Obituary Thomas Way
| Published date | 01 November 1953 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055300602410 |
| Date | 01 November 1953 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
OBITUARY
THOMAS
WAY
Mr. Thomas Way, a
Founder
Member of this Associa-
tion,
and
in his
later
years one of its Vice-Presidents,
died in Newcastle on October 14th. He
had
arranged
to
attend
the
Northern
Branch
week-end conference
two days later,
and
his
interest
in
the
affairs of
the
Association was
thus
kept
alive to
the
end. Mr. Way
started
work as a
quarry
boy in
Portland,
but
was
soon called to
the
Church
Army, in which connection
his missionary work took him to Cheshire
and
led to
his
appointment
as Police Court Missioner for Stockport,
where he
met
and
married
his wife, whose
death
four
years ago was a
great
blow to him. On
the
first
day
of
this
century
he took up
the
appointment
as P.C.M.
at
Wakefield, covering four or five courts,
and
he combined
with
this
work
that
as Agent to
the
West Riding
Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society
at
Wakefield PrIson.
In
those days
the
D.P.A. Agent was expected to conduct
discharged prisoners to
the
station
and
see
that
they got
on
their
trains
home,
and
he
had
many
interesting
and
amusing
adventures
in
this
part
of his work.
With
the
passing of
the
1907
Probation of Offenders
Act, Mr. Way was appointed probation officer for Wake-
field City
and
West Riding courts,
and
remained in
these
posts
until
his
retirement.
He was an active worker
in N.A.P.O.
and
amember of
the
National Executive for
many
years, during which he was always ready with his
advice
and
encouragement, yet, even in his
latest
years,
receptive to new ideas. He wrote
the
now famous
and
well-established"
Conference Prayer,"
and
it was a
great
joy to him to read, in a Press
report
of
last
year's Annual
Conference, areference to
the
fact
that
an
annual
general meeting should open with prayer.
"Tommy"
Way, as he was affectionately known in
the
North, was described by an old colleague as
"The
Daddy of Probation,"
and
he was certainly one of
the
founders
and
builders of
the
Service as we know
it
to-day. He never
sought
distinction, as
the
world uses
that
word,.
but
to all who knew
him
his
contribution
and
his bearing were
their
own distinction.
There
were
many
happy
features in his
life-at
one time
agent
for
the
West Riding D.P.A. Society, he
later
became
chair-
man
of
the
same society; for
many
years probation
officer in
the
Wakefield City court, he saw
the
proud
moment
of his son's
appointment
as clerk to
the
same
court; as
an
original
probation
officer member of
the
National Association of
Probation
Officers, he was
the
first
ordinary
serving probation officer to be
made
a
Vice-President of
the
Association
and
this
was an
honour
of which he was humbly proud.
In
addition to his
probation work he was an active lay-reader, a
prominent
local Rechabite
and
aleading figure in
the
Co-operative
Movement in Yorkshire.
The
funeral service was held in Newcastle
and
attended
by representatives of
the
National Association,
of
the
Northern
Branch
and
of
the
Scottish Branch.
The
Association
and
the
West Riding
Branch
were also
represented
at
amemorial service held in Wakefield
Cathedral.
Acolleague writes:
"Thomas
Way of Wakefield is a
name
that
wlll
stand
out
in
the
history of
the
National Association of
Proba-
tion
Officers as one of
the
Founder
Members who
remained an
outstanding
personality over a longer
number
of years
than
most
other
members. He was for
many
years, up to
1945,
on
the
Executive Committee,
and
on his
retirement
as a full-time serving probation
officer he was
made
a Life Member
and
elected a Vice-
President. His presence
at
business meetings ensured
an
adherence to
constitutional
methods on which he
was
an
authority. He
had
long experience as
an
executive
head
within
the
Co-operative Movement
and
from
that
experience
brought
helpful contributions to
round-the-table
discussions. He was a
man
of deep
religious convictions
and
was
regarded
as
the
unofficial
"
chaplain"
who led
the
prayers
at
Annual Conferences.
His voice, his bearing
and
character
made
him
the
right
choice for
this
role; this was
the
Thomas
Way we knew,
proudly upholding his Police Court Mission tradition.
He was a friend to his colleagues, amissionary in
the
true
sense of blazing atrail, wishing to
take
something
of
the
God he loved into
the
homes
and
lives of those
he served in his vocation as a
probation
officer.
This
may sound old-fashioned.
Thomas
Way was delightfully
old-fashioned,
particularly
so
that
he was proud for
it
to be known he
had
areligious
faith
which for
him
meant
life
and
Joyous living. His influence will
not
cease 'with his
death.
We remember
him
with
affection
and
gratitude.
ALDERMAN R. A. FORGE
The
death
occurred suddenly, on October 23rd, of
Alderman R. A. Forge, of Romford,
Senior
Inspector
in
the
Children's
Branch
of
the
Home Office
and
a well-
known
and
well-loved friend of
many
probation officers
and
workers in
the
approved schools service. He was,
at
the
moment
of his
death,
addressing ameeting of
the
Society of Juvenile Courts
Probation
Officers on
the
subject of
"Approved
School After-Care,"
and
there
were in his
__
audience a
number
of approved school
welfare officers. Alderman Forge joined
the
staff of
the
Central
and
Borstal Association as a young
man
in
1911,
and
remained
with
them, eventually becoming
an
Assistant Director,
until
1939,
when he was seconded to
the
Home Office
and
eventually became amember of
the
staff of
the
Children's
Branch.
He was largely responsible
for
the
administration
of
the
Welfare Officer Service,
and
he carried
out
a
national
survey of
remand
home
ractn-
ties. During
his
service
with
the
Central
and
BorstaI
Associations he helped to
launch
the
scheme of Borstal
Voluntary Committees, while he was appointed to
the
Salmon Committee
in
1934,
during
the
second
part
of
that
Committee's work
(the
review of
the
facilities for
finding work for prisoners on discharge).
Alderman Forge was a magistrate,
and
amember of
the
Romford U.D.C.
and
later
of
the
Borough Council.
He held office as
the
Mayor of
the
Borough for several
years, being continued in his office
during
war
years
by
the
unanimous wish of all
parties
in
the
Council.
He was a cheerful
man,
promoting goodwill wherever
his
work took him,
and
always
ready
with
a friendlY
and
encouraging word. He will be sadly missed in all
the
circles where he was known.
SIR
HERBERT DUNNICO
The
Probation
Service lost a good friend
through
the
death,
on October 2nd, of Rev.
Sir
Herbert Dunnico. He
started
work as a
half-timer
in a
Lancashire
cotton mill
and
was working in a coal
mine
at
the
age of 12,
but
he studied privately
and
keenly to win himself aplace
(Continued overleaf)
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