Geoffrey Haward Martin

“ It is nevertheless this exceptional secular type of town school that is the original of the grammar school of to-day, for at the Reformation the ecclesiastical schools largely died out, leaving it a clear field. From Tudor times onwards these secular schools multiplied rapidly, being founded in town after town for the sons of the burgesses, sometimes by royalty, but more often by some wealthy local merchant. ”

“ In basing a case for the continuous existence of a school on the continuing authority exercised by the Bishopric of London it has not been overlooked that until recent times education was always
under the control of the Church, and Colchester always in the Diocese of London, so that at any date its Bishop might be expected to be the patron of any school which happened to exist in the town. ”

“ Originally all English schools except the purely primary (infant school, etc.) were "grammar schools" in the sense that they all taught "grammar" (the principles of Latin composition, and cognate subjects) , which was the curriculum then universally accepted as the basis of all true learning. Accordingly in its original form every really ancient school will necessarily have been a grammar school. ”

“ The man who was thus the first master of North America's oldest town school and then became master of what we believe to be England's oldest town school was born in England about 1600. Educated at Charterhouse and the Puritan College of Emmanuel, Cambridge, he was, like many other Puritan ministers, forced to sail to New England, but, as we see, returned to his native country, At Colchester, as at Dorchester, he held the mastership for four years. ”

“ For these reasons, then, we may look back upon the nineteenth century with some pride, recognising that it was the School's good fortune that the changes were practicable, and that they were effected by men of ability. ”

“ Into the rights and wrongs of the case we need not enter. (The story told by Wire's son was refuted by Dunningham and his paying scholars, so that the case was dismissed.) What concern us are Wire's allegations relating to the management of the School: that his son, as the only free scholar, was made to sit on a different side of the schoolroom from the paying scholars, and received different instruction. As Wire often pointed out, the Statutes and Ordinances required the master to give preferential treatment in teaching to the free scholars—an order that obviously was not being obeyed then. ”

“ That in 1206 the School stood somewhere within this area seems certain : the very fact that it was under the Bishop's jurisdiction implies as much, for there is no reason to suppose that his authority extended beyond the boundaries that have been described. The School is one of four appurtenances (pertinentia) —a chief dwelling, a church, a chapel, and a school. The Church of St. Mary, the only survivor of the four, stands as we know within these boundaries, while the "Capital Messuage," a term applied to the Lord's own dwelling, must assuredly have lain within his holding. ”

“ In a speech given at the Third Annual Dinner of the O.C. Society (10th Dec., 1903, the Tercentenary of Gilbert's death) C.E. Benham remarked that there was "some doubt as to whether Gilbert was in the strict sense of the word an Old Colcestrian, and the fact was adduced that he was over 40 years old when the School was started." This would refer of course to the Elizabethan school; if Gilbert was educated at Colchester school it will have been in Henry VIII's foundation. ”

“ In September, 1842, Dunningham was prosecuted by William Wire, for an assault upon his son, a foundation scholar.
William Wire was one of the most remarkable figures in Colchester in the last century, and deserves a biography, which here cannot be given. By natural bent a scientific archaeologist, far in advance of his age, his occupation was that of a watchmaker, and later a postman. ”

“ Perhaps the most significant in view of the School's status, is that (item 10) making provision for 16 free scholars, which ordered that the Schoolmaster, "shall have most care to instruct and profit the same free Scholars, and to preferr them in places and formes in the Schoole according to their capacitys and learning." There were to be 60 scholars in all, and if that number should happen to be exceeded the necessary adjustment was to be made at the cost of paying scholars and not of foundation scholars. ”

“ Religious instruction was reorganised also: morning and evening prayers were retained on weekdays, and the scholars were to be prepared for confirmation— though now through the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer. On Sundays the scholars were to be free to attend church "with their respective parents or friends," unless they were boarders, when they were to attend with the master.
The number of free scholars was to be increased, provisionally to 20, with a view to admitting a larger number when the income of the endowment itself increased. ”

“ Mary's Church and the town wall. A "great school" so situated would provide a fitting landmark for the 1353 will; would be suitably placed for the dumping of refuse over the wall near "le posterne," and moreover would lie within the Bishop's soke, and alongside his church—that is, precisely where on general grounds we should expect to find it. In the Middle Ages not only were the schools normally under the control of the clergy, but often were lodged within the fabric of the church itself, as, for instance, in a chamber above the porch ”

“ There were other disputes, and one which arose concerning the endowment was not settled until the beginning of the eighteenth century. The foundation deed had stated that the properties to the yearly value of 20 marks were "assigned, limited, layd out, and conveyed, for the maintenance of the said Free—school, and the Schoolmaster thereof for the time being, for ever," which meant that while a master was in office he was entitled to the full income. ”

“ Finding in 1637 10 scholars, by 1641 he had enrolled more than 60, and he spent his own money upon repairing the school-house. He was "a most excellent scholar," and a most conscientious schoolmaster, but he incurred the hostility of a section of the municipality (probably the Puritan) and was eventually forced to resign.
Dugard's politics are very difficult to determine, but he seems to have been a Royalist. In 1650, after leaving Colchester and becoming master of the Merchant Taylors' School, he was imprisoned for printing a defence of Charles I ”

“ Samuel Parr, famed for his wit and wisdom, who in the course of his short term of office restored the prosperity and prestige lost since Dugard's time. Parr was born at Harrow and educated at the great school there, and later at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Returning to be assistant at his old school he became so popular among the boys that there was virtually a rebellion when another man was elected by the governors as headmaster. Parr resigned, and opened his own school at Stanmore before coming to Colchester. ”

“ Appointed Astronomer Royal in 1835, he retained the post until 1881, in which period the observatory was almost completely refitted with instruments of his own design. His researches in many diverse branches of science earned him the "reputation of being one of the ablest and most indefatigable of modern savants" (Chambers's Encyclopaedia) . ”

“ John Dunningham was chosen (January 3rd, 1840) from six candidates for the post. His election is notable as it was the first in modern times in which the Council instead of the Free Burgesses had chosen the master. [2] The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 had deprived the Burgesses of their ancient right, and vested the Town Council with the authority. Legal advice was sought by the Burgesses, but their deprivation was confirmed, and although the Council were embarrassedly unwilling to accept the responsibility (Essex Standard) they had no choice in the matter. ”

“ These Statutes effected a considerable change in the character of the School. The desired broader education was now offered, by reason of the changes in the regulations governing the free scholars, to a much wider section of the town's population, and while allowance was made for a still wider extension of the curriculum at the Visitor's discretion, the inclusion of the new subjects, now authorised by the Statutes, meant that the free education was no longer exclusively classical. Between the publication of these Statutes in 1844 and the year 1850 28 boys were admitted as foundation scholars. ”

“ In the fine Fitz-Benedict acknowledged "all that soke with all its appurtenances: viz., with the School of the same township of Colchester (cum scolis ejusdem ville Colcestr') and with the advowson of the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Wall and with the Chapel of St. Andrew and with the Capital Messuage which belongs to the soke to be the right (esse jus: i.e. to be in the jurisdiction) of the said Bishop and to belong to the Barony of the Bishopric of London "; and in return for this acknowledgment the Bishop granted the soke and its appurtenances to Fitz-Benedict. ”

“ This fine, published in Trinity Term, 1206, in the eighth year of the reign of King John, records a dispute between William, Bishop of London, and his tenant William Fitz-Benedict, over a soke in Colchester, the case being heard before the Barons of the Exchequer. A soke was a property the holder of which enjoyed special privileges, such as of jurisdiction, and thus the holding in question was in the same privileged class as that recorded in Domesday Book, and in both 1206 and 1086 the owner was a Bishop of London. ”

“ Of the two candidates, Hewitt of Bristol and Duddell of Coggeshall, Hewitt was supported by the "Church Party," who looked upon Duddell as a "Calvanist." After a long campaign, enlivened by riots and processions, during which "many of the voters were brought from a great distance " for the four days of polling, the result was: For the Rev. Mr. Charles Hewitt, 487; for the Rev. Mr. John Duddell, 470," when the former gentleman was in consequence declared elected."
Upon that note we reach the end of the eighteenth century, for when Hewitt resigned the new century had opened. ”

“ He was generally some noted Preacher from Cambridge, chosen during the pleasure of the Bailiffs (or Mayor) and Commonalty; and presented to, approved, and licensed by the Bishop of London. His business was to preach on Sundays in the afternoon, Wednesdays in the forenoon, on the greater festivals, and on the fast and fair days, coronation days, at elections, gaol deliveries, &c. At length, the office dwindled to a few Sermons, preached by some of the Clergy in the town, the election and swearing of a Mayor. Their maintenance at first was by subscription: but in 1576, a salary of 40l. . . . ”

“ Another letter (October 24th) suggested "the field situated betwixt the hospital and Beverley Lodge " (i.e. Gurney Benham House) , " the property ... of C. G. Round," as the ideal site, and on November 14th the Trustees announced that they did not regard the choice of the Balkerne Hill site as final. In February, 1852, a committee of 12 was formed to solicit subscriptions, and by these means £1,600 was raised. The Trustees were unable to apply any considerable sum from the School's endowment except under the direction of the Court of Chancery, and a request for permission had to be made. ”

“ This is provided by later references to a medieval school to be found in the borough records, which, scanty though they are, all appear to relate to the same site, apparently that of the school of 1206. For the most explicit of these references we are indebted to the misdemeanour of a fifteenth-century headmaster, of whom otherwise we should not have heard. ”

“ As there is here no such defect the anomalous position of the medieval tower must presumably be attributed to "exigencies of the site," or in other words to the presence of some other building at the west end of the nave when in the fifteenth century it was decided to add a western bell-tower. ”

“ Wright was an able and energetic man, and the School prospered under his care. The overall permissible number of scholars was increased to 80 in 1853, upon application to the Visitor, the Bishop of London. ”

“ The Prefects' caps
1908. --->carried a gold " halo " in addition to crown, a fashion revived for a
1908. --->brief period about 1940.
1910. New Buildings opened (1st July) .
1910. Park Road Field opened.
1911. Pavilion opened. This is the Old (green) Pavilion ”

“ Laboratories enlarged by addition of a second storey.
1937. Cricket School in memory of C. V. Batte·Lay, O.C., presented by his
1937. --->widow.
1937. Resignation of H. J. Cape ; appointment of A. W. Fletcher.
1939. (Oct.) Re-opening delayed during building of underground shelters.
1940. School becomes entirely a Day—School. ”