L J Jay - more details

I posted earlier in the week about L J Jay, who worked as the former GA librarian, and who wrote a great many reviews and contributions to 'Geography' - his initials were repeated many times in the journals across the decades. This has been substantially brought up to date with some new information from my former colleague at Solly Street: Frances Soar.

As we get nearer to the present day, you will see further contributions with a credit for the contributions of Frances Soar. She has very kindly offered to help with some updates as we get closer to her own time working at Solly Street.

Frances found a lot more information about L J Jay. Sometimes known as 'Jim' Jay.

Leslie Joseph Jay, born 25 Aug 1917 in Aston, Warks.  Parents Joseph Jay, described in 1939 as 'Inspector Engineering', and Martha (nee Green).

1936: Successful in the First Examination, Geography Dept, University of Birmingham (B'ham Daily Gazette, 2 Feb 1936)

1938: Awarded Geography Degree (II2) by the University of Birmingham (B'ham Daily Gazette, 30 Jun 1938)

1939: Passed the written examination for the Degree of MA (Birmingham Daily Post, 29 Jun 1939) 

1939: Living with his parents at 58 Caldwell Road, Birmingham.  Described as 'student, intending te[indistinct]'.  Possibly 'teacher' (From the WW2 Register, 1939)

1943 (25 Jan): Royal Navy 'Schoolmaster Candidate (entered for Hostilities only)' (Navy Lists for 1943ff).  Served at HMS Nabsford, a base in Australia for Royal Naval Aircraft maintenance.  [I've learnt more about RN ranks in the past hour than I ever thought I would need to know!]

1943: (4th quarter) Married Hilda Seal in Birmingham

1949: Awarded Master of Arts by University of Birmingham (Birmingham Daily Gazette, 30 Jun 1949)

1986 (24 Jan): Died Sheffield, having been living at 14 Overglade Gardens, Dore, Sheffield, leaving wife Hilda and children Heather and Paul 

He served in Australia during the war. While in Australia, he used his 'schoolmasterly' skills to edit and create a newsletter called Nabsford News.

The newsletters make entertaining reading if you take a look - lots of in-jokes for sure.
The newsletter copies were provided by L J Jay's son Paul.

You can also see several galleries of photos on the site, and one of them features L J - front row, first left.


29th April 1945: "The J6 Crowd" L to R: back row: Lt. (S) George Baker RNVR, Lt. Ted Folkard RNVR, Lt. (Sp. Br.) Bill Grant RNVR, Sub-Lt (A) Peter Bearcroft RNVR. Front row: Schoolmaster Jim Jay, Sub-Lt (A) I.Thomas RNVR, Sub-Lt (A) J. Pinch RNVR, Commissioned Store Officer Reg Goodhue.

An appreciation of L J Jay was printed in 'Geography' in 1986, written by former GA President Michael Wise. It turns out that he went to school with Michael Wise. There is a good mention of his geography teacher Mr. Cotton and also a mention for R H Kinvig

He wrote a humorous book on geography teaching called 'Geography teaching with a little latitude' which I've seen before, and was published in 1981. In it he said:

 "there is a ample scope for... an element of humour in the teaching of geography".

He taught at Wellingborough School apparently after the war before joining the University of Sheffield.

He joined the GA in 1943 and joined as Honorary Librarian in 1954. He stayed with the GA until 1973, also serving on the Council and Executive Committee. He was involved in the transfer of the library from Duke Street to Fulwood Road. He compiled the Dudley Stamp Index of 'Geography' articles with Hilary Todd.

He classified the work of Herbertson and wrote an appreciation of his work which I have previously added to the blog.

Before retirement he oversaw the transfer of the Fleure library to the University of Sheffield. A manuscript for a booklet for the GA called 'Starting to teach Geography' was completed just before his death.

The appreciation by Michael Wise ends with these two paragraphs:

One sentence there is a reminder for all teachers:

"he knew that gifts as a teacher were not sufficient without a continuous replenishment of the mind, without experimentation in method, without respect for pupils..."

Source:

Wise, M. J. “The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 71, no. 2, 1986, pp. 169–172. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571093. Accessed 31 July 2020.

JAY, L. J. “A. J. Herbertson : His Services to School Geography.” Geography, vol. 50, no. 4, 1965, pp. 350–361. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565960. Accessed 1 Aug. 2020.

1953: Fulwood Road Library

From W G V Balchin's Centenary volume

1968: Professor Alice Garnett

Last updated August 2023

Alice Garnett was a Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield.
She was the second British woman to hold the position of Professor of Geography and the first female President of the GA, and very much connected with its growth and influence.

I believe another of the first few female Professors of Geography may have been Joy Tivy, who is mentioned elsewhere on the blog, but there are a number of candidates it seems.

As Head of the Geography Department she rapidly expanded the department- with 401 students being taught in the department by 1967. She left a legacy of the next generation of geographers and one of the biggest departments in the University. She had previously joined the Geography department as far back as 1924. Hers was a life of geography.

She also held the position of Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society - another former President to have similar connections with the two organisations. There have been plenty of those mentioned on the blog as it has grown, but the connections have not been the same for a few decades which is a pity. Work for future GA Presidents to continue to pursue.

Alice Garnett's name appears on the GA's Annual Report in 'Geography' from around 1950 onwards, when she started to take a leading role, as the association moved to Sheffield, initially into Park Library before moving to Fulwood Road - a move that Alice was very much an integral part of organising and negotiating.

Ivor Goodson talked about this period:
The period following 1945 does seem to have been critical in geography's acceptance and consolidation within the university sector. Professor Alice Garnett explained in 1968 why this period was so important: 'Not until after the Second World War was it widely the case that departments were directed by geographers who had themselves received formal training in the discipline, by which time most of the initial marked differences and contrasts in subject personality had been blurred or obliterated'. At this point geography departments were established in most universities and the subject had a recognizable core of identity. 

Alice had also, significantly been Honorary Secretary of the GA for some years before taking over the Presidential role, and had also produced the Annual reports that were published in 'Geography', so she was a very important person within the Association for many years. 

She was particularly interested in the connection between school and academic geography.




She was mentioned by several former Presidents that I spoke to as being at the very heart of the GA at the time.

Her Presidential Address was called:
"Teaching Geography: some reflections"
and looked back on some of the previous legacies of the GA's work and what she hoped might happen next.

Prior to her taking up the Presidency, Alice had served as the Association's Honorary Secretary for twenty years: 1947-1967, following the retirement of the previous holder of the post, and continued to support the GA after her Presidential year, along with her colleague Professor David Linton. She helped provide a space for the Association's library and a great many other 'backroom' tasks.
During the war, the GA had the use of a room in the High School of Commerce at the University of Manchester, but Alice moved it to Sheffield University, and found a suitable space in the Park Branch Library on Duke Street.

They persuaded the Corporation of Sheffield to give the GA accommodation in a section of the Park Branch Library. In April 1950, the GA moved for the third time. A fund had been put together to celebrate the Jubilee, but as this fell in 1943 it was not felt appropriate, and the money was saved for the removal expenses. However, Alice Garnett and the other officers managed to arrange the move without touching this fund. Mrs. C. D. Mann, the Chief Clerk resigned at this time.

She also insisted on the value of, and reorganised support for Primary Geography.

She also negotiated favourable terms on the lease of 343 Fulwood Road in Sheffield, which became the home of the GA for many years. More on that to come later.

Alice Garnett’s enduring legacy to her department was her lobbying for a purpose built building for Geography which she achieved where the Geography annexe had been on Winter Street. The building which Geography still occupies was opened in 1970 by the then head of department Ron Waters. Terraced houses on Winter Street were demolished for the new Geography building which was integrated into Weston Park. This and other features including the hexagonal teaching rooms earned the building a Civic Trust commendation.
The building, as designed, contained a library, a map library, a physical research laboratory with a huge flume, aerial photograph analysis room and teaching rooms sufficient for all but the biggest first and second year lectures. It also had offices for academic staff, tutorial rooms, a workshop, photographic and cartographic suites.
Sheffield University Geography Department building in 1970

Source: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/about/history

I visited the Department several times during the early 1980s for talks and a few school-related events. I also visited several times more while working for the GA.

In 1954, Alice published a piece in 'Geography', following the previous year's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, looking back, taking stock and looking forward. Part of this was to make the most of the GA's stable financial position to pay staff appropriately, so that they were paid in accordance with the work they were doing at HQ. She also wanted to support the Section Committees more, to help them complete the vital work they were doing (and continue to do) to support and push forward the work of the Association. At the time, they were paying their own travel expenses for attending meetings. She reflected on the need to build up a fund. At the time, mostly due to Alice's own persuasion, the GA was given free conference accommodation and also free offices and storage at the Park Library in Sheffield.
She talked about the importance of the 'giving' nature of the Association.



She finished by setting a challenge to the geographers / GA members of 1993.


She was also involved in the GA's role in supporting the development of teacher education. In 1962, for example, 'Geography' featured a piece that she had provided for the Advisory Council to the Ministry of Education on the nature of school teaching for 'average and below average children'. This involved the following GA members, who included teachers. I wonder whether any readers can tell me more about these colleagues.

It concluded as follows:



A piece by Rex Walford, published in 1993 mentioned Alice.
The article was about Mackinder, but included a quote and the follow up listed below:

 Can we now usefully ask of ourselves and of our somewhat fragmented discipline 'Whither the geography of today and tomorrow?' For surely on the answer to this question will depend decision-making regarding the educational value and popularity of our subject in schools and its role as a university discipline and in other institutions of higher education. 
As geographers today probe and strive to expand our frontiers further and further, would our answers now be too disparate to command attention? 

These were the last published words of Professor Alice Garnett (Garnett, 1987). 

She had spent most of her life, beyond her duties in the University of Sheffield, tirelessly working for the Geographical Association, notably serving it as Hon. Secretary in a key period of its life. She had been intimately concerned with the mid-century struggle to make geography an acceptable and widely-available subject in schools. 

A postscript was added by Jo Norcup in late May 2020
She told me that Alice had a sister called Olive Garnett, who was also a prolific geography author. Olive will have her own post on the blog.

Other memories of Professor Alice Garnett are welcome.


Source:
Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Garnett - her maiden name was Crow.

University of Sheffield page: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/alumni-old/history

Fleure, H. J., and H. M. Fleure. “Alice Garnett: Honorary Secretary 1947-67.” Geography, vol. 53, no. 1, 1968, pp. 93–95. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40566483.

GARNETT, ALICE. “Teaching Geography: Some Reflections.” Geography, vol. 54, no. 4, 1969, pp. 385–400. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40567138

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8tdurY3CGNQC&lpg=PA97&ots=jiACAnc8q_&dq=pat%20bryan%20leicester%20geography&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q&f=false

Garnett, Alice. “LOOKING AHEAD AND TAKING STOCK.” Geography, vol. 39, no. 1, 1954, pp. 1–4. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40564668

Garnett, Alice. “Memorandum on Geography Teaching.” Geography, vol. 47, no. 1, 1962, pp. 63–71. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40565632

Updated November 2020
While researching Stan Gregory and early use of ICT, I came across this by Ron Johnston.

Source:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kVtwDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA90&ots=AHT4_XIJ21&dq=Geographical%20ASsociation%20Package%20Exchange&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false

Obituary

Ellis, Ronald, and Arthur Hunt. “The Geographical Association.” Geography, vol. 74, no. 3, 1989, pp. 272–275. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40571681. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020

Alice Garnett obituary.

Plenty more on her dedication to geography here...

I wonder where the painting might be now.

Updated August 2023

I then came across a few tweets suggesting that Alice Garnett was one of the first person to talk about the Urban Heat Island effect in work she carried out.

She also seems to have been one of the first people to use the term "heat shadow".

This blog post explores her book on climate in Sheffield. Written by Alex Stockham.

I found the first clue in the archives at the Central Library. In a book from 1956, Climate in Sheffield and its Region, there’s a study by Alice Garnett, a Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield. It contains the earliest mention of a ‘rain shadow’ describing our city’s climate, the reason for its relative dryness in comparison to Manchester and the Peak. As it goes, air filled with moisture reaches a mountain range and gets buffered upwards. There’s less pressure and it’s colder the higher you go, so the water vapour condenses into a liquid as clouds. When the clouds get too heavy, it rains. On the other side of the mountain range, the air descends and warms up again. The water in the clouds evaporates, leaving a ‘shadow’ of rain where it should have fallen before the descent.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/department/about-department

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tRgrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=%22Alice+Garnett%22+geography&source=bl&ots=UIiLPDITPt&sig=ACfU3U2Iv9Yc32l8GWK7XGmDuTWpkQIbVQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjW0O7kzNeAAxUXTkEAHSw_AUQ4RhDoAXoECBgQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Alice%20Garnett%22%20geography&f=false

Rachel Mary Fleming

Updated October 2025

Another in a succession of women who gave a great deal to the Association was Rachel Fleming. She was a great support to H J Fleure when the library and GA Offices moved to Aberystwyth and was his Assistant.

She was mentioned in Fleure's own entry on the blog as someone who supported his work and kept the library running smoothly at a time of great demand for its contents.

She did however get involved in some problematic work which is detailed later in this entry.

Source:


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=p_xfuY8CJ48C&pg=PT115&lpg=PT115&dq=%22marguerita+oughton%22+sheffield&source=bl&ots=xln_U09sEO&sig=ACfU3U0BVaFI8t74PC7xxPHMiijd8QoLyQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbrsfys43pAhXKQEEAHeGlCCIQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Update - October 2025

I was contacted by Vas who had located a letter for sale on eBay which was part of Aberystwyth's history.

The letter for sale was shown on the post and is included below:

It was sent in April 1921 to a Miss D M A Dickinson, who was it seems teaching at Rugby School, but had presumably paid for herself and a colleague to go on a GA organised trip to Guernsey of some kind, and is advising her to book boats and rooms for the trip.

It's lovely to see the handwriting of someone from over 100 years ago.

There's also a useful entry about Rachel Fleming here.

Miss Fleming is well known among teachers for her skill in using folk tales to impart a general knowledge of history and geography to children.

This sounds interesting.

Assistant to Professor H.J. Fleure at Aberystwyth, Miss R.M. Fleming, who had conducted research on 'half-castes' in Britain

This sounds... inappropriate... to modern geographers for certain... and very problematic. The link with eugenics is particularly troubling.

A fuller story of that report and the resulting issues, as well as he public statements on the matter can be viewed here.

Aspinall, P. and Caballero, C. (2021) Rachel Fleming’s Anthropometric Study. The Mixed Museum.

Rachel Mary Fleming is one of the category of people who are often invisible even in institutional histories, one of those who do their work with quiet devotion.

Text from some source which has been added to the Wiki entry:

"The work of the Geographical Association is still expanding rapidly, and we are all, as usual, deeply indebted to Miss R. M. Fleming, who, though without any official connection with the College, gives endless time to students to help them with problems and difficulties. It is therefore a special pleasure to state that this has been a year of very marked personal success for Miss Fleming, whose work has so long merited greater recognition. Her papers to the British Association at Edinburgh have appeared, one in the  "Scottish Geographical Magazine " (Geography and Tradition), and one in "Man" (Sex and Growth Characters in delation to Race Study). 

The latter was the subject of an evening lecture by Miss Fleming at the Royal Anthropological Institute. 

In addition to this Miss Fleming's book, "Ancient Tales from Many Lands" (1922), has had a quite unusually good reception, and has sold very rapidly

I hope it may influence not only educational methods, but anthropological research as well. 

This book is still available in reprinted versions.

It was reviewed in 'Nature' in 1922 

Miss Fleming adds in an appendix three essays in which she expounds her philosophy of the use of the folk-tale in education and the principles of selection. If any further indication were needed of the thought, wide reading, and experience which have been laid under contribution in the making of this book, it would be afforded by these essays.

Finally Miss Fleming has been invited to become one of the Secretaries of Section H (Anthropology) of the British Association. 

She has been President of the local branch of the Geographical Association during the current session.

Other publications

"The new geography". Times Educational supplement, 1920 - would be interesting to find this...

Fleming, Rachel M. 1933 A Study of Growth and Development: Observations in Successive Years on the Same Children. With a statistical analysis by W. J. Martin. Report to the Medical Research Council. London: is Majesty’s Stationary Office, Code No. 45-5-90

1953: GA HQ and Library

Image from Balchin's Centenary of the GA, taken in old HQ 

I'd be delighted to see any images of the GA conferences, events, Presidents or other aspects of the work of the Association. There seem to be decades where few images exist other than portraits of people. I have some images coming up once we get closer to the President day, but not many others.

Fleure Library

Over the years, the GA has accumulated a huge wealth of printed material, and what remains of this is currently held at Solly Street, the GA HQ in Sheffield.
There is also a large Primary-focussed collection owned by Simon Catling, some of which is also held at the GA's HQ in a special room.
A great deal of this was initially collected and curated by H. J. Fleure, who is pictured opposite.

He looked after all donated books to the Association - some of which were sent in for review in the journals, and others from teachers who wanted to leave something tangible in the Association's archive.
Fleure was a former President, who has his own entry on the blog shortly.

He managed to find a number of premises for the library in Aberystwyth, where it stayed for many years. Fleure was the GA's Honorary Secretary at the time. It then moved to Manchester where, as I have previously mentioned, it was saved from a fire by a fast acting caretaker.

The library was housed in the Sheffield University library for many decades after it was moved from Fulwood Road in 1983 following a decision approved by the GA Council at the time. I remember visiting it there as an undergraduate.
The collection is now housed at the GA HQ in Solly Street, and several glass display cases featuring items from the library are in the Patrick Bailey room (a former GA President who will also have his own post on the blog)

For the 125th Anniversary conference, I was asked to curate a selection of items from this collection, and was aided by Ricky Buck, who retrieved the items that I suggested might tell a story of the Association, and together I chose about 100 items and provided captions for the exhibition, along with a Primary section.

One of the things that I have available to add to this collection is a set of journals called 'Classroom Geographer, which was published by Hugh Sealey. More on this in a later blog post, as the journal saw the first published work by several GA Presidents who will get their entries in time.

I have a spreadsheet containing details of all the 10 000 items which were in the collection at the time, and there is an impressive range of books and other materials there. 

1930: Moving to Manchester

Updated October 2025

MANCHESTER: 1930 - 1946

In 1930, Professor H J Fleure took up the newly-established Chair of Geography at the University of Manchester and the GA moved with him. 

This meant finding a new place for the 4000 volumes that were now in the Association's Library, along with the Assistant Secretary who ran it and dealt with correspondence.



The Chief Education Officer in Manchester, Spurley Hey generously gave the GA free office and library accommodation in the Manchester High School of Commerce, which was gratefully accepted. Miss R M Fleming wanted to stay in Aberystwyth, and was replaced by Miss M. E. Owen. She proved herself to be just as efficient and skilful in her work.

When this became unavailable, temporary accommodation was provided at 103 Princess Street, Manchester, close to where the GA currently has its conference every three years or so.

This was a challenging time for the Association, with economic recession, and less demand for specialist teachers.
Despite that, the library's new location and premises allowed it to become a reference library, and use of it increased steadily.

T. C. Warrington took over as Honorary Librarian after stepping down as Headteacher of Leek Grammar School.