James William Dyson (29 June 1875 – 6 March 1965) 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 afte ...

whose subject was maths. After teaching at schools in Faversham and Wellingborough, for most of his career he was head of

Boston Grammar School The Boston Grammar School is a Grammar school, selective grammar school and sixth form college for boys aged 11 to 18 and girls attending the sixth form aged 16–18 located in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. A recent 2021 Ofsted report assesse ...

and

Ripon Grammar School Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for nine years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the ...

Early life

Born at

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

, Dyson was the eldest son of James Greaves Dyson, a corn merchants’ agent, of Wellingborough, originally from

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's larges ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. The young Dyson was educated at Wellingborough Grammar School under the headship of Dr H. E. Platt."DYSON, James William" in ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'', Part II, Vol. II (1944)
p. 369
/ref> In the Cambridge schools examinations of December 1891, he gained distinctions in mathematics and applied mathematics. In June 1894 he was admitted as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

to St John's College, Cambridge, which was the old college of his headmaster, Dr Platt, and matriculated in the

Michaelmas term Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...

of that year. His room at St John's, H2 in First Court, had previously been occupied by Charles Stewart Middlemiss. Dyson graduated BA in 1897 and proceeded to MA by seniority in 1902. Dyson had three younger brothers, Harry, Arthur, and George, and two younger sisters, Elizabeth and Gertrude. By 1891 their father was a corn merchant on his own account.

1881 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. Data recorded Details collected include: address, ...

Abbotsford, Wellingborough

1891 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1891 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland carried out on Sunday 5 April 1891. A question was added to record the number of rooms in a household, in response to concerns about overcrowding in ci ...

Abbotsford, Wellingborough

1911 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

Wellingborough

National Registration Act 1939 The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War. The Act provided for the estab ...

"Old House, Lower Street, Thriplow, South Cambridgeshire… 1. Dyson, James Wm / 2. Dyson Ethel / 3. Dyson, Alec William""Alec W Dyson"
in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005'';
"James Dyson"
in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007'' ancestry.co.uk, accessed 17 September 2021

Career

Dyson began his teaching career in the Michaelmas term of 1897, weeks after graduating at Cambridge, with an appointment as an assistant schoolmaster at Faversham Grammar School, and remained there for four years. In 1901 he took a job at his old school in Wellingborough and rose there to be a house master and the senior maths master. In 1912, he gained his first headship, at

, and in 1919 was appointed as headmaster of

. He made it a condition of accepting the job at Ripon that the school governors would agree to abolish cubicles in the boarding house. He remained in post until 1935, when he retired.

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibs ...

, one of Dyson's staff at Ripon in the 1930s, later reported

Personal life

In 1903, Dyson married Ethel Johnson, a native of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. A son, Alec William, was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1913. In 1939, the couple was living in retirement at

Thriplow Thriplow () is a village in the civil parish of Thriplow and Heathfield, in Cambridgeshire, England, south of Cambridge. The village also gives its name to a former Cambridgeshire hundred. History The parish of Thriplow covers , roughly span ...

, near Cambridge, with their son, also a schoolmaster. In 1940, at Cambridge, Alec Dyson married Janet M. Bolton, daughter of the Vicar of Fowlmere, a short distance from Thriplow, and they were the parents of

James Dyson Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer, farmer, and billionaire entrepreneur who founded Dyson Ltd. He is best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the princi ...

, born at

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

in 1947, and two other children. J. W. Dyson and his wife moved to Colne Place, Cromer, to be near their son's family in

Holt, Norfolk Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to 3 ...

. Their son died of cancer in May 1956,James Dyson,

Giles Coren Giles Robin Patrick Coren (born 29 July 1969) is a British columnist, food writer, and television and radio presenter. He has been a restaurant critic for ''The Times'' newspaper since 2002, and was named Food and Drink Writer of the Year at the ...

, ''Against The Odds'' (London: Orion Publishing, 1997, )
p. 12
/ref> and Ethel Dyson died in August 1959. J. W. Dyson followed in 1965,"DYSON James William of Eastleigh Colne Place Cromer Norfolk died 6 March 1965… £4966" in ''Wills and Administrations (England and Wales) 1965'
p. 458
/ref> in his ninetieth year.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, James William 1875 births 1965 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Heads of schools in England People educated at Wellingborough School