The Retirement of Head Mistress, Kathleen A. Willis, 14 July 1967
Title
The Retirement of Head Mistress, Kathleen A. Willis, 14 July 1967
Subject
Description
The top photograph, from the West Somerset Free Press of 14 July 1967 and the two photographs below it, are of the retirement ceremony of Mrs. Kathleen A. Willis, the Head Mistress of the Timberscombe School for 34 years. Her first day had been on 30 September 1935 (1). "School Mistress" would appear to be the title she preferred. A school Log Book was always kept at Timberscombe by the Head Teacher. The first two women who were hired as Head Teacher (without replacing a husband who had been previously hired) had been Sarah Jane King, born in Bridgwater and who served from 1877 to 1882 (2) and Salome Valentine Wallace, serving from 1920 to 1932. Miss Wallace always referred to herself in the Log Book as "Head Teacher". Her successor, Emily Parnell, serving from October 10 1932 to the end of the school year of 1934 to 1935, does write of herself as "School Mistress" -- which is how Mrs. Willis identified herself from her first entry.
Mrs. Willis was born in 1904, as Kathleen Annie Axon at Minehead, the daughter of William Henry and Louisa (nee Mason) Axon (3). Her father was a Dairy Farmer and Milkman (4). In 1934 she married William H. Willis at Minehead (5).
Mrs. Willis was School Mistress during World War II and handled the influx of children that were evacuated to Somerset, many assigned to schooling in Timberscombe (6). She was also at the helm during the time of many other school closures. In 1946 alone, the schools at Luccombe and Wootton Courtenay shut down, with many of their students absorbed by Timberscombe (7). Besides her school duties, Mrs. Willis was the choir mistress at St. Petrock's Church for many years (8).
The newspaper photograph was headlined "Barometer from her pupils" and indeed, Mrs. Willis is being presented with a barometer by her pupil, Brian Reed. Bouquets are also offered by pupils, Jennifer Smith and Mary Bell. On the right edge of the photograph is Kenneth Grabham, blacksmith at Cowbridge Mill since 1938 (9), with at least one more bouquet placed on the table in front of him. Mr. Grabham was serving as the school manager in 1967 and presented Mrs. Willis a cheque for "over 40 pounds from her many friends" (10). To his left is the Rev. James H. Bury, Vicar at St. Petrock's Church from 1960 to 1968 (11)
Mrs. Willis lived in retirement in Minehead, continuing her association with St. Petrock's and passed away in 1984 (12). She is buried at the Minehead Cemetery (13).
An original copy of the newspaper photograph was donated by the Timberscombe School in 2019. The two colour photographs were discovered among school records in 2020. In the middle photograph, Brian Reed is presenting Mrs. Willis with the barometer, with Rev. Bury and Mr. Grabham in place behind them. As she speaks, Mrs. Willis continues holding the barometer in the bottom photograph.
Interestingly, the middle photograph makes clear that the ceremony was being held on the northeastern corner of the school playground. Immediately beyond the fence behind Mrs. Willis, a bypass to the A396 will be built between 1987 and 1989, allowing traffic to pass around Timberscombe (14). The single storey building (with the skylights) is the Old Dairy which survives to modern times. The large barn-like structure will be demolished after the bypass is completed. A photograph taken by Joyce Smith, of Ford Cottage, just as the bypass was opened, shows this exact location, but with the road completed just behind where Mrs. Willis was speaking twenty-two years earlier.
Mrs. Willis was born in 1904, as Kathleen Annie Axon at Minehead, the daughter of William Henry and Louisa (nee Mason) Axon (3). Her father was a Dairy Farmer and Milkman (4). In 1934 she married William H. Willis at Minehead (5).
Mrs. Willis was School Mistress during World War II and handled the influx of children that were evacuated to Somerset, many assigned to schooling in Timberscombe (6). She was also at the helm during the time of many other school closures. In 1946 alone, the schools at Luccombe and Wootton Courtenay shut down, with many of their students absorbed by Timberscombe (7). Besides her school duties, Mrs. Willis was the choir mistress at St. Petrock's Church for many years (8).
The newspaper photograph was headlined "Barometer from her pupils" and indeed, Mrs. Willis is being presented with a barometer by her pupil, Brian Reed. Bouquets are also offered by pupils, Jennifer Smith and Mary Bell. On the right edge of the photograph is Kenneth Grabham, blacksmith at Cowbridge Mill since 1938 (9), with at least one more bouquet placed on the table in front of him. Mr. Grabham was serving as the school manager in 1967 and presented Mrs. Willis a cheque for "over 40 pounds from her many friends" (10). To his left is the Rev. James H. Bury, Vicar at St. Petrock's Church from 1960 to 1968 (11)
Mrs. Willis lived in retirement in Minehead, continuing her association with St. Petrock's and passed away in 1984 (12). She is buried at the Minehead Cemetery (13).
An original copy of the newspaper photograph was donated by the Timberscombe School in 2019. The two colour photographs were discovered among school records in 2020. In the middle photograph, Brian Reed is presenting Mrs. Willis with the barometer, with Rev. Bury and Mr. Grabham in place behind them. As she speaks, Mrs. Willis continues holding the barometer in the bottom photograph.
Interestingly, the middle photograph makes clear that the ceremony was being held on the northeastern corner of the school playground. Immediately beyond the fence behind Mrs. Willis, a bypass to the A396 will be built between 1987 and 1989, allowing traffic to pass around Timberscombe (14). The single storey building (with the skylights) is the Old Dairy which survives to modern times. The large barn-like structure will be demolished after the bypass is completed. A photograph taken by Joyce Smith, of Ford Cottage, just as the bypass was opened, shows this exact location, but with the road completed just behind where Mrs. Willis was speaking twenty-two years earlier.
Creator
West Somerset Free Press (a photographer is not credited) /
Anonymous /
Anonymous
Anonymous /
Anonymous
Source
Publisher
West Somerset Free Press
Date
14 July 1967
14 July 1967
14 July 1967
14 July 1967
14 July 1967
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
The retirement of School Mistress Kathleen A. Willis / Timberscombe / northern edge of the village
Acquisition Date
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Occupations / Timberscombe
PEOPLE: Named / Timberscombe
PEOPLE: Named / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
Entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2020
2021
2021
2021
2021
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
10.5 X 13
9 X 13.5
8.5 X 16
9 X 13.5
8.5 X 16
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) Timberscombe LOG BOOK, 3 April 1910- 25 March 1947, page 388 (2) Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1913-1914 (3) Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813- 1914 and 1891 England Census (4) 1911 England Census (5) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (6) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK (7) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK and Historic Environment Record, MSO10331, Exmoor National Park (8) as detailed in the West Somerset Free Press article (9) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill , written by Lesley Webb and as recalled in 2018 by Sarah Hill of Minehead, the daughter of Kenneth Grabham (10) "ST. PETROCK'S CHURCH TIMBERSCOMBE", a church booklet, August 1967, "Parish Notes" written by Rev. James H. Bury (11) Timberscombe School MINUTES BOOK, 3 April 1930-2 April 1974 (12) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (13) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (14) Somerset County Gazette, Friday, April 14 1989
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2019
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group ST. PETROCK'S CHURCH
Item Reference
SP-257
Technique
Copy of original newspaper photograph
Copies of original photographs
Copies of original photographs
Citation
West Somerset Free Press (a photographer is not credited) /
Anonymous /
Anonymous, “The Retirement of Head Mistress, Kathleen A. Willis, 14 July 1967,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 18, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3285.
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