Howard Ballance Hon OV 50-61
Howard Ballance left King Edward School Birmingham to read history at Magdalen College Oxford. This was interrupted by war service. He joined the army, and became a captain in the Royal Artillery. He went over to Europe with the big guns soon after D Day. At the end of the war he went to India for a year to train Indian troops, which he enjoyed. He resumed studies at Oxford and in 1948 married Gwyneth. His teaching career began at Kings School Taunton and then briefly at the Nautical College, Pangbourne, before moving to The King's School, Worcester.
From there he became Headmaster at Alderman Newton Boys' School Leicester, and after that, Headmaster at Reigate Grammar School. He strongly opposed comprehensive education, and worked tirelessly to preserve the grammar school system. He was delighted to achieve the status of independence for Reigate Grammar School in 1976 and was accepted as a member of the Headmaster's Conference. (He was the first Head of a Voluntary Controlled School to achieve the status of independence).
After retirement to Sidmouth in 1982, he and Gwyneth travelled the world and also enjoyed many cruises. They later moved to Tewkesbury to be nearer their family and subsequently to their current home near Cheltenham. They had a happy year before Howard suffered his first minor stroke, when he never got over losing the sight of his good eye together with some memory loss. His health continued to deteriorate gradually, being nursed at home by Gwyneth, until he needed full time nursing care. He moved into Broomfield Nursing Home, Olney for his last few months, dying peacefully in his sleep in Milton Keynes General Hospital.
Christopher Allen (Cr 55-61) writes :
"I remember Mr Ballance very well. I was not in his House, but he taught me history for several years, and Latin for one year.He was a superb teacher. I realised later that what made him so good was his analytical ability and clarity of expression. He had a practical, down-to-earth quality as well, which was a great stimulus when the immediate task was less congenial than it might have been.
I'm sure there will be others who have fuller memories than I have of him, particularly those whose Housemaster he was and those who were fortunate enough to be taught by him for a complete A Level course. I thought, however, that you might like to be alerted to the recent death of a very distinguished former member of staff."
Mike Coley (Ch 57-64)
In September 1960 I went back to school, to the Upper Remove and similar study towards my "O" levels in 1962. My teachers included the fearsome but human H.M.Ballance, who was the first teacher who asked me my (first) name. I replied with some surprise, as he taught me Latin and English, "Coley, sir" but he said "No, no, your Christian name!" I was flabbergasted and mumbled "Michael". Unfortunately he left King's not much later to become a headmaster, a great loss as he was an excellent teacher.
Like Christopher Allen, he taught me Latin and English. He was one of the most memorable teachers I encountered.
Mike Dudley (Cl 51-59)
He was my housemaster in Chappel (56-59) when I was a bit of a 'Teddy Boy' (something that was frowned on at school). He was a very good person and one of the first teachers at King's to really befriend me - he had great faith in so called 'rebels' and I know that Brian Gerrard and Tony Halford both felt the same about him.
He was affectionately known as "Snippet" as he so often produced some wonderful 'snippets' in class.
I remember him with both affection and real gratitude.
Roger Thorn (Cr 48-56)
He was a very dynamic individual.
Chris Chalke (Cl 58-63)
I remember Mr Ballance as the housemaster of Chappel before Sooty Sutcliffe - I think that's correct. If he was the same person,he was a great teacher.
A friend called Aidan Kearney and I were in his history class and we were interested in early British history. One weekend, he drove us both down to the Cotswolds so that we could look at various burial tumuli, which are scattered near the Chipping Campden area as I recall, measure them and draw them. It wasn't a project but we were both interested in that sort of thing. He drove us there early in the morning - we used an Ordnance Survey map to walk between the sites (and carried packed lunch and drinks as well as notebooks etc) - and he picked us up later in the day. I can't recall any other master doing that, and I've never forgotten it.
Sorry to hear of his passing. He inspired a love of history that has never died.
Peter Meadows (Cl 45-54)
I was sorry to hear of the death of Howard Ballance,thank you for letting me know. I remember him teaching me History in the 1950's. His teaching must have been effective for I won an Exhibition to Selwyn College in the subject. I must admit that I knew little of his subsequent career and it was enlightening to read the details of his achievements.
Tony Halford (Cl 52-61)
I owe so much to Mr Ballance. He, as my Housemaster, played a huge part in pointing me in the right direction. He took the time to turn a troublesome and delinquent teenager, who had lost his way, into someone who achieved success in sport as an alternative means to an end. He is probably the reason that I hold the school in such high regard.
David Watson (Cl 48-58)
I owe Howard an enormous debt; it was at his suggestion that I applied to Magdalen was back in 57, and his support was crucial as I prepared for the award.
Mike Page (Cr 60-65)
I arrived at King's in 1960 in the Lower Remove to find myself placed in 'Bert' Ballance's class. Initially I ran scared of him: he was a fierce disciplinarian and set the boundaries for discipline and behaviour very clearly, and also fairly close; it was clear the consequences of stepping over those boundaries were likely to be severe. But within those boundaries he was a good teacher and fair minded. At the end of the spring term he moved away to take up a headmastership elsewhere, and a young replacement temporary Form Master took over for the summer term 1961. He was a nice enough man, but had not learned how to control a class effectively, and discipline fell apart. The result? In the first two terms of that year we were subject to control - which we did not always like - but we learned a lot. In the last term, we had a riot of a time, but learned very little. There are no prizes for guessing which teacher had the correct approach, and even if at first given reluctantly, earned the respect and gratitude of those he taught.