Thelma Afford

Interviewed by Nancy Johnson on 14 August 1996
Subject: Queenwood School

Thelma Afford. Max died 40 years ago. Things just happened some how or other. I was always lucky, when I was worried about anything or something, it would happen. Queenwood across the way, when Max died, decided to introduce art into the school, and it is just around here, and they offered me a job of teaching art there, so I did. I felt everything was pretty hopeless with Max dying.

Nancy Johnson. Was your father still alive then?

Thelma Afford. No, both of them had gone.

Nancy Johnson. So I was very lucky, they wanted an art teacher to introduce into the school. It was a time when the government was really keen on art being introduced into the schools, and for the first time there were exams for history of art. So I taught there for about 15 years I think.

Nancy Johnson. And were you still doing costume work on the side?

Thelma Afford. Oh yes, Yes. Then I decided I would go away again, and so I had 12 months on my own roaming around Europe, which was wonderful. I went to all the galleries I wanted to go to, and it was marvelous.

Nancy Johnson. Theatre too I suppose.

Thelma Afford. Yes, oh yes. Then I came back.

Nancy Johnson. Did you go back to Queenwood then?

Thelma Afford. No, I didn’t want to. I enjoyed it there very much but I didn’t want to continue teaching. Round about this time, I seem to feel I’m right in saying this, TV was introduced and so I did some designing for the ABC.