By Ian Cooper from his excellent series Records of a Bygone Age first published in The Stronsay Limpet and republished here with their kind permission.
In last month’s article we left the newly appointed headmaster, Stewart Weir, in charge at the Central School. After taking up the reins in March 1919 he had apparently decided at an early stage to tackle the thorny issue of unauthorised absences head on, no doubt with the best of intentions. It seems he may not have been the most diplomatic or tolerant of characters and this was soon to lead to some severe disputes with parents and School Management Committee, with the Education Authority’s Executive Officer being drawn into the fray soon after. This dispute was recorded quite fully in the school log, firstly in November 1919, when Mr Weir records that:
‘Yesterday received a letter from Mr Young asking me in the name of the Orkney Education Authority to send in my resignation. The facts are as follows:-
16th October 1919
(A) The local postman called at the school about 1 p.m. and demanded his son for harvest work. I asked him to repeat his request and he did so with aggravated impudence. I then summoned the two assistants – Miss Donaldson and Miss Sutherland – and told him for the third time to leave the school premises, (his impudence being a personal insult and calculated to undermine my authority). After his refusal I attempted to shove him outside but he got his back to the door and of course I failed to dislodge him. Going round by another way I found him in the courtyard and received some further abuse. (witness – Miss Gorie) I then went in but he followed me and, closing the door behind him, treated me to some further insults:-(a) The children were being kept from school because of my fitness or slackness.
(b) Ordered me into my room in the most outrageous fashion such-wise as was calculated to ruin me in the eyes of my pupils (if they heard) for ever if submitted to it. Perceiving the drift of the whole matter I restrained myself – not one in a hundred would have done so – and allowed him to go off unscathed. He had evidently had a little liquor (witness myself and Miss Gorie) and believed that as a ratepayer he had the right to dictate to the headmaster, or at least to insult him and, having done, make good his position in the school premises.
(B) Meeting of the School Management Committee on 24th October.
(a) Before the meeting Mr Fotheringhame asked me to resign – ostensible reason being anonymous charges by anonymous parents of anonymous children that I had used violent and improper language.
(b) In the meeting Mr Maxwell supported me, Mr Meil and the doctor had little to say. I protested that to summon a special meeting and enter permanent minutes of the holding of such a meeting on the accusations of only one ratepayer was an insult to me calculated to undermine my authority. Mr Fotheringhame refused to let me have this minuted. We agreed to let Mr Young investigate.’
The Clerk then indicated that he had received a letter as follows:–
‘Fairhill, Stronsay
20th October 1919Dear Sir,
As requested by you today I now write to you to the effect that the headmaster of the Central School grossly insulted me and assured violence to me last Thursday when I called along school asking him for liberty to take my son Thomas with me to help in leading my crop. This was repeated on Saturday and he threatened personal injury so much so that I can only allow my children to attend school on the committee’s responsibility and I want to know in writing whether I shall continue their attendance as they are doing just now on these terms as I told you today. I am willing to meet before you at any time.
I am, sir, yours truly
(signed) Alex Chalmers’
After consideration by the Committee it was agreed to submit the matter referred to in the letter to the Executive Officer, Kirkwall, for him to deal with and the clerk was instructed to write to Mr Young, the Executive Officer, enclosing a copy of Mr Chalmers’ letter.
A reply was soon received from Mr Young, stating that he and the chairman of the Authority were coming to Stronsay the following Wednesday. The letter stated:
‘I am making arrangements to meet the father of the lad Chalmers at the Central School at 6 p.m. on Wednesday fifth November. Your attendance is desired so that the complaint you make can be fully investigated.’ (signed) Frank Young, Executive Officer’
A special meeting of the Management Committee was held that evening when Mr Chalmers was called to give a first-hand account of his version of proceedings. He recounted that he had met with Mr Weir on 15th October and again on the 17th when the headmaster had threatened personal injury towards him and had used obscene language towards him within earshot of the schoolchildren. A letter from Mr Weir was then read, stating:
‘I write to call your attention to the number of children who are kept from school by their parents for work in the harvest field. ‘Working’ is entered in the absentee book as a legitimate excuse.’
He then went on to give specific examples of boys who had abused their exemption or had been absent without exemption and whose attendance was very poor before and following any exemption granted, complaining that the objectionable feature of this was the granting of the exemption in the first place. He again described in detail how the father of one of the boys, Alex Chalmers, had entered the school demanding that his son should come home with him to work in the harvest, going on to explain the events as he saw them and as described earlier. He felt that Mr Chalmers should be prosecuted as his conduct was an incitement to others, and stated that if the School Management Committee or Education Authority failed to prosecute Mr Chalmers then he must do so himself as he had made personal allegations against him.
Mr Weir was then called before the committee where he denied using obscene language before the children, also stating that he was quite within his rights to thrust Mr Chalmers out of the school building.
After both gentlemen had been questioned by the committee the meeting closed and, with Mr Young taking the matter back to the Education Authority for consideration, nothing more was heard for almost three weeks.
Then, in a letter to Mr Weir dated 25th November, Mr Young stated that, after due consideration by the Education Authority it had been agreed that, in the best interests of the school, they should ask the headmaster to submit his resignation forthwith. The Authority was prepared to grant Mr Weir a reasonable length of time in which to obtain a situation elsewhere.
Mr Weir quickly replied to this letter stating that he would give the matter his consideration, but intimating very soon afterwards that he didn’t see his way to oblige the committee by tendering his resignation at present.
Writing in the school logbook later, he went on to question the impartiality of the chairman at the meeting, also citing how anonymous complaints had been held against him and allegations of him using violence and abusive language were complete lies. He further questioned the validity of some of the committee’s minutes recorded in the minute book, stating that the minutes had been altered after they had been approved. He then stated that he felt his personal relations with some members of the Management Committee had been largely responsible for the fracas, adding that one member in particular had asserted that he would never rest until he had Mr Weir out of Stronsay. This member had removed his daughter from school and was most upset when Mr Weir refused to punish a schoolboy for allegedly stealing some of that member’s turnips. That same member had also threatened previously to prosecute Mr Weir for trespass committed by his goats. He felt he had been subject to two outrageously partial investigations and afterwards asked to resign, stating that reasons for the strong support for the postman Alex Chalmers were well known in the neighbourhood, although he didn’t go on to clarify what these reasons
were. He then noted that the Orkney Education Authority had sent a lawyer around Stronsay to try to find those anonymous islanders whose spokesmen, Mr Meil and Mr Fotheringhame, had engineered so carefully the attempt to jockey him out of Stronsay.
In another letter from Mr Young, the Executive Officer, dated 14th January 1920, the Officer stated that, in accordance with section 24 of the Education Act, the Education Authority moved to dismiss Mr Weir from his appointment as headmaster of Stronsay School. Mr Young then went on to ask Mr Weir to reconsider his decision of 1st December 1919 not to resign, to which Mr Weir responded that he had nothing to add to his previous reply.
In the following month a number of complaints, some related to what was seen as undue punishment for misdemeanours, were noted in the school logbook, while school attendance by pupils was recorded as being less than ideal.
Then, on 14th February, Mr Henderson of the Education Authority visited Mr Weir to inform him that a lawyer had collected evidence sufficient to prove (or at least swear to) what the chairman of the authority seemed to believe to be true. On hearing this, Mr Weir replied that he would now begin to look elsewhere for a new situation.
Later that month it was noted in the school log that one boy in particular was habitually late and, although Mr Weir had shown leniency for some time, on 5th March, the boy received what the writer recorded as ‘full settlement of his score, as I observed a tendency to mistake leniency for weakness.’ Following this punishment the boy apparently took the opportunity of the interval to return home and a letter of complaint was received from his father soon after, protesting against what he saw as excessive punishment and stating that, while his son had been late on only one occasion, he was led to believe that the headmaster himself was not at school until almost 10 o’clock on many occasions.
Entries in the school log toward the end of April recorded that the writer, who of course was Mr Weir himself, had on occasion suffered all night from fever and insomnia. This, he said, was no unusual occurrence since he had spent five months in Epsom War Hospital.
On 13 May 1920 Mr Weir records that he had received the offer of a situation elsewhere and had forwarded his resignation as of 15th June, under protest, to the authority, this being part of the agreement that they would then remove the previous dismissal from his record.
Mr Weir seemed to be in a reminiscent mood when, on 7 June 1920, he recorded
‘Fine sunshine today after a week and more of dull and chilly weather. Wind still cold from the East. School garden lovely with beans in flower; radishes, mustard and cress have been available for some time back. Pity I was not able to finish the wall around it.’
Then, in a more poignant note on 11th June he recorded that he had been absent from duties on Thursday and Friday, the reason being insomnia. He went on to say
‘these things, I have no doubt, will be better understood in the lifetime of the coming generation and the curse hunted down.’
In his final entry in the school logbook dated 13 June 1920 Mr Weir wrote
‘Tomorrow I leave this happy island though I had purposed staying here (when I left Scotland) for at least three years’
He went on to record that he felt he had been dealt with unfairly, and that those whose activities had undermined his authority may yet be thoroughly exposed before adding
‘I expect the old order will now be re-established and parents will call at school for their children and take them off with them at any time of the day they please. As it stands the matter is scandalous. Children about the ages of 13 or 14 are kept from school sometimes for half a dozen weeks without action being taken by the School Management Committee.’
Returning to the subject of his garden he wrote
‘I hope my successor, if one can be found, will continue the good work of surrounding the garden with walls. By removing a foot or two of clay from the subsoil and raising an embankment three or 4 feet high it might easily be made as good as the gardens of the South. My other projects for improving and beautifying it, want of time compelled me to abandon. As it is, I must have spent hundreds of hours there. Many a basket of seaweed I carried up from the shore.’
This was a sad reflection of his view on his 15 months in Stronsay, a time which seemed to be filled with conflict and controversy. Mr Weir was a war veteran who had spent some considerable time in a military hospital and still suffered severe bouts of ill health so we are left to ponder just how much bearing this had on his behaviour and actions. Was he really a tyrant, as seemed to be portrayed by some parents and factions within the School Management Committee? Or was he simply trying to instil discipline and address the challenge of the poor pupil attendance records highlighted in past reports by His Majesty’s Inspectorate while attempting to deal with his own demons at the same time?
There would seem to be little doubt that he had what he saw as the best interests of the pupils at heart right up until he left the island. As an example of his belief in education, just a month before he left Mr Weir had placed an order for a dozen copies of ‘The Orkney Book’ which was, in his judgement, an excellent innovation. It was, we are told, ‘Readings for Young Orcadians’ and was about Orkney, for use in Orkney, designed and for the most part written by natives of Orkney. The Orkney Book was to continue being a well-used school resource, remembered by many of its readers for its lucidity and charm, until being superseded by ‘The New Orkney Book’ in 1967. This new version of the book was again written mostly by Orcadians and aimed at bringing the history of Orkney and some of the more modern Orcadian writings and poetry to a new generation of young Orcadians.
Following Mr Weir’s departure Miss Gorie was again in charge of the school, assisted by Miss Sutherland and Miss Donaldson, with Miss Shearer being appointed as temporary assistant in September 1920.
In early 1921 there was some atrocious weather, with gales and heavy rain which led to the school being closed at 12 noon on some days (but not before the scholars had got their cocoa) as the pupils were wet through and at 2 o’ clock on other days, instead of the winter closure time of 3.30 or even 3.00 on occasion. By mid-February, with days lengthening, the school closing time returned to the usual time of 4.00 pm.
A new headmaster was found in April 1921 in the form of 29 year old Mr John Drever MA, originally from Papa Westray, who took up his duties on 1st April, a post he was to hold until July 1956.
Miss Shearer, who had been appointed as a temporary assistant teacher, had transferred to another school in Orkney before Mr Drever’s arrival and in one of the new headmaster’s first entries in the log book he detailed the teaching arrangements that were in place at that time. Mr Drever himself had 13 pupils from the qualifying class while Miss Gorie, as Infant Mistress, was teaching the infants in classes 1, 2 and 3 and Juniors 2 and 3. Miss Sutherland had 22 pupils in Junior 1 and also taught Senior 3. Miss Donaldson had the Qualifying Seniors 1 and 2. Mr Drever also had 29 pupils in Supplementary 1 and 2, along with one boy in his 3rd Supplementary year. Mr Drever took many of the pupils for drill and singing, also instructing the six pupils taking French and eight taking mathematics. Miss Gorie took cookery on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
The weather and its effect on attendance was often recorded and highlighted in the log by Mr Drever and one such day, 15th April 1921 was noted as a very wild day of wind and snow showers when only eight children out of 115 turned up. They were dismissed soon after. 30th May 1921 was reported as another wet and windy day, this time with not one single pupil turning up.
School was dismissed at 11.30 on 15th March 1922 to allow the children to attend Rev Skene’s induction to the UF Church.
Poor attendance, the bane of past headmaster’s lives and a perceived problem in so many HMI reports, seemed to be less of a problem as education moved into the 1920s. This was illustrated in July 1922 when prizes for attendance were awarded, with 5 having pupils having recorded perfect attendance and a number of other missing only a very few attendances.
Miss Annie Donaldson resigned in November 1922 to marry the local shipping agent David Chalmers and Miss Anne Johnston from Birsay took over her duties as teacher of the qualifying classes later that month. Two boys from Holm were admitted to the school in the first week of December 1922. (William and Sam Cooper, whose parents had returned to the farm of Cleat in their native island).
The school was closed for a day’s holiday on 28th February 1922 ‘by order of King George for the celebration of Princess Mary’s wedding.’ Princess Mary, who married Henry, viscount Lascelles, was the only daughter of King George V.
Another holiday, this time a half day, was granted on 28th May to celebrate Empire Day. This date was the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birthday and was a day set aside as an annual celebration of the British Empire. With the decline of the British Empire it was renamed Commonwealth Day in 1958, with the date of its celebration later changed to the 2nd Monday of March each year.
The school was shut again on 26th April 1923, this time for the marriage of Prince Albert, Duke of York, to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The couple were later to become better known as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
As always there was a steady influx of scholars from the side schools, with pupils from around the age of 11 moving on to the Central School and in April 1923 it was recorded that 7 such scholars joined from the South School, 6 from the North and 2 from Rothiesholm.
The school reopened after the summer break on 4th September 1923, with Walter Munro of Shirva, Fair Isle, taking up duties as teacher of senior 3 and Junior 1 in place of Isabella Sutherland who had transferred to the North School. From that date the Central School was also to be designated as a three-teacher one, although no explanation was given as to why this reduction in staffing was being implemented.
Part 8 next month.
