Sir Cyril M. Norwood (15 September 1875 – 13 March 1956) was an English educationalist who served as Headmaster of

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

and

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, Master of

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, and President of

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

Biography

The son of the Reverend Samuel Norwood, of Whalley,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, Norwood was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and St John's, Oxford. After passing the Home

Civil Service examination Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruiti ...

, he joined the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1899, but left in 1901 to pursue a career in education. He was a

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physicall ...

(1901–1906), before serving as Headmaster of

(1906–1916), Master of

(1917–1925), Headmaster of Harrow (1926–1934) and President of St John's, Oxford, from 1934-1946. After being appointed to chair a committee for R. A. Butler, the Minister of Education, Norwood and committee wrote a 151-page document entitled ''Curriculum and Examinations in Secondary Schools: Report of the Committee of the Secondary School Examinations Council Appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1941''. In 1943 they published the ''Norwood Report'' on secondary school education and some of its recommendations were subsequently adopted. In particular, the report led to the establishment of three kinds of secondary schools: grammar, technical, and secondary modern. During the Second World War, Norwood served on the Tribunal hearing the cases of men seeking to be accepted as

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s. At this time he owned and lived at Trerose Manor in Cornwall. His son-in-law was the Rev C. B. Canning Headmaster of Canford. After the War, in 1946, Cyril Norwood was the President of the Geographical Association, following an earlier Marlborough colleague: Clement Cyril Carter (who had been President at the outbreak of the war) to the position. As well as his role in education he also wrote an introduction for '' The British Encyclopaedia'' in 1933. He retired to

Iwerne Minster Iwerne Minster ( ) is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, approximately midway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum. The A350 main road between those towns passes through th ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

where he died in 1956. He was married to Catherine Margaret Kilner in December 1901 and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1938 for services to education. A building is named after him as part of Bristol Grammar School's Elton Road Houses and is primarily used for the teaching of modern languages. The main dining hall at

is named the Norwood Hall. Norwood wrote the lyrics, in Latin, for Bristol Grammar School's song, ''Carmen Bristoliense'', which is still sung today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Bristol Grammar School Head Masters of Harrow School English Anglicans Masters of Marlborough College