I found the haggadah, which I have photographed below, which led me to think their family may have been Jewish. When I carefully broached this with Nellie she assured me that they were in fact of Polish origin, which was of course true. She even had a book to learn Polish which she gave to me. I know now that her father's father was Jewish, but converted to Christianity when he came to London from Poland. He married twice, but both his wives were Christian.
I was fascinated by the memorabilia of the Women's Anti-Suffrage League. There were all Nellie's lecture notes from her teacher training days. I certainly coveted Nellie's set of the publications of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire in their rotating bookcase, but they did not come to me. However, she did give me a cuneiform tablet that had been given to her father by one of his former pupils at Burgess St School. I still have a small marble vase, and a small crystal pot and lid that she also gave me. I wish I still had her school diary for the brief period of the school's evacuation at the beginning of WW2. I have the volume but the first few pages I cut out and lost. I also have some old pince-nez that belonged to her, or more likely her father. And I have the set of lantern slides that today I managed to copy and place in this blog.
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| Cuneiform tablet from Ur. |
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| Translation of the table. I typed this. |
Circular bronze medal on claw and ribbon bar suspension; the face with the crowned head and shoulders of King George V in coronation robes facing left, circumscribed ‘GEORGIUS V REX ET IND: IMP:’(George V King and Emperor of India) ; the reverse inscribed ‘FOR FAITHFUL SERVICE IN THE SPECIAL CONSTABULARY’, with laurel branch to the right; attributed on the edge to ‘CMDR. ARTHUR C. GRONNO’; on original ribbon with ‘THE GREAT WAR 1914-18’ bar. The medal was instituted on 30 August 1919 to be awarded for nine years’ unpaid service with more than 50 duties performed each year. War service counted triple and those who qualified for the medal during the Great War were awarded the bar seen on this example. Arthur Charles Gronno was a schoolmaster who taught at Burgess Street Council School in Manchester. He was a leading campaigner against the suffragette movement and the author of ‘The Attempt to Capture the National Union of Teachers by Women-Suffragists’ (1912) and ‘The Woman M.P. A Peril to Women and the Country’ published by the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage. He also took a keen interest in attempts to simplify the spelling of English and two of his watercolours are in the collection of Manchester City Art Galleries.
http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/api/collection/p16445coll4/id/154282/download
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| Nellie Gronno |
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| Membership of the Historical Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. |
Title The Woman M.P.: A Peril to Women and the Country
Author Arthur Charles Gronno
Contributor National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage Manchester Branch
Edition 2
Publisher A.C. Lindley, 1910
Length 40 pages
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| The school motto. I believe Arthur Charles Gronno chose the motto and drew this illustration. |
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| Burgess St School football team 1901–2. |
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| Burgess St School as Moston League champions, 1902. |
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| Burgess St School Shield team, 1901–2. |
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| Burgess St School performance of 'Julius Caesar', 1897. |
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| A performance of 'The Merchant of Venice'. |
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| Burgess Street School combat training. |
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| Arthur Charles Gronno as Master of Clarendon Lodge, 1901. |
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| Annie Gronno, née Wild, and her daughters nellie and Nora. |
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| I presume a friend of Charles in masonic regalia, though it could be him. |
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| Add caption |
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| Is this Joseph Gronnowski, perhaps at the tearooms in Alexandra Park, Manchester? He died in 1902. |
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| A holiday, probably in North Wales. |
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| A holiday, probably in North Wales, in 1907. |
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| Y Foryd, near the Menai Straits, in North Wales. |
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| I would guess that this photograph includes Annie with Nellie and Nora, but the date may be too late. |
Burgess Street School War Memorial
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| One of my glass slides. |
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| The photograph in the Imperial War Museum collection. |
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| Another photograph in a private collection. |
Burgess Street School Memorial (photo from memorial booklet)
Image Copyright: Joan Kaylor is acknowledged as the owner of this image
A. C. Gronno and Women's Suffrage
The Schoolmaster of Sept. 30, 1911 and in the Finsbury and City Teachers’ Journal
Posted on September 30, 1911 by Emily Davison Posted in Letters
The two letters below appeared in in The Schoolmaster of Sept. 30, 1911 and in The
Finsbury and City Teachers’ Journal. They are similar, but not identical, suggesting that
Davison responded with an efficient and individually targeted effort.
September. 30, 1911, to the Editor of The Schoolmaster
Sir, — The wail of the Anti is loud in the land at the approaching nemesis of woman suffrage. It has even penetrated into the progressive ranks of the N.U.T. [National Union of Teachers] in the form of a swansong by Mr. Arthur Charles Gronno, one of the local secretaries, which he is giving in long drawn-out sweetness to all members of the Union. The lament bears the un-euphonic title of ‘The Attempt to Capture the National Union of Teachers by Woman-Suffragists.’ Will you kindly allow me to descant upon some of the varied harmonious themes of this dirge?
The first theme which attracts my attention is that woman-suffrage is outside the objects for which the N.U.T. was founded. Mr. Gronno asserts that of those objects, twelve in number, ‘not one of them except No. IX., dealing with the Provident Society and the Benevolent and Orphan Fund, aims at anything beyond educational or professional benefit.’
I turn to the twelve objects and find No. V. is ‘To secure the effective representation of educational interest in Parliament.’ That N.U.T. interests can be effectively represented when 38,380 members are women to the 30,693 men, probably even Mr. Gronno would not venture to assert, especially as ‘men are men and women are women.’
Mr. Gronno assures us in dulcet tones that the greater number of the N.U.T. are opposed to woman-suffrage. He no doubt hopes to hoodwink his audience by the fact that the resolution was not adopted at Aberystwyth. But they are not such greenhorns as to ignore that the mass of delegates there voted not against woman-suffrage, but against the urgency of the question.
Mr. Gronno revels in the theme of the anti-suffrage canvass of women municipal electors, although he knows that these canvasses have been very seriously discredited even by newspapers with anti-suffragist tendencies. He also forgets that the apathetic and stupid majority are always less to be considered than the intelligent minority. Mr. Gronno descants at great length on ‘the fact that women pay rates and taxes has nothing to do with the vote.’ Here our critical voice rises high. The franchise in England to-day is entirely on a taxation basis either directly or indirectly. It was on the principle that ‘those who pay the piper call the tune,’ that the civil war took place in England, and that minor conflicts have since taken place. Mr. Gronno says, ‘rates and taxes are money paid for value received,’ to which women reply ‘Has the one who pays not the right to demand value?’ Women, for instance, may have any Budget imposed on them without so much as a ‘by your leave.’
The sapient Mr. Gronno says that majorities must always rule, apparently ignoring the fact that the number of women both in the N.U.T. and in the nation are in the majority.
He then goes on to the last theme of the Anti that physical force is the ultima ratio. According to this contention, the black race ought to rule the white, the prize fighters ought to sit in the Cabinet! Is not Mr. Gronno in his teaching capacity constantly seeing the spectacle of a gentle man or woman dominating classes sometimes of sixty big boys or girls? How? Not by physical force!
Lastly, Mr. Gronno winds up with the theme that twice has the Woman’s Liberal Association refused to consider the question of woman suffrage. Considering that suffragists have all along pressed for this reform from the Liberal Party, which as a party has refused to deal with it and has accordingly suffered, it is not astonishing that these women who put party before all else, even principle, think woman suffrage a dangerous subject. But the N.U.T. is not in that position, being, as Mr. Gronno so kindly reminds us, entirely ‘non part,’ and therefore fearless and progressive.
Eheu fugaces, O Antis! [ref. to Horace: Alas, the fleeting years….]
31 Coram-street, W.C.
EMILY WILDING DAVISON
September, 1911 to the Editor of The Finsbury and City Teachers’ Journal
Sir,
The wail of the Anti is loud in the land at the approaching Nemesis of Woman Suffrage. It has even penetrated into the progressive ranks of the N.U.T. in the form of a swansong by Mr. Arthur Charles Gronno, one of the local secretaries, which he is giving in long drawn-out sweetness to all members of the Union. The lament bears the uneuphonic title of ‘The Attempt to Capture the National Union of Teachers by Woman Suffragists.”
Will you kindly allow me to descant upon some of the varied harmonious themes of this dirge?
The first theme which attracts my attention is that Woman Suffrage is outside the objects for which the N.U.T. was founded. Mr. Gronno asserts that of those objects, twelve in number, ‘not one of them except IX., dealing with the Provident Society, and the Benevolent and Orphan Fund, aims at anything beyond educational or professional benefit.’
I turn to the twelve objects and find No. V. is ‘To secure the effective representation and educational interests in Parliament.’ That N.U.T. interests can be effectively represented by a man when 38,380 members are women to the 30,693 men, probably even Mr. Gronno would not venture to assert, especially as ‘men are men and women are women.’
The dirge next assumes the noisy theme of invective against Suffragists, who are asserted to be feminists, which betrays a shocking lack of knowledge on the part of the composer. He also shows the reality of his fear of Woman Suffragists by indicating that a clever minority is carrying all things against an apathetic or stupid majority. As an example he warbles about the ineffectiveness of Women Suffragists at elections and by-elections. By quoting the brave attempt made by the N.U.W.S.S. in two constituencies to see if men really cared enough about women’s interests to put the Women’s Cause before everything else, which, of course, failed, he artfully manages to ignore the splendid work of the W.S.P.U. at the recent General Elections, or at such a by-election as that of Mr. Masterman at West Ham, where the damage done to him was attributed by Government organs greatly to the women, or again the Times’ caustic remark on the present Kilmarnock fight:–
‘What may be described as one of the inevitable incidents of elections in these times is the pertinacious activity of the Women’s Social and Political Union. Miss Christabel Pankhurst will be the principal speaker for Mr. McKerrell at a meeting here at the end of the week.’
Mr. Gronno assures us in dulcet tones that the greater number of the N.U.T. are opposed to Woman Suffrage. He no doubt hopes to hoodwink his audience by the fact that the resolution was not adopted at Aberystwyth. But they are not such greenhorns as to ignore that the mass of delegates there voted not against Woman Suffrage, but against the urgency of the question.
Mr. Gronno revels in the theme of the Anti-Suffrage canvass of Women MunicipalElectors, although he knows that these canvasses have been very seriously discredited even by newspapers with Anti-Suffragist tendencies. He also forgets that the apathetic and stupid majority are always less to be considered than the intelligent minority.
The subject following is that at the Aberystwyth occurrence every attempt was made to ‘make it a fight of women against men.’ Those who were there will know that many of the men were as keen as the women on the passing of the Resolution.
Mr. Gronno descants at great length on ‘the fact that women pay rates and taxes have nothing to do with the vote.’ Here our critical voice rises high. The franchise in England to-day is entirely on a taxation basis, either directly or indirectly. It was on the principle that ‘those who pay the piper call the tune’ that the civil war took place in England, and that… [incomplete….]
http://www.emilydavison.org/tag/the-schoolmaster/index.html
Her attitude is understandable when you realise that the concept of women MPs was so outlandish, it was used by anti-suffragists to argue against women getting the vote. An anti-suffrage pamphlet was published in 1909 tellingly titled The woman MP: a peril to women and the country. The author, Arthur Charles Gronno, envisaged laws on issues such as all children of a certain age being in bed by a certain time, and argued
‘Universal adult suffrage and its corollary, the women MP, would lower the quality of our legislations and increase the number of capricious, emotional and meddlesome laws…The more votes, the greater the number of persons who have not the intelligence to judge what is really good for themselves and their country… Peace and war would be declared on insufficient and impulsive grounds.’
Gronno lived through the war to see the advent of the woman MP. A Manchester schoolteacher, after war service with the Special Constabulary, by the early 1920s he had found a new cause. This Eugenics Education Society report, p.292, shows him giving a talk in Manchester on the ‘necessity for the study of eugenics owing to the great need for racial improvements.’ A fellow eugenics speaker was a Dr. D’Ewart, who Gronno painted in a watercolour now at Manchester Art Gallery.
https://parliamentandwomen.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/the-woman-mp/
Nellie Gronno
Honours List, 1906 - 1907
Manchester High School
Former Pupils
Details given of the successes of the following:
University of Manchester: Frances Huxley, Alice Oberdorfer, Elsie Royle, Gertrude Geiler, Marion Hargreaves, Eva Newton, Elsie Redfearn, Emma Titterington, Winifred Woollam, Annie Latham, Mary McNicol, Ada Neild, Amy Harvey, Katherine Jollie, Muriel Wilson, Jane McClymont, Louise Chaffers.
University of London: Sarah Stenhouse.
University of Dublin: Agnes Collier, Frances Knowles, Elizabeth Smith.
University of Cambridge: Edith Hewitt.
University of Oxford: Lucy Baynes.
Present Pupils
Details given of the successes of the following:
Girton College, Cambridge: Katherine Hothersall, Carrie Morrison.
Manchester University: Hilda Livesey, Theodora Pitt, Dora Royle, Gladys Dixey, Catherine Clay, Dorothy Barker, Gladys Cliffe, Marguerite Elias, Eleanor Rhodes, Hilda Stanfield, Catherine Carter, Dorothy Crosland, Elsie Goodwin, Rebecca Marks, Dorothy Smith, Ethel Watson, Florence Wilkinson.
Cambridge Higher Local Examination, December 1906: Blanche Strachan, Carrie Morrison.
Manchester School of Domestic Economy: Doris Bailey, Josephine Davies, Ada Stevens.
Corporation Senior Secondary Scholarships: Dora Greenhalgh, Nellie Holden.
Examination Qualifying for Engagement as Pupil Teachers: Catherine Carter, Dorothy Crosland, Bertha Brymer, Eleanor Stevens, Nellie Gronno, Marjorie Pearson, Fanny Broomhead, Lily Dobson.
Manchester Education Committee for Intending Pupil Teachers: Emily Bertenshaw, Bertha Booth, Edith Parkinson.
Royal Drawing Society: statistics given of successes including those of the following: Irene Brierley, Estelle Plummer, Edith Latimer.
Shorthand: statistics given of successes including those of the following: Gertrude Langley, Mona Procter, Dorothy Almond, Dorothy Bramwell, Alice Girdham, Ivy Lee, May Irwin, Ida Matthews, Bertine Polak.
Tonic Sol - Fa College: statistics given of successes including that of the following: Madge Clague.
Lancashire and Cheshire Union of Institutes: statistics given of successes including that of the following: Lilly Burton.
Book Presents: Louie [sic] Badger, Annie Boullen, Elsie Cartwright, Hilda Hancock, Irene Hunt, Edith Latimer, Annie Pearce, Nora Simon, Nellie Holden, Ivy Lee, Dorothy Lunt, Emily Yooll [sic], Josephine Davies, Ella Farrow, Florence Procter, Lucy Wormell, Nellie Gronno, Marjorie Pearson, Ada Almond, Mary Hughes, Helena Irwin, Gladys Stone, Margaret Bowman, Eva Cooper, Annie Ellis, Ethel Holden, Primrose McNicol, Dorothy Mainwaring, Olive Pearson, Ada Stevens, Mary Storey, Emily Bertenshaw, Dorothy Booth, Lizzie Buckley, Dorothy Goodwin, Lilly Burton, Florence Dunn, Marjorie Henderson, Judith Jacobs, Barbra [sic] Mumford, Janie [sic] Waters, Gladys Bauer, Mary Blackledge, Rachel Boullen, Florence Clarke, Doris Lea, Anna Sutherland, Doris Walker, Mabel Beazley, Mabel Rhodes.
Mrs Buller's Sewing Prizes: Dorothy Almond, Eva Coleman.
Dixon Gymnasium Cup: Doris Welch.
Parry Junior Gymnastic Cup: Dorothy Barrow.
Gertrude Fletcher Cricket Cup: Irene Brierley.
Thring Memorial Cup for Games and Medal: Constance Stenhouse.
5. [ANTI-SUFFRAGE]. GRONNO, Arthur Charles. THE ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS BY WOMAN SUFFRAGISTS [London]. Printed by the National Press Agency Limited... and Published by The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage. [1912]. £ 150
FIRST EDITION. 8vo, pp. 8; lightly dust-soiled, once stapled, staples now missing with minor evidence of rust spots.
Scarce pamphlet by a leading anti-suffragist protesting against a decision taken by the National Union of Teachers at their 1912 Hull conference to send a message of support for women’s suffrage to their local associations, while making clear that as an organisation it had no mandate to deal with ‘Woman Suffrage in any shape or form’. Gronno was outraged at this evidence of even mild support and expounds at length his reasons.
‘The Woman Suffrage movement, with all that it implies and leads to, is a dangerous and insidious one, for, although the rank and file of the Suffragists do not know it, the movement is being engineered by “feminists,” who wish for more fundamental things than the vote, only they dare not say in public what they wish for’ (p. 2)
Arthur Gronno was a schoolteacher who became headmaster of a boys school in Manchester and twice held the post of President of the Manchester Teachers Association, in retirement he became a noted Egyptologist and portrait painter!
OCLC records two copies in North America, at Waterloo and Mount Holyoke College.
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| A. C. Gronno and teaching. |
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| Nellie Gronno's death. |
Births, Marriages and Deaths
An Old Haggadah
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| I suspect this once belonged to the Gronnowsky family before their conversion to Christianity. |
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