Anne Harrison (née Daniel) 1944 – 2017
Anne Harrison was a teacher, linguist, community organiser and social activist. Born into a Welsh family but brought up in the south of England, Anne nevertheless kept strong ties to Wales, learning the language as an adult at City Lit, London, where she also became student governor.
Anne was born in Bromley, Kent, one of three children of Valerie (nee Lloyd George), a teacher, and Goronwy Daniel, a civil servant. Anne graduated in French from Ģý in 1966 and received a PGCE teaching qualification and a master’s from the Institute of Education, London. Her main career was in tertiary education at Uxbridge and then Richmond College in west London. In the 1970s, she was among the earliest teachers of English as a foreign language and the new discipline of communication studies, later specialising in English literature and French.
Anne had a great ability to enthuse students from diverse backgrounds with the learning process as well as impart her sheer love of language and literature. Anne’s passion for social justice permeated all she did; an access course she ran created opportunities for higher education in later life, enabling progression, as she put it, from “Uxbridge to Oxbridge”.
After retiring from Richmond College in 2005, Anne dedicated herself wholeheartedly to supporting secondary education in Uganda. For two years in the 1960s she had taught at Kyebambe girls’ school in Fort Portal and she maintained friendships with her former colleagues and students for 40 years. Identifying schools most in need of support, she co-founded a charity, Uganda Schools Trust. In collaboration with local educationists, it provided resources for schools and bursaries for individual girls. A hugely successful fundraiser, Anne organised themed walks, swimathons and poetry readings, with warmth, humour, optimism and persistence.
She is survived by her husband Bernard, whom she married in 1977, and their daughters, Flo and Ellie, and grandchildren, Eve and Bobby.
Anne – a Bangor gang tribute
"Anne began her French studies in September 1962 at Ģý in N. Wales where she met and made friends with Brenda, Sheila, Margaret, Rose, Gill, Flis and me. Our characters were varied as were our subjects but somehow we bonded... These friendships have endured for over 50 years. There was a delightful quality of innocence or naivety about Anne which, coupled with her apparently scatty nature often caused her friends to groan, ‘Oh Anne!’ Some of us joined the college mountaineering club and were able to catch the club coach up into the mountains on a Sunday. You were only allowed to go if you had proper walking boots so we bought some. Anne was so enamoured of hers that she wanted to sleep in them at first and insisted in having them by the bed.
"In that first summer we went as a group occasionally to Anglesey, swam and explored. It was in many ways a golden time despite the hard work and exam anxieties. We supported each other through difficulties and successes. We talked, laughed, grumbled, cried and - drank endless mugs of disgusting coffee together.
"After a year in digs with Brenda at Mrs Primmer’s - (who didn’t like them using talcum powder in the bedroom!), Anne went to Caen in France to further her studies for a year which she enjoyed apart from an episode where her bag was snatched at knife point. At her suggestion several of us joined her in Paris at the end of her stay. Rose and I had a room with Anne in a typical cheap Paris hotel with a malodorous lavatory in the hall and a hard bed with an even harder bolster. Anne was a brilliant tour guide; the sun shone, the Seine sparkled and the peaches dripped with juice. We were happy to be there together.
"Anne’s final year was in a flat near Bangor, a time I associate with evenings listening to Joan Baez and Beatles records. I saw a lot of her then and the following year when she was doing her TEFL course in London. It often seemed to me that she underestimated her intellectual capabilities; she was one of the brightest people I know with a breadth of interest and curiosity. As we all went our separate ways and took up our lives in different parts of the country Anne always seemed to be the one who kept up with us when contact for most dwindled to Christmas cards, giving individual support at times of sadness and loss. She noted our relationships, marriages, bereavements, the birth of our children - then grandchildren - often passing on the news - though Rose was our most reliable archivist.
"In the last dozen years or so we came together again as a group and an annual weekend reunion began. Was this instigated by Anne? Once together the years didn’t seem to have intervened. Very often Anne seemed to be the one to suggest the venue: London more than once, Liverpool, Denbighshire, Dartmoor, Bangor and Paris. Anne was so good at thinking of everyone’s needs on these trips - our different interests and tastes were all catered for. Our most recent group gathering last November was centred on London and some of us stayed with Anne and Bernard who, as usual, dined us all sumptuously on the final night.
"Anne we loved you - your energy, generosity, tolerance, kindness and spirit. She has been a wonderful friend .........and we shall miss her."
Hazel Arnold (née Parkinson), English, 1966