Thomas Edmund Heller (15 May 1837 – 17 February 1901) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. Born in

Bishopsteignton Bishopsteignton is a village and civil parish in South Devon, England, between Newton Abbot and Teignmouth, close to the Teign Estuary. The village is on a steep hill, and has a post office cum pharmacy and a small, family-run village shop. T ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Heller grew up in

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, where he attended school.Heller, Thomas Edmund
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' He followed his father in becoming a teacher, and trained under Charles Bromby at the

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Training College before taking up a teaching post in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. An enthusiast for the organisation of teachers, he was a founder member of the London Church Teachers' Association and, in 1870, the National Union of Elementary Teachers (NUET).Richard Aldrich and Peter Gordon, ''Dictionary of British Educationists'', p.110 Heller became the full-time secretary of the NUET in 1873 and, in this role, campaigned for and end to payment by results, for improved training for teachers, with teacher training colleges to be linked to universities, and for teaching to become a profession with legal registration. He campaigned for the establishment of a pension scheme for teachers, and also edited the annual ''New Code for Day Schools'' publication. In 1874, he was elected to the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

. Under Heller's leadership, the NUET became the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

, and membership more than doubled, from 7,000 to 18,000. He retired in 1891, following a serious illness."Prominent members of the union", ''Cardiff Times'', 4 April 1891

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Thomas 1837 births 1901 deaths Schoolteachers from Devon General Secretaries of the National Union of Teachers Members of the London School Board 19th-century English politicians