Few historians would argue with the statement that David Boyle was the most remarkable of Wellington County’s teachers. His innovative teaching inspired dozens of students to pursue useful careers, and his research advanced geology and archaeology in Ontario.
There are other notable teachers in the county’s history. Near the top is Peter Perry, who spent most of his career at the Fergus High School.
Perry’s early years contrast sharply with Boyle’s, who began his working life as a blacksmith, with a bare minimum of formal education. Born in Whitby in 1855, Perry attended Trinity College School in Port Hope, operated by the Anglican Church, and Dr. Cassie’s famous private school, in Galt. His parents placed a high value on a good education. That meant he was destined for University. In the 1870s he earned a BA degree from Trinity College, and an MA from the University of Toronto. His first teaching assignment was at his alma mater, Trinity College School. By coincidence, one of his students was Reginald Fessenden, the inventor of AM radio, who had ties with Fergus: he lived there when his father was minister at St. James Church.
From Port Hope, Perry went to Brockville High School in the 1880s. In 1891, the Fergus School Board hired him to be principal. Perry’s education was a typical 19th century one, with a heavy emphasis on the classics. It is not surprising that his teaching subjects reflected that background. He taught Latin, classical Greek, French, ancient history, and English literature and composition.
During his teaching years, Latin was a required course, which caused most students to roll their eyes. Perry was able to inject life into the language. It was his favourite subject, and his students actually looked forward to his classes, something rare for students of Latin. Those who went on to university especially appreciated the thorough grounding he gave them in the language.
Greek was always the least popular high school subject, and it passed from the curriculum during Perry’s time as Fergus principal. Not so for English composition. He emphasized that subject as the most important one. He taught his students to write clearly, accurately, and elegantly. Many benefitted from the extra advice and encouragement after class. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he always managed to bring something out of an old piece of Latin or English literature that was relevant to the lives and futures of his students.
As with all good teachers, Perry’s influence on his students extended beyond the material that would be on the final examination. As a principal, he was not one of the old-fashioned type, ruling the school with an iron fist and countless rules. Perry believed that his students were gentlemen and ladies, and he expected them to act that way at all times. His method worked: he never had any discipline problems in his school, and students strove not to disappoint the expectations he had of them.
Unlike many of the teachers of his day, Peter Perry had a lively sense of humour, and he was not afraid to show it in class. Learning should be fun, not a chore, he insisted. His natural sense of curiosity about the world around him rubbed off on dozens of students. Invariably cheerful and in good humour, he helped dispel the feeling that a school was necessarily a gloomy and unpleasant place to be.
Perry’s presence in the larger community was as important as it was in the classroom. He served as a member of many organizations over the years, often as secretary. Among his major interests were the Oddfellows Order, the Fergus Library Board, and the Agricultural Society. He was particularly active in the Masonic order, serving as secretary of Mercer Lodge for many years. Though an outspoken supporter of the Conservative Party, Perry never considered participating actively in politics, though there is little doubt he could have been elected.
One of his interests was music, and he enjoyed playing the violin. Perry was largely responsible for organizing the Fergus Orchestra, and acting as its director and conductor.
Perry’s chief interests were in the areas of languages and arts, in contrast to David Boyle, who was fascinated by scientific subjects. But neither man was a victim of what a later writer would call “the two solitudes.” Boyle had a literary side, and Perry kept up with the rapid pace of scientific discovery and advance that paralleled his own life. Boyle had a literary side and loved music.
Perry, in retirement in the 1920s, became obsessed with radio, constructing his own receivers and listening, with earphones clamped to his head, late into the night.
One of the highlights of his later life was an 18-month around-the-world vacation in the early 1920s. He wrote a memorable travelogue of the trip, which included a lengthy stay with a daughter who was then living in the Philippines.
Perry’s personal life had its share of sorrow. He was married twice, and widowed twice. He had two daughters and two sons by his first wife. One son died young in 1908; the other was killed in military action in 1917. He married his second wife, Jean Munro, of Fergus, in 1903. She died in 1917. They had one son, Arthur Perry, who moved to Toronto as an adult.
Peter Perry’s students appreciated him most in their adult years, when they reflected on the influence he had made on their lives and careers. He made a point of following their later lives with interest, and was always available to give advice and encouragement. When the new Fergus high school opened in 1928, a group of his students pooled together to commission a portrait of him, to hang in the auditorium.
Ill health plagued Perry in the last decade of his life. He suffered from arthritis, and later from what appeared to be cancer. In his last months, he could no longer care for himself and was in constant pain, as his body shrunk to a mere shell. Friends moved him to the Elliot Home, in Guelph, where he died on Feb. 22, 1931.
Mourners packed St. James Church in Fergus for the funeral. Floral tributes filled the front of the building. Mourners included dozens of former students, many of whom travelled a considerable distance to be there. Mercer Lodge conducted the burial ceremony in Belsyde cemetery. They reflected not only on his formal teaching, but on the values he conveyed to them: courtesy to all, gentlemanly behaviour, a continuing curiosity about the world, and the duty to be a solid contributor to the community.
One of Peter Perry’s most notable pupils was Hugh Templin, the celebrated editor of the Fergus News Record. Perry captivated the young Templin with his lessons in history and composition. Later he encouraged Templin’s studies at university. When the younger man returned to Fergus to take the helm of the paper, he and Perry became friends, and in the 1920s they shared interests in conservation and experimenting with radio.
Had it not been for Peter Perry, Hugh Templin might well have taken other career paths.
His teaching and example influenced the editor through his whole life. Templin honoured his old teacher by naming one of his sons Peter.
