Master Anecdotes 3
G.H.R. NEWTH - HEADMASTER (1947-1963)
Subjects: Mathematics, Comparative Religion.
Nicknames 'George', 'Scruff', 'Hot Lips'.
Nicknamed 'Hot Lips'. He had another nickname - can't think
what it was! - [David G. Maltby] I just remembered - it was "Scruff".
He wasn't the most sartorially elegant of headmasters! [DGM] George was educated at
Re: G.H.R. Newth: poor judge of character?
My recollection is that GHRN had already had his stroke prior to my arrival (September 1958). There were a couple of periods of short absences during my first year there as I remember a couple of encounters with the erstwhile Ernest Pilling while he was acting head.
Although somewhat a scary character to a new first year student, my own encounters with GHRN throughout my five years while he was headmaster was that he had a sense of humour despite his gruff outward appearance and was an eminently fair man who made up his own mind when confronted with a complaining master and a frightened pupil.
During his final year and for my sixth form days, I was the unofficial school photographer of all the annual sports teams and, of course, gathering of all the staff. I remember being struck by my somewhat unsuccessful attempt to get the masters to form an orderly presentation with the senior masters sitting in some pre-ordained order and the rest jockeying for position like a bunch of fifth formers might. The appearance of GHRN as he crossed the quadrangle to take his place brought instant silence to the assembled throng. It would have helped if I had not been facing the masters at the time, as I would have noticed HIS presence as he approached from my rear. My observation as the masters quietened that “ I knew I would bring you lot to order eventually” brought instant laughter from all including GHRN who said something in my ear as he passed, or floated, by along the lines that he could do with me at some of the staff meetings!
GHRN had a gravitas that few could emulate or quite understand but I recall the Hon Member DG Maltby revealing on these pages some two decades ago when the group was first formed that when HE left (GHRN, that is, not DGM) he took the Punishment Book with him as it was his belief that the sins of the maturing child should not follow them into later life. A good example, I think, of his fairness and understanding .(
Michael Large 1958-65 RG)
Nay, 'twas not I who revealed thus. I left before GHRN retired so would not have been privy to such information. It must have been another HM.
I merely provided the information that, when I paid him a courtesy visit at his home a year or so after I left, he very charmingly cross questioned me about ALL the misdemeanours he had been unable to pin on me whilst I was at school - and his memory was unerring!
All was forgotten and forgiven and we shook hands on the past. (
DGM 55-62 R NG)
Like Right Hon. Member Maltby, I am glad to see the typing of Michael Large. HM Large mentions George's illness, something that had happened before he came among us, o blessed day, in 1958.
The December 1956 School Magazine, p. 10 (it's in the Greatest Collection) states: "We are all extremely pleased to welcome the Headmaster back to school after his recent illness."
(Now, now, that's how people talked in those days.)
Ernie Pilling had represented the school at the funeral of a Governor on November 27, so George had either only just come back or was taking life a bit easy.
I had started at RLS that September. I remember GHRN being taken ill very clearly, as my father was administrative officer of Harold Wood Hospital, where George was taken and placed in the care of Staff Nurse Pilling.
The fact that he was taken ill and came back to work all within one term makes it unlikely that George had suffered either a heart attack or a stroke. HM David Silverside says it was a stomach ulcer, and that's good enough for me.
My impression is that George may have coasted a bit after that, and who could blame him? I can recall 9.15 classes in Room 2 or 3 where you could watch GHRN retreating to his home in South Drive, presumably for a late breakfast after giving his daily instructions to the Almighty in morning assembly.
Anyway, that ties down the date of his illness and probably gives a diagnosis. (Ged Martin
1956-63)
I had only one experience that married both being late with Newth's callous reputation for viciousness. About 12 boys - not sure how typical this was but it seemed to me at the time a fairly healthy morning haul - were lined up for his inspection in the canteen as he strode back around the quad post assembly. We had been informed beforehand by a more practiced member of the group that Newth invariably picked on just one person each day - something that explained the tangible expulsion of breath and relief as he moved along the line to the next boy. Unfortunately, on this day at least, he doubled back down the line before swirling round and brutally smashing an unsuspecting youth around the face. He then exhorted us all to be sure never to allow the offense to happen again - in fairness a request to which I was at that point most anxious to comply. We were then all told to write 100 times whatever school rule boiled down to "I must not be late for class" except for one younger boy who foolishly pleaded extenuating circumstances because the chain had removed itself from his bike and he had been forced to try to fix it. He was almost crying and clearly aware that the potential alibi of grease and other sh** that covered him and his new school uniform were going to land him in serious trouble when he eventually got home later. Newth's only response was to amend his punishment to the more onerous task of 200 times "I must take greater care to ensure proper maintenance of my bicycle".
The latter example is vaguely amusing. The former illustrates a kind of corporal punishment the benefits of which have been discussed among HMs in these missives before. Personally, I understand the sentimental attraction to notions of discipline in our past versus the callous disregard of today's youth and am certainly no stranger to being "tough". I just regret not having the opportunity for a much larger and stronger me to beat the living crap out of such cowardly bullies until they cried like the little girls they actually were.
Others may disagree. (Mike Jones Saxons 60-67)
Thanks for this information, Mike. For most of my 5 years at RLS from 1949, I was completely unaware that Newth was anything other than a rather benevolent man (though cautiously avoided and feared by some). This was probably due to the fact that he gave me special entry to RLS as I had left a prep school after my parent's divorced and fell on very hard times. My aunt and uncle approached him and he gave me a question session with them present. I was bullied by one older boy and my aunt came to know of it, so she phoned Newth and eventually they got out of me who it was by much asking. Newth put an immediate stop to all contact from that boy. However, one day I was in a classroom where a boy had been sent out to stand in the corridor, who we could see through the windows to the corridor - I was sitting close to it. Suddenly we saw Newth come by and give the boy a most tremendous blow on the side of his head with his open hand.
This was an eye-opened to me, until then I did not know that the head used violence at all, even caning!
Robert Priddy (49-53)
If he were teaching nowadays he and certain others of the staff of the late 50's would be doing time in one of HM Prisons for child abuse.
I loathed the man then and even now 54 years later, I would not piss on him if he were on fire. He was a bully who never expected that any pupil would stand up to him. I recall the horror on his face when he asked why the current German assistant had singled me out from a rebellious class and I told him the simple truth: That I had told the assistant to fuck off when he inflicted a class punishment on me when I returned from a dental appointment. He looked absolutely stunned that a boy dared speak to him so. Then he beat the shit out of me.
On the day I left the school I went to bid him goodbye, all he was interested in doing was giving me a bollocking for wearing suede shoes that morning. When I read on this forum that he had died relatively soon after retiring my reaction was quite simply " Good, not a day too soon"
The teachers I remember as being physically abusive were Fox, Pilling, Ron Smith, Tarrant, Carpenter, Schofield, Peazy, Franklin and of course poor Olive who lasted a single term. I'm sure there were more. That is an alarming percentage of those masters with whom I had daily dealings. Character building, I believe. (Pete P 55-60)
Regarding the name "Scruff" (From April 10 2010) - A glance at the Blue Books from the 50's show Masters names with their appropriate academic title. This seemed to rule who wore gowns and who did not. Daddy Scho' for instance had no title and never wore a gown. I recall most (if not all) other Masters, did. The younger set, Bell, Thomas, Guy etc. all wore gowns. Ron Smith had a gown that was downright tatty with frayed ends and usually dusty. He would use it to clean parts of the blackboard if no erasor was available. Mr. Brooks, on the other hand, kept his gown spotless, despite the fact that he was alway drawing with coloured chalk on the blackboard. Jale Melnick gave a good impression of Shylock. Gowned, head down and eyes covered with thick black framed glasses he would glide down the corridor past the physics lab and the art room to his nest in room 11. Jock Pryde would leave the Ma sters Common Room after Jake but invariably overtake him along the top corridor on his way to 12. Wispy blonde hair all over the place and arms clutching the gown in front of him, lifting it clear of the ground to accomodate his long strides. Bell looked out of place in a gown with a brown sports jacket underneath and that very ernest look on his face. Scruff was so named for his stained tie and suit (usually a blue pin stripe) not for his gown. He would stride magnificently across the playground, past the bogs, on his way to his house in South Drive for lunch. Passage would open before him as boys playing football with a tennis ball or similar, using the eastern (urinal end) bog wall as a goal, would scurry out of his way as he crossed. Gowns. Yes. That was the way we imagined Masters at decent schools back in those days.
Not everyone used the nickname "Scruff". I believe the name came to be in probably 1952 or 53. It was certainly coined by someone in the Sixth Form. The lower forms usually used "George" but some people, myself included, took to the word because despite his apparent dappy "conservative" look, a close up look would reveal the badly removed stains on jacket and tie! (Mike Merry 51/56)
Although I do not recall GHRN ever being timetabled as a
regular maths teacher, I do have memories of trigonometry lessons with him
on a few occasions. At an earlier stage in his life he had decided to learn
the logarithm tables by heart and as a 'party trick' when working a mathematical
example on the blackboard he would ask for the logarithm of a number and then
proceed to write the log on the board before we had even opened our books.
It is a salutary thought that within a very few years the log tables would
be replaced by slide rules which in turn would give way to pocket calculators
and then computers. Would today's A level students know how to use log tables
? I do not recollect that GHRN had any problems with discipline in his lessons!
(Derek Reader 53/60)
George Henry Reginald Newth (who caned me twice - for VERY minor misdemeanors!) AKA "George" or "Scruff" was a head who had his finger on the pulse of the school without ever really appearing to - if you see what I mean. A relatively small bloke with steel-rimmed glasses, prominent forehead, receding hair (reminded me of that alien-thingy in Dan Dare on the front page of the Eagle, the Mukon?). Had a peculiar way of talking out of one, drooped down, side of his mouth - subject of many an amateur impressionist! (DGM)
Found the following at Biblio.com : "Newth, G H R First
Course in Arithmetic. With Answers. University Tutorial Press 1960. viii 284p
blue boards, fifth edition, answers, clean unmarked pages, VG. Approx price
in Euros 20.02, but credit card transactions in pounds sterling only . Catalogs:
Mathematics. (Inventory #PBoC 61794) £ 14.00 offered for sale by "Plurabelle
Books 77 Garden Walk Cambridge CB4 3EW, none United Kingdom CB4 3EW Phone:
0044 1223 571105 Fax: 0044 1223 462 118
I wonder who flogged that and when. Fourteen pounds! Wow, Old Scruff would
have been a millionaire if he could have sold his books for that amount back
in 1960! (Mike Merry)
I was at school when GHRN was compiling the book. He was setting classes the questions that he wanted to include in the book and getting the boys to work them out and get the right answers! (Ian Holt)
To the first 'Parents Night', sometime soon after Sept 1959: "I can't be expected to know all the 700+ boys in my charge. I will only know your son if he is exceptionally good, or exceptionally bad." (Andy Lee)
An enduring memory of the former Headmaster, "George" Newth, is of him encountering a boy, who had been sent to stand outside the classroom by "Enoch" Pease for some misdemeanour. George, noted his rapid walk, walked past the lad and, without a break in step, slapped him on both cheeks. (Peter G. Underwood)
I too remember Newth giving a hard, vicious slap in the face to a boy standing outside our classroom in disgrace in just the same manner that Peter describes. This was around 1952. I have never entertained the idea that he would use physical violence. I never learned that he actually caned people while I was at RLS, thought the talk about it was all a have-on! (Robert Priddy)
George taught Trigonometry to one set in my year as part of
O Level Maths and did some teaching to some sixth formers. (JAS)
GHRN taught the 1st stream in maths fifth year in 1953, I
know, for I was invited to go up into it (from the bottom or 4th stream after
having passed the Mock maths GCE due to home study from square one of EUP
'Teach Yourself ' books). I politely declined... who would voluntarily want
to be quailing under those vicious predatory eagle eyes, I thought... I opted
to stick with Zambesi and my pals instead.
George Newth (or Scruff, as we called him - colloquial form
of Scruffy, of course) taught us introduction to calculus in 6B in 1957 (or
whenever it came in the two years from then onwards) and trig some time later.
He was quite a good teacher I think but said 'We're going to have fun [with
maths]' in a very grim way. (Mike Butterworth)
In one of my sixth form years, around 1962, GHRN taught Religious
Instruction. His lessons were held in the main hall and each week he talked
about a different religion - Catholicism, Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim etc. I
don't know if this was something unique to GHRN/RLS, but at the time it was
a different approach and, as I recall, was well received. I don't remember
if the pupils who were excused assembly and RI attended, but in retrospect,
there was probably no reason why they shouldn't have. (Peter Cowling)
GHRN's maths teaching certainly worked on me. Before he
taught me trig, I was very average but I soon realised that I was getting 100%
quite regularly on tests when George took over. So, joking apart (and I've done
my fair share!), let's remember some of
the positives about him. I still remember trig functions as Some people have
curly black hair till partly bald. sine=perp/hypotenuse,
cosine=base/hypotenuse, tangent=perp/base.... and that's half a century ago!
(Colin Calvert)
In my Sixth Form RI lessons (1956-59) George Newth concentrated on Christianity. I remember someone asking, "Shouldn't we learn about other religions?" to which George replied: "There are places called libraries containing things called books." (J. Alan Smith)
Lived besides the school and would walk from his house through the side gate at the northern end of the woodwork shop, past the outdoor lavatories and on through to the magnificent entrance to Hare Hall. He walked right through football games and other sundry events without looking right or left and was famous for his expression "Take those hands out your pockets". Had two daughters, one very attractive who dated sixth formers. [Michael James Merry]
When lined up in the late room, he would ask you which hand you wanted him to use, just before he made contact with the side of your face. Sometimes he let you off completely - he was unpredictable. During a soccer match, someone on the opposing team mistook him for the caretaker. [PC]
I was at the school when the film 'Lady and the Tramp' was released. For some reason, the title was used for Mr and Mrs Newth. George's timing was pretty good: he was often noticed arriving at a cricket match just before the tea interval. On cricket, I heard him comment once: 'That wicket keeper is like the ancient mariner. He stoppeth one in three.' [J. A. Smith]
Regarding G.H.R. Newth's other nickname.. I can reliably tell you what it was... Hot Lips George! [Colin Calvert]
GHRN taught me comparative religion in the 6th form and he was good at it. I was under the impression that Head teachers were obliged to teach at least one period a week to be able to call themselves teachers. [DES]
He used to grow bigger when he spoke to me and went back to normal size when I wasn't around. Besides, I seem to recall that he walked around about six inches off the floor! [MJM]
Colin speaking of GHRN, said ". I would say he was about 5ft9in tall" I recall that I was taller than Scruff and I must have been about 5.9 at the time. I do believe he was quite short, he just seemed taller because we were frightened of him. [MJM]
I would guess GHRN at about 5.4 or 5.5 and certainly no taller than 5 6. I don't recall anyone on the staff who was shorter than him except, perhaps, LeMin and Sam Pezey. Even Pete Benson was taller than George and Pete was no giant! [DGM]
Name: George Henry Reginald Newth
AKA: Scruff, George, The old man
Height: 5'4"
Age: in 1951 about 45. In 1956 75
Hair colour: Mousey
Hair Style: Parted on left, brushed back but falling over right forehead occasionally.
Eyes: Two, one each side. Glasses, eye colour brown
Dress: Blue pin stripe with food stains visible on lapels. Suits invariably wrinkled.
Scars etc.: Poor surgery on hair lip.
Speech: Delivered from left side of mouth by raising top lip slightly.
Favorite words: "Take those hands outyrpockets" - "You've broken a school rule" (and after getting the whack) "Apologise to Mr. xxxxxx"
Physical: Quite short. Walks slowly without moving head but eyes see everything. Reminds one of what Heinrich Himmler looked like (he was also a former schoolmaster)
Disposition: Somewhat sadistic. See essay "The Whack" (on) the way he could make a bamboo cane curl round the backside to inflict maximum damage to front of right hip.
Profile: A very lonely man. Wife and two daughters but was never (or seldom) seen with them. Did not mix with other staff members. Did not smoke. Don't know about drink but doubtful. One had the idea that he didn't really like young boys [MJM]
I think he was previously at
I can confirm that GHRN was Senior Maths Master at Giggleswick prior to his appointment as HM at RLS. He was a Yorkshireman with the characteristic pride in that county. His height was probably not more than 5ft 6in but he always seemed taller than any boy in the school, including Mike Eastman and Peter Grubb. [MJC]
It's funny, everyone seems to have seen Scruff as a larger than life figure, even if we know he didn't exceed 5' 6". When he wielded that bamboo however he had a wingspan of about 9 feet as my backside and part of my front-side will testify to! [MJM]
A Tall Tale of George by Michael James Merry
It came about quite slowly, and not in a direct way,
`Twas the usual banter, back and forth, we all had our say,
Five foot nine was George's height, said some of them what knows,
Others quoted four foot eight, if standing on his toes. For once,
The Group was mystified, no answer could be found,
And our youngest member, Adrian said "Let's dig him from the ground!"
Graham's "Take the angle of the dangle, the lens length and the curve"
(I liked the idea of digging him up but didn't have the nerve!)
Many formulas were submitted but none would show the truth,
We measured stained glass windows and Pie R Squared the roof.
Not one of our experiments revealed old George's height,
Until at last it came to us like a brilliant flash of light.
When you went to George's study to feel the long bamboo
His stroke it never varied, and always landed true.
Using the benchmark calculation of a second formers bum,
We drew a line down to the ground, this line we called our rhomb.
We measured up, we measured down, the answer was the same,
`Twas twenty seven inches to the impact point of cane.
That meant that after all this work, we knew one thing at last,
The distance from his Bata shoes to the midpoint of his arse.
The rest so very easy, the Group began to grin,
double twenty seven up to Georges chin!
Fifty four long inches, four foot six we said,
all we had to do now was calculate his head.
A secret
measure up his portrait, that hung in the Assembly Hall.
At Hare Hall we gathered, turned on every light,
started calculations to determine George's height.
At
A ghostly figure then appeared with hair lip and bamboo cane
."Take those hands outyrpockets" The apparition said,
we all got up in panic, and from the room we fled.
Were all the members dreaming? Was old George really there at all?
Or did we see the Ghost that people say lives in Hare Hall?
I wonder? [MJM]
Scruffy taught" musical appreciation" which consisted of sitting in front of the school record player in the assembly hall, and having Beethoven's 5th or perhaps Ravels Bolero, dished up in 4 minute chunks (for modern readers, this was all the music one side of a 78rpm record held). I also recall Mr Newth sharing with us that he would rather have been a tramp than a headmaster. [DC]
Sorry Mike and others, to this day I cannot bring myself to call him Scruff although the nickname was in vogue while I was in school! To me he was always "George" and I was amazed to discover recently that to the staff he went by the name of "Reg". [DGM]
I wonder if George "earned it [respect] over time" before I arrived at the school? The respect was certainly well in place by 1955! George had this aura about him which wasn't menacing or born out of fear - well...it might have been if you were a new first year ...but it also worked with the stroppy fifth years and yet he was only a little fella without even a big voice (like Ernie Pilling!). It wasn't fear of the cane either as once you'd had it you realised it was no big deal! Dare I suggest it was "personality"? [DGM]
My own feelings towards GHRN bordered mostly on fear and respect. JPC was a different animal altogether. That indefinable quality of "gravitas" was missing. Coles made a lot of mistakes in the early days but, in fairness to him, he was going through a difficult personal time with a broken marriage, several (ill advised) affairs and a changing staff room. Personally, I liked him. I had little respect for him but that has grown with hindsight (and maturity!).(Michael. P. Large)
Newth & the flag: It hung in the spiral staircase and
there were threats from 6B who occupied the top of old Hare Hall to moth it. As
I recall, George Newth did interviews for the
George Henry Reginald Newth: Scruff entered my life at the
start of term in 1951. It was the first assembly of the autumn term and after
Mick Eastman, the Head Boy, silenced the murmurs by gazing around the hall and
scowling. George Henry Reginald Newth then entered through the small door on
the right hand side of the hall and walked up the steps to the stage. He
grasped the lectern with both hands and began to speak. I can't remember his
exact words; after all, nearly fifty years have passed since that day. What
with the excitement of being at a new school and the novelty of being a
non-entity after being a stalwart of Form I at
We were reminded of the splendid history of RLS. Our attention was drawn to the stained glass window overlooking the quadrangle and to the honor rolls at the back of the hall. With a sweeping movement of his right arm Scruff indicated the prefects, lined at intervals along the walls and advised us to obey their every command, or suffer the consequences. The masters, many of them in black gowns, not the "Official Occasion" ones with the brightly colored collars, but the regular, day-to-day gowns that we were to become used to, were identified. Not as individuals but as a group and we were advised to respect and obey these soberly clothed men. After a hymn, Scruff left the stage and the masters followed him, leaving the gathering to Eastman and the prefects. We were then told to go to our form rooms and thus ended my first assembly and my first glimpse of George Henry Reginald Newth, M.A.
I attended very few assemblies and therefore was not subject to Scruff's daily admonitions. I was a Catholic and to avoid being corrupted by Protestant prayers or hymns, my fellow OR's (Other Religions) and myself were confided to room 7 under the care of a prefect while assembly took place. In those days there were just a few of us RC's and a couple of Jews. No turbans or snake worshipers, just a handful of dedicated `tuppny `hapeney football enthusiasts making the most of 30 minutes playing on the best desk in the school. We would often encounter Scruff as he made his lonely way back to his study after leaving the assembly in the care of the Head Boy. We would be coming down the stairs on the way to our first class. He would seem to glide along the corridors seeing everything but acknowledging nothing and no one. Our polite "Good Morning Sir's" were acknowledged merely by a slight head nod and he would turn the corner and vanish.
Scruff would often wander around while classes were in progress and would peek though the corridor windows into the rooms in an effort to catch some poor fellow doing something he shouldn't. I myself got caught while trying to open a desk padlock with a compass and received one hundred lines as a reward. I had expected the famous Newth clout round the ear but he must have been in a good mood that day. Scruff's stick progress was well known. For a little bugger he could really inflict some damage! It's hard to understand in this day and age how back in the 50's many of us would bend over that wooden armed chair and allow our bum's to be brutally beaten by this pocket Napoleon.
Scruff seemed to me to be void of a personality. Everything he did seemed to be carefully planned. He didn't make mistakes and was never subjected to the ridicule that we hear subsequent headmasters endured. He demanded total respect and this was afforded by everyone, staff and pupils. Bert Peade would positively grovel in his presence and I believe even Old Bob held his wind when Scruff was anywhere near. When you were punished by Scruff he would extract the ultimate satisfaction of having you apologise to the master who had bought you to his lair. All this while your backside was stinging like hell and you were trying not to bite through your tongue. It was in a way similar to a man who had been hanged, thanking the hangman for doing his job as he swung back and forward with the noose around his neck.
I never saw him pick up a bat or kick a ball. He never visited the gymnasium or swimming pool either, unless it was to hand out prizes for the gala. He could be seen occasionally at the football or cricket matches but was not an enthusiastic spectator. He made speeches at Rotary Clubs and local Chamber of Commerce meetings and reading one of his addresses to the Barking CofC, one gets an insight into Scruff's thinking. He tells the audience that we should not judge youth too harshly as they got their ideas from their elders, in other words, his own generation.
He seemed to have no maternal feelings. One never saw him hand in hand with either his daughters or his wife. He was definitely not an animal lover as the "bunny incident" shows. I myself cannot recall him laughing. A small smile was about the best he could do when small boys might observe him. He did not seem obsessed with the length of boys hair, as did JPC. Nor did he ever leave himself open to any kind of rebuke or rebuttal. George Henry Reginald Newth was one of a kind.
Looking back perhaps we can say that the `50's were the first real period of change after the Second World War. Rationing had only just ceased in 1950 as I recall and for the first time ever, luxury good were becoming available to everyone who could afford to buy them. The fear of policemen was still instilled in us in those days and any kind of authority was usually obeyed. All of these traits being carried over from the war, and the stringent restrictions that existed during those hard years, were still remembered and adhered to. Perhaps this was why Scruff's tenure at RLS can be deemed an overwhelming success. He was never seriously challenged and one can believe that as he found he could dominate the school with his reputation as an unforgiving character that would stand no nonsense whatsoever, his confidence must have risen up and allowed him to reach even greater heights than he could usually have been expected to. Whether it was his character or the sense of adherence to the rules that we in those days possessed, the 50's must rank as RLS's most successful years.
Scruff must have been immensely proud of the school, although you would never really have known it. He was not an enthusiastic character like Gussie Hartley (who would often come to the cricket matches over the weekends) and talk to all and sundry. George kept very much to himself but we must believe that his pride of RLS was deep and enduring while not making a public statement of the same. He was known in the common room and by his neighbors as Reggie or Reg; however, to the pupils of RLS it was always Scruff, George or The Old Man, but never to his face or even close behind his back!
His seventeen years at the school started shortly after the war and continued through into the sixties. I believe that during those years he saw three changes take place in the attitude of those teaching at and attending the school. In the late `40's he would have been trying to establish a viable relationship with the Governors and probably with the local Government. The pupils, glad to have somewhere to pass the day without bombs falling on them, were possibly still in shock and were not inclined to "try it on" with this cold Headmaster. In the `50's his concentration would have been more on finding good staff members that would stick with the school and who would generally go along with his ideas. His reputation as a disciplinarian was well known and few would challenge it. The sixties probably came as a bit of a shock to Scruff who was used to total obedience. They would have produced students who no longer blindly followed the lead of the masters and their Headmaster. Instead, what in all likelihood was seen was a more independent pupil with ideas of his own and who no longer saw the school as the center of his life. Scruff's retirement in '63 was perhaps his acknowledgement that his autocratic ways had run their course and that he should hand the reins to another.
George Henry Reginald Newth, that cold, feared but triumphant Headmaster suffered a cruel fate in his fading years. As a man not known for showing any emotions, it is probable that own guarded memories, rehashed over and over in his mind in order to give himself a sense of righteousness, were his only comfort. Sad to say that with the onset of Alzheimer's, even these were taken from him. What a sad end for an unloved and probably unmissed man who, finding himself in a position to influence the lives of so many of us, accepted the challenge and won against all odds. (Mike Merry)
I really enjoyed Mike Merrys' comments about Newth. Of course, I had never met the man but realize now the change in attitudes after Gussie left must have been marked. (Andy)
Well said, Michael. I was unaware of George's sad affliction by Alzheimer's and am truly sorry to hear it. Yes, strict old bastard he may have been, but he was the persona of the RLS, and to me still is. (David Gregory)
Does anyone remember 'The Rabbit Club'? (No! No! not 'The Bunny Club' - 'The Rabbit Club'!) Apparently there was one in 1959, favoured by a small number of first formers, led by one Joseph Nicolls, who chipped in from their pocket money to supply oatmeal. Then that nasty Mr Newth instructed that half of them (the rabbits, not the first formers) should be given up for dissection by sixth form biology students. Apart from upsetting the young pupils (and, presumably, the rabbits) George argued with one of the School Governors who happened also to be Chairman of the RSPCA! The story is related in a newspaper cutting (Daily Sketch, 29 Oct 1959, p.7), supplied by Adrian, now stored in our Library under Full Listing ... School Years ... 1959 ... School's Pet Rabbits Will Die says Head! (Andy Lee)
I have the RLS Magazines from December 1951 to January 1964, missing only the Newth Retirement issue of Summer 1963. (JAS)
Scruff was a head quite severe
A mere glance installed you with fear
For a crime quite inane
He'd swish down the cane
On your suitably pre-padded rear
(Phil Kingham)
The Algebra book was written with GHRN, not JPC. Stan was at
RLS from 1948 until 1972 or was it 3... Newth was Senior Maths Master at
Giggleswick. JPC held the same position at the
John Bailey's question as to why Newth was called 'Scruff': "Due, I believe, to the tremendous sartorial elegance with which he comported himself ... not." Andy wrote, in answer: "I don't think it was in use during his last few years at School. To me he was always 'George', and I believe I've heard DGM make this comment too."
I think there was either a "cut-off point" in the use of this nickname, which may have been around 1955/56 or that it was more prevalent with a particular "generation" of RLS pupils. Certainly Mike Merry invariably refers to him as "Scruff" and I recall many of the older pupils doing the same, but I don't remember many pupils from my year (or later) referring to him as anything other than "George" or "GHR". Perhaps it was just a changing fashion. Perhaps he changed his tailor? I can't say it ever occurred to me that he looked untidy or carelessly dressed. I do remember a high polish on his shoes, of which many a CCF cadet would have been proud! It amazed me to discover, recently, that to the pillars of society in the staff-room he was known as "Reg"! If only we'd known that then! (DGM) I don't exactly recall the first occasion that I heard the term "Scruff" used but I think it was Spike Iverson back in 1952. Spike looked and dressed like a foreign office civil servant and spoke and acted in the same way. I believe he was discussing the Headmaster during the Elections that the school used to hold and Spike (as you would imagine in those days) was the image of the Conservative candidate. The term was certainly used among the older boys, 5th and 6th form and was considered very "in" to use instead of "The Old Man" or "George". Looking back, I suppose it was really that he used the same clothes for a week at a time. I would imagine he changed his shirt but his tie was constant. I recall the blue pin stripe was his uniform of choice but he did own another dark blue one also which was for special occasions I suppose. (Mike Merry)
Tom Little asked: "Did anybody ever encounter GHRN in a
pub?" I recall someone, possibly Rod Stacy, recounting meeting GHRN in a
pub in
This came out of the blue from one Roy Pennison:
"Have been looking at your web sites about RLS....... I
obtained a scholarship to
You may be interested to know that we had no nicknames for Mr. Newth - that he never used the cane. In the classroon, he would perhaps hurl a piece of chalk at any boy who seemed not to be listening.
In September 1939, part of our school was evacuated to
So Newth was head at
Roy Pennison wrote again: "Our maths teacher was George Newth. He tried hard to make the subject interesting. Occasionally, he would break off and put a question, such as "Where was Moses when the light went out?" Answer "In the dark".
What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?" His answer, "A pessimist says his glass is half empty - an optimist says it is half full".
Plus those well-aimed pieces of chalk for any boy whose
attention appeared to be wandering. Yet never, as headmaster of
I was interested to hear about GHRN being Head of Erith GS before coming to RLS… that must explain why we had cricket fixtures there....the only venue across the Thames... and my debut for the First XI...we went with Dinger Bell who also acted as an umpire. (Colin Calvert)
I often used to wonder how that Erith GS game got onto our fixture list. I'm not complaining, mind, as a lengthy coach journey to a distant away game was always worth an extra lesson or two on a Wednesday to accommodate travelling time.
Erith was one of my favourites because of the quality of the
young ladies who served refreshment after the game! Did Robert say "
In the late 50s and early 60s I can vouch for the fact that there were some fairly delectable young ladies there! There are certain advantages to being the often-under-employed goalkeeper behind a team of ten very good players. One of them is the ample opportunity afforded to chat up the spectating crumpet!
Or perhaps Erith was one of these places that has a Boys school
and a
Giggleswick is near Settle,
The Giggleswick connection was mentioned in the author
details of the Newth & Smith algebra text previously mentioned in these
postings. It may have listed Newth as former Senior Maths Master at
Ah! those fatal words "Meet me outside the Headmasters Study at ...) Much the same as hearing the Judge say "...by the neck until you are dead". Few, if any, escaped the whack after hearing that short sentence.
What usually happened was that you would turn up and meet your accuser and contrary to all fairness, he would go in and probably lie his boots off to Scruff. After this you would be called in and Scruff would intone "Mr xxxxx has told me that you wilfully a) threw a satchel across the classroom, b) were rude to him, c) were reading a comic when you should have been reading a history book, etc. etc. Have you anything to say for 'yerself? By this time Scruff was already eyeing the basket of bamboo that stood to the right of the fireplace. Afraid to even speak in fear that one's bladder or bowels might not take the strain, a small shake of the head was the usual reply to this question that really didn't expect an answer.
"Get over the chair and pull 'yer jacket up then"
At that moment the culprit had insight into how Essex, Raleigh etc. felt with their head on the block at Tower Hill. You heard a couple of 'swishes' as Scruff took some practice swipes (not that he needed them mind you) and then came the punishment itself (which compared with the waiting was not half bad!) Apologise to the master and then slide out of the door to gloat at the next bloke in line. Through the arch and round by Room 1 it was permitted to rub ones backside to alleviate the pain (to no avail). Then one was famous for a few hours and everyone would ask "Did it hurt?" (Of course it bloody well hurt!). And back to normal until the next occasion. (Mike Merry)
My memories are not of standing outside the door but more of the initial moments within. Mainly of being made to stand beside that roaring coal fire. Summer or winter it was always well stoked and, filled with trepidation anyway, in no time you were sweating like a pig as George began the interrogation. Perhaps the idea was to soften up the skin of the buttocks with a bit of preparatory toasting?
Where was the coal kept? We all remember Berts’ heap of coke outside the side door and backed up on the kitchen wall but I can't remember seeing a coal heap or a coal bunker anywhere. (David Maltby)
There were of course pranks played during Scruff's tenure at the school. Few, if any though, were directed at him as far as I can recall, during my time there. Scruff was just to dangerous to cross and I swear that I feared him from the first time our paths crossed until the final day I ran down the driveway making rude signs to the Pr*f*cts who were trying to keep order as the the term ended.
Scruff was the type of person that just didn't encourage familiarity. He had a cutting tongue and little boys stood no chance in an exchange with him. I recall he would walk from the School to his house and pass through a pick-up football game with one goal being the side wall of the outside bogs and the other being the gate that lead to the drive where Scruff lived. Action would stop and boys would move out of his way as he sailed through. Not for Scruff to take a kick at the stationary tennis ball laying in his path. Not for him to ask how we were doing or words to that affect. Merely a nod to acknowledge ones polite "Good Morning/Afternoon Sir." A cold one was our Scruff!
Pranks, disobeying rules, answering back or 'dumb insolence' were immediately quashed. Often by the whack but also by mass detentions and lines. Backsides, Innocent and Guilty, were struck without prejudice when any matter of discipline arose. Scruff was the judge and jury and woe betides the wrong-doer (or anyone else close to the event that didn't have a good excuse).
I am still amazed that Scruff, according to various members, did not post any punishments in the appropriate book. Why? He was a stickler for rules and must have known he was breaking them when he didn't make an entry. What was the reason? Could Bill B have new idea about this? Did Scruff get into trouble about this or was he then long gone? I find this a fascinating subject! (Mike Merry)
After ringing the bell to summon us into Assembly, the
Caretaker would slam shut and bolt the double doors, so the only way in was
through the small Dining Room and the door into the corridor was barred too
which meant a lengthy wait for Scruff to appear after Assembly. It only happened
to me once when I had skidded on a patch of ice in
It began, one day, when the whole of our year (1955 entry) and the following year were summoned, by GHRN, to assemble in the Hall. It had been discovered that copies of "Nude books" had been circulating somewhat widely amongst this depraved fraternity and George gave one of the best performances I ever saw of brimstone & sulphur lambasting.
"You buy these books" he railed (actually, I believe most of them were probably pinched) "you take them into some corner and you gloat over them" (strange use of language wasn't it). This went on for some time until the highlight, when George, who had been waving about a copy of "Big ''n Bouncy" or whatever, suddenly threw it down from his place on the rostrum on to a table in the hall below, exclaiming with all the disgust he could muster: "just look at that Mr. Holmes!" Poor Mr. Holmes - he had little alternative. Walking up to the table, he began to turn the pages and as he did so, conscious of the fact that he was under the intense scrutiny of every boy in the room, he put on a highly creditable show of head-shaking outrage and moral indignation. But I wonder how he felt about George at that moment! (Bob Tucker)
Oh, I remember it well!! I also remember the terrible difficulty we all had in keeping straight faces as, when he came to the big production-number ending, George prefaced his invitation for Fred to get an eyeful by raging at us, "No decent-minded human being would look at such filth" (or words to that effect) and then those immortal words: "just look at that Mr. Holmes!" I wonder what happened to the books? I believe it was a sizeable library. Did they find its way to the staffroom? Or were they passed on to Bert for suitable disposal? (DGM)
When I was to be tested by GHRN as a kind of `wild card` entrant in the 2nd year at RLS, he questioned me in detail about my sports` achievements & bowling/batting etc. He allocated me to 2L, Saxon house. (Robert Priddy)
The number of words written about the masters of RLS are now: NEWTH (last 1729) now 5036 words (beat Daddy, who was long first, into third place - and second most hated?) (Robert Priddy)
I was surprised at Robert's interpretation of the amount spoken of GHRN that made him "second most hated". I did not feel that this was an accurate description of the feelings behind the anecdotes, but I could be wrong. My own view was that he had the respect of both the boys and staff that his successor never acquired and was liked but feared by most. (Michael P. Large)
Scruff hated? perhaps not, Mike. But certainly among our disaffected 5f in '56 he became a figure of derision, feared for the whip hand, but not for any "presence" or leadership. Charisma was not even on offer! (James Ewens)
I wrote "second
most hated?" - and not without the question mark. I had no reason to hate
him - on the contrary, he accepted me into RLS when I had to leave prep.
school due to family collapse etc. And he never caned me - only made me learn
the school rules by heart once. (Robert Priddy)
We have, in the past, discussed Scruff in depth. I seem to recall the conclusion that although he was not liked (in the sense that Gussie Hartley was) his results did indeed justify his means. (See earlier postings) (Mike Merry)
Mike. I hadn't realised how "George" ended his days and your piece was genuinely touching. I only had experience of him for the first 4 of my years at RLS and I suppose that he was getting a bit past it at that stage. I can remember his last year when he walked down the lane at the back of the huts and just waved at the half dozen guys smoking their Senior Service Tipped. He had obviously had enough! (John Mac McCarthy)
Like John I also hadn't realised how "George" ended his days. Very sad and thank you Mike for letting us know. Although I did not appreciate it at the time it has become very clear to me since that "George" struck a very good balance between a liberal regime in which boys could flourish at sport, drama, debates, CCF, scouts`, clubs, work etc. and a disciplined environment. Such a balance is not easy to achieve and those who try to manage it are often prone to sniping from either side. Ok he was not the most charismatic leader in the World, but so what, we can probably do with rather fewer of that sort. However in a quiet understated way, it seems to me , that he had a healthy, if indirect, influence on many of our lives. Not least his team of teachers in the 50's, at any rate, were in the main a decent, enthusiastic and competent bunch. There were a few notorious sadistic exceptions, who have been referred to many times, but they were a tiny minority. His leadership presumably had a part to play in the help and guidance that the majority of teachers gave us? My memories of George remain very positive. (Geoff Smith)
Funny, but all this talk of George being called 'Scruff' doesn't ring a bell with me, though, of course I'm not disputing it! There seems to be an understated affection for him, possibly coloured by the passing of time, but I would agree that the teaching staff of his time appear to be in a completely different class from their modern day contemporaries. (Derek Humphrey)
I can claim that I never met GHRN in the 5 years I was at the school. He was just a legend apparently regularly mistaken for a gardener. However I did spend hours during boring lessons doodling his quite flowery signature .I stopped it after being accused of practicing forgery. (Harvey Liff)
Malcolm Paul wrote:- "George Newth was equally appalling - I recall one of our number being sent out of an English lesson by Mr Madell, I believe. George came along and smacked the culprit across the face with both the inside and outside of his hand - even Madell, to his credit, appeared to be shocked by this."
How times have changed - most of these characters would have acquired criminal records if present day standards had been applied. ...and Malcolm is not the first to write of George doing something like this. There is an interesting comparison here - although Jake Coles was fierce, strict and prone to temper tantrums, I have never heard of him striking a boy with anything other than a cane. I know distance sometimes lends enchantment, but I find it virtually impossible to conceive of him dropping his professionalism so far as to do such a thing. Unless, of course, any Hon. Member knows differently... (John Bailey)
At a meeting for parents whose sons were about to enter RLS George told the assembled company "Don't expect me to know your sons individually. I only get to know the very good ones and the very bad ones." DGM reported that at a parent's evening some time into his school career George told his mother "Yes, I *do* know your son Mrs. Maltby." (Andy Lee)
I recall that George spoke to me personally only twice in five years, both occasions swiftly followed by the cane striking my quivering buttocks. So he wasn't what one would call close to his pupils - apart from those particular times. (Derek Humphrey)
(At Assembly) The Masters, gowns swishing round their calves, would then arrive and finally, George Henry Reginald Newth, the Headmaster, would sweep into the hall, take his place at the lectern and gaze maliciously at the silent throng in front of him. (MJM)
Saying that Scruff looked maliciously down at us from the lectern was the way that I saw it. GHRN to me represented a dangerous presence. I have encountered only one other person in my life that provoked the same feeling and that was Manuel Antonio Noriega. Even when he smiled he looked evil. On the other hand, as Dictators go, Anastasio Somosa was quite charming. As for GHRN, he was very unpredictable and this was his defence mechanism for dealing with young boys, and very successful it was. Again, 'maliciously' is my interpretation of his haughty stare, others may well have seen it differently. (MJM)