My mother, Jean Hedley, who has died aged 80, was a headteacher who used her creative and organisational talents to inspire young pupils and colleagues alike. In retirement she was appointed MBE for services to nature conservation.
Born in Goudhurst, Kent, Jean was the youngest of three daughters of Jess (nee MacDonald) and William Hartnell, who were in service as a lady’s maid and chauffeur. During the second world war the family moved to Glasgow, where William became an engineer with Rolls-Royce.
Educated at Shawlands academy, Jean excelled at art and music and won a scholarship to Glasgow School of Art. But her father insisted on a reliable profession so she spent a short spell as a clerical assistant before rebelling and applying to teacher training college in Newcastle. Northumberland had the added attraction of Richard Hedley, whom she met on a Sunday school picnic in Alnwick.
Jean and Richard married in 1959 and she supported them both in her first year of teaching, while Richard was still a student. The birth of my brother, Aidan, in 1960 brought a temporary halt to Jean’s career. The young family moved south to settle in Fareham, Hampshire, where my father had landed a teaching post.
Jean went back to work in 1966, when I was four. The birth of my sister, Helen, in 1967 meant Jean was juggling a busy career and raising three children at a time when most of my peers had stay-at-home mothers. By 1972 she had progressed to be the head at Bedenham primary school, Gosport, a post she held for 22 years before moving to Meadowlands infant school, Waterlooville. She retired in 1996.
A growing awareness of nature conservation in the 1960s had led her to join the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. On retirement Jean threw herself into volunteering for the trust, becoming first chair and later president. Her charm and energy were harnessed to raise funds and campaign on vital issues.
My father died in 2016 and, despite illness and failing eyesight, Jean was determined to create a positive legacy. She hosted a fundraising art exhibition and set up the trust’s Richard Hedley Memorial Fund, to train a young ecologist.
Jean is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and a sister, Dorothy.
