Nicholas Wilson Campaign Button

Credit LineCollection of Museum London, 2006

Object number2006.036.040

Label TextPrior to 1849, each of the city’s four wards had its own small school. The incorporation of London as a town in 1848 enabled the municipality to replace these with a union school. To mark the laying of the foundation stone, students and teachers at the ward schools marched from the market square to the new site where a ceremony was held. The school opened in 1850 with three teachers and some 300 pupils, the ward students occupying separate classrooms. This arrangement was short lived as rivalries between groups resulted in many playground fights, and trustees directed that girls be dismissed early to allow them to get home safely. Later that year three women teachers joined the staff in the hope that they would be more effective at student discipline. The school’s first headmaster, Nicholas Wilson, was chosen after a two-day oral interview attended by the trustees and interested citizens. Wilson taught for almost sixty years until his retirement in 1909 at the age of 76. Examinations were held in mid-summer and were public occasions where citizens could watch the exercises and listen to the performance of the students. When the Common and Grammar School Boards were amalgamated in 1865, the Union School was renamed the Central School and placed under the direction of Principal Benjamin Bayly. Mr. Nicholas Wilson, of the Collegiate Institute. It is but stating the general sentiments of the community in which Mr. Wilson has resided for forty- six years, to say that no one man within the limits of the County of Middlesex has done as much for the educational growth, or as given as much of his time and personal attention to the upbuilding and development of school facilities in London as he. He was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, March 30, 1827, and is a son of John Wilson, who was a native of the same county, and a clerk of Sessions Court of that county. The mother, whose name was Catherine Meath, was also a native of the " Emerald Isle," her father being a prominent miller. In 1842 the family immigrated to Canada, and three years later, when Nicholas was under eighteen years of age, he began teaching school, an occupation which has received his attention for forty-two years. His experience is without parallel in Western Ontario, and it is a noteworthy fact that the most of his time has been spent in pedagogue in the city where he was raised to maturity, thus refuting the old proverb that " a prophet is not without honor excepting in his own country." Not only has he established himself firmly in the estimation of all as a thorough instructor, but he has also shown his entire fitness for the responsible duties which he is now discharging and has ever shown himself to be an indefatigable and tireless worker. On May 24, 1847, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah O'Brien, a native of Wicklow, Ireland, who came with her parents to Ontario in 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are the parents of the following children : — William, Edward (the latter in the post-office department at Ottawa), Nicholas (a prominent business man of London), Thomas, Harry (a medical student), Kate (now Mrs. Winnett), and Annie. Four children are deceased— Ellen, John, James and Robert. From: History of the County of Middlesex London has had in the past many citizens of whom it has reason to be proud but among them all, no man was held in more affectionate regard, for more than 60 years, than Nicholas Wilson, the Veteran Head Teacher of the old Union School. He was born in Donard in the County of Wicklow, Ireland, in 1829, the eldest son of John and Catherine (Meade) Wilson. It is considered the most beautiful spot in that land of beauty. As a young boy he received his early education in Wicklow County and his education was completed after he came to Canada with his parents when a boy of 14 years of age. He obtained the best education then possible and after spending a few years in a store he became a school teacher and for 62 years continuously followed that occupation. His teaching was very practical. He had excellent taste as a reader and the foundation he laid in all the Essential studies, arithmetic, writing, reading, geometry, algebra, drawing, etc., sent many a boy out well equipped for the battle of life. How well he was esteemed and remembered by his pupils scattered all over the continent was shown in a tangible way when after 50 years' continuous teaching, his old boys presented him with a purse of $1,000 in gold and a beautifully engraved address. The presentation took place in the Grand Opera House in London on January 6th, 1897. The address from the Old Boys was as follows: To Nicholas Wilson, Esq., London, Canada: Dear Mr. Wilson:-- "For Auld lang syne" all your old boys are here tonight. There's not one absent. They tender you the happiest congratulations on the completion of your fiftieth year as a teacher. You will see many "old faces look upon you, old forms come trooping past," and to you the procession will have the greatest interest. You will see they are from many lands, of many callings. The constant stream of fifty years makes your older scholars old men. They gradually become younger till the boy of the present day is reached. Still all are boys to you and you the same to them except that time has strengthened their attachment to you and all are boys tonight. You are remembered with affection by them all ever since you told them the boy was father to the man, and impressed upon their minds principles of generous manliness, and made them feel with you there's something in "a noble boy, a brave free-hearted careless one, with his unchecked, unbidden joy, his dread of books and love of fun, and with a calm and ready smile unshaded by a thought of guile." They relished and remembered your humor and see that the formation of character was aimed at. Your life is to be envied: quiet, useful, and good. The old boys, we feel they are all with us tonight and love them for their loyalty to the old school and to you. They can look back and verify your teachings by experience. They know the effect of your individuality. The good they derived from you is not to be found in books alone but is due to your personal influence; and as you inhered among the values of Wicklow, a love of learning and a love of country, you brought both with you and transplanted them in the minds of all your boys. Your broad-mindedness, your honest and sincerity, the correctness of your ideals, and the practical utility of the learning you imparted have all been apparent to your boys for more than 50 years past. Many sports and all that's natural for a boy to like you encouraged. We can see the Victoria Rifles and Sergt. Major Evans. We can hear the cheers for Ed. Paul when wounded at Ridgeway and have not forgotten your denunciation of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. You di don’t look for saints, and if you had you have looked in vain, but you did look for and encourage all that was true and noble and that would produce self-reliance and manliness and fit your boys for the actual requirements of success in life. The "Old Union School" with its ample play grounds and shade trees looked better and more in keeping with what a school should be than the present system which provides only room for the building. The muscle was not neglected then and cramming little known. We love to linger on the grounds and see Mr. Boyle and the Rev. Mr. Bayly and other teachers, no forgetting the Rev. Mr. Johnston, the boy's friend on the playground. During the whole 50 years many London boys have sought their fortunes in the United States, and all the large cities contain some of your old pupils. The warmth and heartiness with which they all responded is one of the pleasantest features of this testimonial. They wave both flags tonight as a testimony of their love for you and their loyalty still to the good little city of London. We believe the secret of your success was that you were a companionable teacher: you understood a boy, you and he were friends, and so from many lands and from across the silent river they gather here tonight to honor you and make a happy spot in their lives. Many bright boys have been "ferried o'er death's dark stream." Our recollections of them are pleasant and we know fond memories send down a bright sunlight and that they too join with us tonight in thus honoring you and in the belief that when the roll is called, "In the world to follow this, / We'll each repeat in words of bliss, / We're all, all here." Again we wish you and Mrs. Wilson the heartiest of congratulations and best wishes for the happiness of both in the twilight of life and assure you that you will always be gratefully remembered by us all. We ask you to accept the accompanying tokens of respect from every place, from every pupil." (Continues with return address about history of education in London from Wilson....) London and Its Men of Affairs (98-104)

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