| William Poole | |
| Birth Date: | 6 April 1871 |
| Birth Place: | Clifton, Bristol |
| Death Place: | Rye, East Sussex |
| Sport: | Rowing |
| Club: | Oxford University Boat Club |
| Relative: | Brother Gerald Robert Poole |
William Mansfield Poole (6 April 1871 – 13 December 1946) was an educationalist and author of several widely held academic text books.[1] [2] [3] [4] He had a particular gift for languages and was an early head of Modern Languages at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.[2] [5] In his youth he was also an accomplished oarsman, and rowed for Oxford in the 1891 Boat Race.[6]
Poole was born on 6 April 1871 in Clifton, then in the county of Gloucestershire.[7] He was the son of Canon Robert Burton Poole, who was then a master at Clifton College and would later be headmaster of Bedford Modern School between 1877 and 1900.[8] [9]
Poole was educated at Bedford Modern School, where he was in the First IV from 1887 to 1889; the first XV from 1886 to 1888; captain of the team in 1887 and 1888.[6] During his time in the IV the school three times won the Public School Challenge Cup at Marlow Regatta and the Public School Cup twice at Barnes and Mortlake Regatta.[6] In 1889 he stroked the first coxswainless Public School IV to row at Henley.[6] Going up to Magdalen College, Oxford, he rowed in the 1891 Boat Race.[10]
After Oxford, Poole joined the staff of Merchant Taylors School.[6] He went abroad to increase his knowledge of French and German before being appointed Modern Language Master to the Black Prince, a training ship for naval cadets.[6] He went with them when they were removed to the Royal Naval College, Osborne, where he became head of modern languages.[6] After Osborne he became senior modern language master at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[6] During his career he was the author of several text books.[3] On retirement, Poole and his wife started a school in Brussels for English girls coming there to perfect their colloquial French.[2] After about ten years he returned to England and settled in Beckley.[6]
In 1908, Poole married the Hon. Millicent Chance Foster, daughter of Walter Foster, 1st Baron Ilkeston.[11] They had one son and two daughters.[2] Poole died in the District Memorial Hospital in Rye on 13 December 1946.[12] His estate was left to his son, Major Evered Mansfield Poole.[12]