My friend and former colleague Sybil Williams, who has died aged 97, travelled to the UK from her native Australia in 1954, planning to stay for six months. She was soon working in a boarding school for disadvantaged pupils, and settled in Islington in north London.
For the rest of her life Sybil remained loyal to Islington, demonstrating her affection by sponsoring rows of ornamental pear trees on either side of Lloyd Baker Street and Great Percy Street. In the early 1960s, she was appointed head teacher of Colebrooke school, an Ilea special school for pupils identified as having emotional and behavioural difficulties. She was in her element in this environment, running her school on a democratic model, wherein the views of teachers, ancillary staff and pupils were sought before significant changes to the running of the school were made.
When her school was flourishing Sybil was encouraged to apply for a post in the Special Educational Needs inspectorate, but she declined the offer. She was extremely loyal to her school: the strength of her attachment to her staff and pupils was such that she somehow managed to pull off the unthinkable by retaining her post well past retirement age.
When she was finally obliged to retire in 1992, she began attending lectures at the National Gallery and the Royal Academy. Finding the seating arrangements of the National Gallery uncomfortable, she wrote a stiff letter of complaint to its director, Neil MacGregor, later, typically, softening this reproof with a generous donation towards new seating.
Sybil was a fiercely independent and principled woman. She had a keen sense of justice and a lifetime predilection for challenging authority figures. She was a true inspiration to those who had the good fortune to work with her.
Sybil grew up in Melbourne, Australia, the only child of a piano teacher, Eileen Ralston and a racecourse official, Norman Lingston. After graduating from Melbourne University, and a short career teaching in an Australian progressive school, she married Gerry Williams, and they set off together for the UK. Her marriage to Gerry ended in divorce.
Sybil’s many friends will remember her with gratitude and great fondness.
