Paul Williams (M 48-58)

Mrs Rachel Card, Paul’s niece, has sent in the following notice.

“Paul Williams joined the English Department of St Bees in 1948 as a newly qualified teacher from Jesus College, Cambridge and during the next ten years he became Head of English and a Housemaster. He was active outside the purely academic sphere at the school. One example is that he produced the RC Sherriff play 'Journey's End'; another that in his production of 'Twelfth Night' the school's captain of rugby played Countess Olivia. He brought in pictures for the school corridors and supplied films for the Film Society; he was also involved in the Jazz Club. Paul was a Londoner and his next appointment was at a boys' grammar school there – the Coopers' Company School. Pupils at both St Bees and Coopers' School remember how he used his English lessons to encourage them to develop their own personalities, whether or not they were academically inclined. The impact he had is evidenced by the number of ex-pupils who were still in touch with him at the time of his death. In 1967, Paul became a lecturer in a London College of Education for adult students, the Thomas Huxley College in Ealing, training them to become teachers of English. When the College closed, he carried on this work at the University of London's Institute of Education. He was regarded by his colleagues as 'a teacher of real distinction' and was active in the National Association of Teachers of English, and its London branch, co-authoring a book on the role of language in education. Paul spent his long retirement travelling the world, visiting art galleries, going to the ballet and theatre, and enjoying the company of his many friends and acquaintances. He is sorely missed by all.”

 

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