Herbert Brook Workman
Herbert Brook Workman (1862–1951) was a leading Methodist and secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Secondary Schools Trust when they took over Elmfield College in 1928. Workman was born in London and educated at Kingswood School and Owens College, Manchester. He entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1885 and served as a Circuit minister in England and Scotland until 1903 when he was appointed Principal of Westminster College. In 1930 he was elected President of the Wesleyan Conference. A distinguished historian, Workman was Cole Lecturer at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 1916 and temporary professor of Methodist Church history  at the University of Chicago in 1927. He published extensively in the field of Medieval Church history as well as Methodism. Workman's nickname was "Prinny" and as he was a key figure in the closure of Elmfield College, he came in for some satire when the closure was announced: several angry teachers at Elmfield drew a satirical coat-of-arms on the blackboard in the shape of an upturned dustbin with Dr Workman's legs protruding over the motto ""Prinny suncus tiperi ashes"" (Booth: 40).