George Merriman BREWIN [1074]

  General Notes:

George Merriman Brewin
Birth Date 21 Nov 1883
Baptism Date 14 Dec 1883
Baptism Place Richmond, St Mary Magdalene, Surrey, England
Father Arthur Brewin
Mother Maria Louisa Brewin
Reference Number P7/1/22

Julius Jottings No's 1
January 1900
LIFE AT RUGBY.
DEAR EDITOR,
A Whole School Day. I, being a humble member of our Julius family, and being also a member of Rugby School, have taken it upon me to write and tell you what kind of a place Rugby is, and what a schoolboy does, and what his surroundings are like.
So let me give you an account of the first part of his day. The first thing in the morning that he hears is the School bell he is lying very comfortable and warm in bed (probably half asleep) then he is startled by the stentorian voice of the school-house butler saying, "Quarter-past six, gentlemen." A general moan follows one or two fellows, less sleepy than the others, get out of bed and go and indulge in a refreshing cold bath. Half-past six strikes, then the rest one by one get up; some going to cold baths, and others not. At ten minutes to seven the bell again begins ringing, and one then goes to hall and gets a cup of hot coffee, and then rushes off to one's form-room. Woe betide the boy who hasn't reached it before the beII stops ringing, at three minutes to seven. Having reached his form-room, the master has a "Call Over" of his form. This being complished, the members of the form then go to chapel. You see them walking up the aisle very fast, because it is considered "Side" to walk up slowly. "Side," I might explain, is considered a great sin, except when it is practised by a sixth form fellow, or a good athlete.
The word simply means "Conceit." "Side" includes the breaking of all customs and rules. If a fellow breaks any of the following rules he is called "Sidy ". He must always walk on the right-hand side of Well Street (going away from the school gates). He must always walk on the same side of the road as his house. He mustn't turn up his trousers unless it is very wet and muddy. He never goes into another house unless he is a great swell, or on one other occasion which shall be told later. He mustn't walk across the chief football or cricket ground, if he does, he is liable to a penalty of 2s. 6d., but this is only taken if money is wanted for any school subscriptions. These then are the chief rules under which a Rugbeian is placed but to resume to where we had got in the day's routine, having takein one's appointed seat in chapel the usual matins is gone through, including a hymn and a psalm. Then, when the service is over, the whole school troop back to their form-rooms. The master then hears the lesson previously prepared, and halfway through the lesson the School Marshal comes with the register for absentees, he also brings around notices, which are read aloud, and great is the pleasure If an extra half-holiday is announced. The lesson is then resumed till 8am when the marks are taken and all the boys go back to their houses for breakfast. Now, let us suppose that a master is ill. If he doesn't turn up, it is called a "cut," and the fellow's are allowed to go away after waiting a quarter-of-an-hour. Then is it that the boys are allowed to take each other over their houses and show each other around but this is only allowed in the case of a " cut " from " first " lesson. Having had breakfast, which consists of tea or coffee, meat or eggs (generally hot) and bread and butter, and any luxury you like to provide for yourself, you have about an hour to do anything you like in. If you have any little malady or a bad bruise, you have to go and visit the doctor at the Sanatorium. Then, again, there is music for some. At 9.30 or 9.45 you resume your work till 11.15, then you get a break till 11.45, and then work till 1.15. Then you have dinner in hall at I.30. The school-house hall is a large oblong room, its walls are decorated with a few well-known engravings and photographs. On either side of a large fire-place there are brackets, holding all the cups, which are the trophies of victories in athletics and singing, and so on. Opposite the cups there are hung one or two shields, which are also trophies of victory. During dinner and between the courses, literature of all kinds is eagerly devoured. Dinner being over at about 2.0, there is time left for exercise till 3.30. Some go to the gymnasium, some to the racquet courts and fives courts, others go for bicycle rides. Then, again, there is work from 3.30 to 6.0, at which time there is tea. After tea each fellow goes to his study, which is his home. They are very small rooms, and the usual furniture consists of one small table, one arm chair one cushioned wicker-work chair and a stool. Cupboard, and a few drawers are permanent structures. This is where the Rugbeian "lives." Here he amuses himself with his hobbies, whether they be model engines, motors, dynamos, stamps, science, chemical experiments, or anything else. He may make as much noise and smell as he likes, so long as neither reach the sixth (i.e., Prefect.) This, then, is the kind of day that a Rugheian has ; I might add that a hot supper awaits him at 9.00, and prayers are held in hall at 9.30. We then goes to bed, and there, for the present, let us leave him. (To be continued)

Julius Jottings No's 2
April 1900
LIFE AT RUGBY.
Fagging, etc.
This terrible word, though it sounds terrible to the ears of people who know little or nothing about a Boy's Public School, sounds very familiar in the ear of a school boy, and it also seems to him to imply very little. One connects everything horrid in school life with the word "fagging." But I assure you that this is a very mistaken idea. You will find a fag quite as bright a personage as any chap his work is no drudgery to him , so let me assure you that fagging is no black matter, as it may possibly have been in the Days of Tom Brown.
Any fag will tell you that fagging is a " nuisance" or "annoying," but he will never complain that he is worked too hard, or anything like that. I will now proceed to tell you what fagging means nowadays.
"Fa-a-a-ag" you hear being shouted at some distant part of the house. The next thing that you hear is a frightful slamming of rickety study doors, and then a huge rush down stairs, or to ever the call may be. This is known as a " fag call," and the unfortunate fag who arrives last stops, while the rest go back to their studies. The fag is then commissioned to go and fetch any one of the following articles: knives, plates, butter, milk, cheeze water, cups (these are fetched from the butler), clean socks hankerchiefs, shirts, Ellimans, towels (these are fetched from the matron). These, then, are the kind of commissions that a fag has to do. Of course, there are other rules about fagging. Your first term you have to run every fag call; your second term you will have to run if there are two calls; your third term at the third call ; and so on, until you do not run at all after your fifth term. The penalty for "cutting" (i.e. not going to a fag call ), nothing the first offence, and a caning from the Sixth at the second offence. This ceremony is performed in the evening, after prayers, in a room called the Fifth Form Room (I don't know why), and which is known to the boys as "Piffer " (I can find no satisfactory explanation to either of these names). Several of the sixth and the Head of the House assemble in " Piffer," and the Sixth who has found fault with someone licks him with a knotted cane, three or four strokes being the usual amount.
There is one other department in fagging besides attending fag calls, Three fags, or sometimes two, are chosen by each Sixth at the beginning of the term, and they have to sweep out his study once a week, in turn. During the week they are supposed to go every day with a feather-brush and dust the picture, and ornaments. I am afraid that this irreligous work of sweeping-out is always done on a Sunday morning, immediately after breakfast. It is a very risky thing to walk along the passages during this period. You are sure to be choked with dust, then you tumble over some furniture, and then you are walking past an open door when your legs are covered with tea-leaves which are being swept out ; for everything is swept into the passages, and is taken away by the men-servants. Toast-fagging is about the last factor to be dealt with. Your first term you toast two bits of toast, and your second, one piece, and this is all that toasting consists of. There is no toasting in the summer term. You are not allowed to toast for yourselves until your fifth term, and you may not make buttered toast until your ninth or tenth term.
This sums up all that fagging consists of in the School House ; but I do not say that this is the case in other houses.
So far, I have told you about the School House, and what goes on in it ; so let us now pass to a house which is common to all members of the school. Of course, I mean the Sanatorium. This is a most peculiar looking building. I won't say that it is ugly, nor that it is pretty. Its most prominent feature is a round tower, the roof of which is conical. This tower is very useful, being both a staircase, and a chimney, and an ornament (?). The staircase winds round the chimney, which acts as a kind huge pillar, and supports a large amount of the building. From this tower there jut out three wings, one running west, Another east, and a third south. The south wing is composed of two very large rooms for epidemics of infectious illness, and four smaller ones, which are, two accident rooms, and the first and second west rooms. In the west wing there are the east room and south room on the first floor, and Library and Dining-room on the ground floor. In the east wing there is the consulting-room, and the Matron's room, bed-rooms, kitchens and servants' quarters. There is also a cottage for overflows, or very infectious diseases. The garden is divided into two lawns by the south wing, which is rather convenient for separating infectious and non-infectious inmates. In the summer, tennis, croquet and bowls are provided in the garden. Each bed has a bell and a table by it. The waIls are for the most part, of a blue plaster, and decorated with one or two common prints. The Library is a very nice little room and contains a good stock of books. The Sanatorium is, as is every portion of the school premises, lit with electric light even each study has its own light and switch.

Julius Jottings No 3
October 1900
LIFE AT RUGBY.
School Buildings. I intend now to give you a final view of Rugby and its surroundings as they appear both to the Schoolboys and to strangers. Rugby, when approached by the railway, doesn't look up to much. You come into a huge station with a platform which is a quarter of a mile in length On alighting from your carriage you will probably come down with a heavy thump ; this is because the platform is unusually low, and hence there is a big step from the foot board of the carriage to the platform. In spite of the size of the station, there is only one exit, and that is down an, incline in the centre of the station. It is really terrible if you have lost your luggage. You see a little black speck at the end of the platforth, which you think may be it. Having trampled a quarter of a mile you find it is a sack of potatoes, or a crate with , live stock in it, and you have to resume your walking tour back to the exit or elsewhere. Having got out of the station, you have to subject yourself to the shouts of a crowd of little ragged boys who want to carry your bag, or your umbrella, or something which is only a featherweight. After about a quarter of an hour's walk, you finally arrive at the Market Place. This has at the centre a Jubilee clock-tower and a cab-stand. On, one side of it there, is a very old and stumpy dark-grey church. At the north-east corner the church has a huge white stone Jubilee spire; this looks very nice by itself, but it looks most peculiar when coupled with the old church. After you leave the Market Place you get your first glimpse of the school buildings. You look down the High Street and you see the old quadrangle gates with the Sixth School window protruding over them. On the top there is a flagstaff, from which a flag flies on Sundays, and any special occasions. Going through the gates you find yourself in a spacious quadrangle, surrounded by battlements; a place which Don Quixote would have loved to revel in and try to fight any of its peaceable inmates. On two sides there are cloisters. It is paved now with asphalte, but not at all long ago it was all cobbles. A stone-flagged path goes from the gates to the opposite corner and divides the quadrangle into two parts, one of which is used only by schoolhouse fellows. Facing you, as you enter, there is a tall arch, known as Hall Arch, and under which only the Sixth and Swells go. There is a door under the archway going into the Schoolhouse Hall. Now let us follow the path across " Old Quad." It leads us under the end cloister and through a kind of broad passage into " New Quad." In this passage are the school notice boards, on which all notices are hung, and also the rules. The sides of " New Quad " are composed of the following buildings. On the south side is the chapel, a large red and white brick building, with a very peculiar kind of tower. This tower is built on four arches directly over the chancel. About midway up there are four very tall windows of perfectly plain glass. So one may well imagine that the 'structure is by no means firm. On the top of this tower the architect intended to put a spire, but the tower couldn't bear one, so he put on a conically-shaped roof, which gives the tower a peculiarly stumpy appearance. The east side of " New Quad" is formed by the Birching Tower and the wall of a large room called Old Big School. The north side is formed by an old chemical laboratory and a form room above it, and by some large new form-rooms, three stories high, which are built in the angle, so that they form both the north and west side. On the latter side they are separated from the chapel, by what used to be cloisters, but is now used for room, or passage, for the hat stands. Now let its go inside the chapel. We find ourselves in a large building of red and white brick, with a great deal of ornamentation, and built to seat about 800 persons. The windows, are for the most-part of stained glass, and very brightly coloured. In front of you there is a plain altar with only two candlesticks on it. The reredos and the ceiling are covered with figures, and have a bright gilt back-ground. On the right there is the same old pulpit as Dr. Arnold preached from, and on the left. there is a magnificent organ, the mechanism of which is worked by electricity. It has four keyboards, but one has no stops connected with it. It has one great peculiarity, namely, all the white notes are 'black, and all the black notes are white ; this is sometimes a little perplexing to those unused to it, but one soon gets used to it. There is only one point which rather spoils the building. All the west-end is new, and at the west-end there is a huge window which is all plain bottle-glass in small squares ; it would cost hundreds of pounds to put in stain glass, but until it is done, the chapel is by no means perfect. Now let us leave the chapel by the South Transept door. We find ourselves in the good old Close with its rookeries and elm trees, so well known to all Rugbeians. But, alas, how many of those elms are missing. In the great gale which visited us in 1895 no less than nineteen great elms were blown down. " The island " is a small hillock on the east side of the Close, covered with trees. It used to be surrounded by water, but it no longer is. It has on it the old cricket pavilion, with the names of many an O.R. on its walls, including Tom Hughes. On exactly the opposite side of the Close there used to be a marsh called the Pontines ; although it no longer exists, the place retains its name. Here are the school swimming baths, called by the,schoolboy the " Tosh:" The baths are much too small, but otherwise nice. At the very end of the Close, and on the same side as the " Tosh," there is a large building, the basement of which forms the workshops. These are low-roofed, but contain every requisite. Above these there is a splendid gymnasium. It is very large, and has every bit of apparatus one could wish for. About three-quarters of the floor is padded. As you enter there are two changing rooms, one on your right and one on your left. Here fellows take off their boots and coats, etc. On two sides in the gymnasium there are rows of bags on pegs. In these one keeps one's canvas shoes and a belt. On taking them out (shoes, etc.), you are supposed to put in any valuables you may have, such as a watch, or purse. A gallery runs three-fourths of the way round, from which competitions are watched. After the gymnasium we come to the racquet and fives courts. There are two of the former, and about a dozen of the latter. Now let us leave the Close and see the other buildings. Opposite the Sanatorium there is an observatory with an excellent telescope, etc. Next we come to the Temple Reading-room and Museum, this faces the Close and stands by the Barby Road. On a grass lawn in front of it there is a fine statue of Tom Hughes, recently unveiled by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The reading-room is a very nice room, with a very large selection of books. Daily papers, weekly papers, and time-tables, all abound there. On going upstairs you come to the Art Museum. This is the finest public school museum in England. The trustees of the British and Kensington Museums take a great deal of interest in it, and every term lend a large number of goods to be exhibited. Another large building is one exactly opposite the doctor's front door and drive. This is called New Big School. On the ground floor there are three fairly large, though rather dark, form rooms. Above these there is a large room which can, when necessary, be made to hold quite 700 people. The walls are panelled with oak to the height of about 10 feet, carved with little battlements at the top. At one end there is a platform with a large organ on it, on eider side of which there are rows of seats raised one above the other ; on these seats the choir usually sits for concerts, and the orchestra sit in the stage. The organ is used for those members who learn it to practice on, hydraulic engines being used to blow it. These engines are started and stopped by simply pushing in and pulling out a, stop. A large part of the mechanism is carried out by the engines, of which there are two. All round the room there are pictures of past head-masters and celebrities connected with the school, as Selous and Dean Stanley. At the back of the room there is a bust of Arnold, on a fine wooden pedestal.
I hope now that I have given you some idea of what Rugby School is like, and what the boys do.
GEORGE M. BREwIN.

Julius Jottings No 5.
June 1901
Pitman's Metropolitan School.
From beginning to end Pitman's is by no means a place of beauty. The exterior is as plain and stiff as any house in London, and is entirely devoid of ornament. The inside is little or no better; all the classrooms are very much the same, so if you wish to go over the school you have only to see one room and you have seen them all.
In the basement there are the students cloakrooms, one for each sex. The gentleman's cloakroom is the scene of what might be called a free fight every evening, for there are usually about 100 people all trying to get their things at the same time; there are generally only two men to supply their wants, and they are placed behind a remarkably small counter. However all this may be avoided by having a large locker that is one in which you can put your hats and coaches well your books. The rent for these is
2s 6p per quarter so most students have to have smaller lockers, which hold their books only, and these are placed in the corridors on the first second and ground floors. There are five floors exclusive of ground floor and basement, so one is glad that a lift is supplied, I may here add that it is desirable to keep on good terms with the lift man, and a few cigarettes or something of the sort will be found useful.
Pitman is a name which one always connects with shorthand, and this is the principal object of the school, but all other subjects useful for commercial life at taught here. This system followed throughout is that of individual teaching, so a students progress depends entirely on himself. There are a great many rules laid down for the preservation of discipline in the school, and they threaten to do all manner of things if you break the, but I do not know of one which is kept or enforced. The school opens at 10 o'clock every weekday, except Saturdays when it does not open at all. A separate classroom is used for each subject, and in that room nothing but the one subject is taught during the day. So at the end of each hour most of the students change roots, the people left being those who do that particular subject for more than one hour. An hour is allowed for dinner, from one till 2 o'clock stop
the school shuts at four except the typewriting department, and that shuts at five. It then reopens at six, and closes altogether at nine. Pitman's Metropolitan School is situated in Russell Square WC and is about three minutes walk from the Twopenny Tube, Museum station being the nearest
George M. Brewin
George writes from the perspective of a pupil.

Brewin . On Sept 6th 1952, in St Lukes Hospital, Newburgh, New York, USA after an operation the Rev George Merriman Brewin aged 68 the youngest son of the late Arthur Brewin of the Stock Exchange, and of Popes Grove Twickenham.
10/09/1952

  Research Notes:

Image Courtesy of C Mottram family tree - Ancestry

  Other Records

1. Census: England, 5 Apr 1891, 19 Strawberry Hill Rd Twickenham MDX. George M is recorded as a son aged 7 born Richmond SRY

2. Census: England, 31 Mar 1901, 19 Strawberry Hill Rd Twickenham MDX. George Merriman is recorded as a son single aged 17 a merchants clerk born Richmond SRY

George married Christina Marguerite ADDISON [5056] [MRIN: 1743] 24 Non 1915 in Grand Rapids Kent Michigan CAN. (Christina Marguerite ADDISON [5056] was born on 26 Oct 1880 in Courtland Kent Michigan USA and died on 6 Dec 1956 in Toledo Lucas Ohio USA.)