Hello,

I am working on the biography of John Rupert Firth (1890-1960), the first Professor of General Linguistics in Great Britain. He was born in Keighley and allegedly went to Keighley grammar school, probably between about 1900 and 1908. Can anyone confirm this, or tell me how to find out whether this is true?

Thank you very much,
Dr Leendert Plug
Department of Linguistics and Phonetics
University of Leeds

Current location (optional) Leeds

He did attend the grammar school in Keighley. See this link.
http://www.englang.ed.ac.uk/people/firth.pdf

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-65

Current location (optional) Leeds

Hello again,

Thanks for the response. Just to clarify: I'm aware that most published biographies claim that Firth went to Keighley Grammar School. What I would like to know is whether documentary evidence for this exists. So far it has been wrongly assumed that Firth was born and raised in Keighley. His family actually moved away from Keighley before Firth was five years old and had settled in Leeds before he was eleven; he went to elementary school there. His family stayed in Leeds for at least the next decade, which makes it less than obvious that Firth will have gone to grammar school in Keighley. If anyone can help me verify the claim, I'd be most grateful.

Thanks again,
Leendert

Current location (optional) Leeds

Leendert

From what I know, someone living in Leeds would be outside the catchment area for KBGS. This would suggest JRF did not attend KBGS.

Others may be able to confirm this
Chris Firth (no relation)

Current location (optional) Singapore

In principle that's correct Chris, but Local Authorities have, and had back then, the power to offer "extra district" places to pupils from outside their boundaries. Sometimes this was done by means of a scholarship - pupils would take an entrance exam and passing it would release funds to pay for their places. Sometimes the Local Authority where the pupil lived would reimburse the receiving Local Authority when an extra district pupil was enrolled. So there does still remain the possibility that JR Firth did attend KBGS.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-65

Current location (optional) Leeds

Would it be logistically difficult in 1901 to live in Leeds and attend KBGS?

Some good grammar schools in Leeds too.

Unless Oakbank or local authority keeps records, it may be hard to find out for sure.

we had a boy in our class who travelled in from Hellifield- every day. hail rain or snow. I remeber he always left ten minutes early to catch his train.
If Hellifield why not Leeds?

Not many nearby grammar schools if you lived in Hellifield. Suppose Skipton would have been closer though.

Keighley would have been about 18 miles and Skipton about 8, but it would have only been about 6 miles to Settle. KBGS must have had a reputation.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-65

Current location (optional) Leeds