Family Ties – Celebrating connections this Heritage Day
Throughout the year we are contacted by many people who have ties with CHS and are looking to share their family story, or visit the place that they have a connection.
In celebration of this year’s Heritage Open Day themes of networks, routes and connections, let’s take a look at three family ties…
My Great Great Grandfather: CHS’s Chairman and Champion
In April, Charles Waddington contacted us in an effort to help his mother who was researching their family history. They had discovered that one of their relatives was associated with Cheadle Hulme School in the early days – Mr Joseph Broome. Mr Broome was present at the very first meeting, in 1854, at which it was decided to found the Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks’ Orphan Schools, and was subsequently Chairman of the School’s Executive Committee for 35 years (1865 -1900).
As quoted in an article from Manchester: Faces and Places, which Charles shared with us, “The remarkable progress of the Manchester Warehousemen and Clerks’ Orphan Schools – is largely due to Mr. Broome, who from the first has been an ardent friend and generous supporter of the institution.”
Along with his mother, Jane, and father, John, Charles visited CHS in May – a place that his great great grandfather had supported for so many years. They had the opportunity to view minutes from Executive Committee meetings, which were handwritten and signed by Joseph, as well as having their photo taken outside the John Rylands wing of the Main Building which Joseph and his wife officially opened in 1899.
My Grandfather: The War Hero
In December, we were honoured to unveil a plaque commemorating the Victoria Cross which was won by
Jock Christie during World War One. After the war, Jock moved to this region and decided to send one of his sons, Kenneth, to CHS.
The VC Trust commemorates the achievements of VC winners by installing plaques at places of interest related to the individual concerned. The unveiling ceremony included pupils reading out their research on Jock and a very special visitor: Jock’s grand-daughter, Belinda, who had travelled especially from Brisbane, Australia, for the occasion.
The plaque can be found outside the History and Politics departments, but if you are no longer local to the
Cheadle area you may be more likely to spot a similar commemoration on one of the pillars at Euston station, where Jock worked before the war.
My Grandpa: CHS’s First Scholarship Boy
Rosie Slosek contacted us to share the story of her Grandpa on the 100th Anniversary of his starting school.
“Thomas Mottram was Cheadle Hulme School’s first scholarship boy. Known as Tom, he was born in 1914, on the Alderley estate of Baron Stanley. He was a real country boy and played in the caves at Alderley Edge, later made famous by Alan Garner.
His father was the electrician at ‘the big house’ and with 4 older sisters and a younger brother, Tom wasn’t expected to be able to do anything other than work on the land or follow in his father’s footsteps despite his obvious intelligence. Tom reached the educational leaving standard 7 years early and after 3 years repeating the same work, it was decided to award him the first ever scholarship to Cheadle Hulme School.
Tom was a day boy, living in the family home on the Alderley estate. His daily solo journey to school from age 10-18 was a 3 mile walk from his home to the railway station, a train journey, then a mile to school, and back each day. He flourished academically, despite the long travelling times making friendships difficult. Tom stayed at Cheadle Hulme school for 8 years, graduating at 18 in 1932.
With his good education, Tom gained a place at Crewe Teacher Training College and his first job at age 20 was as a history teacher in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. There he married his wife Flora in 1944 and had 2 daughters, Rosemary in 1945 and Hazel in 1947.
Tom studied long distance for his B. Ed at University of London, while also teaching full time and with a young family. His hard work and grounding at Cheadle Hulme paid off and in 1950 the family moved to Little Bytham in Lincolnshire, where Tom took up a Headmaster position, in a big career leap from youngest teacher to head teacher.
In 1957, the family moved again to Long Eaton, Derbyshire where Tom took up the Head Mastership of Parkland Boys School and again in 1963, to north Nottinghamshire, where Tom spent the remainder of his life.
Tom spent 6 years at Worksop Central School as Head and established a work experience outreach programme during his time there, helping many children reach their academic potential. In 1969 he moved to Eaton Hall College of Education as Senior Lecturer to train a new generation of teachers. He achieved his M. Ed from the University of Nottingham and retired at 65.
Tom had an exceptional life. His scholarship to Cheadle Hulme School enabled him to academically flourish, leading to a successful teaching career making a positive difference in many lives and training a new generation of teachers.
73 years later, Tom returned to the school in 2005 for the 150th Anniversary. He was invited to make an address at the gathering, and really enjoyed sitting in on lessons and having lunch with pupils. He donated to the school’s bursary fund so other children like himself could receive the benefit of education at Cheadle Hulme.
Tom had grandchildren Rosemary and Tom, and three great grandchildren. Tom died in 2008 at the age of 93 and talked about his school days at Cheadle Hulme to the end of his life.”
