Obituary: George Jamieson, teacher

George Jamieson, teacher.

Born: 9 January, 1914, in Unst, Shetland.

Died: 1 June, 2011, in Edinburgh, aged 97.

George Jamieson was born on a croft with no running water and into a world that had yet to experience two world wars or the advent of television. He left at 12, had retired as a head teacher before computer technology reached the classroom but entered the digital era by embracing e-mail aged 88.

In between he enlisted in the Royal Scots, taught soldiers in India, served as the secretary of the Edinburgh Fabian Society, published short stories, relished hillwalking and enjoyed 69 years of contented marriage.

He also forged another enduring partnership, spanning an astonishing 79 years, to become one of the Labour Party's longest, continuously serving members.

It was that spirit of solidarity, coupled with his own strong set of values based on justice, fairness and a general belief in humanity, which infused his life and character and contributed so much to the development of generations of youngsters. He came into the world in the winter of 1914 in Unst, the northernmost of the Shetland Isles, and was educated initially at Uyeasound Primary School. With no daily transport to Lerwick, where he attended Anderson High school, he stayed in digs from the age of 12, even having to buy his own food.

In 1932, the same year as he joined the Labour Party, his prize-winning essay, Shetland 1832-1932, appeared in the Shetland Times. The following three years were spent at Edinburgh University where he graduated with a BSc in agriculture and diploma in rural economy before completing his teacher training.

His first teaching post was at Viewforth Higher Grade School, Kirkcaldy in 1938, two years before he enlisted in the Royal Scots, initially as a PE instructor. He later transferred to the Army Educational Corps (AEC) as a sergeant instructor based in Fife, Norfolk and Monmouthshire.

Towards the end of the Second World War, he spent two years in various postings in India with the AEC and would later contribute, as a result of his experiences there, to an academic study of young delinquent soldiers, Out of Step, published in 1952.

He returned to civilian life in 1946 and to his bride, Amy, who he had married in Edinburgh in September 1941. Post-war his sense of humanity was evident in the help he offered a Yugoslavian POW who had been assigned to help with gardening at his school. He and Amy maintained contact with the man's family in Bavaria for almost 70 years.

Teaching posts followed at Selkirk and Dalkeith High Schools before he moved to primary teaching at King's Park Primary, Dalkeith in 1959. A couple of years later he became head teacher at Kirknewton Primary before swiftly being appointed to the headship of the new Stobhill Primary at Gorebridge where he remained until retireing in 1978.He not only took charge of the school but taught several classes, acted as school secretary and did some of the gardening, his egalitarianism, enthusiasm and commitment making a strong and lasting impact on the local community.

Throughout the decades from the 1950s to the 1980s he was active in Edinburgh Central Constituency Labour Party and was elected as secretary of the Edinburgh branch of the left-wing think tank the Fabian Society in 1964, a post he held for 25 years. An intellectual deeply interested in social, economic and political issues, he worked diligently for the Labour Party through thick and thin and was one of the first contributors to the Henry Drucker Fund, continuing his commitment to help disadvantaged youngsters reach university.

He always had empathy for children, particularly those less privileged, and believed young people should, through education, be well grounded and fully stretched. His final encounter with pupils was two years ago, at Edinburgh's Tollcross Primary School, when he inaugurated interactive whiteboards, donated with a bequest from his sister Evelyn, taking a keen interest in how they were used.

Always interested in new and improved teaching methods, he would have taken to the application of IT in classrooms had it not come too late for him. He did however, embrace, computers in retirement, exchanging e-mails until he was 95 - albeit with continuous refresher courses.

In addition to teaching and politics, his lifetime passions were walking and gardening. He was a regular member of the Edinburgh Holiday Fellowship, taking his share of planning and leading group walks. Quite late in life, as opportunities for more distant foreign travel arose, he travelled to India, Central Asia, China and South Africa and took up cross-country skiing in Switzerland in his 70s.

For almost 50 years from the mid-1930s, he regularly spent the summer months - apart from the war years - rogueing and inspecting certified seed potato crops in the Huntly area and other parts of Aberdeenshire. He had a keen eye for potato varieties and their diseases.

Even in his early 80s he was maintaining up to three allotments in different parts of Edinburgh, in addition to his own garden, and grew several traditional potato varieties including Shetland Blacks.

He was also always interested in creative writing and published several of his imaginative short stories. A collection, Missing Shetland Mail: And Other Stories, was published in 2001.

As one friend commented: "He was an exceptional person. Truly, we shall not see his like again." He is survived by his wife Amy, son Brian, daughter Wendy, two grandsons and a great-granddaughter.