HISTORY OF A SCHOOL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 162, 25 June 1935, Page 3

HISTORY OF A SCHOOL

Christ’s Hospital, England

OLD GREY-FRIARS MONASTERY

A brief resume of the history of Christ’s Hospital School, one of the oldest educational institutions in England, formed the subject of one of the most interesting addresses Napier Rotarians have been privileged to hear. The speaker was Mr Morcon Green, an old boy of the school, who spoke at yesterday’s luncheon of the Rotary Club.

Christ’s Hospital School was founded by Edward VI., and on October 6, 1552, the first meeting of governors was called and the institution started on its varied career. The Lord Mayor 01 London was always the school’s Chief Governor, and it was interesting to note that one- of its past chief governors was the famous Richard Whittington. The original buildings were a greyfriars’ monastery and must have been over 1000 years old, said Mr Green. Towards tho end of the 19th Century England was alive with reform. A commission was set up to inquire into the subject of education. "Christ’s Hospital came under displeasure and an unsuccessful endeavour was made to remove it from London into the country. A further unsuccessful attempt was made in 1870,’’ he said. The great change eventuallv came after 1875. In that year a boy named Gibbs committed suicide by hanging himself out of a window. Old boys of -the school wrote to the papers con. menting upon the savagery of the boys. A commission was appointed to report on the affairs of the school and a recommendation was made to the effect that the school should depart from London. FROM CITY TO COUNTDY. "And so the great change came.’’ went on Mr Green. "Some 1200 acres of land were bought in Sussex. Down came the old buildings that had stood for centuries.’’ A new era in the history of Christ’s Hospital School dawned in 1902, Better facilities were introduced. Hitherto, for example, tho school had no hot water and the football grounds had a surface of asphalt. However, the school expanded and gradually became what it was to-day—one of the finest public schools in England. Christ’s Hospital School was no charity school, Mr Green assured Rotarians. The idea behind it was the provision of public school education for the sons of those gentlefolk who could not afford to send their sons to the great public schools. The fees were commensurate with the income of parents. A boy must be either nominated or presented by a governor of the school, and, if accepted, entered the prepara tory school. "To-day the buildings consist of a huge crescent with the various houses in the inner arc. There are eight blocks altogether, all called after famous men. The discipline of tho boys is left in the hands of monitors. The housemasters are seldom seen except at meal time. All meals are held in tho gigantic hall.” In that hall, went on Mr Green, there was a picture of King Charles I. granting the school its charter. When James I. ascended the English throne, ho did not approve of Charles taking all the credit to himself, so he had Charles’s head cut out of the picture and his own painted in. One could still see the cut in the canvas of that picture. WAR BREAKS OUT. "I was at Christ’s Hospital School when war broke out. The war was very real to us. All the young masters left and a lot of the senior boys as well. The boy I used to fag for was among those killed. At times we could hear the rumble of tho guns at Flanders. Our school earned two V.C’s. and 580 M.C’s. Fart of the school was converted into a munition factory and our farm contributed towards the needs of tho country.” When a Christ’s Hospital boy was 15 he was allowed to choose his profession and the choice was a wide one. Most of the boys who intended to leave England for other parts of the Empire usually chose farming, as did Mr. Green. "When I left the school,” concluded Mr Green, "I was given £3O. I was told that it was not given to me as a loan, but as a gift, to give me a start in life. However, when I got on in the world I could give it back if I liked, because it could be given to some other boy.”