Lot 42 – Ringo Starr 1950s School Related Documents (UK)

Description

A rare collection of documents relating to Ringo Starr’s schooling at Dingle Vale Secondary Modern School. Richard Starkey first attended Dingle Vale Secondary Modern School in 1951. Boys and girls were separated into A, B, C and D streams depending on ability. Richard was put into stream C. Ringo recalled his time at Dingle Vale in the Beatles Anthology book, “I moved to Dingle Vale Secondary Modern School when I was twelve, but I didn’t go there much either. The biggest memory I have of Dingle Vale is buying lunch, which was a small Hovis loaf. We’d take out the middle of the Hovis and stuff it with chips. That was the best meal, because I hated the school dinners. We’d buy it outside, and then go and sit on the swings and eat it. It was a hell of a walk to Dingle Vale – a good half an hour. There was always lots of little fights going on. If you had a fight with a kid and you hurt him, the next day there’d be a huge guy waiting for you at the school gate, and he’d either punch you out, or shake you or really frighten you by grabbing you. ‘Don’t you touch our Frank again!’ I was always on the losing end.”
The collection includes:
A typed note from A. E. Virr, headmaster of Dingle Vale Secondary School which Ringo attended. It reads: ‘Richard Starkey, of 10, Admiral Grove, Liverpool, 8, has been on the rolls of this school since August, 1951. His attendance has been 83%. Here leaves from Form 4P1.
During his stay at this school he has made some progress at his work, at the same time doing some quite good work in the school Art Room. His conduct and personal appearance have been satisfactory throughout.
He is honest, cheerful and willing, and quite capable of making a satisfactory employee.’
Two typed letters between the headteachers of Dingle Vale Secondary and The Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital. The first is written by the headteacher of the Children’s Hospital informing that Richard Starkey had been admitted to the school in the hospital and requesting a school report and any other information. A response letter dated the 26th August 1954, from the headmaster of Dingle Vale lists Ringo’s test results.
A Scholar’s Record Card from the Liverpool Education Committee which details Ringo’s name, date of birth, address along with his medical history and interests. His school record has been handwritten and his IQ has been filled in on the reverse.
A Dingle Vale Secondary record card which lists Ringo’s personal information along with various test results. On the reverse an ‘Application for Admission of Child’ sheet has been attached. This has been handwritten by Ringo Starr in pencil. He has written his full name, date of birth, his mother and father’s names and nationalities, his home address, previous schools and medical history.
Also included in this lot are three punishment books from Dingle Vale which contain the following information: a list of students, their standard, offence, punishment, number of strokes and by whom the punishment was administered. Two of the books were for boys, the first begins in January 1951 and ends in October 1951, it mentions ‘Starkey’ in standard 1C with the offence as ‘Misbehaviour during PT games’. The second book begins in November 1960 and ends in September 1966. The third book was for girls and begins in February 1945 and ends in May 1962.
The largest letter measures 19.1cm x 28cm (7.5 inches x 11 inches). The Dingle Vale record card measures 20.3cm x 15.3cm (8 inches x 10 inches). The Liverpool Education Committee record card measures 25.2cm x 38cm (10 inches x 15 inches). There is creasing to most of the items. The large record card has tearing to the edges. The condition overall is very good.
Part of the proceeds from the sale of these documents will be donated to the Liverpool Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.
Provenance: from the collection of the former Headteacher of Shaw Fields Community Comprehensive, Dingle.
RESERVE £3,000