Beryl Gilroy facts for kids

Beryl Agatha Gilroy (born Answick; 30 August 1924 – 4 April 2001) was an amazing writer, teacher, and therapist from Guyana. She was called "one of Britain's most important post-war Caribbean migrants" by The Guardian.

In 1951, she moved to London as part of the Windrush generation. This was a time when many people from Caribbean countries came to the UK to help rebuild after World War II. Beryl went to the University of London. She then spent many years teaching, writing, and making education better for everyone. She also worked as a therapist, helping Black women and children. Her children's books were some of the first to show what life was like for Black Londoners. Beryl Gilroy is most famous for being the first Black head teacher in London.

Early Life and Education

Beryl Gilroy was born in Springlands, British Guiana on 30 August 1924. She came from a very large family. Her father passed away when she was young. She was a sickly child and was raised by her grandparents. Both of them had a big impact on her. Her grandfather taught her how to read. Her grandmother, Sally Louisa James, was a herbalist, someone who uses plants for medicine. She also managed the family's small farm.

Beryl loved listening to women talk as they worked. Her grandmother often told her old folk tales and Guyanese sayings. Beryl started writing creatively when she was a child. She was homeschooled because her grandparents felt that regular schools were not good enough for her. When she was 12, she moved to Georgetown for school. This helped her become more independent.

In 1945, Beryl earned a top diploma from a teacher training college in Georgetown. After that, she taught and gave talks for a UNICEF program about healthy eating. She was also the head of the infant section at a local government school. In 1951, she moved to the United Kingdom. She earned a diploma in Child Development from the University of London. In an interview, she once said she had to "relearn English." This was because she used many Guyanese words and phrases.

Teaching Career

It was hard for Beryl Gilroy to find a teaching job because she was Black and from the Caribbean. She and another teacher, E. R. Braithwaite, were among the few Caribbean teachers looking for work in London. They faced unfair ideas from British employers. Some people wrongly believed Caribbean people were cannibals or not clean.

To support herself, Beryl worked in a mail order factory, as a maid, and as a dishwasher. In 1953, she was finally hired by the Inner London Education Authority. This made her the first Black female teacher in London. Her first job was at a poor Catholic school in Bethnal Green. The young students there had already learned unfair ideas about Black people from their parents. In her 1976 book Black Teacher, she wrote that the children would hide under their tables when she first arrived.

During this time, she met and married Patrick Gilroy. He was a British scientist who was against colonialism. Beryl stopped teaching between 1956 and 1968 to raise their children, Darla-Jane and Paul. She also earned her Master's degree in psychology.

She returned to teaching in 1968. This time, she was the deputy head at Beckford Primary School. This school was later renamed West Hampstead Primary School in 2021. Schools had become more diverse while she was away. She estimated that students from 33 to 55 different countries were now in the classrooms. In 1965, the British Parliament passed the Race Relations Act. This law made it possible for her to serve on the Race Relations Board.

In 1969, Beryl Gilroy became the first-ever Black head teacher in London. Even though she was the head, she was paid less than some of her colleagues who held unfair views. In 1980, she earned another Master's degree in education from the University of Sussex. She left Beckford in 1982. She then moved to the Centre for Multi-Cultural Education. This center was run by the Institute of Education at the University of London.

In the early 1980s, she helped start Camden Black Sisters. This was a group that offered information and support to Black women in the area. In 1984, she began her PhD in the United States. She finished her doctorate in counselling psychology in 1987. She left the Centre for Multi-Cultural Education in 1990.

Writing Life

Beryl Gilroy's early books looked at how living in Britain affected families from the West Indian islands. Her later work explored themes of African and Caribbean people living outside their home countries, and the history of slavery. Many of her stories, both true and made-up, came from her time as a teacher. Others were inspired by the tales her grandmother told her as a child.

While she was at home with her children from 1956 to 1968, she started writing what would become the Nippers series. These books are seen as the first children's stories about Black British people in London. They were meant to replace older, less modern books. She felt that her series could be enjoyed by children of all backgrounds. She said they "have the same problems, only they don't know it or won't accept it." One of the Nippers books, New People at Twenty-Four, talked about marriage between people of different races. This was a very new idea for a children's book by any author at that time.

She finished her first novel, In Praise of Love and Children, in 1959. But it was very hard to get it published. The book was about a young Guyanese immigrant woman's experiences in London. Some publishers called it "psychological, strange, way-out, [and] difficult-to-categorise." Others thought it was too focused on colonial themes. The book was not published until 1994, more than 30 years later. Meanwhile, male writers from Guyana, like Sam Selvon and V. S. Naipaul, became very successful. Beryl felt supported by only one male writer, Andrew Salkey, who often helped women writers.

Some experts suggest that Beryl Gilroy tried not to be labeled only as a "black-feminist" writer. She often had to represent many people in a way that white British writers did not. People in the 21st century have said she was a victim of "writing at the 'wrong' time and in the 'wrong' gender." It wasn't until the 1980s, when women had more chances to publish, that her writing was truly recognized.

Black Teacher, Beryl Gilroy's 1976 book, was about her experiences as a Black teacher in London. It was a mix of fiction and autobiography. She felt she had to write about her teaching experiences so that a woman's story could be heard. She also wanted to "set the record straight." Another book, To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithwaite, was also about a Black Guyanese teacher in London. However, Beryl Gilroy faced criticism. Some people accused her of boasting or making her experiences of unfair treatment seem worse. But Braithwaite, a man, was praised for his success in the classroom. This shows how a Black woman's story was sometimes seen differently.

Since it was first published, Black Teacher has been re-released twice. Once in 1994 and again in 2021. The 2021 edition included an introduction by the famous writer Bernardine Evaristo.

Personal Life and Legacy

Beryl Gilroy met her husband, Patrick, at the library at University College London. They got married in 1954 and had two children, Darla-Jane and Paul. Following the example of her own grandparents, she homeschooled both of her children. Patrick sadly passed away suddenly on 5 October 1975.

To help with her grief, Beryl went to therapy. This made her even more interested in psychology and counselling. She earned her doctorate in psychology and counselling 12 years later. Beryl Gilroy passed away on 4 April 2001, in London, from a problem with her heart. She is buried at Highgate Cemetery. She was supposed to give an important speech at a conference just two days after she died.

Beryl Gilroy loved fashion and enjoyed dressing up, even for teaching. The orange skirt suit she wore when she first arrived in the UK was shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This was part of an exhibition called Black British Style in 2004. She always believed in feminism, which she felt was especially important for Black women.

Honours and Awards

• 1982: Won the Greater London Council's Creative Writing Prize.
• 1986: Won the Greater London Council's Creative Writing Prize for her book Frangipani House.
• 1987: Received the Guyana Literary Prize for Frangipani House.
• 1989: Won the Guyana Literary Prize for Boy Sandwich.
• 1990: Received a Greater London Council award for her work in education.
• 1992: Won the Guyana Literary Prize for Stedman and Joanna.
• 1995: Received an honorary doctorate in psychology from the University of North London.
• 1996: Honoured by the Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars.
• 1996: Won the Guyana Literary Prize for Inkle and Yarico.
• 2000: Received an honorary fellowship from the Institute of Education at the University of London. This was for her important contributions to educational psychology in London.
• 2004: Her orange skirt suit was part of the Black British Style exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
• 2022: A mural of Beryl Gilroy by Fipsi Seilern was painted outside West Hampstead Primary School, which used to be Beckford Primary School.

See also

• Caribbean literature
• Betty Campbell, the first Black headteacher in Wales