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The Abbey St Thomas's Grammar/secondary Erdington

zena58

zena58

master brummie
hi
my dad was born in 1933 which makes him 81 he went to the abbey erdington
he wonders if there are any of his class mates on here
his name is louis lewis he lived at 2 dulwich road kingstanding
hopefully
zena
 
I wonder if your Dad would remember any of the Ivers (my family name). He may be a bit young (he should like that!!!!). However they were a large family so the name might just ring a bell.
 
How lovely to see mention of my old school, Erdington Abbey. I assume that he attended the sec. mod. known officially as St Thomas RC Sec. Mon. If he attended the grammar school housed in the Abbey, I bow to his extended knowledge. I did not get to the Sec. Mod. until
1950, one of the few good decisions I made in life. Mention must be made of the superb Headmaster in my day, Mr F P Burns, a gentleman and scholar who encouraged the very best out of us 11 plus failures. Happy Days!!!
 
hi perry commoner
yes my dad has
agreed with everything you have said
he also told me the teachers he remembers are
miss rose
miss beckett
miss ryland
he said mr burns was a great bloke
he also remembers a male teacher who was a chindit who came back from the war emancipated and put on weight as they watched, he was the sports master he thinks his name was barr
my dad says he played for the first football team he organised
he says the science master had a great big stick they called him old man ? dad cant remember his name
were any of these teachers still there when you were there
he has his school photo in front of some raillings with a wood and tennis court behind them and the infants school
zena for lew
 
katie the name does seem familiar he says
have you any christian names
there is a girl on his photo that he cant put a name too she went round with girls called margaret rushberry (school captain) and kathy macormac
zena for lew
 
I am so pleased to get your reply. The teachers I recall from my day, 1950 - 1954 are ; Miss Rose, Miss Hyland (who retired about 1953 with a lovely retirement present, then promptly returned to her teaching) also Mr Doughty, Mr Higgins, Mr Fox (who retired with a nervous breakdown after teaching year 2 for 12 months) and Mr Sims, the woodwork teacher. The very elderly science teacher, whose name I cannot recall, retired in early 1951. He was not replaced so I only had 2 lectures in the science room in my 4 years there. Mr Higgins took the 2 science lessons, one demonstrated how iron expands when heated and the other involved the compression of a treacle tin using atmospheric pressure. On leaving the Abbey, I spent the next 50 years working in natural sciences and my lack of science was always a drawback. I could go on but I will spare you more memories from my early years. I would love to see your school photo if at all possible.
 
hi perry i will be seeing some of the forum regulars on sunday for the rededication at the national memorial arbouritum on sunday and will be asking how i get dads photo on to here i will show dad your answer on sunday too and he might be able to put some things on the tread himself as i only had him on the phone as i was answering your post and he dictated what i wrote
hopefully you might be able to speak to him then
regards zena
 
Thank you for that Zena. two more names of teachers that come to mind are; Mr McCarthy (very popular with the girls) and Mr Williams who took us for music (singing)
I think we drove him to tears listening to 30 brummie kids trying to sing 'David of the White Rock' and Robert Burns 'Flow Gently Sweet Afton' . More memories another time perhaps. Sadly none of my school photos have survived.
 
zena58 said:
hi perry i will be seeing some of the forum regulars on sunday for the rededication at the national memorial arbouritum on sunday and will be asking how i get dads photo on to here i will show dad your answer on sunday too and he might be able to put some things on the tread himself as i only had him on the phone as i was answering your post and he dictated what i wrote
hopefully you might be able to speak to him then
regards zena
Click to expand...


zena although i will see you tomorrow i will email you later with a step by step of how to post photos on the forum..

lyn
 
zena58 said:
thanks lyn i did it thanks to your instructions xxxxx
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well done zena im amazed..not because you managed to post a photo but that you did it from my instructions lol..

thats a smashing photo you have posted...thanks for sharing it with us..

lyn x
 
Hello Zena
Thank you so much for going to the trouble of sending the photo. I will analyse it later, there are a number of changes that occurred since my time there. Another email soon.
 
perry commoner said:
I am so pleased to get your reply. The teachers I recall from my day, 1950 - 1954 are ; Miss Rose, Miss Hyland (who retired about 1953 with a lovely retirement present, then promptly returned to her teaching) also Mr Doughty, Mr Higgins, Mr Fox (who retired with a nervous breakdown after teaching year 2 for 12 months) and Mr Sims, the woodwork teacher. The very elderly science teacher, whose name I cannot recall, retired in early 1951. He was not replaced so I only had 2 lectures in the science room in my 4 years there. Mr Higgins took the 2 science lessons, one demonstrated how iron expands when heated and the other involved the compression of a treacle tin using atmospheric pressure. On leaving the Abbey, I spent the next 50 years working in natural sciences and my lack of science was always a drawback. I could go on but I will spare you more memories from my early years. I would love to see your school photo if at all possible.
Click to expand...
Hello Perry - hope you are still on here. Miss Hyland was my great-aunt. My family know very little about her so if you have any other memories of her I would love to know. I presume she was a primary level classroom teacher? I found her old house when I was in Birmingham a few years ago, but sadly no gravestone in the Abbey graveyard.
 
Hello Frances, I am so pleased to hear from someone even remotely connected with my old school. Miss Hyland taught in the secondary modern school. She and Mr Doughty taught the A stream. As I was in the B stream, Miss Hyland never had the problem of me in her class. Sorry to hear that you could not find her gravestone at the Abbey. Depending on when she died, she may be interred at New Oscott. Both my parents are there and also my grandmother. Do you know her dates? I could have a look the next time I visit my folks graves.
 
Hi Perry, Delighted to hear from you. Where abouts were the St Thomas buildings? Was it originally a part of the current primary school before the 1950s? Mollie died Dec 1971 and her funeral notice (kindly sourced and sent to me by a woman working in one of Birmingham's cemeteries, after I had searched through the records of every public cemetery in Birmingham!) says she was interred at the Abbey. I had to laugh at your comment that she had retired and then started teaching again. It was clearly her life and it seems she was there a long time, having left Ireland quite young. You have a wonderful memory. Thank you for sharing with me. It means a great deal to me as I have been trying to piece her story together for 20 years.
 
how lovely that we have members on here that remember your gt aunt if you have any photos of her
we would love to see them..enjoy the forum

lyn
 
mollie.jpg This may be a middle-aged Mollie, or at least one of her sisters. Does she look familiar?
 
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NZFrances said:
Hi Perry, Delighted to hear from you. Where abouts were the St Thomas buildings? Was it originally a part of the current primary school before the 1950s? Mollie died Dec 1971 and her funeral notice (kindly sourced and sent to me by a woman working in one of Birmingham's cemeteries, after I had searched through the records of every public cemetery in Birmingham!) says she was interred at the Abbey. I had to laugh at your comment that she had retired and then started teaching again. It was clearly her life and it seems she was there a long time, having left Ireland quite young. You have a wonderful memory. Thank you for sharing with me. It means a great deal to me as I have been trying to piece her story together for 20 years.
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Hello Frances
Your query has opened up for me a solution to a query that has bothered me for years, but first details that I have discovered about Miss Hyland. I contacted the manager of the Abbey cemetery and she provided me with the following information.
Miss Mary Teresa Hyland aged 84 was interred at The Abbey Cemetery on the December 7th 1971 in grave A-130B. I shall be visiting the grave sometime next week and if there is a head stone, I shall send you a photo. All this has led to an answer to a query that I have had for many years. The resting place of my form teacher, Mary Margaret Rose. Apparently she too was laid to rest at the Abbey and the manager will have details for me next week.
The secondary school was demolished many years ago but the primary school continues to thrive. There are now houses where the secondary school stood.
 
perry commoner said:
Hello Frances
Your query has opened up for me a solution to a query that has bothered me for years, but first details that I have discovered about Miss Hyland. I contacted the manager of the Abbey cemetery and she provided me with the following information.
Miss Mary Teresa Hyland aged 84 was interred at The Abbey Cemetery on the December 7th 1971 in grave A-130B. I shall be visiting the grave sometime next week and if there is a head stone, I shall send you a photo. All this has led to an answer to a query that I have had for many years. The resting place of my form teacher, Mary Margaret Rose. Apparently she too was laid to rest at the Abbey and the manager will have details for me next week.
The secondary school was demolished many years ago but the primary school continues to thrive. There are now houses where the secondary school stood.
Click to expand...
Hi Perry, Thank you so much for these details. I walked up and down the cemetary in 2009 when I visited, and it is quite possible I missed any stone. Given her family were in Cork I have since assumed she didn't get a headstone. Thanks so much for having a look for it. I'd love to see a photo of the spot. If I get back to that part of the UK I will be able to try again. I have another possible photo of Mollie but the woman is a very young woman so would be even less recognisable to you, if it's her. Thanks also for the explanation of the school buildings. You have absolutely made my day. Thank you.
 
just a thought...as the primary school still exists it maybe worthwhile contacting them to ask where their school archives are kept as there very well could be class photos with teachers that were taken that may include mollie on them

lyn
 
Astoness said:
just a thought...as the primary school still exists it maybe worthwhile contacting them to ask where their school archives are kept as there very well could be class photos with teachers that were taken that may include mollie on them

lyn
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Hello NZFrances, Today,Tuesday, I went back to the Abbey, Erdington to speak to the cemetery manager, Mrs Badger. Mrs Badger kindly showed me to the last resting place of Miss Hyland and Miss Rose. I have taken a photo of the grave site but, sadly, there is no headstone. I can only assume that there was no close family to provide one. Happily for me, Miss Rose is interred in a family grave with her details.
While I was with Mrs Badger, she explained that quite a lot of the old secondary school buildings are still being used by the current owners of the site, Highclare School which is a private school. I do remember that when I last visited around 1972, the science room, the woodwork room and associated corridor had been knocked down. I made the assumption that all the school had disappeared but when I returned to Erdington railway station to return home, I walked along the platform to see if I could see anything of the old school.
Yes I could and I was able to take photos of what is left. I will download them and get them on this site in the next day or two.

Perry
 
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