George Aubrey Lyward (13 January 189422 June 1973) was a British educationist and psychotherapist who founded and led Finchden Manor, a "community for delinquent, disturbed or disturbing boys" ''(available online to subscribers)'' in

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, UK. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in 1970. He featured in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol. It has been presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and currently (since April 2006) Matthew Parris. A distinguished guest is asked to nominate the pe ...

'' in May 2012, nominated by singer

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

. Robinson had attended Finchden Manor after a suicide attempt when aged 16, and said that Lyward saved his life.

Early life and education

Lyward grew up in the

Clapham Junction Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea. Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances durin ...

area of south London. His father was an opera singer but left home while Lyward was very young, and his mother worked as a primary school teacher. He had three sisters. He won a scholarship to

Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...

in Battersea, and there became a prefect, Head of House, and a sergeant in the Officers' Training Corps, and played rugby in the first XV despite a history of childhood polio which had left him with a weak leg. After leaving school he taught in two prep schools and at

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is an independent co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

and then returned to Emanuel as a master, before winning in 1917 a choral scholarship to study at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

where he took a history degree. In 1918 he obtained the post of house-tutor at

The Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

in Cambridge in order to supplement his modest choral scholarship funds. In 1920 he started studying for ordination at Bishop's College, Cheshunt, but abandoned this two weeks before his planned ordination. He taught again at Emanuel, then in 1923 moved to

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

to work with the sixth form students, developing his ideas about teaching this age group. In 1928 a broken engagement led to a breakdown and treatment by

Hugh Crichton-Miller Hugh Crichton-Miller (born in Genoa, Italy, 5 February 1877, died 1 January 1959 in London) was a Scottish physician and psychiatrist. He founded the Bowden House nursing home for nervous diseases at Harrow-on-the-Hill in 1912 and the Tavistock C ...

, who later asked Lyward to help with some of his own boy patients. This work led directly to Lyward's work at Finchden Manor. Lyward married Sarah (Sadie) whom he met in 1931, and she accompanied him to Finchden, but she died an early death at 54 from cancer in 1967.

Finchden Manor

Finchden Manor is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, described as "A large C16 timber-framed house with modern additions at the north west end", and having been used in the 19th century as a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

priory. Lyward opened a

therapeutic community Therapeutic community is a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction. The approach was usually residential, with the clients and therapists living together, but increasingly residential ...

in a farm building at Guildables,

Edenbridge, Kent Edenbridge is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English ''Eadhelmsbrigge'' (meaning "Eadhelm's Bridge"). It is located on the border of Kent and Surrey, on the upper floodplain of the ...

in 1930, and by 1935 he moved it to larger premises at Finchden Manor. With the exception of WW2 years, when Finchden Manor was requisitioned by the army, he continued to work there until his death in 1973. During the war, Finchden continued at Marrington Hall, Chirbury, Shropshire. Former residents of Finchden Manor include

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...

, Francis Lickerish,

Robert John Godfrey Robert John Godfrey (born 30 July 1947) is a British people, British composer, pianist and a founding member of The Enid. Early career Born on the Leeds Castle estate in Kent, England, Godfrey was privately educated in various prep schools prior ...

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and

Danny Kustow Alexander Daniel Kustow (10 May 1955 – 11 March 2019) was an English rock guitarist, known for his dynamic performance style and work with the Tom Robinson Band in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Kustow was born at Queen Charlotte's and Chel ...

. Robinson, writing in 2005, refers to Finchden Manor as "long closed", and the

Friends Reunited Friends Reunited was a portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion with research, dating and job-hunting. The first and eponymous website was created by a husband-and-wife team in the classic back-bedroom Internet s ...

entry says that it closed in 1974, within a year of Lyward's death.

Sydney Hopkins ''Mister God, This Is Anna'' is a book by Sydney Hopkins under the pseudonym "Fynn" describing the adventures of Anna, a mischievous yet wise four-year-old whom Fynn finds as a runaway. Nineteen-year-old Fynn takes Anna home to his mother, who ta ...

, author of ''

Mister God, This Is Anna ''Mister God, This Is Anna'' is a book by Sydney Hopkins under the pseudonym "Fynn" describing the adventures of Anna, a mischievous yet wise four-year-old whom Fynn finds as a runaway. Nineteen-year-old Fynn takes Anna home to his mother, who ta ...

'' was referred to Finchden Manor and was later a member of staff there.Burn (1956), ''Mr Lyward's Answer''. p64

References

External links

* ''"A site dedicated to George Aubrey Lyward 1894-1973", includes photographs, articles, and a BBC radio programme.'' * ''Includes two photographs: the buildings, undated, and the community, early 1974.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyward, George Aubrey 1894 births 1973 deaths People from Clapham Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English educational theorists Alumni of Bishops' College, Cheshunt

Early life and education

Finchden Manor

References

Further reading

External links