Burston Strike School
Encyclopedia
The Burston Strike School was at the centre of the longest running strike in British history, between 1914 and 1939. Now a museum, it is in the village of Burston
in Norfolk
, England
.
The strike began when teachers at the village's Church of England
school, Annie Higdon and her husband, Tom Higdon, were sacked after a dispute with the area's school management committee and schoolchildren went on strike in their support. The Higdons set up an alternative school which was attended by 66 of their 72 former pupils. Beginning in a marquee on the village green, the school moved to local carpenter's premises and later to a purpose-built school financed by donations from the labour movement. Burston Strike School carried on teaching local children until shortly after Tom's death in 1939.
, Somerset
, the son of a farm labourer.
Annie Katherine Schollick (Kitty) was born on 13 December 1864 in Poolton-cum-Seacombe
in Cheshire
. They married on 4 July 1896, living first in London before moving to Wood Dalling
in Norfolk in 1902. This coincided with publication of an Education Bill in Parliament which offered education to working class
children, though in practice it was intended to ensure that they learned their place in society and respected their social betters. In Norfolk, as in most parts of the country, this meant that the boys were to be made farm labourers and the girls domestic servants.
Kitty was appointed headmistress at Dalling County School with Tom an assistant teacher. Identifying themselves with the local farm labourers, the Higdons ran up against almost immediate resentment from the school managers, who were mostly farmers. They objected to the cold, insanitary conditions of the school and especially protested at the farmers taking children away to work on the land whenever they were needed. Eventually, after a complete breakdown of relationships, the Norfolk Education Committee gave the Higdons a choice: accept dismissal or transfer to another school. They took up the latter offer and moved to the Burston School in 1911.
Arriving at Burston, the Higdons found conditions were no different. The newly arrived rector
, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland, was appointed chairman of the School Managing Body. Eland intended to recover the powers the Church had lost to the parish councils. He demanded deference and recognition of his right to lead the community. His situation, with an annual salary of £581 and a large comfortable rectory contrasted starkly with the farm labourers and their families, living on average wages of £35 a year in squalid cottages. Their employers, themselves mostly tenants of brewery-owned land, naturally allied with the rector.
In 1913, Tom Higdon successfully stood for election to the parish council, topping the poll with Eland not just being unelected, but coming bottom. However, although the rector and the farm owners had been defeated in the parish council election, they still had control of the school's Managing Body and were determined to use this power to victimise the Higdons. Since their arrival in Burston, the Higdons had complained about conditions in the school, particularly the dampness, inadequate heating and lighting, lack of ventilation and general unhygienic conditions. Looking for a pretext for action, the managers accused Kitty of lighting a fire without their permission - to dry the clothes of children who had walked three miles to school in the rain. She was also accused of gross discourtesy when reprimanded for this act. In addition, Kitty was accused of beating two Barnardo
girls. Despite her pacifist principles, the manager found there was "good ground for the complaints of the Barnardo foster mother" and they demanded the Higdons be transferred.
Tom and Kitty also demanded an inquiry which was made by the Education Committee. The inquiry made no mention of the charge of "fire-lighting contrary to instructions" nor Kitty's repeated complaints about conditions at the school. The beating accusation was declared to be not proven. The final accusation of discourtesy to managers was accepted and the Higdons were given three months' notice.
Word of the strike quickly spread and it became a central issue for trade unionists and school reformers throughout the country. There were regular visitors of supporters and speakers. With the onset of winter, the school moved in empty workshops. The authorities kept up their intimidation with farmers sacking farm labourers (which also meant eviction from their tied cottage
s). This could not be maintained, because a shortage of labour during World War I
meant that they had to be re-employed. Striking families who rented land from the Rector for growing food were evicted and their crops and property destroyed. The village's Methodist preacher, who held services on the village green on Sundays for families of the Strike School children, was censured by his church.
At the end of the first year of the strike, with the lease on the old workshops due to expire, an appeal was made for funds to build a new school. By 1917, a National Appeal had reached £1250 with donations from miners' and railway workers' unions, Trades Councils, Independent Labour Party
branches and Co-operative Societies. The new school was opened on 13 May 1917, with the leader of the 1914 demonstration, Violet Potter declaring, "With joy and thankfulness I declare this school open to be forever a School of Freedom".
The Burston Strike School continued until 1939. Tom Higdon died on 17 August 1939. Kitty, in her seventies, was unable to carry on alone, and the last eleven pupils transferred to the Council School. Kitty died on 24 April 1946. Both are buried in Burston churchyard.
A rally to commemorate the school and the longest strike in UK history has been organised on the first Sunday in September every year since 1984 by the Transport and General Workers' Union
and supported by other unions.
The story of the strike was dramatised in 1985 by the BBC
. The Burston Rebellion starred Eileen Atkins
as Kitty Higdon, Bernard Hill
as Tom Higdon, John Shrapnel
as the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland and Nicola Cowper
as Violet Potter.
Burston, Norfolk
Burston is a village in Norfolk, England, 3 miles north of Diss. It covers an area of and had a population of 538 in 206 households at the 2001 census. Burston is famous as the site of the Burston Strike School, the longest strike in British history.In 1949 the Strike School building was...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The strike began when teachers at the village's Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
school, Annie Higdon and her husband, Tom Higdon, were sacked after a dispute with the area's school management committee and schoolchildren went on strike in their support. The Higdons set up an alternative school which was attended by 66 of their 72 former pupils. Beginning in a marquee on the village green, the school moved to local carpenter's premises and later to a purpose-built school financed by donations from the labour movement. Burston Strike School carried on teaching local children until shortly after Tom's death in 1939.
Background to the strike
Tom Higdon was born on 21 August 1869 at East PennardEast Pennard
East Pennard is a village and civil parish north west of Castle Cary, and south of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It has a population of 343...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, the son of a farm labourer.
Annie Katherine Schollick (Kitty) was born on 13 December 1864 in Poolton-cum-Seacombe
Seacombe
Seacombe is a district of the town of Wallasey, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, Seacombe is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation in 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Wallasey, within the geographical county of...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. They married on 4 July 1896, living first in London before moving to Wood Dalling
Wood Dalling
Wood Dalling is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some east of Fakenham, south-west of Cromer, and north-west of Norwich....
in Norfolk in 1902. This coincided with publication of an Education Bill in Parliament which offered education to working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
children, though in practice it was intended to ensure that they learned their place in society and respected their social betters. In Norfolk, as in most parts of the country, this meant that the boys were to be made farm labourers and the girls domestic servants.
Kitty was appointed headmistress at Dalling County School with Tom an assistant teacher. Identifying themselves with the local farm labourers, the Higdons ran up against almost immediate resentment from the school managers, who were mostly farmers. They objected to the cold, insanitary conditions of the school and especially protested at the farmers taking children away to work on the land whenever they were needed. Eventually, after a complete breakdown of relationships, the Norfolk Education Committee gave the Higdons a choice: accept dismissal or transfer to another school. They took up the latter offer and moved to the Burston School in 1911.
Arriving at Burston, the Higdons found conditions were no different. The newly arrived rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland, was appointed chairman of the School Managing Body. Eland intended to recover the powers the Church had lost to the parish councils. He demanded deference and recognition of his right to lead the community. His situation, with an annual salary of £581 and a large comfortable rectory contrasted starkly with the farm labourers and their families, living on average wages of £35 a year in squalid cottages. Their employers, themselves mostly tenants of brewery-owned land, naturally allied with the rector.
In 1913, Tom Higdon successfully stood for election to the parish council, topping the poll with Eland not just being unelected, but coming bottom. However, although the rector and the farm owners had been defeated in the parish council election, they still had control of the school's Managing Body and were determined to use this power to victimise the Higdons. Since their arrival in Burston, the Higdons had complained about conditions in the school, particularly the dampness, inadequate heating and lighting, lack of ventilation and general unhygienic conditions. Looking for a pretext for action, the managers accused Kitty of lighting a fire without their permission - to dry the clothes of children who had walked three miles to school in the rain. She was also accused of gross discourtesy when reprimanded for this act. In addition, Kitty was accused of beating two Barnardo
Barnardo
Barnardo is a surname, and may refer to:* Thomas John Barnardo , an Irish/British philanthropist, founder of the Barnardo's charity for destitute children.* Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo...
girls. Despite her pacifist principles, the manager found there was "good ground for the complaints of the Barnardo foster mother" and they demanded the Higdons be transferred.
Tom and Kitty also demanded an inquiry which was made by the Education Committee. The inquiry made no mention of the charge of "fire-lighting contrary to instructions" nor Kitty's repeated complaints about conditions at the school. The beating accusation was declared to be not proven. The final accusation of discourtesy to managers was accepted and the Higdons were given three months' notice.
The Strike School
The Higdons' dismissal took effect on 1 April 1914. As the authorities were taking over, the sound of children marching and singing could be heard. 66 of the school's 72 children had gone on strike, marching around the village waving flags. None of them returned to the school, but instead had lessons on the village green. The school was well equipped, maintained a full timetable and observed registrations with the full support of parents. The authorities were in no mood to tolerate this defiance and 18 parents were summonsed to court and fined for failing to ensure their children's attendance at school. Collections outside the court paid the fines, and since the parents were sending their children to the school of their choice, the authorities were soon forced to back down.Word of the strike quickly spread and it became a central issue for trade unionists and school reformers throughout the country. There were regular visitors of supporters and speakers. With the onset of winter, the school moved in empty workshops. The authorities kept up their intimidation with farmers sacking farm labourers (which also meant eviction from their tied cottage
Tied cottage
A tied cottage is a dwelling house typically owned by an employer that is only rented out to their employees, If the resident leave their job for any reason then they must move out of the house. Thus the employee is tied to that employer...
s). This could not be maintained, because a shortage of labour during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
meant that they had to be re-employed. Striking families who rented land from the Rector for growing food were evicted and their crops and property destroyed. The village's Methodist preacher, who held services on the village green on Sundays for families of the Strike School children, was censured by his church.
At the end of the first year of the strike, with the lease on the old workshops due to expire, an appeal was made for funds to build a new school. By 1917, a National Appeal had reached £1250 with donations from miners' and railway workers' unions, Trades Councils, Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
branches and Co-operative Societies. The new school was opened on 13 May 1917, with the leader of the 1914 demonstration, Violet Potter declaring, "With joy and thankfulness I declare this school open to be forever a School of Freedom".
The Burston Strike School continued until 1939. Tom Higdon died on 17 August 1939. Kitty, in her seventies, was unable to carry on alone, and the last eleven pupils transferred to the Council School. Kitty died on 24 April 1946. Both are buried in Burston churchyard.
Today
In 1949 The Strike School was registered as an educational charity. There are 4 self-perpetuating trustees who manage the school and try to develop it as a museum, visitor centre, educational archive and village amenity.A rally to commemorate the school and the longest strike in UK history has been organised on the first Sunday in September every year since 1984 by the Transport and General Workers' Union
Transport and General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union - with 900,000 members...
and supported by other unions.
The story of the strike was dramatised in 1985 by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. The Burston Rebellion starred Eileen Atkins
Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE is an English actress and occasional screenwriter.- Early life :Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, a Salvation Army women's hostel in East London...
as Kitty Higdon, Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled 'hard man' whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking 1980s TV drama, Boys from the Blackstuff...
as Tom Higdon, John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
as the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland and Nicola Cowper
Nicola Cowper
Nicola Jane Cowper is a British actress. Cowper is the younger sister of twin actresses Gerry Cowper and Jackie Cowper. Cowper made an impression as a film actress in her early career, but she is best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as D.S Helen Diamond in BBC's...
as Violet Potter.
External links
- Burston Strike School website
- Local newspaper archive
- RMT Union
- National Union of Teachers Cambridge Association
- BBC h2g2 website
- http://blip.tv/?id=286719;s=file "The Burston Rebellion" Puppet film telling the story of the strike school. Made by the children of Burston Primary School with magiclanternlearning.co.uk