A HISTORY OF THE RGS IN ITS PEOPLE By David Goldwater (51-62)
Sydney Middlebrook MA J Harvey Smith (44-52) (see page 5) still has his copy (as do many of us) of Newcastle upon Tyne: Its Growth and Achievement, ‘signed in his graceful, even, rolling hand’. Donald R Buchanan (48-56) recalls with some humour: ‘Sam used to draw fairly detailed maps for us on his blackboard. The trouble was that we could copy them into our notebooks faster than he could proceed, so not a few of our maps included a back view of Sam’s head as he sought to finish his. One of his finest moments was one morning at Assembly, he had the answer to the problem of congestion on the stairs, and told us it was really very simple: boys going up the stairs should do so on the right, while those coming down should do so on the left! I’m not sure that he understood why we all fell about laughing.’ David Mitchell (42-51) remembers a sleepy
After the sudden death of Hubert Napier Smith (16-50)(known as “Boiler Smith”) at the Central Station in August 1950, following a career of 34 years, head of History Sydney Middlebrook (18-58), who had himself taught since 1918, was appointed deputy to Oliver Mitchell (48-60). “Sammy”, as he was known, was a noted historian, who is widely remembered for his comprehensive work, Newcastle upon Tyne: Its Growth and Achievement, published in 1950 by the Newcastle Chronicle and Journal.
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moment: ‘One hot summer afternoon I dozed off during one of Sammy’s lessons, which was on the subject of the Wars of the Roses, and just dimly heard him asking me to name the colour of the rose of the House of York. Barely awake, I heard a whisper of help from my ‘friend’ in the desk behind, so with great relief I answered “Blue”! Sammy just smiled gently and passed on amid the embarrassing mirth.’ Sydney ‘Sammy’ Middlebrook (18-58), senior History master and second master (from 1950) on his retirement in 1958
