Concordia

Concordia Winter 2018 7 although I did play Olivia in “Twelfth Night” later on – in those days voices broke much later. Nor (and this I rather regret) did I enter into the spirit of a compulsory three year CCF regime which Elder endorsed with great vigour. I often wonder if he ever heard of my Field Day escapade during which I came close to cutting short the career of a most distinguished OMT cleric at a very early stage in his career. Nor was I always on the right side of the law at a time when beating by staff (and some boys) was commonplace and the Children Act unheard of; I was flogged (deservedly) for eating crisps in Choir Practice! But I made something of a mark in the classroom and on the games field (although my mother would not allow me to box for the House!) and was eventually summoned to Elder’s study to accept a position of responsibility first at the Prompters’ Bench and then the Monitors’ table as Head of House. By this time Elder was in his final year and visibly moving out of touch with most of his Common Room; he had become an archaic, distant figure for most of his staff who readily welcomed the charismatic Brian Rees. Yet it was a mark of Elder’s outstanding appointments (and how much I enjoyed the company of his staff who inspired me to enter the profession myself) that in my year 40 of us won Oxbridge places. Hugh Elder was educated at Edinburgh Academy, Edinburgh University and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was an outstanding classicist and staunch Episcopalian. Some elements of the dour Scot never left him. After spells as Assistant Master at Sherborne and Fettes, Hugh became Headmaster of Dean Close at the early age of 33 in 1938. After guiding Dean Close through the war years he became Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ in 1946, thus extending the link between the two schools, for Dean Close had been founded in 1885 in memory of OMT Francis Close (MTS 1808-1812), Rector of Cheltenham (1826- 57) and later Dean of Carlisle. Arriving at Merchant Taylors’ immediately after WWII and only 13 years after the school’s move out of the City to Sandy Lodge, Elder was to transform the school in many different ways. He introduced an effective House system; Housemasters took proper responsibility for their boys who now sat together on House tables at lunch; team games became compulsory on the hitherto unused new playing fields with Housemasters responsible for exercising ‘surplus non team member boys’; uniform returned and it was seen as a mark of great liberality that the privilege of not wearing a cap was extended to the Upper Sixth; Science was given a prominent place in the curriculum with new laboratories while the workshops also gained in both use and prestige – with a compulsory lesson for the Classical Lower Sixth. Above all, Elder made some outstanding appointments (including the introduction of the post of Second Master) and saw numbers in the school rise from 500 to 600 in his first ten years. Unusually, in 1949 Elder asked the Ministry of Education for a full Inspection which confirmed his immediate good work and reinforced his ideas for the future. By the time of my arrival in 1958 the school was flourishing and the Headmaster remained active, if a little distant, and, as far as the ‘Rollers’ were concerned, rather humourless! I was fortunate to see enough of Hugh Elder to begin to appreciate his qualities; subsequently, after 25 years as a Headmaster, I now hold him in very high regard. I met him first at interview (where my understanding of the word ‘obliterate’ seemed, for no particular reason, to leave a marked impression!) and then immediately in the Third Form classroom where Elder taught Divinity and was in his `hair shirt moralist’ element in the company of the early Christian martyrs – with Polycarp a particular favourite. I was much encouraged by the Headmaster in this area and inspired to win a Hessey Divinity Prize and to retain a keen interest in matters theological. “By the time of my arrival in 1958 the school was flourishing and the Headmaster remained active, if a little distant, and, as far as the ‘Rollers’ were concerned, rather humourless!” Elder’s practical no-nonsense approach to Christianity was also evident in his assistance with Confirmation. The same ‘muscular Christianity’ was maintained as a rugby coach of the lowest new-boy game, well into his 50s, with a pair of dark blue shorts which I suspect had been worn in more exalted company. The ‘Headmaster’s pitch’ surrounded as I remember with wonderful flowering cherry trees, was the most sacrosanct turf in school. In my early days at Merchant Taylors’ I experienced at first hand, in the role of Zorah In “Ruddigore”, Hugh Elder’s penchant for Gilbert & Sullivan. It was a pleasure he shared with other Headmasters of the time – Old Sedberghians of the same vintage fondly recall Michael Thornely’s similar devotion. His sharp direction and total subjugation of Director of Music, Philip Tomlins, ensured a disciplined if somewhat inhibited performance. I was much in awe of him especially as I saw some of my Third Form colleagues removed from the stage. Elder probably gained more enjoyment from the exercise than his cast! I decided not to audition for `Pinafore’ next year, As I recall, Hugh Elder retired with the minimum of plaudits and disappeared not quite to obscurity but as a part time teacher of Classics at Millfield where my wife, Sara met him in 1975 in the company of other distinguished pedagogues collected by Colin Atkinson. My final meeting with him came ten years later when on my appointment to the Headship of Kelly College I visited Hugh Elder for advice at his home in Huish Episcopi. He and his wife received me generously and I remember him urging me to keep detailed daily records. Our correspondence of that time revealed the same neat, precise hand of his Headmaster years. Words were never wasted; Hugh Elder inspired respect but did not court popularity and I suspect that few colleagues and fewer pupils knew him well. I regret that I did not know him better for at the end of my own career as a Headmaster my respect for him has become admiration. I owe a great deal to Hugh Elder who deserves a much higher place in the pantheon of 20th century Headmasters. Christopher H Hirst (Merchant Taylors’ 1958-65, Master at Radley College 1972-85, Headmaster Kelly College 1985-1995, Headmaster Sedbergh School 1995-2010) Concordia Winter 2018 6 “I was fortunate to see enough of Hugh Elder to begin to appreciate his qualities; subsequently, after 25 years as a Headmaster, I now hold him in very high regard.”