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Fred Hando
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Fred Hando
Frederick James Hando MBE (23 March 1888 – 17 February 1970) was a Welsh writer, artist and schoolteacher from Newport. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of Monmouthshire, which he also called Gwent, in a series of nearly 800 newspaper articles and several books published between the 1920s and 1960s.
Hando was born in Maindee, Newport, Monmouthshire, the son of a postmaster Alfred and his wife Miriam, and attended school there. He had two younger brothers, Frank and Harry. He trained at Borough Road College, London, before returning to Newport as a teacher. He served as a gunnery officer with the Royal Engineers in the First World War, where his experiences in Flanders had a profound effect on him. In his anthology of authors from the county, Monmouthshire Writers: A literary history, W. J. Townsend Collins suggests that Hando's experiences at the Battle of Vimy Ridge occasioned "something like a religious conversion - 'his eyes were opened so that he could see'".
Hando married Alice Stanton, the daughter of a Newport builder, and the couple had two children – Margaret and John. Alice died while still young. After a number of years, Hando married again to Daisy, a staff member at his school. The couple soon had a son, Robert.
Fred Hando unlocked our prison and set free what talents that I am sure would have remained locked in us for ever. Fred was a most talented man. He proved to us that all things were possible... We all of us come to a crossroads in our lives. I can only hope that at every crossroads there will be a smiling Fred Hando pointing the way and saying "This is the most pleasant and interesting way".
In 1925 he was appointed as the first headmaster of Hatherleigh School in Newport, where one of his pupils was Johnny Morris, later a noted radio and television presenter [see box]. Hando adopted an open and progressive teaching style and was described by Miriam Andrews, a former teacher at the school, as "a wonderful headmaster and he made the children very proud of Hatherleigh".
His interest in local history was given an impetus when he was asked to provide sketches to illustrate Sir Joseph Bradney's multi-volume A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time and his first articles about Monmouthshire were published in the South Wales Argus in 1922. The then editor, William Collins agreed to an initial run of 15 articles. In total, he contributed 795 articles to the newspaper between 1922 and 13 February 1970, a few days before his death. Due to their high readership, the page of the Argus on which his articles appeared became particularly prized as advertising space. Many of his articles and drawings were republished in anthologies of his work. In his early writings, Hando was particularly interested in ley lines and the alignment of the sun with stone circles. He said that he wanted to add to what was already on the map and that by studying leys he could reach back in history far beyond Roman Britain.
Hando was organist and choirmaster of Summerhill Baptist Church Newport for many years". In 1953 he was awarded the MBE for services to education and to Monmouthshire".
Hando died on 17 February 1970, at St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Newport, at the age of 81. His last article, on District and Street Names, appeared in the South Wales Argus four days before his death.
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Fred Hando
Frederick James Hando MBE (23 March 1888 – 17 February 1970) was a Welsh writer, artist and schoolteacher from Newport. He chronicled the history, character and folklore of Monmouthshire, which he also called Gwent, in a series of nearly 800 newspaper articles and several books published between the 1920s and 1960s.
Hando was born in Maindee, Newport, Monmouthshire, the son of a postmaster Alfred and his wife Miriam, and attended school there. He had two younger brothers, Frank and Harry. He trained at Borough Road College, London, before returning to Newport as a teacher. He served as a gunnery officer with the Royal Engineers in the First World War, where his experiences in Flanders had a profound effect on him. In his anthology of authors from the county, Monmouthshire Writers: A literary history, W. J. Townsend Collins suggests that Hando's experiences at the Battle of Vimy Ridge occasioned "something like a religious conversion - 'his eyes were opened so that he could see'".
Hando married Alice Stanton, the daughter of a Newport builder, and the couple had two children – Margaret and John. Alice died while still young. After a number of years, Hando married again to Daisy, a staff member at his school. The couple soon had a son, Robert.
Fred Hando unlocked our prison and set free what talents that I am sure would have remained locked in us for ever. Fred was a most talented man. He proved to us that all things were possible... We all of us come to a crossroads in our lives. I can only hope that at every crossroads there will be a smiling Fred Hando pointing the way and saying "This is the most pleasant and interesting way".
In 1925 he was appointed as the first headmaster of Hatherleigh School in Newport, where one of his pupils was Johnny Morris, later a noted radio and television presenter [see box]. Hando adopted an open and progressive teaching style and was described by Miriam Andrews, a former teacher at the school, as "a wonderful headmaster and he made the children very proud of Hatherleigh".
His interest in local history was given an impetus when he was asked to provide sketches to illustrate Sir Joseph Bradney's multi-volume A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time and his first articles about Monmouthshire were published in the South Wales Argus in 1922. The then editor, William Collins agreed to an initial run of 15 articles. In total, he contributed 795 articles to the newspaper between 1922 and 13 February 1970, a few days before his death. Due to their high readership, the page of the Argus on which his articles appeared became particularly prized as advertising space. Many of his articles and drawings were republished in anthologies of his work. In his early writings, Hando was particularly interested in ley lines and the alignment of the sun with stone circles. He said that he wanted to add to what was already on the map and that by studying leys he could reach back in history far beyond Roman Britain.
Hando was organist and choirmaster of Summerhill Baptist Church Newport for many years". In 1953 he was awarded the MBE for services to education and to Monmouthshire".
Hando died on 17 February 1970, at St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Newport, at the age of 81. His last article, on District and Street Names, appeared in the South Wales Argus four days before his death.