I blame my parents. Had it not been for them, my life story would have been quite different (never mind non-existent).
Neither parent came from aristocratic nor even middle-class stock, in fact quite the reverse: my father was a farm boy, later a welder and boilermaker, still later a civil engineer; my mother was a miner’s daughter, secretary and later, a housewife. Not the most promising ground for a young boy to grow into something much.
Yet they both had one burning desire: to make their children more educated, and in those days in once-colonial South Africa, this meant sending both me and my sister to expensive private schools — state-run schools then, now and forever, no place to become educated. The other course they decided on was that we children were to be raised as English-speakers primarily, and bilingual Afrikaans a distant second. For my father, an Afrikaner who could trace his roots all the way back to pre-colonial South Africa and who spoke only Afrikaans until he met my English-speaking mother, this was no small thing; but as a student engineer, he’d struggled mightily because back then, there were no Afrikaans textbooks for engineering so he’d had to learn to understand English at the same time that he was grappling to learn engineering. Even so, he’d never read Shakespeare or any of the vast treasures of English literature, and never would. As a result, he vowed that his children would not be brought up with that linguistic handicap: so off we went, to St, John’s College and St. Andrew’s School for Girls respectively.
The “colonial” part of the above cannot be overstated. South Africa had been a British colony for a long, long time: the Cape Province and Natal since 1806, and the rest of the country since the conclusion of the Boer War in 1902. While the Dutch (later Afrikaans) influence was significant, the overwhelming influence of the culture was English, and by “English” I mean pertaining to England and not to Great Britain.
Hence, St. John’s College was a brother school to England’s Eton College and not Scotland’s Gordonstoun, for instance. In some areas of South Africa, a large proportion of its White inhabitants spoke no Afrikaans at all, and even in cosmopolitan Johannesburg, speaking Afrikaans was often seen as “low class” among the upper-upper crust, and Afrikaans words were Anglicized.
The “class” ethos was completely embraced by the English-speakers, even though actual titled families and the scions thereof were practically non-existent. Most recent British immigrants were of middle-class or (some) working-class stock, and they embraced the English class structure with vigor. In Pietermaritzburg in Natal Province, for example, the highlight of the social calendar was the annual Royal Agricultural Show, which resembled nothing as much as an English institution like the Chelsea Garden Show, and was run for many years by Mark Shute, a Brit by birth and an Old Boy from Marlborough School in Wiltshire.
And the appellation “Royal” could be found all over the place, in its original meaning of “As appointed by His/Her Majesty”, as could institutions named “King’s” or “Queen’s” (e.g. King Edwards School and Queen’s College).
As a result, we kids raised in this atmosphere were steeped in English culture — until 1961, we sang “God Save The Queen” at the end of a movie, and as late as the 1970s, people would clap when members of the Royal Family appeared on movie screens (well, half the people anyway: the Afrikaners would stand stonily silent).
And this English culture was firmly rooted in the past: Victorian, Edwardian and that of the 1910-1960 era. The morals, virtues and values were all English circa 1820-1960: fair play, cricket, infra dig., formal teatime at 4pm, “that’s just not done, old man” and even noblesse oblige (sans any noblesse ) and all that.
As one of the people raised in this tradition, therefore, it should come as no surprise at all that I espoused, and still espouse that tradition. My schooling and cultural upbringing were always steeped in reverence for tradition, said tradition pretty much ending just before the Swinging Sixties [spit], and even though I as a callow youth embraced the latter with a vengeance, I would drop it like a hot rock whenever it came time for the Old Boys’ Banquet at the Rand Club or College Gaudy Day (in American parlance, homecoming), and don the formal attire required for said occasions.
So therefore it should also come as no surprise at all that I revere occasions such as Test cricket at Lord’s, the Badminton Horse Trials and, of course, the Goodwood Revival (any of which, I should state, I would rather attend than the British F1 Grand Prix — and you all know how much I love Formula 1).
Even being called a “colonial type” (a slight insult in the U.K.) brings not anger or resentment but a warm feeling in me. I may not have been born in the right time or place, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it.
Thus, I am enormously attracted to the prospect of a return visit to Lord’s, High Tea at Fortnum’s, donning the Harris Tweed to go birdshooting with Mr. FM at Lord Someone’s estate, and attending the Goodwood Revival dressed in period clothing (which hasn’t changed much — duh! — from the aforementioned attire for shooting). And those are just some of the activities which jump to mind.
It all hearkens back to my upbringing and brings with it a longing for a gentler, more gracious era, and my being an entrenched conservative, this too should be unsurprising to anyone who knows me.
And it’s all thanks to my parents.
Here are a few of the aforementioned occasions and artifacts:
I have to stop now, or we’ll be here all day.
The doors in that 2nd pik are absolutely magnificent. I can’t stop looking at them. I’m an architect and a wood worker. I saved that pik to a hd and I may replicate one of those doors at a smaller scale, maybe in mahogany. I thank you for posting them.
Entrance to Fortnum & Mason. Been there since the year dot, survived the Blitz.
Looked it up. Very impressive. Amazing presence all the way around and I could spend a day wandering the building capturing all the details and not get bored. That grand stairway…
Looks like good times. Thanks for sharing.
Hi
Your Dad was a Boilermaker? I am one too, just retired after 38 years up here in Canada. Boilermakers of your Dads generation were tough buggers too. Didn’t have near the developed tools or welding equipment or safety that we had. And it only seems to be getting better as more time goes by although the safetyism is going a bit too far at times imo. There is always an element of risk in construction and refurbishments.
Love your blog by the way.
Thank You, Kim, for that history, and Homage.
Well put sir. I have a parallel upbringing and view, though not British, and being half a world away. My parents, grandparents, and great- grandparents were of the same mind with their issue.
There were plenty of problems with the old ways and attitudes, but much good in them too. Paraphrasing Burke and Chesterton here, but before we destroy the old we should be very sure we have something better to replace it with.
Great story Kim!
The pictures of England make me want to visit again. The last time I went with my then girlfriend and now wife. I planned poorly and missed tea at Harrod’s and instead we went to someplace else for tea. I forget their name but it was very good.
We also dined at a Polish restaurant in Knightsbridge called Wodka but sadly that has closed since 2000.
JQ
Just returned from our annual dove hunt to Brownsville Texas. Too hot to wear the woolen brekes and coat…. but could’ve used a loader and a second gun. I just couldn’t convince my buddies to do it!
Not the amount of birds we’re used to, but still a great time afield.
Thank you for this post. We have remarkably similar backgrounds regards to England centric.
Almost every item you have mentioned has my check mark next to it, aside from attending ” The British School” in Montevideo and Spanish as a second “primary”. Was accepted for entry to Oxford and Cambridge (attended neither – long story, maybe over a beer or three).
Keep up the good work, S I is on my daily visit list for sanity’s sake; have been camping here since the prior blog and travails.
“Yet they both had one burning desire: to make their children more educated…” I’m reminded of Tim Russert’s wonderful book Wisdom Of Our Fathers. Among the more amusing tales therein is told by the daughter of a plumber who busted his ass to send her to an elite prep school. She was terribly self conscious about being there as most of her classmates came from the middle-upper and upper-class stratas.
One evening she gets a frantic call from one of her classmates, whose father is a successful attorney: an upstairs toilet is backed up and it’s flooding and it’s a disaster your dad’s a plumber can he help!! They pile into dad’s work truck and head over. Problem solved in short order. As they’re walking back to the truck, he looks over at his daughter and remarks “That’s one dumb fuckin’ lawyer.”
Her self-consciousness ended then and there.
For a country that defined civilisation for about 150 years….
Kim, I will be delighted to stand you and Mr FM a pint at next year’s Revival.
I would suggest Pimms for the ladies but it was uncharacteristically poor this year.
The British did colonialism right. Nearly every place that was a British colony started off from a good position. The ones that turned into cess-pits had to DIG.
What the Third World needs is a return of good old fashioned colonial paternalism. Sadly, no nation today has the temperament to do it.
Instead, we have the International Progressive establishment re-applying its past failures.
*spit*
Could not agree more. The English caused my original home nation to come into existence (by aiming some gunboats at the two warring factions trying to take over said little nascent piece of land/country).
They then signed trade agreements and proceeded to build railroads, power generation, water distribution gasworks and assist in city planning. While not an actual colony, the commercial efforts were pretty much identical and a goodly portion of the residents grew up singing God Save the Queen as well as the national anthem. Good times indeed when I was a child. Now they dug themselves into socialism light. *Spit*
I do not think we the American People will willingly cave to the attempt taking place here and now.
I’m curious; if you don’t mind, what was your natal country?
Not, mind, that it’s really my business. Just vulgar curiosity.
As the English would say, that little purple country on the River Plate, which keeps Argentina and Brazil from killing each other. Also known as Uruguay (“you roo goo aye”, from the same folks that say “jag you ar”).
😉
If you’re an American now, I wish to hell there’s 10 million more like you.
Am, and damned proud to be one too. Have visited 57 countries over the past 50 years and while some have endearing attributes, would not want to live anywhere other than this here Constitutional Republic, where individual rights are paramount.