Mary S.Corbishley MBE 1905-1995

Mary Corbishley pioneered an unorthodox method of teaching young deaf children speech, lipreading and English from an early age for higher education, colleges, universities and after-school life in the hearing world. A devout Christian, she ran her school on the basis of her Bible and her faith in her God. In 1939 she courageously set up her School in the face of scepticism, prejudice, bias and officialdom and triumphed in awakening the realisation that it was - and is - not impossible for deaf children to learn to speak, lipread and understand spoken English. Her beloved Mill Hall Oral School with its world-wide reputation ran for nearly 50 years until its politically-enforced closure in 1996. Her life revolved around deaf children whom she loved all her life.