Teacher Profiles
Jack Lawrence

Mr. Lawrence joined Dr. Morgan's School on the 1 st September 1930. The School then consisted of 7 Masters and 140 boys and was housed in the premises now occupied by the County Library in Mount Street. Since then the story of Mr. Lawrence has also been the story of Dr. Morgan's School. That young schoolmaster, who belonged to a generation which found that a first degree and knowledge of one subject would not necessarily secure a teaching post, had reinforced his knowledge of history by a course in physical education and by a year as an assistant at the Lycee Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand in France, and so came to Bridgwater equipped to teach a wide range of subjects with skill and enthusiasm.

Even as a junior member of the staff Mr. Lawrence soon made his mark and won the respect of the then headmaster, Mr. Trenchard, with whom he had many a friendly tussle on certain aspects of military history. I have often been regaled with reminiscences of this period of his career by anecdotes whose interest and fascination have never been spiced by an unkind word or reflection. The sultry and de-pressing atmosphere of that ominous decade was shattered on September 3rd 1939. The following 6 years imposed a strain which all those who lived through them cannot forget. The school offered hospitality to those evacuated from supposedly more vulnerable areas. The Poplar School of Engineering and Navigation shared our present premises and the Poplar Cup is the mark of their gratitude for our hospitality. There were the strains of Air-raid warnings by day and Fire-fighting duties by night, and while younger masters were called up on active service the education of the young was nobly continued, despite everything, by men like Mr. Lawrence. The strains I have mentioned were physical and mental, but one cannot omit the emotional stress also, felt most keenly when the news was brought that a former pupil, whom one had taught and remembered as an eager young boy, would never return.

When Mr. Lawrence talks of what Grammar Schools and in particular Dr. Morgan's School mean to him I know that the recollection of those whose names are recorded in our entrance hall fires his eloquence. After the war there was a new Education Act which meant that no pupils paid fees to attend Dr. Morgan's. The School, like the rest of the world, had to 'return to normal', but 'normality'has proved an elusive mirage. Through all the post-war difficulties Mr Lawrence continued at his task. In 1946 Mr. Trenchard re- tired after 22 years service, including a period when he volunteered for War Service, and Mr. Key took his place. I know from long discussion with my immediate predecessor how high Mr. Lawrence stood in his esteem, and when Mr. Gillard retired in 1957 Mr. Lawrence became Deputy Headmaster of Dr. Morgan's where his administrative abilities were given wider scope but where he kept firm control over the methods and standards of the History Department. Indeed for 39 years he has taught History to the Fifth and Sixth Forms and it is a tribute to his inspiring teaching and his mastery of his subject that so many of the school's most gifted pupils have been filled with enthusiasm for this particular study and after pursuing it further successfully, have achieved eminence in later life. In

1963 the apparently invincible health of Jack Lawrence suffered a set-back and he was forced to spend two months away from School after a radical operation in hospital. Fortunately for the School the operation was a success and after a period of convalescence Mr. Lawrence was back in harness and displayinghis usual energy. Mr. Key retired at Easter 1966 and since it was not possible for a successor to come to the School before September of that year, Mr. Lawrence in true Mr. Chips fashion became acting Headmaster. I count it great good fortune to have come to a school where the senior member of the Common Room is at once so loyal, efficient and helpful. Mr. Lawrence is a mine of information on every aspect of the school and it is a great comfort to be able to call on this store of knowledge which is always tendered generously but never obtrusively. I am happy to record my gratitude for all the help he has given to me during the past 3 years and for once again acting as Headmaster during the first part of last term.

Mr. Lawrence is the acknowledged expert in Somerset on the History and antiquities of this area and in persuading him to defer his retirement until last July I was conscious that I had delayed the delight and instruction which a very wide public will gain from the publication of his life-time's researches on this area. Some fraction of this has already appeared, for in 1939 his thesis on "Somerset : Social and Economic conditions, 1800-1830" gained for him the honour of a Master of Literature Degree of Durham University. I hope that he will overcome his natural modesty and find time in his retirement to write his autobiography also.

Wisely, Mr. Lawrence will remain active in retirement, quite apart from his academic pursuits, for after being Clerk to the Wembdon Parish Council for 15 years and a member of the Council from 1961, he was elected to the Bridgwater Rural District Council in 1967 where he has shown himself a vigorous and alert representative of his 'Constituents'. He will be able to spend more time in the service of this wider public in the years ahead and the Council is fortunate to be able to call upon his widom and experience. When colleagues retire I have been known to draw fanciful parallels from the Trojan cycle. We have lost our Nestor and now another warrior dedicates his weapons. This time it is Odysseus, the most statesmanlike of all the Greeks, the wise in Council, the courageous in battle, the sportsman, the debater, that figure who was always to be seen where the fight was fiercest, moving among the ranks like a 'bellwether' as Priam so charmingly describes him. Our Odysseus is returning to Ithaca where waits his Penelope whose skill in weaving webs of words is as fine as that of Icarius' daughter at her loom.

I may not end without a tribute to Mrs. Lawrence. I am privileged to know well her charm as hostess and her wit in conversation and feel that it is in no small measure through her support that her husband has achieved so much. To them both, to their family-their son and son-in-law are both distinguished old Morganians-and to their five robust grandchildren we wish all health and happiness, and to our Odysseusa retirement as long as rewarding as his career in Dr. Morgan's School.

FD

(Taken From The Morganian February 1970)