Branson, Sam – Maths teacher kept the records straight

Samuel Branson (1928 – 2021)

Sam Branson graduated from Bristol University with 1st class honours in Mathematics and began his working life first at a school in Wellingborough, and then at Hyde Grammar School, Manchester.

He was appointed Head of Mathematics at The King’s School, Grantham in September 1961.

While at King’s he established a ‘Mathematics Room’ in what was then the new ‘Tower Block’ and developed the mathematics syllabus from what were considered as ‘traditional’ teaching methods to a more innovative approach.

He retired in 1985 but continued to take a great interest in the school.

A few years after retirement Sam, with his good friend Mrs Joyce Barnes, he went on to organise the school’s archives. It was an onerous task which they began from a very base level, creating the basis from which the archives still run.

The school receives many inquiries from around the world about information it may have about Old Boys or events and the work done by Sam and Joyce is an invaluable source of information.

Sam wrote a comprehensive history of the school after his retirement and it filled an important gap in the town’s history. Sam did a great deal of historical work around Grantham including transcribing and indexing the records of local primary schools.

Another important project was the transcription and recording of monumental inscriptions in churchyards. The biggest project was for Grantham Cemetery where they transcribed the burial registers from 1855 to 1989 and matched register entries with the presence or absence of monumental inscriptions in the cemetery.

As a result of their diligent research it is now easy to establish whether or not individual family members are buried in the town cemetery, where exactly they are buried and whether a monument stands.

Sam and Joyce also assisted in the recording of the St Wulfram’s churchyard and re-checked the recording of the graves at the now disused Manthorpe Road Burial Ground.