Lockdown has many of us reading more books than normal, and there are bound to be pupils reading George Orwell’s most famous works: Animal Farm and 1984, the latter of which is currently a GCSE English set text.
Some of our pupils may be interested to discover that George Orwell had a fascinating connection with Emanuel School by way of his friendship with Vernon Richards (OE1925-32).
Richards was one of Britain’s most distinguished 20th century Anarchist writers, publishing many books, papers and political commentaries on the movement. Orwell himself was a well-known Socialist, but he respected and had many friends in the Anarchist movement. The exact details of how the two men met is a mystery; however, letter exchanges between the pair have survived including those written from the Isle of Jura when Orwell was dying from tuberculosis.
Although Richards is best known for his writing he was also a highly skilled photographer who published George Orwell at Home (and Among the Anarchists): Essays and Photographs, which features many well known photos of Orwell from the 1940s, relaxing with his young son.
Vernon was a high-achieving student who won his full rowing school colours in 1932 and was captain of boats in his final year. The versatile student was also captain of Howe, a house prefect and captain of fives.
He later studied Engineering at King’s College London and spent time in prison during the Second World War for seditious activities. He also stirred trouble abroad agitating against the Fascism of both Mussolini and Franco. In later years he ventured into Eastern Bloc tourism when the countries were still very much closed, and dabbled with a family restaurant in Soho.
Vernon helped found the longest running Anarchist bookshop in the world, Freedom Press, which still operates out of Whitechapel, E1. He died in 2001.
Mr Jones (Senior Librarian and Archivist)