Wife pays tribute to beloved Stockton-born teacher Tom Hume

Tom Hume, from Stockton, a former art teacher at Middlesbrough High School, died at the age of 81 in October following a cardiac arrest while swimming in Seaham Harbour.

Barbara Hume, his wife and former art teacher at Hustler School, said she grew up with Tom – having lived within two streets of each other in Stockton, and attended the same infant and Sunday schools during their childhood.

She added while they knew each other, she did not see him for some time after he left for a different school, intermittently reconnecting in their teenage years before Mr Hume left for Oxford.

She added the two decided they wanted to be together when they had turned 18 and said they had shared a special bond.

Mrs Hume said: “We’ve always known each other. It’s difficult for other people to understand because it’s so unusual because people don’t stay together for that length of time and have known each other since they were [kids].

“I’ve got photographs of him with his choirboy outfits on, and I was the girl in the aisle as they walked in, in fact, some of my boyfriends were in the choir at that time - I didn’t fancy Tom [at the time].

“He was a people person, he loved people. I’ve never even heard him criticise anybody. He just never did, he just accepted people.

“He just always saw the good in people.”

Born in 1942 without a father after he died of head injuries sustained when a faulty shell exploded in the barrel of his Howitzer, Mr Hume was raised by his mother and grandparents, licensees of the Regent Hotel on Prince Regent Street.

He passed the time at the hotel mimicking the intoxicated patrons of the establishment and developing a talent for impressions.

Before his father had died, Mr Hume’s grandfather had promised him he would look after his unborn child.

The boy who grew up believing his name was Thomas Morgan was informed by his grandfather that his real name was Thomas Mornington Hume before being sent off to school in Barnard Castle.

Here he met his inspiration and art teacher, Douglas Pittuck, who Mr Hume would take after as he later attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford like his mentor.

In a letter on his time there, Mr Hume said: “The Ruskin was, in my time, within the Ashmolean Museum - the southern wing - where Cezanne, Poussin, Claude, Sickert, et al, were hanging upstairs…along with countless other treasures!

“Truly wonderful! ...and was tutored in drawing and painting by Percy Horton and Timothy Gibbs… Loved it!”

He later studied at Goldsmiths College of Art in London before beginning his career at St Michael’s Roman Catholic Secondary School in Newport at 22.

Tom was chosen as head of art at Middlesbrough High School’s new art block in 1971 by then headmaster George Morris, and these were the happiest and most productive years of his teaching career.

One of Mr Hume’s former students at Middlesbrough High School (which became Marton Sixth Form College in 1974) and long-time friend, Derek Smith, hailed his former teacher as an “inspirational” and “charismatic” role model.

He said: “Tom and the art block provided the ideal conditions for students to thrive and many achieved good results at O level and A level, many went on to art college.

“He was stylish: drove a Citroen Dyan, occasionally wore white clogs and colourful outfits, trendy perhaps but admired by colleagues and pupils alike.

“He was inspirational. Drawing was the number one priority, he made sure that everybody was able to draw.

“He took us through incredible workshops on drawing and it stayed with a lot of us. He made us see the value of drawing.

“He was good at everything, I think it was the dedication he applied to all the things he was interested in.”

Mr Hume stayed at the school until he suffered a heart attack at the age of 48, turning to regular painting in his bedroom studio at South Street, where he lived in an 18th century clergy house on the banks of the Wear.

He spent considerable time as chairman sorting out the accounts of the Durham Beekeepers Association.

Additionally, friends and family spoke of his love of Shakespeare and his impressive ability to recite many of the bard’s sonnets – while he continued to paint abstract work such as his Roundels and traditional pieces until his death.

Mr Smith said a memorial exhibition of Mr Hume’s artwork, who he said was “modest about his talents” in life, is planned to bring more eyes to his work.

Speaking on his passion as a teacher, Mrs Hume spoke of how great of a storyteller he was, and how he would often make sure to pass on what he had learned – whether it be a sleight-of-hand magic trick to children waiting for a bus, or his dedication to art to his students.

“He used to say he was the ‘luckiest man in the world,’ and I used to find that really difficult to comprehend because this was a guy born without a father, never had a father, and had a heart attack at 48 and he did actually die [then].

“He had no ambition and very little ego. He never lusted after a car or a house. All he used to say, especially after his first heart attack was ‘Barbara, I just want to make you happy,’ and that was his credo.

“He didn’t care about whether he sold paintings or not. I can’t remember him being depressed.

“I didn’t appreciate him of course until he was gone, and now I do, because he was always there.”

More of Mr Hume's work can be found here.