John Clarke Stobart (5 March 1878 – 11 May 1933), commonly known as J. C. Stobart, was a classical scholar, a

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

lecturer, an HM Inspector of Schools and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's first Director of Education.

Early life

Known as 'Jack' to his relations and friends, Stobart was born in Swyre Rectory,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England, on 5 March 1878. His father, William Stobart, was the Rector, his mother was Susan Elizabeth (née Morris), the daughter of a farmer in Rutland, and he had two elder sisters. Soon after his birth his father was appointed Rector of

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

in London and the family moved to London. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and as a Bell Scholar at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, obtaining his BA in 1901 (MA in 1904). He also studied briefly at

Greifswald University The University of Greifswald (; ), formerly known as Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, is a public university, public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Founded in 14 ...

in Germany and in Edinburgh, before becoming a teacher at Merchant Taylor's School in London. In 1904, he married Mary Currey Gibson, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Gibson, Vicar of St Sepulchre's in London. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, both born in Cambridge, where in 1907 Stobart became a lecturer at Trinity College. Two years later he was appointed one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools and during the First World War worked for the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

before acting as Assistant Secretary to the British War Cabinet of 1917–18.

BBC

After the war, he helped organise the 1924

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government decide ...

at Wembley and in 1925 joined the

as its first Director of Education. He was responsible for two long-lasting programmes, ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

'' and ''The Epilogue'' and according to one source suggested the BBC's motto, 'Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation]'. He also proposed creating a new cultural network, to be named the ''Minerva'' programme, after the Roman goddess of wisdom, but this idea was turned down and was not realised until the creation of '

The Third Programme ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

' at the end of the Second World War. Stobart became well-known all over the world for his regular New Year's Eve broadcast, 'The Grand Good-night'. He was dying of diabetes when he broadcast his last Grand Good-night on 31 December 1932, from his bedroom in Kensington.

Books

Stobart's books were successful, partly because they combined a popular with scholarly approach and partly because of the photographic illustrations. He wrote in a Preface: "The pictures are an integral part of my scheme. It is not possible with Rome, as it was with Greece, to let pictures and statues take the place of wars and treaties. Wars and treaties are an essential part of the Grandeur of Rome...the pictures are chosen so that the reader's eye may be able to gather its own impression of the Roman genius." He disagrees with

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

's pessimistic view of the ''

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...

'', pointing out that 'The mere notion of empire continuing to decline and fall for five centuries is ridiculous' and remarking that 'this is one of the cases which prove that History is made not so much by heroes or natural forces as by historians', since 'if all the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

historians had perished and only the inscriptions remained we should have a very different picture of the Roman Empire, a picture much brighter and, I think, much more faithful to truth.' He admires the Romans for their law, discipline, engineering and especially their sanitation, but it is clear that he prefers the Greeks for their art, philosophy, mathematics and literature.

Death

Stobart wrote and edited several other books on English and Classical literature. Two books, ''The Divine Spark'' and ''The Gospel of Happiness'' were published posthumously. He died on 11 May 1933, at his country cottage next to West Byfleet golf-course in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and was buried at Old Byfleet, where his grave can still be seen. The offer of a knighthood was in the post when he died. His daughter, Elizabeth Frances, married Antony Cuthbert Spurling (1906–1984), QC, resident magistrate and

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

at Kisumu and Nairobi, later Solicitor-General of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, and Attorney-General of

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and was mother of the playwright and author John Spurling.

Major works

* ''The Glory That Was Greece'' (1911), * ''The Grandeur That Was Rome'' (1912),

References

External links

John Spurling, his grandson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stobart, J. C. 1878 births 1933 deaths English historians Historians of antiquity People from Dorset People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge BBC people British civil servants People from West Byfleet