1,000 East Avenue,
Rochester, NY, U.5.A. 14607, 19th August, 1966. Dear Sir,
My copy of The Monovian No. 88 of Vol. XXXI has just reached me.
It contains the obituary of Harry R. Greenwood who gained an Entrance Scholarship to the School in December, 1892. It also contains an appeal to any Old Monovian to tell a good story
of the fun and games we had in the old School "opposite the pickle factory in High Street".
I won an Entrance Scholarship in December, 1894. Harry Greenwood was therefore two years ahead of me in School as he was in age. I was never in the School Cricket Team but did play
on the same football team as Greenwood. He was very popular with his schoolmates and his masters, Messrs. Allpass, Spivey and Prowse.
The only thing that gave me fame was that on one occasion; having taken charge of the football after practice, I succeeded in losing it. I had taken it to my home in Orford Road and after tea was on my way to leave it with the custodian. Carrying it by the end of the lace it slipped out of my grasp and was never seen by me again. Mr. Allpass used occasionally to tease me about this when he had a ticklish question which none of us could answer by saying that anyone who was clever enough to lose a football in broad daylight should be capable of answering such a simple question. Actually of course it was in pitch darkness that the football was lost.
Mr. Spivey was extremely popular. No one could have been more so. He suffered from some leg ailment. He had no nickname as far as I can recall. Mr. Prowse was popular but at times was inclined to be a little sarcastic. He was known as Mike. Whether or not his name was Michael I cannot say. There was one Master, Mr. Adams, who was always known as Beaky because of his somewhat prominent nose. At times he was a little difficult to understand but in my book was one of the best.
The pickle factory (how it smelt at times!) belonged to the Gillard family. One of the sons (I cannot recall his first name) was captain of the football team in which I played.
Also opposite the School was the Conservative Club and I well remember seeing the Union Jack flying at half mast from its fiagstaff when Lord Randolph Churchill (Winston's father) died.
There cannot be many pupils left who were at School with me (1894-1898) but, if any such would write me, we could doubtless between us rake up some experiences. I can remember that one of the things we did to pass the time in the playground was to try to kick a tennis ball through the narrow entrance gate guarded by one boy against maybe thirty or forty others.
There was one winter (1895/6) when we had two spells of frost each lasting about six weeks, from mid-December to the end of January and mid February to the end of March. During these times we were kept in school till 1 o'clock but with no afternoon classes and no homework. Glorious days.
When I left the School in 1898 I entered the office of Samuel Cutler & Sons, Millwall. The next year I joined T. & W. Cole Ltd., Burdett Road and remained with them till they folded in 1907. I then joined Dodweil & Co. Ltd, and served in their branches in Hong Kong, Canton, Shangai and Tientsin.
On my way to Hong Kong in 1907 I ran into Charley Griggs who was serving in Dodwell's Colombo branch. His family lived in Orford Road, as did mine and we were in the same class at Monoux. Two or three of his older brothers were also at the School.
I retired from China in 1932 and settled here with my wife who was an American. She died 31st December, 1940.
I would be very glad to hear from any who knew me at School.
With best wishes for the continued prosperity of the School and the Society.
Yours sincerely,
Charles A. Peel