Hadow, Sir Henry (1859-1937), an English educator, helped originate the eleven-plus examination used in many parts of the United Kingdom from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. The eleven-plus was a test given to 11-year-old children entering secondary school to determine if their future education should be technical or in the arts. Hadow served as chairman of a committee that produced in 1926 a report called The Education of the Adolescent. It recommended that the type of school a child should attend on leaving elementary school should depend on the results of an examination taken at the age of “eleven plus.”
Hadow was also a composer and music scholar. He lectured on music at Oxford University from 1890 to 1899. He wrote Studies in Modern Music (1892, 1894, 1926) and was an editor of the Oxford History of Music. As a composer, Hadow was best known for his chamber music and songs.
William Henry Hadow was born on Dec. 27, 1859, in Ebrington, Gloucestershire. He was knighted in 1918 and became Sir Henry Hadow. Sir Henry died on April 8, 1937.
