James Ronald Eccles (9 January 1874 – 31 August 1956) was an English

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 after B ...

and author who was headmaster of

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

. Eccles was notable in the 1920s as an opponent of the use of corporal punishment.

Early life

Eccles was the son of Richard Eccles, of The Elms, Lower Darwen,

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 ...

, but his father died when he was only two. He was educated at home by a governess and then at St David's School, Reigate, and

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

, where he was a member of the First Eleven (

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

) and the First Fifteen (

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

) and also edited the school magazine, ''The Cliftonian''.S. G. G. Benson, Martin Crossley Evans, ''I Will Plant Me a Tree: an Illustrated History of Gresham's School'' (James & James, London, 2002), pp. 35–36 He was admitted to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, on 2 October 1893. After taking a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

year off in 1895 to travel in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, he returned to Cambridge and went on to take a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in the

Natural Science Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, w ...

and was made an honorary

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of the college in 1897, graduating BA the same year and being promoted to MA by seniority in 1901.

Career

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, Eccles's first career plan had been to go on to train as a doctor, but instead after Cambridge he spent a year in South Wales studying its geology, then some months in Paris to improve his French, and then in 1899 became a

by returning to his old school, Clifton, to teach Physics for a year while the post-holder was on leave. In 1900 he was appointed as a science master at

, a small country school of which

George Howson George William Saul Howson MA (8 August 1860 – 7 January 1919) was an English schoolmaster and writer, notable as the reforming headmaster of Gresham's School from 1900 to 1919. Early life Howson was one of the four sons of William Howson of ...

had just become head master, with instructions for a great expansion. In January 1903 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, the

Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

, in connection with the school's cadet corps, and in September of that year the school's new buildings on the Cromer Road were opened. In 1907, Eccles became Second Master and he succeeded as headmaster on Howson's death in 1919. He continued to head the school until 1935. In a biography of his pupil

James Klugmann Norman John Klugmann (27 February 1912 – 14 September 1977), generally known as James Klugmann, was a leading British Communist writer and WW2 Soviet Spy, who became the official historian of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Backgroun ...

, Eccles is described as "a progressive headmaster, a critic of the competitive public school system who wanted to instil a sense of trust, loyalty, and a civic public service ethic among his pupils. The American Charles K. Taylor wrote admiringly of Eccles’s system of trust in '' The Outlook'' in 1927. However,

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

was deeply critical of the honours system as operated by Eccles, complaining that the encouragement of boys to inform on each other created a culture of fear. He wrote in

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

’s anthology ''The Old School'' that "The best reason I have for opposing Fascism is that at school I lived in a Fascist state." Eccles used much of his salary for improving the school. In February 1921 the Thatched Buildings, which he paid for, were opened by Sir Arthur Shipley, providing new classrooms which would allow for the teaching of new subjects. Unusually, for his time, Eccles did not use corporal punishment in his school and discouraged its use by others. In March 1921 a letter from Eccles was published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' which condemned "corporal punishment of any kind". In 1924 he read a paper to the Conference of School Masters and College Tutors on School Discipline which made his case against beating.Benson (2002), pp. 41–42 Eccles actively looked for bright boys for his school, and two such in the 1920s were W. H. Auden and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

. He was "obsessed with punctuality and tidiness, particularly picking up litter". In January 1934, the school celebrated Eccles's one hundred terms as a master by giving him a leather-bound illuminated address and a silver bowl. Later in the year he retired, exhausted,J. R. Eccles
at greshams.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019 but he lived on until 1956. His obituary commented that his Puritanism could be irksome, but that "none could question his absolute sincerity".

Selected publications

*J. R. Eccles, ''Lecture Notes on Light, with diagrams'' (Cambridge University Press, 1917) *J. R. Eccles, ''Advanced Lecture Notes on Heat'' (Cambridge University Press, 1921) *J. R. Eccles, ''My life as a public school master'' (n.d.)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eccles, James Ronald 1874 births 1956 deaths Volunteer Force officers People educated at Clifton College Headmasters of Gresham's School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Royal Norfolk Regiment officers 20th-century British Army personnel