Goldsack, Irene

Hearing. She headed the Manchester University department for teaching sign language to teachers of the deaf, but in 1934 transformed it into an audiology clinic because she believed very strongly in oralism and consequently forebade sign language. This department had been established in 1919 by a philanthropical grant from Sir James E. Jones, who used sign language with his deaf son Ellis Llwyd Jones and wanted to encourage more use of sign language in deaf education, but she unilaterally subverted this. Ironically, she had to leave her position in 1944 because she was losing her hearing. Ewing replaced her as head but she continued to work there, and eventually the two of them married. He was even more militantly oralist than she, and by his 1964 retirement they had trained 680 teachers of the deaf in oralism. For this, he was knighted by the Queen, a very deeply resented and controversial award in the British deaf community.