Anne Griffith-Jones

{{Short description|British educationalist (1891–1973)}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox person | name = Anne Griffith-Jones | image = Anne Griffith-Jones01.jpg | image_size = 170px | caption = | birth_name = Anne Laugharne Phillips Griffith-Jones | birth_date = 15 April 1891 | birth_place = London, England | death_date = 28 November 1973<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/832204422/?article=22454eb0-4877-4c39-aa89-fd985245c6f1&focus=0.7326864,0.2866995,0.8415876,0.3034261&xid=3355 |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=29 November 1973 |page=30}}</ref> | death_place = Ipoh General Hospital, Perak, Malaysia | death_cause = | resting_place = Tapah, Perak, Malaysia | occupation = Educationist (founder of Tanglin Trust School, Singapore) | awards = OBE<br/>''Pingat Jasa Kebaktian'' }}

'''Anne Laugharne Phillips Griffith-Jones''' OBE (15 April 1891 – 28 November 1973)<ref name="wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com">{{cite web|url=https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=AHN&db=briars&id=I10378|title=Phillips, Williams & Connected Families|language=|format=}}</ref> was a British educationalist who founded Singapore's Tanglin Preparatory School, which is now known as the Tanglin Trust School.

==Early years== Born in London, England,<ref name="wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com"/> Griffith-Jones was the youngest of 11 children and daughter of a Welsh barrister Griffth Jones and Anne Laugharne Phillips, who were married in 1873. (Her brother, John, was father of Mervyn Griffith-Jones, the prosecuting barrister [later judge] involved in the 1960 prosecution of Penguin Books for the publication of D. H. Lawrence's ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' and the 1963 trial of Stephen Ward relating to the Profumo affair.<ref name="wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com"/>)

She, along with many women of her time, had no formal qualifications. During World War I, she served as a welfare officer at a munitions factory in Wales, for which she was awarded an MBE.

In 1923, Griffith-Jones came to Singapore<ref name="SHE’LL SAY FAREWELL TO HER COLONY S">{{cite news|title=SHE’LL SAY FAREWELL TO HER COLONY SCHOOLS IN MAY, ''The Straits Times''|date=27 November 1957|page=6}}</ref> to spend a three-month holiday with her brother, Oswald Phillips Griffith-Jones. After her vacation, she chose to stay in Singapore to dedicate her life to the education of expatriate children, founding the Tanglin Day School which later became the Tanglin Preparatory School, where she became widely known as "Miss Griff". When the school first opened in March 1925, it functioned from a disused supper shed<ref name="SHE’LL SAY FAREWELL TO HER COLONY S"/> within the premises of the Tanglin Club. It began with five students<ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL">{{cite web|url=https://www.tts.edu.sg/welcome/history-of-the-school|title=HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL|language=|format=|access-date=29 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429222036/https://www.tts.edu.sg/welcome/history-of-the-school|archive-date=29 April 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> but soon began to grow rapidly. The school served the needs of children up to the age of eight. At the time, many British expatriates living in Singapore had to send their children to Britain to attend boarding school at an early age. This meant being separated from their children for a lengthy period of time. [[File:Anne Griffith-Jones02.jpg|thumb|left|275px|'''Family portrait c. 1912.''' Miss Griffith-Jones with her parents and elder sister Nettie. "Miss Griff" is standing second from left. Photo credit: Tanglin Trust School.]] Griffith-Jones saw the need to provide a British-style education in Singapore so that parents could postpone boarding school until their children were of an older age.<ref name="auto1">{{cite news|title=Miss Griffith-Jones Leaving Tanglin School After 14 Years, Straits Budget|date=9 March 1939|page=21}}</ref>

{{Quote box|quoted=|bgcolor=#fffff0|salign=center|quote={{center|'''A BETTER CHOICE'''}} She (Griffith-Jones) was largely responsible for European children being able to remain with their parents in Malaya several years longer than was possible in pre-war days.|sstyle=text-align:center|source='''''Straits Budget'', 9 March 1939''' <ref name="auto1"/>|align=right|width=30%}}

In 1934,<ref>{{cite news|title=Advertisement (Column 2), ''The Straits Times''|date=10 June 1934|page=11}} (Microfilm reel no. NL2358, National Library, Singapore)</ref><ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL"/> she opened a second school, the Tanglin Boarding School, in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The school was intended to serve as a "near-by" alternative for expatriate families living in the region who would otherwise have to send their children to boarding schools in Britain. Many of the children who attended the school in Singapore then went on to the boarding school in the Cameron Highlands, which catered for students up to the age of 13.<ref>{{cite news|title=HIGHLANDS SCHOOL, ‘’The Straits Times’’|date=27 March 1934|page=12}}</ref> At the end of 1938, the number of pupils at the school grew to 68.<ref>{{cite news|title=160 CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL AT HIGHLANDS, Malaya Tribune|date=23 August 1939|page=12}}</ref> At both schools, there was much emphasis on the British Empire. In preparing the boys for English Preparatory Schools, she would teach them football, taking the forward line across the playing field and showing them how to pass the ball. Similarly at cricket, she demonstrated the "straight bat" and footwork at the crease.

==Second World War== [[File:Tanglin Boarding School, Cameron Highlands01.jpg|thumb|left|275px|'''Tanglin Boarding School, Cameron Highlands:''' Griffith-Jones (back row, fifth from left) with her staff and pupils outside the school's main building. Photo credit: Tanglin Trust School.]]

The two schools continued to grow until the outbreak of the Second World War (1942–1945).<ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL"/> The Japanese Occupation of the Malay Peninsula forced the closure of both schools, as British expatriates in the region (including Griffith-Jones) were interned by the Japanese at Singapore's Changi Prison and Sime Road Camp.<ref name="SHE’LL SAY FAREWELL TO HER COLONY S"/><ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL"/> Throughout her confinement, she displayed the same qualities of organisation and leadership that were a feature of her everyday life. In the course of her imprisonment, she rose to the challenge of internment and set about establishing a school for the internees.

After the war, the two schools reopened,<ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL"/> but the school at the Cameron Highlands failed to flourish. In 1948, it had to close due to an outbreak of poliomyelitis.<ref>{{cite news|title=School to Reopen, ''The Straits Times''|date=10 June 1948|page=1 (Microfilm reel no. NL5228, National Library, Singapore).}}</ref>

A second closure occurred during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). The school had to be placed under full-time armed guard after the Malayan National Liberation Army surrounded the school. In 1950, it was forced to close by the Federal Government for security reasons. Thereafter, the property was sold to the British War Office.<ref>{{cite news|title=War Office Buys School, ''The Straits Times''|date=20 November 1950|page=8}}</ref>

==Retirement== [[File:Anne Griffith-Jones03.jpg|thumb|right|150px|"Miss Griff" in riding kit at the Cameron Highlands. (c. 1950s).]] In 1958, Griffith-Jones retired to the Cameron Highlands and the British European Association, now the British Association of Singapore, took over the private company, 'Tanglin School Limited'. [[File:Anne Griffith-Jones04.jpg|thumb|left|275px|Miss Griffith-Jones (centre) receiving her retirement gifts from Dr Charles Wilson and Laurette Shearman, two of Tanglin Trust School's first intake of pupils, in 1957. Photo credit: Tanglin Trust School.]]

While residing at the resort, Griffith-Jones became actively involved in sport and social work. For many years, she served as Secretary of the Cameron Highlands Church (which is presently known as All Souls' Church).<ref>{{cite news|title=Letter to the editor: "INTER-DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH IN HIGHLANDS", ''The Straits Times'', 20 September 1958|page=10}} (Microfilm reel no. NL3312, National Library, Singapore).</ref>

In mid-1958, she offered to donate a site adjoining the former Slim School grounds for the erection of a school chapel. However, after consultation with the District Officer, it was established that the State Government would not alienate any further land to the British Forces based at the retreat. Subsequently, she transferred the land to the Anglican Diocese on the understanding that a small church would be built on it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/vt/allsoulschurch/A_Brief_History_Of.html|title=A Brief History Of All Souls’ Church Cameron Highlands|language=}}</ref><ref name="De Souza 2010 125">{{cite book|last=De Souza|first=Edward Roy|title=SOLVED! The "Mysterious" Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Legendary Thai Silk King (2nd ed)|publisher=Word Association Publishers|year=2010|page=125|isbn=978-1-59571-505-0|lccn=2009944204}}</ref>

The construction of the church commenced in 1958. The Nissen hut<ref>{{cite book|last=Batumalai|first=Sadayandy |author-link=Sadayandy Batumalai|title=A Bicentenary History of the Anglican Church of the Diocese of West Malaysia (1805-2005)|year=2007|page=127}}</ref> structure was completed in September that same year. The name 'All Souls' Church' was given at the church's consecration on Thursday, 30 April 1959.<ref name="De Souza 2010 125"/> The Right Rev H W Baines, Bishop of Singapore and Malaya, conducted the services.

==Awards== Griffith-Jones received three awards during her lifetime. Her MBE, which she received in her twenties, was elevated to an OBE<ref name="slimschoolmalaya.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.slimschoolmalaya.com/griff.htm|title=A TRADITIONAL VICTORIAN SCHOOL MISTRESS|language=}}</ref><ref name="HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL"/> for her services to education. In 1962, the Sultan of Pahang bestowed on her the ''Pingat Jasa Kebaktian'' award for meritorious service.<ref name="slimschoolmalaya.com"/>

==Death==

Griffith-Jones died in 1973 at the Ipoh General Hospital after suffering a severe stroke. She was buried in Tapah, Perak, in the foothills of the Cameron Highlands. In 2015, her grave was visited by a group of students from Singapore's Tanglin Trust School. They read out a prepared text and placed a floral tribute on her grave before leaving.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://alumni.tts.edu.sg#cameronhighlandsboardingschool|title=Cameron Highlands Boarding School|language=|format=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqq1yhP32Bw|title=T90 Cameron Highlands Expedition|language=|format=}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Anne Griffith-Jones}} *[http://www.tts.edu.sg/ Tanglin Trust School website] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqq1yhP32Bw T90 Cameron Highlands Expedition] www.YouTube.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith Jones, Anne}} Category:1891 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Welsh Anglicans Category:British emigrants to Singapore Category:Singaporean educators Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire