Brexit and my MP - Part 56

Dear Anne



This is utterly outrageous. I am disgusted at the affrontery of this man. Please stop him!

Yours

Richard Bawden

Amazon And Those Plastic Bags

The row over Amazon's move to non-recyclable plastic packaging for some deliveries highlights the complexity of sustainability decision making. Yes, Amazon should be castigated for putting more single use plastics into circulation but it is suggested that it's been done to reduce bulk which will reduce the number of delivery vehicles on the road and so reduce CO2 emissions. Amazon have not fully thought this through. They could have achieved a win-win result by using reduced size recyclable materials.

Ironically, in the same Edie news alert that contained the above article there was one on the brewer Toast which very clearly highlighted the difficult decisions to be made (cardboard vs shrink-wrap; glass vs aluminium).

Of course the ultimate solution is to consume less of everything.

Brexit and my MP - Part 55

Time for another missive:





Dear Anne,

I have been reading the Sunday Times report on Operation Yellowhammer and am appalled that any government should even consider putting the UK in a position in which the scenarios envisioned by Yellowhammer might come about.


I wrote to you over two years ago suggesting that the then government was exhibiting severe symptoms of “press-on-itis”. The current administration does not appear to have learned the inherent lessons of the past two years and has all the appearance of taking the country on a disastrous course simply because it has done a little bit of planning for such an outcome. The history of Brexit has been one of piling one mistake onto another and on current evidence here is little reason to believe that the future will be any different.


It does not have to be like this. A pause (if the EU will grant it – and I suspect they would), reasoned and evidence-based debate, and rational, clear-headed, creative thinking could extricate this country from the unholy mess in which it currently languishes. It is quite possible that a vote of no confidence in the Johnson administration will be the only way to achieve this aim. Many an MP will, no doubt, regard supporting such a move as political suicide. If ever there was a time to adhere to “country first, party second, self third”, now is that time.

Yours sincerely


Richard Bawden


Part 54 is here.

John Barham Johnson (1890-1965)

My maternal grandfather:

(Note added 21 August 2019: This post has attracted a lot of interest. There are similar posts in this blog for my other grandparents (Agnes Joan Monckton, Eleanor Alice Adelaide Russell, and George Charles Bawden). Please look them up. What I know of earlier generations will follow in due course - i.e. slowly)

John Barham Johnson

A Life in Music Teaching


John Barham Johnson (Johnnie to friends and colleagues, Jack to family) was born on 21 May 1890[1] at Welborne, Norfolk, the oldest child of Catharine Bodham Donne and Henry Barham Johnson to survive to adulthood[2]. Catharine’s diary entry for that day reads “Sent for Mr Taylor who came at 5pm, & at 8.10 our baby boy was born – very long baby, 19 inches, an abundance of black hair[3]”. Later that year the family moved from Welborne to Lullington, Somerset where Henry had been offered the living[4].

It would seem that Jack received his early education at home. There are references in Catharine’s diary[5] that suggest home education and he himself refers to “daily lessons at home with my mother”[6]. In April or May of 1898 his father took him to Windsor to audition for a position as a chorister at St George’s[7], the audition being conducted by Sir Walter Parratt[8], organist at the chapel and Master of the Queen’s Musick[9].  He entered the school on 23 May 1898[10]. During his time in Windsor he sang at both the funeral of Queen Victoria[11] and the coronation of Edward VII[12] (together with his brother Geoffrey). In 1905 he sat for, and won, the “Norfolk” scholarship to Gresham’s School, Holt[13], entering the school in September 1905[14] and leaving on an organ scholarship to Selwyn College, Cambridge in the summer of 1909[15][16][17]. He received his BA in 1912 and BMus in 1913[18].



When WWI broke out Jack was on a walking holiday in Scotland. He returned home and attempted to enlist but failed his medical. Catherine Mary Johnson (always known to us as A Mary) says he took up a temporary post at Rugby School[19] but Nathalie Chalker (Aunt Nat), in the scrap book she put together about Jack, indicates that he was teaching at Uppingham between 1913 and 1920[20].

 

In 1920 he moved to Neville Holt School[21]. Nat has transcribed parts of some of Jack’s letters[22]. On 25 January 1920 he wrote “Words cannot describe the beauty of this place and every minute of the time is an absolute joy. I feel that in a place like this I shall be able to write and compose, and also have some quiet time for reading and piano playing”.  On 1 February of the same year he wrote “Altogether I am feeling extraordinarily happy. I wouldn’t go back to Uppingham now for worlds.” Uppingham did have one great benefit, however, as it was there that he had met Agnes Joan Monckton (always known as Joan), the daughter of one of the masters. The extracts that Nat has transcribed are peppered with references to Joan. In January 1922 Jack asked Mr Monckton for Joan’s hand and received the reply “that there was no one better to whom he would wish to entrust his daughter”[23].




Towards the end of 1922 he was offered a post at Oakham School (actually two posts, music master at the school and organist at the parish church, the two roles always being offered together in order to provide a living wage)[24].  He considered delaying his marriage for a year but was persuaded otherwise and the wedding took place on 10 April 1923 at St Andrew’s Church, Deal, Kent[25].



He stayed at Oakham until 1930 when he took up the post of Director of Music at Bryanston,[26]presumably invited there by the founder and first headmaster J G Jeffreys[27]. This move ended rather unfortunately.  One version of the episode given by Nat says he was good friends with the headmaster who left under a cloud of scandal in 1932, allegedly having interfered sexually with some of the boys[28]. Jack was caught up in the wake of this affair and dismissed by the governors, although Nat suggested that he stayed on for a couple of terms and trained his successor[29]. There are, however, other notes in Nat’s scrapbook that suggest that the then headmaster (a man named Coade[30]) was instrumental in Jack’s dismissal although they also suggest that Coade might have been coerced by the governors. Nat records that in 1933 Coade had met with Jack’s future headmaster at Shrewsbury after an appointment had been mooted but before it was confirmed, and had told Jack that he was sure he would get the post and wished him good luck[31].

The family (by now all three daughters, Margaret, Jean and Nathalie had been born) spent some time at his mother’s house while he applied for a new situation[32], his mother also helping financially[33]. He was briefly back at Uppingham for the summer term of 1933 at the request of Sterndale Bennett[34][35]. In September he became Director of Music at Shrewsbury School under the headmaster H H Hardy[36]. He remained there until he retired.



Throughout his life Jack appears to have enjoyed composing minor pieces of music. Nat mentions a hymn by Geoffrey Hoyland[37][38] which Jack set to music being included in the BBC Hymnbook in 1938; and I know that he published a selection of piano pieces under the title “Hard Handed Men”[39] and “Keyboard Harmony for Beginners”[40]. Aside from playing the piano and organ from a very early age he also dabbled with the viola[41] and late in life started to learn to play the cello[42].




From letter extracts[43] and his obituary in The Salopian Newsletter[44] it would seem that Jack had a deep Christian faith but that was never the impression that I had. Rather, he came across as a gentle man who delighted in many a different subject, be it stamps, fossils, botany, gardening or music. Of my two grandparental households his was by far the more relaxed and welcoming, and I fondly remember the smell of his study – all old leather and pipe tobacco.



What I have not been able to ascertain is how widely he was embedded in the musical life of the country. Certainly he knew, for instance, Myra Hess who apparently insisted on using his grand piano for her concerts in the area[45] and there are tantalising references in various letter extracts[46]. However, I suspect he was content with his lot as a highly respected teacher.



After he retired he continued teaching on an individual basis and also continued examining for the Associated Board both in the UK and abroad. He died at home on 12 June 1965[47].

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[1] Birth registration GRO reference 1890 Jun Forehoe 4B 185 (given names not recorded).

[2] On 18 February 1889 Catharine gave birth to conjoined twin girls who did not survive. Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p633-634.

[3] Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p635.

[4] Henry is recorded as being there in the 1891 England and Wales census RG12/1908/48/2 whereas Catharine and Jack are recorded to be in Torquay (RG12/1705/39/33) where they were on holiday (Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p639).

[5] Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p658.

[6] John Barham Johnson “Windsor Chorister”, p1.

[7] Ibid, although this section is headed “1897”. Handwritten notes by Jack in the possession of St. George’s indicate the audition took place in 1898 and Catherine Mary Johnson implies the same (“Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p664).

[8] John Barham Johnson “Windsor Chorister”, p2.

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Parratt accessed 15 October 2017.

[10] John Barham Johnson “Windsor Chorister”, p3.

[11] Ibid, p47ff.

[12] Ibid, p63ff.

[13] Ibid, p146.

[14] Gresham’s School Register, http://www.greshamsatwar.co.uk/Filename.ashx?systemFileName=Register+of+Scholars+1900+-.pdf&origFilename=Register+of+Scholars+1900+-.pdf, access 9 October 2017.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Biography of Geoffrey Barham Johnson, http://www.greshamsatwar.co.uk/RollofHonour.aspx?RecID=21&TableName=ta_factfile&BrowseID=140, accessed 9 October 2017.

[17] Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p691.

[18] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[19] Catherine Mary Johnson “Letters and Diaries of the Norfolk Families Donne & Johnson”, vol 3, p696.

[20] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Marriage registration GRO reference1923 Jun Eastry 2A 2307.

[26] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[27] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryanston_School#Heads_of_Bryanston accesssed 13 October 2017.

[28] Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Jeffreys (accessed 13 October 2017) simply states that there “was some friction with the governors”.

[29] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[30] Thorold Coade was appointed to succeed Jeffreys in 1932 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryanston_School#Heads_of_Bryanston accessed 13 October 2017.

[31] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[32] Jean Barham Bawden (née Johnson) autobiographical notes.

[33] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[34] Ibid.

[35] I believe this is Robert Sterndale Bennett, grandson of the celebrated composer William Sterndale Bennett. http://www.fadedgenes.co.uk/WalterSterndaleBENNETT.html accessed 24 October 2017.

[36] Hardy had become headmaster in 1932 and remained at the school until 1944. He was the father of the actor Robert Hardy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrewsbury_School accessed 13 October 2017.

[37] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[38] Geoffrey Hoyland was an influential headmaster of The Downs Malvern (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Downs_Malvern accessed 24 October 2017) and seems to have been a good friend.

[39] Undocumented conversation with Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson).

[40] I currently possess a copy.

[41] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[42] CG Furnivall, The Salopian Newsletter no 56 October 1965.

[43] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[44] CG Furnivall, The Salopian Newsletter no 56 October 1965.

[45] Undocumented conversation with my mother, Jean Barham Bawden (née Johnson). Myra Hess’s signature features in her autograph book.

[46] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[47] Death registration GRO reference 1965 Jun Shrewsbury 9A 161.

Agnes Joan Johnson nee Monckton (1894-1972)

My maternal grandmother:

Agnes Joan Monckton 

My Musical, Fun-Loving Grandmother

Agnes Joan Monckton (generally known as Joan) was born at Uppingham, Rutland on 5 September 1894[1], the oldest child of Agnes Elliott Campbell and Thomas Edward Monckton. I know nothing of her childhood. Her father was a school master at Uppingham but where Joan was educated I do not know. In the 1901 census she is recorded as being with her parents in Uppingham[2] but the 1911 census has her recorded as being in Deal, Kent[3] with her two sisters and their governess, Mary Jane Farrand; her occupation being recorded as “school”. Thomas and Agnes were recorded as being in Uppingham[4]. I know that they eventually retired to Deal so perhaps the house was a long-standing family one; or had been purchased by Thomas with a view to retirement. I do not know if that was where Joan was attending school or if they were simply there on holiday, or similar.

It was at Uppingham that she will have met her future husband John Barham Johnson (Jack) after he took up a teaching post there in about 1913. Extracts from his letters frequently mention her[5]. They married on 10 April 1923 at St Andrew’s Church, Deal, Kent[6] (so Deal was obviously important to the family).

Joan was an accomplished violin player[7] which she taught along with the piano[8]. There are references in Jack’s letters to his desire to have her piano teaching done by his methods[9]. In the 1939 National Register her occupation is recorded as “teacher of music”[10] unlike the more usual “unpaid domestic duties” associated with many a housewife. She was a long-standing member of the Shewsbury Orchestral Society[11].






Jack and Joan’s home in Porthill Drive, not far from Shrewsbury School, was quite a large one and according to my mother very much open house[12]. I remember it being homely and welcoming, and Joan being a very indulgent grandmother. As children we were allowed to play table tennis on the beautiful, polished dining room table which took up much of the front of the house. That we frequently thumped the table surface with our bats didn’t seem to matter a jot.

Joan also had a fairly wicked sense of humour. She stayed on at the Porthill house for a few years after Jack died and on the few occasions that I visited her we would share thoroughly politically incorrect jokes. The house was really too large for just one person to occupy and she moved to a smaller place a few streets away. She died on 11 August 1972[13].

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[1] Birth registration GRO reference 1894 Dec Uppingham 7A 349.

[2] 1901 England and Wales census RG13/3016/7/6.

[3] 1911 England and Wales census RG14/4572/64/4/9/405.

[4] 1911 England and Wales census RG14/19394/410/1/2/8.

[5] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[6] Marriage registration GRO reference 1923 Jun Eastry 2A 2307.

[7] Undocumented conversation with Jean Barham Bawden (née Johnson).

[8] Obituary notice Shropshire Star August 15 1972 p17.

[9] Nathalie Ruth Barham Chalker (née Johnson) scrap book to Jack.

[10] 1939 National Register RG 101/5183F/033/18.

[11] Obituary notice Shropshire Star August 15 1972 p17.

[12] Jean Barham Bawden (née Johnson) autobiographical notes, above.

[13] Death registration GRO reference 1972 Sep Shrewsbury 9A 486

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