Skip to main content

The story of the longest strike in British history

In non-Covid times, the left would be rallying to commemorate the Burston Strike School and the remarkable actions of Norfolk teachers Tom and Kitty Higdon. MARK HORNSEY explains

THE longest “strike” in British history is not an industrial dispute. 

In fact it took place in the sleepy village of Burston, which is situated in a picturesque corner of Norfolk near to the market town of Diss. 

What makes this strike unique is that all the strikers were schoolchildren. The strike lasted from 1914 to 1939. 

The story does not begin in Burston, however, but at the village school in Wood Dalling, north Norfolk. 

The two teachers in the school were a married couple named Tom and Kitty Higdon. Kitty was the headmistress and Tom her assistant. 

The Higdons had not been at the school for long before they were forced out of their jobs due to their strong Christian socialist beliefs.

They had been too vocal in their complaints to the school managers for not spending enough money to improve facilities at the school. 

In addition, the local farmers, who were the main employers in the district, and who in many cases also happened to be school managers, took exception to Tom’s efforts to organise farmworkers into a labour union. 

The result was that their employer, the Norfolk County Council Education Committee, offered the Higdons the choice of dismissal or transferring to another school. 

They chose to transfer and were given jobs at Burston and Shimpling Council School, with Kitty again as headmistress.

On arrival at their new school, the Higdons found conditions were even worse than at Wood Dalling, with poor or non-existent sanitation and inadequate heating and lighting.

The chairman of the school managers was the village rector, Rev Charles Eland. He was known to be a pompous man who was critical of anyone who didn’t give him or his family the respect he thought they deserved as the most important people in the village community.

Not surprisingly, the rector clashed with the Higdons from the start, and it wasn’t long before he was hatching plans to get rid of the two troublesome teachers. He would go to any length to achieve this goal, including blatant lying.

The Rev Eland demanded that the education committee hold an official inquiry into what he called the grave misdemeanours of the Higdons. 

To begin with there was a completely trumped-up charge against Kitty saying that she had severely beaten two Barnardo’s girls who attended the school. 

The rector abused his authority by forcing the two girls, along with their foster mother, to go along with his lies. 

As it happened the committee didn’t believe them, and on this charge found in favour of Kitty.

The rector’s next charge was that Kitty was using more coal for the school fire than she was officially allowed. 

The reason for this, she said, was that on a very rainy day she lit a fire in order to dry the children’s clothing. Again, the committee believed Kitty, not the rector.

The only charge that stuck was the charge of discourtesy to the school managers, and in particular discourtesy to the rector and his family. 

Trivial as this may appear today, at the time it was serious enough for the Higdons to lose their positions at the school. 

To give two examples of this alleged discourtesy, the rector said that Kitty passed his daughter in the street one time and failed to acknowledge her, and that Kitty gave his wife a “cold reception” when she visited the school one day.

Local farmers also wanted the Higdons dismissed, but for a different reason — they objected to Tom continuing his union work in the district. 

Matters came to a head when Tom was voted onto the parish council and the rector was not.

The strike was remarkable because it was the children themselves, or at least the older children, who organised it. 

The leader of the strike is acknowledged to be a 13-year-old girl named Violet Potter. 

Parents of the children validated the strike at a meeting held later that day. 

The Higdons were naturally delighted by this turn of events. Although excluded from the school house, they were happy to carry on lessons on the village green for any children who wanted them. 

A marquee was set up for rainy weather, although it was rarely needed. The summer of 1914 turned out to be a glorious one, but no-one, of course, knew what was just around the corner. Around 66 out of 72 pupils joined the strike. 

The rector and his farmer friends, whose tyrannical and hypocritical actions had caused the rebellion, now wagged their heads and their tongues in tragic and frightful warnings of what was going to happen to the foolish parents of the rebellious children.

Some parents were indeed summoned before the magistrates in Diss, and fined for their children’s non-attendance at school. 

However, this tactic backfired badly. All that happened was that an increasing number of people came to the meetings that were held every Sunday on the village green, and dropped their money into the strike boxes for the payment of the fines. 

It soon became apparent to the magistrates that all the penalties they could inflict failed to penalise the parents involved, so they stopped issuing fines.

The rector continued in his opposition to the strike, even though most villagers supported the strikers. 

He and the village policeman on more than one occasion made savage assaults with their sticks upon strike boys for no reason whatsoever. 

This so enraged parents that some of the men confronted the rector and threatened violence towards him if the beatings didn’t stop.

The Higdons, without any income of their own, were reliant upon donations for their living expenses, as well as for furniture and books for the school. 

Donations came from far and wide, but the Higdons were especially grateful to the kind people of Burston, most of whom were very poor, for donating what they could.

In time for the first winter, lessons were moved from the green to a room above a carpenter's shop. 

Finally, in 1917, with the help of labour unions, enough money was raised — £1,200 in fact — to build a proper school house. 

This building still stands today, and has been turned into a museum.

The rector retired and his replacement, Rev Francis Smith, treated both schools equally, teaching religious instruction in both schools.

The strike lasted until 1939, when Tom Higdon died. Kitty, who was now in her seventies, felt she couldn’t do the job by herself, and the last 11 pupils were transferred to the council school.

The Higdons are buried side by side in a simple grave situated in the church graveyard.

In non-Covid years every September a trade union rally takes place on the village green to commemorate the strike. 

This year’s rally would have been on Sunday September 5. Instead there was a low-key invitation-only march followed by a small gathering at the Higdons’ graves. 

It’s hoped that the rally will return next year.

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 14,518
We need:£ 3,482
0 Days remaining
Donate today