Leonard John Cole
Leonard (1902-1986) was a pupil at Swansea Municipal School 1914-20
The items below were sent to Mr H. Davies by one of Leonard’s children in 1988 and forwarded for inclusion to the website by Mr A. Smith in 2020. The letter summarises Leonard’s education from Swansea Municipal School where he undertook the Oxford Junior Local Examination in 1918 and Senior Examination in 1919 (see photographs and certificates below). He stayed on at school to sit the London Matriculation Examination, thought to be in 1919-20. The letter goes on to state that Leonard, one of the first Arts students at University College Swansea, was made President of the Students’ Union in 1924-5. The latter is noted in the Illustrated History of UCS by David Dykes (1992, Appendix Five) which lists L. J. Cole as the fifth President of The Students’ Representative Council (1924-5).
Leonard became an English teacher and had a long and very successful career at Shaftesbury Grammar School, Dorset, from 1927-63 where he became Head of Department. He married Mary McGuiness in1930, and together they had Mary and Michael John. Leonard died on the Isle of Wight, age 84 in1986.
Thanks to Phill Davies and Tudor Price for their additional research.
