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Mrs Irene Gosset interviewed by John Gaisford and Rosie Mere
Transcribed and edited by John David from audio and video recordings

After three years at the essential Commodities, I had always wanted to be a schoolteacher, and I think there were a thousand more children at school, those that were under school age when the occupation took place. And of course there were only twelve trained teachers still in the island, the ones who were had stopped because of elderly parents, they didn’t want to abandon elderly parents, perhaps just a mother or just a father. So there was only twelve qualified. So the Education under Mr Archie Winterflood - you’ll probably come across his name — he was in charge, it was in Lukis House in the Grange, you know where Lukis House is in the Grange, that’s where the Education Office was — and my father was very cross with me because I gave up an office job to go for ten shillings a week. My father was furious with me! My mother backed me, because I always wanted to teach. I didn’t have any qualifications, I went to night school, it wasn’t night school, because of the curfew. We must have finished the office early, I used to go to Mrs Wellington in the Grange, she had the Grange High School, and she also had a commercial. I took commercial as well, to have two strings to my bow, because there was no guarantee that I was going to be able to carry on as a teacher.
I went for an interview and said I was interested to be trained. They advertised for people that were interested and they were placed with qualified teachers. So I went, had an interview, and was taken. I was placed at St Martin’s school with three qualified teachers, and I was there for the best part of a year, they decided I could manage to take a class on my own, infants, so I was sent down to Galaad, across in the Church school-room — we were there with another qualified teacher, who happened to be the mother of Jurat Alan Bisson, - I am sure you have come across Jurat Alan Bisson - and he was a little boy there. And I was in charge of the intake. Now that was the last year, that’s when I saw how it had affected — the shortage — the health of the children. I had little children coming in, crying with cold and hunger, blue with the cold. We just had a — I think we must have had a little stove, we must have had something — I know there was one in the main room, where Mrs Bisson was. Anyway, every morning we dished out milk, we used to have some very nice soup from the Cobo soup kitchen, they used to bring it in a great big milk churn, and I used to dish it out, the children had to bring their own bowls and so forth, and I always remember one day, when I got to the bottom, what came out was the floorcloth. Anyway, we’re all still here.

I………. And you were getting ten shillings a week?
Mrs Gosset. To start with
I………. And what were you getting before that?
Mrs Gosset. Two pound ten.
I………. What a difference!

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