| Sir George Trevelyan | |
|---|---|
Trevelyan (right) speaks with Iain Cuthbertson, 1973 |
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| Born | November 5, 1906 |
| Died | February 9, 1996 (aged 89) |
| Occupation | Educator, new age thinker, public speaker |
| Title | 4th Trevelyan Baronet (1958-1996) |
Sir George Lowthian Trevelyan 4th Baronet, (5 November 1906 – 9 February 1996), an educational pioneer, a founding father of the New Age movement. After listening to a lecture by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner in 1942, he turned from being agnostic to new age spiritual thinker, and even studied anthroposophy in the coming years. He first became a History teacher at Gordonstoun School, a pioneering radical education methods. After the World War II, he became the Warden at Attingham Park, a pioneering adult education college in Shropshire in 1948, from where he retired in 1971, to found the Wrekin Trust, an educational charity. Subsequently he got associated with the Soil Association, the Findhorn Foundation, the Teilhard de Chardin Society and the Essene Network. In the last 15 years of his life, he consistently in lecture tours and meetings. He also wrote numerous book, including A Vision of the Aquarian Age (1977), Operation Redemption (1981), Summons to a High Crusade (1985) and finally Exploration into God (1991). He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, in 1982.[1][2]
He was the son of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet, and part of the Trevelyan Baronets, of Wallington lineage. Sir George was proud of this ancestry which he imagined linked him to Sir Trevillian, one of King Arthur's knights, who swam ashore on horseback when Lyonesse finally sank. Legend says that Sir Trevillian emerged with a mighty effort from the waves and landed safely on the dry land of Cornwall.
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Sir George born into a large family part of the Trevelyan Baronets, of Wallington lineage, then owners of the Wallington Estate in Northumbria. He grew up in his family's Northumberland home, Wallington Hall, which his father gave to the National Trust, effectively disinheriting George.
In 1925, he went to read history at Trinity College, Cambridge, as per his family tradition.[2] Whilst there he began his 42-year long association with the famous 'Trevelyan Man Hunt', an extraordinary annual event which involved a chase on foot over the wild Lakeland fells, with human 'hunters' hunting after human 'hares'. This exciting and highly taxing event was started in 1898 by George's historian uncle G. M. Trevelyan and the Wynthrop Youngs, and still continues today (hide and seek game without guns!).
After leaving Cambridge, George went on to teach at Gordonstoun, which at that time was a school pioneering a radical education. Later, he became involved as a teacher of the Alexander Technique for postural integration, and apprenticed himself to a furniture designer and master craftsman in wood, Peter Waals, working at Waals' workshop in the Cotswold hills. Sir George himself made many fine pieces of furniture, including a bed in which he finally died, as he wished.
In 1931, Sir George took the first class F. Matthias Alexander gave for future teachers of the Alexander Technique.
In 1942, after hearing a lecture given by Dr Walter Stein, a student of Rudolf Steiner, Trevelyan discovered a spiritual world-view. During his lifetime he explored beliefs in angels, the calming effects of crystals and the power of ley lines, alongside organic farming and communal living.
On retirement from the army, in 1948 he was appointed Warden and Principal of Attingham Park, an adult training college in Shropshire, where he carried out his pioneering work in the teaching of spiritual knowledge as adult education. The courses ranged from chamber music and drama to esoteric subjects such as 'Finding the Inner Teacher' and 'Holistic Vision', the latter attracting large numbers of participants, many of them from other countries as well as Britain. The college was jointly sponsored by the local authority and the University of Birmingham, both of whom looked askance at Sir George's attraction towards the mystical; and so it took immense moral courage, for instance, for him to present a course on 'Death and Becoming', a subject that was in those days virtually taboo.
He was involved in the establishment of the Findhorn Foundation, the Gatekeeper Trust, and through his friendship with Wellesley Tudor Pole, the Chalice Well and the Lamplighter Movement.
In 1971, he set up the Wrekin Trust to promote spiritual education and knowledge
In 1982, he was a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, the 'alternative Nobel Prize'.[1]
He married Helen Lindsay-Smith (died 1994) in 1940, and the couple had an adopted daughter.[2]
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Trevelyan |
Baronet (of Wallington) 1958–1996 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Washington Trevelyan |