World War disrupted George’s work, however, and he turned instead to geological subjects and mineralogy. What was intended to be a short project of a few weeks became his life’s work. An early prominent role held by George was that of the first chairman of the clay minerals group, the first special interest group of the Mineralogical Society of the UK & Ireland.
In July 1953 George and his family left England for America, where he had taken the post of Research Professor of Mineral Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. In 1955, George was appointed Professor of Solid State Technology and Head of the Department of Ceramic Technology at Penn. From 1962, he was a professor of mineral sciences. George had a keen interest in people from a wide range of backgrounds, which his research group at the University being described as ’almost always a mini-United Nations’, whilst his teaching was considered to have ‘unequalled excellence and long-lasting effectiveness’
By the end of his life, George was considered a world leading expert in the subject of clay mineralogy. From 1969-70 he was president of the Clay Minerals Society and in 1970 he was given the Roebling Medal, the highest award given by the Mineralogical Society of America.
Despite becoming an Emeritus (retired) professor in 1973, George continued to research, to work with learned societies and to supervise small groups of graduate students until a few weeks before his death in 1983. In paying tribute to him, the Clays and Clay minerals journal wrote ‘He was the archetypical scientist who set high standards for truth… His keen mind and dedication to quality scientific reporting will be sorely missed.’
Charles William Norfolk Brown
1933-36
History and English
Born in the industrial town of South Bank, Yorkshire, in 1914, Charles William Norfolk Brown was the only son of William Brown, a Bricklayers labourer, and Margaret Norfolk. Unfortunately, as his hall file has not survived few details are known of Charles’ childhood. Other records, however, indicate that he was a student at the prestigious Coatham School in Redcar.
From there, Charles secured a County Scholarship worth £80 a year for up to four years (although records suggest he actually only studied for three years), tenable in History and English at the University of Manchester. Coming up to the University in the 1933-34 session, he lived at Slems during all three years on his studies. During this time, he took part in a number of Hall Plays, playing Stanforth in 1933-34 (The Forest), Esme Faulker (the Secretary of State for Air) in 1935-36 (Wings over Europe) and R.F.C. Pilot Lieutenants Stevens in 1936-37 (Who goes next?)
After graduating in 1936, Charles continued his theological studies at Dorchester Missionary College in Oxfordshire. He was ordained as a deacon in 1938 and a priest in 1939, with his first role being the Curacy of Huntington, North Yorkshire. During this time, Charles was also secretary of the Council of St. Andrews Church, New Earswick and in early 1940 he became engaged to Mary Leng, a local girl with whom he had appeared in several amateur drama shows.
Charles and Mary were married in 1940 and had a son and daughter together. Around the time of their marriage, Charles was made curate of St. Cuthbert’s in Middlesbrough. This was followed by a position as vicar of Poppleton, North Yorkshire. In 1955, Charles was appointed to the living of Holy Trinity and Sewerby in Bridlington in East Yorkshire. During his induction at Swereby, so many people turned up that chairs’ had to be borrowed from a nearby house to accommodate everyone.
A particularly notable incident which occurred during Charles’ time at Bridlington and Sewerby happened in 1958. According to the local press, a woman had telephoned the police to report that she had witnessed the vicar giving chase to a man running out of Bridlington Church. On investigation, it was found that the gentleman in question was in fact the Mayor’s secretary, Frank Slim. The truth was that during a meeting at the church, Mr. Slim had remembered that he was late for another appointment and rushed off to attend it. Concerned, Charles set off to fetch his car from the vicarage and offer Mr. Slim a lift. When he returned home, a policeman and several policeman had arrived to investigate. Mr. Slim noted afterwards that he had never before being described as ‘suspicious looking.’
During his time at Bridlington, Charles was a Proctor in Convocation (meaning that he sat as a representative in a meeting of Bishops and clergy (a Convocation), most likely at York) and a member of the Church Assembly. Among many local interests, he was a member of the board of governors at Bridlington High School for Girls.
Charle remained in his post at Bridlington until his sudden death from coronary thrombosis (a blood clot in the heart) in 1969. He was 54 years old. After his death, Holy Trinity launched a £12,500 restoration appeal in his memory.
Ernest Buglass
1929-32
Physics degree and Teachers Diploma
JCR President 1932-33
Ernest Buglass was born in Dipton, Durham in February 1911. The middle of three children, and the only son of Ernest Bugass and Catherine Ann Doolan , he grew up in the mining village of Craghead where his father worked as a mine carpenter. From the local primary school, Ernest attended Alderman Wood Secondary School, a local Grammar School, where his headmaster described him as ‘a boy of good ability… good personal qualities, such as will give him a good influence & enable him to live happily among his fellows…’ In addition to his role as school prefect, Ernest was also a keen sportsman, being awarded school colours in Football, Tennis and Cricket and playing for the local teams. In 1928, the Consett Guardian described him as having ‘all the makings of a fine cricketer… [he] gives every promise of making a name for himself at football.’
Despite the local Vicar’s hope that he would enter the Church, Ernest was set on becoming a teacher. He came up to University in the autumn of 1929 to study Physics. During his time at University, Ernest continued with his passion for sports, playing for his local team, Craghead United, in the holidays, and also playing on a national level for the Universities Athletics Union.
In the 1930-31 academic year he was Captain of the Universities A.F.C. (Association Football Club.) Ernest’s passion for sports, however, landed him into trouble when William Bragg, a notable professor of physics at the University, wrote to the Warden of the boy ‘he has not put in an appearance for some time. I wrote to him to come and see me but he has not turned up.’ In response, the Warden wrote back ‘there is no reason at all why he should have done so. I have been afraid that he has been slacking all the term… he has played Soccer regularly throughout the term…’
Although there is nothing future in Ernest’s file, other hall records indicate tht Ernest failed his final exams in June 1932. Despite this, he returned to hall and was JCR president in the 1932-33, whilst he studied for a Teaching Diploma. By the late 1930s, Ernest was a schoolteacher living in Newcastle. Little else is known of his life. He died in Durham in 2001, at the age of 90.
Harold Young Burnett
St Anselm Hall 1922-1923
Harold Young Burnett was born in Bristol in June 1892 and was the youngest of the two surviving children of Charles Burnett, a draper, and his wife Bessie Young. As a young man, Harold followed his father into the drapery trade and the 1911 census records him as a drapery salesman for the Midland Drapery. This was a department store in Derby and, like many department store staff, he lived in residential accommodation provided by the store.
During the First World War, Harold served as a private in the 1st/3rd South Midlands Field Ambulance and at the end of the war he began his ordination training at Knutsford. Harold began his University education at Manchester in 1919, however he does not appear as a resident of Slems or Gartness in 1921 with later hall records suggesting he was probably a member of the 1922-1923 session. Harold later spoke of his war experiences ‘He had, in common with others lost good friends in the last two wars, and he had particularly in mind two young men with whom he used to get about in Bristol. And ex-Service men knew how they felt about pals. He thought of those lives which might have been spent usefully in the service of God and their fellow-men’
After leaving the University of Manchester, Harold was a student at the London College of Divinity from 1922 until his ordination as deacon in 1924, when he was made curate of St. Clements, Broughton, in Salford. On finishing at the London College of Divinity, Harold married Gladys Conibear, with whom he had two sons.
In 1927 Harold was given a new curacy, this time of St. Margarets in Burnage, Manchester and between 1931 and 1934 he was vicar of Audley, Staffordshire.
For a period of twelve years, from 1934 to 1946, Harold was vicar of Clitheroe, Staffordshire and for ten of those years was also chaplain to the Clitheroe branch of the British Legion. On leaving Clitheroe, Harold was given a cheque for £50 and Gladys an electric kettle. In his farewell speech, Harold spoke about how much the church and school meant to him and how many he was going to miss many things, especially the children.
Between 1946 and 1953, Harold was vicar of Heapey, near Chorley, Lancashire and he was then made Vicar of Broomfield-with-Faxfleet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a position he held from 1953 to 1960 when he took up his final appointment as rector of Norton-in-Hales, near Market Drayton, Shropshire.
Eric Burton
1935-39
Degree & Teaching Diploma
Born in 1915 in the industrial village of Elsecar, Yorkshire, Eric Burton was the youngest of the three sons of Fred Burton and Sarah Elizabeth Hodgson. Fred was a coal miner who worked in the Earl Fitzwilliam collieries, a series of collieries established by the local land owner in the 18th and 19th centuries. Fred worked in the collieries through the early 20th centuries through which time a number of changes took place, including the closure of several pits and the transfer of ownership to the South Yorkshire Pumping Association.
Eric and his older brothers (Leslie and Frank) all attended Elsecar National School and in 1927 Eric was awarded a County Minor Scholarship for Barnsley Grammar School. A student at the Grammar School from 1927 to 1934, he was noted by his headmaster as being ‘a boy whom we all liked. His intellectual powers were good but not brilliant… Socially he should get [along] very well. He was a very popular & cheerful member of this body… Exactly the type to settle down well to a common life…’
The Burton family were also active members of the local Anglican church, with both Frank and Eric being involved with the Sunday School. By the time he was applying for University, Eric was also on the Parochial Parish Council.
In the mid 1930s Eric spent twelve months working at Hoyland Kirk Balk Modern School, before, in 1935, he followed his older brother Frank to the University of Manchester and to St Anselm Hall. Frank had lived at St. Anselm Hall throughout the period of his degree and wrote to the Warden shortly after Eric’s application had been accepted ‘I would not have had him live anywhere other than at Anselm after being so happy there myself.’
A resident of St Anselm Hall from 1935 to 1939, Eric was described by the Warden on his departure as ‘[having] taken a very full part in the various social and sporting activities… He has proved himself most popular and valuable member of the Hall…’ Eric was captain of the Hall XV and had been Captain of the Lawn Tennis club for three seasons, in addition to his having University colours in Rugby. He made additional contributions to hall through the hall play (where he was a member of the technical team for several years) and as JCR Treasurer in the 1938-39 session.
On leaving University, Eric secured a teaching post in Bottle, near Liverpool in 1939. During the Second World War, however, he saw active service in Germany. In 1941 he married Winifred Brown, a primary school teacher who lived with her parents in Elsecar.
Following demobilisation, Eric and Winifred settled in Formby where their only daughter was born in 1953. Eric secured work as a maths teacher at Formby County Secondary School, and when it became the comprehensive Formby High School in 1969 he was appointed Head of the Lower School. By the time he retired in December 1974 he had seen the school grow from 200 pupils to 1700 pupils and was meeting parents he had taught as pupils. Winifred, meanwhile, worked at St. Peter’s, a local primary school where she specialised in religious education. She retired six months before Eric, in the summer of 1974.
Eric and Winifred remained devout Christians, attending St. Luke’s, Formby, where Eric was appointed a lay reader in 1953, with a further appointment as secretary of the Liverpool Diocesan Authority of Readers in 1967. He was also treasurer of the parochial parish church council, whilst Winifred led the Girl Guides. In 1986, both Eric and Winifred were among the residents of Formby who opposed Sunday Trading Hours, with the local paper reporting that they both believed it was a day of rest and should be treated as such. Eric retired as a lay reader at St. Luke’s in 1993, following 40 years of service.
Winifred died in 1999 and Eric in 2001.
Frank Burton
1929-32
Frank Burton was born in August 1910 in Elsecar, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, the middle of the three sons of Fred Burton, a coal miner, and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Hodgson. Fred worked in the Earl Fitzwilliam collieries, a series of collieries established by the local land owner in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a miner Fred would have lived through a number of the changes which took place there over the 20th century, including the closure of several pits and the transfer of ownership to the South Yorkshire Pumping Association.
Like his older brother Leslie and his younger brother Eric, Frank attended Elsecar National School. As a student there in 1922 he was successfully elected the school’s ‘best boy,’ beating the runner up by one point. From 1923, Frank was a student at Barnsley Grammar School, where his headmaster described him as ‘A lad of whom I think highly, both for his intellectual ability and for other qualities… His character has always stood very high… In fact for his solid worth and high principals, I do not think we have anybody I should place before Burton in the school.’ In addition to his academic success, Frank had also been a school prefect and was secretary for his house.
Like his brothers Leslie and Eric, Frank was also active in the local parish church and in a reference provided for the hall his vicar, Rev. Roome described him as ‘of a very friendly nature & well respected by all who know him. He is most thoughtful & considerate in his home… His moral character is of the highest possible nature.’
Frank came up to hall in 1929 and was a resident there from 1929-1932. This included a period of time in the summer of 1931 where he studied at the University of Caen in Normandy, France. Although there is little surviving evidence of Frank’s contribution to hall life, he evidently enjoyed his time there as when his younger brother Eric was also accepted into St Anselm in 1935, he wrote to the Warden ‘I am most pleased you have been able to accept the application of my brother… I would not have had him live anywhere other than at Anselm, after being so happy there myself.’
After completing his University studies, Frank returned home to Elsecar and by 1938 he was working as a teacher at Kirk Balk Council School. He also remained active in his parish church, being a lay reader and a Sunday School Worker. In the same year, he married Lottie Lax, a local girl, with a particular gift for music. In April 1939, Frank, already a lay reader and Sunday School Worker at Elsecar Parish Church, was placed in charge of the Church of England Mission at Harley, near Wentworth. In September 1939, however, the Second World War broke out. Records show that Frank was enlisted on 14th November 1940.
During the war Frank served with the royal engineers as a Radio Mechanic. He was discharged in early 1946. Little is known about Frank’s later life. He died in Stockport in 1975, at the age of 65 and was outlived by Lottie who died in Derbyshire in 1996.
Thomas William Byrne
1924-1927
B.A. Honours
Born in Blackburn in 1906, Thomas ‘Tom’ William Byrne was the youngest of the four children of Thomas Byrne, a police sergeant, and his wife Kate. Few details are known of Tom’s childhood, but as a boy he attended Blackburn Grammar School, alongside fellow Slemsman Leslie Hargreaves, achieving success in the Northern Matriculation Exam in 1924.
Tom studied for a BA at the University of Manchester and was a resident of St Anselm Hall throughout his studies, initially under the wardenship of Rev. Dewar and, in his final year, under the wardenship of Rev. Armytage. Tom took an active part in hall life, including being one-time editor of the hall Log book, librarian (he once described the library as the place where ‘second and third year men try to atone for not having done that which they ought to have done’) and taking the role Lieutenant Buckmaster in the 1926 hall play, J.B. Fagan’s The Wheel, which he is reported to have played ‘with an individuality which was very refreshing.’
In a series of letters written to the hall in the 1950s, Tom donated 10s 6d towards the hall war memorial and provided advice on where to locate other old members (he was particularly pleased to receive a Christmas card in 1952 from Arthur Patrick ‘my former study-mate whom I had not heard from in twenty-two years.’) Crucially, Toms’ letters also provide some of the earliest known evidence of the long-standing relationship between St. Anselm and Langdale, a nearby girl’s hall. In providing the 1954 Shrove Tuesday entertainment for his parish, Tom had enlisted the help of the students at Kings College, Newcastle, whom he found ‘… so natural and happy together that they seemed to reproduce the St. anselm [sic]- Langdale entente of nearly thirty years ago. Only I thought that they seemed more sensible than most of us were then!’
Tom achieved his B.A. in 1927 and completed his theological training at Wells theological college before being made deacon in 1930 and priest in 1931. Tom was curate at Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle, from 1930 until 1933, during which time he also wrote his MA thesis ‘Judicial Investigations in Northamptonshire under the Dictum de Kenilworth.’
In 1933, Tom was made priest-in-charge of St. Oswalds’ in the parish of Walker Gate, Liverpool. He remained there until 1944 when he was appointed to the rural parish of Humshaugh, Northumberland. Thomas was the rector of Humshaugh from 1944 until the mid-1970s. In the late 1950s he was joined in the parish by a fellow Slemsman, in fact the first Slemsman, the Rev. Spencer Wade, who had decided to retire there. In his autobiography, Rev. Wade recalled that ‘Very soon we made good friends… particularly with the bachelor vicar who, I discovered… was wearing my University Masters hood! He was a Manchester graduate and, oddly enough, had been resident of St. Anselm’s Hall… He was a charming fellow and cordially welcomed us to his parish… His churchmanship suited [us.] ‘
In 1969 Tom was one of four honorary canons appointed by the Bishop as Canons of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle. Tom left Humshaugh at some point between 1973 and 1976. He died in Blackburn in 1982, at the age of 76.