William H. Struthers (1892-1975)

Early Life

WHS’s grandfathers were both railway workers at the Crewe Railway Works. Unusually for the sons of such workers, his father eventually became the first Director of Education in Crewe. WHS was born there on 5 May 1892, one of four boys and one sister. Family was very much based around the Presbyterian Church^[1] of which his father, Henry, was an ‘elder’ and the superintendent of the Sunday School. WHS attended Crewe Secondary School which later became a grammar school.

WHS entered Manchester University to study physics in 1909, graduating in 1913 with second class honours. His testimonials from his professors were very positive about his abilities in physics and advanced experiments in optics. One, Sir Ernest Rutherford, noted that “he was a student of good ability who worked steadily and conscientiously throughout his course. He has gained a good knowledge of Physics”.²

Teacher training followed at the University Day Training College, which included practical work in schools in Manchester and Crewe. His tutor noted “that, before the Diploma Course, he had little experience of teaching, but his progress in controlling large classes and teaching method has been remarkable. His teaching is vigorous and thorough; his lessons are always well thought out and his classes make good progress in their studies”. He started his career as science master at the Municipal Secondary School, Oldham, in September 1914; however, it was interrupted by his army service from March 1915 to February 1919.

Introduction

W.H. Struthers, portrait 1960,
Scotland

William Henderson Struthers – known as WHS – was the first-born of the five children of Henry and Elizabeth Struthers in Crewe on 5 May 1892. His father was a headmaster and Principal of the Centre for Pupil Teachers. WHS followed his father into teaching, but the First World War interrupted his career and he undertook military service in Egypt, Palestine, Belgium and France. He survived a Turkish bullet in Palestine and was injured on the Western Front. WHS married Eva Roberts in Crewe in 1917, whilst recovering from his wounds. 

After the war, he resumed his teaching post in Oldham, moving to Tewkesbury, where he was appointed Second Master in 1922. By then his eldest son Keith had been born in Manchester in 1919 and his second son Malcolm was born in Tewkesbury in 1923.

WHS was appointed Headmaster of Tewkesbury Grammar School in 1925 at the age of only 33. For the next 30 years, he led the school as it grew in size and status, moving to a new site outside the town shortly before his retirement to Scotland in 1955. He moved finally to Bedford where he died in 1975.

First World War

His previous experience of the University’s Officer Training Corps led to his appointment as a Second Lieutenant in the 8th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, on 3 March 1915. He was then called up to active service, joining the Regiment’s 1/8th Territorial Battalion on 11 January 1916. The battalion was actively involved in the Dardanelles Campaign, in which it suffered heavy casualties. A move to Egypt^[3] followed in early 1916 to work on the Suez Canal defences. A large enemy force of Turkish troops with their German officers had moved west to threaten the canal. However, the defences were strong and, at the Battle of Romani, the division supported the Anzacs^[4] in defeating the Turkish forces. It seems likely that this was where WHS survived a Turkish bullet, which hit and damaged his cigarette case, situated presumably in his breast pocket. The Turkish forces retreated and the British force pushed a railway and water line across the Sinai desert that enabled an assault with the eventual intention of clearing Palestine.^[5]

The battalion was then ordered to the Western Front. All units embarked at Alexandria for France by the end of February 1917. The battalion’s war diary is available on-line^[6] and provides a factual account until March 1919. It is very detailed but, alas, is not descriptive of the real horror that was being experienced. This is barely mentioned except in statistics. However, it provides an insight into what WHS was doing.

Essentially the battalion was engaged in some of the fiercest fighting, including machine-gun attacks, gas and general bombardments, during the battles of the Somme and the German offensive in March 1918. During the retreat, WHS was wounded and the counter-offensive by the Allies eventually led to the Armistice in November. 

WHS left the army in February 1919, although he remained a Captain in the Territorial Reserve, until he retired with this rank in 1928. It is worth noting that the 1/8th Battalion Roll of Honour for 1914-1918 records casualties of 31 Officers and about 600 Other Ranks. He was very lucky to survive.

1920s – Appointment and Consolidation

In 1925 there were 101 day boys in the school and seventeen boarders, taught by the headmaster and eight assistant staff. Boys were admitted at the age of 8 as day-boys or boarders subject to passing the entrance examination. The majority of boys left before they were 16 and most went into business when they left the school. Only a few had gone on to higher education at university. School House provided accommodation for up to 24 boarders. From 1924 until his retirement in 1955, WHS kept a file of press cuttings⁸ from the local papers as well as drafts of his speeches, covering the events such as sports days and speech days. These give a fascinating insight into the life of the school as well as the local community. He also drafted a schedule of key events at the Grammar School, which was kept in his papers.

At the 1924 Speech Day he noted good progress “in all directions” – the number of scholars was higher and there had been better results in examinations. The greatest disadvantage, however, which had increased over the years, was the noise of heavy traffic past the school.

His philosophy had been drilled into him in the Army: “the first duty after an advance was consolidation”. He introduced the ‘House’ system and, by the time of a thorough inspection in 1927, he noted the size of the school to be stable and the Chairman of Governors, Canon Sewell, observed that the inspectors were very satisfied with what was being done at the school.⁹ They were, however, concerned about the accommodation and the noise of passing traffic. Canon Sewell added that he hoped that within a year some initial steps would be taken to provide better accommodation. Despite a decreasing national birth rate, more boys were entering the school and, notwithstanding the difficulties of working in four different buildings and the “impossibility of the human voice competing with heavy motor coaches and steam wagons”, examination results were excellent.

1930s – Slow Expansion

Sir Raymond Priestley

The school continued its consolidation and improvement but WHS was also concerned about the financial difficulties caused by Government economies. In 1935, however, the number of pupils was the highest ever at 123 – although there were now no boarders. Accommodation had improved by using part of the former boarding house as classrooms and as a library, away from the noise of the main road: “still an ever present evil”. On the last day of 1935 the Second Master, Mr. Frank A. Danks, died and at the 1936 Speech Day WHS paid tribute to his work and character. He reported another outstanding year, mentioning a school play – Julius Caesar.

A successful inspection followed in 1938, and in March 1939 WHS referred to the reforming of the Old Theocsbrian Society of Old Boys at a dinner in November. This was appropriate as the speaker was Dr. Raymond Priestley (later Sir Raymond) who was Vice Chancellor of Birmingham University and a surviving member of both Scott’s and Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions; he was an old boy of the school, where his father had been a previous headmaster. 

By December 1939, the Second World War had begun and Speech Day was “shorn of its usual features”. Under the Government’s evacuation scheme, the school had received 60 boys and five staff from the Vittoria Junior School of Arts and Crafts, Birmingham. Inevitably there was overcrowding and inconvenience but they had managed by using rooms in School House and some former dormitories.

WHS resumed as a Science Master in Oldham in February 1919 and was responsible for physics teaching. His Principal described him as “a thorough master of his subject … a skillful and successful teacher. His discipline is excellent; it is firm without harshness, a quiet manner only disguises a reserve of determination and strength. He is a favourite with the boys and the staff. He takes a great interest in games and out of school functions generally”.

By January 1922 he was appointed Second Master at Tewkesbury Grammar School. However, the Headmaster, O.H. Lace, was away ill for nearly a year resulting in WHS being appointed acting headmaster. In February 1925 he became headmaster at the age of 33.

The Grammar School had moved into new premises opposite the Abbey in 1906 – but was originally designed for only 50 pupils.^[7] WHS noted that the building’s sponsors had given no forethought to the future – it was built on the former headmaster’s garden and there was no room left for expansion of either the school or its necessary amenities. There was poor internal planning, although it was solidly built. There was no playground space and only two classrooms and a laboratory. Inevitably it soon proved insufficient in size for the number of pupils and not very suitable as it was located on the Gloucester Road, soon to become very busy and noisy with traffic. It had originally been hoped that a new school would be built on playing fields that would involve amalgamation with the Girls’ High School, then located nearer the Cross.

1940s – War and its Aftermath

The 1943 Speech Day was the first that could be held since the outbreak of war and WHS noted that the two schools had managed, despite the cramped conditions, to work side by side for nearly four years. He also expressed his admiration for those townspeople who had provided billets for the evacuated boys. The Air Training Corps had been formed – under the command of Flying Officer Struthers.

There are no further press cuttings until 1947. Once again this year accommodation was on the agenda, but WHS was also concerned about changes: the school leaving age had been raised, no fees were now charged, and the minimum age of entry had been raised to 11 so that there were no junior forms. The numbers had stabilised at 140.

1950s – Move to Southwick Park

In 1950, reflecting that they were near the middle point of the century, at Speech Day WHS took a glance back to the beginning of the Grammar School when it had absorbed the Abbey House School. He again lamented the lack of vision about the future. He remarked that the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate were being replaced by the General Certificate of Education (GCE) and new compulsory requirements for university entrance. He thought that this might prove difficult for small schools such as Tewkesbury and that they would need to increase staff in order to ensure flexibility of curriculum and timetable which were needed to take advantage of the opportunities which the system had been designed to provide.

July 1951 marked a very significant moment in the history of the school, when Speech Day was held at Southwick Park. For more than thirty years they had waited for a new school, with a site being acquired in 1918 but there had been no prospect of anything being done. He concluded that the forty years period of waiting by the Children of Israel was nothing as compared with the wait of Tewkesbury Grammar School for its promised buildings. During the last seven years conditions had deteriorated. The school had grown from its original number of 100 to over 150 boys whilst the volume and noise of traffic worsened every week with ever-increasing amounts of dirt and dust.

Nevertheless this Speech Day was one of the happiest days of his life and an important milestone in the history of the school, although there was no doubt there would be difficulties as well as opportunities. It was a time of change in education as well as for the school but he was now an optimist rather than a pessimist, which he had been for a long time at Tewkesbury. He now thought the school had a future.

In October 1952, WHS had moved his house and home from the School House to Southwick Park. It was in the country and there were now two broad fields between the building and the A38.

At Speech Day in 1954, after the move to Southwick Park, WHS was able to express “a feeling of thankfulness that we acknowledge the great improvement in the conditions under which we work and also the opportunities which are now available for the future”. The classrooms were small, clean and quiet, but there was still a lack of indoor facilities for assemblies, physical education and dramatic performances. These were, therefore, weather dependent. However, they now had their own playing fields for sports and games. The previous year they had undertaken the production of The Zeal of Thy House in the gardens, which had been a great success. As a result, the school’s ‘spirit of service’ had found itself in its new home.

1955 was the year he retired from Tewkesbury Grammar School after 33 years – 31 as Headmaster. There had been no regrets about the move – academically the school had a good record, with success in advanced and ordinary levels of the GCE. He noted that the school had developed into a county school with a smaller proportion of boys from the town. In the entrance form of 30 there were boys from 20 different schools.

In looking back, the school had developed continuously and this was because the staff and boys had responded to the challenge. He noted that despite the sixth form being small, it had done very well and he hoped that it would continue to grow. He reflected that life had been good to him in Tewkesbury but the older man should make way for the younger man. Both the Chairman of Governors, Alderman F.H. Knight, and Mr. W.S. Morrison, local MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, paid tribute to WHS and his wife, the MP expressing “a word of high appreciation of Mr. Struthers for his long service to the youth of Tewkesbury”.

At a dinner given by the Old Theocsbrians for 100 guests at the end of July 1955, he and Eva were presented with a framed picture of Tewkesbury Abbey and a cheque. He wrote an article for the Theocsbrian Magazine,¹⁰ in which he stated that “it will be a big wrench to leave it all”.  The hopes for the development of the school had been very nearly abandoned until “almost by a miracle” they were renewed – a new home, quiet and cleaner, in country surroundings, with room for expansion. An appreciation by J.G. Thomas well sums up W.H. Struthers’ achievements: he gained the loyalty of his staff to work with and for him. He recognised and granted freedom to grow and develop where the will to serve predominated and always willingly gave advice which was invariably sound.

A quiet but very determined man who had endured the conflicts of world war, he would be proud that his legacy lives on in Tewkesbury School.

Grammar & Abbey House Schools

Family Life and Retirement

References

1. The Presbyterian Church has been known since 1972 as the United Reformed Church. In England it was formed in 1607 and sought to base life firmly on the teaching in the Bible. In Scotland, it was the dominant Protestant religion and became the Church of Scotland. In the late 17th century church members were persecuted as ‘Dissenters’ until the Relief Act of 1829.
2. Testimonial from Sir Ernest Rutherford, Director of the Physical Laboratories at Manchester. He was 1st Baron Rutherford, who became known as the ‘father of nuclear physics’.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_(East_Lancashire)_Infantry_Division
4. Anzacs were the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Romani avenged the earlier defeat at Katia which had involved Gloucestershire troops. [Editor]
5. Gibbon, Frederick P. The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division 1914-1918, Country Life, London, 1920; Nicholson, Maj. Gen. Sir Lothian, History of the East Lancashire Regiment in the Great War 1914-1918, Littlebury Bros., Liverpool, 1936; and The Long, Long Trail, The British Army in the Great War ?  see: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
6. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7354444
7. Fluck, Paul, Tewkesbury Grammar School 1567-1972, Grenfell Publications, Bristol, 1987.
8. Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Graphic, Gloucestershire Echo, Tewkesbury Register and Gazette.
9. HM Board of Education Report of Inspection Tewkesbury Grammar School for Boys, 23-25 November 1927.
10. The Theocsbrian, Summer 1955.