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More on the
Oxford Street Boys
In the last week or so, our Oxford Street Boys
School (now Whitstable Junior School) material has received
quite a boost with some lovely photos from the the photo boxes
of two very well known local families. Its all thanks to Chris Nutten
and John Wraight.
Let's take a look....
Oxford Street
School Houses
Most of us recall the names of the four school
houses of the second half of the twentieth century....
Becket House
(Blue) |
Named after the Archbishop of
Canterbury who was murdered in the cathedral. Becket lived
from 1118-1170. |
Marlowe House
(Red) |
Named after one of England's
most celebrated dramatists and poets. Marlowe was
born at Canterbury in 1564 and died during a brawl in
Deptford in 1593 |
Caxton House
(Yellow) |
Named after England's first
printer and publisher of the first English book. Caxton was born in the Weald of Kent during 1422
(possibly at Tenterden) and died in London circa1491 |
Wolfe House
(Green) |
Named after British army
officer who effectively ended French rule in Canada with
victory at The Heights of Abraham. He was born at
Westerham, Kent in 1727 and died from injuries sustained
at that battle in Quebec during 1759. |
However, our School House page (click
here to view) warns that there were much
earlier house names. The warning was based on a quote from the
school's centenary booklet Bell, Book and Boys in
which Gordon Hawkins (a former pupil and, later, a teacher at the
school) recalls a house called Chaucer at the School Sports Day of
1932. Apparently, Chaucer wore "yellow".
Now, thanks to John Wraight's photo below, we know
another old house name..... and it is likely to cause a Dickens of a
discussion....
So when did the house system start, where did the
names come from and when did they change?
Well, Gordon Hawkins stated that the Sports Day
of 1932 was the first occasion that he had become aware of a
house system. John's photo now lengthens the system's history by
at least a further two years as it was taken in 1930.
We cannot be sure but it is possible that the
"houses" may have been introduced between 1928 and
1930 when the school underwent some significant changes. From
1923 to 1928, the establishment had been divided into junior and
senior sections, each with its own headmaster - a Mr Parmree for
the seniors and a Mr Sparshott
for the juniors. In 1928, the two sections were amalgamated and
what better way to cement the union than to introduce a house
system that linked pupils of different age groups.
What
were the original house names and why did they change? Well, I
don't know.... but I have two possible theories.
Theory
Number One is that there were more than four houses at the
outset,- with names such as Dickens and Chaucer supplementing
Wolfe, Marlowe, Caxton and Becket. At a later date, it may have
been felt that this was too many and several
were dropped.... including Chaucer and Dickens. However, none of
this feels right!
Theory Number 2 sounds better. It
assumes that there were always four houses and that they were
simply renamed sometime during the 1930s or 1940s. If this was so,
what were the original names?
Well,
we now have two (Chaucer and Dickens). We also have a possible
theme because both Dickens and Chaucer were drawn from the history
of English Literature and both have connections with Kent. Whilst
Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812, his family moved to
Chatham when he was just five years old and he based some of his
works in and around the Kent area. Chaucer lived in the 14th
century and moved to Kent where he became a Member of Parliament.
Of course, he also wrote the famous Canterbury Tales.
It
seems possible that our two missing house names may also have been
drawn from the literary scene and they may also have had a local
connection. The problem is that Kent isn't exactly flush with
literary genii. However, there is one! That is Christopher Marlowe!
So, was Marlowe one of the original quartet and was it the only
name to survive a later revamp? If this was the case, Marlowe
House is quite a bit older than Becket, Caxton and Wolfe!
Now...
who changed the names and when?
The
1930s constituted a relatively stable period in the school's
history and there were no major organisational changes that could
be linked in here. Of course, there were changes of headmaster. A
Mr Shoesmith held the hot seat from 1928 until 1931. He may well
have introduced the house system but he certainly didn't change it
as we now know that the old names were still in use in 1932. Mr
Metcalfe took over the reigns in 1931 but only lasted until 1935.
The
most likely culprit was Mr Newsome - a much feared disciplinarian
who ran the school from 1935 until 1959. It could be that he
decided to change the names as a way of heralding his newly
acquired headship in the 1930s or celebrating a new beginning in
the aftermath of World War II. He may also have wanted to widen
the scope of house names to embrace other facets of national
achievement beyond literature.
Okay...
so it's all guesswork at the moment but, somewhere around the
globe, there are family photos that hold the answers. Over to
you... for the opening of Pandora's Photo Box!
Comments on the Dickens
Photo...
We have received the following comments on the
Dickens House Photo....
| I've just had a
thought re the houses of Oxford street.
Maybe it would be easier to calculate how many houses
there were at any given time by the number of students in
a house... ie there are 39/40 in the "Dickens"
picture.
So, do you know how many students there were at that
particular time? Four houses would have given say
160.
Pre-war, there were no prefabs or temporary classrooms.
So, I would imagine there would have been say eight/ten
classrooms of maybe twenty.
Maybe someone somewhere has the population figures for
the school, just a thought!! This is getting
dangerous..... all these thoughts!
Regarding house names, does Samuel Pepys, the naval
diarist, ring any bells? He spent a lot of time in the
naval dockyard at Chatham.
I’ll go now!
Regards
John Wraight
Australia |
| Our
Response:
Thanks, John. Your ideas certainly change the look of
things and shorten the odds on Theory 1
being correct. The number of 1930s classrooms is a
little unclear as there were things such as a woodwork
room that may or may not have been in permanent use for a
"class". However, looking at the rough plans on
our school history page, it is likely that there were
between 10 and 12. We don't have precise figures
for the average class size. However, Jackie Evans has
supplied a 1930s class photo with 22 pupils. That would
seem about right... and it would give us a total school
pupil figure of between 220 and 264.
The Dickens photo contains 41 boys. They seem to be of
varying ages and, for the moment, we will assume that the house collected its members from the whole
school (ie both junior and senior sections).
If each house contained approx 40 boys, the school
would have needed 6 houses. That could have
meant Becket, Marlowe, Caxton, Wolfe, Dickens and Chaucer.
Nowadays, we always tend to think of there being 4
houses at schools as these tie in with the key colours of
Blue, Red, Yellow and Green. However, my dad attended a
school in the Eltham area that had considerably more than
4 houses and colours such as brown and white were
deployed. Of course, my dad's school was a very large
establishment. Operating six houses at the relatively
small Whitstable Boys
would have been very difficult as pupil numbers would have
been
insufficient to staff a house football team in each year
group. That would have been a very good reason to reduce
the number of houses to four... particularly as the school
had acquired the large Church Street playing field in 1928
and sport was becoming a significant part of school life. If the "six house" theory is correct,
someone (possibly Mr Newsome) actually dropped Dickens and
Chaucer! I would happily relegate Chaucer to
obscurity... but Dickens? It was obviously a brave
decision.... but it may have been aimed at reducing the
number of names drawn from the world of literature and
providing a more even spread across British history. I
think we are going to need Cliff Cuttelle's dad to help us
out here! |
School
Prefects...
Chris Nutten has also broadened our
understanding of the Oxford Street Boys School with this
fascinating photo....
Quite understandably, some of the faces also
appear in John Wraight's photo of Dickens House. However, we have
just one name. Chris's father, Frank Nutten, is the first boy on
the left in the back row. Can anyone name the others... nearly 80
years on?
The photo is the first evidence I have seen of a
prefects system at Oxford Street. Of course, back in 1930, the
school was not just a junior school. It catered for boys up to
school leaving age (age 14 at that time) and that meant that it
was possible to give some pupils a degree of authority and
responsibility. The school continued to be a combined
junior/senior school until the town gained its first secondary
school (The Sir William Nottidge) in 1952/53. By then, the school
leaving age had increased to 15.
As yet, I don't know when prefects disappeared. It
may have occurred when the Nottidge arrived and the Oxford Street
School was confined to an age range of 7-11. There was certainly
no such system in my time there (1956-59) ... although we did have
a head boy.
Reaction on Prefects Photo...
We have received the following comments on
Chris's photo....
| I have no recollection of
any Prefect system or Head Boy there during my time circa
1942-47.
Brian Smith
Hoppers Crossing
Victoria
Australia |
| Our
Response:
Thanks, Brian. It looks as if the prefect system was a
1930s phenomenon. |
School
Football - Late 1920s
Chris Nutten has also provided one of our oldest football
team photos....
Back
Row:
(L to R) |
Frank
Nutten, P Nicholls, W Wade, L Read, L Skeats, C Court, C
Cuttelle, A Roberts |
| Front
Row: |
A
Kemp, W Smith, H Bishop (capt), G Dunn, J Hinkley |
What a shame that they didn't have colour photos
in those days.... so that we could work out that football kit! Was
it red?
Things were obviously progressing in terms of
football fashion. If you look at our existing Oxford Street Boys
School football page (click
here), you will notice that the 1922 team
played in striped shirts.
Reaction on Chris's Football
Team Photo...
We have received the following messages on the
team photo...
| Hi
Dave,
Re: The photo School Football - late 20's colour
of the kit
Spoke to dad. It was Golden Yellow shirts with black
trim, black shorts and socks to match.
Question.... in the picture next to C Cuttelle is a C
Court. Any relation to Bob in Oz?
Regards
Cliff Cuttelle
Hua Hin
Thailand |
| Our
Response:
Thanks, Cliff. Perhaps, you will also pass our
thanks to your dad. He could become a very important
member of the Simply Whitstable team! Oh how the
memories flow from all this. Let me tell you a story. In
the early-to-mid 1950s, the Boys school football team
played in plain red shirts with little string ties at the
neck. (See John Wraight's later photo below). These shirts
were also used by the Marlowe House team. With
years of washing in Surf (or Lifebuoy soap), they slowly
became pink. By the time I played in the school team, they
had been dropped for inter-school matches and were only
used by Marlowe. The school team commandeered the Becket
House shirts - modern navy blue T-shirts. In my
last year at the school (1959), we asked Mr Hime if we
could raise money to replace the kit as short sleeves were
a nightmare on cold winter days! Mick Clifford (of
Thurston Park) and I were involved in the fund raising
along with several others. However, very soon, there was a
bit of an argument! Mick (an Arsenal supporter) wanted to
buy red shirts with white sleeves. I (as a Wolves
supporter) wanted gold shirts with black trim. Mr
Hime settled the matter by saying that gold and black had
no connection with the school! Thus, we ended up with
Arsenal kit. We even had to put on French accents. If
only I had been able to use Chris Nutten's photo and your
dad's signed affidavit, the outcome might have been
different! Sadly, it took us all year to raise
the money and, by then, it was the cricket season. Mr Hime
arranged a special match against the third year so that we
could wear the new kit once before we left the school. In
true Arsenal tradition..... we lost. Now we need
a comment from Bob Court in Mooloolaba to discover if his
dad appears in Chris's photo. |
| Hi
Dave,
Re: The Photo School Football
Regarding the photo of Cliff's dad standing next to C
Court... Sorry, my dad was Raymond Frederick....Yes, he
played a lot of soccer...in fact it was him who put me off
the game. Every Saturday I had to keep quiet. It was
either a soccer match or the pools.
By the way, my Uncle Jack was friends with the Beverly
Sister and I think it was Joy Beverly who married Billy
Wright the famous footballer. My uncle was a special guest
at their wedding. Mrs. Bucket sorry I mean Mrs. Bouquet
had nothing on me :)
Enjoy Christmas
Regards
Bob
Bob Court
Mooloolaba
Queensland
Australia |
| Our
Response:
Thanks, Bob. I am glad that you get Hyacinth Bucket
in Oz. It serves you right for giving us Rolf Harris.
Of course, Billy Wright was a Wolves player. In
recent years, they've been playing like the Beverly
Sisters. |
| Hello,
Cliff Cuttelle,
I also have this photo.I believe some time ago the team
got back together and had their photo taken 50 so years
on. This was published in the Whitstable Times.
I know my father was a good friend of Charlie's for
many years.
Kindest regards
David (Wally Smith's son)
Pinner
Middlesex
30 January 2008 |
| Our
Response:
Thanks, David. As it is some time since this Chat
Column was published, I have replicated your message in
the Visitors Book to ensure that it is seen by Cliff and
our other regular readers.
|
School
Football - 1950s
Our existing school team page also features
teams from the 1952/53 and 1953/54 seasons. John Wraight has now
filled in a sporting gap with this shot of the of 1951/52....
Back
Row:
(L to R) |
Alec Adams, Brian Wanstall,
Stan Wood, ?? (teacher), ??, ??, Andy Newlyn |
| Mid Row: |
??, John Huson, Brian
Williams, Frank Rigden, Barry Martin |
| Front
Row: |
John Wraight, John
Shrewsbury, Trevor Sandy, Michael Croft. |
You will find some familiar sporting names in the three 1950s
photos. You will also spot another connection. So many of these
players went on to create the town's highly successful amateur
club of the 1960s..... Whitstable Old Boys FC. You can visit our
Old Boys FC section by clicking
here.
Class Photo of
the 1960s....
Most of our existing class photos are from the
pre-Beatle era... but Chris Nutten has now brought us a bit more
up to date with this shot of Class 4F of 1967 or 1968...
Back
Row:
(L to R) |
Dean
Larking, Graham Larner, Nicholas Stratford, Paul Miles, ?
Newell, Gerald Petts, Simon Owen, Neil Laraman, Chris
Jordan |
| Mid
Row: |
Anthony
Mowday, ? Simons, Martin Polley, Phil Lyne, Robert Jones,
Paul Nazer, Jeremy Loader, Jeremy Smith?, Richard Parkes |
| Front
Row: |
Gary
Lazell, Trevor Myhill, Ian Scott, Tony Mitchell, Glynn
Maflin, Mr Fleming, David Marshall, Chris Nutten, Tom
McFadyen, Derek Monks, Billy King |
This falls into the era of headmaster Mr Povey.
Chris has been able to name all but a couple of the pupils.
The scene appears to be set in the school hall -
an area that hasn't changed too much over the decades. I am
betting on that door on the right leading to the old storeroom.
I think the door on the left led to a tuck shop in the 1950s!
Names For John's
Photo...
Our existing Whitstable Boys pages contains a
photo kindly sent to us by John Butler but, until now, we had
very few names to attach to it.
Garth Wyver has now emailed from New South
Wales with some suggestions.....
| I remember that day and, on occasions, looked at the
photo in my mother's collection. I have been able to put a
name to most of the faces. Today, the names elude me but
I'll have a go with some sugestions that may jog someone
else's memory.....
| Back: |
2: Garth Wyver (Me),
6: Peter Greves, 7: John Butler. 8: Geoffrey ?,
9: Tom Bagnal?, 10: Brian Williams? |
| Middle
Standing: |
2: David Bradley, 3:
Nick Pout, 4: David Midson, 6: Philip Catlin, 7:
David Cawley, 8: Michael Ayling, 9: Peter
Shinglestone. |
| Middle
Seated: |
2: Colin Newman, 4:
Barry Taylor, 7 Peter Lindridge. |
| Front: |
2: Tim Windbush,
3: Graham Joiner, 9: ? Lilliot. |
Garth Wyver
Blackheath
NSW
Australia |
Our Thanks...
I would like to thank both John, Chris and Garth
for
taking the trouble to extend our collection and furthering our
understanding of the school.
Comments...
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