Boarding school rug, unknown maker: brown, red, green, white, green and mustard wool; made in the Netherlands, about 1939

Large blanket, woven coloured wools. The blanket is predominantly red-brown, the tartan pattern is realised in orange, green and white. It has been conspicuously repaired and darned in several places.

Given by Lionel Hemsley

This blanket was used by Lionel Hemsley between 1939 and 1948, whilst boarding at Chipping Campden Grammar School, Eddington House School and King's School, Bruton. Mr Hemsley gave it to the Museum of Childhood in 2016 [2016/575].

In a 2012 interview with MoC staff, Lionel Hemsley recalled his school rug:
"I went into various dormitories when I was there. There was one in the High Street which was under the attic. I could look up under the skylight; it was very cold I remember. And one night I dreamt there was a tiger on me, and when I woke up there was a purring cat, a mangy thing with only a half a tail, that had got in through one of the gaps in the roof, so I showed it the door. We were there for one very cold, not that same dormitory, very cold winter, and my mother sent me an eiderdown which I found most embarrassing as I suppose we were all supposed to be tough, but I know our flannels froze in the dormitory so it certainly went below freezing. Anyway, I put the eiderdown underneath me which was probably a good idea because a) it couldn’t be seen, and b) it was jolly good insulation. Right the way through from Chipping Campden through to Bruton we always had our own rug which was an individual difference. I’ve still got that rug, and then underneath that would be the school blankets."

Lionel Hemsley was born in September 1932, at home in Shirley, near Croydon. He was the second child, with a sister, Coral, who was 15 months older. His father was in the Air Force and his mother (maiden name Potter) did not work. Lionel’s first school was Miss Miles’s small private day school, in a house in a nearby street.

The Hemsley family were on holiday when War was declared in September 1939, and the children were sent to the Cotswolds. Lionel attended Chipping Campden Grammar School. The move away from the family seven was traumatic and Lionel describes hiding pleas for help in pictures sent to his mother. Bullying, hardships of rationing and strict discipline were the ongoing themes of Lionel’s school life. At the age of twelve, Lionel moved to King’s School, Bruton. He was placed with the boys of Eddington House, a Grammar School formerly based in Herne Bay, Kent, which had been evacuated to Bruton for the duration of the War. When Eddington House returned to Herne Bay after the War, Hemsley moved too. At Eddington House, he wrote for the school magazine and set up The Hippodrome, a comedy troupe based on a BBC radio show. The collection includes programmes and scripts for The Hippodrome performances.

In 1946 Lionel started Senior School at King’s School Bruton, in Priory House. During this period he continued to perform, and also wrote his second short novel. Lionel studied Art for the School Certificate, and started cycling to local churches to study the architecture. However, since Lionel’s aspirations were in science and Bruton’s provision was very limited, he moved at short notice over Christmas1948 to Whitgift School in Croydon. He had “the best two terms of [his] school life”, as a day student, joining the Natural History and Bird Watching Societies, before getting a place to study Veterinary Medicine at Bristol University aged 17.

Lionel graduated in 1954, and went on to practice, study and teach Veterinary Medicine in private practice, universities and government departments. Lionel specialised in pathology, and developed global expertise through posts in USA, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. In the 2010s, Lionel divides his time between Britain and Australia.

Lionel Hemsley used this school rug as a top layer for his bed whilst attending various boarding schools in England between 1939 and 1948. He recalled in a 2012 interview the terrible cold he had to endure in the dormitories of these schools. The rug could be an individual choice made by each child, beneath which would be the school blankets.

B.5-2016