The Burston School Strike

by Casey

Transcribed from the [1915] National Labour Press Ltd. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

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PRICE ONE PENNY.

The Burston
School Strike

By “CASEY”

(of THE LABOUR LEADER).

This little booklet is dedicated to the
BRAVE WOMEN OF BURSTON,
who have since April, 1914, nobly
struggled against the tyranny of the
Countryside.

PREFACE.

“To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.”—Hypatia.

In this sentence the Reverend Charles Kingsley carries forward the message left by Aristotle.

When preparing to write this little booklet I was greatly impressed with the above words. No more fitting motto could I find for it, since it deals with the tyranny of our own country side.

It is a challenge to autocracy, a protest against injustice and a warning signal to the teaching profession.

It shows how a simple, moral, God-fearing little community may be roused into action against parochial busybodies and local glebe lords. The squire and the rector have been the Lord High Tololorums of the countryside for centuries.

To dispute their divine authority, or to question their insolence, oft means social ostracism, or a tour abroad without a Cook’s guide.

Emigration returns will prove this.

The people of Burston, in Norfolk, are deeply religious and law-abiding. The reverend rector has, however, gone too far.

Their struggle against him for fifteen months, their brave devotion and loyalty to their teachers, is almost without parallel in the history of Nonconformity.

They have seceded from the Church, their children have voluntarily left the Council School, and the parents, though fined again and again, have successfully defied that poor man’s Dragon of Wantley—the Law. The struggle is not yet concluded, and Heaven knows where and how it will end.

The reverend rector finding teachers, parents, and children still true to each other, has issued notices to quit at Michaelmas, next September.

Not succeeding from the religious point of view, he is now about to try his luck as landowner.

By means of these glebe notices he seeks to remove the bravest and best so that he may once more hold the destinies of the villagers in the hollow of his hand.

The purpose of this booklet is to focus the clear white light of public opinion upon Burston. I believe I voice the wish of every true woman and man, every lover of justice and genuine freedom, when I express a hope that he may not succeed. Had he brought an atom of brotherly love or the true charity which he quotes on Sundays, or sought to crystallise the true spirit of Christianity into his dealings with his village folk, then this booklet would have remained unwritten.

However, it may serve a useful purpose if it only shows other reverend rectors what they must avoid.

When the teaching profession becomes as wide-awake to its interests as, say, the dock labourers, the miners, and cotton operatives, then will its members join their Union, loyally co-operate with each other, and form a linked breakwater against oppression.

THE BURSTON SCHOOL STRIKE.

“If the history of England be ever written by one who has the knowledge and the courage, and both qualities are equally requisite for the undertaking, the world would be more astonished than when reading the Roman annals by Niebuhr.”—Earl of Beaconsfield.

Burston village lies eighteen miles south of Norwich.

Four and a half years ago came to this village as schoolmistress and assistant-master, Mrs. A. K. Higdon, and her husband, T. G. Higdon. They were welcomed to the Council School by friends, parishioners, etc. They gained the affection of the scholars, the approval of the parents, and the blessing of His Majesty’s Inspector. Here it is:

The Government Report,
October 11th, 1912.

The present mistress has had charge of the school a little over a year and a half, and its condition is very promising.

A good tone prevails; the scholars take a pride in their work, and the work done in some of the subjects of instruction is very creditable.

Mental arithmetic is well above the average, and the written arithmetic of the first class is generally praiseworthy. The singing and much of the drawing are good, and needlework is taught on sensible lines.

On the whole the infants and first-class children are making more progress than the scholars in the middle portion of the school.

(Signed) A. H. Moore, H.M.I.

This is the last Government report under the Higdons’ régime.

Mr. T. G. Higdon, the assistant-master, possesses that dreadful modern incumbrance, a heart.

The Daily Press oft contains an advertisement stating that “Hands are wanted,” but if they were to issue an advertisement re “Hearts,” the precedent might prove disastrous to most firms.

Higdon, looking upon the countryside with the eye of a person married to it, held high hopes of betterment. He could not help observing the long hours of toil, the scant incomes, the over-crowding, etc., which that noble soul, the Reverend Charles Kingsley, pictures in “Yeast.”

Higdon, after his day’s teaching, tramped the country lanes, and made first-hand acquaintance with the joys and sorrows, aspirations and hopes of Hodge and his helpmate. He spoke words of healing and helpfulness to the Lazarus of civilisation, Carlyle’s Dumdrudge, and our poor country cousins. He saw lean labour, wrinkled, seamed and scarred by grinding toil, privation, self-denial, and short commons; so, John Ball-like, he carried the message both on Sundays and weekdays.

Unfortunately, he did not attend the local Sunday services.

Unlike Longfellow’s blacksmith, he did not go on Sundays to the church to hear his daughter’s voice. One reason was that he had no daughter which, of course, makes a deal of difference, the other reason was that he preached himself.

You require to be a very strong clergyman indeed to permit competition in well-doing. At any rate, the rector spoke to Higdon about his non-attendance at church.