Fred Shirley
Encyclopedia
Revd Frederick Joseph John Shirley, DD, PhD, LLB was the headmaster, The King's School, Canterbury, 1935–1962.
Educated St Edmund Hall, Oxford and London. Married in 1926. his daughter became the first and, at the time, the only girl in the school.
When Shirley took over the Headmastership of the King's School, Canterbury in 1935, bankruptcy was close: the school had debts of £40,000 - £60,000 and was making an annual loss of £6,000.
When Shirley was appointed, he had been headmaster of Worksop College
fourteen years. Controversially, on being appointed Headmaster of the King's School, Canterbury, he persuaded the parents of about 30 Worksop
boys to send them with him to Canterbury
. This move is sometimes called the rape of Worksop and it resulted in Shirley's suspension from the Headmasters' Conference.
Shirley was known to the boys as "Fred" and his normal form of address to them was "m'dear".
One boy kept cigarettes in strictest secrecy in the breast pocket of his jacket. Shirley came up to him one day. "Keep 'em there, do you?" he murmured, tapping his breast pocket.
Shirley manoeuvred against Dr Hewlett Johnson
, the "Red Dean". One year the dean put up a huge blue and white banner across the front of the Deanery which read "Christians Ban Nuclear Weapons". By way of riposte, some of the boys put up a banner on one of the school's buildings which read, "King's Ban Communists".
In 1936, Shirley persuaded the writer Somerset Maugham to visit and eventually to be a benefactor to the school. Maugham had savaged the school in Of Human Bondage
. Shirley persuaded him that all schools of the 1880s had been more or less as barbaric. Maugham's ashes are buried in the Cathedral Precincts.
With public examinations being set earlier and earlier, Shirley founded King's Week as a means of keeping the school together. It is a remarkable festival of music, drama, exhibitions and other fringe activities, which is still an annual event.
Following Shirley's retirement in 1962, the school's Great Hall (which he had built) was re-named the Shirley Hall by Peter Newell, Shirley's successor as Headmaster. It was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. To the impertinent, it was known as "Fred's Shed".
Among his pupils were the former minister Tristan Garel-Jones
and Margaret Thatcher
’s adviser, Sir Charles Powell
.
Educated St Edmund Hall, Oxford and London. Married in 1926. his daughter became the first and, at the time, the only girl in the school.
When Shirley took over the Headmastership of the King's School, Canterbury in 1935, bankruptcy was close: the school had debts of £40,000 - £60,000 and was making an annual loss of £6,000.
When Shirley was appointed, he had been headmaster of Worksop College
Worksop College
Worksop College is a co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls aged 13 to 18 in England. Worksop is split into eight houses - Talbot, Mason, Portland, Pelham and Shirley for boys and Gibbs, Derry and School House for girls.- Origins :...
fourteen years. Controversially, on being appointed Headmaster of the King's School, Canterbury, he persuaded the parents of about 30 Worksop
Worksop
Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...
boys to send them with him to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. This move is sometimes called the rape of Worksop and it resulted in Shirley's suspension from the Headmasters' Conference.
Shirley was known to the boys as "Fred" and his normal form of address to them was "m'dear".
One boy kept cigarettes in strictest secrecy in the breast pocket of his jacket. Shirley came up to him one day. "Keep 'em there, do you?" he murmured, tapping his breast pocket.
Shirley manoeuvred against Dr Hewlett Johnson
Hewlett Johnson
The Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson , was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union and its allies.-Life:Born in Manchester, the third son of Charles Johnson, a wire...
, the "Red Dean". One year the dean put up a huge blue and white banner across the front of the Deanery which read "Christians Ban Nuclear Weapons". By way of riposte, some of the boys put up a banner on one of the school's buildings which read, "King's Ban Communists".
In 1936, Shirley persuaded the writer Somerset Maugham to visit and eventually to be a benefactor to the school. Maugham had savaged the school in Of Human Bondage
Of Human Bondage
Of Human Bondage is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention." Maugham, who had...
. Shirley persuaded him that all schools of the 1880s had been more or less as barbaric. Maugham's ashes are buried in the Cathedral Precincts.
With public examinations being set earlier and earlier, Shirley founded King's Week as a means of keeping the school together. It is a remarkable festival of music, drama, exhibitions and other fringe activities, which is still an annual event.
Following Shirley's retirement in 1962, the school's Great Hall (which he had built) was re-named the Shirley Hall by Peter Newell, Shirley's successor as Headmaster. It was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. To the impertinent, it was known as "Fred's Shed".
Among his pupils were the former minister Tristan Garel-Jones
Tristan Garel-Jones
William Armand Thomas Tristan Garel-Jones, Baron Garel-Jones, PC is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament for Watford from 1979–97, before being made a life peer in 1997....
and Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
’s adviser, Sir Charles Powell
Charles Powell
Charles Edwin Powell is an American actor, known for his roles as himself on Popular Mechanics for Kids and as President Harold Bates on 15/Love.-Biography:...
.
Sources
- Personal knowledge by the anonymous author of the original Wiki article who was a pupil at the King's School 1984-9 and the son and grandson of former pupils
- Thomas HindeThomas HindeDoctor Thomas Hinde was Northern Kentucky's first physician.Hinde was born in Oxfordshire, England in 1737. He studied physics and surgery under Dr. Thomas Brooke at Saint Thomas Hospital in London, and at the age of nineteen, his master presented him the Company of Surgeons for a license...
, Imps of Promise: A History of the King's School, Canterbury (London, 1990) - Robin Pittman, ed., Fred Remembered: Recollections of John Shirley (Great Glemham, Saxmundham, 1997)
- David L. EdwardsDavid L. EdwardsDavid Lawrence Edwards OBE is a retired Anglican priest. He was the Dean of Norwich, Provost of Southwark and has been a prolific author.-Education:...
, F. J. Shirley An Extraordinary Headmaster (London, 1969)