Catholic school life at St Elizabeth’s – by CL

No, because we were Catholics we only went to one school and it was this one in Richmond, St Elizabeth’s and it was run by the Church then, they ran all that it was nothing like they get now so really though we get a bit limited on the education side of it, you know because we were all raring to learn a bit more and then of course it was because it was strict the Catholic faith then really strict.  Yes, the old headmaster, B J Ball, we could all forge his name because you needed it to go in the swimming pool  (laughter) we altered it, he was actually, I had many a good caning off him but I liked him, he lived in Tudor Drive, he did, I knew his daughter afterwards but as I said I admired him because he had to put up with loads of us and we was in a big class and he ran the top class and there was too many of us in there you know because they kept you separate a lot and we had to go to a school called St Mary’s in Richmond to go to woodwork class and I knew the old teacher that was teaching it and he had no time for Catholics.  I can always remember him and I didn’t like him but he didn’t want to teach us anyway you know woodwork.  We never went, there was only the one school then, you couldn’t move off and go anywhere, so you could have a limited education anyway in fact the old headmaster because there was so many of us getting older at the same time we used to go down the Library in Richmond and give us projects to do, so we’d go down there to the Library and he’d give you some particular one and it was and I quite enjoyed that.

It was, well Catholics were looked down on a bit then, the school was Ham School which is now the Catholic Church, how ironic is that, we couldn’t go there mainly because the Catholics wouldn’t let you go there, not that the Protestants wouldn’t let you go there so we had to get on a bus and go into Richmond for it.

Well funnily enough because I played for Surrey Schoolboys I stayed on for another term, if I hadn’t have stayed on another term they wouldn’t have picked me again and so I stayed another term, you went at 15 normally, I think it was 14 and then it went up to 15, so I stayed on a little bit longer so only to play football really but the headmaster quite liked me being the only one that played for Surrey he was quite with it and all, he was happy about the little situation.  Cor, he was a hard man but I liked him you know.  He was the only man to get a “Sir” out of me.