A Bristol-born teacher, lecturer, magistrate, school governor and former city councillor who dedicated his life to serving the city has died at the age of 97.
Irving Rogers had many roles in Bristol, including teaching for many years at Greenway Secondary Modern School for Boys in Southmead, where he was one of the first teachers in the country to introduce the new Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme in 1956 – that led to some of his pupils becoming the first in the country to receive their gold awards, and they were invited to Buckingham Palace to receive them from Prince Philip himself.
He went on to train teachers at Redland Training College, becoming a lecturer and Dean of the Business School at what had become Bristol Polytechnic, and remained as a lecturer at University of the West of England. Outside of work, he dedicated his life to serving the community and the city.
An avid socialist, he served as a city councillor for St George West for ten years between 1973 and 1983, he was a magistrate from 1978 until 1994, latterly becoming chairman of the bench, and he served as a governor of Bishop Road Junior School for many years.
Born on January 24, 1928 in Jubilee Road in St George, Irving was the only child of Herbert and Lillian Rogers, a botany teacher. Herbert was prominent in the post-war Labour Party in Bristol – and was a parliamentary agent, playing a key role in the election of both Sir Stafford Cripps as MP for Bristol East in 1931 and Tony Benn as MP for Bristol South East in 1950.
Irving was educated at St Brendan’s School in Bristol before training as a teacher at St Paul’s Teacher Training College in Cheltenham, where he specialised in geography.
Irving married Joyce Kingston in 1951 at Redfield Methodist Church. The couple had two daughters, Helen and Teresa. They said: “Our father was a natural born teacher – always encouraging people to achieve their best. He was a true socialist, committed to helping others throughout his life. He was energetic with a deep interest in the world and in politics, which continued to the day of his death.
“He was from a longstanding Bristol family and was passionate about his city. He will be very much missed by his family,” they added.
Like his father, Irving Rogers also became an active member of the Labour Party and stood as its parliamentary candidate for Devizes in 1964 twice – the first time in a by-election and then again in the General Election later that year – he didn’t win, but Devizes has been a safe Conservative seat for 100 years.
He also taught rugby and took his pupils on many field trips looking for fossils – another one of his own hobbies. Later he moved to Redland Training College where he taught up-and-coming teachers. In 1968, he co-wrote with Barrington Kaye a book on teaching, Group Work in Secondary Schools, which was translated into several languages. In 1976, Redland Training College and St Mathias College merged with the Bristol Polytechnic, and Irving became a lecturer and later Dean of the Business School.
He was still there when the polytechnic was reformed as the University of the West of England in 1992, and he switched subjects to lecture on local government, teaching the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy course.
He still found time for other hobbies and interests. In his youth he acted with the Kelvin Players and on many BBC Radio 4 plays and in later years he became a director for the Avon Touring Theatre Company.
He was a magistrate from 1978 until 1994, latterly becoming chairman of the bench, and he served as a governor of Bishop Road Junior School for many years. He also had a strong interest in mental health charities, working on a voluntary basis with the intellectually disabled in local hospitals.
He became a director of the charitable company View To Learning, later known as Gathering Voices, assisting the documentary film-maker Jane Henriques to produce videos on social health matters.
Irving largely retired from public life in 1995 in order to spend more time with his wife, who by then had developed dementia, although her illness spurred him to become a trustee and director of Dementia Care Trust, a role he continued until 2006, by which time he was 78.
He died of pneumonia following a short illness. His wife predeceased him in 1999. He is survived by his daughters and by four grandchildren.