A FORMER headmistress has been presented with a cap from the first school where she taught on her 100th birthday.
Margaret Grey celebrated with family, friends, former pupils and staff at the St Monica Trust’s Charterhouse Care Home in Keynsham.
But had Margaret been able to follow her dream, she might have been wearing a very different cap on her special day.
After studying for her A-Levels after the Second World War, Margaret was determined to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the Royal Navy. He had joined up aged 16 and sailed the world on a number of warships as a chief petty officer, before moving to Bristol and working as an electrician on HMS Flying Fox.
Margaret said: “I’d needed my A-Levels to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service and become a Wren. I was so looking forward to earning that lovely cap with the white stripe.
“Unfortunately, both my parents became seriously ill, which meant I couldn’t join the navy as I wouldn’t have been able to go overseas and leave them on their own.”
After studying English Literature at Bristol University, Margaret started her teaching career at Colston’s Girls’ School.
When her father died, Margaret changed schools to be nearer to her mum and became deputy headmistress at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School. She then became headmistress at Merrywood Girls School, where she taught until she retired in 1984.
“Despite not being able to become a Wren, I did eventually warm to teaching and quite enjoyed it. But I’d never have become a teacher if I’d been able to go and serve overseas.”
Margaret lived with her mother’s family in Northumberland while her dad was at sea, and his three-year postings on warships meant she didn’t meet him until she was a toddler.
“I met my dad for first time when I was three years old. I saw my Mum with a strange man in the parlour and they wouldn’t stop chatting. I got fed up waiting for them to finish and went into the kitchen to ask my granny who the man was, and she said: ‘That’s your father.’”
After moving to Bristol, Margaret lived in her family home in Whitehall for more than 90 years before becoming a resident at Charterhouse in June 2022.
Margaret puts living to such a great age down to the lessons she has learned in dealing with whatever life’s thrown at her.
“Whether it was the Blitz, coping with my parents’ illness or dealing with a class of unruly children, you’ve always got to get on top your work and make sure that everything gets done. If you say something is too hard, or you can’t do this or that, then things will just go from bad to worse.”
Life lessons from Keynsham care home resident, aged 100
