Bible Christian Magazine Thomas Ruddle

Mr. T. Ruddle, B.A.
In many respects Shebbear College is the finest asset of the Connexion. To the superficial observer, who visits it on Prize Days, and forgets that it represents the growth of over sixty years, it has comparatively little to commend it in outward appearance. Many have been the expressions of disappointment at its lack of architectural symmetry and grace from those who have expected to find a stately edifice more in keeping with its fame. Some of the irreverent have even been known to advocate a clean sweep of the existing fabric, to prepare the way for a more pretentious modern building. Such critics are akin to those who solemnly suggest the transference of the entire school to another locality. To say nothing of the extravagance of these proposals, which do violence to the spirit of wise economy which has characterized the past, what is to be said of the disregard of that sentiment which means so much in the upbuilding

of the individual life? To boys who have spent some years of their lives at Shebbear, every nook and corner is alive with memories, some of them as inspiring as those associated with the more ancient halls of Eton and Rugby, or any other of the great public schools of the land.

To the generation that preceded the year 1864, the chief memories of school life at Shebbear are probably connected with the locality, with old schoolfellows, and with the Thorne family, whose devotion and force of character contributed so greatly to the best life of the denomination. It was in that year that the illness of a Bible Christian minister at Portland became the link in the chain of events which made Mr. Puddle headmaster of Shebbear College.

The Rev. W. Hopper, who had been President of the Conference in 1862, was then stationed at Portland and Weymouth. He had fallen ill, and a Mr. Beale, who was master of the British

School at Portland, had frequently preached for him on Sundays. This coming to the ears of the Managing Committee of the school, Mr. Beale was told that he must pledge himself not to do so again. This promise he firmly refused to make, and as a result he had to leave Portland, though his character was of the highest, and he had proved himself an efficient teacher. Mr. Hopper was naturally distressed that his friend should suffer on his account, and, lighting upon an advertisement in the Bible Christian Magazine for a master for Prospect School, as the college was then called, he showed it to Mr. Beale, in the hope that the post might suit him. But an unmarried man was required, whereas Mr. Beale had a wife and family; and in other respects the qualifications did not suit him. He therefore handed it to a friend of his at Weymouth, who applied for the post, and was successful in obtaining it. It was under such circumstances that Shebbear secured the services of one who was destined to raise the school to a foremost position among the secondary schools of the West.

Mr. Ruddle came to Shebbear with a strong

recommendation from no less an authority than the late Sir Joshua Fitch, who was the Principal of Borough Road Training College at the time Mr. Ruddle was a student there. Any old Shebbear boy will recognize the note of such passages as these, taken from Dr. Fitch's "Lectures on Teaching":- "Consider what a man is likely to be worth who has not resolution enough to resist the public opinion of his class, to refuse to pronounce the shibboleths of his party, to abstain from display and expense which he cannot afford, to emancipate himself from usages which he feels to be narrow and selfish." And again "A school is a very unsatisfactory institution, and fails to fulfil its highest function if, however it may succeed in imparting knowledge, it does not also succeed in imparting a thirst for more, or at least a dawning sense of the inward need for mental and spiritual cultivation, whether such cultivation bears any visible relation to success in life or not." There can be no doubt that the ideal of his old chief is the one

which Mr. Ruddle has kept before him through his years of self-denying service at Shebbear - namely, that the school "should be pervaded through and through by high purpose, by the spirit of work, by a solemn sense of duty, and by the love of truth."

A native of Trowbridge, in Wilts, Mr. Ruddle had been brought up among Nonconformists of the straitest sect, with the usual result that he found himself in revolt against the burdens, grievous to be borne, which were laid upon his shoulders by those who desired his spiritual well-being. He was an omnivorous reader, and his expanding mind could not fail to come under the influence of Thomas Carlyle, the greatest literary force of the third quarter of the nineteenth century, whose iconoclasm, however healthful and invigorating it has proved to the national character, was calculated to inflame rather than allay the spirit of rebellion against conventional authority.

At the age of twenty-four, with many thoughts arising in his heart, Mr. Ruddle came to Shebbear. Two things struck him from the first - the ultra-Puritanical

observance of the Sabbath, and the exceptional character of James Thorne. The last impression continually grew deeper during the six and a half years spent under the same roof, and has continued to deepen with the ripening experience of years, "so that in the light of Mr. Thorne's devotion, his singleness of purpose, and his Herculean labours, all other men appear comparatively small."

Shebbear in Mr. Thorne's day was the natural centre of denominational activity. It was also, as it still is, the head of a large and important circuit. Mr. Ruddle could scarcely fail to be brought into touch with the life then pulsating through the villages and hamlets around him. One of the most notable of these is Sutcombe, some six miles from Holsworthy and eight from Shebbear. Not being far from the place where Mr. O'Bryan had first preached at Milton Damerel, in 1815, it had felt the force of the great awakening at an early period. The preaching of Mr. James Thorne and

others had transformed the entire neighbourhood, and left an abiding influence upon the lives of many of the inhabitants. Chief among these was Mr. William Allin, of Chapel House, Sutcombe Mill, who as a lay preacher had rendered invaluable service to the churches around. His grand-daughter Margaret became the wife of Mr. Ruddle, and for over twenty years contributed not a little to the success of his work at the college. Only those who were privileged to witness the tender devotion and perfect understanding of that home life can appreciate the magnitude of the loss sustained by her husband and six children, when, in the spring of 1892, she was called to higher service.

Amidst the duties of school life and the cares of home, Mr. Ruddle continued his studies with such effect that he graduated at London University in 1872. In the following year the Rev. John Gammon succeeded Rev. Robert Blackmore as governor of the school. He held that position for twelve years, and, under the combined efforts of the governor and headmaster, the numbers increased so rapidly that it was found necessary to add

extensively to the premises. It should be noted that, at a period when Mr. Ruddle was practically single-handed in the upper work of the school, successes were won which have scarcely been surpassed since. In 1879 three students secured first-class honours in the local examinations, and a fourth stood high in the second class. In the following year two matriculated at London University, one with honours. Shortly after the Dyke Exhibition was won for the college against the best schools of the West of England, and gave the winner the opportunity of a full course at Oxford. Successes like these, and many others won in the Civil Service and elsewhere, soon attracted public attention. The Earl of Portsmouth, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Sir John Phear, and others interested in county education, readily took part in the prize-givings and other public functions. Under the governorship of Rev. Jehu Martin, advantage was taken of the facilities offered by the Government for the development of scientific instruction. Fine new chemical and physical

laboratories are the latest outcome of this movement, with the result that the college is well equipped for tuition in science. Other additions have been made to the premises during the administration of later governors (Rev. R. Spencer and Rev. W. B. Lark), so that there is ample accommodation for the pupils in residence, and every convenience for the work of education.

In the year 1891 Sir Samuel J. Way, Chief Justice of South Australia, himself an old Shebbear boy, presented to the Connexion the whole of Lake Farm adjoining the College. It was on this occasion that he said "noWhen the history of the Connexion comes to be written, the name of Thomas Ruddle will be recorded as one of its master-builders." Mr. Ruddle has certainly proved himself a master-builder in this sense. His old pupils are now scattered far and wide over the earth, but wherever an old Shebbear boy is met, whether it be in any of the British colonies - America, China, or any other country of the world he generally attributes a great part of the real grit he possesses to the love of hard work and the high sense of duty instilled into him whilst at Shebbear. Nor is any boy who leaves the college true to its

best traditions, as maintained by the present headmaster, if he allows himself to think that his education ends with his school life.

Several have attained to high academic honours since they left school. These would readily acknowledge their indebtedness to Mr. Ruddle for the intellectual stimulus given at Shebbear. But the value of his work is seen over a much wider area, and in a profounder sense, than that indicated by academic distinction alone. Although he has been headmaster of a denominational school for so many years, he has never aimed at producing men of the goody-goody type; but true nobility of character has been recognized and held up to esteem wherever it has manifested itself, without regard to creed or status. The result has been the development of a sturdy manliness, which is now doing good service in every walk in life occupied by old Shebbearians.

[ Volume 1 pages 117 - 126 ]

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