St John's School

Hello from London, Ontario, Canada. The second name on this WW1 memorial is that of Albert Epstein, the uncle I never met. (My father later changed his surname, as part of his continuous re-invention of himself.) I had previously seen Albert's name on the Menin Gate at Ypres, close to where he died in a senseless march in platoon order, no less, through no-man's land straight into the sights of German machinegunners in the village of St. Julien and a wooded area to one side, resulting in the loss of 1,900 men of his battalion, fir no advance. Full story of what happened that day and why, drawn from military records, on request. Albert - incredible to think I would have known him as a close family member but for this - is one of the many who had "no known grave".

I am currently researching three generations of my family history for a book and came across these photos by chance. Morris had abandoned his family after the death (from meningitis) of his eldest child, Elisabeth (Lizzy) Ellen, in 1909 and was later known to have returned to his birthplace in "Russia" - possibly to Odessa, in what is now Ukraine. My father, Harry, the youngest child, was about 5 when his father disappeared. He left school at 15 to go down the pit at Elswick, to help support his mother, and through some extraordinary processes took a theology degree, became a Congregational Church minister (in Bury, Lancashire) fell out with the church elders in 1939 over his outspoken and public support for freedom of conscience, and then transformed himself into a pioneering personnel manager, first in a war-time aircraft factory, then in a group of steel mills in Wales, and subsequently for an Anglo-American copper-mining company in what is now Zambia, where he played a role in efforts towards African advancement, and eventual independence (an event I helped to cover in October 1964 as a junior reporter on the country's leading daily newspaper). My father long refused to talk about his early life, which had been traumatic for several reasons. By the time he did talk a little about it, close to his death at age 84, many details were vague. But it is likely that if his brother Albert attended St.John's School, the young Harry Epstein did as well.

So to my questions: 1. Where can I find details of the school's general history? 2. Where exactly was it located? 3. Do the school building/s still stand? 4. Is it known when this honour roll was put up in the school? 5. There is a note saying the memorial is now in "St. John the Baptist Church" - can you tell me where that is located, as it is a fairly common name for churches? 6. Is it known whether any of the school's records from about 1910 through 1920 survive, and if so can anyone tell me where they can be accessed?

I would greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can offer, however circumstantial.

Sincerely and with thanks,

Cliff Lonsdale
President, Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Traumas
33 Wychwood Park
London, Ontario, Canada
cliff.lonsdale@journalismforum.ca
www.journalismforum.ca