My father, Harry Kitchin, who has died aged 100, travelled in his life from one of the poorest streets in east Manchester to become headteacher of the largest primary school in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The youngest of five children only three survived into adulthood he was born in Manchester to Rose and Harry Kitchin. His father had worked in engineering, but could not find a job after the first world war, probably because of his outspoken trade union activity. His family was full of keen socialists and pacifists, all capable of lively argument on any subject. Harry junior's intelligence and desire to learn were clear from the start he achieved the highest marks in all the schools in Manchester at the age of 11, which earned him a prize of £3 to spend on books. He went to Ardwick Central school, but was unable in the days before grants to go to university, despite matriculating at 15, and was working in an insurance company in Manchester at the start of the second world war.
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