HUNDREDS PAY RESPECTS TO INSPIRATIONAL BETTY:
HUNDREDS of people lined the streets of Butetown yesterday to lay to rest one of the most iconic members of their community and Wales’ first black head teacher – Betty Campbell.
Mr P’s jazz band led mourners as they left Mrs Campbell’s house in Loudon Square to walk to St Mary’s Church in Bute Street.
Former pupils, friends, relatives and members of the community which she served as head teacher, councillor, friend and community advocate packed the church where she was a regular worshipper.
A giant photograph of Mrs Campbell, who was born in Tiger Bay in 1934 and worked to educate and bring communities of all races and cultures together, hung at the church door.
As her coffin was brought in to the song “Only You”, mourners remembered Mrs Campbell as a unique and vital part of Tiger Bay where she was born in Field Street, grew up, married, raised her family and fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a head teacher, despite being told her background made that impossible.
Leading the service, the Rev Dean Atkins said Mrs Campbell, who leaves husband Rupert, four children, 14 grandchildren and 17 greatgrandchildren, had left ripples in the community that would make lives better in immeasurable ways for future generations.
“The influence Betty has had on countless children and staff is immeasurable and will continue to influence the lives of those she gave so much to and in turn they will influence others like ripples in a pond.
“Betty lived and worked in this community and fought for this community, a community of which she has always been an intricate part. But her influence goes much further.
“Tiger Bay had its rough and its tough times, and Butetown still has challenges but it is a community built on the back of immigration and different faiths and cultures living side by side, rubbing shoulders and holding hands.”
Mrs Campbell’s granddaughters Rachel Clarke and Michelle Campbell-Davies read the eulogy recalling their “nana Betty” as a remarkable woman who had achieved not only being head teacher of Mount Stuart Primary, but much more, helped by her husband Rupert who they described as her “rock”.
The couple celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary this year.
“To us she was our precious, amazing and inspirational nana Betty,” Michelle told mourners.
“How many of us here today would not be who we are now without Betty Campbell?”
They recalled how their grandmother not only became Wales’ first black head teacher against the odds in the 1970s but pioneered teaching black history in schools, and how people in the community saw her as a leader, asking, and being helped with, everything from housing applications to college entrance applications, among other things.
“She met the love of her life, Rupert, at the age of 16 in 1963. Nan’s achievements were down, in part, to having such a loving and supportive husband. Our grandad was always her rock and he will miss her sorely,” Michelle told the packed church.
They remembered how their grandmother, whose catch phrase they said was “let me tell you”, loved shopping and travelling. She visited China, Russia and the USA among other places, and encouraged her pupils to travel.
Awarded an MBE for services to education in 1977, Mrs Campbell met Nelson Mandela, had tea at Buckingham Palace and welcomed Prince Charles on a visit to Mount Stuart Primary in 1994. She also served on the race relations board and was an honorary fellow of the former Uwic.
Rachel, herself a deputy head teacher in London, said her grandmother had taught in schools in Cardiff before becoming head of Mount Stuart, which she had her heart set on leading after watching it being built.
“The word ‘pioneer’ is often used. Against the backdrop of the 1960s, being black and a woman gave great challenges. When people say she was unique, she was,” she told mourners.
“At age 12, she was told that because of who she was her dream of being a head teacher was not achievable. What they did not know was that when you told that to a lady like Betty Campbell they will prove you wrong and then some. Nan was a unique, once in a lifetime, remarkable lady. She paved the way for us to dream, aspire and believe.”