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SSADJNO

d ie e o t o h y —

1919.

49

SCHOOLS.
B E A D I N G SCH O O L.
Becent research has proved that the school existed in 1120 & before the
foundation of the Monastery, but mention of it rarely occurs in old
chronieles till its reconstruction in 1485,in which year JohnThorne,Abbot
of Beading, having suppressed the Hospital of St. John, was directed by
Henry V II. to assign its revenues to some charitable institution, in pur­
suance of which command he transferred them to this school, one of his
officers, W illiam Dene, giving 200 marks in 'a id of its refouudation.
Queen Elizabeth granted the school by charter in 15G0 a valuable endow­
ment & in the reign of Charles I. Archbishop Laud, a native of Bead­
ing, left ¿20 a year to the head master and established a “ visitation ”
of the school, which is still maintained. The great hall of the sup­
pressed hospital was for many years used as a schoolroom, until in
1790 Dr. Eichard Valpy, who long held the head mastership, erected a
new one at his own cost. The foundation stone of the present buildings,
which cost ¿80,000, occupying a plot of ground in Eedlands, 13 acres
in extent, & situated about a mile south-east of the town, was laid by
His late Majesty King E dw ard V II. then Prince of Wales, on July
1st, 1870, & they were formally opened by the late Lord Hatherley,
then Lord Chancellor, Sept. 11th, 1871; tlrey comprise a large
central hall, fourteen class-rooms & three boarding houses, holding
about 75 boarders, with separate rooms for each boy, a school chapel to
hold 300 boys, a larger house for the head master, with 50 single dor­
mitories, & a junior school for 60 boys in the school grounds, also three
chemical & physical laboratories, an armoury, a gymnasium, art rooms,
large swimming baths, engineering workshops, carpenter’s shop & a
large detached sanatorium; adjoining is a cricket ground with pavilion.
There is a classical side for those boys~who are preparing directly for
the universities ; & a modern side, adapted more especially to the study
of science, mathematics & modern languages. The school is inspected
by the Board of Education and by the Oxford and Cambridge Schools
Examination B o a rd ; its School Certificate is accepted by the Army
Council in lieu of the Arm y Qualifying Examination, and it is recog­
nised by the College of Physicians and the College of Surgeons as a
place of instruction. Among other School organisations there is a
flourishing cadet corps of the Officers' Training Corps. The school
year is divided into three terms & three vacations.
The annual
value of the scholarships tenable at the School at present amount
to about ¿700. Julius Palm er m.a. fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford,
a head master here, was burnt at the stake at Newbury for heresy in 1556;
& among the eminent persons educated here may be named Sir Thomas
White kt. Lord Mayor, & founder of St. John’s College, Oxford, d. 1566;
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded 10th Jan. 1645;
Sir Constantine Phipps kt. Lo rd Chancellor of Ireland, d. 1723; Henry,
1st Viscount Sidmouth, prime minister in 1801, d. 15th Feb. 1844;
John Blagrave, the mathematician, d. 9th Aug. 1611 ; James Merrick,
translator of the Psalms, d. 5th Jan. 1769; Bev. Charles Coates, author
of a History of Beading, pub. 1802-9; Thomas Turner, dean of Canter­
bury, d. 8th Oct. 1672 ; William Shipley, dean of St. Asaph ; Francis
Annesley, first master of Downing College, founded 22nd Sept. 1800 ;
Bobert Vansittart, professor "of civil law at Oxford, d. 1789; Sir
Thomas Noon Talfourd kt. D.c.n. judge of Common Pleas, & author, d1858 ; Dr. Jeune, Bishop of Peterborough, d. 1868; John Jackson d .d .
bishop of London, & John Lempriere n.n. author of the Classical