author
E. M. (Edmund McKenzie) Sneyd-Kynnersley
1841–1933
A school inspector, barrister, and memoirist, he left behind a lively first-hand account of British education as it was changing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His writing blends professional observation with anecdote, giving the book the feel of both history and remembered life.
1 Audiobook
H.M.I.: Some Passages in the Life of One of H.M. Inspectors of Schools
by E. M. (Edmund McKenzie) Sneyd-Kynnersley
About the author
Born on December 1, 1841, Edmund McKenzie Sneyd-Kynnersley studied at St John's College, Oxford, joined the Inner Temple in 1866, and was called to the bar in 1869. A reference work on barristers records that he became one of H.M.'s inspectors of schools in 1874 and was associated with the Oxford circuit.
Sneyd-Kynnersley is best known for H.M.I.: Some Passages in the Life of One of H.M. Inspectors of Schools, first published by Macmillan in 1908 and later reprinted. The book presents his recollections of school inspection work and offers a personal view of education, administration, and everyday life in schools during a period of major change.
Some biographical details about him are sparse in easily available sources, but the broad outline is clear: he spent much of his working life in school inspection and turned those experiences into a memoir that remains useful to readers interested in the history of education.