James Hemming
British child psychologist, educationalist, and humanist
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Biography
Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, James Hemming's childhood education was patchy, and he later obtained his BA via a correspondence course run by Birkbeck College, London.
Hemming taught at schools in Bristol, Bournemouth and at Isleworth grammar school, Middlesex. On the outbreak of the second world war, Hemming taught English and PE at Isleworth.
In 1945, Hemming married Kay, another teacher. She died in 1993.
James Hemming died in Kingston Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, leaving an estate worth £1,615,879 net. Beneficiaries from his will included Oxfam, National Children's Bureau, Amnesty International UK, Friends of the Earth, World Wide Fund for Nature, Greenpeace, Cancer Research Campaign, British Humanist Association, Arthritis and Rheumatism Council, Unicef, and the Adlerian Society for Individual Psychology.
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Writing and activism
James appeared as a defence witness in the Penguin Books obscenity trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960.
Hemming was a regular panel member on the 1970s BBC programme If You Think You've Got Problems.
Politics
Around 1942–46 Hemming was involved with Common Wealth, a socialist political party. Later he was active in local Labour Party politics, and was a member of the Green Alliance.
Teaching and education
He was a governor of St. Georges in the East secondary modern school and Mayfield Girls' Secondary School (now closed).
He launched a campaign against the use of the cane, and was an advocate for sex education. He opposed the introduction of Section 28, declaring in 1987 that homosexuality was "morally acceptable as a way of life".
Hemming had a particular interest in moral education, from a humanist perspective, and was active in the work of the Campaign for Moral Education and the Social Morality Council (later The Norham Foundation). He served on the executive committee of the Social Morality Council and was on the editorial board of its journal, Journal of Moral Education. He was a member of the Television Research Committee, set up to investigate the impact of mass media on the moral development of young people.
The Times Educational Supplement described Hemming as "one of the drivers behind the introduction of personal, social and health education.
He also spent some time lecturing in Africa, and wrote widely used books for schools. He was educational adviser to the World Education Fellowship.
Eagle comic
Hemming was involved in the launch of The Eagle. Hemming wrote,
I came in on Eagle originally because Johnny Metcalfe of Colman, Prentis & Varley rang me up to know if I was interested in the project. I was drawn in to taking the original dummy around to show the teacher and head teacher organisations. We met first around then. The launch complete, you asked me to stay linked as your consultant. So there we, very pleasantly, were. As for those early days, there was the sheer miracle of Eagle appearing regularly as, for months, perforce, we had no time in hand. Then there was the solid identification and teamwork that somehow got the work done week by week.
Humanism
A member since its formation in 1963, Hemming was President of the British Humanist Association from 1977 to 1980, and vice-president until his death. He served on the BHA's Education Committee for 30 years (c1966s–1998) and was a humanist representative on the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (1980s–1990s). He was also an honorary associate of the Rationalist Association and a vice-president of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.
He was a signatory to Humanist Manifesto II (1973).
The James Hemming Essay Prize was established in 2009 and is administered by the British Humanist Association, New Humanist magazine and the South Place Ethical Society. The inaugural prizes were awarded in August 2009.