RGS High Wycombe Masters Pages

Lewis Tom (Holly) Hollingworth (1909-71)

Tony Hare writes: I am indebted to John Saunders for digging out this information on one of my favourite masters.

Obituary, LT Hollingworth (Wycombiensian, Sept 1971, p724)

Only days after the sudden death of Mr. Emlyn Jones came the second shock of the very tragic death of Mr. L. T. Hollingworth in circumstances which stunned and shattered all who knew him as a close friend. To his son and daughter Roger and Anne we extend our very special sympathy and concern in the great and poignant blow which befell them in the loss of their father.

Mr. Hollingworth's last few years had been saddened by the untimely loss of his beloved wife. But, with great courage and resolution, with resourcefulness and meticulous care he kept his home going, acting as both father and mother to his young daughter, in a way which won the admiration of all who visited his home. During the last two years or so, worry and anxiety over his many commitments both at home and School had brought on a considerable sense of depression which he found very difficult to throw off, despite the efforts of his friends to sustain him.
After a welcome respite this depression returned recently in an acute form. He had been – as he went each year – to the C.C.F. Camp at Sheepstor, where his fellow-officers had done their best to cheer him up and take him out of himself. But alas! it seemed that, as soon as he returned to his empty home the old anxieties overwhelmed him again.

Mr. Hollingworth was a Derbyshire man, born in 1909 and educated at Bemrose School, Derby, and Reading University, where he took a degree in English, History and Latin. After holding teaching posts in Edinburgh, Doncaster and Sudbury, Suffolk, he joined the Staff of R.G.S. in 1945, where, besides being a member of the English Staff, teaching up to Ordinary Level, he was Headmaster of the Junior School. He thus played a major role in the life and work of the School. He was extremely conscientious and methodical about all his School responsibilities.
He was a firm and respected figure, even somewhat awe-inspiring to his younger pupils. His complete dependability and efficiency in taking charge of the first two year-groups of the School was greatly appreciated by the Headmaster. After the years of his reign in the ramshackle huts of Uplyme, with the junior School much more separated than at present from the main School, it was with much satisfaction that Mr. Hollingworth was able to re-settle his charges in the new 'Junior Block' in the 1963 building.

Mr. Hollingworth served the R.G.S. faithfully and well for 26 years. His loss will be keenly felt by all members of the School community. M.P.S. [Malcolm P Smith, headmaster]

Ancestry.com reveals his full name to be 'Lewis Tom Hollingworth' and his exact date of birth to be 5 April 1909. Note that both birth and death records give 'Tom' and not 'Thomas' for his middle name. His father was a heating engineer in an iron foundry in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, at the time of the 1911 census. Contrary to what was said about his Derbyshire origins in his RGS obit, the census tells us that he was born in Beeston, Notts (birth cert. says Basford, Notts).