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Margate Deaf School London Offices, May 1921
By H Dominic W Stiles, on 14 November 2014
I had no idea that the Margate Deaf School at one time had London offices – in Cannon Street. I am curious as to why they needed some London presence. From the calendar I think the internal photo was taken at 1.18pm on Friday 13th of May. On that day, had you purchased a copy of the Times, you could have read about the 1921 ‘coal crisis’, and the great Brixton born England cricketer and England footballer Andy Ducat scoring 131 the previous day against Warwickshire at the Oval.
Click onto the images for a larger size. I cannot make out the face in the photo over the books, but in the second picture St. Paul’s Cathedral is visible through the haze. Can anyone tell us the name of the ‘school officer’ in the second picture?
Update 18/11/2014 Obviously the offices were useful for administrative reasons, presumably as many pupils were from London rather than just being from Kent, but someone contacted us to say that it drops into place something that her mother had told her. At the end of the school term they would travel to London from Kent, then be collected from the office.
4 Responses to “Margate Deaf School London Offices, May 1921”
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Neil J Alderman wrote on 17 November 2014:
On further reflection, the photo could have well been Dr Richard Elliott. The London offices could have been set up during the time when the school moved from Old Kent Road to Margate.
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Geoffrey J. Eagling wrote on 18 November 2014:
The picture to the right of a gentleman is believed to be the frontage of Old Kent Road School.
The gentleman is not Dr Richard Elliot but possibly Mr J.O.White as Neil mentioned. -
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Melinda Napier wrote on 3 December 2014:
The person mentioned in the update of 18/11/14 is my mother, Diana MacDonald. She said she and her sister were taken to the office where they were given refreshments before a lady took them to Paddington station and saw them off on train to Cornwall, where they lived. The school magazines of 1930-1938 gave the address of 90 Queens Street, EC4 for the office so I assume they must have moved from Cannon Street to EC4.
Could the person in the photo be Josh O White who was the headmaster of Margate Deaf School from 1909 to 1932? I do have a photograph of him if you so wish to see it.