Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School

Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School

Motto	"Non nobis solum"
Established	1550[1]
Closed	1975
Type	grammar school
Location	Marlborough Wiltshire England Coordinates: 51°25′N 1°43′W / 51.41°N 1.72°W
Local authority	Wiltshire County Council
Ages	11–18

Marlborough Royal Free Grammar School, previously known as Marlborough Grammar School and King Edward's School, Marlborough, was a grammar school in the town of Marlborough, in Wiltshire, England, founded in 1550.

Originally for boys only, the school became co-educational in 1906. Over a period of more than four hundred years, it had a number of homes around Marlborough. In 1975 it was closed, and its final buildings were re-used for the new St John's Marlborough comprehensive school.

History

The Abolition of Chantries Act of 1547 closed all of the Kingdom of England's chantries, including the Hospital of St John, Marlborough. The town's burgesses then petitioned the Crown for the hospital to be converted into a "'Free-scole for the inducement of youth", and by letters patent dated 18 October 1550 a grammar school was established.^[2][3] The former hospital thus became the school's first home, but in 1578 it was demolished and a new building was erected which provided a schoolroom, a house for the schoolmaster, and dormitories. This survived until 1790.^[2]

The school was sometimes known as King Edward's School, Marlborough,^[4] but in the course of the 18th century it began to be known as Marlborough Grammar School.^[5]

In 1834 a Charity Commissioners' report called the school the "Free Grammar School" and found that its original purpose was to teach Greek, Latin, and the church catechism, and that the governing body was the Corporation of Marlborough. Fourteen boys were then being taught the prescribed subjects free but had to pay for other subjects. There were also twenty-six "pay-scholars", including some boarders.^[6]

In 1853 the school survived a proposal by Earl Bruce to amalgamate it with the new Marlborough College.^[7] During the nineteenth century it declined, and in 1899 was closed. However, in 1906 it reopened in new buildings, now taking the form of a mixed school for eighty boys and girls.^[8] In 1947 a boarding-house for both sexes was established at Wye House.^[2]

Having already occupied a variety of different sites in Marlborough, in 1962 the school again moved into new buildings, this time on the edge of the town centre.^[5]

In 1975, the school was closed and merged with the local secondary modern school, Marlborough Secondary Modern, creating a new comprehensive school, St John's Marlborough. It later became St. John's School and Community College, specializing in science, technology and languages. A new school was rebuilt at the upper school site, alongside the old grammar school buildings; the buildings of the two former schools were demolished in 2010. It has since become St John's Marlborough, a centrally funded Academy school.^[9]

Headmasters

• Dr John Hildrop, 1711^[2]
• Rev. William Stone, 1733–1750^[2]
• Rev. Thomas Neyler the Elder, 1750–1774^[2]
• Rev. Joseph Edwards, 1774–1808^[2]
• Rev. J. T. Lawes, 1809–1828^[2]
• Rev. T. Nayler, 1828^[10]
• Rev. Frederick Hookey Bond, 1853–1877^[11]

Notable former pupils

• Robin Baker, biologist and writer, author of Sperm Wars, attended 1955–1962
• Frederick Bligh Bond (1864–1945), architect^[12]
• Edward Caswall (1814–1878), clergyman, poet, and hymn writer^[13]
• Charles Chenery (1850–1928), international footballer^[14]
• Michael Dodson (1732–1799), lawyer and writer on religious subjects^[15]
• Sir William Golding novelist, Nobel Laureate in Literature^[16]
• Phil Hammond, comedian
• Phil Harding, archaeologist, known for Channel 4's Time Team^[17]
• Walter Harte (1709–1774), poet and historian^[18]
• Frederick Maddison (1849–1907), previously known as Frederick Patey Chappell, footballer who played for England in the first international football match
• Henry Moule (1801–1880), clergyman and inventor of the dry earth closet^[19]
• John Whitelocke (1757–1833), British Army general^[20]
• Simon Barter (1924-2015), Public sector internal audit Guru

Further reading

• Alfred Redvers Stedman, A History of Marlborough grammar school 1550-1945 (Devizes, 1945)

See also

• List of English and Welsh endowed schools (19th century)

References

1. The Educational Calendar and Scholastic Year-book for 1871, p. 87
2. 'Education', in A History of the County of Wiltshire, vol. 5 (1957), pp. 348-368, accessed 7 April 2013
3. Alfred Redvers Stedman, A History of Marlborough grammar school 1550-1945 (Devizes, 1945)
4. William W. Kenawell, Frederick Bligh Bond, The Quest at Glastonbury: a biographical study of Frederick Bligh Bond (1965), p. 20
5. Michael Bosher, Patrick Hazlewood, Nurturing Independent Thinkers: Working with an Alternative Curriculum (2005), p. 15
6. "Marlborough – Free Grammar School" in Public Charities: Analytical digest of the Reports made by the Commissioners of inquiry into charities. Digest of schools and charities for education (W. Clowes & Son, 1842), p. 128.
7. The Wiltshire archaeological and natural history magazine, vols. 78-80 (Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society - 1983), p. 74
8. John Carey, William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies (2012), p. 3
9. Camilla officially opens St John's, Marlborough, from The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald at gazetteandherald.co.uk
10. The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 144 (1828), p. 461
11. Rev. Frederick Hookey Bond (I17188) at stanford.edu, accessed 5 April 2013
12. Frederick Bligh Bond at digitalseance.wordpress.com, accessed 5 April 2013
13. Edward Caswall at oce.catholic.com, accessed 7 April 2013
14. Charley Chenery at englandfootballonline.com, accessed 7 April 2013
15. 'Dodson, Michael' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2007)
16. Harold Bloom, William Golding's Lord of the Flies (2010), p. 9
17. Notable People at insidewiltshire.co.uk, accessed 7 April 2013
18. 'Harte, Walter', in Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 25 (Wikisource text)
19. "Henry Moule (ML817H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
20. 'Whitelocke, John', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2007)