Lazarus (Les) Corney: – [Heath 1924–1935]
Lazarus (Les) Corney was Classics Master at Heath from 1924 to 1935. He was born in Manchester on to Benjamin and Annie Cornofsky (Karnovsky) who had immigrated from Lithuania and worked in the garment trade.
He had a brother, Eric, a sister, Rachel, and a brother, Harry. Their father died when he was 8 years old but he was able to gain a place at Manchester Grammar School from where he obtained a scholarship to St John’s College, Oxford. At some point he married Leah.
Donald Bancroft [Heath 1924–1931] writes in a letter to the headmaster dated :
My entry into the school with a scholarship coincided, I believe, with Corney’s arrival. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, from which he went as a scholar to St. John’s College, Oxford. The headmaster of H.G.S. was O.R.A. Byrde, who was certainly keen to foster classical studies. In appointing Les Corney he showed very good judgment.
I don’t know whether the honours boards are still displayed in the school hall, but if you examine them you will find that in the late twenties and thirties there is a remarkable series of awards gained, mostly at Oxford and predominantly in classics. The annus mirabilis was 1930–31. In October 1930 Alex Dakin won a Hastings Scholarship to Queen’s in classics; in December I won an open scholarship in classics to Corpus and T.K. Hanson an open scholarship in natural science to Oriel; in March, 1931 W.R. Nicholson won an open scholarship in classics to Oriel and B. Sunderland an exhibition in classics to Worcester College, Oxford. So, in this academic year Heath Grammar School, with fewer than 200 boys in the school, took five awards at Oxford. The credit for these successes must be due in large measure to Les Corney.
Most people who look back to their school days with pleasure can recall one particular teacher who influenced them strongly. For us, it was Corney. Over the intervening tract of fifty-five years it is hard to remember exactly what he did to inspire us. He was no slave-driver. Sweet reasonableness, rigorous standards of scholarship, a readiness to praise when praise was merited — these were the features I remember . . . and a rather ugly, smiling face. He gave the impression that he enjoyed his work and we were infected with a corresponding enjoyment and wanted, above all, to win his commendation.
He left for Emmanuel School, Wandsworth, and during WWII served in the 1st Anti-Aircraft Divisional Signals, part of a Territorial Army unit responsible for defending London.
He appears to have spent the rest of his teaching life in London and died on after a painful illness [not specified in his letter by Donald Bancroft]. He was survived by his wife, Leah.
When his book The Story of Rome was published by Edward Arnold in 1964, he gave his name as ‘Leslie Corney’ to the British Library and in the note with the complimentary copy which he sent to his former student, Donald Hudson [Heath 1926–1935], he signs himself ‘Les.’