Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 18 text:

they could help, so far as classes were concerned — perhaps such are not unknown even now! — it would be unjust to pass over those who gave not only promise but fulfilment, and who afforded that supreme satisfaction to the teacher, the satisfaction of having helped in the opening of a good mind. And though this is a message to the girls, for that very reason I do not forget my past colleagues; there were always among them those who, apart altogether from professional work, constantly and gallantly upheld by word and action the really great things for which schools are supposed to stand. One cannot mention names of these; but in calling up memory of the past, there is one name that should not be omitted, because it suggests nothing but strong helpfulness from the very first, and never-failing interest, the name of Dr. Barclay. I never feel very far away. I am writing in perilous and critical days, when one cannot see far ahead, and the only thing quite certain is that we must all, old and young, deny ourselves in every way, and do all the work that we can ; we must live up to the sacrifices that have been made for us, and for the life and freedom of the world. But perhaps sometime I may see my old friends and my old haunts again. Meanwhile, I bid them all, the people and place alike, hail and farewell. Grace Fairley. Edinburgh, loth April, 1918. Letter from the Hon. Cairine Wilson No FORMER PUPIL of Trafalgar who had had the privilege of knowing Miss Fairley could fail to be deeply moved by the announcement this week that she had gone from among us. Her personality made such a lasting impression that to-day, after a lapse of thirty years, I wonder sometimes what Miss Fairley would have counselled. In every one of us Miss Fairley took a personal interest and had an extraordinary insight into characters and all their good points and their weaknesses. It was a joy to be welcomed each morning by the Principal, who stood at the head of the stairs, with a few words of cheery greeting. We knew of Miss Fairley ' s great love of flowers, of animals, small children and all the precious gifts of nature. Each changing season had its beauties, which she wished us to understand and appreciate. We knew, even then, that Miss Fairley was a real scholar and highly learned in the classics, but there was nothing of the pedant about her, nor did she want us to study for the simple purpose of passing examinations. There were times when we came to the class room eager to display what we had laboriously acquired, but on those days our teacher would close the books and we were asked to talk of other things. What a stimulus to hear her speak about the great topics of present and past times, and to be encouraged to express our own thoughts also! These hours were precious even in our careless youth. Never did we feel that Miss Fairley would be willing to sacrifice an ideal for any reason whatsoever, nor that she would be satisfied to let us take the easier way. My own three years under her guidance will ever remain a precious memory, and we can pay no higher tribute to her merit than by endeavouring to uphold the principles which she cherished. [ 16]

Page 17 text:

jHemonal erbice TO The Late Miss Grace Faiiiey, M.A. {Reproduced from the Montreal Gazette, February 24th, 1932) TRIBUTE from former colleagues and from many friends and erstwhile students was paid yesterday morning at the memorial service held in the Church Hall of St. Andrew and St. Paul for the late Miss Grace Fairley, M.A., former Principal of the Tralfalgar Institute, who died in Edinburgh on February first. The service was conducted by Rev. George H. Donald, D.D., minister of the church, and every seat in the hall was occupied. All the present-day pupils of Trafalgar were there, but these were outnumbered by those who had known Miss Fairley during her outstandingly successful regime of a quarter ot a century. Letters of tribute were read from Miss Martha Brown, who was on the teaching staff of Trafalgar for almost thirty years, and from a former student, Hon. Cairine Wilson of Ottawa. Both the former colleague and the former student united in declaring how deep was the loss sustained by Trafalgar when Miss Fairley resigned in 1913. Her great and unvarying modesty was remembered, as was the occasion on which money was collected for a Grace Fairley Scholar ' ship at McGill University, when Miss Fairley requested that the scholarship should be named after the school rather than herself. Miss Fairley s work in moulding the characters of thousands of girls who passed through her hands from 1887 to iqij was stressed, and her sweet influence and constant thought for others — of no matter what degree — was illustrated by her remembrance even during her last illness of an old pensioner of the serving staff to whom she sent a gift. Miss Fairley was a member of St. Paul ' s Presbyterian Church for twentyfive years and her religion was with her an active motivating force, testified Miss Brown, who spoke of the pleasure which former associates and students felt in seeing her when they went overseas and made a pil- grimage to Edinburgh to renew if only for a day their contact with Miss Fairley. Rev. Dr. Donald read part of a letter which Miss Fairley has written in April, 1918. It was a message fraught with beauty of words and thought, a message typical of her outlook: I do not personally know many of the girls who sit at the desks in the school-house now; but I still know some, and when I read the names of the newer-comers, I feel that I know, by reputation, something of them too. But my memory goes not only to the girls who were in school when I left it, but to the girls who have been there since I knew it, the long procession of Old Girls, who separated from the companionships and interests of schooldays to pass out to their own paths in life. It goes to the girls who, before the middle of their days, went west, as our soldier lads say; these are not many, thank God, for the young should live to work and to enjoy. It goes to the long-familiar place, to the garden, and the house, and the school-house, and the mountain lying behind, where, about the time that this letter reaches Montreal, the glorious sunshine of May will be bringing out the young leaves, and the annual resurrection of life which makes the eternal youth of the world. It goes to the busy routine of the Household, and to the endless side-issues of daily life, plays and fancy-dress dances, tennis on the lawn and sliding on the mountain, which in the retrospect seem to stand out much more than the actual school-work. That too I do not forget; and while I am quite well aware that there were many girls who did no more than

Page 19 text:

A Tribute to the Late Miss Grace Fairley, M.A. N FEBRUARY ist there passed away at her home in Edinburgh, after a short illness, one who was long and closely connected with the educational work of this city. Miss Grace Fairley was appointed Principal of the Trafalgar Institute in 1887. For family reasons she was unable to come to Montreal for the opening of school in September; her place was therefore supplied till the New Year, when she assumed her duties as Principal. The school began with a few pupils, but under her wise management it grew rapidly, and in igo2, a new day school was erected adjoining the original commodious building, which had served as residence and day school. When Miss Fairley retired in igi?, that building also was filled to overflowing. Her resignation was a matter of deep regret, not only to the Governors of the school but to the Staff and pupils as well. Her removal from Montreal to her home in Edinburgh was a great loss to the community, for her scholarship and sterling qualities were known and appreciated by all. The Rev. Dr. Barclay of St. Paul ' s Presbyterian Church, at whose request she accepted the position of Principal of the school, was her triend as well as her Minister, and he had a great admira ' tion for her wide knowledge and her administrative ability. She was a Presbyterian, the daughter of a Minister of the Church of Scotland, and was a member of St. Paul ' s Presbyterian Church for more than twenty-five years. Many will remember her, sitting with her group of girls, at the front of the Church, every Sunday morning and evening. When she retired, her old pupils were anxious to establish a memorial in her name, as she would not accept a personal gift, and collected money for what was to have been the Grace Fairley Scholarship. It was characteristic of her that she refused to allow her name to appear, so that the scholarship which should have borne her name was called the Trafiilgar Scholarship, and as such it is awarded annually to the pupil of Trafalgar who obtains the highest percentage in the McGill University Matriculation Examinations. Miss Fairley kept in close touch with her friends in Montreal, and when her old girls visited Edinburgh, they always made a point of seeing her, and counted it a great pleasure and privilege to meet her again. Her influence is still felt in the school, and many women of position and influence, in the city and elsewhere, look back with deep gratitude to the early training they received from her, and the high ideals she set before them, by precept and example. She was not only mindful of the girls but of all those who served her in any capacity. Many old servants of the school, could tell of help sent to them regularly all the years she has been away from Montreal; even last December when she was so very ill, an old pensioner ' s gift was not for ' gotten. The school was her life — other things took a secondary place. Her name will long be a household word in the homes of many of her old girls. In the words of Browning she was One who never turned her back, but marched breast forward. The Lord and Master of us all would surely say to her, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Martha L. Brown. [17]