School Inspector William Caryle

A short summary of the career of Oxford County's most famous School Inspector, William Carlyle.

By Liz Dommasch, Archivist 

With the arrival of September and the kids back in school, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at Oxford County’s most famous School Inspector.

William Carlyle (1834-1911) was born in Cumberland, England, and immigrated with his family to Ontario, what was then known as Upper Canada, the year following the Upper Canada Rebellion and settled in Brantford. He arrived in Woodstock with his own wife and children in 1871 when he was appointed School Inspector for Oxford County. He would serve in this role for close to 40 years, until 1910, when he resigned from the position.

The father of the famous artist, Florence Carlyle, Inspector Carlyle was dedicated, some would even say driven, to improving the education system for children in Oxford County whom he believed deserved the best education possible regardless of background or ability. He produced detailed quarterly and annual reports (which the Archives have in its collection) in which he outlined the problems and failures of the education system, often using strong and opinionated language to highlight what he deemed problematic. In fact, in one report he stated that ultimately the responsibility for students’ lack of attendance lay with the parents, whom he labeled as “afflicted with evil”.

In his reports, he kept fastidious lists of such topics as building maintenance, school attendance, courses taught, and teacher performance. Carlyle was a firm believer in visiting each schoolhouse and sitting in on classes in progress. He was considered a strict taskmaster ensuring that students’ behavior was deemed appropriate and would go to great lengths to ensure that they adhere to proper etiquette and conduct. For example, with public concern about the youth of the County’s profane swearing, the School Trustees passed a resolution where swearing would be regarded as ungentlemanly conduct with the resulting punishment being expulsion from the classroom for a month!

Carlyle was also concerned with making the system accountable, whether in the training of teachers or the training of County Examiners. When he began as Inspector in 1871, one of his first criticisms pertained to the poor standard of teachers. This would ultimately lead to the establishment of Model Schools in Woodstock and Ingersoll in 1878 for Third Class Teachers to receive proper training while the First and Second Class Teachers were trained at Provincial Model and Normal Schools. Likewise, he strongly felt that the low standard for teachers was, in fact, due to the poor quality of the County Examiners appointed. This would ultimately improve with the passing of the new School Act that required Examiners to be either headmaster of grammar or high schools, graduates who had taught in a college or school for more than three years or teaches with a First Class Provincial Certificate.

William Carlyle passed away at his home in Woodstock on June 25, 1911, following a stroke. According to the Woodstock Sentinel-Review the following day, “[h]is death [would] be deeply regretted, not only in Oxford, but in the distant parts of the world to which his pupils have gone, and especially by a wide circle of friends who always found in him a ready helper and sympathizer”. In addition, Joseph Richardson submitted a letter to that same paper which stated, “[a]ny who were fortunate enough to be present during his inspection of a school could not fail to realize that he was an ideal questioner and one whose visits were always an inspiration to the teacher who desired to benefit by his visits”.

Carlyle left behind his wife Emily (who passed away a year later) and five children. Sadly, at the time of his death, his wife and daughter Florence were in England to attend the coronation of George V and his wife Mary.

RG2 Series 9 #15.4: Letter to the Chairman of Education of the County of Oxford from W. Carlyle, I.P.S. asking for a small appropriation to enable him to visit certain schools in the United States and Canada for the purpose of gaining information on educational matters. – 14 June 1882

William Carlyle portrait credit:

Photograph of William Carlyle: Woodstock Sentinel-Review – 26 June 1911, front page.