You have to weep (with laughter) for the fate of Eric Wildman, who was a canemaker and a crusader for the retention of corporal punishment in the middle of last century.
One day in 1948 he was invited into a school called Horsley Hall to give a lecture, and to show off his canes, resulting in the following contemporary story in Time magazine:
Wildman, who likes publicity, readily accepted and brought samples of his best canes with him. “Aren’t they beautiful?” he asked, and thereupon launched happily into his lecture about his canes (“My canes are antiseptic”), and how they should be used. […]
“Tell me, Mr. Wildman,” asked [the Headmaster Robert Copping], “what is the most suitable cane for a boy 15 years old or over?” Wildman brandished his prized 30-inch Dragon Smoky Malacca, “a very pliant and punishing cane.” “And how many strokes do you advise?” Headmaster Copping asked. Smiling, Wildman suggested “Six of the best, in the place that seems to have been provided by nature for the purpose.” At that point, Headmaster Copping gave a signal.
Immediately, 20 boys rushed Mr. Wildman. One grabbed his 30-inch Dragon Smoky Malacca. Others held him in position.
[…]
That afternoon, Eric Wildman stopped off at the nearest hospital. “I’ve nine visible weals on my buttocks,” he reported. “I’ve never suffered such indignity in my life.”
Curiously enough, this didn’t change his mind at all: he continued campaigning for the beating of children for another few years, releasing pamphlets with charming titles like “Modern Miss Delinquent,” “Girl Training”and “Punishment Postures ” (with pictures).
He was finally prosecuted in 1953, but went on selling his canes for a good 20 years afterwards, according to Corpun‘s Colin Farrell.
I hope each and everyone of those boys plus the master were suitably well caned
The Horsley Hall school was closed by the Government a few months after this incident. The headmaster was convicted of various offences concerning the welfare of children. The papers relating to the case are held at The National Archives, Kew, London, but were sealed for 75 years, an unusually long period of time. They become available on 1st January 2025, unless somebody appeals under the Freedom of Information Act. (Might need to be a pupil/relative/employee/etc).
Various reports list the Horsley Hall School as being in Staffordshire and Herefordshire. Does anyody know where it was, and what the building is used for now?