Henry Herbert Symonds

The Reverend Henry Herbert Symonds (1885 – 28 December 1958) was an English Anglican priest, teacher and conservationist.

From 1909 to 1935 he followed a career as a teacher, first at Clifton College and Rugby School, and later as headmaster of The King's School, Chester and the Liverpool Institute High School. He was a classicist, but encouraged his pupils to broaden their education by studying English literature and the fine arts.

Symonds, who had a lifelong love of the countryside, retired at the age of 50, and devoted his life to the cause of national parks, and the Lake District in particular. He was one of the principal driving forces behind the legislation that introduced national parks to Britain after the Second World War.

Life and career

Early life and teaching career Symonds was born in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the son of Henry Symonds (1859–1933), a barrister, and his wife Florence Annie née Whitfield (1862–1941). His birth was registered in the first quarter of 1885 and he was baptised on 26 April 1885 at Leamington. He was educated at Rugby School and Oriel College, Oxford, where he took a first class degree in Greats (classics). While at Oxford he came under the influence of Hastings Rashdall, who inspired him with a lifelong love of the Lake District. After leaving Oxford he was appointed to the teaching staff of Clifton College in 1909. In 1911 he married Gwendolen Watson, with whom he had a son and two daughters. Admission to the school was strictly on intellectual ability, and many of the pupils came from families of modest means; Symonds personally subsidised many of them and helped them go on to a university education.

Work for the Lake District April 1933 saw the first publication of his book, "Walking in the Lake District". In 1935, on his 50th birthday, Symonds, resigned the headmastership, retired from teaching, and dedicated the rest of his life to preserving the beauty of the Lake District and promoting national parks. to the National Trust. It consisted chiefly of five farms in the Lake District. He left little money, having given most of what he had to the trust and other conservation bodies during his lifetime.