School Stories: Jean Crossley

Thank you to alumna Jean Crossley (class of 1945) who recently contacted us to give us her South Hampstead memories from the 1940s.

Now 93 years old, Jean is one of several of alumnae who can recall studying at South Hampstead during the Second World War. She lived with her family in West Hampstead and first joined the school in September 1939, almost to the day when Hitler invaded Poland triggering the start of the war.

Unlike many of the students who were evacuated to Berkhamsted School during the war years, Jean’s family wanted her to remain in London. “We were a close family and my mother decided it would be ‘silly’ for me to travel to Berkhamsted where I would not know anyone, so I was home schooled for most of the autumn term 1939. When a letter arrived saying that South Hampstead would be opening a few classes in Maresfield Gardens, I returned to the school’s classrooms.”

“Schooling was very limiting during the war but we were so grateful that South Hampstead remained open throughout the war years. Classroom space was restricted because the Fire Service occupied all the science labs in the building, there was no sport because Hampstead Heath was out of bounds and the local swimming baths were shut. In spite of this, I recall the dedication of the teachers throughout this period. Some travelled back and forth from London and Berkhamsted on a weekly basis so that we could all study for the School leaving certificate, regardless of where we were.”

Jean tells the story of how one day, they were taking a Geography exam and a ‘Buzz Bomb’ fell on John Barnes (now Waitrose) causing the school windows to blow out! “The teachers served us tea as the exam was interrupted by the bomb. We then continued with the paper, and miraculously, we all passed,” exclaimed Jean.

One of Jean’s happier memories of South Hampstead is becoming a prefect when she was 16. She was taken to tea in a café in Finchley Road by the head girl Patricia Parsons to discuss how to behave as a prefect. To Jean’s delight, Patricia’s brother and the actor Nicholas Parsons, joined them. He went on to present ‘Just a Minute’ on BBC Radio 4 for 52 years. “Every time, I heard him on the radio, I would remember when I met him in that café with his sister,” said Jean proudly.

Jean’s strongest subject at school was Latin and Headmistress Miss Potter tried to persuade Jean’s mother that she should continue with the subject in order to study at university. At that time, Latin was a requirement for further education. “Sadly, my mother disapproved of women studying beyond school, so I never went to university and Miss Potter was most upset. Instead, after school I was allowed to go to the Women’s Teacher Training college at Roehampton and I went on to teach 6 year olds for many years. I then took a secretarial course and became a secretary for the remainder of my career.”

For many years, Jean was an enthusiastic member of the SHHS Past and Present Club for alumnae and was General Secretary of the group for 12 years until 1967. When Miss Bodington became Headmistress, Jean was able to acquaint her with anything she wanted to know about the school.  In our archive, we found the 1967 school magazine where the committee wrote of “her efficiency, forethought and unfailing courtesy, in the midst of much hard work have made it a real pleasure to have her in this capacity.”

Thank you Jean for finding the time to speak to us and thinking back to your school days. We are delighted to record your story in our archive so that future students of the school can find out more about being a South Hampstead student in the 1940s.

If you are a former pupil and would like to give us your ‘school days story’, please contact us on alumnae@shhs.gdst.net