Dr John Oldershaw

I missed the centenary of my alma mater, Oldershaw School, opened in September 1920. However, the CBE announced for its founder one hundred years ago today gives the excuse for some catching up.   John Oldershaw MD, who practised medicine in Liverpool, became a magistrate and alderman in the then county borough of Wallasey. Biographical details on the Web are hard to find, but he was clearly well-to-do as well as public spirited in order to found the new school at a time of economic privation. He must also have had some influential friends as donors, and perhaps some parents paid fees, but I do remember being told that Oldershaw was one of the first secondary schools in the country to be truly open to all. It was only later that it was taken on by Wallasey Corporation, presumably as pressure on public funds eased and the aspirations of the Education Acts of 1918 and 1921 (detailed here) could begin to be met. I remember that one of the staff at the time I joined the student body was J.A. Davidson who had been an early pupil and could be identified on a 1922 school photograph, one of those which lined the walls of a school corridor.

The wikipedia entry is regrettably scant, but I can add the names of two distinguished former pupils. Colin Morris made his name as the author of a Whitehall farce, Reluctant Heroes, but went on to become a pioneering TV presenter and producer. He donated a typescript of Reluctant Heroes to the school library, and I hope it is still there. (Francis Ernest) Martin Jenkins was the star of the school plays when I was at Oldershaw. He went on to become a stage director (giving actor Brian Cox an early starring role as Ibsen's Brand) and BBC radio producer, before going freelance. He is also an expert on trams and tramways.