Henry Fleet: – [Heath 1941–1960]
Henry Fleet was born on in Arnold, Nottingham to James Fleet. By the time Henry entered St Catherine’s College, Cambridge the family had moved to ‘Glenthorne’, Woodthorpe Avenue — described today as a ‘four to five bedroom family house’ — in the suburb of Sherwood. He went to Nottingham High School and University College, Nottingham — which was then a senior school, not a degree awarding institution.
He was 18 when World War I broke out but, according to the Imperial War Museum, he did not enlist until 1918 when, from –, he is listed as serving as a general administrator in the Air Ministry: Department of the Master-General of Personnel: Officers’ Service Records. It seems that the Heath Grammar School story that he had served in the Royal Flying Corps, which became part of the Royal Air Force on , relates to his appointment as a general administrator in January 1918.
Whatever the case, he was released from these duties to attend St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, matriculating on . Initially he studied Chemistry but switched to Geography receiving his BA in 1922 and claiming his MA in 1927.
By his third year he was representing the college in association football, perhaps giving some credence to the story that he had played on the wing as an amateur for Notts County.
At some point he did a doctorate but we have no information on when or where. However, the Editor recalls being told that he was associated with the discovery of a particular geological formation in Wales. So perhaps that was the subject of his doctoral thesis.
We have no further information until he joins Heath Grammar School in 1941 but he may have become a preparatory school teacher and this may have led him to apply for the temporary appointment to the Junior School in September 1941 to replace James Chisholm who had been given leave of absence for the duration of the war. When James Chisholm did not return, he was given a permanent post in 1947.
Andy Connell [Heath 1958–1965] writes:
I remember him as kindly and diminutive; he was unmarried and a heavy smoker, living in lodgings. At Heath he taught only first, second and third forms — Geography, Maths and Science. He retired in 1960.
Raymond Crossley [Heath 1951–1959] writes:
He seemed to be especially friendly with ‘Bill’ Charlton although the two were complete opposites both physically and in teaching methods. ‘Docco’ was indeed diminutive and kindly whereas Bill was big and a bit of a bruiser who often administered (or at least threatened) corporal punishment with rubber tubing — prefacing it by asking the miscreant, ‘With or without bunsen?’ On one occasion, although there were no physical threats, he gave a severe dressing down to some pupils who had said something less than respectful about Docco ending with, ‘He’s a grand little fellow!’
The other memory is of a class in which Docco was mocked for expressing his belief that plants could feel. He defended his view in a way which really impressed me as it was the first time I had ever thought about such a possibility.
On retirement he took up a post in a private school in Stockton — mentioned in The Heathen 1960 3(2) — eventually moving back to Nottingham, living at 2 Conway Gardens, Arnold where he died on .
Thank you to Andy Connell for doing the spadework, to the Archivist at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, who provided the details of his time at St Catherine’s and the illustrations, to Raymond Crossley who provided some further memories of him and to Chris Tidswell [Heath 1967–1972] who provided the information about his eventual retirement and death.