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| Thomas Burchell Stephenson |
Daily Gleaner January 6 1909
A TEACHER'S WORK WELL DONE.
Presentation to Mr. T. B. Stephenson.
GLOWING TRIBUTES ARE PAID
A Life Devoted To Education In Jamaica.
After 46 years of service as an elementary schoolmaster, Mr. T. B. Stephenson, the respected headmaster of the East
Queen St. Baptist School, has retired from active work, and the present and past pupils of the school, his colleagues in the
profession and admire[r]s met at Edmondson Hall yesterday to present him with an address and a purse in recognition of his
distinguished service.
His Excellency the Governor presided, and on the platform were Hon. Thomas Capper, Col. Hicks, Major Gruchy, Revs. Gordon
Somers, W. Pratt, A. James, G. L. Young, Mrs. Walcott, Mr. Peat, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Plant and Mr. Phillips.
Mr. Stewart, in a very able speech, introduced the Governor, who expressed the pleasure it gave him to be present, and congratulated
Mr. Stephenson on the excellent work he had done in the cause of education. Schoolmasters, said His Excellency, were like
missionaries; they laboured not for what it brought them, but they worked for the sake of the work. Men like Mr. Stephenson
were content because of the deeds that followed them. Their spirits were attuned not so much to obtaining worldly goods, but
to the uplifting of their race. He felt honoured on being given the opportunity to preside at the meeting.
TEXT OF THE ADDRESS.
Mr. K. N. Phillips then read the address as follows, Mrs. Walcott at the same time handing Mr. Stephenson the purse:
Dear Mr. Stephenson,
Now that you have retired from active life as an elementary schoolmaster, we desire to express our high appreciation of
the invaluable service you have rendered our country in that capacity. You have spent 46 years of your life in the schoolroom
during which you have by indomitable pluck, energy, perseverance and determination proved yourself one of our most successful
teachers. In the course of your professionil [sic] career over 10,000 pupils have come under your tuition, 8,000 of whom in
the city of Kingston; and here we gladly bear grateful testimony to the effect your training has had upon us. Not only have
you sought to equip us intellectually for our life's work, but realizing the true ideal of a teacher and the dignity and importance
of the office as a prominent factor in the making of a people, one of the characteristic features of your training has been
your constant endeavour to inspire us with a true sense of justice and honesty of purpose and all that makes for true manliness
and good citizenship. The impress of your noble character has been so indelibly stamped upon us, that nobility of life and
character is the good after which we strive.
We note with pleasure and pride the positions which some of your pupils occupy scattered as they are among the various
avocations of life including the legal, ministerial, medical, teaching. Mercantile, with a large number of artisans, and we
all look back with gratitude and satisfaction, on the time spent, under your instruction.
During the 46 years of your faithful labour you have evinced the keenest interest in the social, moral and intellectual
welfare of our people, and have always taken a leading part In the solution of questions that affect elementary education
in this island. Your opinion based on sound judgment and long practical experience has always been respected not only by your
brethren in the profession but by others interested in the educational advancement of our country. This is evidenced by your
having been appointed for three consecutive years to serve on the Board of Education and elected president of the Jamaica
Union of Teachers on two different occasions, and member of the executive of that body from its formation to the present time.
These are slight proofs of the esteem in which you are held by the community.
Without making any invidious distinction with the subscribers of the purse, whose response has been so ready and spontaneous
a few quotations from letters received will give some Idea of the general high esteem in which you are held:
"I shall be happy to attend on the occasion of the presentation of an address to a teacher whom I esteem
so highly as I do Mr. Stephenson." - Hon. Thomas Capper, B.A. Superintending Inspector of Schools.
"ln common with all who know Mr. Stephenson, I have a high opinion of his character and of the value
of his work, and I am glad to join in expressing it."- Rev. Canon Wm. Simms M. A., Head Master, Jamaica College.
"No teacher has in my judgment rendered better service to the cause of education in this island than
Mr. Stephenson and no teacher deserves to be honoured more than he." - Rev. Wm. Pratt, M. A.
"It will give me great pleasure to honour Mr. Stephenson whom I know and respect, and whose services
for Elementary Education in this island I highly appreciate." - Right Rev. Bishop CoIlIns, S. J.
"The Governor recognises that there are exceptional circumstances in regard to Mr. Stephensons distinguished
and honourable career as a schoolteacher which would make it particularly agreeable to him to preside on the occasion proposed."
E. T. Scott, Private Secretary.
"I regret very much as an Old Calabar boy I cannot be present at such a necessary function. It has been
a great privilege to come under the influence of a man of such marked personality, strength of character and honesty of purpose."
J. L. King, B. A. Grays Inn London.
In bidding adieu to the profession, we are conscious that it is only the robe of activity in the service that will be laid
aside, but the garment of whole-hearted zeal and intense interest in a cause which is dear to your heart will still be worn
by you, and while we fain would think of your departure from the schoolroom, we joy in the fact that your experience, counsel
and guidance will ever be at our disposal.
As a token of our appreciation and recognition of your services to Jamaica for close upon half a century, and of
our thankfulness for the example set us of an upright, useful life, we would ask you to accept the accompanying purse subscribed
to by past and present pupils and others who share our high opinion of your work and worth. Truly your life reminds us,
"We can make our lives sublime,
And departing leave behind us,
Footprints on the sand of time."
May the Good Shepherd continue to lead you and your dear wife besides the "still waters"; may "goodness
and mercy follow you all the remaining days of your lives" and in your declining days may you both experience that "peace
which passeth all understanding" and when you shall have put off this mortal coil may you be welcomed by the Great Teacher
in the haven of rest is the earnest prayer of your grateful pupils.
The address is signed by Kent Newton Phillips, J. Alex. Stewart, Arthur A. Stephenson, Samuel Cross, Arthur E. Nicholas,
Walton S. Cooper, John Rodgers, Samuel Kitchen and Henry F. Nicholls, on behalf of the others.
MR. STEPHENSON'S REPLY.
Mr. Stephenson, in reply, heartily thanked them all for the address they had given him and the souvenir that accompanied
it. He joined in the expression of sorrow at Mr. Bournes death and expressed his deepest sympathy with Mrs. Bourne who was
a true friend to the elementary schoolteachers of the island.
In thanking the Governor for being present, Mr. Stephenson expressed the hope that during His Excellency's administration,
with the advice of his executive, an enactment would be passed which would bring into the schools thousands who did not at
present enjoy the benefit of going to school.
Mr. Pratt, Col. Hicks and other speakers testified to Mr. Stephenson's high character and the splendid service
he had rendered as a schoolmaster to the youth of this country.
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