Hamilton House School

A Memory of Ealing.

I attended Hamilton House school on Florence Road from about 1950 until 1956 when I was sent away to boarding school at Sutton Valence School, Kent. My memories of HH are, like most others, very mixed. The only teacher who was any good at teaching was Mr. Taylor who had, for the era, the novel notion of using a Lesson Plan whereby he knew what he wanted the boys to learn. He was in charge of what was called the Fifth Form and was well liked by most of the boys. He exposed me (aged 11 or 12 only) to the skill of public speaking and debating which benefitted me hugely ever after. The other teachers I remember were feared or ridiculed. Or both. Mr. Rolls (4th form) was particularly bad and used to call the boys "swine" or "scum". He was a bachelor who lived with his sister and was a religious zealot. The headmaster (and owner of the school) was Mr. Phillips, also a bachelor. He was a firm believer in the use of the strap as a teaching tool as well as a disciplinary tool. For example, it was routine in the 5th and 6th forms that a "Strap Test" was scheduled for many Saturday morning lessons with the pass mark being 15 out of 20 questions. Boys who got fewer than 15 correct answers were punished with one hard stroke of the strap on both hands from Mr. Phillips. On one particular occasion I remember one of the senior (ie over age 12) boys enduring 3 hard strokes on each hand for failing a Latin test. Like others writing here I also remember walking as what was called "a dinner boy" in a "crocodile" procession to a malodorous boarding house about 15 minutes away under the supervision of Mr. Rolls, where we ate, for the era, a passable lunch meal. As each meal ended Mr. Rolls turned his back to the boys and rinsed his false teeth in his water glass! Whether he intended to amuse us, or not, he then left the water glass in full sight to enable us to view the debris he had deposited there. Naturally, we giggled! I never maintained any contact with my fellow-pupils after I had left HH in 1956. But I still have warm memories of people such as Peter James, Clive Sachs, Stephen Baldock, David Cope-Brown …. and others. If any HH survivors remember me I'd welcome hearing from them. I'm now retired from work as a jurist and live in Niagara, Canada. I left Ealing in 1963 after graduating from the University of Wales.
Ah, those happy memories of getting off the slow overnight train at Ealing Broadway at 6 a.m.!