This letter is from my Grandfather, the Rev George Kendall OBE (1881-1961), Methodist Minister and Senior RAF Chaplain to the Anti-Aircraft Forces in London during WWII (he was also behind the selection of the Unknown Warrior in 1920). It is to his good friend George Tomlinson, a Labour M.P. who was also General Secretary of the Public Morality Council and became the Secretary of State for Education a few years later.
In the letter my Grandfather, then aged 58, describes a walk he made in May 1941 from his manse in East Ham to Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, a distance of 7 miles.
The Public Morality Council had a permanent outdoor platform at Hyde Park and my Grandfather was the chairman. Each week he spoke on the subject’s of morality, spirituality and health, along with regular guest speakers whom he had personally selected.
My Grandfather was due to speak at Speakers Corner at his usual time of 2pm on a Sunday. Due to a massive air raids on East London the previous day, all public transport was closed. He didn’t own a car and there weren’t any taxis were running either. In anticipation of delays, he left home at 9am for a walk that would usually take two hours. He finally arrived late, at 4pm, 7 HOURS later!!
About George Tomlinson
His friend George Tomlinson was born in 1890. He left school age 12 to be a weaver in a cotton mill. He joined the Weavers trade Union and in his 20’s became the area representative . He was elected as a Labour MP in 1938 and in 1941 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour (DWP) in Churchill’s War Cabinet during WWII
After Labour won the election in 1945 George Tomlinson was appointed by Prime Minister Clement Attlee to be the Minister of Works (in DCMS brief today). In 1947 Tomlinson was promoted to Secretary of State for Education. He set up the modern education system over the next five years (the second longest term as an Education Secretary in history). A year after Attlee lost the 1951 election to Churchill, George died age 62.
