Wilfrid Holmes, Headmaster 1923-51

Wilfrid Holmes, standing extreme left, on his graduation day, 1910

(Taken from “GREGS”, by Edwards and Glynn.)

Wilfrid Holmes was born on 24th February 1887, and baptised in St Edmund’s Church, Monsall Street. As a boy he went to the parish school and was a very reliable altar boy at St Edmund’s.

From an early age, he displayed a talent for study and went on to gain a place at university. That was in 1905 but his entry into university was delayed on the death of his father. So, for one year, he went back to St Edmund’s School as an unqualified teacher. His university education culminated in obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909, his Master’s the following year, and a Bachelor of Commerce in 1915. On qualifying, Wilfrid Holmes returned to St Edmund’s and later went to Heywood Secondary School.

He joined the army in 1917, during the Great War, and saw service in France. After his demobilisation he returned to Heywood Secondary and remained there until he obtained the headship of St Gregory’s in 1923.

To his new post, Wilfrid Holmes brought a wealth of understanding and deep compassion for his pupils. He was said to have been a ‘natural’ as a teacher and if it’s true that teachers are born and not made, this certainly applied to the first headmaster of St Gregory’s School.

Wilfrid Holmes was not the sort of man to take his problems home; he did not talk ‘shop’. Because of that it has been difficult to know his thoughts on the early years in Ardwick. However, one facet of him is known: he would not speak ill of any boy. He was kind to the underdog.

Delegation of duties was difficult in the early years of the school, and he found himself more and more taking classes when his rightful place was that of administrator of the school’s curriculum. Following the school’s opening, Mr Holmes had the foresight and strength to look beyond the immediate difficulties; he was a ‘visionary’ who more than any other had laid the foundations of the school.

Mr Holmes remained as headmaster until 1951.

A group of boys and staff, 1924-25

Pictured in the schoolyard with a group of mixed-aged boys are four teachers – Messrs Ashworth, Corney, Walsh and Whealing. Judging by their dress, rucksacks and walking stick, this snap was probably taken before embarking on a camping trip. Sometimes Whitsun or part of the summer holidays were spent camping at places not too far away, such as at Compstall and Strines, near Marple. A close examination shows several of the boys wearing metal cap-badges on which were featured the school’s insignia. This remains one of the school’s oldest photographs.

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