Frederick Mander

Who is Frederick Mander?

Sir Frederick Mander FEIS, was a headmaster and trade unionist and the General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 1931 to 1947.

Mander was born in Luton in Bedfordshire, the son of Arthur Mander, an iron plate worker, and his wife, Carrie Ellingham. At birth he was registered as Fred, and this name appeared on his marriage certificate in 1911, but in later years he was known as Frederick. Mander was educated at the Luton Higher Grade School before training to become a teacher at Westminster Training College. He obtained an external BSc degree from the University of London. He was already a schoolmaster when he married Hilda Irene Sargent on 2 September 1911.

Mander was the headmaster of a school in Luton from 1915 to 1931. He joined the National Union of Teachers and was elected to its Executive Committee in 1922. In 1923 he was involved in the Lowestoft Strike, when at least 167 teachers struck for eleven months in protest at the Local Education Authority's decision to reduce teachers' salaries by 10 per cent. The actions of the LEA were widely condemned after the NUT were able to prove that the non-union ‘blackleg’ teachers employed by the LEA were inadequate.