John Daniel was born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire,
son of Reverend Frank Argyle and Sara Causer.
He went to Westminster School followed by Brasenose College, Oxford,
where he read Classics.
John graduated from Oxford and then became teacher.
He was in a University Hockey team touring in South Africa.
There he met Tirrey (RM20).
John obtained a teaching position (Latin) at the all boys
St Johns Diocesan school
at Houghton Ridge in Johannesburg (South Africa).
Buildings of St John's College, Johannesburg.
Dorothy/Tirrey was born in Transvaal, daughter of surgeon W. Stanley Heberden and Nina (Dorothy) Brown. She was baptised 02/07/1916, the residence of her parents was then Ferreira Deep Gold Mine, where father Stanley was "medical practicioner". Godprents were Reginald Charles Heberden (Stanley's one year older brother) and Winnie Leal (Nina's one year older sister, who had married Alexander Leal in 1911 in Johannesburg). Nina (Dorothy Heberden) was listed as "sponsor" (19160510, 19111122, 19411230, census Brown).
They married in 1938 at St John's College
(19380625),
situated some 5 km NW of the Johannesburg centre.
John's residence was at the college.
Dorothy lived then (with the family) at 3 St George's Road,
Parktown, Johannesburg,
close to St John's College and
just over one km east of her father's hospital.
One of the witnesses was Stanley, Dorothy's father,
the other a mr. Ronald Clegg(?).
They married with antinuptial contract.
Tirrey's sister Anne had married the year previous
the St John's College teacher Henry Beckwith.
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• Numbers etc. in brackets in the text give access to the civil records on which the statements are based (records from familysearch.com). |
Children:
− Dorothy Margaret *24/12/1939, baptised February 1940 in St Aidan's Church in Yeoville, the family living at 3 St George's road (the parental house), with Elizabeth Hoare and Anne Beckwith (Tirrey's sisters) and WStanley Heberden (grandfather of the baby) as godparents (19391224). She went to the all girls St Mary's school. She later became a pharmacist. She was called "Dos".
− Elizabeth Ann *13/11/1941, baptised Feb. 1942, also in St Aidan's Church, the family living at 20 Kilp street, Observatory. Elizabeth Hoare (Tirrey's sister), Margaret Cicely Argyle (JD's sister) and Alec Gordon Argyle (JD's brother) were the godparents (19411117). She married 25/12/1966 Peter Pooley, later rector of Elton, Cam. UK.
− Hector Greame *15/03/1945 (Tirrey's brother was a Hector), baptised in May in St John's College chapel, the family officially living at 2 St Patrick's Place in Houghton (this is the official address of St John's College), with as godparents Henry Beckwith (JD's brother in law), Hilary Argyle and Rev. Tribe (19640315). Hector married 04/05/1974 Krila Rogers, died +21/01/1986 Zimbabwe, killed in the course of the riots, he waas ambushed in his Landrover (by "Mugabe's liberators").
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WW II, South Africa, the
North Africa campaign
and John Daniel Argyle.
JDA was discharged October 1945 taking up his old job as "school master" at St John's College. In the mean time he had been decorated with the Africa Star, the British Service Medal, the War Medal and the Africa Service Medal. |
GEM: The war affected John much, at the psychological level.
Having been discharged fromn the army October 1945 and having taken up again a position at St John's College, John with his family moved into a house on campus. John was appointed as housemaster of Alston. His career can be followed citing from Chapter 5 of the memorial book on St John's Prepschool (StJPmB).
He proved to be a popular and effective Housemaaster and the boys in
[Alston] house remember him with great affection.
In the college he spent most of the time teaching Latin
and coaching cricket. ......
He introduced an annual buffet lunch to which the boarders were
invited − to their delight and the College Headmaster's
consternation as he had little time for such social activities.
In 1950 he was appointed Headmaster of the Preparatory School,
to the dismay of the boys at Alston. ....
Argyle chose to live in one of the Houses in the valley and the
headmasters house was used to accommodate extra boarders. ....
Mrs. Argyle, with three young children to care for, was
somewhat isolated at the other end of the school and thus, through
no wish of her own, played a relatively minor role in the life of
the school compared to her predecessor.
On theatre and cricket, as summarised from his Obituary (see below) and the StJPmB:
Old Johannians of his time will remember him appearing in the chorus of
"HMS Pinafore" in 1949 and in
the opera "Iolanthe" in 1951.
In the story of the beautiful fairy Queen
Iolanthe,
Argyle and other members of the staff appeared on stage
dressed in the finery of a peer of the realm
and the Prep. boys made up the fairy chorus.
Many in the audience could only be convinced of the staff performing
by looking and their bare feet.
Also, Old Johannians remember Argyle's active participation in the staff/boys
cricket teams, "the Willows",
which used to make sorties into the country to play country sides.
Argyle was the ideal schoolmaster. Even though he himself was a
bright academic, he had an excellent understanding of the
difficulties weaker boys might encounter and many an Old Johannian
recall the extra help given them often on an individual basisi
− at no cost. ...... Some of the pupils recall how he
delighted in pulling a boy's leg and he was never short of a
suitable joke for any occasion. .....
In the Prep. school, Argyle introduced a farewell to the UIII's at
the end of the year − "a most enjoyable farewell to the
boys, going through to college, in the form of braaivleis".
Early in 1954 came the shock announcement that John Argyle had
resigned. The reason for this departure was his impending divorce
and his intention to re-marry. In those days, the Church was
uncompromising and no divorced person could be employed by the
school. In seeking a post at St Peter's, Argyle faced the same
rejection. ..... Those who worked with Argyle or were taught by him
in the Prep. or College knew that they had been in contact with an
exceptional schoolmaster. The fact that his teaching career had been
cut short was not only a personal tragedy but also a tragedy for
private school education. There was no doubt that he would have
achieved great things.
Separate lives: Tirrey, ca. 1953-1980
Now Tirrey had to reorganise her life.
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Later she became secretary and assistant in the medical practice of her brother Peter, in Johannesburg. (Peter sold this practice ca.1990 and moved as physician into a retirement centre in Margate, where the parental cottage was. Peter died in 1993 in Sandton, Johannesburg (19930902), his wife Cynthia in 2017.)
GEM: Gordon Argyle, John's brother, who had become a civil engineer for the South African Railways, "adopted" Tirrey and my Mum and her siblings as family after John had left. The Argyle family generally was very welcoming and supporting of Tirrey. Gordon was (we are pretty sure) gay as he used to come to visit us with his German friend Fritz. He had a magnificent broad moustache. I remember him well. Gordon died in 1994 (19940403).
GEM: The official divorce of Tirrey and John was sometime 1953/54. Tirrey wore the marriage ring until her death in 2000 (200006xx)
1980-2000
After Tirrey's mother Nina died in 1980, Tirrey moved to Hillcrest near Durban
in Kwazulu-Natal,
to where her daughter Dos with husband Rev Richard Martin and children lived.
Hillcrest is about 30 km from the coast.
GEM (2021): I have fond memories of Tirrey:
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She moved into a small unit at Nqutu Road, Hillcrest, outside Durban. We lived about 100 m away (around the corner) at 7 Elangeni Rd. I remember I retiled her bathroom (very badly I think, but I was about 12) for which I was paid enough to buy myself a new state of the art fly fishing rod. I still remember the sense of satisfaction from doing the tiling and I think Grandma was proud to have her grandson do it for her. I also remember the shining graphite fly rod. It was mesmerising and caught lots of trout.
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Tirrey died June 2000 (200006xx). After cremation, her ashes were interred in the Elton cemetry.
Separate lives: John, ca. 1953-2000
John had to leave St John's College because he had filed his divorce
and divorcees were not acceptable in Church of England schools.
Much later, an obituary was published in the St John's College magazine,
"The Johannian", also providing information on John's life.
Unfortunately, this
obituary
gives several dates not fitting to facts.
So John planned to divorce and then remarry.
He must have befriended this other woman well before 1954
(most likely soon after the war),
because the obituary contains the statement
after more than 50 years of happy married life.
Matter of factly this cannot be true; but perhaps JDA pretended later to
have been with his second wife since 1949, which may be true.
Furthermore, as cited above from the StJPmB, John chose in 1950 to live
"in the valley" separate from Tirrey.
According the obituary, JDA later entered the commercial world.
On that the StJPmB says:
He had a full-time job in the transport business.
Further (from StJPmB) on his new wife:
Years later, he and his wife, she as a headmistress, took over a
remedial school, Japari, ... but he kept his hand in with extra lessons and was a great help to his wife as Chairman of the Japari Board.
This "Japari Remedial School",
was established in 1966.
John's second wife Kathleen (born 1912) became Headmistress
of that school in 1978.
The school was in Parkview, Johannesburg.
Kathleen died in Sandton, Johannesburg, September 1999
(19990906),
seven months before John
(and not 18 months, as the obituary has it).
In 1986 son Hector, whom he probably had not seen again after 1950, was killed in Rhodesia. Back in Johannesburg, a memorial service was held and John also came. The tale is that he wore heavy sunglasses and hardly engaged with the others present.
John died in 20/04/2000, in Sedgefield, Western Cape (20000420).
Sources
GEM = Greg Martin, son of Richard and Dorothy (Dos).
RM20 = Richard Martin, husband of Dos (2020).
StJPmB = St John's Prepschool memorial Book, Chapter 5, J.D. Argyle
Obituary = Obituary of JDA, as provided by the archival service of the OJA
(Old Johannian Association).
Back to the family tree page of JDA and DH.