South Yorkshire Times, Saturday, January 26, 1963.
Theresa´s trousers broke the rule.
When Mr and Mrs H Keenan, of Clifton Street, Denaby Main, sent their five-year-old daughter, Theresa Marie to school on Monday, wearing trousers, they found that they were breaking a school rule.
Said her father, Mr Henry Keenan, “At dinner time on Monday our eldest daughter, nine years old Catherine, came home, carrying her sisters trousers. A few minutes later Theresa Marie appeared and told us that Sister Mary de Salles, the headmistresshad asked her to take them off.”
The trousers were the lower half of a bright red checked siren suit which Mr and Mrs Keenan and bought at the sales last week to keep Theresa Marie warm as she walked the 30 yards to St Albans School.
Mr Keenan explained, “We could not afford anything expensive but she has never been too strong and comeshome blue with cold. My wife is expecting another baby so we cannot afford to be nursing the other children all the time.”
He added, “we couldn’t understand why a baby shouldn’t be allowed to wear trousers.”
Some time ago their daughter Catherine was also forbidden to wear trousers for school. “We could understand that because Catherine was quite old at the time”, commented Mr Keenan.
When asked to comment Sister Mary smiled pleasantly, and refused.
So Theresa Marie continues to walk the 30 yards to school in a normal skirt and jumper wearing the top half of the suit – minus trousers !
Still, she will be able to wear them to play – concluded her father.