The ERLEBACH family
Alfred Erlebach and Henry Arthur Erlebach and his family
Henry Arthur's Family Tree
Introduction
This section is about Alfred Erlebach and Henry Arthur Erlebach (who was usually known as Arthur), both sons of Richard Philip Erlebach, their work at of Forest House School, which later became Woodford House School, and also covers Henry Arthur's family.
Their early years
Adolphus wrote in his diary about the birth of his last grandchild:
We have been informed by a letter from our son Richard that on 30th last month (August) they were blest with an addition to their family of a son - We have learned since that the above gift has been dedicated to God in baptism bearing the name Henry Arthur. The former of which is very significant, it is derived from the German, it signifies Rich Lord. Heinrich or Henry means one that is rich, I have only one wish that such may be the case being enriched with every spiritual and heavenly gift, rich in good works, rich in faith an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.
Alfred was born at the Chapel House, Mere, Wilts and baptised in the Independent Chapel, Mere on 21st September 1851 by his father. Arthur was born at the Castle Cottage, Mere and baptised in the Congregational Chapel, Mere on 22nd April 1855 by his father. They were both educated at Chard Grammar School and Taunton Independent College. A little information of their younger days remains in letters written by their father Richard. In the first, to his parents in April 1865, he said
... illness. There has been much here tho' we have mercifully escaped, except Artie who had a low fever which reduced him very much. But he rallies now & is regaining his health and vigour.
Then in June
We have all the boys home again & in full health & strength. The two who have been at School (Alfred and Woodland) seem to have done very well, Alf brought home a prize as usual. He thinks he shall give himself to school work, be a tutor.
School Masters
Both of them became School Masters beside continuing their studies. In November 1872 Richard wrote to his sister:
did I tell you of Alf's examination at the London University. He has been successful & is now a Bachelor of Arts. He came all the way from Scotland to London and is gone back again. At Xmas he will have the journey again and I suppose return. Arthur is come home from the place in Kent where he had gone to a school. It was not a very suitable place so we were not sorry that he left. He is now going to be a Master at Taunton College.
They both taught at Taunton
College and then became masters at Mill Hill School. The Head English
Master at this school was Dr. J. A. H. Murray who was also the editor of
The New English Dictionary
a vast work of many volumes that was started
in 1861, Dr. Murray having become Editor in 1879. Alfred became a Sub
Editor, a job he continued until his death, and Arthur became a reader.
This Dictionary was finally finished in 1927 and a set of volumes was in the
possession of Stanley Erlebach.
Alfred started having trouble with his knee at about this time. Richard wrote to his sister in March 1880:
I don't think you know Alfred is away from Mill Hill, having become so lame in one knee that he is trying a Hydropathic process at Leamington. It is a great trouble to him and of course a great loss as he took so good a position there.
On Sunday 24th April 1881 Alfred's leg was amputated by Dr. Bryant at Guys Hospital.
This affliction
earned him the nicknames Corky
and Plonk
from the boys he taught.
Arthur holds on and is pursuing his studies for a higher degree. He wants
to be a Bachelor of Science as well as Arts,
a degree which
unfortunately he did not attain. In spite of his knee trouble Alfred obviously enjoyed
himself. In July 1884 Richard wrote to his sister: Alf joined us also
on Saturday to have a row on the Thames (at Hampton), which we enjoyed
immensely.
In 1882 Arthur married Annie Elsworth Cooper at Victoria Chapel, Harrow Hill Road, Mill Hill. Annie was descended from the French Hugenots on her father's side and from John Knox's sister on her mother's (Anne Elsworth).
Forest House School
In 1885 they decided to have their own school and they acquired Forest House School, Woodford from a Mr. G. L. H. Sykes. The School was founded in 1855 when Mr. Sykes was first in charge, the pupil register dating from this time is still in the family. This was a boarding and day school for boys who had learnt to read and the brothers started with 39 boys aged from 11 to 16 years, two of these being Collards. In 1889 this had increased to 56 boys aged from 9 to 17 years one of the Collards having left, the other being joined two years later by an Erlebach; from this time almost without a break until 1939 there was at least one member of the family at the school as a pupil.
A tribute to the School was paid by a member of a City firm who enquired if there were:
any boys who were about to leave school whom they could recommend: there were some vacancies in the house and having had a boy from the school with them before, they would like some more of the same pattern.
While at Woodford, Alfred was Secretary of the Congregational Church and Arthur devoted himself to the work of the Social Guild.
Woodford House School
In 1892 the brothers acquired the premises and goodwill of the Kent County School for boys, Birchington, Kent and the School moved there for the Autumn term. At the last prize day at Forest House School, Arthur said in his address that:
Though they were leaving the village they had by no means broken off their connections with Woodford in as much as the name of the establishment they hoped to conduct in the future would be Woodford House School.
The buildings of the the school were about 50 years old at this time. Originally they had been a private house with riding stables at the rear, the school room having been a mews and the playground the exercise yard. It is thought that after this the place was a girls school before becoming the Kent County School.
Loss of Alfred
The first loss the school suffered was in 1899 when Alfred died. Although he had only been in Birchington for seven years he had, besides his school work, to quote the Thanet Times, been:
Deacon and Treasurer to Christ Church Congregational Church at Westgate-on-Sea. he was also one of the Committee of the Birchington Institute. Of a genial, kindly disposition, and every ready to assist in any good and philanthropic work, he was greatly esteemed at Birchington.
He was laid to rest in the Wandsworth New Cemetery, London.
Albert Hodges
From the start of Woodford House School until 1908 most of the boys attended Westgate
Congregational Church on Sundays and after this Minnis Bay Congregational
Church, both churches being intimately connected with the school. An
interesting record of Arthur's is that he was the first person in Birchington
to own a penny farthing
bicycle.
A new assistant master who had just completed his education at the London University joined the school for the September term 1900. He was Albert Hodges, and was often known by his nickname Bear. He so impressed Arthur with his work and teaching ability that in 1908 he made him a partner. In 1910 he married Arthur's third daughter Winifred and he left Woodford House School to become principal of the Guernsey High School for Boys. However, in July 1913, finding the climate did not suit them and wishing to resume his old position, they left Guernsey and returned to Woodford House School.
At this time, due to the efforts of Winifred, the preparatory department,
or Parrots
as it was known, was started for boys aged from five to eight years;
the school now offered a complete education up to Senior Cambridge and
London Matriculation or equivalent standard.
The Woodfordian
From 1903 until 1913 and Annual Dinner was held in London for the Old Boys. At the dinner of 1913 it was proposed that a club should be formed to extend the activities of the Old Boys. A letter was circulated and the Old Forest Woodfordians Club was duly formed. Unfortunately it did not run for long, possibly due to wartime difficulties. However in 1920 it was restarted and this time kept going with social activities, such as whist drives and river trips, in addition to the Old Boys matches and of course the Annual Dinner.
At the beginning of 1914 four boys conceived the idea of a school
magazine. The first copy of this magazine was produced in a dormitory
after lights out and earned the producers a conduct mark each, quite a
serious punishment. However Bear Hodges quickly saw the advantage of such
a magazine and it was officially sponsored and produced termly under the
title The Woodfordian, remaining in production until 1952 in spite of the
difficulties of two world wars. A complete set of these is still in the
family. An offshoot of this was Wit, Humour, Smiles
a calendar containing
amusing extracts from the magazine. This was sold at 1s.6d. a copy in aid
of a new hospital in Margate, a purse of about £30 was presented to
Prince Arthur of Connaught in 1930 by Jimmie Hodges at the foundation stone
laying ceremony of the hospital.
Impact of the War
The 1914-18 war brought a change to the school, girls were accepted as day pupils; previously Arthur's three daughters had been members of the school but no outside girls had been admitted. This lasted until the end of the war when, once more the school reverted to a boarding school for boys. During this war the school was the only private school out of about 200 in Thanet to keep going.
This war brought a further loss to the family and school, amongst the 30 old boys who did not come back from active service were three of Arthur's own sons, Henry (Henry Arthur), Woodland (Arthur Woodland), and Teddie (Edward Eustace). Their names are inscribed on the Birchington War Memorial. Arthur presented a memorial ground for Sports and Recreation to the village in 1924 in memory of these three boys.
From this time on the school flourished with a
population of approx. 40 boarders and 60 day boys, many of these being sons
of Old Boys. Also in 1924 the Old Boys presented the School with a new
Pavilion a beautiful little building
of dark rough finished wood with a
roof of Norfolk reed. This gave the school much needed new accommodation for
sports activities.
Loss of Arthur
Another severe loss to the School occurred in 1928 when Arthur died
after a short illness. The Thanet Advertiser said of his passing that this
removes from Birchington one of the best known figures in its public and
social life.
His funeral in Birchington Parish Church was attended by the
whole school and most of the people living in the village. He was buried
in the churchyard. The Old Boys presented the School with a Lych Gate in
his memory. For many years this stood at the entrance to the field from
the garden. In 1961 when the property was sold it was moved to become the
entrance to the Parish Churchyard.
Later Years
Bear (Albert Hodges) was now in sole charge and in addition to his school work he was Secretary of the Minnis Bay Congregational Church, District Commissioner of the Margate and District Boy Scouts and closely connected with the local St. John's Ambulance Brigade.
Also in 1928 a scout troop, known as the 2nd Birchington (Woodford House) Troop was started at the school. This troop, which continued for about 20 years, several times won the highest awards in the Margate District.
On the scholastic side the school was many times top of the centre
(Margate), often with 100% successes, and twice with a first
in all England
W. A. Erlebach in Arithmetic and W. Marsh in History. The school played
cricket, football and hockey against other similar schools in the neighbourhood
and also the local clubs, giving a good account of itself, in fact in
one year the cricket team won all the matches it played.
With the coming of the war in 1939 the character of the school changed. As it was in a Defence area it became a day school for boys and girls with a few local boarders, being in fact the only school in Thanet to keep going throughout the war.
In 1942 Annie Elsworth died and was buried with her husband in Birchington churchyard. After the war the old Boys subscribed for a stained glass window in the Parish Church as a memorial to their fellow Old Boys who gave their lives in both the wars.
Finally in December 1948, Bear handed over the reins and retired from School life, moving with Winifred to Wendover, Bucks where he died and was laid to rest. Five seats in various parts of Birchington were presented as a memorial to him. It is of interest to note that he, Arthur and Alfred had all at sometime been Chairmen of the Parish Council.
The school continued through various vicissitudes until at last in 1961 the land and buildings were sold to make way for an estate of private houses. The school moved to Cliftonville having changed from a boarding school for boys, day boys accepted, to a day school for girls, with boys up to 11 years only being accepted.