H. M. I.
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MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited
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THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
H. M. I.
SOME PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF ONE
OF H. M. INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS
BY
E. M. SNEYD-KYNNERSLEY
FORMERLY H. M. I. NORTH-WEST DIVISION
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON
1913
_COPYRIGHT_
_First Edition, 8vo, April 1908_;
_Reprinted September 1908_.
_Shilling Edition, Globe 8vo, 1910_;
_Reprinted 1913_.
DEDICATION
To E. G. A. Holmes, Esq., H.M. Chief Inspector; and to my late
Colleagues of the North-West Division, by whose desire these records
were put together; in ever grateful memory.
E. M. S.-K.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I THE BEGINNING 1
II ANGLESEY 5
III VAGRANT 13
IV LLANGASTANAU 25
V LLANGASTANAU: THE LIBRARY 34
VI LLANGASTANAU: THE VILLAGE SCHOOL 42
VII WINDING UP 51
VIII H.M.I. 58
IX ARCADIA 62
X ARCADIA CLERICORUM 73
XI MILLER’S 82
XII MILLER’S: THE STUDY 94
XIII CHESHIRE 106
XIV MY LORDS 111
XV MANAGERS 122
XVI SCHOOL BOARDS 134
XVII CHILDREN 142
XVIII INSPECTORS 155
XIX CHAUNTERS’ 164
XX CHAUNTERS’: THE GARDEN 173
XXI R.C.’S 184
XXII ERRATA 201
XXIII REPORTS 220
XXIV SINGING 229
XXV NATURAL HISTORY 235
XXVI COMPOSITION 242
XXVII NEEDLEWORK 250
XXVIII UPHEAVAL 261
XXIX ISLE OF MAN 272
XXX RELEASE 281
H.M.I.
CHAPTER I
THE BEGINNING
“The Man seems following still the funeral of the Boy.”
J. Keble.
My first acquaintance with the office of H.M. Inspector of Schools
dates as far back as 1854. I was then twelve years old. At breakfast
we were informed that the Reverend Henry Sandford was coming on a
visit. “Who, and what is he?” I asked. “Firstly, he was the son of our
neighbour, Archdeacon Sandford: secondly, he was ‘H.M.I.’: that is to
say, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools.”
“What do they do?”
“Oh, they travel about the country, and examine the school-children in
the National Schools.”
“Travel about?” I said wistfully: “I should like to be an Inspector.”
It was pointed out to me, with that frankness which is necessary
in dealing with the inquisitive boy, that if I wanted travelling
I had better be an engine-driver. But I replied, with unconscious
sarcasm, that there were certain qualifications needed for the post of
engine-driver.
Thirty years later bitter experience wrested from me the frequent
remark that I did not find my work hard or disagreeable when I was once
in school: all that I complained of was the travelling.
And there came another curious reminder of the conversation of 1854.
One day, in the ‘eighties, I was lunching with a Roman Catholic
priest, and among my fellow-guests was a much-loved Canon, who
apologized for having omitted his morning shave because he was
suffering from neuralgia: “and,” he added, “I have often thought I
should like to be a Capuchin Monk, so that I might be at liberty to
grow a beard.”
Being myself a hairy man, I pointed out that Inspectors of Schools
had the same privilege. But the Canon promptly retorted that he
believed there were certain qualifications necessary for the office
of inspector, and he had never heard that there were any required for
being a Capuchin.
This would seem to point to a classification:
1. Engine-drivers.
2. Inspectors of Schools.
3. Capuchins.
From 1854 to 1871 I was not interested in Elementary Education, though
after leaving Oxford I took some part in Classical teaching. The storms
of Mr. Lowe’s Revised Code passed over my head: and the Elementary
Education Bill of 1870 was fought in Parliament while I was sailing
home from Australia. The School Board elections of November, 1870,
caused some excitement in the large towns, but the Franco-German war
was raging, and the siege of Paris was of more general interest. To the
supporters of the Government the New Education Act appeared to be an
admirable measure; the Opposition maintained the contrary opinion; but,
as is usually the case, the great majority of the people adopted one or
the other side without tedious enquiry into details. I think that was
my case.
In the following year without any warning my destiny began to be
shaped. About Easter there came a letter to my father from our old
friend of 1854, H. Sandford, who was a cousin of Sir Francis Sandford,
Secretary of the Education Department, and had become a Senior
Inspector. He premised that certain officers were to be appointed to
make enquiries under the new Education Act--men who had graduated with
honours at Oxford or Cambridge--and that the nomination of these was
in the hands of the District Inspectors. He went on to enquire whether
my father had a son with the necessary qualifications.
Now at that time I was a briefless barrister of something less than
two years’ standing, nearly one of which I had spent in the aforesaid
visit to Australia; and the prospect of work with a living wage was
alluring. I was assured by my briefless brethren that the solicitors
would not miss me, and that they themselves were able and willing to
fill the gap. The offer of the appointment was accepted for me, and
at the end of April I found myself an “Inspector of Returns.” To my
extreme delight I received notice that my work lay in North Wales:
Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, Merioneth, and about a third of Denbighshire
formed the district of my Chief, whom I was to assist. I was to begin
in May; the pay was good; I was twenty-nine, and in robust health. With
such a country what could a man wish for more? The nature of the work
was obscure, but presumably explanations would follow, and credit might
be given to the Government that the task would be neither dishonourable
nor onerous.
On an appointed day we were to attend at the Education Department
at 11 A.M. to meet Sir F. Sandford, and to receive further
instructions. I went accordingly, starting, as I thought, in good time,
so that I might not begin with a reputation for unpunctuality. But
at Charing Cross I found that there were but three minutes left, and
I nervously hailed a hansom to complete the journey. With admirable
exactness I reached the office door at 10.59, and enquired for the
Secretary.
“Not come down yet, sir,” said the porter: “he don’t generally get here
till half-past.”
I felt that I had found a profession after my own heart. Judges sat at
10; Quarter Sessions’ Chairmen at 9; and nasty remarks were made, if
counsel by the merest chance in the world happened to be a quarter of
an hour late. The cases in which I held briefs (with a fee of £1 3_s._
6_d._) could not contemplate a delay of half an hour; they were not on
that scale.
Eventually the great man arrived, and pleasantly greeted the roomful
of novices. We got our instructions, and were promised further
information. In the following week I began work at Carnarvon. There,
and in other schools in the district, we spent a few days, partly to
teach me the rudiments of school work, partly to arrange a plan of
campaign for my special work. It was all new to me, and I could offer
no suggestions.
But I thought of the poor briefless ones whom I had left behind me in
London: Westminster or Guildhall from 10 to 4; Temple Chambers for an
hour or so; smoking-room at the club at night, with some remarks on the
Tichborne case, then superseding the Franco-German war as a topic of
conversation; and I was more than content with my lot.