St Anselm Hall Archive
Harold Dakin
1929-1934
BSc. Honours degree
Harold Dakin was born in Hurdesfield, a suburb of Macclesfield, in August 1910. He was the only child of James Dakin, a self-employed house painter and decorator, and his wife Mary Jane Smith. A young Harold attended Daybrook Street and then Christ Church Elementary Schools before securing a scholarship for Macclesfield Grammar School, where he was a student between 1921 and 1929.
Harold came up to the hall in 1929 to study for an Honours degree in Science. He had initially planned to live at home, but later decided to ‘go into residence,’ a decision supported by his headmaster who wrote to the Warden ‘He has always lived at home & I feel it would do him a lot of good to mix with a wider circle.’
Harold lived in hall for five years between 1929 and 1934. In a letter written to the Warden in the months after he had left, in the winter of 1934, Harold wrote ‘I was so very sorry indeed to go down… and would have asked for nothing better than to stay on. ‘
After graduation, Harold returned home where he secured a temporary post at a local elementary school. He then got an appointment at Silcoates School, West Yorkshire, where he spent the rest of his career.
In his personal life, Harold married Esther Bancroft in 1938. As far as can be ascertained, the couple had no children. Harold died in 1981 and was outlived by Esther who died in 1988.
Frank Atkinson Danks
c.1911
Matriculation
Born in 1892 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, Frank Atkinson Danks was the son of Francis Danks, the local schoolmaster, and his wife Clara. He was recorded in the 1911 census as a 19-year-old matriculation student residing at St Anselm Hostel. A few months earlier, in May 1911, whilst a resident in the hall, he had won a contest in Pearson’s weekly for the best description of ‘Guillotine (Parliamentarian Sense)' which he had described as '... a form of closure in Parliamentary debate. The time of closure is decided by the party in power. When that time arrives the “guillotine” falls, the debate is at an end, and the vote is then taken.'
Frank does not appear to have taken his eventual degree at Manchester however, but instead graduated from Durham University in 1920 (his original studies having been interrupted by World War I.) On graduating, Frank worked at Tewkesbury Grammar School, rising to the position of second master in 1925. Frank remained at Tewkesbury Grammar School for fifteen years, until his sudden and tragic death in 1935, following an operation. In paying tribute to him, W.H. Struthers, headmaster of Tewkesbury Grammar School, noted ‘[He] left a gap… that was hard to fill. The quality of his work and character cannot be easily spoken of, nor could [the] sense of loss be adequately expressed.’
Charles Barritt Davenport
1931-35
B.A. English Language and Litreature & Teaching Diploma
Charles Barritt Davenport was born in Burnley in 1913, the youngest child of George Davenport and Ann Barritt. As a child, Charles with his parents and his sister Mary, as well as his maternal grandmother and aunt, at 67 Church Street, Burnley. Between 1918 and 1924 he attended St. Peter’s Elementary School, until, aged 11, he achieved a scholarship for Burnley Grammar School. During his time at school, Charles contributed to school life in a number of ways, including as Captain of Ribblesdale house in 1930 and 1931.
Unfortunately Charles’ hall file has not survived, however much of his time at University can be reconstructed through the use of historic newspapers. Charles came up to the University of Manchester in 1931 with a Stocks Massey Scholarship and studied for an Honours degree in English Language and Literature followed by a teaching diploma, living in St. Anselm Hall throughout his four years of study.
During his time at Slems, Charles contributed to hall life by joining the Hall debating society, of which he was secretary in 1932-33 and chairman 1933-1934. He also contributed to a number of hall plays, both as a cast member and as a member of the committee, although the only recorded roll he had was as ‘Dr. Franks’ in 1934’s The Forest (Full cast lists prior to this date unfortunately do not survive.) In sports, Charles had Hall colours in Rugby and was also a member of the hall swimming team. In his final year, 1934-35, Charles was the JCR secretary.
In wider University society, Charles was secretary of the University Folk-dance society and also contributed to the University Stage Society, playing the leading role in 1934-35’s production of Sean O’Casey’s ‘Within the Gates.’
On leaving University in 1935, Charles secured an appointment as English Master at Sir William Borlase’s Secondary School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Remembered as ‘a legend’ by former pupils, he taught at the school of nearly forty years before his retirement in the 1973. In November 1939, Charles married Margaret Spalding with whom he had two sons. Charles died in April 2005 in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, a year after Margaret.
George Douglas Graeme Davidson
1936-37
M.Sc. Electrical Engineering
George Davidson was born in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa in April 1914. His father Douglas Davison was originally from Scotland but worked in Bloemfontein as a lawyer, whilst his mother had been born in South Africa. George was the third of their four children, and the only son. Douglas was a prominent lawyer in Blomefontein but his health was poor and in the ten years before his death, which occurred shortly before George’s eighteenth birthday, he suffered from what was described as ‘progressive muscle atrophy,’ leading to heart failure.
As a young boy, George attended President Brand School in Bloemfontein, before being sent, most likely as a boarder, to St. Andrews College, an Anglican college in Grahamstown. George was a student there between 1927 and 1931 before he attended the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. At University, George studied for a degree in Electrical Engineering. The Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, A.R. Randall, described him in a reference to the hall as ‘[having] intellectual powers… rather above the average.. he was a favourite with his fellow students… [and] certainly likely to settle down happily in the common life…’
After completing his undergraduate studies in 1935, George moved to England for a year from 1936-37 to study for an MSc in Electrical Engineering at Manchester College of Technology. He lived in hall during this period, playing Sergeant Dobey in the 1936-37 hall play The Terror.
After completing his MSc, George returned to South Africa, where from August 1938 he worked for the Electricity Supply Commission (a South African public utility service) as an Engineering Assistant. In 1941, he married Nancy Kilgour with whom he had two daughters.
During the Second World War, George served with the South African Corps of Signals, but afterwards returned to the Commission where by the early 1950s, when he made contact with the hall again, he was Chief Technical assistant, with one of his roles being to work on the electrification of the main line between Cape Town and Johannesburg.
George was later divorced from Nancy and in 1957 he married Audery Mabin. At the time of his second marriage, George was living in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town. George died in the Cape Town area in early 1983.
Arthur Davies
1931-34
B.A. and Teaching Diploma
Born in Manchester in 1912, Arthur Davies was the youngest of three children. His early years were spent in Manchester, where his father was a foreman in the brass finishing department of United Brass foundry. In the early 1920s, however, the family moved to Halifax where Arthur attended Heath Grammar School. On completing his Higher School Certificate, Arthur came up to the University of Manchester. Unfortunately, Arthur’s hall file has not survived but other sources indicate that he was a resident of St. Anselm Hall from 1931-34, most likely for the final two years of his BA degree and the one year of his teaching diploma.
After graduating, Arthur taught for fifteen months at Christ Church primary school in Pellon, Halifax. At the end of 1936, however, he left teaching to work for the Burma Frontier Service (now Myanmar.) In 1939, having successfully completed his probation, Arthur was permanently appointed to Loi Mwe in the Southern Shan States, where the British had a hill station. Arthur continued to work in Burma during the early years of the Second World War.
In December 1941, however, everything changed when the Japanese entered the war with their attack on pearl harbour. This was followed in early 1942 by the Japanese invasion of Burma. Arthur’s family received their last communication from him in March 1942. They did not hear from him again until October 1943, when it was confirmed that he had become a civilian internee of the Japanese. Little is known of Arthur’s experiences under the Japanese, although he was most likely held at Maymyo camp. Described as ‘a sort of ‘Hell Camp..’ by a fellow internee, Maymyo had a particularly notorious reputation. Among other treatments, the men were reportedly subjected to ‘considerable face slapping’ by the Japanese guards at least once a day. In Arthur’s final years the brutal treatment he received under the Japanese authorities was quoted as a contributing factor in his failing health.
After being liberated in early 1945, following 3 ½ years of imprisonment, Arthur was sent to an Officer Convalescent Depot in West Bengal, Darjeeling. There he met Dr. Patience Barcley, a captain in the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps.) There were married in Darjeeling on 28th July 1946, her 36th birthday. Arthur and Patience had a son and daughter of their own and also informally adopted two other children, a brother and sister, from early childhood.
After their honeymoon, Arthur and Patience returned to England in September 1946. In late 1950, they moved to Kenya where Arthur was initially Assistant secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. Later roles included becoming Controller of Administration the Kenya Broadcasting service and working for the stockbroking firm of Dyer & Blair. In Floreat 1968, Arthur is quoted as saying that ‘Kenya is really the only country worth living in- superb climate… gorgeous scenery and fascinating wildlife.’ In contrast, he viewed Britain as a ‘devalued, benighted, frozen, strike-bound, redundancy-girt, tea-break and ten-to-four working rule, going slow island that I had the misfortune to be born in.’
Despite his misgivings, Arthur and Patience returned to England in 1976, shortly after his retirement, and settled in a house which overlooked Dartmoor. After Patience’s death in 1985, Arthur married for a second time, to Margaret. Arthur died in July 1997.
Dennis Davies
Entered 1937
B.Sc., Chemistry
Born in Eccles, Greater Manchester, in January 1919, Dennis Lancashire Davies was the eldest child of Hugh Davies and Elsie Lancashire. A young Dennis grew up with his parents and younger brother in Eccles, where his father worked as the bank manager for the Eccles Branch of the Manchester and County Bank (now a part of Netwest.)
Between 1927 and 1932 Dennis attended Eccles Grammar School but after his family relocated to Colwyn Bay in Denbighshire, Wales, he attended Friar’s School, a boys grammar school in Bangor. This was followed by a two year spell at Colwyn Bay Secondary School between 1935 and 1937.
Dennis came up to University in 1937, accompanied by the anxieties of his father who asked the Warden to ‘as soon as you have some time and opportunity give him the benefit of your advice & warning of the dangers & pitfalls of city life and undesirable companions.’ Although little else is known about Dennis’ time at the University or at St. Anselm Hall, he graduated with a degree in Chemistry and went to work for ICI.
Dennis married Edith Dwerryhouse, a fellow employee of ICI at Runcorn (Cheshire), in 1942. They had three children together, two daughters and a son. In 1952, Dennis wrote to the hall of his family life ‘The family and a somewhat dilapidated old house and moderately large garden keep me pretty fully occupied. They serve to keep at bay the ‘middle aged spread’…’
Unfortunately, little else is known of Dennis’ life. He died in Frodsham, Cheshire, in 2009.
Phineas Davies
1937-40
B.Sc., General Science
Phineas Davies was born in September 1918 in Bradley, a suburb of Wolverhampton. He was the only child of Phineas Davies, a steelworker, and his wife Edith Parker. A young Phineas lived in Bradley with his parents and his maternal grandmother Agnes Heighway.
Phineas briefly attended St. Martin’s School in Bradley but from the age of about six, when his parents moved to Grangetown in Yorkshire, he went to Grangetown Council School followed by Central School, South Bank. Between 1930 and 1937, Phineas attended Coatham School, Redcar. Among his other achievements there, Phineas became a School Prefect and Captain of the Cricket XV. In recommending him to the hall, Phineas’ House Master, Mr. Pearson, wrote ‘To me he has been a great help... I will miss him possibly more than any other boy who has ever been in my House.’
Phineas came up to the University of Manchester in 1937 to study general science, with a focus on chemistry and physics and maths as a sub-subject. On completion of his matriculation, Phineas was awarded a County Major Scholarship and an Imperial Chemical Co Scholarship. As the latter was only tenable for the London B.Sc., however, he was unable to take it up on deciding to come up to Manchester. Phineas’ County Major Scholarship, however, which he did take up, entitled up to have his fees paid in addition to £148 paid annually for his maintenance.
Phineas lived in hall for all three years of his degree, from 1937 until 1940. Following his graduation, Phineas immediately began working for the Research department of I.C.I in Billingham, County Durham. By the time he wrote to the hall in 1952, projects he had been involved in included the manufacture of synthetic rubber and theoretical work on Thermodynamics. As far as can be ascertained, Phineas remained at I.C.I for most, if not all, of his working life. In 1963, Phineas and a fellow employee named Frederick Snowdon were able to file a patent for a new methanol production process using a catalyst which could produce high quantities without high pressures, the lower pressures in turning meaning a lower temperature was needed and less byproducts were formed. This paved the way for the development of further ground-breaking catalysts.
In 1974, Phineas was a member of the team from the agricultural division at ICI who were awarded the Macrobert Award, one of the most prestigious prizes for engineering innovation in the UK. The team were awarded it for their work on developing and manufacturing high-activity catalysts for use in methanol production.
In his personal life, Phineas married Jean Secker in 1951. In his 1952 letter to the hall, he described how ‘we have obtained a detached Bungalow, with just sufficient land around it for garden & fruit trees, very pleasantly situated at the foot of the Cleveland Hills & quite close to the coast. We feel very fortunate & I need hardly add are extremely happy.’ Phineas and Jean had a daughter born in 1956. Phineas died in Cleavland in 1999, at the age of 80.
William Richard Elliott Day
1925-1927
Went down without a degree
Born in November 1908 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, William Richard Elliott Day came from an educated background. His father, Walter Day, was a teacher at the Yorkshire Institution for the Deaf in Doncaster while his maternal grandfather, Richard Elliott, was a longstanding headmaster of the Royal School for the Deaf and Dumb in Margate, Kent. A young William grew up in Doncaster with his parents, Walter Day and Harriett Elliott, and his older sister Kathleen. William attended Doncaster Grammar School, from which he matriculated in 1925.
Following his matriculation success, William came up to University in October 1925, although it is unclear what he was studying. William lived in hall for the next two years, featuring several times in the 1926 edition of Aosta. He was the author of an article entitled ‘Lover-an Illusion’ and had also taken part in that years hall play, The Wheel, performing the part of the Lama ‘handsomely and satisfactorily… his voice will improve with time and exercise… God Forbid.’
William went down in the summer of 1927 without a degree. In the spring of 1928, he travelled to Canada to study farming at Mcdonald Campus in Montreal (now a part of McGill University.) Later records show William travelling to Australia and India in the years before the Second World War. Although little is known of William’s life after hall, he died in South Africa in 1979.
Datthaya Deshpande
Entered Hall 1927
Civic and Mechanical Engineering
Datta Laxman Deshpande was born in September 1909 in Badwah, India, although nothing is known of his family circumstances. In 1924, Datta began studying at Government Chintamanrao High School in Shahapur, where he achieved the position of ‘1st Scholar.’ Afterwards, Datta spent a year at Karnatak College, Karnatake, where a science wing had been established in 1923, followed by a further year at Baroda College, Gujarat.
Datta came to England in 1927 to study Civic and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manchester. An application form suggests that Datta entered hall in 1927, but unfortunately there are no other records of his experience there.
Datta apparently did well at University, winning a British Scientific and Industrial Research Scholarship two years running. After completing his B.Sc. degree with Honours in 1930, Datta achieved an MSc. in Civic and Mechanical Engineering in 1931.
After graduating, Datta lived in London where he received training from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Among his other activities there, he worked for C.S. Allcott & son, Consulting Engineers, helping to design parts of Battersea power station.
Datta returned to India in 1932, where he worked as an assistant engineer for the now defunct Railway operator Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway. One of his duties in this role was almost sole responsibility of the carriage and wagon repair shop at Mehsana, Gujarat. Between 1937 and 1939, Datta was chief engineer at another company.
In 1939, Datta caught the attention of Sir C. P. Ramaswamny Ayyar, a distinguished Lawyers whose past positions included serving as an India delegate to the League of Nations in 1926 and 1927 and serving as Law Member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India in 1931. By the late 1930s, he was Dewan (head of government) of Travancore Ramaswami. In this role, Ramaswamny Ayyar selected Datta for a fellowship at the new Engineering College at Travancore. Opening with 21 students studying for degrees and diplomas in Civic, Mechanical and Electrical engineering the College was the first Engineering College in the Travancore State.
Datta’s next position was with the Labour Ministry at Koni-Bilaspur where he helped to organise the Central Institute for training craft- instructors. The crowning achievement of Datta’s life, however, was the Bihar Institute (Now the Bihar Institute of Technology), of which he is considered ‘the architect.’ Started from a group of Nissan huts in 1949, the Institute became- by the time of Datta’s death- ‘an institution that is among the finest in India.’
From 1950, when the Institute moved to Sindri, until his death in 1961, Datta was the Institute’s first Principal. In an obituary written after his death, Datta was remembered for, among other things, his gift of leadership and friendship as well as ‘his geniality and easy comradeship… [which] won him a host of admirers.’
Gilbert Gordon Dobson
1928-30
Studied Economics. Went down without a degree.
JCR Treasurer 1929-30
Gilbert Dobson was born in Workington, Cumberland, in May 1909 and was the eldest of four children, having two younger brothers and one younger sister. His father, Charles, was in the grocery trade and had married his mother, Sarah Walker, in 1908. Through Gilbert’s childhood the family boarded with Jessie Goodfellow, an elementary school teacher at a local girls school, St. Johns.
As a young boy, Gilbert attended the equivalent St. John’s boys school. He then spent three months at Workington Higher Standard School before transferring to Workington County Technical and Secondary School where he had a County Minor Scholarship. Gilbert’s headmaster, Mr. Coles, described him as having ‘personality and abilities… such that he would be regarded as a distinguished and reliable man in any Company.’ Gilbert was a keen sportsman who played Cricket for the 1st team and, having been largely responsible for persuading the school to embrace Rugby in early 1926, became Captain of the Rugby team. At the end of his time at school, Gilbert was, by popular ballot, awarded the Hodgson Commemoration Prize.
Gilbert came up to the University of Manchester in 1928 with a County Major Scholarship. He was studying for an Honours degree in Economics and lived in hall for two years, 1928-29 and 1929-30. During the 1929-30 year, Gilbert was also the Treasurer of the Junior Common Room.
Although it is unclear what happened, further hall records indicate that Gilbert left University before completing his degree. By the late 1930s, he was living in Rochdale where he worked as an office manager. His other activities included playing for a local Rugby Team, where he was at one stage the captain, and serving in the Home Guard during the Second World War. By the early 1950s, Gilbert was living in Leeds. Nothing else is known of his adult life. He died in Cumbria in 2001, at the age of 92.
Daniel Doherty
1936-37
Teaching Diploma
The circumstances of Daniel Doherty’s birth are something of a mystery. Born in Sheffield in May 1915, he was adopted early in life by Daniel and Edith, publicans from Salford. Apparently unable to have children of their own, they had adopted their elder children Ethel and Jack (who were biological siblings), when they were four and two, before adopting Daniel, their youngest child, as a baby. Daniel senior was of Irish Catholic decedent and, in addition to changing the children’s surnames to his own, ensured they were all baptised into the Catholic church.
As a child, Daniel attended Notre Dame Convent School. In the mid-1920s, however, the family moved to Warrington where Daniel attended Boteler Grammar School. His French Master there, Mr. Pearson, later described him as ‘at all times of a happy and bright disposition, always willing to help.’ In addition to playing in the 1st teams for football and cricket, Daniel was a prefect and later joined the old boys committee.
Daniel’s home life, however, was more complicated. Although it is not known what happened to his mother, his father died suddenly in December 1932 and by 1936, when he applied for hall, he was in the guardianship of a Mr. William Barlow. The Warden later summed up his home life as ‘very unhappy.. through no fault of his own… I think that it says much for his qualities of courage and general steadiness that he has come through as well as he has.’
Daniel likely came up to University in 1933, but only came into St. Anselm Hall during the 1936-37 academic year when he was studying for his teachers diploma. During the year, he played Chief Warden Joyce in the annual hall play ‘The Terror.’
After leaving University in 1937, Daniel returned to Warrington where he worked as a school teacher. He married Kathleen Wilson, a statistical clerk, in 1939. During the war, Daniel served with the Royal Corps of Signals. Afterwards, he returned to live in Warrington where he was assistant headmaster at Bewsey Secondary Modern School. During his tenure there he was also president of the Warrington Teachers Association.
In 1949, Daniel moved back to Manchester where he was made headmaster of Gorse Hill Secondary Modern School in Stretford. This was followed in 1951 by an appointment to the post of headmaster at Irlam Mixed School, Salford, a post Daniel held for the next several decades.
Daniel died in Warrington in March 1997, at the age of 81.
Douglas Dolbear
1938-1941
B.Sc., Physics
Born in Edinburgh in February 1919, Douglas Dolbear was the son of David Dolbear and Martha Nicol. A young Douglas attended Regent Road School in Edinburgh from 1924 until 1927, when the family moved to Silloth, Cumberland, where David worked as a Hydraulic Engineer for the London and North East Railway. After the move, Douglas attended Silloth Council School and then Wigton Nelson School. At Nelson School, Douglas won a number of form prizes and also contributed to the 1935 Sixth Form Production of ‘The Critic’, where he played the role of the governors’ daughter, Tilburina. During his final two years at school, Douglas also held the role of senior prefect. In providing a reference for the hall, Douglas’ headmaster from his time at Silloth Council School wrote that ‘[he] is one of the hard-working and conscientious students it has been my privilege to know.’
On his matriculation in 1938, Douglas was awarded a grant towards further education by the County Council. Although he considered going to Cambridge, financial limitations meant that he instead opted to study physics at the University of Manchester. Douglas’ file indicates that he had an additional scholarship by the Michaelmas term of 1939, but nothing about this is known.
Douglas had previously applied for St. Anselm Hall on the advice of fellow student Tom Wood (who is suspected to have also been a student at Nelson School.) In confirming acceptance of his place, Douglas wrote to the Warden ‘Mr. Wood has told me so much about the Hall and the University that I am looking forward to a very happy time there.’
Although little is known of Douglas’ time in hall, he appears to have been a student between 1938 and 1941, appearing in the 1939 hall play, the Wind and the Rain, as boarding-house keeper Mrs. McFie. Although Douglas expected to have to go down in 1939, when the Second World War broke out and the Military Service Act was introduced. University records, however, suggest that he was able to remain at University until 1941, when he achieved Second Class Honours in Physics.
During the Second World War, Douglas served in the technical branch of the RAF and in 1949 he attended the first post-war reunion. In 1947, Douglas had achieved his MSc and in 1950 he completed a PhD in physics at the University of Manchester. Although little else is known about his adult life, Douglas seems to have gone on to have a career in physics research. In 1942, Douglas married Helen Matthews with whom he had two children. After Helen’s death in 1993, Douglas went on to marry Monica Cartwright, an old friend of the family, in 1994. He died in Hampshire in 2005, at the age of 86.
Watson Charles Downham
Entered Hall 1929
General Science
Born in Hellifield in February 1911, Watson Downham was the fifth child and only son of Charles Downham and Helen Parker. His early years were spent in Hellifield, where he lived with his parents and five sisters. Hellifield in the early 20th century served as a key railway junction, where the Midland Railway met the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Watson’s father Charles made up one of a significant force of railway workers in the town, being employed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as a signalman.
In around 1917, the Downham family returned to Charles’ home town of Clitheroe, where he worked for the next twenty-two years in the signal box at Low Moor sidings. A young Watson had attended Hellifield Council School but after the move he went to Clitheroe Council School. From 1921 until 1929, Watson attended Clitheroe Grammar School, with his headteacher recommending him to the hall as having ‘held a very good record here… [he] is looked on as a ‘good comrade… [and] has a very good school spirit.’ As well as being a school prefect, Warson held house colours in cricket and school colours in football.
Outside school, Watson’s family were committed methodists and attended Clitheroe Methodist Church.
Watson elected to attend St. Anselm as he had two school friends (their names are unfortunately currently unknown) in the hall, who took the opportunity to show him round and held him fill out an application form. Unfortunately, the application form they provided turned out to be one of the old style (the hall had switched from using a single elongated sheet to having a booklet style application form), much to the confusion of the Warden who wrote back in response ‘I am at a loss to understand how you got one of these.’ A new application form was duly sent and completed. Watson had initially wanted to compete for the hall scholarships but he was unable to do so as he was not a member of the Church of England. Nevertheless, he came up to the University and to St. Anselm Hall, joining in in the 1929-30 session.
At the end of his first term, Watson was implicated in a serious incident. Although the full details are not known, it seems that Downham, then living in a part of the hall named The Elms, and another student named Leslie Bale took part in some kind of end-of-term festivities. These apparently got out of hand, with Downham and Bale breaking the hall rules in some way and then having a half-hour argument with the JCR President, James Colling who had tried to intervene. Although Bale was subsequently banned from hall premises, it is not recorded what action, if any, was taken with Downham.
Nothing else is known of Watson’s University career, however by the late 1930s he was living in Atherton where he worked as a teacher at Leigh Road Elementary School. In 1939, Watson was married at Bolton-road Methodist Church to Hilda Jessop, a confection worker from Atherton.
During the Second World War, Watson served as a signalman and was with the 1st Army in North Africa. Mobilised in late 1942, they advanced from Algeria to Tunisia to join up with the 8th Army who had been fighting the Western Desert Campaign. After the surrender of the Italians and Germans in May 1943, the 1st Army was broken up and its units absorbed into other formations.
After the end of the War, Watson returned to Atherton where he worked again at Leigh Road Elementary School until 1951, when he was appointed headmaster of Westleigh Methodist School in Leigh, Manchester. He remained in the post for almost the rest of his life. Watson died in Leigh in 1975, at the age of 63.
(Donald Matthew) Don Duckworth the Elder
1935-1940 (Michaelmas and Lent Terms 1940 only)
B.Sc., Chemistry (2nd Class Degree)
Born in Darwen, Lancashire Don Duckworth the elder (so called to distinguish him from his nephew, Don Duckworth the younger, who lived in hall shortly after the Second World War) was baptised at Belgrave Chapel, the congregational church where his grandparents had been married fifty years earlier. He hailed from a prominent Darwen family, being the grandson of Matthew Duckworth, a cotton manufacturer, who was also the oldest member but one of the Darwen Co-op Society.
Don’s father, Frederick, meanwhile, was also employed at Vale Brook Mill, working his way up to the position of head of the Company and vice-president of the Darwen Cotton Manufacturers Association. He was also an Alderman of the Borough and Chairman of the local Education Committee. Frederick had married Jane Brooks in 1900 and they had had a son, Herbert, the following year, but there was a 16-year-age gap between him and Don, who was born in June 1917.
A young Don attended Darwen Grammar School between 1927 and 1935. During his time at school, Don was described as ‘Not a “games” boy, but has been very helpful.’ Among his other contributions, he took part in the School Folk Dance Association and was also a school prefect. Don’s headteacher, in providing a reference to support his hall application, wrote ‘He is a thoroughly nice fellow, good-tempered, single-minded… perhaps just a trifle over serious.’
Don came up to University in 1935 to study Chemistry and lived at St. Anselm Hall for the next three years, graduating in 1938 with a 2nd Class Degree in Chemistry. At the time of his degree, Don also achieved the LeBlanc Medal for his work on Colloids.
After graduating, Don lived in hall for another year and a half whilst completing research. During his time at Slems, his contributions to hall life included taking the role of Stage Assistant in the 1936 Hall Play (Who Goes Next?) and the role of Stage Manager in the 1939 Hall Play (The Wind & The Rain.)
Don returned to the hall for the Michaelmas Term of 1939-40, but in early 1940 was called up to the Governments Ministry of Supply. Although there was some doubt as how long he would be able to remain in hall, Don was eventually able to complete the Lent term, going down in the spring of 1940.
Few details are known of Don’s adult life. By the early 1960s, he was working in the Division Work Study Department at ICI Billingham, in Stockton-on-Tees, demonstrating how the science of work study could be applied to household tasks. Don married Della Harrington in 1945 and they had two children together. Don died in Middlesbrough in 2010, at the age of 93.
Robert James 'Geordie' Duncan.
1936-1940 (Michaelmas Term only)
B.Sc., Physics and Teaching Diploma
Born in the village of Stakeford, Northumberland, in 1917, Robert Ducan (known in hall circles as ‘Geordie’ Duncan, presumably on account of his accent) was the eldest of four children. His father- Robert- was a railway singleman employed by the L.N.E. Railway (London & North-East Railway) who had married his mother, Margaret Morton, in 1912. A young Robert attended Stakeford Council School and was then a student at Bedlington Secondary School from 1928 until 1936. His headteacher, A. J. Williams, described Robert as ‘shy but would prove an admirable “mixer”… His ready smile and his skill on the violin make his persona grata anywhere;…’
Robert had intended to come up to University in 1935 to study Physics, with a view to becoming a teacher of the deaf. After failing his chemistry examinations, however, he elected to spend a further year at school and to instead come to University in 1936. Robert studied at the University of Manchester for four years- most likely three years for a B.Sc., with a further year for his teachers diploma. Despite being described by his head teacher as having ‘negligible’
athletic abilities, Robert apparently took part in hall sports and appears in the photograph of the 1936-37 Rugby Team.
In the summer of 1937, between his first and second year at University, Robert fell seriously ill with appendicitis, which ‘nearly cost him his life.’ After five weeks in the Royal Victoria Infirmatry, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Robert was transferred to a convalescent home. The length of Robert’s illness and convalescence led to some doubt about whether his hall place could be kept open but in the end he was able to return to University- and St. Anselm Hall- at the end of November 1937.
Robert remained in hall for the remainder of the 1937-38 session and the 1938-39 session. Fellow Slemsman Philip Gibbs, located on the ground-floor room closest to the front door during the 1938-39 session, later recalled ‘Geordie’ Duncan as one of the ‘nefarious wanderer’s returning from the fold’ (i.e. returning to the hall post-curfew) who would with ‘unfailing regularity’ climb through his bedroom window (the main hall door having presumably being locked at curfew.)
Robert returned to hall for the 1939-40 session but opted, regretfully, to depart at the end of the Michaelmas term after being offered a residential place at the Royal School for the Deaf in Old Trafford, taking the space of a previous student who had left to join the armed forces. At the time of his departure, he wrote to the Warden ‘Leaving St. Anselm will be difficult at first since I certainly have spent three pleasant years there, however, living at the Deaf School offers different type of educational values which I ought to grasp if possible.’
It was probably at the Royal Deaf School that Robert met his wife Irene Faulkner, who also taught there. They were married at Portwood, Stockport, in April 1944 and had one son.
By the time of his marriage, Robert was working at Chadderton Grammar School, Oldham. He remained connected with the hall in the years after the war, attending Reunions in 1949 and 1954. In 1954, Robert still teaching (although where is unknown) and was living in Old Trafford, Manchester. Little else is known about the final years of his life. He died in January 1966, at the age of 48.
Francis Alfred Ward Durrant
1930-34
B.A., French and Teaching Diploma
Born and raised in the village of Pilsley, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Frank Durrant came from a long line of school teachers. His grandfather, Alfred Durrant, had been a schoolmaster in the area as had his father John. His mother Charlotte also became an elementary school teacher after his father’s death.
Frank, born in December 1911, was the eldest of John and Charlotte’s children and had three younger siblings, Geoffrey (born 1913), Olga (born 1915) and Jack (born 1916.) Although his service record has not survived, John is known to have served with the Sherwood Foresters in France during the First World War. Unfortunately, he did not make it home, dying of illness (most likely Spanish Flu) in France in October 1918. After John’s death, Frank and his siblings were raised by their mother.
From 1920-1925, Frank lived away from home whilst studying at Mansfield Grammar School, Nottinghamshire but in 1925 he transferred to Chesterfield Grammar School, where he studied until 1930. During his time at school, Frank developed an early passion for sports. One of his referees- Micheal Parkin- later recalled that he had taken several prizes for sports. By 1930, when he applied for hall, Frank played Soccer and Tennis (Fives) for his house, as well as Rugby where he was on the School 1st team with the expectation of colours later that term.
During the application process, Frank initially enquired about the possibility of receiving a hall scholarship, but did not go through with the application process after being awarded a Kitchener Scholarship. He came up to the University of Manchester in 1930 to study for a B.A. in French and lived in St. Anselm hall throughout his period of study, with the exception of the Summer Term of 1932 when, in accordance with the requirements for his course, he spent the Term in France. After achieving his B.A. with a Second Class Division 1 (what would now be called a 2:1), Frank remained in hall for a further year (1933-34) whilst studying for his teachers diploma. During this year, he played the part of Pole Revers in the annual hall play (John Galsworthy’s The Forest.)
After leaving university in the summer of 1934, Frank worked for the next 12 months in the part-time role of French Master at King Edward VII School, Sheffield. In 1935, however, he secured a full time position as French Master at Hull Grammar School. Frank was married in August 1939 to Dorris Wavin, whom he knew from Chesterfield. They would go on to have three children together.
1939, however, also marked the start of the Second World War. Frank was, at the time of his marriage, in the Territorial Army (Army Reserves), serving with the 4th East Yorkshire Regiment, where he had been commissioned as an officer in the July of that year.
The regiment were to sent to France at the start of the war, where Frank served as the regimental signal officer. After being evacuated from Dunkirk, Frank was promoted to Captain in early 1941. Later in the year, the regiment were sent to North Africa where they, together with the Princess of Wales regiment, formed the 150th brigade during the battle of Gazala. The brigade formed a defensive box which, under successive attacks from Rommell, folded, resulting in significant losses for the East Yorkshire Regiment. The 4th Battalion was almost wiped out, whilst the 5th Battalion was left with just 170 of the 800 men they had started with. A number of men, including Frank, were taken as prisoners of War.
As North Africa was considered to be under Italian influence at this time, Frank was initially considered an Italian PoW. Later, however, he was transferred to Offlag 79. Opened in December 1943, the camp was populated with officers, with many of these initially coming from the Battle of Crete or, like Frank, from the North Africa campaign.
Oflag 79 was liberated in April 1945. After the end of the war, Frank returned to Hull and to his old job at Hull Grammar School, where among his other contributions he helped to develop the school rugby and was connected to the old boys association. Frank died in Hull in December 1987, at the age of 76.