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Mr and Mrs Shelmerdine
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Mr J Shelmerdine, who recently relinquished the position of headmaster of Raunds Church of England Spools, which he had held with much distinction for the long period of forty-one years, was the recipient of a handsome public presentation on Tuesday evening (as will be seen from a report in another part of this issue). We have pleasure, also, in giving a portrait of his esteemed wife, who was formerly for twenty-one years headmistress of the Infant School.
Mr. Shelmerdine, who is widely known and respected, and is still possessed of much vigour and activity, was born in Manchester in 1847, and ten years later the family removed to North Wales, where he attended the village school, in which he was subsequently a pupil teacher. At Christmas, 1865, he scoured a first-class Queen's Scholarship, and was selected a student for Battersea College. He completed the full certificate and left at Christmas, 1867. He was appointed to Meltham Church School, Huddersfield, where he stayed for five years. He was then appointed headmaster at Raunds Church of England Schools, and commenced duty on the 1st January, 1873. Here his career has been one of continued success and usefulness: and in this connection the visitor to the schools on Tuesday could not fail to notice the number of scholarship shields displayed round the wall. One of the important features at the school has been the very large number of teachers who have been trained there, nearly all of whom have held, or are still holding, responsible positions. Mr Shelmerdine has always taken great pains to keep himself abreast of the times, and at an early stage qualified for secondary work. When in Huddersfield he attended the Mechanics' Institute, and took a number of certificates. He also studied at the Imperial College of Science (London), and at the Royal School of Mines, and also took University courses. He taught evening classes for over forty years, and at the time of his retirement, at the end of 1913, he was probably the oldest science teacher in Northamptonshire. In addition to his other duties he has had a very large experience in preparing boys for the public schools, public services, and also for the Universities. No sketch of Mr. Shelmerdine's career should omit particular reference to the active and valuable part he has taken in the enlargement of the schools, which now appear to be very satisfactorily equipped.
It is of interest to note that Mr. Shelmerdine was headmaster of Meltham before he was twenty-one years of age; that he has been a headmaster for forty-six years and a teacher for fifty-four. Turning to other phases of Mr. Shelmerdine's activities, mention may first be made of his devoted Churchmanship. He is, and has been for some years, people's warden. He is also a member of the Church Council and has a long record of service as lay representative. As regards local administrative life, he is vice-chair man and ex-chairman of the Urban Council, of which he has been a member since its inception with one break; and he was previously a member of the Parish Council. As a youth he showed a keen interest in the Reserve Forces. In 1868 he joined the 44th West Riding Volunteers, and in mature years, in 1900, during the South African War, he assisted in forming a Volunteer Corps of which he became the popular colour-sergeant, and which went for annual training at Colchester. A Mason of thirty-four years' standing, he is a Past Master of the Chicheley Lodge of Freemasons and of the Lilford Lodge Mark Master Masons, and P.Z. of the Wellingborough Chapter; and holds provincial honours in all three Orders. Reverting to his profession, he has been a member of the Teachers' Union since its formation, and was one of the founders of the Wellingborough Association, of which he has been president several times. He has also been a delegate to the annual N.U.T. Conference on a number of occasions. His work as teachers' representative on the County Education Committee from the very start is too well known to need enlarging upon here; suffice it to say that it has received public tangible recognition at the hands of the teachers of the county and others interested in education. As a young man, it may be added Mr. Shelmerdine took an interest in sport, and was captain of the Town Cricket Club.
Mrs. Shelmerdine, who has been closely associated with the working of the schools, was trained at Ripon. She was the first mistress in the Meltham lnfant School, and one of the pioneers in teaching with the Froebel methods. On Mr. and Mrs. Shelmerdine coming to Raunds the latter took up the position of infant mistress, which she held with much ability for twenty-one years, her retirement being marked in an appropriate manner. She was succeeded in turn by two of her daughters, and it is an interesting fact that these, and also the present headmistress (Miss K. Atkins) originally ''sat at Mrs. Shelmerdine’s feet" as infants in the gallery of the school.
And now that Mr. Shelmerdine has retired with a record of honourable service of which any professional man might well be proud, it is very certain that both he and Mrs. Shelmerdine (who have been married for forty-three years) possess in a marked degree the highest wishes of all with whom they have been brought into contact for their future health and happiness.
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