John Hayes
John Hayes was principal lecturer and head of history at Christ Church College from 1965 until his death in 1980. He first joined the college when it was only three years old. As a young man, John had served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the Second World War, becoming a liaison officer in Dutch submarines and in 1946 he was knighted by Queen Wilhelmina for this service.
After the war he turned to social work in London and was connected with the London Federation of Boys' Clubs, running Fairbairn House, West Ham and St Andrew's Home and Club for Boys, Westminster. He trained as a teacher at St Mark and St John, Fulham, gaining distinction in all parts of the course. For eight years, he was head of social studies and history at Walworth School, London, the country's first comprehensive, and developed his interest in the potential of pupils classed as failures.
While at the school, he studied for a BSc degree as a part-time student at the London School of Economics and was awarded the Lilian Knowles scholarship as the best student in his year. While at Walworth, he founded one of the first tenants' associations and was active in getting Government backing for similar associations, which called for active encouragement from local housing officers. He funded the Association of London Housing Estates in which he continued to take an active part.
On arriving at Christ Church John identified himself with its aims, life and work and his academic qualifications, teaching experience in the East End of London, together with his work with London housing estates, enabled him to make a major contribution to establishing the reputation of the college in its early years. Later, following the reorganisation of higher education, he played a vital part in defining the new identity of Christ Church, bearing responsibility for joint BA degrees in history.
John also took an active part in the life of the city and served on many committees, including the Urban Studies Centre, the Conservation Advisory Committee, Archaeological Society, Canterbury Society and the Cooper Centre. He was also a Cathedral guide and became a member of the Council of the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in 1975. He was chairman of the Canterbury branch of the Historical Association, linking it with sixth form conferences at Christ Church. He was also chairman of the Canterbury Archaeological Society, was an active member of the Kent Archaeological Society and took an interest in the establishment and work of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. John was also a leading figure in the movement to renovate the Sidney cooper building for community use and in 1973 organised the first public meeting on the subject. He took a major part in negotiations with the City Council and became the first president of the Cooper Society. He represented the Urban Studies Centre on the Conservation Advisory Committee and was able to advise on matters relating to traffic and local history.
Mr Hayes also served on the committee formed to prepare celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. He was particularly concerned with plans to clear and signpost the old track to enable a public footpath to be created along the route and was preparing an exhibition to be held at Christ Church College at the time of his death.
His wide interests were always centred on preserving the city's heritage and instilling a love of Canterbury in young people.