Percival Allen – Tales from the Archives

November 28, 2024November 29, 2024

A Random Recollection of Walter Sickert

Between August 1981 and January 1982 and again in November 1984, a small group of senior members of the University met on eight occasions to reminisce about their time at Reading.

The bulk of these discussions took place between Johnny Johnson, the Registrar and Tommy Sibly, Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Science. Other contributors were Keith Hodgson, Senior Administrative Assistant in the Registrar’s Office, and Professor ‘Perce’ Allen from Geology.

Most meetings took place in the Registrar’s office where they were recorded on reel-to-reel tape recorders, transcribed and published in a bound volume, probably in 1984.

University of Reading Special Collections

Although there is some structure to the collection, being organised under headings such as ‘people’, ‘events’ and ‘changes’, the term ‘random’ in the title is entirely appropriate. The content consists of anecdotes, hearsay, personal opinions, who was living with whom, humorous slants on colleagues, and the like. There is much gossip, some of which seems rather malicious, and sometimes one has to be wary of what to treat as a true account.

Inside the front cover is a letter from Professor Cyril Tyler (Deputy Vice-Chancellor 1968-76) in which he states:

‘I have read the “Random Recollections …” and find them too biased to be valuable as a contribution to University history.’

He was particularly uneasy about subjective judgements concerning those colleagues selected for praise and those who were omitted. Attached to the letter is a three-page list of corrections and comments.

Nevertheless, the reminiscences are interesting, often amusing, and sometimes shocking even in consideration of the culture of the time. In spite of Professor Tyler’s reservations, the core of much of the content can be verified from other sources such as Professor Holt’s history of the University, archive material in the University’s Special Collections and autobiographies of some of the personalities mentioned. Nevertheless, no doubt some details have been embellished or exaggerated in the telling.

Johnny Johnson (left) and Tommy Sibly (right) reminiscing in the early 1980s (University of Reading Special Collections)

It is worth noting that Tommy Sibly was the son of Sir Franklin Sibly, Vice-Chancellor from 1929 to 1946, and so able to give the inside story on people and events that concerned his father.

Tommy Sibly (right) on the occasion of his retirement, 28 Sept 1989. On the left is Professor Monty Frey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (University Bulletin, November 1989)

One narrative that amusingly delves well behind the scene of the official record is the story of how an honorary degree was awarded to the artist Walter Sickert.

Walter Richard Sickert(1860-1942)

By the 1930s Sickert was already regarded as one of the most prominent artists in the UK; according to Virginia Woolf writing in the 1930s, he had ‘no illusions about his own greatness’ ( Robins, 2000, p. xxvii). In 1938 he was awarded an honorary DLitt by Reading University, the result of a close friendship with James Anthony Betts (1897-1980), Head of the Fine Art Department at Reading. On his appointment in 1933, Betts breathed new life into the department, prioritised the role of drawing, and both he and his department were heavily influenced by Sickert’s work.

Betts continue to lead Fine Art for another 30 years and during the 1950s put together an impressive collection of drawings that included 18 works by Sickert. These were bought by the University from the Betts family in 1994, and in 2002 the Sickert drawings were conserved, funded by a donation from Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling American thriller writer.

The Ceremony

The official account of Sickert’s Degree honoris causa, published in the Reading University Gazette reports that he was awarded his degree on 20 June 1938 alongside, among others, The Right Honourable Neville Chamberlain the then British Prime Minister.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Frank Stenton, presented each honorary graduand to the congregation with a short speech:

‘Mr. Chancellor, The work of RICHARD SICKERT cuts across all the usual categories of artistic discussion. In regard to him, the familiar distinction between traditionalism and modernity is meaningless; and artists who belong to the most widely divergent of schools are agreed in acknowledging the greatness of his achievement … In the international world of art he is acknowledged everywhere; examples of his work will be found in every gallery which truly represents the history of modern painting, and younger men in every continent have responded to the force of his example …’ (p. 48).

Anthony Betts and Walter Sickert at the Great Hall, 20June 1938 (reproduced with permission from the Betts’ Family Archive)

The Unofficial account

The above eulogy, no doubt put together by Professor Betts, makes no mention of Sickert’s eccentricities. The version constructed by Johnny Johnson and Tommy Sibly, on the other hand, takes delight in recounting his outrageous behaviour.

It seems that there was a tradition for the University to treat honorary graduands to a slap-up lunch in Wantage Hall with nothing spared. June 20, 1938 was no exception:

‘J[ohnson]. … Well, Sickert turned up at Wantage Hall dressed in a tweed jacket, grey flannels and carpet slippers, which was not quite the thing; nevertheless Sickert was Sickert and during the lunch he proceeded to get absolutely plastered, there’s no question about it. Halfway through the lunch … he spotted Sir Hugh Allen [a fellow honorary graduand], who was Director of Music [at Reading] at the time, right at the other end of the hall, but he persisted in having a conversation with Hugh Allen throughout the lunch. I’m told that at one stage, presumably towards the end of the lunch, they burst into song as they were old friends … So by the end of the lunch Sickert was really drunk, and everybody was getting a bit worried about what to do with him.’ (p. 151).

Fortunately, there was a hiccup in the arrangement for taxis to take participants from Wantage Hall down to the Great Hall on London Road. This gave Anthony Betts and John Waldie, lecturer in Agricultural Botany and the new Warden of Wantage, enough time to take Sickert into the Warden’s lodge, fill him with as much black coffee as he could take and put him into the last taxi.

By the time Sickert reached the hall, he was behaving himself until it was his turn to be admitted:

‘… it was fairly apparent that as he was standing up on the platform he was also swaying gently all through the speech! Then the real payoff came … as he leaned across the mace to shake hands with Lord Templewood [then Samuel Hoare the University’s Chancellor] he just breathed into the microphone, “Bloody good lunch, wasn’t it?” (p.152).

At this point, Tommy Sibly takes up the story of the aftermath. Somehow they got Sickert to Reading Station:

‘… it was going to be very difficult getting him through the subway and up the steps the other side, so they got the luggage lift. I think it was while they were actually in the lift, or it might have been after they had got up to the top, Sickert suddenly said, “Oh Betts, I haven’t said goodbye to your wife” …. He had to be taken back to the luggage lift, and had to go up to Betts’ house and see Mrs Betts before he was finally dispatched. (p. 152).

Caveat

It’s a good story! But let’s not forget that the event took place in 1938, some 43 years before Tommy Sibly and Johnny Johnson made their recording. Neither was present at the time; Johnson’s sources were John Waldie of Wantage Hall and Anthony Betts himself. The only doubt Johnson expressed about the veracity of the tale was to do with Sickert and Sir Hugh Allen Bursting into song. However, Sibly insisted that he had heard the same from his father.

So, at least the essence of the story appears to be true. Whether the same applies to all the details is another matter.

Sources

Betts’ Family Archive.

Holt, J. C. (1977). The University of Reading: the first fifty years. Reading: University of Reading Press.

Johnson, J. F. & Sibly, T. C. F. (c1984). Random Recollections of the University of Reading. Reading: University of Reading.

Lebens, N. (Ed.). (2021). Rubens to Sickert: the study of drawing. Reading: University of Reading.

Reading University Gazette, Vol. XI. No. 3. July 19, 1938.

Robins, A. G. (1996). Walter Sickert: drawings. Theory and practice: word and image. Aldershot: Scolar Press.

Robins, A. G. (Ed.). (2000). Walter Sickert: the complete writings on art. Oxford: OUP.

University of Reading. Bulletin, no. 227, November 1989.

January 24, 2023February 12, 2023

Fake News in 1959: the Rag Week Diamond Scandal

In November 2022, Tony Hollander who had been a student at Reading in the 1950s contacted the University seeking information about one of his professors. Tony had studied Botany, Zoology, Geology and Education and was writing a memoir. I asked him about student life in the 1950s. There was much interesting material, but what intrigued me most was this extract from one of his emails:

‘A ragwee[k] prank in my time was to reveal the discovery of diamonds in the local Thames gravels. Its support from the geology department appeared in The Times. Further revelations led to the editor writing a lofty piece indicating his wounded pride and declaring the paper’s mistrust of any future work by the university!’

the times article

Sure enough, a search of the Times Digital Archive turned up these headlines from the issue of 14th February 1959:

‘DIAMONDS FIND NEAR THAMES

—–

CLAIM BY READING STUDENTS

—–

GEOLOGISTS DISCOUNT HOAX THEORY

—–

From Our Special Correspondent’

Apparently, three Reading students claimed to have found diamonds in an old gravel pit. Following instructions from the Geology Department they were keeping the location secret to avoid a ‘diamond rush’.

Although the article quoted experts who urged caution, and the Special Correspondent was aware that it was close to the annual rag day, the authenticity of the find was supported by Professor Percival Allen and Phoebe Walder of Reading’s Geology Department. The article was illustrated by two photographs of them examining the stones and subjecting them to tests.

Professor Allen assured The Times that, even though the stones were of industrial quality, he and his colleague were 99% confident that they really were diamonds.

Two days later

The original article had appeared on a Saturday; by the following Monday, it had become obvious that, to their extreme embarrassment, The Times and ‘Our Special Correspondent‘ had fallen for a carefully crafted hoax.

On Monday 16th February, therefore, a Times Editorial under the title ‘QUIS CUSTODIET’ began with an apology to readers and was followed by a vicious attack on Prof Allen. Some choice extracts appear below:

- ‘a pack of lies, told publicly and in his official capacity, by PROFESSOR ALLEN, who is head of the Geology Department of Reading University.’
- ‘PROFESOR ALLEN is quite unrepentant. Indeed, he is feeling rather pleased with himself’
- ‘This sort of thing should remain the prerogative of youth.’
- ‘Dons should no more indulge in it than they should belong to roof climbing clubs or ‘debag’ one another in the course of celebrations after athletic victories.’
- ‘Until it [this discreditable affair] is cleared up, the public will be unable to know whether any future statement coming from Reading University is true or not.’

The same issue contained a further article from ‘Our Special Correspondent’ quoting Professor Allen as claiming that it was just ‘A bit of harmless fun in a good cause’, that it was such an obvious hoax that nobody should have been duped, and that scientists shouldn’t take themselves too seriously. Apparently, the originator of the idea had been Dr Roland Goldring, a newly-appointed colleague in the Geology Department, aided and abetted by his wife.

Further Developments

There were letters to the press; there were radio and television interviews; Allen’s failure to apologise caused irritation at The Times and elsewhere. An anonymous letter demanded that he resign and ‘make room for a man with a mature mind.’

A firm of toolmakers in Leeds asked (presumably tongue in cheek) for a quotation for cheap industrial diamonds.

There was a semi-humorous article in the New Scientist suggesting that Allen’s actions resulted from the ‘intellectual isolation’ of working in a ‘small-town’ university. Allen’s response raises a serious point about the dangers of what he referred to as ‘the cult of the expert’:

‘Most people and newspapers appear to have used their common sense about the diamond ‘strike’ and drawn the obvious conclusion. But a few preferred to believe the promulgations of a professor against the run of the remaining (and intentionally available) evidence.’

A surprising aspect of the affair was the apparent failure of the University to engage with it. When The Times asked Sir John Wolfenden, the Vice-Chancellor, whether the University Council had discussed it, he responded that, ‘Presumably … no member of the council thought that any useful purpose would be served by raising it.’ (see Allen, 1982, p.120).

This, of course, was the public face of the University; who knows what went on behind the scenes!

Portrait of Allen — This photograph of Prof Allen hangs in the corridor of the Allen Laboratory.

More about Professor Percy (‘Perce’) Allen

Percival Allen had been a Reading student, registering in the Faculty of Science in 1936, graduating with first-class honours in 1939 and receiving his PhD in 1943.

In the same year, he became a Demonstrator in the Geology Department and then Assistant Lecturer in 1945. In 1952 he succeeded Prof. Hawkins (his own Professor) as Professor of Geology. He remained in post until 1982, interspersed by a spell as Dean of the Faculty of Science (1963-66).

On the Whiteknights Campus, the Allen Laboratory is named in recognition of his contribution to scientific research and to the University.

Clearly, the Diamond episode had done no harm to his career within the University; neither did it damage his wider reputation: he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (1973), was its Vice-President (1977-78 and 1978-79) and was President of the Geological Society of London (1978-80).

In one of his emails, his former student, Tony Hollander, remembers him thus:

‘Prof Allen was highly regarded. He established the Sedimentology section in the Geology department. When I asked him for advice about specialising he said that if I felt I could teach, this was a rare gift and that I should pursue it.’

Who was Phoebe Walder?

Phoebe S. Walder, BSc, was a member of the Geology Department from 1930 until 1965, initially as a Demonstrator and Museum Assistant, and finally as Senior Lecturer.

Phoebe undated — Undated image of Phoebe Walder: University of Reading Special Collections.

Tony Hollander remembered her well; she had been his ‘moral tutor’:

‘Phoebe Walder was widely seen as an amiable and motherly figure. She made mineralogy an accessible and attractive subject for me and was also assigned as my moral tutor. Both responsibilities were exercised with minimum personal intrusion. Mineralogy probably suffered neglect from this arms length approach. Moral dilemmas, when aired, were treated with kindness and patience.’

Post Script

Periodically, the sign outside the Allen Laboratory is ‘edited’ (presumably by students).

Modern prank — Whiteknights, January 2018

How would Allen have reacted? I doubt whether he would have been offended. In fact, he might have been disappointed by the lack of ambition. In his own words (Allen, 1982, p. 124):

‘I’ve no patience with timidity.’

Thanks

To Tony Hollander for his reminiscences and permission to quote from his emails.

To Professor Steve Musson, Head of School for Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, for confirming that I could use the photograph of Prof Allen.

Sources

Allen, P. (1982). The great diamond hoax. In C. Y. Craig & E. J. Jones (Eds.), A geological miscellany. Oxford: Orbital Press.

From Our Special Correspondent. “Diamonds Find Near Thames.” Times, 14 Feb. 1959, p. 6. The Times Digital Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS103504974/TTDA?u=rdg&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=49e2cde0. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.

Holt, J. C. (1977). The University of Reading: the first fifty years. Reading: University of Reading Press.

University of Reading. Calendar, 1930-31 to 1964-5.

University of Reading. Proceedings of the University, 1938-9 to 1942-3.

University of Reading Special Collections. University History MS5305 Photographs – Portraits Box 2.