My father, Teddy Thomas, who has died aged 89, was a prominent figure in adult education both nationally and internationally, publishing and editing numerous books and articles (as JE Thomas) and serving as the Robert Peers professor of adult education at the University of Nottingham from 1989 until his retirement in 1996. He was also head of the department of adult education and dean of the faculty of education, and in 1990 was appointed senior pro-vice-chancellor of the university. In 1982 he co-founded the International Journal of Lifelong Education, which he co-edited for its first 15 years.
Teddy wrote 16 books on such diverse topics as the last invasion of Britain, the definitive history of English prisons, a biography of the Victorian writer and clergyman Sabine Baring-Gould and a social history of modern Japan. His final book, The Grandest Larceny, an account of the creation of the state of Israel, will be published posthumously this month.
He was named James Edward, but known as Teddy from childhood. Despite a humble start in a council house in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, six-year-old Teddy overcame the loss of his father, James – killed when his fishing trawler hit a German mine – to pursue a path of academic excellence. The 1944 Education Act allowed him, encouraged by his mother, Margaret (nee Absalom), a housewife, to attend Haverfordwest grammar school, which led him to study English at St Peter’s College, Oxford, where he was tutored by JRR Tolkien. Ultimately, he earned five degrees, including two doctorates, from universities including London, York and Nottingham, as well as his BA and MA from Oxford.
Teddy embarked on a varied career after his studies, working for the Colonial Office in Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia) from 1957 to 1959, and later served in the Prison Service, at Feltham borstal and then as assistant governor of Wakefield prison from 1962 to 1967, where he developed a simple but powerful mantra: “No one is beyond hope. Anyone, given a chance, can change.”
But his true calling was in education, and in his mid-30s he found his life’s purpose, joining Hull University as a lecturer in 1967, then moving to Nottingham in 1979. He joined the University of Nottingham in 1979 as reader in the department of adult education. His own story of personal transformation through education was the driving force behind his deep conviction that anyone can transcend their circumstances, with the right opportunities and support.
Teddy had many talents – he was, for instance, an accomplished musician, playing the trumpet for the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, among other bands, choirs and orchestras.
He met Olwen Yolland, a biologist, in Haverfordwest in 1953, and they married in 1957. He is survived by Olwen and their two children – my brother, Simon, and me – and four grandchildren, Joe, Emily, Henry and Tilly.
