Brian White

If I knew, I wouldn't be asking.

Thank you Moirahyde and darra.

I've got a new interest in Sheffield history. Watching a few episodes of Peaky Blinders set in Birmingham, reminded me that Sheffield had its own gang history. My mother told me about the Mooney family and I heard later about Percy Sillitoe. I would certainly like to know about what went on in those times. Also I heard that the Quakers once practically ran the city and also that they were coining their own money. Some wild tales, also that Sheffield once had a night club which closed its doors at 10 PM. Some of it must be true and I would like to read about it if it's set down anywhere.

I was there in the 40s Zakes and I disagree with your assessment. Were the staff highly qualified university graduates? really. How do you know? From my recollection, there were unemployables among them. We learned French from people who had spent little or no time in France, a point brought home to me the first time I visited Paris and learned more about the pronunciation of the language. We learned history from somebody who withheld information about the Inquisition and causes of anti Catholic sentiment in Tudor times. We learned nothing of biology either, possibly because there would need to be discussions about reproduction. Boys who didn't make the grade to get into a grammar school found a better curriculum in the polytechnic and trade schools run by the city. In my day, boys could be and were expelled for smoking. One unfortunate lad I recall was downtown when seen puffing away by Brother Peter. Let me remind you that this was in a day when the health hazards of cigarette smoking were not as widely known. I personally wasn't good at sports and I got no help from the staff. First Brother Edward, then Brother Augustine followed by Mr McQuade. I was shamed and called a washout. True no doubt, but unhelpful. My progress in life following De La Salle owes nothing to my experience and what I learned there.

Hi Patricia - What you write is quite a surprise. I had no idea my Aunt Phoebe had so many children. I only knew two of them at all. Jim and Annice who were both close to my age. My cousin Dave says that Jim died recently. Don't think he knows anything about the others or who is still living Best Regards

All this is really interesting. Jim and Phoebe Eccles were my uncle and aunt. The house on Cuthbert Bank seems to have been home to a few generations of the Eccles family. I didn't know that before today. Phoebe's parents, who were my grandparents lived with them too at that address. I well remember the shop at the corner of Cuthbert Bank and Bamforth Street. We were in there often. My recollections of the Eccles family are almost all of the prewar years prior to 1939. OK, Boozy, Keely and Retep - tell us more.

No, but if you turn up anything about the Eccles on Cuthbert Bank I would appreciate knowing.

As a teenager in the forties, I was told that Percy Sillito boasted that he would make Sheffield so law abiding that he would be able to hang his gold watch under the white bridge and find it there next morning. At the end of his tenure, he did that and story goes on that next morning watch was gone. I went to the Sacred Heart school with Margaret Mooney and Jimmy Mooney. They both had red hair and the family face. In 1967, in Los Angeles California, I met a young lady with both Mooney face and hair. She said she was from Sheffield and that she knew nothing of the Mooney Gang history.

Sorry for the delayed reply Joseph - I only just read your post today Jan 6 2012. Yes I remember the Guest family, the Manfredi brothers and Miss Griffiths too. There were three White brothers at the Sacred Heart, Derrick, Brian and Peter. Miss Griffiths tried to correct the exuberant behavior of my younger brother Peter. She had limited success.

Thank you Barb, I'm trying that now.

Does anybody know an online source for obituaries published in the newspapers or elsewhere. I would like to read the obituary of a relative who died in Sheffield in 1995. Thanks

Yes it was thought of by our parents as a good school, but it wasn't. Boys lacking skills in games got no help, only ridicule from the gym teacher. Brother Edward when I started and Mr McQuaid later on. Also, we got a funny version of history which showed Catholics in a better light than they deserved. We were told that without a passing grade in Latin, we could not get into college. What baloney. In retrospect, it seems that boys going to grammar schools anywhere else in Sheffield got a better education and were happier. Also, why were boys and girls segregated in Sheffield grammar schools? I know what it does to many boys. They are awkward and shy with girls later on. Thank you for everything brothers.

Why did our parents put up with it? They believed that their son was getting a superior education and a lifetime advantage. They were prepared to allow their son to be unfairly thrashed to achieve that aim. Also, it was an age when corporal punishment in schools was not only permitted, but believed to be beneficial for the recipient. We make fun of that idea now since we’ve alll seen the Monty Python’s four Yorkshiremen reminiscing about their good old days?

Sorry, I didn't. I grew up in Longley. There are a few Brian White's walking around. Just look in the phone book.

This was covered in some detail in the Star sometime in the 40s. In a daily column "By The Way", the writer told us that "Snig" horses were rented out to carters so they could get their loads up the hill. The snig was a length of chain used to hitch the snig horse to the front of the cart. Subsequent to that, somebody wrote in to ask for the origin of the word snig. Nobody answered.