The Life and Death of Rochester Sneath. Humphry Berkeley

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      To the Headmaster of Rugby

      April 24th, 1948

       Selhurst School, Near Petworth, Sussex

      Dear fforde,

      Please forgive my having taken so long in writing to congratulate you upon your appointment at Rugby. Unfortunately, dear boy, I have been ill and unable to attend to correspondence for three months, but as an old friend of your good father’s (I used to fag for him at School), I felt that he would wish me to give you some advice. The running of a School is a complex business. You will find, as I did when I came here as a young Headmaster nearly thirty-five years ago, that there are many Senior Masters who must be treated with tact. My first term here my Senior Housemaster committed suicide after eloping with the matron, but I hope that you will be spared that. On the other hand, you are bound to find a certain amount of resentment, especially among the older Masters, and, from my long experience, I would counsel you to treat them with deference although it may be only too clear that they do not deserve it. Always remember that one staunch friend among his Staff is an invaluable asset to any Headmaster.

      But something more than this is needed, and this is tolerance. Remember that you are a man of the world, as indeed I was when I became Headmaster, and you cannot expect the same broad-mindedness from men whose mental stature is inevitably circumscribed by the narrowness of the school surroundings. Never forget that the School exists for the boys and not the boys for the School, and that a quiet chat over a glass of sherry with a miscreant will often effect more than an out-of-hand beating. Do not be taken in by the hysterical outcries against homosexuality which from time to time appear in the press. I have found that most homosexuality amongst schoolboys is harmless, and you can afford to ignore what is in most cases a purely transitory phase. Do not quote me as saying this, because although I believe it to be true, you cannot say that kind of thing to the parents. When you meet difficulties, as indeed you are bound to, do not hesitate to write to me for advice, which I will gladly give for your good father’s sake.

      I am spending the next fortnight with my sister Mrs Harvey-Kelly at Castle Brae, Chesterton, Cambridge, and would be glad to hear from you there.

      Yours sincerely,

       H. Rochester Sneath

      Headmaster

      May 1st, 1948

       Archers, Headley, Hants

      My dear Mr Sneath,

      I must congratulate you, in turn, on your restoration to health: and thank you for writing me a letter so closely packed with good and servicable advice: tending, it seems to me, to show, on the whole and so far as my own experience of people in other walks of life has gone, that if Civil Servants and Solicitors can, as is probable, be described with a rough accuracy as human beings, the same is probably true of Schoolmasters. But I wouldn’t know: and, when in trouble, will accept, at its word, your kind offer of advice.

      Yours sincerely,

       Arthur fforde