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The Abbey St Thomas's Grammar/secondary Erdington

Hi Perry, that confirms my belief, as there were no family in Birmingham aside from Mollie. No wonder I couldn't find her. I left my flowers by a statue instead. I look forward to seeing the photos. Thank you so very much. Frances
 
I hope this works, if it does, I will send info on each picture. Perry
 
Hello All. Before my meeting with the Abbey cemetery manager, I spent some time in Erdington library hoping that there would be some mention of St Th0mas's R C S M school in their local studies section. Sadly there was nothing but I think it would be time well spent to see what is in the new Library of Birmingham. That will be my next step. I shall also contact the present owners of the old buildings (Highclare School) in the hope of obtaining permission to look around the old buildings.
 
perry commoner said:
I hope this works, if it does, I will send info on each picture. Perry
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Hi Perry, I am not able to see these. It is so tantalising! Can you see them at your end?
(Email address removed by moderator). If this doesn't work here would you be able to send to me on email? Thank you again.
 
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Hi, I attended from 1961 - 1965 I remember the headmaster,being a Mr Doughty other teachers I remember ,not in order of preference Mr Morgan ,Mrs Wheeler ,Mr Moore ,Mr Harkin ,Mr Burns ,Mr Corrigan, Mr Sims, Mr and Mrs McCarthy . After two years the school changed from a mixed sex school , to an all boys school, there where two streams which I went in and out of, whilst I was there ,hope to come across a class photo from my time there.
 
Welcome Bern. Hope members can turn something up for you. Meanwhile enjoy the forum. Viv.
 
Bern Breen said:
Hi, I attended from 1961 - 1965 I remember the headmaster,being a Mr Doughty other teachers I remember ,not in order of preference Mr Morgan ,Mrs Wheeler ,Mr Moore ,Mr Harkin ,Mr Burns ,Mr Corrigan, Mr Sims, Mr and Mrs McCarthy . After two years the school changed from a mixed sex school , to an all boys school, there where two streams which I went in and out of, whilst I was there ,hope to come across a class photo from my time there.
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I was there between 1950 to 1954 and remember well Mr F P Burns, the best headmaster any school could have, Mr Sims (woodworking) Mr McCarthy, A very handsome teacher and a bit of a hero to the girls. Never knew about a Mrs McCarthy, an interesting story there perhaps. All the other teachers mentioned are new to me. There seems to be a bit of a paucity on pupils from the 1950s.
 
Scraping the back of my memory I believe that at least for the period 1952 to 1958 the Senior School associated to the Abbey Church was referred to as "St Thomas Senior School."

"So Fr Wilfrid Hughes, the rector from 1945 to 1950, conceived the idea that St Thomas’s senior school (now designated as a secondary modern and separate from the Abbey Primary) might become a bilateral school and so develop a grammar stream which could include the boys of the Juvenate housed in the Abbey. In this way two problems would be solved at reasonable cost. In July 1950 Fr Hughes was appointed provincial and given the opportunity to put his scheme into practice."

Benedictine History Symposium 2001...

https://www.monlib.org.uk/papers/ebch/2001hodgetts.pdf
 
This thread was begun by Zena58 in 2014, I have merely responded to items where necessary. As far as I am aware, there has never been any restrictions on this thread. If you read all the messages since its inception, most are concerning St. Thomas's Sec. Mod. but comments on the primary school would be accepted without comment and I for one would be happy to read them.
 
perry commoner said:
I was there between 1950 to 1954 and remember well Mr F P Burns, the best headmaster any school could have, Mr Sims (woodworking) Mr McCarthy, A very handsome teacher and a bit of a hero to the girls. Never knew about a Mrs McCarthy, an interesting story there perhaps. All the other teachers mentioned are new to me. There seems to be a bit of a paucity on pupils from the 1950s.
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I attended the school from 1963 to 1967 the teachers I remembered include Mr Kennedy, Mr Nash, Mr Byrd, Mr and Mrs Corrigan ,Mr Fanthom and the school secretary was Mrs Kinsella
 
hello my name is Gill Mooney, i went to the Abbey catholic senior school from 1959 onwards and was wondering if any one on here attended at the same time as im trying to find some old friends 3 of them named Mary, if anyone could help that would be brilliant thank you.
 
Hi Barryf, I was there at the same time as you and remember all those teachers. Mr Tom Nash was our sports teacher, I was in the football team that scored 100 goals in one season.(cant remember me scoring any):) Pat Hempsey/Hampsey, was the top scorer who sadly committed suicide.
 
Hi I was there at about the same time, I remember that football team,tragic news about Pat Hempsey. There was another lad who scored a lot called Millington in that team, also an overage goalie from our class Paul Murray. Gillian can’t help you with the Mary’s ,but I think my friend Tom Elliott May have been in your class.
 
perry commoner said:
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!!!
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I was there between 1956-61, Mr Burns was Head then, Remember playing football against the lads training to be priests(they wore red/mauve blazers). The games were played during dinner times and well attended by students, Really enjoyed my time there.
 
Its been some time since I last added info to this subject. My researches have since produced more facts about St Thomas's RC Sec Mod. Firstly, my thanks to Mrs Pat Badger, school sec at the primary school for her invaluable help.

The Sec Mod building was begun in 1936. 1940 onwards the school of 1910 was used for children 5 - 9. (Was this the old hall which was used as a assembly hall and dining room in my time?)
Our old teacher, Miss Mary Maud Magdalen Rose, 1890 - 1975 is buried at the Abbey churchyard. I believe that the grave number is A/AS/72. I can only assume that Miss Hyland is buried somewhere there too.

I asked the present owners of the school if I could visit out of term time to take some photos of the buildings but I did not even get the courtesy of a reply, however I did managed to get a photo of the building from the cemetary and 3 or 4 from the railway station platform at Erdington on my way home. As always, any errors with spelling, grammar or facts are strictly mine!
 
I started at the Abbey at start of school year in 1959 - fresh from Ireland. I was placed in 3B with Miss Hyland and moved to 3A with Mr. Mohr after Christmas.
I remember 2 Mr. Burns’. One was the headmaster. We called him “daddy” Burns to distinguish. Mr. Burns junior married Miss Jarvis who also taught there.
Other teachers I recall were Mr. McCarthy; Mr. Dougthy who became headmaster; Mr. Fantham; Miss Kelly; Mr. “Johnny” Herbert; Miss “Polly” Rose (art) and Mr. “Nigel” Sims (woodwork) - ( Nigel Sims was the then Villa goalkeeper).
Can’t recall the name of a later arrival, an Irish teacher( maybe Mr. O’Hanlon?) who taught 5th year. We sat our “O” Level exams in our own classroom ( one of the huts there, then) under his supervision.
I left in the summer of 1962.
 
Bern Breen said:
Hi I was there at about the same time, I remember that football team,tragic news about Pat Hempsey. There was another lad who scored a lot called Millington in that team, also an overage goalie from our class Paul Murray. Gillian can’t help you with the Mary’s ,but I think my friend Tom Elliott May have been in your class.
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I'l be honest B B, I dont remember Tom, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. The teacher that stood out was a Mr Fitzsimmons, not the person to get on the wrong side of, however I was a bit slow to learn, and one day he brought a special cane in for me. Gratuitous violence was the only way to describe it. Happy days eh
 
Cummo said:
I started at the Abbey at start of school year in 1959 - fresh from Ireland. I was placed in 3B with Miss Hyland and moved to 3A with Mr. Mohr after Christmas.
I remember 2 Mr. Burns’. One was the headmaster. We called him “daddy” Burns to distinguish. Mr. Burns junior married Miss Jarvis who also taught there.
Other teachers I recall were Mr. McCarthy; Mr. Dougthy who became headmaster; Mr. Fantham; Miss Kelly; Mr. “Johnny” Herbert; Miss “Polly” Rose (art) and Mr. “Nigel” Sims (woodwork) - ( Nigel Sims was the then Villa goalkeeper).
Can’t recall the name of a later arrival, an Irish teacher( maybe Mr. O’Hanlon?) who taught 5th year. We sat our “O” Level exams in our own classroom ( one of the huts there, then) under his supervision.
I left in the summer of 1962.
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I remember Mr Sims hand, he had a pretty nasty scar on it. My sister still has the broom holder I made. Good bloke he was
 
Yes, went there till 1967.
I remember Mr Simms, Mr Fitzsimmons, Mr Mc Carthy, Mr Nash. We had a good football team in those days, scored 100 goals one year(I've got a photo of that team somewhere), but sadly lost a player (Pat Hempsey or Hampsey?) to suicide. We used to play the Jesuits, next door, at football, and give them a good kicking, (well I did):). I think Paul Goldingay was in the A stream? Any good Paul
 
Two threads have been merged into this one. There may be earlier unseen posts. Viv.
 
boilerman said:
Yes, went there till 1967.
I remember Mr Simms, Mr Fitzsimmons, Mr Mc Carthy, Mr Nash. We had a good football team in those days, scored 100 goals one year(I've got a photo of that team somewhere), but sadly lost a player (Pat Hempsey or Hampsey?) to suicide. We used to play the Jesuits, next door, at football, and give them a good kicking, (well I did):). I think Paul Goldingay was in the A stream? Any good Paul
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hello boilerman, yes I remember all these teachers, also miss Jarvis who married M r Mac Carthy jnr . do you remember Hughgean Reynolds head boy above us, and loads more. regards Paul
 
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