Memorial Details

Shield Pratt 1917 King Edward VI School

M17.30

MORPETH

King Edward VI School

1914-18

1919

Raymond Pratt Memorial Shield

Raymond F. Pratt Memorial Shield. Scholar of this school, 1900-1914. Undergraduate of Durham University 1914-1915. He was the only son of Mr. Pratt, headmaster, Dudley.

See above

Parents

1. In 1919 this was won by Allon Burn of Morpeth. “Mr. Dakyn said he would explain the reason for that ceremony (of awarding the prize in 1919). This time five years ago a medal for shooting, kindly given for some years by Mr. F. Brumell, was won by Raymond Foster Pratt. In that competition he made a possible of five bull’s eyes. His target would hang with a photograph of him on the walls of the school. He left the school immediately afterwards, proceeded to the College of Medicine, and was there for about a year. He then volunteered for service in the Navy, and was appointed a sickbed assistant, and served for some considerable time in that capacity. He did so well at that work – the scientific part of it – that the Admiralty did what was rather unusual, as he had only had one year’s training, made him a surgeon-probationer, and sent him to serve on a destroyer on the Dover patrol. Within a fortnight his vessel was blown up by one of the enemy felon strokes, and straight away he passed into the presence of God. The last thing he said to his father and mother before he left home to join his ship at Dover was that he meant some day to do something as great as he could for the Morpeth Grammar School, to which he felt he owed so much, and to which he was so much attached. His father and mother, after he had gone made up their minds to carry out to some extent their son’s wish, and they had presented to the school this most handsome shield, which was for competition annually in shooting amongst the members of the Cadet unit. The idea was at first to let it pass into the possession of the winner for the year, but they all felt that a shield of that splendour and value should remain in the school. He had handed it over to Allon Burn, who had had the honour of winning the shield, for a few minutes. It would be kept safely in the school. The name of each winner would be engraved on the shield.

See Every Name A Story

Morpeth Herald 01/08/1919 reports award of shield for the first time, quoted in Note 1 above.

Newcastle Daily Chronicle 25/07/1919 reports prize giving ceremony. The last item is the award of the trophy to Burn, Morpeth.

Morpeth Herald 1919 08 01 Fri

Dorothy Hall

The names for 1914-18 are being researched by the Morpeth Antiquarian Society. They are concentrating on the Cenotaph, and are working with the pupils at King Edward VI School on their memorial. Contact Angela Teasdale: morpethas2014@gmail.com

 

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