Robert Dyer

Robert Dyer (6 March 1808 – 4 February 1887) left the village of Heytesbury, in the county of Wiltshire, England, to voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to serve as a Newfoundland School Society teacher in the fishing community of Greenspond, Newfoundland. The Newfoundland School Society was established by the English merchant, Samuel Codner, who realised the need for educating the poor population of Newfoundland, and other poor colonies in British North America as well. Dyer first arrived in Newfoundland in 1839 and began his career as a teacher. He stayed in Greenspond for twenty years, earning the respect and admiration of the inhabitants and those who met or worked with him. Dyer was also ordained a Church of England Deacon in 1849; therefore, his work in Greenspond consisted of both teaching and ministerial duties. Dyer and his family later moved to Alberton, Prince Edward Island, where he was a minister in a Church of England Parish.

Early life Robert Dyer was born on 6 March 1808 to Thomas and Sarah (Smith) Dyer, who lived in the county of Wiltshire, England. Records show that in 1837, Dyer was listed as a shoemaker in the village of Heytesbury, just a few miles from Chitterne, also in the county of Wiltshire. Robert Dyer's great grandfather, Simon Dyer Senior, had also been a shoemaker in Heytesbury. On 3 August 1837, Dyer sent a letter of recommendation from the Vicarage in Chitterne, signed by a Reverend J. Leach Povey to the Newfoundland School Society, as he wished to serve as a teacher in Newfoundland.

Training Dyer's application was accepted by the Newfoundland School Society (NSS) and he entered into Westminster Central School for training in 1838. The school was set up to train teachers for England and Wales, but eventually contributed greatly to the training of teachers for other countries and colonies of Britain. The school was created for the elementary education of the 'humble poor'. The training was for masters and mistresses who wished to teach in schools that were created for children of the 'labouring classes'. Dyer encountered some difficulties during his training to become a teacher for educating the poor; however, by March 1839, after about four months, he had successfully completed his training as an NSS teacher.

Greenspond Robert Dyer arrived in Newfoundland in 1839 to begin his twenty-year career as NSS school master in Greenspond, Bonavista Bay, which he recorded almost daily in his diary. He taught in a Church of England school system at a time when the Church, and not the state, played a central role in the development and delivery of the curriculum. He worked in a single-room school that frequently accommodated more than 100 pupils of all ages and grade levels.

Education was not free; most people had to pay subscriptions to the teacher for his salary and maintenance of the school. However, many families in Newfoundland during this period were poor and often could not pay. In these cases, the teacher's salary was supplemented by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and aid also came from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Education in Newfoundland faced many obstacles, such as irregular attendance. Dyer notes a number of reasons for absenteeism in his diary – some older children worked in the fishery during the spring and summer, others moved inland with their families each winter to take part in the logging industry, and bad weather frequently kept students at home. Poverty was another major problem for families who could not afford school fees or adequate clothing for their children.

Family

Robert Dyer left Greenspond briefly in 1845 to be married in England. He married Elizabeth Bartlett, daughter of Josiah and Sarah Ann (Hughes) Bartlett, on 15 April 1845, at St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, in London. Robert and Elizabeth had five children: William Bartlett Dyer (22 July 1846), Henry Thomas Dyer (31 October 1847), Joseph Lake Dyer (23 May 1849), Louise Sarah Dyer (20 April 1851; she died and was buried on 28 June 1852, at the age of 1 year and 2 months), and Isabella Dyer (8 August 1852).

William Dyer became a teacher in Prince Edward Island, and later became a pharmacist; he moved back to England in 1909. Henry Dyer was a telegraph operator, Isabella married a John Charles Travers, and Joseph Dyer was a merchant in Prince Edward Island. Joseph's daughter, Alice Maude, was a nurse but later became the first registered female pharmacist in Prince Edward Island when she received her diploma in this field in 1928.

Prince Edward Island A letter from the Rev. R. W. Dyer, dated 2 Nov 1852, Greenspond, Newfoundland, reported on the progress of his work at Greenspond but also expressed his desire to be removed to another colony in which the Bishop was friendly and where he might have more full exercise of his ministry. Therefore, in the spring of 1859 Robert Dyer and his family left Greenspond. On 7 July 1859, they sailed for Prince Edward Island, where he was to serve until 1884.