Van Gogh in

School Stokes

In the spring of 1876, Vincent worked at a boys’ school in Ramsgate run by William Port Stokes (c. 1832–1890). When the school moved to Isleworth, Vincent followed. Just two weeks after the move, however, he found a better-paid job working as an assistant teacher in another school in Isleworth. Stokes evidently regretted losing Vincent, for when he heard of his intention to leave, he offered him a small salary (he had previously promised only room and board). After moving to the other school, Vincent sometimes ran into former pupils from Stokes’s school. Little more is known about the time he spent working for Stokes in Isleworth, as it was so brief that only one letter of Vincent’s was preserved from this period.