Eric A. Wildman

Eric Arthur Wildman (20 May 1921 – May 1990) was an English advocate for corporal punishment in schools. He was the founder of the National Society for the Retention of Corporal Punishment. His business, Corpun Educational Organisation, produced birches and canes and distributed pro-corporal punishment literature.

Military service Wildman served in the Merchant Navy.

Career The founder of the National Society for the Retention of Corporal Punishment, Wildman edited its Bulletin, as well as a publication called The Retentionist. The school advocated for "self expression" and its headmaster, Robert Copping, was anti-corporal punishment. Following his speech, Wildman was caned by the students, an event captured by photographers and covered in newspapers nationally and internationally. One of the pamphlets seized was called A Girl's Beating: Punishment Postures. Wildman was charged with publishing obscene libel. In his defence, his lawyers argued that he had suffered physical and psychological trauma that led him to fanaticism about corporal punishment, and that he was a religious man who taught Sunday school and genuinely believed he was pursuing God's work. He was found guilty and ordered to pay £500 within six months or go to jail. His young adopted daughter was removed from his care and his application to adopt another child was canceled.

He ceased operations in the 1960s and became a private tutor. The Private Case of the British Library kept five parcels of pamphlets issued by Wildman and Corpun, as well as two booklets on flagellation which were withdrawn "on legal advice" prior to publication.