Fred Murphy obituary

My uncle Fred Murphy, who has died aged 86, was a history teacher who went on to devise teacher training materials for the Institute of Education in London.

For many years, with colleagues at the institute, he revised, updated and rewrote elements of the national PGCE training course for teachers while also teaching it himself, mainly with a focus on the components dealing with special educational needs, pastoral work, gifted children and classroom management. He also visited, coached and assessed students on their teaching practice school placements.

In addition Fred helped to establish the institute’s two-week orientation and English course, designed to prepare overseas postgraduate students for study in the UK. He was the course’s first and chief tutor in the 1990s, and also supervised students taking education doctorates.

Fred was born in Whetstone, north London, to Arthur, a civil servant, and his wife, Bertha (nee Ives). Academically gifted, he started his secondary schooling at Woodhouse grammar school in Finchley at the age of 10, a year earlier than his peers.

He then studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before beginning, in 1961, as a history teacher at Peckham Manor school in south London. While there he co-authored a history textbook aimed at secondary school pupils, The Global Age: The 20th Century to 1967, which was published in 1970.

In 1972 Fred became a history lecturer at the Thomas Huxley teacher training college in Ealing, west London. When the college closed in 1980 he did a masters degree in literature and education at the Institute of Education, soon after which the institute asked him back as a lecturer in educational studies.

He officially retired from the institute in 2012, although he kept up his connections by doing some proofreading work and advising on doctoral theses. He also freelanced for the American University in London, teaching a summer school history class there until well into his 70s.

Aside from history, Fred’s great passions were art and music. He loved visiting art galleries, playing the piano and attending concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. An avid reader, he had rows of paperbacks lining the skirting boards in his house.

He often visited former pupils around the world, and overseas students would frequently stay in his house when visiting the UK.

He is survived by his younger siblings, Ethne and John, by two nieces, me and Rachel, and a nephew, Nick.