Father William Burtoft

DURING the ten years – from 1977 to 1987 – that Father Bill Burtoft was headmaster of St Bede's Grammar School in Bradford, he helped transform the school, bringing it up to date with developments in the national education system.

Among other things, he oversaw the early application of computers into teaching and learning, significant investment in the school’s buildings and important curriculum developments, especially for post-16 students.

The changes were smoothly introduced thanks to his collaborative management style.

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Father Burtoft, who has died aged 84, was also involved in the wider Bradford community, supporting the Bradford Catholic Housing Aid Society, and for 20 years from 1966 he was chaplain to the Knights of St Columba in Bradford.

William Burtoft – “Bill” to those who knew him – was born in Rotherham. He went to De La Salle College in Sheffield and from there to Sheffield University from where he graduated before going to Rome to train for the priesthood at the Venerable English College seminary.

At the Gregorian University in Rome, he read philosophy and theology, and was ordained at the Church of San Marcello al Corso in 1954.

On his return to the UK, he was appointed by Bishop Heenan, then Bishop of Leeds, to the Holy Rosary parish in Chapeltown, Leeds, as assistant to Canon Patrick O’Meara.

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In 1956 Fr Burtoft joined the staff of St Bede’s Grammar School, teaching religious education and chemistry, and becoming head of the RE Department in 1964.

This was to be the first of several promotions within the school which culminated in his appointment as headmaster in 1977, succeeding the long-serving Mgr Morgan Sweeney.

Following his retirement in 1987, Fr Burtoft became the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Graces, at Kinsley, near Pontefract. In 2001, he retired to South Yorkshire, returning to live in his native Rotherham.

A man of sharp intellect and with a keen sense of humour – and in his younger days a fine cricketer – he was a teacher who did not distinguish between academic progress and pastoral welfare, and on both fronts he always cared deeply about his students.

Fr Burtoft will be remembered above all for his contribution to Catholic education in the city of Bradford over a period of more than three decades.

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