Happy 100 Barbara

Jericho’s oldest resident, Barbara Harvey, reaches her 100th Birthday on Friday January 29th. A former primary school teacher, Barbara now lives in Castle Mill House, and is a leading member of Jericho's Alive and Kicking group for the over-50s. Barbara was born in 1916 in Regent Street just off the Iffley Road. She went to the Cowley Fathers’ school and Milham Ford secondary school. After training as a teacher in Salisbury, she started working in Nottingham and then returned to Oxford, teaching first at St Christopher's in Cowley and then at Phil and Jims in Leckford Road. and finally at Bishop Kirk's school in Summertown. "I taught quite a lot of science because I was interested in it, which was unusual. I was always very keen on how things worked.I taught quite a lot of boys who became craftsmen in the area. Three of the boys I taught became professors of science at different universities." Barbara married Albert Harvey, an architect, in 1939 and they moved into 31 Walton Well Road where they were to have two children, Faith and David. At that time, married women were not permitted to work as teachers. "I was allowed to stay on because of the war. The men were called up and they needed more women." Barbara retired in 1976 but was to carry on teaching until she was 90. "From 4 pm I had children from school who would come for an hour of remedial reading or maths teaching. I wasn't paid. These were children who were quite poor but needed extra help. Lots of children do much better at school if they have had that one-to-one attention. I really enjoy teaching". They sold the house to Lucy's, though they continued to live there as protected tenants. Then when Albert died Barbara moved to a Lucy's flat in what is now Juxon House, later changing to a ground-floor flat in Castle Mill House. "Lucy's have been very thoughtful, very good landlords." Barbara was also very involved in hospital visiting, but her other main activity has been art. "I was looking for something when I was widowed and went on art holidays. I started an art group when I was still in Walton Well Road. About eight of us used to paint together. One of these, Maurice, became a close friend. He used to come here for a Sunday lunch and we went on lots of holidays together and had a wonderful time." "Later I became part of Alive and Kicking in Jericho. At the beginning I thought I can’t imagine myself sitting around with a lot of older people. But I really enjoy it. It’s important to get out and mix with people. " Barbara's daughter, Faith lives in Oxford and her son David lives in London. She also has two grandchildren, one who now teaches chemistry and another who is just finishing a D. Phil. "I’ve been very lucky in my life. I have had a wonderful time."