Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

postwarblue wrote:There were also Dining Hall punishments like having to move down the table and sit next to the Down Bottom Mons (the 4 junior monitors as opposed to the Up Top Mons at the other end) and having to eat your meals standing up at the serving table.

As to seniors and juniors, in the 50s a Horsham house basically ran itself under the monitors, the housemaster seldom interfered - even when, as AH Buck remarked after being disturbed by dormitory noise, what had passed was 'the culmination of years of disgusting bullying'. But it hadn't disgusted him enough to do anything about it.

In my time in Col A bullying didn't seem to be a problem - if it existed then it was well hidden. In theory standard punishments could be used as a form of bullying but all monitors' punishments had to go in the book, punishments tended to be overseen by a different monitor and the book could be checked by Kit. There were two cases that I was aware of - a fight in dining hall during clear-up trades which was rapidly stopped and a case where the victim was admitted to the sicker. I know Kit came down heavily on the offenders.
One heard of bullying in other houses with one boy having quite a reputation

fra828 wrote:How miserable for you to go through all that Angela. I could never bear to dish out any puinishments when I was a senior, I thought it was very cruel, and who were we but mere pupils, just a few years older than juniors? Punishment , I believe then and now-is the job of school staff to administer. Pupils what ever age SHOULD NOT be expected to do this. Surely only the most unkind and sadistic seniors actually agree to doing it.In any case I couldn't have cared less what juniors got up to. Aged 16 or 17, I was probably breaking far more of those petty school rules myself!

That's very nice of you - thanks! Having been a cherished child at home, it was a bit of a shock to be at CH and to be always in trouble. It was OK in a Junior House at first maybe, because even as 11 year olds, we all could see that our Housemistress Miss Miles (Millie) was crazed in various ways, and we could assess and cope with her. But moving to a Senior House, disciplined by the V1 Form, was very different. Here were strong motivated 18 year olds, who'd have me backed up against the Study door after breakfast most mornings, telling me how dreadful, how useless, how stupid and untidy I was... my downfall at CH began then.

I promised myself then, that, when in that position, I would care for the little girls and ensure that they were never bullied. They weren't.

I remember that in the Prep bad table manners were punished by banishment to a separate side table named the Pigs' Table. The "fotch" was quite a common punishment administered by monitors to smaller fry.

That's very nice of you - thanks! Having been a cherished child at home, it was a bit of a shock to be at CH and to be always in trouble. It was OK in a Junior House at first maybe, because even as 11 year olds, we all could see that our Housemistress Miss Miles (Millie) was crazed in various ways, and we could assess and cope with her. But moving to a Senior House, disciplined by the V1 Form, was very different. Here were strong motivated 18 year olds, who'd have me backed up against the Study door after breakfast most mornings, telling me how dreadful, how useless, how stupid and untidy I was... my downfall at CH began then.

I promised myself then, that, when in that position, I would care for the little girls and ensure that they were never bullied. They weren't. [/quote]



Those strong motivated 18year olds were surely just nasty sadistic 18 year olds-given licence to bully..and very unhappy themselves to treat people like that..that's no excuse though..It still makes my blood boil .. even now. And sad how they could have made lives such a constant misery for those they picked on.

One of Kit Aitken's better known admonishments when giving pep talks to would be monitors was "Never touch a boy in anger or affection". One wonders how rigidly this was adhered to.

Kit Bartlett wrote:One of Kit Aitken's better known admonishments when giving pep talks to would be monitors was "Never touch a boy in anger or affection". One wonders how rigidly this was adhered to.

One not quite monitor ( he never made it) did try it on with me but quickly realised that I wasn't interested.

I don't recall any pep talk or advice from Kit on being a monitor. I was called in for a two minute briefing that next term I would be trades monitor but, apparently exceptionally, with all the powers and duties of a monitor including a swab. I was expected to make a good job of it; end of interview.

pierre wrote: I remember Pongo Littlefield in Barnes A as being a beater with the cane for very little reason.

He doubtless had his little reason, and so did hundreds of sadistically inclined teachers up and down the country. It was a form of sexual abuse that was spoken about even less openly than the other sort (and often, I can only imagine, not recognized as such), but behind the scenes it was one of the chief motivations for the campaign to abolish corporal punishment.

michael scuffil wrote:

pierre wrote: I remember Pongo Littlefield in Barnes A as being a beater with the cane for very little reason.

He doubtless had his little reason, and so did hundreds of sadistically inclined teachers up and down the country. It was a form of sexual abuse that was spoken about even less openly than the other sort (and often, I can only imagine, not recognized as such), but behind the scenes it was one of the chief motivations for the campaign to abolish corporal punishment.

.... but now, surely something many ageing Tory peers pay a great deal of money for to continue their enjoyment. (Allegedly !)

Martin wrote: A punishment was once given for “ambulatory loquaciousness”, or as the hapless house captain had to explain, “talking on parade”.

I had forgotten the punishment book, in Mid B it was entitled "The tome of iniquity".

AKAP wrote:

Martin wrote: A punishment was once given for “ambulatory loquaciousness”, or as the hapless house captain had to explain, “talking on parade”.

I had forgotten the punishment book, in Mid B it was entitled "The tome of iniquity".

I don't ever remember one in Col. B, though I do know the masters had to keep a written record of beatings.

Col B used to have a sort of pocket on the side of the No.2's study containing two books, one for Miles and one for Post Offices.

my tally of punishments... i can`t remember the small ones.... hand caning from "gruesome" newsome, very painful... his catchline " `fraid i`m going to have to cane ya"... then lovingly selecting the right weapon from his selectin of canes... newsome was, in my opinion, an asshole... and i got six on the behind from him too... he liked putting two chairs together, back to back, and you, as the punished had to kneel on one, and stretch over the backs, making tender little bum more sensitive to pain,,,
bob silett, with his tangents... came into the dorm b4 lights out...."rich, 4 tangents"... run into the lav end, drop pyjamas, and a ruler administered a slice movement over naked buttock... extremely painful... bob sillett was, in my opinion an asshole... oh, and also a mason.
pongo littlefield?... never had problems wit him, actually liked him a lot... was sort of lost in his manners... but really had a soft side, as i found in a big homesick crisis...
roger wilson was sort of "ordered" by newsome to cane me, and did it, but just tipped with the cane, said nothing, and i left saying thankyou...

Would seem from your punishments from two of the most admired of all schoolmasters in the history of our fine school that they were not the a**hole!

HowardH wrote:Would seem from your punishments from two of the most admired of all schoolmasters in the history of our fine school that they were not the a**hole!

I can't remember any masters in my time that I'd describe as getting kicks from administering corporal punishment.

However, I had many a chat with the late Tim Staples, who was after my time at Horsham, but then went on to become Head of Year master for both my daughters at Sondes Place School, Dorking.

He definitely knew of some saditic punishments handed out at at C.H.

I think he was around your time as a pupil, Howard ?

HowardH wrote:Would seem from your punishments from two of the most admired of all schoolmasters in the history of our fine school that they were not the a**hole!

All subjective. I wouldn't have come so fawningly to the defence of one of them.