THE PADFIELD YEARS - PART II

 THE PADFIELD YEARS - PART II

In the last blog post we saw how the Rev William Herbert Greenland Padfield, MA (Cantab) became the Principal of The Lawrence Asylum in Lovedale in 1908. He served in this capacity till 1932, his record of 24 years at the helm of affairs remains unbroken to this day.

In this post, we record more of his achievements.  While much of the credit for the success of an institution has to go to the leader, in this case the Rev Padfield, we are sure he would have acknowledged the sterling role played by the Head Master, Mr. W R Ramshaw. He held that important post, from 1908 to 1930, almost totally overlapping Rev Padfield’s tenure.

Reflective of the many improvements that had taken place over the last 55 years, the Lawrence Asylum was renamed “The Lawrence Memorial School” on January 15, 1913. 

That year, borrowing from the English Public School system, three Houses were formed in the Upper School. The Houses were called Lawrence, ( after Sir Henry), Hope Grant, ( after General Sir James Hope Grant, who played a leading role in choosing Lovedale as the location for the expanded Asylum at Ootacamund, when he was the Commander in Chief of the Madras Army) and Murray Hammick, ( after Sir Murray Love Hammick KCSI, CIE a Madras Civil servant and a great friend of the School, who was the Acting Governor of the Madras Presidency in 1912). 

 Lovedale was far removed from the pitched battles fought in mainland Europe during World War I .The School Honour Board recorded some of the Old Lawrencians who distinguished themselves. Lt H R Vaughan IARO ( Indian Army Reserve Officer) attached to the 41st Dogras, part of the Indian Corps commanded by General Sir James Willcocks was wounded in the battle of Festubert in May 1915. #

We also now know that Capt. William Noel Atkinson, 2nd/10th  

Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army was killed by a sniper when leading his men to repel a fierce counter attack by the Turks at Gallipoli on June 29, 1915. He was the eldest son of  The School’s former Principal, the Rev. A.W. Atkinson. He was a graduate of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, gazetted as 2 nd Lieutenant in 1903 when his father held office at Lovedale.

 

An article by Annamalai Palaniappan in The Lawrencian in June/July 1983, contains this interesting information, “ The School played its part during the Great War of 1914 – 1918 , when the boys and staff garrisoned Wellington. It is interesting to note that for the service rendered, over 40 General Service Medals were awarded. The Principal heard from 220 boys serving on different fronts, among whom 18 subsequently sacrificed their lives on various battlefields, and 17 gained honours and distinctions. At that time over 2,500 students of the school were scattered in the four corners of the Empire.”

Some of you may have seen a panel in the School Church that honours the memory of those who laid down their lives for King and Country during the First World War. Contributions for this came from the Old Lawrencians Club which Rev Padfield was instrumental in setting up. This was the forerunner of our current Old Lawrencians Association. 

In those days of Empire one of the most coveted trophies was the Lord Milner Trophy awarded at the close of the annual Imperial Challenge Rifle Shooting competition, open to boys and girls across the British Empire. It was a matter, therefore of immense pride for the Rev Padfield when the School won this prestigious trophy in 1919.

In January, 1921, the School was presented The King's Colors in an impressive ceremony at Madras by HRH The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, uncle of the reigning Monarch, King George V. 

The cadets, 40 rank and file, 2 N.C.Os. (and 5 N.C.Os. for the colour party) under Sergt. Major Light, and the Band, (37 in number,) under Band Instructor Muddle, with Sergt. Munford, travelled to Madras. They stayed at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Fort St. George, where everything had been very kindly arranged for them by Q.M.S. Jeffery. 

An article in The Lawrencian notes, " We should like to thank Q.M.S. Jeffery most warmly for all his help, and for the very excellent catering arrangements which he made for us, giving the cadets absolutely the time of their lives. Drill starts at once, under the supervision of Captain Mc Enroy, M.C., who most kindly devoted himself to this task morning and evening, and to whom our thanks are largely due for the precision and accuracy which the cadets showed on “ the day.”  

 Punctually, on Saturday at 8 a.m., H.R.H arrived at the entrance to the pandal and was met by Their Excellencies, The Governor and Lady Willingdon. His Excellency then presented Sir. William Marshall, Mr.Knapp and Mr.Berridge as representing the School Committee and the Principal to His Royal Highness. H.R.H then  proceeded to the dais, where he was met by the Bishop of Madras. The School Band played“ God Save the King” and the cadets presented arms.

      The Bishop then consecrated the colours- which rested on an altar of drums kindly lent by the Leicester Regiment (The Royal Canadians). 

    

 H.R.H. then spoke as follows:“ It is a great pleasure to me to present these colours to the Lawrence Memorial School for I well know how close and honorable is the connection that binds you to the British Army.

          I congratulate your Principal and your Officers on the distinguished record your school has achieved and on the very smart appearance of the cadets whom I see before me now. I trust you will look upon these colours as the emblem of your duty to your school and country and I hope that many of those who are henceforth to serve under these colours will live to serve, The King Emperor with honour and distinction in the larger spheres of life.”

        The colours unfurled and turned towards the centre of the line were given a general salute – the colour party marched in slow time to its place in line, the band playing “God Save the King”. The platoon headed by the band, then marched passed in line.

        After the presentation, H.R.H. expressed to the Principal the pleasure which it had given him to present the colours to a school with such a splendid history and complimented him on their smartness and efficiency. His Excellency then sent for Mrs. Padfield and presented her to H.R.H.  The large and distinguished gathering present were loud in their commendations. A letter received by the Principal in his Excellency’s own handwriting will no doubt help to inspire succeeding generations to keep up to the standard set by the present boys. 

Encouraged by the favorable reports he received about the School, HRH kindly consented to become the Royal Patron of the School in 1923. 

In 1925, came what perhaps was the crowning point in Rev Padfield's tenure. The School was accorded the status of a Royal Military School by His Majesty King George V- it was only the fourth School in the British Empire to be bestowed with this honour.  

The first school to be so honored was the Duke of York’s Royal Military School at Dover, founded by Royal Warrant in 1803 as The Royal Military Asylum . It became the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in 1892. Next, the privilege was accorded to the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin , established in 1769 and accorded this honour in 1806. It merged with its sister school The Duke Of York's Royal Military School in 1924.

 

The third in the British Empire to be bestowed this honour was our very own Sister School at Sanawar, established in 1847 which was given the title of The Lawrence Memorial

Royal Military School in 1920.

 

This good news was reflected in The Rev Padfield’s report to the Chairman and Members of the Board of Governors of the School when he wrote with justifiable pride that His Imperial Majesty the King Emperor George V had “been graciously pleased to approve of the Lawrence Memorial School, Lovedale, being designated  ‘The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School (Lovedale).”

After serving as the Principal for 24 years, the Rev Padfield retired and went back to England in 1932 leaving behind a lasting legacy.

As mentioned in the last blog post, under Rev Padfield the School had grown considerable in stature. An Asylum for  the children of British soldiers serving in India, especially the orphans, had grown to become a Royal Military School. 

We would encourage you to see the two episodes about Rev Padefield aired in the segment on "Glimpses of a Glorious Part " in the OLA's OL Assembly of  June 2021 and July 2021. 

# From : “The Indian Corps in France during the First World”, by John Walter Beresford Merewether CIE).

## Extract from the “Statesman” January 18, 1921

THE PADFIELD YEARS

 THE PADFIELD YEARS

When Rev Atkinson, the Principal since 1891 passed away in 1907,  Mr. John Herbert Robertson, ICS , Collector, Magistrate and Additional Sessions Judge at Ootacamund and the Vice Chairman of the School Committee was assigned the task of finding a suitable replacement for him. 

Interim arrangements made for the management of the Institution saw Major-General G. Simpson, C.B. act in the appointment until July 1907. He was then relieved by the Rev. Canon J.W.Foley M.A.who agreed to undertake the office until engagement of a permanent Principal. 

Advertisements were placed by the Committee both in England and in India and much effort was made to identify the right person. They found him, not in England but in the foothills of the Himalayas at Murree, in the Punjab. He was eminently suitable for the position having since 1904 been the Principal and Secretary of a sister school, the Lawrence Asylum/Memorial School  at Ghora Ghalli , near Murree (founded in 1860). 

His name: The Rev. William Herbert Greenland Padfield. MA.

This was the man to whom much of The Lawrence School's future successes would be attributed. Former School Archivist Nitya C. Matthai has called Rev Padfield “The Renaissance Man" who brought in many improvements over the years. 

Rev Padfield changed the tone and tenor of the school and gave it a military bearing. No one can see the future and in making the choice, the Committee perhaps would not have imagined that the new person at the helm of the asylum’s affairs would lead the institution for the next 24 years. He more than repaid the Committee’s judgement in his selection in that he achieved what most would have thought impossible, shepherding the progress of an asylum which provided shelter, food and a rudimentary education to orphans of British soldiers in India, to attain the status of a “Royal Military School". One of just four in the British Empire. 

The dawn of the 20th century saw the British still enjoying the privileges of living in what was famously called the Imperial Century. This lasted from 1815 to 1914. The British Empire was the most powerful in the world. Queen Victoria was on the throne as she had been since 1837. 

Most in the Empire had lived under no other monarch and more pertinent to our story, India was now considered the jewel in the British crown. Reflecting this, Queen Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India at the first Grand Durbar, popularly called the “Proclamation Durbar” on January 1, 1877. It was presided over on her behalf by the Viceroy and Governor General in India, Lord Lytton, who visited Lovedale later that year. 

But as they say, The Reaper comes for all, prince or pauper, and when the much lamented Queen passed away in 1901 she was succeeded by Edward VII who had been created Prince of Wales sixty years ago. He had been Heir Apparent for as long as most people could remember. His coronation was again celebrated with a Durbar in Delhi in 1903. 

Edward VII did not attend this in person but deputed his brother HRH Prince Arthur, The Duke of Connaught to represent him.  As our story unfolds, we shall see how His Royal Highness Prince Arthur became associated with the School, consenting in later years to become the Patron of the School.

The early years of the new century saw a considerable improvement in the ratio of girls to boys at The Lawrence Asylum, now in Lovedale. You will recall this Asylum had been established on September 6, 1858 in memory of Major General Sir Henry Lawrence, KCB. 

In 1904, a hundred girls were transferred from the Female Military Asylum in Madras just as earlier in 1871 the boys had been from the Male Military Asylum. The Girls then resided in what we now know as the Prep School. The “Red Fort “( as the current Girls School is called) was as yet unbuilt.

The Rev Padfield, was just 33 years old in 1908 when he moved to Lovedale. He held a MA from Cambridge. His nomination was duly confirmed by the Government of Madras in order No. 692 Educational, Dated 11^th  October 1907  and he assumed office on February 4, 1908. 

The year of Padfield’s joining saw the School being raised to a High School.  This is to be seen in the context of only 8 % of India’s population being literate even more than a decade later in 1921.The institution was divided for teaching purposes into three departments, namely the Boys School,  The Girls School and the Kindergarten. 

The first landmark of the Golden Jubilee of the Asylum was celebrated in 1908. Fifty years had flown past since the Lark Hill and Stonehouse days. Addressing the audience at the Golden Jubilee, an important milestone in the history of the school, the Rev Padfield said the Lawrence Asylum had 465 children on its rolls. He went on, “ In respect of climate, space for play-grounds, buildings, surroundings, and contiguity to the Railway, the Ootacamund Asylum can, without fear of challenge, claim to hold the first place amount all schools on the Indian Hills. 

During the half century that has elapsed since the foundation of this Asylum, the 2,149 boys and 458 girls who have passed through it, have, for by far the greater part, been housed, fed, clothed, and educated gratis and have, to a distinctly appreciable extent, been taught, by their residence in it, habits of obedience, discipline, and method. 

I venture to think that their appearance will amply testify that they have here a home such as I feel sure that Sir Henry Lawrence would have desired for them. Their proper upbringing is the constant and anxious care of those to whose charge they have been committed, and it is the steadfast aim of the staff of the Asylum to, in the present, as in the past, do their duty by them in all things, and in doing this to teach them one and all, to do theirs; not only now, but also after they have passed from within these walls into the battle of life.”

There are many iconic landmarks in Lovedale that date back to the Padfield era. The Flagstaff and the 67 Steps that lead up to the senior school from the Junior School number among them. They were built in 1910 the year Britain got a new King when in May 1910  King George V succeeded his father, King Edward VII. In the next year the new chapel - The Church of the Ascension- was built for the Church of England replacing the old one in the main school building ( our current Large Hall). 

The Rev Padfield stole a march over the redoubtable Rev Alfred H. Hildesley, Principal from 1884-1912 of the Lawrence Asylum, Sanawar the senior most of the Lawrence Schools by starting a magazine which he called most appropriately, “The Lawrencian” in 1911. “The Sanawarian” we know was first published in 1913. 

In April 1911, the newsletter was established, ‘for the purpose of chronicling the progress of the ….and thus keeping the ex-pupils in close contact with their Alma Mater. It would thereby, we trust, be the means of creating a strong bond of sympathy and fellowship among all those interested in the welfare of a very useful and honoured institution’ as stated in the Editorial of the inaugural issue. This was published quarterly with an annual subscription of Rs.1/- with Mr. F W Haughton as the Editor. 

The Rev Padfield with school staff in 1913. 

The period of tranquility would shortly be shattered with the First World War breaking out in 1914. 

During the First World War, Rev Padfield was the Hon Chaplain of the Nilgiri Rifle Volunteers, headquartered in Ootacamund with companies at Lovedale, Aravankadu, Coonoor, and Coimbatore. The Hon Colonel was Lord Pentland, then the Governor of Madras.  

We shall have more about Rev Padfield and his management of the School in the next blog post.