h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Went to an Old Boy's Reunion of the TS Mercury on Saturday. It was held at the Hilton Hotel, near Portsmouth.

Roy (who told me most definitely that he doesn't want to be known by the nickname Merlin, although he'd chosen it earlier) is an old boy and one of the last to be there.

It was a naval training establishment - a private fee-paying one. He joined at age 13 and left three years later.

The 39 men dined separately and the ladies (all six of us) ate in the restaurant bit in splendid isolation.

TS stands for 'Training Ship' and it was originally called HMS Gannet, and is now being restored in Chatham dockyard.

It sounds to have been rather a Dickensian schooling. The boys slept in hammocks, which in the winter had icicles on them and were sometimes wet as the roof leaked and they had a spartan and harsh regime.

The school was run by CB Fry and his formidable wife Beatrice, who sounds to have been a somewhat sadistic character.

Unfortunately, the men's business meeting and meal lasted until just before midnight, so by the time I saw Roy, it was really time to turn in for the night.

There's definitely enough material for an h2g2 entry, so I'll be working on one when I have the time.

Morning ZSF

I look forward to that entry. It sounds a pretty unpleasant school. Has Merlin/Roy fond memories, or bitter ones?

And as for women and men eating separately There are some traditions that just make me fume. What is the point of inviting both partners, if one isn't able to join the other. Honestly, the Navy does annoy me - one of the last bastions of silliness (that, and the royal family).

I'm off to Kew for the day...


Frenchbean

Hi Zarquhon

What an extraordinary meeting!!. It was an experience and I am sure a worthwhile experience even if it was not a very pleasant one. I hope the food was good at the restaurant!!

I look forward to reading your entry.

Lots has been happening here. I must also write about it.

Very much

AR1

Hi F/b and AR1,

I think he has mixed memories of it, however, as it was he who pestered his parents to go to sea, I think the memories were more pleasant than painful. I gather a lot of the boys didn't choose to go there, so they may have been more resentful. The ones I spoke to, and it was just to a couple, and only for half an hour or so, seemed to think that it was the making of them.

Roy bought a book which one of the old boys had written and it makes fascinating history. I've also searched the web for info. It seems that the cricketer CB Fry ran the school at one time, although the power behind the throne was definitely his wife Beatrice, who sounds to have been a dreadfully formidable woman.

I had definitely hoped to socialise rather more than was possible. As I said, I had only about half an hour to talk to any of the men and there were only six women in total. We talked about the men a little, cooking and office politics. One of the women spoke to Roy afterwards and said that I was the sort of boss she would like to have!

F/b - I hope Kew was good. At least the temperature in there is fairly stable. We went to Kew for Roy's birthday and had a nice time.

AR1 - I'm looking forward to hearing your news.

Hi Z

...I was just wondering whether the CB Fry you were talking about is the one that's an ancestor of Stephen Fry? I'm sure I remember Stephen Fry saying something to that effect on his BBC2 programme "QI".

My eldest boy applied to join the Navy, and passed the entrance exams, etc, but in the end decided to wait until he's older. Just as I was coming round to the idea too.

Prideth

I don't know, Prideth. It would be interesting to find out. I know one of his sons said that Beatrice 'ruined his father's life' or something to that effect. Maybe I'll do a bit of searching.

http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/6/6610/6610.html

Well, here's a Stephen Fry, son of CB ... not the one we're talking of though. Back to the search.

Nope - found this:

http://www.lords.org/articles/ar0000000200.asp

but no link between the actor Stephen Fry and CB.

.....doesn't make sense. I definitely remember him discussing his relationship to CB Fry, and so does my hubby.... The cricket link is right too. Stephen also spoke of CB Fry's party-piece, which was the ability to jump backwards from a standing position onto a mantlepiece, of all things. Why anyone would wish to do so is unclear, but....that's eccentricity for you...

...I wonder why he's not listed on line as being descended from CB??? for doing the search Maybe there's somat on the BBC2 programmes archive on BBCi, if there is such a thing? I'll have a look-see

Prideth

Thank you Prideth. Being able to jump backwards onto a mantle piece is quite a thing, too , although as you say, I can't imagine why anyone would want to do it. His mantlepiece must have been quite strong. If anyone did that to any of mine, I'm ssure they would collapse. Maybe if it was one of those large Adams fireplaces?

It would be nice to link Stephen Fry with the entry!

The talk among the men at the reunion was that CB Fry was more or less bribed to marry Beatrice, who had been carrying on a lengthy affair with (I forget his name at the moment) the man who put up the money for the school and who was de facto manager. It gave her the interesting position of being manager of an all-male institution and at a time when women were generally not in positions of power. She was known as 'Ma' to the boys, but didn't behave in a way that I would want my mum to behave. Autocratic, principled, disciplined (she drove herself as much as she drove the boys) critical and whimsical.

I suppose the massive solid marble, etc type fireplaces that the toffs have must have supported his weight, *lol* I'd have a hairy fit if anyone tried anything like that with mine, as it's covered with most of my Myth & Magic collection.... Thankfully, although slightly eccentric, none of my friends are that mad

Beatrice sounds like one formidable Ma! I suppose in those days she'd kinda need to be, being as it was very much a male domain.

Perhaps if you knew CB Fry was coming, you'd clear your mantlepiece!

As far as Beatrice is concerned, she seems to have had the power almost of life and death over the boys. No school inspectorate in those days. She wrote some very personal and critical remarks about individual boys in the school magazine. At uniform inspection, she would go to a boy with a spotless uniform and poke him with the end of her stick and then criticise him for having a spot on it ... another poke, then two spots ... and then punish him for it. There was a brass gun on site, where the boys were whipped for the most serious offences, which appear to have included running away (I think it was the most usual 'gun' offence). Of course, those boys who ran away were the least capable of withstanding being whipped!

Rumour had it that the Frys stole the boys' food too. They were permanently hungry and cold.

...what an evil ! And him too, what a cruel ! Thank goodness for the School Inspectorate nowadays! Those poor boys! It's probably a very controversial thing to say , but history seems to be littered with women having reached the higher echelons of society, going completely power-mad, and being total megalomaniacs! Gives women a bad name....

Mmm, what do they say, power corrupts and total power corrupts totally! I truly think, however, that she did what she thought best for the boys to develop their characters. At sea, there's no room for weakness, she thought and occasionally, there were flashes of approval for some of the boys.

She taught seamanship and she herself was a tough old bird. She was very skilled at what she did.

I wonder why she got interested in ships and the sea?

Having seen a picture of her (and read about her), it seems that as a young woman, she was very handsome and vigorous. She really believed in what she was doing and sold her jewelly to pay for something (it might have been a building) for the school. Toward the end of her time (and I think she died in 1946), it was becoming an anachronism. It wasn't until the sixties, though, that the school got how showers and the regime softened somewhat. The Mercury had the reputation of being the toughest of the training ships. After that, life in the navy was soft in comparison.

...I've got to admit my ignorance on the subject of Beatrice, until you told me about her. Fascinating story, I had no idea. I suppose when teaching young naval recruits, it must be a hard balancing act, to know just how tough you need to be in order to toughen them up for war, etc. It's just those levels of cruelty are hard to swallow.

I can understand her love of the sea and ships, but not necessarily her desire to get so involved with the Royal Navy. My great, great grandparents were from Orkney, and so descended from Norwegian Vikings, so that's where my love of the sea comes in.

Yes, I'm sure it was a balancing act, although like you, I feel that she overstepped the mark in that she appears not to have been fair. I also think that she should be judged by the times she lived in and not by ours.

Mind you, her descendents appear to judge her fairly harshly too. Who can tell?

Too true

I wonder if I could find anything out via another search engine?

Mornin' Z

I've got a yahoo toolbar, with search facility, so I'll give it a shot if you like.

Prideth

Thanks, Prideth . I'll also have a look a bit later.