THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
1515-1915
.M \I;I.AUFT BK.U'IOKJ, ('<>r\n->v 01 RICHMOND AND DKUHV, I 1 1 l-l."o:t.
In tlie National Portrait Galk-ry.
THE MANCHESTER
GRAMMAR SCHOOL
A REGIONAL STUDY OF THE
ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING IN MANCHESTER
SINCE THE REFORMATION
BY
ALFRED A. MUMFORD, M.D.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
FOURTH AVENUE & 3oTH STREET, NEW YORK
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS
1919
All rights reserved
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PREFACE
IN his famous treatise on * The Advancement of Learning,'
Francis Bacon was principally concerned with the organised
body of knowledge as it existed in the time of James I. He
described the dignity, the power, and the utility of the various
departments of learning and the causes which impeded or
fostered its growth. He praised the existing foundations
and endowments ; but he showed little interest in the aims
and aspirations of the founders, and regarded learning as the
peculiar possession of the leisured and professional classes.
He was opposed rather than favourable to the multiplication
of grammar schools for the people.
Now that democracy has displaced absolutism as the
form of national government, the position of learning in
the Commonwealth has undergone a change. Since all
citizens have to take their part in a complex system of govern-
ment, and the majority have to earn their living in an
ever-changing civilisation, the need for a wider intellectual
and moral training has steadily grown. Some elementary
education has always been provided, but, as the need of the
democracy to classify its members according to their natural
abilities rather than their material possessions became
manifest, a constantly increasing extension of educational
opportunity has been found necessary to permit those who
have more intelligence and character than their fellows
to find proper means for their development. Advanced
as well as elementary education has thus become a national
matter.
A regional study of the influences which have built up
a body of educational tradition, and have led many in the
community to seek higher intellectual and moral growth,
though necessarily bearing reference primarily to one district
vi PREFACE
only, may shed valuable light upon the larger and national
problem.
In the following pages I have attempted to consider the
way in which a collegiated ecclesiastical body established in
the time of the Plantagenets ; a Grammar School founded
* for godliness and good learning ' in the time of the early
Tudors ; a town library established and well endowed during
the Commonwealth ; and a succession of Nonconformist
academies, ultimately giving place to a provincial University
in the latter half of the nineteenth century, have acted and
reacted on each other, and have succeeded in arousing a
zeal for truth, justice, and beauty, which has moderated
the absorption in the purely self -regarding instincts so readily
fostered in a large commercial town.
The early history of the collegiate church was fully
written by Dr. S. Hibbert (later Hibbert Ware), and much
information concerning the early history of the grammar
school and the Chetham Hospital and Library has been
given by W. R. Whatton in * The History of the Foundations
in Manchester,' published in 1834. Scattered details of the
early Nonconformist academies appeared in the ' Transactions
of the Congregational Historical Society,' while ' The History
of the Foundation and Growth of the Owens College ' was
written by Joseph Thompson in 1886, and a later description,
giving details of the various departments, was published by
Dr. P. Hartog in 1900. For sixty years the annual publica-
tions of the Chetham Society have enriched our local know-
ledge. There is thus a mass of valuable information available.
For more than four hundred years there has proceeded
from the Manchester Grammar School a stream of able,
eager, and enterprising boys. This stream has persistently
grown in volume, for the School now contains nearly twelve
hundred boys, some sixty of whom it has been accustomed
to send annually to various universities and centres of higher
education, and more than twice that number into occupations
demanding jnore than average intelligence and grit.
I began to study the earlier phases of the development of
the School, not because I possessed historical knowledge or
had leisure to devote to historical research, but because
certain problems were being forced upon my attention when
examining and supervising the health of these privileged
boys. By presenting themselves for higher training at the
PREFACE vii
School, they, or their parents, revealed the existence of a
special desire for improvement ; moreover, extensive records
were available for considering the subsequent use which
many of the boys made of the opportunities afforded. I
first compiled the statistical details now relegated to the
Appendices. From the nature of the case these are of varying
accuracy, but I regard them as of sufficient value to serve
the purpose which I had in view. I further collected a mass
of information concerning concurrent and contemporary
local or national events, which seemed to draw out or illus-
trate the significance of these statistics. My desire was to
approach the story of the School, not so much from the point
of view of an historian, critically studying past records, as
from that of a naturalist, who, in order to understand the
conditions of growth of a living organism, desires to know
something of the soil which surrounds its roots, or the cir-
cumstances of its early development, as well as the atmo-
sphere which it breathes and the source whence it derives its
stimulation.
Scanty leisure, which has forbidden all but a limited
acquaintance with accepted text-books, compels me to crave
the indulgence of those who have had more adequate training
in historical and theological research ; while the stress of
professional work has, I am afraid, inevitably led to some
scrappiness of method ; to not a few inaccuracies and repe-
titions, and to some lack of proper perspective, especially in
the earlier parts of the work. Of this I am deeply conscious,
but quite unable to provide the remedy.
In the collection of materials my thanks are particularly
due to Mr. C. W. Sutton, the kindly and resourceful guide
of all students of Manchester history, who has placed the
ample stores of his knowledge so freely at my disposal ;
to the staff at the Free Reference and Chetham Libraries for
their constant help in the extra work I have imposed on
them; to Professor Foster Watson and Professor Tout for
reading the MS., and for valuable hints as to the real scope of
the work I had undertaken ; to Sir Samuel Dill ; to Mr.
F. Jones, Mr. F. A. Bruton, Mr. G. A. Twentyman, and other
assistant masters, past and present, for many details and
suggestions ; to the late Mr. J. R. Broadhurst for a rendering
into literary English of the various Latin inscriptions ; to
Mr. Fred Garnett for a dramatic delineation of several of the
viii PREFACE
incidents described in the text; to the Salford Art Gallery
Committee for permission to reproduce the pictures of Sir
Nicholas Mosley, John Wesley with his friends at Oxford,
and E. R. Langworthy ; to Mr. Atherton Byrom for similar
permission to reproduce the picture of John Clayton and
his scholars ; to Mr. H. Yates, and to the Corporation of
the Royal Exchange Assurance Company for permission to
include a picture of a model of Old Manchester in 1650 ;
and to the British Architect and Builder for permission to
reproduce the view of Old Manchester in 1760, which they
issued in January 1893.
I owe to the Governors of the Grammar School the oppor-
tunity of watching for the last ten years the work in which
the present high master is engaged — the carrying on of a great
experiment in democracy, which consists in the persistent
breaking down of class and caste barriers, giving scope to the
talented of all classes, and inspiring and encouraging the less
fortunate to a fuller self-expression. His indomitable faith
and his strenuous example have impelled me to try, firstly, to
understand the problems involved, and secondly, to describe
the answers which he and his assistants have discovered
and adopted.
Above all, my thanks are due to my wife for constant
help in elucidating and logically arranging a vast accumu-
lation of details. Without her aid, and the generous help
of the old Mancunians' Association, which has undertaken
the full financial obligations of publication, the work could
never have been completed nor presented to the public.
ALFRED A. MUMFORD.
THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL,
MANCHESTER.
CONTENTS
I. HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL (1515-1558) . . 1
II. THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES
(1558-1603) 20
III. MANCHESTER COLLEGE UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE
(1603-1643) 36
IV. PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE, LEARNING, AND POLITICS
(164&-1660) 59
V. THE RISE OF NATURALISM AND THE LIBERALISATION
OF LEARNING (1660-1689) 82
VI. WHIG BENEFACTIONS AND WIDENING INTERESTS (1689-
1720) . .... 108
VII. THREATENED COLLAPSE OF THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL : ITS
RECONSTRUCTION BY ADMISSION OF BOARDERS (1720-
1749) 135
VIII. PRIVILEGE, PATRONAGE, AND PUBLIC SERVICE (1749-
1780) 165
'IX. OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL (1780-1806) . . .204
X. A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL (1806-1837) . . 243
XI. ELEVEN YEARS' STRUGGLE IN CHANCERY BETWEEN
Two EDUCATIONAL IDEALS (1837-1848) . . .267
XII. THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN (1849-1859) . . 289
XIH. THE FABLE OF THE PHCBNIX (1859-1877) . 322
XIV. THE SCHOOL COMES UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERN-
MENT (1877-1888) 360
FRESH EDUCATIONAL OB JECTIVES : Music, HANDICRAFT,
AND TECHNOLOGY (1888-1903) . . . .386
XVI. THE EDUCATIONAL LADDER BECOMES THE BROAD HIGH-
WAY (1903-1915) 419
XVIL TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 443
APPENDICES 465
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME [ADDENDUM] . . 539
INDEX 653
ix
ILLUSTRATIONS
MARGARET BEAUFORT, COUNTESS OF RICHMOND AND DERBY,
1441-1509 .... Frontispiece
PAGE
HUGH OLDHAM DECIDES TO FOUND A SCHOOL AT MANCHESTER . 11
THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK AND THE BISHOP OF CHICHESTER VISIT
JOHN BRADFORD IN PRISON AND URGE HEM TO RECANT . . 15
MANCHESTER, 1650 facing 42
SIR NICHOLAS MOSLEY OF HOUGH END (1527-1612) — A MERCHANT
ADVENTURER ........ facing 48
HUMPHREY CHETHAM ,,52
TOMB OF RALPH BRIDEOAK, ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR „ 56
ADAM MARTINDALE TEACHES THE BOYS MATHEMATICS, PRACTICAL
SURVEYING, AND THE USE OF THE THEODOLITE IN THE OPEN
AIR 95
SARAH, DUCHESS OF SOMERSET, is INDUCED BY WARDEN WROE TO
ADMIT THE BOYS OF THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL TO THE
BENEFIT OF HER SCHOLARSHIPS AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE . 113
JOHN WESLEY WITH HIS FRIENDS AT OXFORD, 1726 . . facing 160
JOHN CLAYTON'S SCHOOL IN 1738 ...... 174
MANCHESTER AND SALFORD ABOUT THE YEAR 1760 . . „ 184
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SCHOOL (FRONT VIEW) . . . 195
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SCHOOL (BACK VIEW) . . .201
THE HIGH MASTER'S HOUSE 209
CHARLES LAWSON ADMITS DE QUINCEY TO THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL 235
THREE OF THE RELATORS WHO OPPOSED THE FEOFFEES IN CHANCERY
FROM 1837 TO 1848 facing 268
FOUR OF THE TRUSTEES APPOINTED 1849, WHO ENABLED F. W.
WALKER TO REFOUND THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL . . . facing 342
Six RECENT HIGH MASTERS »» ^28
xi
THE
MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
CHAPTER I
1515-1558
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL
' The bringing up in learning, virtue, and good manners of children should
be the key and ground of having good people.' — HUGH OLDHAM.
The passing of the Old Learning of the Middle Ages owing to the rise of a
Middle Class possessing new aspirations and conscious of new needs —
Lady Margaret Beaufort and statesmen-ecclesiastics provide for
the spread of the New Learning — Chantry schools at the Collegiate
Church of Manchester — Hugh Oldham follows Colet and founds a
grammar school for the bringing up of children in good learning
and manners — Early scholars and methods of study — Attempted
spoliation of school funds by Ralph Hulme, and threatened dis-
solution under the Chantries Act — Restoration of the collegiate body
and resettlement of the .school under Queen Mary.
THE history of the School which Hugh Oldham set up in
Manchester at the beginning of the sixteenth century is
interesting, not only on account of the prominent part which
the school has played in English educational movements
during the last sixty years, but because of the constantly
repeated efforts which have been made from its foundation
to free the School from the limitations of its own age and
period and keep it in touch with the wider needs of society.
Although the circumstances which existed at its foundation,
and those which have accompanied and influenced its growth,
are probably but slightly to be distinguished from those
of many hundred similar schools throughout England, yet
the materials exist for such an adequate study of them
that the forceful currents which have influenced English
2 THE MANOH^STER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
education can be fairly well analysed in connexion with its
history.
The period of its foundation, or perhaps more accurately
of its endowment, was one of rapid national and social
transition, due to the rise in power of a new Middle Class
— consisting of the lesser landowners and yeomanry, the
merchants and husbandmen, and the general traders — a
class possessing vigour and intelligence, and demanding
ampler scope for its mental growth. The learning of the
Middle Ages had aspired to a complete grasp of all know-
ledge, statecraft, and science, as well as philosophy, theology,
and medicine. Its great scholars had gathered vast stores
of knowledge and had organised them into systems. It had
nourished the genius of Dante, perhaps the highest expression
of mediaeval thought, had inspired the architects and builders
of the great abbeys and cathedrals, had organised ecclesiastical
and political institutions on a comprehensive scale, and had
given to each individual his special place in the whole structure,
and protected him in the discharge of his duties.1
But its very organisation had at length begun to impede
its further growth. It had lost all pliancy and adaptability
to new conditions, for it had subordinated the interests of the
individual to those of the ruling classes, and was preventing
individual development. Moreover, caste spirit and social
prejudice, which always grow up in any long-established
social order, had limited the spread of enlightenment and
education to a fortunate few.2 Though the Universities had
been open to all, only a small proportion of the total popula-
tion had been sufficiently educated to take proper advantage
of the opportunities they offered, while the subjects which
were studied were out of touch with daily life and experience.
The new Middle Class, composed of merchants, craftsmen,
and yeomanry, possessed new needs, new interests, and new
aspirations, and for it a new learning, or new humanism,
was needed, less ambitious than the old learning in its claim
for finality, but better able, on account of its close contact
with the merchant classes, to satisfy the cravings and the
1 Cf . Essay on Cathedral Schools, by Ouseley ; Historical Notices of
Training of Chorister Boys, by Millard ; On the Music of the Churchet, by
Latrobe.
2 A. F. Leach estimates that there were 200 collegiate schools before
the Reformation (Encyclopedia of Education).
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 3
needs and to correct the failures and the faults of ordinary
life.
Independently of the governing classes, a new educational
movement arose — its progress being facilitated by widening
commercial intercourse, by travel and maritime discovery.
It had sprung up in Italy and, with the extension of the art
of printing, had gradually spread throughout Europe. So
strong was the movement that the old traditions and old
habits of thought now deeply engrained in national life had
perforce to lose their characteristics or disappear altogether.
That the moral fervour of the past did not entirely disap-
pear from English life was due to the statesmen-ecclesiastics
who were at the head of affairs in England on the accession
of Henry VII, and who took a wide view of their responsi-
bilities. They eagerly welcomed and supported the new
movement without losing touch with the past.
Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), Countess of
Richmond and of Derby, in her long retirement during the
exile of her son Henry Tudor, occupied a position midway
between the Old Learning and the New. She had provided
a home where promising youths with aptitude and desire for
learning might be brought up, and for their instruction
employed a University tutor. A scholar herself, she had
cultivated the friendship of other scholars, particularly that
of John Fisher (1459-1535), her confessor, and of Richard
Fox (1448-1528), whom she employed at Paris to look after
the interests of her son. On the accession of Henry VII both
these men received advancement, as did also two at least
of the Lancashire youths she had trained — William Smyth
and Hugh Oldham. It was John Fisher who, as Bishop of
Rochester and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge,
invited Erasmus to England. An intimate friendship sprang
up between Erasmus and Thomas More (1480-1535), son
of a Judge on the King's Bench, and John Colet (1466-1519),
son of a merchant who served as Lord Mayor — a friendship
fraught with far-reaching results to English education. For
Erasmus desired the general enlightenment of all classes :
' Pera venture x it were most expedient that the counsels
of kings should be kept secret, but Christ would that
His counsels and mysteries should be spread abroad. . . .
1 Introduction to the Greek Testament, 1516.
4 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
I would to God that the plowman would sing a text of
the Scripture at his plow beam, and that the weaver at his
loom with this would drive away the tediousness of time.
I would the wayfaring man with this pastime would expel
the weariness of his journey. . . . Truly I do greatly dissent
from those men which would not that the Scripture of Christ
should be translated into all tongues, that it might be read
diligently of the private and secular men and women.'
And while Erasmus, by his writings, was arousing the in-
terest of many who were capable of aspiring to a wider know-
ledge, and was at the same time materially assisting in
discrediting the self-sufficiency of the now decadent scholasti-
cism, Colet was planning the scheme of a new school, and
Sir Thomas More was illustrating the New Learning in his
daily life and thinking out the political ideas which he em-
bodied in ' Utopia.' Education for the people was in the
air. Rich bishops as well as wealthy merchants were busy
founding Grammar Schools. John Alcock, Bishop of Ely,
founded Kings ton-on-Hull School in 1486. In the same
year Dr. John Harmon founded Sutton-Coldfield School,
near Birmingham. In 1502, Edward Storey founded Chi-
chester School, and Dr. Ruthal, Bishop of Durham, founded
Cirencester in 1508. Farnworth School, near Prescot in
Lancashire, was founded by Dr. Wm. Smyth, Bishop of
Lichfield, later of Lincoln, in 1507.
But St. Paul's School, founded by Colet in 1509, was
different in character from all its predecessors. While pro-
moting the study of the New Learning, it retained the per-
sonal devoutness of the best period of the Middle Ages and
endeavoured to inculcate a love of gentleness and modesty as
well as of earnest study among its scholars. The instruction
was in classical as opposed to monkish Latin, and the study
of Greek was included, since Greek was the language of the
New Testament. A figure of Jesus Christ was placed in the
school to serve as a constant reminder of His presence, and
infinite trouble was taken to select a suitable high master
and to prepare a special Greek Grammar.
The new school soon excited jealousy and animosity
among many clerics, who did not like the general public study-
ing Scripture for themselves, and who cared only for the
old mediaeval methods of argumentative hair-splitting, which
ministered to their vanity and self-importance and served
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 5
to cloak their ignorance. Colet had already excited their
suspicion in 1498 by delivering lectures at Oxford on the
teaching and writings of St. Paul, choosing for his subject
the Epistle to the Corinthians. In 1511, his enemies laid
a trap for him, arranging that he should preach in St. Paul's
before the Convocation of the Church, and trusting that
they might then find suitable ground to prosecute him for
heresy. Colet had accepted the duty with some anxiety,
not from any fear of consequences, but from a fear lest
he should prove unworthy of the great occasion. In the
sermon he preached on ' The Need for the Reformation of
the Church/ l he boldly attacked the high ecclesiastics for
their worldliness and covetousness and their lack of study,
and exhorted them to consider the responsibilities rather
than the emoluments of their position.2 He evidently made
a profound impression, and aroused the consciences of not
a few of his hearers. The foundation of University-Colleges
and Grammar Schools devoted to the new humanistic learn-
ing proceeded apace, and Oxford and Cambridge were be-
coming full of scholars. The discovery of the art of printing,
which created a new craftsmanship and a new trade, facili-
tated the spread of the movement, and great printers arose
who were able to employ scholars to edit the great writings
of Greece and Rome. In 1494 the famous Aldus Manutius 3
had set up his printing-press in Venice, not only for the pub-
lication of Latin, but also of the Greek works which were now
being rescued from oblivion, and in 1500 he had established
the new Academy of Hellenists, whose members took their
share in preparing the works of classical writers for publi-
cation and at whose meetings Greek was the sole language
of discussion. Each month witnessed the production of a
thousand copies of the works of some good author. The
writings of Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides,
Demosthenes, as well as those of Cicero, Livy, Virgil, and
Horace, and indeed all the classical writers, were placed
1 The Oxford Reformers, F. Seebohm, 1867 ; J. H. Lupton, Life of John
Colet, p. 194.
* Among the most attentive of his listeners was Richard Fox, Bishop
of Durham and of Winchester. ' He was a wise man, and one who could
see through the present to the future.' One result of the sermon was
evident in the foundation of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1616.
8 J. E. Sandys, A History of Classical Scholarship.
6 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in the hands of numerous scholars throughout Christen-
dom.
It was not till the latter part of this rebirth of the desire
for knowledge that Lancashire participated in the general
improvement. Till towards the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury, the county as a whole was not prosperous. Its
yeomanry and husbandmen were unlettered and untra veiled,
and the great mass of its people were superstitious as well
as ignorant, rough and violent in their manners, poor and
with but few acquirements, for Lancashire occupied an iso-
lated position compared with other parts of England. More-
over, particularly in the southern and low-lying districts,
there were such large tracts of moss and bog, and the roads
were so badly kept, that even the small towns then in
existence were in their turn separated effectually from one
another. With the exception of a Guild School at Preston,
established at a very early date, and a Chantry School at
Middleton dating from 1413, there is no evidence of there
being any provision for education, and though Whalley
Abbey, Furness Abbey, and Cartmel Abbey, near Ulverston,
provided shelter and occupation for many monks, some of
whom must have possessed intellectual attainments, and
these religious houses must also have included some kind
of school in which acolytes could be taught the rudiments
of reading and singing, as ' centres of learning ' they were
too secluded to equal in importance those which existed in
other parts of the country. It was this condition of affairs
which led those Lancashire men who had travelled to desire to
raise the general level of though tfulness in their native county.
The encouragement of sheep-grazing by the monks in
the abbeys and convents had already provided the conditions
necessary for the growth of the woollen textile industry carried
to such a high level by the Flemish weavers in the reign
of Edward III. Under Tudor patronage English foreign
trade made rapid progress and fresh markets were found for
English wool,1 which gave the woollen industries a further
impetus. Preston, on the Ribble, and Manchester at the
junction of the Irwell and the Irk, were the most important
towns in the county, Manchester owing its rise to the force
1 The fact that a trading charter was granted to the English Merchant
Adventurers' Company in 1505 shows the importance of the English textile
and woollen industries at that time.
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 7
and rapidity of the river Irk, on the banks of which fulling
and other mills had been erected for the benefit of the Flemish
weavers who had settled in Manchester at the invitation
of the Lord of the Manor. As trade improved the popula-
tion naturally increased, and at the end of the fourteenth
century the parish of Manchester covered nine miles from
east to west, and seven from north to south, containing
many scattered hamlets in addition to the more centrally
situated mediaeval towns. For the better edification and
spiritual oversight of the increasing population, the then
Lord of the Manor, Lord de la Warre, who had gained ex-
perience in Flanders, founded a central organisation or colle-
giated body of ' warden, fellows, chaplains and singing men,'
in the place of the old parochial church with its non-resident
rectors. The Charter of Collegiation was granted in 1421 ;
the building was commenced ; and, for the next hundred
years, local landowners and wealthy citizens continued the
work. At least six separate private chapels were built, to
some of which chantries were attached, and the elaborate
carving of the seats in the chancel — thirty in number — which
dates from 1506, reveals something of the social habits,
customs, and occupations as well as the growing wealth of the
people.1 That the town even then possessed some organised
education is proved by the allocation of special stalls to the
high master and the usher. It was probably on the basis of
one of the chantry schools connected with this collegiated
body that Hugh Oldham founded his Grammar School early
in the sixteenth century.
Hugh Oldham is believed to have been one of several
sons of Richard Oldham of Ancoats,2 and to have been
brought up by the Countess of Richmond in the traditions
of the Older Learning. The administration of law was, at
that time, in the hands of ecclesiastics, and the study of
Common Law at the Inns of Court still in its infancy. Old-
ham entered Jesus College, Cambridge, and took the degree
of B.C.L.
1 Of. Hudson, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1919.
« * Richard ' in the statutes of Corpus Christi College, Oxon, edited by
R. M. Ward, 1843. A Roger Oldham died intestate in 1472. His eldest
son James succeeded to the Ancoats estates, and in 1475 granted them to
Hugh Oldham, then chaplain or clerk to Robert Booth at Durham.— Leaoh,
Victoria County History of Lancashire, vol. iv. p. 239.
8 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
His career was a singularly successful one, favoured,
like that of many ecclesiastics of that period, by the gaps
in public life due to the destruction of so many members
of the old baronial families in the Wars of the Roses. He
appears first as chaplain to the Bishop of Durham, then as
incumbent of St. Mildred's Church, London, later as the
first master of a Grammar School in Lichfield, reconstructed
from an old hospital by his friend, William Smith, Bishop of
that town ; then as canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster ;
prebendary of St. Paul's and chaplain to Lady Margaret ;
and finally, in 1504, as Archdeacon of Exeter, and in the
following year as Bishop.
The disorder and neglect of the monasteries were at this
time exciting attention. The majority of them, particularly
those founded after Norman times, claimed to be free of
local episcopal control and subject only to the direct juris-
diction of the Pope of Rome. Some, however, were founded
as ancient parish churches, and over these the bishops often
claimed authority. As Bishop of Exeter, Hugh Oldham
claimed the right to inquire into the state of Tavistock
Abbey, founded in the reign of Henry I. Richard Barnham,
the thirty-fifth abbot, opposed his visitation, and as Hugh
Oldham insisted, Abbot Barnham finally procured his
sentence of excommunication from the Pope.
That he possessed remarkable business ability is proved
by the frequency with which he was entrusted with the
administration of many important estates.1 It is probable
that in the exercise of these duties he repeatedly came under
the notice of the famous extortioners, Richard Empson and
Edmund Dudley, as on numerous occasions he received
* pardon ' from the king, no doubt at the price of handsome
donations to the treasury.
1 In 1492, together with Sir Reginald Bray, another prote"g6 of
the Lady Margaret, subsequently architect of the famous Henry VII
Chapel, Westminster, he was appointed receiver and surveyor of the lands
of the late Richard, Earl of Warwick; in 1496 keeper of the lands of
Richard Wood of Wynkley, Gloucester ; in 1498 of those of John Knollys
of Bradford, Co. Devon; in 1499 of those of John Taverner of Devon;
in 1600 Keeper of the View of Frank Pledge, and Free Warren of Cotten-
ham, Northants ; in 1501 keeper of the lands of Robert Lever ; in 1503
he acted as administrator of the estates of Sir Reginald Bray himself. —
Of. State Papers (Domestic Series). He also acted as * supervisor * of the
will of the second Earl of Derby. — History of the House of Stanley, p. 44.
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 9
Though Oldham never lost touch with the devotional
spirit associated in his upbringing with the Older Learning,
his robust character soon found opportunity in the New
Learning for independent thought and action. While
occupied hi London, he must have met and visited William
Caxton, and he had been among those present at St. Paul's
when Colet preached his great sermon.1 There is no clear
proof that he ever met Erasmus,2 but it is hardly possible that
he was not brought into contact with Linacre the learned
physician, and Sir Thomas More the great lawyer. Moreover,
as Dr. Richard Colet became Hugh Oldham's commissioner
for the diocese of Exeter in 1505, it is extremely probable
that he corresponded or conferred with Dean John Colet
(1467-1519) both before and after the foundation of St.
Paul's School. The influence of Colet, if not that of Erasmus,
is shown in a letter which he wrote to Richard Fox on the
subject of the creation of his new College of Corpus Christ! :
'What, my lord,' he wrote, 'shall we build houses and
provide livelihood for a company of bussing monks whose
end and fall we ourselves may live to see ? No, no, it is
more meet a great deal that we should have care to provide
for the increase of learning, and for such as by their learning
shall do good in the church and commonwealth. And,* it
is recorded, * to this end Bishop Fox at length yielded, and
so they proceeded in their buildings. Wherein Oldham, re-
serving to Fox the name of the Founder, was content with
the name of benefactor, and verily liberally did contribute
great masses of money to the same ; and since, according
to his wish and desire, the same college hath been and is
the nurse of many notable good scholars.' s
Hugh Oldham's interest in the education of Manchester
boys had evidently begun to develop by 1509, when Colet
opened St. Paul's School, for, in the 1515 Indenture, it is
stated that he and his friends ' had often taken into considera-
tion that the youth, particularly in the county of Lanca-
shire, had for a long time been in want of instruction, as well
from the poverty of their parents as from the want of some
person who should instruct them in learning and virtue,' and
1 He read the Epistle for the day. See Lupton's Life of Colet, p. 194.
2 Erasmus at Oxford in 1498, in Cambridge from 1503-9.
s Raphael Holinahed, 1800 ed., vol. iii. p. 617.
10 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Lord de la Warre expressly stated in the Court of the Duchy
of Lancaster that the object, for which, in 1509, he had sold
his rights over the mills on the Irk for sixty years to
the sister and nephew of Hugh Oldham, had materially
influenced him in the price he asked for them.
Besides his friends in Devonshire and London, Oldham
had kept up his intimacy with many in the North around
his old home.1
When visiting his relatives in Manchester, Oldham must
have heard of, and become interested in, the foundation of
several of the chantries at the old parochial church,2 and
have taken counsel with their founders and with the warden
as to the narrowness and limitations of the training given
to the singing boys and others by chantry priests, or by the
Archididascalos and Hypodidascalos, for whom stalls were
provided in the chancel. His own estimate of the value
of education was far above the ordinary :
* The bringing up of children in their adolescence, and to
occupy them in good learning and manners, from and out
of idleness, is the chief cause to advance knowledge, and of
learning them, when they shall come to the age of virilitie,
or whereby they may the better know, love, honour and
dread God and his laws, and for that the liberal science or
art of grammar is the ground and fountain of all the other
liberal arts and sciences which surge and spring out of the same,
without which science, the other cannot profitably be had,
for the science of grammar is the gate by which all other be
learned and known in diversity of tongues and speeches.
Wherefore the said late Reverend Father, for the good mind
which he had and bare to the County of Lancashire, consider-
ing the bringing up in learning, virtue and good manners, of
children in the same country, should be the key and ground
to have good people there, which hath lacked and wanted
in the same, as well as for great poverty of the common
people there as also by cause of long time passed, the teaching
and bringing up of young children to school, to the learning of
grammar, hath not been taught there for lack of sufficient
Schoolmaster and Usher there, so that the children in the
same county having pregnant wit, had been most part
1 See Appendix.
1 In 1506 there was a lawsuit in the Duchy Court of Lancaster between
the Warden of Manchester, the Abbot of Whalley, Adam Holland, James
Radcliffe, Richard Hunt, and William Galley, endeavouring to recover
money which Richard Bestwick had left to support the chantry priest.
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 13
brought up rudely and idly, and not in virtue, cunning,
erudition, literature, and in good manners.' x
That the Grammar School which he ultimately decided
to found had some relation to a pre-existing chantry school
is indicated by the fact that when the chantries were sub-
sequently abolished in King Edward VI's reign, a pension
was granted to the Grammar School from the funds of the
duchy in lieu of the original chantry bequest, while the statutes
of the school direct that the scholars should attend the church
on Wednesday and Friday and All Saints' Day, to say the
Litany, the Suffrages, and the De Profundis psalm, for the
souls of the various benefactors of the chantries, similar to
those which were accustomed to be said by the chantry priests.
The scholars for whom Hugh Oldham built the school,
planned a library, and arranged for University exhibitions
from its accumulated funds,2 must have presented a curious
sight at its first opening, which probably took place in 1515.
There would be small boys from the chantry schools,
training for choristers, learning their alphabet from the
older boys or from the usher. Their school education would
be complete when they had acquired the use of the Song
Book for the services in the church. There would be a
few very serious boys, older than their years, members of
families who may have come recently from Flanders, or who
possessed traditions of knowledge inherited from Lollard
ancestors. Some of these may have already learned to
use printed books which in all probability were brought to
the Manchester market by travellers, and, if so, they would
know something of the New Learning, which was to bring
joy and freedom to all, and which was countenanced by the
young and popular king. A small number, perhaps one or
two every few years, were preparing for further training at
Oxford or Cambridge. And, lastly, there would be some
— idle, boisterous, rough, and intractable — whose wander-
ing curiosity was caught by any new thing, and whose speedy
1 School statutes drawn up in 1525 by the trustees and given in the
Appendix.
* Such boys as showed talent were assisted to further study at the
University, either by private benevolence or by the aid of school funds
when there was a surplus exceeding the sum of £40, which had to be kept
in the school chest for emergencies.
14 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
departure from school would be a relief to teachers and fellow-
scholars alike. There would be boys who enjoyed cock-
fighting on Shrove Tuesday, and who helped the ushers and
subordinates of the school to eke out their scanty stipends
by paying their cock pennies for the maintenance of the
cocks. The families from which all these boys were gathered
would include many of those best established in the district,
but it was stipulated in the regulations that no scholar
was to wear any ' dagger, hanger, or other weppon invasy ve,'
that is, no sign of social condition between rich and poor l
was allowed. No scholar, of whatever county or shire,
could be refused entry unless he was stricken with some
horrible contagious disease, but if any should leave the school
to go to another, once only could they be granted re-
admission. School began at six o'clock in the summer, at
seven in the winter, except for boys who came from long dis-
tances, and for them special arrangements were made. It
was not perhaps till the school had won a reputation that
boys came to lodge in the town in order to attend.
The most notable scholars of the period are John Brad-
ford, the great preacher and martyr of the Reformation ;
Laurence Vaux,2 a Catholic of considerable repute, founder
of the famous College at Douay, and Warden of the
Manchester College ; William Birch, who succeeded Vaux
as Warden ; Richard Hall, for a time head master of the
Middleton School and a friend of John Bradford ; and
Edward Pendleton, who was probably educated at the
school, and who became high master in 1547. Some short
biographies are given in the Appendix.
The school, though possessing a wide educational out-
look, had been established in the first place under eccle-
siastical management, but after the death of Hugh Oldham in
1 Owing to the very unequal distribution of property, many of good
family were often called ' poore,' but this did not mean destitute or im-
poverished, but that they were without possession of landed estate or other
inheritance, and were therefore compelled to seek their own living. But the
schedules of 1525 contemplate that some of the scholars would be able to
pay for meals, and others from their great poverty would have to bring their
meals with them every day. Two poor scholars were to bo chosen by the
high master or usher to keep the register and clean the school once a week,
receiving in payment the penny paid as entrance fee by each of the scholars.
1 Cf. Wardens of Manchester College, Rev. F. R. Raines (Chetham
Society), N.S., vol. v.
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 17
1519, one of his relatives and a co- trustee, Ralph Hulme, a
lawyer of indifferent honesty, prepared a deed transfer-
ring some of the lands to himself and his son Stephen, under
the guise of securing the right of the mills to the school.
The case was brought into the Duchy Court of Lancaster,
and was decided against Hulme, who was compelled to pay
a heavy fine. New deeds were therefore drawn up (circ.
1524) and the school re-established under lay management
and clerical supervision, the high master and usher nomi-
nated by the President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
The new regulations were similar to those already in force at
St. Paul's School in London, and not only showed a profound
insight into the needs of the time, but made ample provi-
sion for any alteration which might be rendered necessary
in the future. None of the highly placed ecclesiastics of
the district, and none of the numerous family connections
of the bishop among the mercantile classes, were on the list
of feoffees, which included eight of the wealthiest local land-
owners ; but it is interesting to note that several of these local
landowners — the Byrons, the Traffords, and the Radcliffes —
were already interested in chantries established on behalf of
members of their own families.
Probably the Manchester School, during these early years,
was of no great repute, for when John Leland, the King's
Antiquary, made his tour through England between 1533 and
1540 to gather information concerning the disestablished
monasteries, he took note of the flourishing mills of Man-
chester, but made no mention of the School which they
supported, though he was himself a scholar of the recently
founded St. Paul's School, London, and a member of the
University of Cambridge.
The fortunes of the School were closely bound up with
those of the Manchester College, the Warden of which was,
from the first, its official visitor. On the passing of the Chan-
tries Act in the reign of Henry VIII, sanctioning the con-
fiscation by the Crown of all endowments of chantries with
their propitiatory services for the souls of the dead, an attempt
was made to suppress the Manchester College and seize its
revenue, but the general inhabitants, together with the
landed gentry,1 were firmly on the side of the old religion, and
1 Of. Foreign and Domestic Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, vol. xi.
(ed. by James Gairdner).
18 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the attempt failed. The reorganisation of the Church and the
foundation of a bishopric at Chester probably led to better
administration. Even^Edmund Bonner, the Bishop of London,
took active part in the printing of the Bishops' Bible, and caused
six copies to be chained in St. Paul's for the use of the public.
Readers were admonished to edify themselves when no
divine service was being conducted, but not to dispute. On the
accession of Edward VI the Chantries Act was re-enacted,
and the commissioners granted extended powers to enable
them to suppress all collegiated bodies for the maintenance of
clergy, and all schools except the Colleges of Oxford and
Cambridge. This time the School was threatened with the
College. George Collier, a staunch papist, was Warden, and
Edward Pendleton, whose changes of principle closely fol-
lowed political events, was high master. The few feoffees
still living were naturally of the old faith. One of them,
Sir Edmund Trafford, had already been appointed in 1542
among the ecclesiastical commissioners for the diocese of
Manchester, and was probably a relative of Hugh Oldham.
Another feoffee, one Thurston Tildesley of Wardle Hall,
Worsley, had been chosen to represent the County of Lan-
cashire in the new Parliament. It is doubtful which of these
was most actively interested in the preservation of the School,
but someone must have intervened, for not only was the
School preserved, but the pension granted by the Duchy
of Lancaster to the dispossessed chantry priest, who served
as schoolmaster, was henceforth paid to the School.1
It is doubtful whether the School made much pro-
gress during Edward VI's reign, for local opinion was much
divided, and occupational applications of learning were little
recognised.
The most interesting incident of the period was the extra-
ordinary success of the missionary preaching of one of its
earliest and most famous scholars, John Bradford, through-
out the parishes of Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton,
Wigan, Liverpool.
Edward VI died July 1553. His sister, Queen Mary,
had been well trained in the New Learning, and possessed
good business abilities as well as a strong will. Many broken
and disbanded religious institutions were re-established, parti-
1 There are several similar pensions mentioned in an account of the
Duohy funds of 1588 and given in Baines' History of Lancashire.
HUGH OLDHAM FOUNDS A SCHOOL 19
cularly those of an educational tendency ; the Manchester
College was restored, the Warden replaced, and Dr. Edward
Pendleton, high master of the Grammar School, succeeded
not only in retaining his high mastership but in obtain-
ing the vicarage of Eccles. Though the persecution of the
Reformers aroused considerable anger, local administration
became more settled. New feoffees were elected on the Gram-
mar School trust to take the place of old ones who had died.
They at once began to repair the neglect of the past few years.1
These feoffees were younger members of the same families
as their predecessors. They were still ardently attached to
the old religion, and though some of them no doubt had
listened to the stirring appeals of John Bradford and other
reforming preachers, and their children were destined to
take active part in establishing the Reformation, yet they
themselves showed little interest in the matter, nor can we
gather from the wills and inventories of the goods that are
to be found at Chester that they shared the vision of Hugh
Oldham, or even took any particular interest in learning.
In spite of the great pains taken by the Bishop and
his relatives to equip the school properly, its early history
must have been a chequered one. There are repeated changes
in the high mastership. This may indicate that the occu-
pation of schoolmaster was unattractive unless accompanied
by clerical employment, such as that of Fellow of the Man-
chester College, or possibly that there was an exceptionally
heavy mortality due to the frequent visitation of the plague
or pestilence. That such repeated visitations of plague
were anticipated as a natural occurrence is shown by the
fact that the Trust Deed makes provision for the closure of
the school when the plague lasted twelve weeks or more.
1 Cf. Manchester Court Leet Records.
CHAPTER II
1558-1603
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES
* Yet I doubt not through the ages, one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.
— TENNYSON.
The Merchant Adventurers' Companies promote trade intercourse between
various towns and countries — Latin the natural language of com-
merce— New social forces find outlets — Merchants favour schools
and universities, and spread various kinds of knowledge — Queen
Elizabeth organises the State Church, and the education of the
parochial clergy and of licensed preachers progresses — Reforms of the
collegiated body cause Manchester to become a centre of puritanism —
James Bateson high master, and some of his scholars — William Chad-
derton becomes Warden of Manchester College and Bishop of Chester.
He punishes Catholic recusants, sends their children to English schools,
and favours the highly educated public preachers — Dr. Thomas Cogan
becomes high master — ' The Haven of Health ' — Thomas Sorocold
and ' The Supplication of Saints ' — Warden Dee — Mathematics and
astrology — Neglect at the School.
DURING the reign of Queen Elizabeth, owing to the great
increase of intercourse between different countries as well
as different towns, the long pent-up social forces which had
begun to find outlet spread widely and rapidly, and broke
down the artificial barriers of long-established habits. The
English merchants who constituted the Merchant Adven-
turers' Company multiplied and increased in power.1 They
had branches in all the principal towns in the North of Eng-
land which were concerned in the woollen trade, and they
had agents and settlements in the important towns in the
North of Europe. They had received encouragement from
1 Cf. Wheeler's History ; Anderson's History of Commerce, vol. ii. p. 199 ;
John B. Williamson, Stanhope Essay, 1893 ; Lingenbach, Merchant Adven-
turers of England, 1903.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 21
Henry VII and Henry VIII, though efforts were made to
suppress them in Holland during the reign of Queen Mary,
acting in the interests of Spain. They received a fresh charter
and encouragement under Queen Elizabeth, and sympathised
in the efforts begun in 1563 to establish the Dutch re-
publics and overthrow the yoke of Spain. That struggle
had many issues — racial, religious, political, and economic —
for the merchants of the North of Europe were successfully
competing with the great trading cities of Italy and the
Mediterranean, while navigators were finding new markets
for all. Latin was the only possible language for inter-
national commerce, as well as for the understanding of
such subjects as were of general interest, geography and
travel, geometry, astronomy, and the natural history of pro-
ducts of foreign countries. Consequently, merchants liberally
supported schools and universities.1 The writings of Galen
and Hippocrates were studied for guidance as to regimen
and diet. There was a modicum of practical knowledge
worth preserving even in the superstitions and vagaries of
astrology, not perhaps so much for its contributions to as-
tronomy, but because it included a folklore about the growth
and properties of healing plants — a modicum of knowledge
which proved of value when physicians began to make a
careful study of such ' simples ' by planting physic gardens
and studying botany to obtain exact knowledge for the
pharmacopoeias which took the place of antiquated herbals.2
The spread of intelligence and healthy inquiry was also
helped by the return to England of the exiled Protestant re-
formers, who were able to offer a new philosophy of life, which
was much better fitted to the new social conditions than was the
old subservience to papal and ecclesiastical authority. For the
claims of the priest to sell pardons and to obtain freedom from
purgatory at an agreed price were substituted the doctrines
of Calvinism, which taught that the destiny of each individual
1 Anthony Mosley (brother of the London clothier who purchased the
manor of Manchester in 1596 and became Lord Mayor of London in 1699
and High Sheriff of Lancashire 1604) left £5 yearly during ten years to poor
scholars going out of the free schools of Manchester, Middleton, and Roch-
dale to either university, at the discretion of his executors and overseers. —
Ohetham Society, N.S., vol. xxviii. p. 59.
1 John Gerrard (1545-1612), a barber's surgeon of London, had a
physic garden in Holborn. He published his herbarium in 1597.
22 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
was settled by Divine decree from the foundation of the world ;
that the chosen ones lived in a state of grace which involved
a constant and direct communion with God without any
priestly intervention, and that each would find guidance for
daily conduct in the personal study of the Hebrew Scriptures
and the New Testament. The more religious merchants
supported special preachers, and thus learning found fresh
patrons. The organisation of the English National Church
which had been begun under Edward VI provided fresh scope
for scholars, and its honours and emoluments were now open
to those who had influence or had distinguished themselves
by their abilities and energies. Many received support
and benefactions as chaplains of private merchants. It was,
however, some time before the curates and vicars who were
left in charge of the parochial churches were raised from their
state of ignorance and superstition.
Many of the rich merchants purchased estates from the
landowning classes, and soon imparted some of their fresh
ideas and enterprise to their untravelled members. Having
younger sons to provide for, both classes sought out oppor-
tunities to advance them in life in new channels. Those with
an inclination to scholarship entered Holy Orders or attended
at the Inns of Court and acquired a knowledge of the law,
for though the Crown frequently interfered with the proper
course of justice by its arbitrary enactments, yet the use of the
Law Courts greatly increased. Others made a study of medi-
cine. For all these careers, as well as for the higher branches
of mercantile life, adequate preparation was necessary.
Universities and grammar schools were the natural avenue of
approach. Those schools were the most attractive in which
the religious devotion that had characterised the learning of
the Middle Ages persisted. Education continued to be by
service and song as well as by reading and speech. This
gave an energy and a freshness to study, which later became
lost when other methods prevailed.
Unfortunately the proportion of the people affected by
all these movements was small. Many traders failed to
appreciate their high opportunities. Money was lent out at
exorbitant rates of usury, and legal knowledge was used for
purposes of extortion.
The pseudo-science of Astrology as well as the deceptions
of witchcraft were consulted by many gullible people. The
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 23
parochial clergy too often shared the vulgarity and even the
impurity of life of their parishioners. Consequently the
age of Elizabeth was a crude mixture of noble effort and
slothful indifference. Its literary productions were full of
the highest aspirations, but its daily conduct was too often
of the basest character. Superstition and cruelty — the
offspring of ignorance and fear — still held in subjection the
great masses of the people ; self-respect based on self-govern-
ment was rare. Many of the clergy were really popish priests,
and too ignorant, even if desirous, to exert any power to
raise and instruct their people. Yet it is evident that the new
middle class which had arisen from the merchant class and
from the smaller landowning class, was morally earnest and
purposeful and intellectually alert, and their sons were
attending the Grammar Schools, and passing thence not only
into the so-called learned professions but into business careers,
where the value of learning was well understood and for which
institutions of learning were being encouraged. It is evident
that this middle class was now so strong that it was able to
secure that the theology adopted by the English Crown, and
imposed on the English Church, was a theology not only
intelligible to them and conformable to their new aspira-
tions, but one which as a philosophical interpretation of life
included all the knowledge at that time available.1
This theology involved a certain duty of individual
judgment, and therefore freedom of conscience — freedom,
that is, from ecclesiastical authority. It was associated with
a demand for some lay representation in the government
of the Church — viz. by presbyters, a system not at all
agreeable to Queen Elizabeth, who however showed herself
favourable to the efforts to increase personal devotion in
liturgy and prayer and thanksgiving, and in the ritual of
Church life.
Soon after her accession, an ecclesiastical commission of
forty-four members was appointed, having jurisdiction over
the whole of the kingdom. It was entrusted with the duty
(1) of abolishing all foreign influence in the government of
the Church in England ; (2) of enforcing uniformity of wor-
ship ; (3) of obtaining from the clergy a subscription to certain
1 Compare * Certain Sermons or HomiHea and Canons appointed to be
read in Churches ' in the time of Elizabeth with those set forth by Bonner,
24 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
articles of discipline. Active steps were taken to reconcile the
people to the new order of things by the encouragement
throughout the whole kingdom of public preachers or prophe-
siers, as they were called, who, by their previous training at the
Universities, were capable of instructing the people in the doc-
trines of the Reformation. The policy of favouring preachers
had a marked influence in increasing the number of scholars
at the English Universities. For those who had not sufficient
learning or wit to compose, their own sermons, the Book of
Homilies was revised and published. The general policy
was successful, for though all the Romish bishops but one
refused to acknowledge her supremacy, yet nearly all the
clergy, some 24,000 in number, who had previously followed
the Roman ritual, adopted the new order. Catholic families
attended Anglican services, and the reformers, though they
disliked the government of the Church by State-appointed
bishops and objected to certain customs, such as the sign
of the cross in baptism and the use of the ring in marriage,
offered little opposition.
In local affairs the mild-mannered William Downham
was appointed Bishop of Chester, a see which included South
Lancashire ; while Thomas Herle was appointed Warden in
place of Laurence Vaux the Catholic. The old Catholic trus-
tees of the Grammar School were not interfered with, and
the constantly changing Edward Pendleton retained the high
mastership.
As time wore on, complaisance became neglect. Warden
Herle disposed of much of the valuable property of the
collegiate body by granting peppercorn rents to greedy
courtiers and local magnates until the College became im-
poverished. Public comments were aroused, and Warden
Herle became frightened. He appealed to Matthew Parker,
then Archbishop of Canterbury, to use his influence with
the Queen to obtain a decree that the Manchester College
should be annexed to a college in a university, preferably
to that of St. John's College, Cambridge, in order that such
of its resources as still remained might be devoted to the
training and support of preachers and students who could be
compelled to live in the district and supply its spiritual needs.
Oliver Carter, one of the Fellows, also succeeded in attracting
the attention of Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, to the
matter. Nowell was a Lancashire man who had taken great
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 25
interest in his own Grammar School at Middleton,1 and had
recently endowed it with thirteen scholarships at Brasenose
College, Oxford. Though by no means a favourite with
Queen Elizabeth, No well managed to get the affairs of the
Manchester College investigated. As a consequence of the
inquiry, Herle was dismissed, and the College resuscitated
and reconstructed as the ' College of Christ/ 1578. It was
to maintain a Warden and eight Fellows, who were under
vow and penalty of a fine to be resident. After this reform
and under pressure of State enforcement, the members of
the collegiate body more thoroughly carried out their duties.
In spite of some indifference on the part of the feoffees,
who allowed encroachments to be made upon the rights of the
school to the monopoly of grinding corn at their mills, the
school itself prospered because the next high master, James
Bateson, was a conscientious, hard-working man. The date
of his appointment to Manchester is unknown. He was ad-
mitted at Brasenose College, Oxon, 1554, and graduated B.A.
1558. He must have begun his high mastership before 1559,
for in that year his name occurs in the records of the Court
Leet. He was probably of local origin, for a Christopher Bate-
son was admitted Secular Chaplain of Manchester College
1552, Presbyter and B.A. 1557, and allowed to practise
surgery 1558, while a Richard Bateson was appointed Chap-
lain of Prestwich 1585. He seems to have been of some in-
fluence and character, for more than fifty years after his
death his name and his children are gratefully remembered
by one of his old scholars — Henry Bury — who died at the age
of eighty-nine in the year 1634, and who tells us that while
at the school he had lodged with Mrs. Bradford, the mother
of the martyr.2 In 1579 Bury was appointed one of the
special travelling lecturers or Moderators recently appointed
to instruct the local clergy and others by giving lectures at
the Collegiate Church and elsewhere, and who were called
Queen's Preachers. He afterwards settled at Bury, where he
founded and endowed the Bury Grammar School. In his
will, wherein he made special mention of his early Manchester
friends, he expressed his desire to help in forming a library
for that town. His particular mention of his song-books,
1 Six miles from Manchester and now included in the City.
2 Cf. Lane, and Ches. Witts (Chetham Society, N.S., vol. xxxvii.).
26 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
which he leaves to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge,
shows the prominent place music still took in centres of
learning.
Two scholars of the Grammar School of the family of
Rilston, which was well known in Manchester at this time,
also proceeded to the University. Of these Edward Rilston
became Vice-Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford.
1 He was a pious man, much honoured by the whole Uni-
versity, whose preaching was of such life and power and in
such evidences and demonstration of the Spirit that his
hearers were ordinarily struck with fear and reverence, if
not with terror.'
There was also John Smith, President of Magdalene Col-
lege, Cambridge, ' a provident man and a prudent governor, a
lover of his countrymen, a bountiful benefactor to the
College.' He founded new scholarships and fellowships, with
special reference to boys from his old school at Manchester.
Among other contemporary scholars may be mentioned
Richard Crompton of Bedford Grange, Leigh, who entered
Brasenose 1560, and was admitted to the Middle Temple
1573. He was appointed Reader in that year and again in
1578. It is recorded of him that ' he might have been called to
the Coif ' (i.e. have practised at the Bar or have been made a
judge) ' had he not preferred his private studies and repose
before public employment and riches.' Perhaps his greatest
public service was the editing of ' The Office and Authorities
of Justice of the Peace,' a well-known handbook of law,
which became of increased importance and utility as the
work of magistrates grew and the need for their proper
training became more recognised.1
That less wealthy as well as rich scholars were taking
advantage of the school is shown by the fact that William
Birch, who had received his education there, after proceeding
to St. John's College, Cambridge, and graduating M.A. 1551,
had been appointed Warden of the Manchester College in 1559.
He left by his will, dated 1575, among other local chari-
ties, 40s. apiece for twenty poor scholars in Latin of the
1 This book possesses additional interest to Manchester scholars since
its author, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, had been a friend of Hugh Oldham
and one of the twelve original feoffees of the school.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 27
Manchester School.1 There were many such. William
Massey of Sale, 'a poor scholar of Brodgate Hall,' Oxon,
had entered from the Manchester School. He was admitted
to Brasenose College 1567, and received 20s. of Robert
Nowell's money in 1569.2 He was expelled in 1588 from
his fellowship at Oxford because he had married and so
had broken regulations. He was appointed successively
Chaplain to Sir Edward Trafford, Chaplain then Fellow of
the Manchester Collegiate Church, finally Rector of Wilmslow,
Cheshire. He preached ' a very plain and pointed sermon
on the duties and blessings of Christian wedlock and very
condemnatory of popery,' on the occasion of the marriage
of Margaret Trafford to Urian, son of Thomas Legh of Adling-
ton. He died July 28, 1610.
The reforms at the Collegiate Church soon began to
influence the general outlook, particularly when William
Chadderton, a Manchester scholar, became Warden in 1579.
Under the new constitution, in addition to the four Fellows
who were scholars and preachers, and compelled to reside
locally for a certain length of time, there were singing men and
choristers appointed with special duties. The small chapels
in the parish were used as preaching stations,3 and local land-
owners and residents gave them some support. These chapel-
ries were situated at Stretford, Chorlton, Didsbury, Gorton,
Newton Heath, Denton, and Ash ton. Curates or incum-
bents were appointed (often, it must be confessed, with miser-
able pittances), willing, like their predecessors, the chantry
priests, to eke out their incomes by teaching small children,
and even by other less desirable occupations.4 As public
intelligence increased, however, men of some learning and even
of University training were appointed to these curacies, and
voluntary subscriptions were given to provide better
stipends.
The steady support given in the North of England to
1 Lane, and Ches. Wills (Chetham Society, N.S., vol. v. pp. 70-75).
2 Spending of the Money of Robert Nowell ; Croston's County Families o
Lancashire, p. 200.
1 Of. Simon Harwood : « A godly and learned sermon containing a charge
of instruction for all unlearned, negligent, and dissolute ministers, preached
at Manchester before a great and worshipful audience by occasion of certain
parsons there at the present appointed to be made ministers.'
4 The Chorlton curate even kept an alehouse. Baines' Lancaster, vol.
i. p. 260.
28 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Catholic conspiracies induced Queen Elizabeth in 1580 to
appoint special commissioners for the North of England to
root out papacy. They consisted of the Earl of Derby,
the Archbishop of York, and, most active of all, William Chad-
derton (1540-1608), now Bishop of Chester.
William Chadderton was the son of Edward Chadderton
of Nuthurst and Margery, niece of Warden Cliffe, the friend
of Hugh Oldham, at whose school he had been trained. He
passed from the school to Queens' College, Cambridge, and
graduated M.A. 1557. In 1561 he was elected Lady Margaret
Lecturer of Divinity, and in 1567 became Master of his
College. He was also chaplain to Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester, then Chancellor of the University. On the Regius
Professorship of Divinity falling vacant, he was recommended
by a number of prominent University scholars in the following
terms :
' And forasmuch as it was very expedient in the behalf
of their University and the students in that faculty to have
a learned, godly and painful [i.e. painstaking] man to supply
the place with great diligence, they thought good to recom-
mend to his honour, Master Doctor Chadderton, who had, with
commendation by the space of almost three years read the
lectures, founded by the Lady Margaret, as one most fit in their
judgment to succeed in his place. Most humbly desiring
his honour to certify as well the said master Doctor Whitgift,
as also others, the Master of Colleges there in Cambridge,
of his pleasure and liking therein, that they might all frame
themselves accordingly, and thus wishing his health, with
the aid of God Almighty in all his affairs, took their leave.' l
The presence of forceful and opposing currents of thought
at the Universities which stirred the imagination of scholars
at this time is shown by the fact that when Dr. Chadderton
resigned the Lady Margaret lectureship he was succeeded
by Cartwright, a very active opponent of episcopal disci-
pline and teaching, who, for his Presbyter ianism, was ulti-
mately deprived of his position. William Chadderton, on
the other hand, though also a Puritan and favouring travel-
ling preachers and the holding of religious services in private
homes, was a reformer of a different stamp. He desired a
better discipline in the English Church as then established,
1 Strype's Life of Whitgift, vol. i. p. 29.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 29
and ' urged Lord Cecil, the Chancellor of the University, to
reform the libels, seditions, rebellion, quarrels and strife of the
University, which not only endangered the good government
of the University, but also the safety of the realm/ It was
probably on account of his efforts for the better government
of the Anglican Church that in 1579 he was appointed
Warden of Manchester. A few months later he was also
made Bishop of Chester. In the following year, when he was
appointed a member of the Ecclesiastical Commission for the
North of England, he decided for the convenience of carrying
on this work to live in Manchester rather than in Chester. His
fellow-commissioner, the Earl of Derby (ob. 1593), at this time
resided at Alport Park, also near Manchester. The two
vigorously co-operated in advancing the Reformation in
conjunction with the Queen and her Privy Council, conse-
quently Puritan Anglicanism grew in strength. Recusant
Catholics were apprehended, examined, fined, and imprisoned.
Their children were removed from their homes and placed
under the immediate care and instruction of Chadderton,
and no doubt many were sent to the Manchester School for
instruction, for it is unlikely that Chadderton would overlook
the interests of his old school where the children could be
under his immediate supervision. Many seem to have pro-
ceeded subsequently to Oriel College, Oxford. How far this
process of attempting to convert Catholics was successful
cannot easily be determined. During the first half of the
reign — that is, previous to the appointment of the second and
more searching Ecclesiastical Commission in 1580 — about
thirteen local names can be traced at Oxford and Cambridge.
Of these about four subsequently appear at Douay, where the
large proportion of English Catholic scholars congregated.1
Between 1580 and 1603, some twenty- two local names can be
traced at Oxford and Cambridge ; of these nine are found sub-
sequently at Douay. It is impossible to decide exactly how
many of these received a preliminary training at the Man-
chester Grammar School, whose unostentatious buildings
and whose influence in encouraging scholars were still so little
regarded that William Camden, subsequently head master of
1 Of the early training of Thomas Worthington, who passed from Oxford
to Douay, and became head of that College, nothing definite is known,
except that he was a Lancashire man and that many other members of his
family who resided in Manchester became noteworthy scholars.
30 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Westminster, while mentioning in his Magna Britannia (1580)
the woollen manufactures and the Collegiated Church of
Manchester, like his predecessor John Leland, made no
mention whatever of the Grammar School.
The steady change of religious opinion that was taking
place is certainly reflected in the public actions of the new
feoffees who were appointed in 1581. They were members
of the same families that had been represented before, but
they possessed a different outlook. They sent their own sons
and relatives to the Grammar School and thence to the English
Universities or Inns of Court. On their estates were spring-
ing up the chapelries or preaching stations above mentioned
which spread the Reformation, and owing to the growth of
intelligence now required the regular services of chaplains
or curates, still often ill-paid, but with some pretensions
to learning.
New factors in social life appear when, towards the latter
part of her reign, Queen Elizabeth began to view with dis-
favour the popularity of the public preaching by Puritans,
which she had previously encouraged. The reason for this
change of policy was that these preachers, in addition to
attacking papists, had begun to attack episcopal govern-
ment and to accuse the State of attempts to suppress in-
dividual liberty.1 They advocated a form of Presbyterian
government, in which lay elders had considerable share. The
religious struggles which ensued now became political, for
they involved questions of ecclesiastical government as well
as questions of doctrine.
After the death of James Bateson, a new interest was
introduced into Manchester life by the appointment in 1583
of a physician, Thomas Cogan, as high master.2 Thomas
Cogan had entered Oriel College, Oxford, 1559, and had
graduated B.A. in 1562. He was elected Fellow and M.A.
1574. Like the famous Thomas Linacre he had also graduated
in Medicine. He was esteemed a good Grecian, and his
writings show familiarity with Erasmus and with the
Greek, as well as Italian and Spanish medical writers. Soon
1 Ames, quoted by Strype. The moveable printing-press of Robert
Waldegrave of London was set up in Manchester, and some of the
famous Martin Marprelate tracts were printed there. The printing-press
and copies of the tracts were seized by the Earl of Derby.
8 Palatine Note Book, vol. iii. p. 7.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 31
after coming to Manchester, he married a wealthy widow,
Ellen Trafford, one of five sisters of Sir Edmund Trafford,
whose other sisters had been married to Edward Holland of
Denton, Sir Urian Brerton of Handforth, Sir W. Radcliffe
of Ordsall. Her previous husband, Thomas Willet,1 was a man
of considerable status. Dr. Cogan seems to have been
allowed to practise as a physician coincidently with holding
the high mastership, probably on account of the limited
remuneration and the poor social status which still attached
to the position of schoolmaster.
Dr. Cogan was the author of a work called { The Haven
of Health/ dedicated to Sir Edward Seymour, Earl of Hert-
ford, of which the following is an extract :
'For a mind wearied with study, and for one that is
melancholic, as the most part of learned men are, especially
those that be excellent, there is nothing more comfortable,
or that more reviveth the spirits than music . . . and be-
cause it is one of the liberal sciences, it ought to be esteemed
of students, and that for good causes, for by the judgment
of Aristotle music is one of those four things which ought to
be learned in youth in all well-governed commonwealths . . .
not only for solace and recreation but also because it moveth
man to virtue and good manners and prevaileth greatly to
wisdom, quietness of mind and contemplation. But what
kind of music every student should use I refer to their own
inclination.'
In 1595 Dr. Cogan, when about to resign his post at the
school, presented some valuable works on medicine to his
old College at Oxford, and the following entry occurs in
the Oriel College register :
'All the works of Galen in five volumes, newly bound,
embossed, and with chains attached. Also the Anatomy
of Gemini (published at Windsor 1552) and Matthiolus' Com-
mentaries on Dioscorides (pub. Venice 1568) with new bind-
ings and bosses and fastened with chains as the gift
of the distinguished Thomas Cogan, formerly Fellow of this
College, were received and deposited in the Library, with
the heartiest thanks of the Master and Fellows, and equally
unanimous consent of all, the debt of 40s. which he owed
to the College is remitted and condoned.'
1 Died 1577. Cf. Palatine Note Book, April 1883.
32 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
And still further :
' In testimony of their gratitude it was decreed that he
should be presented with a pair of gloves, which was done
on the day in the year above mentioned.'
In his will, Dr. Cogan left gifts of books to the Warden,
Fellows, and other members of the Manchester College and
to the apothecaries of the town, and 4d. for each scholar.1
It would be interesting if we could trace any increased
tendency to the study of Medicine among local scholars as a
result of Dr. Gogan's tenure of office, but it is to be feared
that his professional duties and his social engagements out-
side the school diverted some of his interests from the future
careers of his scholars. The only possible trace of his in-
fluence is the presence in the school library of a few volumes
with the contemporary signature of Thomas Proudlove — a
name well known in Manchester : Eustathius' * Commentary
on Homer,' 1560 ; Livy's ' History,' 1578 ; Pliny's ' Natural
History,1 1582; Delrio's * Syntagma Tragoedii La tini,' 1593.
The persistence of the devotional element which current
learning had inherited from the time of the Chantry and
Guild schools is illustrated in the life of Thomas Sorocold,
son of a merchant of Manchester, and a friend of the Brad-
ford family. On leaving the Manchester School in 1580 he
entered Brasenose College, being assisted by Robert
No well's money. He took his B.A. degree in 1582, and
M.A. 1585. He became one of the Queen's Preachers, and
was appointed rector of St. Mildred's, Poultry, London, in
1590. He was the author of a well-known devotional book,
1 The Supplication of Saints,' whose popularity is shown
by the fact that while the first edition was published in
1608, the forty-fifth was published in 1754. The devotional
aspect of learning is indicated in many of his prayers :
' Cast down the beams of Thy heavenly light upon such
public places as are appointed for the training up (of such
as are) of younger years in sound knowledge and commend-
able qualities, namely, our Universities, Oxford and Cam-
bridge, the Inns of Court, and all Grammar Schools, the seed
plots of the Church. Sanctify their memories to treasure up
good things . . . Let the judges be learned and uncorrupt
1 Court Leet Records. His reputation for Greek ia attested by Hollin-
worth.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 33
and the lawyers men of conscience to deal sincerely and up-
rightly in their business without either fear of greater person-
ages or doing of unlawful favours or desire of reward from
any. Take away all unchristian practices out of the Church
of Rome. Let it persuade not by the infection of youth or
subversion of the State.'
About this time, from the more northerly parts of Europe,
specially Louvain, came the study of Euclid, a translation of
whose work by Sir Henry Billingsley, scholar, and subse-
quently Lord Mayor of London, appeared 1570. It has local
interest, because it contains an introduction on the applica-
tion of Euclid to other studies by Dr. John Dee, who intro-
duced the study of astrology, astronomy, and mathematics to
Manchester when he became Warden of the Collegiate Church
in 1596. Besides being a great mathematical scholar, an
astrologist and a traveller, he was a chemist, expert in crystal-
gazing, and reputed summoner of spirits by White Magic,
and was for some time the dupe of an evil-minded assistant,
from whose clutches he only escaped with reputation damaged
and intelligence obscured. He was already an old man, and
his appointment was very unpopular, as he was distrusted
alike by the learned Calvinists and by the ignorant general
public.1 There were, however, a few local scholars who
could take an intelligent interest in his mathematical studies,
and from this time onwards the study of geometry, both in
the direction of astronomy and in its application to land
surveying, received local support. Besides his studies in
mathematics, Warden Dee had many other interests, for his
library at one time consisted of four thousand books.
There is, in the Chetham Hospital, an ancient chair, known
as the Founder's Chair, since it was purchased from the Derby
family by Humphrey Chetham along with other ancient furni-
ture belonging to the College. Tradition has long existed that,
in this chair, placed in the recess or ladies' bower so as by a legal
quibble to be outside the College precincts forbidden to visitors,
Sir Walter Raleigh sat and smoked his pipe of recently intro-
duced tobacco when he was visiting Warden Dee. Consider-
able doubt has been thrown on the authenticity of this
tradition, but there is nothing impossible about it, for the
famous courtier and adventurer was as impetuous in his
1 See his Apology to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1592.
34 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
search for knowledge as he was indifferent to the source
from which it was obtained. He cultivated the acquaintance
of men of all sorts and kinds, and is known to have invited
Dee to dine with him in London. He was not the man
to have neglected the opportunity presented by his passing
through Chester on his way to Ireland to call on his quondam
friend the astrologer, and persuade him to consult his famous
crystal,1 even if he did not actually desire to obtain his
chemical knowledge in determining the character of the
rocks and quartz he brought with him from America or
to discuss problems of geography.
The last Elizabethan high master was Edward Chetham,
son of Henry Chetham of Crumpsall, feoffee of the school
and an elder brother of Humphrey Chetham, the merchant
philanthropist.2 The date of his appointment is uncertain.
It was probably about 1597. He held office for a very short
time, since he was buried in the Collegiate Church on January
21, 1602. His will, dated 1602, proved at Chester, mentions
that Warden Dee was in his debt.
The frequent changes of school ushers was perhaps still due
to repeated visitations of the plague. The following names
are found among the local burials : ' Richard Hankinson,
usher, bur. 6.12.1581. Roger Newhall, usher, bur. 21.1.1589.
John Birch, usher, bur. 15.4.1598. W. Edwards, usher,
bur. 6.9.1598.' It is not possible to trace any of these names
at Oxford or Cambridge. This does not necessarily indicate
that they had not received University training, for the Uni-
versity lists at this period are manifestly imperfect, but the
absence of any names of Manchester scholars for several
succeeding years leads to the impression that the ushers were
not highly trained, and the teaching at the school at this
time was very irregular.
It was part of Dr. Dee's duties as Warden to visit the
Manchester School. This he did both in 1599 and in 1600
when his son Rowland was on the foundation. He noted
* great imperfections there,' though his opinions were probably
intensified by disappointment at the progress of his son
Rowland, who, though he was awarded a University Exhi-
bition to Brasenose from the funds of the School, does not
1 Now in the British Museum. It is described as a polished piece of
cannel coal. — Granger's Biographical History of England.
1 Cf. Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, vol. in. p. 137.
IN ELIZABETHAN TIMES 35
appear to have proceeded thither, perhaps on account of the in-
ability of his father to find sufficient additional funds ; or per-
haps because the son shared the mathematical inclinations of
his father, and was not attracted by the linguistic studies which
were still dominant at the English Universities, Rowland
became a merchant in London, and his son Arthur must have
inherited some of the family ability, for he ultimately became
a scholar of some repute. An elder Arthur Dee, son of Warden
Dee, was for some time in medical practice in Manchester.
The Elizabethan chapter of the Manchester school, therefore,
closes under a cloud of neglect, which is intensified by the
fact that in order to obtain payment of their salaries, the high
master and the usher had to sue the feoffees of the School
at the Palatine Court held at Lancaster.
CHAPTER III
1603-1643
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE
* Manchester College, that noble and useful foundation for learning and
propagation of religion in these northern parts.' — Strype's Annals.
Trade intercourse with Holland encourages English Puritans to consider
problems of Church government with problems of civil government
— Puritanism becomes a political force — Desire for further enlighten-
ment shown by the Millenary Petition from the North of England
— Francis Bacon discourses on the Advancement of Learning among the
wealthy and professional classes, but opposes the devotion of Thomas
Button's money to the foundation of another Grammar School — The
Charterhouse — Hampton Court Conference — Life in Puritan Man-
chester— Attempts to found a Town Library — Local astronomers, &o.
— High mastership of Edward Clayton — Growth of Salford and build-
ing of Trinity Church — Thomas Harrison — Robert Symonds — Ralph
Brideoak — Attempts to found a local University.
OF the attitude of the merchant classes towards learning
and of their desire to support the public institutions for the
higher education of those of their members who desired to
become preachers of the new doctrines, or who wished to
become professional advisers in law or in medicine, as well
as for those who were desirous of following commerce, there
could now be no doubt. Oxford and Cambridge were the
natural goals for the majority, but there is considerable
evidence of the use of other centres.1 Ley den had established
its University in 1575, Gottingen in 1584. The provost and
Town Council of Edinburgh established the College, and sub-
sequently the University in 1583. Trade intercourse carried
ideas as well as goods, and although the recognition of the
1 Cf. Lists of Graduates at Edinburgh and at Leyden.
36
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 37
independence of the Dutch by Spain did not actually
take place till 1609, the successful resistance of the Dutch
merchants to the interference with private judgment by
ecclesiastics was powerfully reacting upon opinion in England.
Current political questions were still closely mixed with
religious ones, and civil questions with ecclesiastical ones.
The Calvinist theology of predestination was openly challenged
by the Arminians, who opposed the idea of fixed immutable
decrees of Providence with that of the progressive improva-
bility of each individual by the operation of human free will.
Both theories of life involved the exercise of individual judg-
ment in the study of the Scriptures, and therefore both were
opposed by Catholic ecclesiastics, who demanded that the
innermost thoughts as well as the outward actions of men
should be governed and directed by hierarchical authority.
The struggle between Calvinist and Arminian was so intense
and the advocates of each so renowned that the Council of
Dort or Dordrecht, at which the matter was argued out, was
attended by representatives of all the Protestant States in
Europe. Unfortunately the hate engendered by Spanish
persecution had sown a habit of hate in the Dutch, and the
violence of the majority was so unbridled that neither pro-
found learning nor public service shielded those who held
opposing opinions from violence. Though founded primarily
for the study of theology, other matters were considered
at the Dutch University, particularly Medicine and Law.
Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), son of a burgomaster at Delft,
after practice as an advocate had been appointed to write
the history of the war between the Netherlands and Spain.
He had achieved great renown as a legalist as well as his-
torian, and was called upon to settle an international dispute
with England on the subject of fishery rights. He secured
high praise from both parties. Unfortunately he became
involved in the Arminian controversy and was imprisoned,
but escaping to France1 published his most famous work,
' On the Rights of Peace and War.5 The subject-matter
of his studies and the amount of learning displayed in the
six folio volumes which contain his works, places Grotius
1 His wife was accustomed to bring him books to study. On one occasion
she brought a trunk of volumes, and packing her husband in their place
succeeded in getting past the guards.
38 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
on a par with the great scholiasts of the Middle Ages.1 His
works were extensively read and discussed by scholars in
all civilised countries, and greatly influenced the direction
of learning.
Geometry 2 had hitherto been studied mainly in connection
with astronomy. It was now studied with navigation and
land surveying. Botany was being studied in connection
with the efforts put forth to discover more efficacious
means of curing disease than the general advice on dietary
and regimen prescribed by Hippocrates and Galen, or the
folklore embedded in the old wives' herbals which had
become obsolete. Physic gardens were established in
numerous university and other towns where special plants
and herbs, noted for their healing powers, were grown
and studied. Chemistry, too, was gradually emerging from
the mystic alchemy inherited through Moorish sources.
Van Helmont of Brabant (1577-1644) had succeeded his
master Paracelsus, and had made valuable experiments on
gases. It was, however, Francis Sylvius (1614-1672)
who first placed medical therapeutics on a proper scientific
basis.
Part of the prosperity of the Dutch towns was due to the
liberality with which their citizens encouraged foreign mer-
chants and others to settle, and thus in some way repay the
debt for the hospitality they had themselves received in times
of persecution ; they thus retained, more completely than they
would otherwise have done, intercourse with their fellow
countrymen who did not return to their native land. So
numerous were the English settlers that they formed little com-
munities of their own and were accustomed to employ their own
countrymen, many of whom had graduated at the University
of Ley den, as their ministers. As the only possible language
of commerce was the international one of Latin, both spoken
and written, it was necessary for merchants who travelled
to have been well educated in that language while at school.
It was not unnatural that many who subsequently attained
1 Copies of some of the works of Hugo Grotius have long existed
in the school library. There is no evidence of the date of their
acquisition.
* For its application to other subjects of learning see Introduction to the
Study of Euclid, by John Dee, prefixed to the translation by Billingsley,
1560.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 39
wealth desired to continue their early studies, and to make
provision for others to enjoy similar opportunities.1 Thus
common trade interests as well as common religious principles
tended to promote closer friendship and sympathy between
merchants of different countries and to encourage each in
any constitutional struggles for freedom of worship in their
own country.
Unfortunately the close association between mercantile
life and the congregational methods of Church govern-
ment and determinative doctrines was not all good. The
preachers were dependent for their living upon their wealthy
and often autocratic employers, who did not always cultivate
the sense of the obligation of riches, which had been a strong
point in the government of the early English trade guilds. The
preachers were thus discouraged from uttering those denuncia-
tions of the abuse of riches which had been so prominent in the
sermons of the great Protestant reformers. Debased ^Jewish
ideas of the rights of money began to be common with the
entry of other Jewish ethical and moral standards, and
replaced the earlier standards which the great preachers of
the Christian Church had never ceased to proclaim. More-
over, the Calvinistic theology, with its claim for predestina-
tion, too easily lost touch with the humanising side of classical
literature. Perhaps the doctrine of particular choice, charac-
teristic of Calvinist and Jewish doctrines alike, explained
the bitter antagonism towards the more generous teaching
of the Arminians, as well as to the claims of the Brownists
or Independents for each Church to be a self-support-
ing and a self-governing body — a principle not likely to be
agreeable to those who demanded that the individual should
give up his freedom for the benefit of the body or guild of
which he was a member. Even the strict Sabbatarianism of
the Puritan was not without intolerance, for it abolished the
only holiday possessed by those occupying the lowlier positions
in life without making any other provision for their relaxation
and recreation. Lastly, the close association between com-
merce and theology was bad, in that it discouraged all creative
1 One of the earliest illustrations of this is the provision of sums of
money for gcholars in Latin, by the wealthy clothier, Anthony Mosley,
whose travels between Manchester and London, and probably abroad,
would have particularly shown the need of such encouragement. Cf,
Lane, and Ckes, Wills (Chetham Society).
40 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
forms of Art which expressed devotion and could not be
applied to the pursuit of personal gain.
The great contribution of Puritan merchantry to human
learning was that it aroused new thoughts among the middle
classes immersed in trade, enabled free discussion to take
place upon the meaning and significance of human exist-
ence, and set going useful controversies upon the real
basis of authority in civil as well as ecclesiastical govern-
ment.
England, like Holland, was making strenuous efforts to
favour the spread of learning among its people. Although
greatly influenced by Holland, its University- trained theolo-
gians had special aims as well as special needs of their own.
The first outward expression of these aims was found in the
Millenary Petition signed by 825 (not one thousand as the
name was intended to signify) signatories of scholars in
the north of England, and presented to King James on
his passage from Scotland to take possession of the English
crown. Although primarily concerned with a request for
relief from the compulsory observances of the exact forms
of ritual imposed by Edward VI, and now, owing to the
spread of Puritan ideas, regarded as idolatrous and sacri-
legious, it clearly indicates the rising desire for fuller know-
ledge and an appreciation of learning by appealing for ampler
University training and for the increased financial sup-
port of the parochial clergy to enable them to extend their
work of enlightenment. It suggested that the means necessary
to support the increased number of clergy required might
be obtained by the discontinuance of pluralities and by the
taxation of lay impropriations of Church funds to the extent
of one-sixth of their amount.
The violent antagonism of the two English Universities,
who benefited greatly by these lay impropriations, was at
once aroused by this last suggestion. It brought out the sharp
contrast between episcopal government by favour of the
Crown, already proclaimed by Bishop Bancroft as a govern-
ment of divine appointment, and the Presbyterian form of
Church government, in which there was considerable lay
representation and consequent curtailment of State and
clerical authority in Church matters. The suggested modifica-
tion of Church ritual afforded opportunity for the bishops and
other Court ecclesiastics to push forward their counter-claim
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 41
for increased recognition of their authority, which had little
chance of growth under the masterful Tudors.
At the Hampton Court Conference, which was ostensibly
held to deal with the grievances and the differences of opinion
disclosed by the Millenary Petition, Dr. Reynolds, President
of Corpus Christi College, petitioned for a new translation of
the Bible for the use of ministers, and that copies should be
placed in every parish church. To this request King James
replied that he had consulted the bishops, who were willing
and ready to help, but that the Universities did not provide
sufficient numbers of clergy for the work of the parishes,
since they already trained more learned men than the realm
could maintain. Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor, a native of
Cheshire, showed that this answer of the Universities was mis-
leading. He claimed that more livings wanted learned men
than learned men wanted livings, and stated that many
scholars in the Universities were pining for want of place, owing
to pluralities. ' I wish therefore some may have single coats'
(one living only) ' before others have doublets ' (pluralities) , he
said, but the reply of the University representative was sig-
nificant— ' It is better to have doublets in changing weather.'
The following year Francis Bacon wrote his famous appeal
to the King for the Advancement of Learning. He did not
regard learning as a desirable possession for every citizen,
but held it to be a class privilege of the well-to-do and only
to be extended to a very few who showed signs of exceptional
ability and would be able to shine in public life. This
exclusive spirit is expressed explicitly in a letter written to
King James in 1611 about the munificent endowment left by
Robert Sutton for the establishment of a school and college
at the Charterhouse :
' I do subscribe to the opinion that for Grammar Schools
there are already far too many and therefore it is no pro-
vidence to add where there is excess, for the great number
of schools that are in His Majesty's realm doth cause a want
and likewise an overflow, for by means thereof they found want
in the country and towns, both of servants for husbandry
and apprentices for trade ; and on the other side there being
more scholars bred than the State can prefer to employ,
and the active part of that life not bearing a proportion to
the preparative, it must needs fall out that many persons
will be bred unfit for their vocations, and unprofitable for
42 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
that for which they are brought up, which fills the realm
full of indigents, idle and wanton people, which are but
mater ia rerum novarum. Therefore, on this point I wish Mr.
Button's intentions were exalted a degree and that what he
means for teachers of children, your majesty should make
for teachers of men ; '
i.e. it should be given to the endowment of advanced scholars
at the Universities, in the form of fellowships, &c., rather
than to the further spread of secondary education among the
common people. That Francis Bacon was no opponent of
schools and colleges for the favoured few is shown by his
observations ' On the Duties of the Chief Ministers of the
King,' written about 1624 : ' Colleges and schools of learning
are to be cherished and encouraged for breeding up a new
supply to furnish the Church and commonwealth when the
old stock are transplanted.'
The English Universities at this time were making special
contributions to theology which were by no means identical
with those of other Protestant countries. In the old public
library of Manchester to be presently described (Chetham
Library) there are portraits of four famous Lancashire
preachers.1 John Bradford (1510-1555) and Alexander
Nowell (1537-1601), author of the English Church
Catechism, have already been referred to. The two others
are William Whitaker and Robert Bolton. William
Whitaker of Holme (1548-1597) became Master of St.
John's College, Cambridge, and his learning and ability
were such that he is credited with being the main instru-
ment by which the teaching of the mediaeval scholiasts and
even of the early Christian Fathers was finally supplanted
at Cambridge by the doctrines of Calvin and Beza. Robert
Bolton (1572-1657) was made rector of Kimbolton by
Edward Montague, then Lord Kimbolton, and subsequently
impeached in the House of Lords with the five members of the
House of Commons. All these were clear and voluminous
writers, but Whitaker and Bolton are particularly interesting
in that they describe the psychology of the English reformed
faith, particularly the practical daily piety or the * state of
grace ' in which they desired to live.
1 These portraits were presented to the Manchester Library, 1684, by James
Illingworth (obit. 1694), one of its scholars and citizens, who desired in this
way to stimulate youths of a succeeding generation to follow knowledge.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 43
English grammar schools were at this time particularly
flourishing in the eastern counties of England, whither French
and Dutch refugees had brought their love of knowledge as
well as their skill in manufacture. Landowners who mixed
with the merchant classes in the market towns were desirous of
providing as good an education for their sons as the merchant
classes, and were looking out for proper opportunities. Many
apprenticed their younger sons to better class merchants,
and not a few of the more intellectual ones sought scope for
their powers in the study of Medicine and Law, others sought
advancement in the Church. Eager aspirants for fame and
position, after leaving the grammar schools and Universities,
sought further knowledge and experience at the Inns of Court,
where they were among the most enthusiastic and enlightened
supporters of the drama. Such attendance was by no means
confined to those seeking professional knowledge, but was part
of the social education for those of independent means, who
brought their appreciation of study back to their homes when
they settled down to duties of local administration in the
Magistrates' Court, Court Leet, &c. The grammar schools
being common to all, materially helped to prevent the undue
growth of class prejudice, and their work in spreading know-
ledge grew so much as to arouse the opposition of those who
continued to regard knowledge as a class privilege. Whether
William Laud shared Francis Bacon's opinions about the ex-
tension of grammar schools is doubtful, but in his efforts to
place the English Church on an insular basis and eliminate
the influence of foreign Protestantism in English life, he
became exceedingly jealous of the power of the merchant
classes to support their private lecturers and preachers, to the
neglect of their proper parochial clergy whose limitation of
education had already been indicated in the Millenary
Petition. Laud demanded that English merchants and
officials when resident abroad should conform to the ritual
of the Anglican Church, and at the same time withdrew from
Huguenot and other foreign Protestant settlers in England
the privilege they had been guaranteed of pursuing their own
forms undisturbed. Laud and his supporters failed in their
State policy largely because the landowning classes, who
formed the bulk of members of Parliament, were in close re-
lationship with, and shared the opinions of, the merchant
classes, and had learnt clearness of thought, independence of
44 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
judgment, and moral earnestness at the grammar schools,
Universities, and Inns of Court. The thoroughness of their
intellectual training is amply illustrated in the language used
in the Petition of Rights which embodied their demands in
1628, and the Great Remonstrance which was the bugle note
of the Civil War.
Reflections of nearly all these general movements for the
spread of learning are to be found in the civil and ecclesi-
astical history of Manchester and its neighbourhood, and
must be considered in studying the part which the Manchester
School played in local history. Evidence of the local study
of Constitutional Law is found in ' Earwaker's Court Leet
Proceedings, 1557-1830 ' ; ' Proceedings of the Court Leet of
Manchester ' ; and ' Proceedings of the Quarterly Sessions
of the Magistrates' Court, 1616-1635.' 1 Moreover, Common
Law (i.e. judge-interpreted law, or the collected expressions
of many judges) had been accumulating, and was growing
in such complexity as to lead to the necessity for its special
study and organisation in the form of a system of juris-
prudence, training in which therefore became included
in the range of Puritan culture. Statute Law and Royal
Charters also needed trained interpreters, who should com-
mand public confidence and plead the cause of their clients
before the various Courts.
Vigorous and boisterous outdoor activity had always
characterised the inhabitants of Lancashire. This had
shown itself in the sports and holiday revels which in
pre-Reformation times had too often been associated with
drunkenness and gross immorality. From time to time the
County Magistrates, the Baronial Court Leet of Manchester,
and the Port Moot of Salford had made various attempts
to control such excesses, and to enforce enactments passed by
Queen Elizabeth and her predecessors. They attempted to
control convivial excesses by appointing special ' overseers
for dinners, weddings, &c.' 2
1 Record Society, vol. 42.
2 The following resolution was passed by the Manchester Court Leet
in October 1608 : ' Whereas there hath been heretofore great disorder
to our town of Manchester and the inhabitants thereof greatly wronged
and charged with making and mending of their glass windows broken
yearly and spoild by a company of lewd and disordered persons using
that unlawful exercise of playing with football in the streets of the
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 45
Such revels continued, however, to be favoured and
encouraged by politicians as an antidote for the rising
tide of thoughtful Puritanism.
After his journey through Lancashire in 1617, James I
claimed to strike the mean between control and indulgence
in the Sunday revels by causing the ' Book of Sports ' to
be published. It was the ill-timed republication of this
regulation by Charles I in 1633 that aroused such bitter
animosity among the Puritans.
That many prominent Lancashire Puritans, whose Puri-
tanism was political rather than religious, actively par-
ticipated in boisterous outdoor life and violent sports is
illustrated in the diary of Nicholas Assheton (1617-1618) ,l a
member of one of the most prominent local Puritan families,
while tjie increasing introspection and conscientiousness
that also characterised Puritanism is illustrated in another
diary written by William Langley, whose mother was a
member of the same Assheton family. Langley had received
his education at the Manchester School, and at Brasenose
College, Oxford. Only a fragment of his diary remains,
but this is sufficient to illustrate the distress of mind
brought about in a sensitive nature by the warring of the
ideals of the joyous and careless love of freedom of the
typical English squire, and the self -denunciation which
subsequently became the distinguishing mark of the
Puritan scholar.
Such ecclesiastical affairs of Manchester as were likely
to have any effect on local educational progress or to direct
the thoughts of youth into fresh channels continued to centre
round the collegiated body who were in charge of the
parish church, though considerable local disappointment
was felt when, on the death of John Dee, the Elizabethan
Warden, in 1608, the office was not conferred on William
Bourne, who was very popular and had distinguished himself
by his zeal and ability. He had much family influence to
support his claim, for he was well connected and related to the
Cecil family, but as he was known to be a favourer of Puritan
said town, breaking many men's windows of glasse at their pleasure and
other great inconvenience, therefore all of this jury order that no manner
of person hereinafter shall play football in the streets in the said town of
Manchester.'
1 Chetham Society Transactions, vol. xiv. and IOG.
46 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
reform in Church worship, both Court policy and Court
favouritism were against him.1
Among the numerous Scotch attendants about the Court
looking out for good English appointments, was Richard
Murray, D.D., already a pluralist with appointments in Corn-
wall. By family influence Murray obtained the Manchester
appointment, but though he occasionally figures as a local
magistrate and a lavish entertainer, he never resided in
Manchester for any considerable length of time, but left
William Bourne to do the preaching, paying him a portion
of the emoluments. Under this influence local religious senti-
ment became increasingly Presbyterian. This had naturally
affected the sentiments of the scholars of the Grammar School,
particularly those who proceeded to Cambridge, until the elec-
tion to a fellowship in 1625 of Richard Johnson (1602-1675), a
Buckinghamshire scholar of Brasenose College, Oxford. John-
son ' preferred the Church of England, her primitive order,
her discipline and her prayer-book before Presbyterianism.'
He provided moderate Anglican churchmanship with an
intellectual and attractive exponent, who was destined to
exert an even greater and more permanent influence on the
direction of local scholarship and study than William
Bourne. The moderate liturgical party in the district began
to rally. In 1634 Humphrey Booth, a wealthy merchant of
Salford, now an important residential suburb, established and
endowed Trinity Chapel, Salford, and the extant list of sub-
scribers and supporters 2 shows the strength of the movement.
It contains the name of Richard Johnson, who was a
man of wide sympathies and of generous nature, a
student of law as well as of Church government. He was
the intimate personal friend and adviser of Humphrey
1 The Archbishop of York complained to the King of the ill-discipline
of the clergy of the Collegiate Church at Manchester, having been found
altogether out of order, the Warden and the Fellows had upon consideration
reformed themselves, all but one, Mr. Bourne, who was contented to read
the prayers, but was ashamed to put on the surplice, which he had not done
for thirty years. Whereupon he was suspended. The King remarked, ' Let
him be so still, except he conform.' — Domestic Slate Papers, March 1634.
' They call the surplice the rags of Rome in Manchester and Preston, and
will suffer no organs, no sign, no children with the cross when they are
christened, and the altar was pulled down.' Ibid. April 25, 1635. Bourne
was buried August 20, 1643.'
* Cf. Whatton's Foundation* vol. i. p. 147.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 47
Chetham, the philanthropic Manchester merchant, with
whose financial assistance Richard Johnson set about re-
storing to proper order the again neglected affairs of the
College.
The attention of Archbishop Laud, whose reforming zeal was
little inclined to pass over any laxity of control and Church
discipline, was however drawn to the prevailing scandals
associated with the wardenship of Richard Murray, and
a commission of inquiry was instituted, consisting of
the Bishop of Chester, the Bishop of the Isle of Man, the
Earl of Derby, and others, to inquire into the general man-
agement of the College. As a result Warden Murray was
dismissed, and a new charter demanding of future wardens
a high standard of University training, and making more
stringent rules concerning the residence both of the Fellows
and Warden, was drawn up.1 It received royal assent in
September 1635. The vacant wardenship would naturally
have been given by the Crown to some nominee of Archbishop
Laud, but as the king owed a sum of £7000 to Sir William
Heyrick, he was willing to get rid of his debt by appointing
his son, Richard Heyrick, who had been educated at Merchant
Taylors' School, London, and All Souls College, Oxford. Con-
scious that he held his position by purchase, Heyrick was able
to concern himself little with ecclesiastical authority. He
threw his influence on the Presbyterian side as regards Cal-
vinistic doctrine, though he retained most of the Anglican
ritual.
The way in which careers were opening up to boys
who passed from the school to Oxford and Cambridge at
this time may be illustrated by giving a few biographical
notes. Among its foremost Oxford scholars was John
Prestwich, third son of Edmund Prestwich of Hulme,
a feoffee of the school. He was born in 1605, and
left the school in 1622 to enter Brasenose College. He
migrated to All Souls, where he graduated M.A. in 1631,
and became B.D. and Senior Fellow in 1641. On the visi-
tation of the Parliamentary Commissioners to Oxford Uni-
versity in 1648, on May 5 he was summoned to attend, and
1 As the College house had long been taken away and was held by the
Earl of Derby, houses in Deansgate specified by name were assigned to the
Warden and Fellows respectively, July 25, 1635.— MS. copy of Foundation
deed in the Chetham Library, Manchester.
48 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
asked if he submitted to the authority of Parliament in the
visitation. He replied that he did, but with this limita-
tion, 'No further than I may do with a safe conscience.'
This answer was regarded as unsatisfactory. On May 16
he was again summoned, but as he would not unreservedly
submit to the Commissioners, he was expelled with twelve
others. Of the whole number so summoned, only five sub-
mitted unreservedly. In 1648 he had apparently made
his peace, for, as a Fellow of the College in 1649-50, he was
appointed Dean of Arts by the Visitors. His part in found-
ing the c English Library ' at Manchester will be referred
to in the next chapter.
Owing to its strongly marked Puritan tendencies and its
close connection with the trading centres, a larger number of
boys passed to Cambridge than to Oxford, the favourite
College at this period being Magdalene, whither a long stream
of local scholars proceeded. Thus, to take some members from
one particular local family — John Hawarth, son of a Manches-
ter merchant,1 matriculated at Magdalene College, Cambridge,
1617 ; became Fellow 1640, Master of Magdalene College and
Vice-Chancellor of the University. He was evicted by the
sequestrators, but restored, and died in Cambridge, 1668.
Theophilus Hawarth was probably a near relative. He
was the son of another Manchester merchant, matriculated
at Magdalene College 1633, M.A. 1630, M.D. 1666. He
settled as a physician in his native town, took a prominent
part in civic life, and died 1671.
Richard Hawarth, son of Lawrence Hawarth of Thorn-
croft, entered Gray's Inn 1614, settled in Manchester as
councillor-at-law, married a daughter of John Lightbourne,
merchant, and, like his father-in-law, served as a feoffee of
the Manchester School from 1647. He became Recorder
of Chester in 1651, and died in Manchester in 1668. Besides
these there were :
Richard Ash worth, who matriculated at Magdalene College
1612, B.A. 1615, M.A. 1619, settled in Manchester, and
probably in the capacity of usher took part in the school
recitations, 1640.
Richard Hollinworth, son of a Salford merchant, matricu-
lated at Magdalene College 1623, B.A. 1626, M.A. 1630 ; served
1 Charles Hawarth of Manchester was one of the original subscribers
to the fund for building Trinity Chapel, Salford.
SIR NICHOLAS MOSLEY OF HOUGH END (1527-1G12).
A MKKCHANT ADVEXirKKK.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 49
as minister at Trinity Church, Salford, and chaplain of
the Collegiate Church. He died 1657, leaving MS. notes
for a History of Manchester; which were subsequently in
part published.
Nicholas Mosley (1611-1677), son of Oswald Mosley
of Ancoats, entered Magdalene College, Cambridge, in
1628, though he did not graduate. He was the author of a
somewhat curious book on c The Soul of Man.' The sub-
ject-matter is not of permanent interest. It consists of
appeals to the philosophy of Aristotle in support of Christian
teaching, illustrating the persistence of the old argumentative
methods of inquiry destined soon to give place to the more
naturalistic methods of the Neoplatonic School, which was
arising at Emmanuel and Christ's Colleges, Cambridge, but the
dedications to Manchester friends at the beginning of each
of the three parts give the book a local colouring and
interest.
Samuel Bolton, D.D. (1606-1654), proceeded from
Manchester to Christ's College, Cambridge, and became
University preacher and rector of St. Mark's, Ludgate. He
dwelt in the same College and was contemporary with John
Milton.
Robert Booth (born 1624), the son of another Robert
Booth and grandson of Humphrey Booth, the founder of
Trinity Chapel. At the age of nine years he was left heir to
the estate of his grandfather. As a scholar of the Grammar
School he took part in the school public performances, 1640.
He was entered at Gray's Inn 1642, after he had studied
two years at St. John's College, Cambridge. He was called
to the Bar 1649, and subsequently became Lord Chief Justice
of Ireland.
The Puritan traditions of many local families are also shown
by the fact that many local students are found studying and
graduating at Edinburgh, where they were under stricter
control and less exposed to the temptations of a University
where many wealthy and often idle scholars congregated.
Other Puritan Manchester scholars studied at the University
of Leyden, where congenial social and religious conditions were
readily found by merchants engaged in foreign trade. Thus,
Nathan Paget, the son of Thomas Paget, incumbent of
Blackley chapelry, and a nephew of John Paget, previously
of Nantwich, Cheshire, and subsequently preacher or
50 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
lecturer to the English colony at Amsterdam, after leaving
Manchester, graduated M. A. at Edinburgh in 1631, and thence
passed on to Ley den, where he no doubt lived with his uncle,
while he prepared for his graduation as M.D. in 1639.
He wrote a treatise on the Plague. On returning to Eng-
land during the Commonwealth he settled in London, and
became a prominent physician, helping the famous Francis
Glisson to compile a treatise on Rickets, a disease then receiving
so much attention as to be called ' the English disease.'
The first notice of an apothecary in the town occurs in
connection with the death of a child of Samuel Cheetham,
apothecary. There must have been several others according
to the terms of the will of Dr. Cogan. By 1644 Thomas
Mynshall, who had come from Cheshire to practise in Man-
chester, had acquired sufficient wealth to purchase Chorlton
Hall.
Besides the special studies for professional careers, other
studies — e.g. that of mathematics — were being introduced
into local life.
John Booker (1603-1667), who received his early edu-
cation at the Manchester School, had left Manchester to
serve an apprenticeship to a haberdasher in London. He
became first a writing-master and clerk, and subsequently an
astrologer, and finally licenser of mathematical books and
the author of several almanacs. He published Telesco-
pium Uranium, 1631. He had the reputation of being
' the most complete astrologist in the world ' (Lilly), having
successfully predicted the death of Gustavus Adolphus and
the Elector Palatine.
William Crabtree (1603-1644), of Broughton, was
probably a schoolfellow of Booker. He also diligently
cultivated the study of mathematics, and to such purpose
that, with his friend Jeremiah Horrocks, curate of Hoole,
near Preston, he was able to recalculate and correct the
tables by which the date of an impending transit of Venus
had been previously determined, and to make such prepara-
tion for observing it in detail that he was able to share with
Horrocks the honour of being the first astronomer actually
to watch and describe the progress of the transit. Jeremiah
Horrocks had proceeded to Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
but had found the University atmosphere uncongenial to
the study of astronomy. William Crabtree did not proceed
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 51
to a University, though, from 1638 to 1642, he was in con-
stant correspondence with other men of science. He followed
his mathematical studies at home in the leisure hours
left him in the pursuit of his business, which included that
of a land surveyor. William Crabtree's name also occurs in
connection with the settlement of differences of taxation
between Salford, Broughton, and Kersal in 1640, and again
as the draftsman of a map of Humphrey Booth's estates in
•Salford.1
A year before the granting of the new charter to the
Collegiate Church in 1635, when the question of the better
provision for the intellectual needs of the town was under
general discussion, Henry Bury, an old pupil of the Manchester
School and the founder of the Bury Grammar School, had left
instructions in his will, dated October 31, 1634, for his
trustees to pay £10 to the town of Manchester to
' buy books, when they shall have a convenient place of
their own, furnished with books for the common use of the
said parish to the worth of £100, a thing which may, in my
opinion, be done in that great rich and religious town. If
they provide not books for a library as aforesaid within seven
years next after my death, my will is that they have no
benefit in this my legacy.5
On December 10, 1636, Lord Strange,2 the heir-apparent
of the Derby family, whose ancestor had purchased the
College buildings at the dissolution of the College in the time
of Edward VI, wrote from Lathom House to Thomas Fox,
whose brother, Richard Fox, became a feoffee of the Grammar
School, 1647 :
1 Whereas some of my servants that have lately been in
those parts have told me of the desire of the Warden and
Fellows there wishing such a place for their library (referring
to the Stanley Chapel in the Collegiate Church then in
great disrepair) I am well contented and give you command
to tell them (to place it in repair) and you shall deliver over
the same unto them.'
1 Of. W. E. A. Axon, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society,
vol. xxiii. p. 30 ; and Chetham Miscellanies, N.S. vol. Ixiii.
2 Afterwards known as ' the martyr Earl of Derby,' on account of
his execution by the Parliamentarians at Bolton in 1651.
52 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
There are still in the Grammar School Library a number
of volumes, and there is authoritative record of the exist-
ence of other similar volumes, bearing the inscription ' Biblio-
theca Mancestrensis, 1640,' together with the name of the
several donors.1 This date is anterior to that of the creation
of the Chetham Library, 1657, which now goes under the
title of the Manchester Library, and the inscription is also
to be distinguished from that on some other books of a
slightly later date in the School Library, which bear the
inscription ' Bibliotheca Scholae Mancestrensis.' The first
inscription refers to an old Town Library, records of whose
existence were brought into prominence by Mr. James
Croston in 1878,2 and reference to whose support occurs in
the records of the Manchester Court Leet.
That the study of the law was becoming locally popular
is also indicated by the presentation to the library by local
merchants of works on statute law, such as Sir William Ras-
tall's ' Statutes of England.1 Although the appearance in in-
creasing numbers of practitioners of law and medicine among
the general inhabitants of the town in Stuart times is not to be
regarded as an indication that entirely new intellectual occu-
pations were arising, yet it does indicate that the members
of these professions were beginning to occupy a new relation
to the community, and that the guidance and direction of
those who were specially trained was being called upon in
the new conditions of society. Not only did new social
rights and obligations need elucidation and statement, but
astrology was discredited, and disease was no longer regarded
as merely a divine visitation. The schoolmaster's duties
were no longer confined to teaching infants reading and
preparing more advanced pupils for the Universities, even
though the latter demanded a rising standard of attainment.
It was more fully realised that many boys who never in-
tended to proceed to the University would continue their
intellectual and scholarly interests after their school life, and
that a liberal education would be of value to them. It was
no uncommon thing for wealthy merchants like Humphrey
Chetham to find leisure for the pursuit of literature — a
1 Andrew Willet, whose bulky tome, Synopsis Papisme, was in this
library, was probably related to the Thomas Willet of Manchester whose
widow had married Dr. Cogan.
* Manchester Literary Society.
HUMPHREY CHETHAM.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 53
pursuit which caused them to continue to take interest in
the prosperity and general welfare of the schools and to en-
courage libraries. The public writing-master was no longer
expected only to prepare boys in simple arithmetic and in
the keeping of accounts, but had to teach the elements of
surveying and the drawing of plans, nor was the apothecary
concerned solely with the preparation of potions and drugs,
which involved translation of prescriptions. He had begun
to combine this with the routine visiting work of a general
medical practitioner, and though in all serious cases he had
the opportunity of deferring to the knowledge of the Uni-
versity-trained physician, he needed to be able to read and
to understand the standard medical works,1 which were still
generally written in Latin.
Soon after the death of Edward Chetham, the last Eliza-
bethan high master, Manchester was visited by a severe
epidemic of the Plague (1605), which is believed to have
swept away about one-sixth of the inhabitants, then
about some 20,000 in number. Among them was at least
one of the masters of the school, George Stursaker (July 24,
1605). There seems to be a gap in the record of the feoffees
of the School, for no fresh appointments are known between
1585 and 1628. Such appointments would almost certainly
have been made about 1606, when John Reynolds, the
famous Puritan leader at the Hampton Court Conference,
in his capacity of President of Corpus Christi College, Ox-
ford, exercised for the third time his duty of nominating
a high master. This time his choice fell on Edward Clayton
of Little Harwood, whose father occupied Clayton Hall.
Members of this family had already settled in Manchester and
begun to take active paTt in its public life, and Robert Clay-
ton of Clayton Hall was one of the School feoffees. Edward
Clayton's tenure of office lasted twenty-six years, and, judged
by the scholars he sent to the Universities after confidence
had been restored on the cessation of the Plague, the
school made continued progress.1
We have already mentioned that there is a gap in the
lists of new appointments of the School feoffees between
1 By will dated May 10, 1628, and proved at Chester, Edward Clayton
made bequests for several charitable purposes, giving 20 nobles per annum
for two poor honest labourers or tradesmen out of the proceeds of his
estate in Millgate (Court Leet Records, 1613).
54 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
1585 and 1628. Among the School documents is an undated
petition addressed to the Duchy Court of Lancaster, signed
by four trustees, all of whom were pronounced Royalists,
praying that Thomas Prestwich, who was then tenant of the
School mills; might be confirmed in a supposed ancient
family privilege enjoyed by his ancestors of using the mills
at Hulme in addition to the School mills on the Irk. The
petition was signed by only four trustees : Sir John Byron,
Sir Alexander Radcliffe, Sir Cecil Trafford, and Edward
Stanley of Broughton. It probably belongs to some
period before 1628, for that was the date of the
appointment of a new high master in the place of Edward
Clayton.
Under the new administration of 1628 the income of the
School again became settled and able to support the in-
creasing number of scholars who were passing to Oxford
and Cambridge (see Appendix). The feoffees also gave
attention to the conduct of the School, which had been left
by John Rowland,1 the high master, in charge of his brother
Richard, while he himself occupied the position of private
chaplain to Henry Montague, died 1640, first Earl of
Manchester. John Rowland claimed to have obtained the
consent of one of the feoffees. As the brother proved
unacceptable, the feoffees applied to the Master of Corpus
Christi, who nominated Thomas Harrison of Prescott. After
a time John Rowland appealed to the feoffees for re-
instatement, threatening legal proceedings if kept out. The
terms of settlement are unknown, but Rowland does not
reappear in Manchester, and in 1634 was consoled by being
appointed rector of Foot's Cray, Kent.2 He was sequestered
from that living in the time of the Commonwealth.
Rowland was succeeded by Thomas Harrison, son of
Thomas Harrison of Prescott, already in possession. He
was destined to pass a particularly adventurous life. He
matriculated at All Souls, Oxford, July 1625, aged eighteen,
and was admitted B.A. from Corpus Christi College, 1628.
1 It is probable that he obtained the patronage of the Earl of Manchester
through Samuel Boardman, Fellow of the Collegiate body, who had already
served the Duke, and had been appointed by Laud to assist Johnson in
setting the affairs of the College in order.
* Licensed August 8, 1634, to marry Ann, daughter of George Holt
of Foot's Cray.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 55
How long he remained at the School is doubtful, but he had
left before 1637. In 1645 he was sequestered from the
rectory of Crick, Northants, and from his canonry at Lich-
field. His house was plundered, all his books burnt, his
wife and children thrown out of doors, and he himself sent
to jail. In 1646 he wrote a letter to the Secretary of State
from Wood Street Compter, where he was then in prison
for debt, praying him to remember a poor scholar in great
want. He seems to have remained in reduced circum-
stances for a long time, since a collection was made for his
benefit at the Stretford Chapelry, near Manchester, May 12,
1661, then under the care of his early companion at Manchester
School, Francis Mosley. He is probably to be distinguished
from Thomas Harrison, minister of the Gospel, who delivered
an address to Christ Church, Dublin, 1658, on Spiritual
Logic.
In 1637 Robert Symonds appears as the next high master.
Unlike his predecessors, he was of Christ's College, Cam-
bridge. He had been head master of Nantwich School
from 1634. He seems to have been a moderate but attached
churchman, and on July 24, 1638, was appointed Chaplain
of the Manchester College, remaining in office till the
affairs of the College were thrown into disorder in 1641.1
The changes in the high mastership would have been
far more serious for the future careers of the scholars, had
not the school possessed some very staunch friends at both
English Universities. Among them was John Smith, head
of Magdalene College, Cambridge, who founded a number
of scholarships for boys coming from his old school, and a
number of fellowships at his College to induce its students
to pursue their studies beyond their first graduation. The
money for these scholarships was unfortunately not invested
in any town land which subsequently became thickly popu-
lated. Consequently the endowments did not become famous,
1 In 1652 he was appointed rector of Dalbury, Derby, after having
been previously chosen by the people of Middleton, near Manchester,
to be their minister. This choice the local Presbyterian Classis, whose
proceedings will be more fully described in the next chapter, refused to
confirm, because Robert Symonds had not received a Presbyterian ordina-
tion. By the irony of fate Robert Symonds was subsequently instituted
rector of Middleton in November 1662, on the presentation of Sir Ralph
A»sheton. He died March 23, 1681, aged eighty-four (Crostonand Baines,
vol. ii. p. 404, and Chetham Society, N.S., vol. xxiv. p. 446).
56 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
owing to a rapid multiplication in value. Smith scholar-
ships, however, served their purpose for a time, and assisted
in directing a stream of Manchester boys to Magdalene Col-
lege, Cambridge, then the resort of many of the most hard-
working students in the University.
In 1638 Ralph Brideoak, an old pupil of the School, who
had proceeded to Brasenose College, Oxford, appears as high
master. He was a man of great energy and ambition, and
considerable ability. Although he lived in constantly chang-
ing times and took a prominent part in public affairs, yet he
always succeeded in attracting notice and securing reward.
He is described as ' busy, bustling, fawning, elbowing,
grasping.1 He had early attracted the attention of John
Jackson, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, and President
of Corpus Christi College, and so secured nomination to the
high mastership of his old School. He probably shared
fully in the welcome extended to the dramatists and play-
writers at Oxford, for on the death of Ben Jonson in 1636
he was one of those who contributed commemorative verses.1
In addition to his high mastership he served as private
chaplain to the Earl and Countess of Derby. He showed
his anti-Puritan sympathies in 1640 when he instituted social
gatherings or commemorations at the School for the public
reading of Latin poems written by scholars, ostensibly to
congratulate the Queen on the birth of a son, but really,
like the contemporary commemorations at Oxford and the
encoenia at Cambridge, to act as a counterblast to the
political proceedings agitating the House of Commons. A
MS. copy of the speeches and the names of the speakers
is in existence,3 on the title-page ' Book given to George
Chetham by his friend John Lightbourne, 1640.* He was
also rector of Standish, Lanes, and Whitney, Oxon, but was
not allowed to settle by the Parliament.3
1 Of. Collected Works of Ben Jonson.
a It was discovered among the papers collected by Rev. Jeremiah
Smith, high master of the School 1807-1839, who at one time contemplated
writing its history, but who ultimately placed much of his information at
the disposal of Mr. Whatton and Dr. S. Hibbert Ware, who incorporated it
in the third volume of Foundations in Manchester, p. 183. The pamphlet
had at one time belonged to the antiquarian sadler, Thomas Barritt,
who died in 1820, for on it is written in Mr. Barritt's writing, ' Found
among some old papers on a bookstall in the market, 1780.'
8 Domestic State Papers, January 8, 1654.
TOMB OF RALPH BKIDEOAK, AT ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR.
UNDER PURITAN INFLUENCE 57
Efforts were being made on behalf of the middle classes
to make better provision for higher education in many
directions. Gustavus Adolphus had invited Amos Comenius
(1590-1670), a Polish refugee and educationalist, to organise
a national system in Sweden. Samuel Hartlieb, his fellow-
countryman and friend, had settled in London in 1630 and
had cultivated the acquaintance of many English scholars,
among them Joseph Mede (1586-1638) and James Ussher, who
left Ireland to become Bishop of Carlisle in 1638. Through
Hartlieb's influence a committee was appointed by the Long
Parliament to organise English education. They invited
Comenius to England to undertake this. John Dury,
sometime Puritan chaplain to the Company of Merchants of
Elbourg, worked with Comenius and Hartlieb.1
Nowhere was the need for fuller University education
felt more strongly than in the North, where many parents
who feared the dissipation common at Oxford and Cam-
bridge, had to send their sons ^to Edinburgh 2 or abroad. A
petition was drawn up by many local well-wishers for the
Manchester College to be made the seat of a new University,
and the Earl of Derby offered to give the buildings.3 By
means of Henry Fairfax,4 rector of Ashton-upon-Mersey,
the petition was forwarded to Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, the
famous Parliamentary General. Rival claims were put forth
by other trading centres, York 5 and Ripon, and the matter
was delayed till the struggle between King and Parliament
overwhelmed all else.
The Grand Remonstrance, or Declaration of the State of
the Kingdom, which was laid upon the table of the House
of Commons, November 8, 1641, was the public expression of
disapproval of the way in which the government of Church
and State had been carried on by ministers whether civil or
ecclesiastical. Bishop Ussher of Armagh had put forward
a scheme by which some of the acknowledged evils of
1 Vide Masson's Life of Milton, vol. iii.
* The intimacy between England and Scotland became closer after
1628, when Charles I tried to reinstate episcopacy there. The famous
scene in St. Giles' was in 1637. A list of graduates at Edinburgh
between 1587 and 1800 shows several Manchester scholars went there at
this time.
3 Quick's Educational Reformers.
4 Fairfax's Correspondence.
6 Matthew Poole was of York ; see also Appendix.
58 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
episcopacy could be limited by the setting up of provincial
synods. Clarendon acknowledged that the first opponents of
the Court party were moderate churchmen. Their aim was
no repudiation of control and discipline, but a desire for
better discipline, as is clearly indicated in the following clause
(No. 186) :
' We have been maliciously charged with the intention
to destroy and discourage learning, whereas it is our chiefest
care and desire to advance it and to provide such compe-
tent maintenance for conscientious and preaching ministers
throughout the realm as will be a great encouragement to
scholars and a certain means whereby the want, meanness,
and ignorance to which a great part of the clergy is now
subject will be prevented. And we have intended likewise
to reform and purge the fountains of Learning, the two
Universities, that the streams flowing from thence may be
clear and full, and an honour and comfort to the whole
land.'
CHAPTER IV
1643-1660
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING
' Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.'
ST. PAUL'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
Puritan theological dogma and Puritan Church government set up in ac-
cordance with the Solemn League and Covenant — Demand for Puritan
preachers causes a new class of scholar to seek higher and Univer-
sity training — The Neoplatonist philosophers at Cambridge —
Presbyterian Discipline in Lancashire makes its headquarters in
Manchester — It ia successfully attacked by the Independents under
Colonel Birch — Beginnings of the Town Library, 1640 — The Prestwich
Library, 1654, and the Great Scholars' or Chetham Library, 1657, placed
under the government of a body of local merchants and professional
men — The Grammar School again under the charge of an active and
learned high master, John Wiokens — Subjects studied at the School —
Henry Newcome.
THE signing of the Solemn League and Covenant, September
1643, by members of the English Parliament involved a good
deal more than the mere reversal of the rule of State-appointed
bishops and a change of Church ritual. It replaced theology
in the old position of supremacy among other branches of
knowledge which it had occupied under the old scholastic
system of learning in the Middle Ages. The testing of ortho-
doxy of opinion by Synod and Classis which now took place
was far more systematic and quite as limiting as had been the
inquiries and examination before papal courts and councils.
The examination of candidates for the ministry secured
a high standard of preliminary training, though it restricted
the subject-matter as well as the attitude towards knowledge.
One ordinance of Parliament appointed committees to
sequester the estates of Royalists in order to find money
59
60 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to pay the Parliamentary soldiers. Another ordinance sum-
moned an assembly of divines to meet at Westminster to
advise on matters of Church government and to select proper
preachers for orthodox teaching.
The number of distressed ministers who had been plundered
during the war and who had sought refuge in London became
so considerable that a special committee was appointed to
make provision for their relief. Complaints of ill-behaviour,
malignancy, and non-residence of other clergy, summarised
under the heading of scandalous, poured in, and it became
necessary to inquire into the foundation of such charges,
for though some were well founded others were factitious
and inspired by spite. The work was delegated to the com-
mittee already entrusted with the care of the distressed or
' plundered ' ministers, whose work thus overlapped that of
the Sequestration Committee.1 Consequently the two com-
mittees worked together under the leadership of Edward
Montague, who as Lord Kimbolton had been impeached in
the House of Lords at the time of the attack on the five
members in the House of Commons.2 The General Committee,
proving too large, broke up into special committees having
jurisdiction over different counties. One under Lord Kim-
bolton himself, now Earl of Manchester, began its work of
inquiry at Cambridge. Another committee, mainly occupied
with the work of sequestrating estates in Lancashire, was
instituted April 1643, and its members, who were prominent
Presbyterians, administered the oath of the Solemn League
and Covenant to large numbers of the people of the county.
In order to expedite the work of the Westminster Assembly
in reorganising the ministry and religious teaching on the
new basis, a number of Lancashire ministers met together
at Preston and presented a petition to Parliament to request
the establishment of a Local County Provincial Assembly.
This request was granted, but in order to keep the power in
the hands of the civil authority, twice as many lay elders
1 Register Book of Committee for Relief of Plundered Ministers, 1644-7,
15669-15671, Add. MSS. British Museum. The Lancashire Sequestration
Committee, 1641, Sir Thomas Stanley, Mr. Ralph Assheton, Mr. Peter
Egerton of Shaw, Mr. Robert Hyde of Denton, Mr. John Moore of Liver-
pool, Mr. Alexander Rigby, Mr. Richard Holland, all Presbyterians. —
Domestic State Papers, p. 229 ; Rushworth, vol. v. p. 309 ; also Record
Society, vols. 28, 34.
a January 3, 1642.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 61
as preaching elders were appointed. The admission of the
prominent local laity into the government of the Church soon,
moreover, reacted on its fortunes. Partly owing to lack of
adequate emoluments,1 for there were no prizes of highly-paid
dignity to anticipate, partly to a feeling of insecurity of tenure
and status, also no doubt on account of the inquisitorial cross-
examination by the Classis, many members of the families
in whom traditions of learning had become ingrained failed
to present themselves for Presbyterian as they had done
for Episcopalian ordination.2 Emoluments and salaries were
lacking. There resulted a shortage of preachers, and it
became necessary to attract a new class of candidates. Appeals
were made to local Sequestration Committees.3 New Grammar
Schools were founded in various towns, and other assistance
from private sources was forthcoming to enable poor lads
to get University training, especially at Edinburgh and
Cambridge.4
The demand for preachers was met by the two English
Universities in different measure, for not only were the studies
which each encouraged different, but there was a difference
in the kind of scholar each attracted. Cambridge, owing
partly to its close relationship with the towns of the eastern
counties, was strongly Puritan. Oxford, owing to its close
relation with the Court, was loyal to the Old Establishment.
Cambridge had been visited by Commissions of the Long
Parliament in 1643, and had placed its intellectual resources
at the disposal of the Presbyterians. Oxford put difficulties
in the way. In 1647 seven of the principal Puritan preachers
were sent thither to convert it. On their failure after six
months to accomplish anything, a body of commissioners
was appointed. Many of the most prominent Royalists
were ejected from their positions, and a new regime instituted.
The difference between the two Universities remained, and
it was perhaps owing to a desire to escape Presbyterian
influence, and to pursue their studies undisturbed, that those
1 Heyrick was subsequently allowed £120 yearly, August 16, 1653.
2 Richard Johnson left the town and refused to return. He was arrested,
plundered, and submitted to gross indignity. — Halley.
3 E.g. Calendar State Papers, Addenda, December 5, 1644.
4 Matthew Poole, A Model for the Maintaining of Choice Abilities at the
University, principally in order for the Ministry (1658). The most remark-
able precursor of the modern scholarship system.
62 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
scholars 1 who had hitherto been pursuing in London the new
philosophy advocated by Francis Bacon, transferred them-
selves to Oxford, the Alma Mater of many of them, and
only returned to London on the accession of Charles II, when
they were incorporated as the Royal Society.
The more pronounced Puritanism, as well as the lesser
expense of living at Cambridge, made it the favourite resort of
the young Puritan scholars, who now flocked from the country
towns. Fortunately for them a new school of thought was
springing up, which helped many to escape the narrow dog-
matism of Calvinistic theology, without losing the spiritual
fervour which gave Puritanism its force. In consequence of
the title of the work of its founder, Henry More,2 the leaders
of this school were called the Cambridge Neoplatonists.
Among these, Joseph Mede was less mystical and more devout
than his predecessor, while Ralph Cudworth enriched the
movement with studies in the working of the human mind, and
John Worthington 3 — a Manchester scholar who as Fellow of
Emmanuel for many years, and subsequently Master of Jesus
College, was the means of attracting scores of Lancashire
scholars to Cambridge — was one of its biographers and
exponents.
The Cambridge Neoplatonists may be said to have found
for their day and generation a means of providing a religious
incentive to the study of natural philosophy and science,
and to have provided theology with that basis in general
knowledge, owing to the loss of which it became sterilised at
a later date.
'So this set of men at Cambridge studied to assert
and examine the principles of religion and morality
on clear grounds and in a philosophical method ... all
these, and those who were formed under them, studied to
examine farther into the nature of things than had been done
formerly. They declared against superstition on one hand,
and enthusiasm on the other. They loved the constitution of
the Church and the Liturgy, and could well live under them,
but they did not think it unlawful to live under another
form. They wished that all things might have been
carried out with more moderation, and they continued to
1 In 1645 they were called the Invisible College (Boyle).
8 * The Song of the Soul,' Christiano-Platonical Display of Life, 1642,
8 See Life of John Worthington (Chetham Society, vol. xiii. pp. 36, 114).
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 63
keep up a correspondence with those who had differed
from them in opinion.' 1
John Worthington remained at Emmanuel College eighteen
years; and attracted thither a very considerable number of
Manchester scholars. In 1650 he became Master of Jesus
College, Cambridge, and the stream of Manchester scholars
which had previously been directed to Emmanuel now became
attracted to Jesus College. We read of Worthington's love
of music and his diligent practice in the use of the viol, of the
support he gave to the publication of the mathematical books
by Samuel Hartlieb, whose interest in scientific husbandry
would justify his claim to be called the father of modern
English technical education. The organ of Jesus College
had been removed and hidden in 1643. It was discovered
in 1651, but as the time was not suitable for its replacement in
the chapel it was again hidden. Its discovery at this time
illustrates Worthington's care for music.2 John Worthington
encouraged the publication of the writings of Comenius on
language teaching. He endeavoured to secure the republi-
cation of Warden Dee's ' Introduction to the Work of Euclid '
to assist in extending the teaching of mathematics ; he was
also interested in the publication of Isaac Barrow's ' Lectiones
Mathematical He was also in correspondence with Evelyn
about a new translation of Plutarch's ' Lives.' Ho was
interested in the writings of Borelli, the famous French
physician and naturalist^ He took great pains to collect all
that he could of the MSS. of Horrocks and Crabtree, the
astronomers. He also showed his knowledge and interest in
the experiments with air-pumps &c., which were being made
by Hon. Robert Boyle.
This liberality and expansiveness of view, though destined
to influence profoundly the next generation of scholars and
to prepare the way for the dissemination as well as for the
advance in natural knowledge, was only very partially shared
by contemporary preachers,3 who too often found narrow
enthusiasms and violent partisanship more agreeable to their
1 Bishop Burnet, History of our Own Times.
* Cf. History of Jesus College, Arthur Gray.
8 Cf . The Harmonious Consent of the Ministers of the Province within the
County Palatine of Lancaster, 1648. A very bitter attack on Religious
Toleration.
64 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
employers and supporters, or more in harmony with the
character of the age. At least three main contending parties
are to be distinguished :
1. The Presbyterians, who inherited from the times of
the Marian persecution an undying hatred of Roman ritual,
as well as of episcopal government. Many of them were
loyal to the King and Constitution, until they found there
was no other way of getting rid of prelacy than by taking the
side of Parliament. Having got rid of the bishops, they
were willing to restore the King under proper guarantees.
After the execution of Charles I hi 1649 their sympathies
were divided, and they never regained their certitude or the
predominance they had previously enjoyed.
2. The Independents, who had found their original home
in Holland, and had been driven out by persecution at the
triumph of the Calvinist party at the Council of Dort. They
believed each body of worshippers should be self-governing,
and should not be interfered with from outside, either in the
exercise of its ritual or in its teaching. They, however, believed
in voluntary consultations and conferences to discuss common
purposes and to exchange spiritual experience.1 Finding little
encouragement in England, Scotland, or Holland, many had
migrated to America, whither they had carried their love of
learning and had organised grammar schools and colleges, of
which Harvard stands to-day. They laid the foundations of the
principles of the American Republic. On the outbreak of the
Civil War many returned to England, but Independent
principles had become debased and even caricatured by many
extremists, and it was only in their original homes in the
eastern counties of England that they were able to cultivate
their learning. In the North, Independency took little hold.
3. The Anglican party, attached to the ritual and the
tolerance of opinion traditional to English learning in the
English Church, when not interfered with by aggressive
ecclesiastics and statesmen. They had opposed the uncon-
stitutional acts of the King, and had supported the Grand
Remonstrance. At the beginning of the struggle, the more
1 Savoy Conference, October 1658, and Collectanea Hunteriana, Brit.
Mus. Add. MSS. 25463. * Historical Biographies and Topographical Collec-
tions, with brief account of the Proceedings of Messengers of the Associated
Churches in the adjacent parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire.'
Third Meeting, June 8, 1658.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 65
moderate ones were prepared to make considerable conces-
sions in ritual and Church government to the Puritans, for
they shared in the fear of any return to the old Catholic
regime. They became repelled by the increasing violence
of opinion and conduct of the victorious party, and quietly
hoped and worked for the restoration of royalty as the only
security for toleration and peace. Oxford University was
their intellectual centre, and their theology received its in-
spiration from the study of the early Christian Fathers ; and,
perhaps to emphasise their differences from the Presbyterians,
they adopted the milder theology of Arminius. There were
also a few High Anglicans, closely attached to royalty, who
continued to hold the High Church principles of complete
supremacy of the bishops so strongly urged by Laud. Finally,
there was a still larger body of Catholics among the county
gentry constantly reinforced by the missionary priests sent
among them to play upon the dissatisfaction of those who
felt their social or religious security imperilled by the rapid
changes which were taking place around them.
As Presbyterian learning became firmly established in
South Lancashire, and profoundly influenced the course of
local events, especially around Manchester, it is necessary
to consider the exact nature of the discipline which Presby-
terianism attempted to establish in the county.
The County Assembly they set up was divided into nine
separate classes, each class being concerned with maintaining
discipline in its own district, while the County Assembly was
concerned with the examination and approbation of candidates
for the ministry and the general policy of the whole religious
body. This was no trivial matter of Church organisation.
It was the beginning of a republic, for neither Crown nor
bishops^ nor their supporters, had understood the rising spirit
of self -consciousness and the demand for self-expression which
had grown up in the middle classes. Even the Presbyterians
at first only partially understood it. It could now no longer
be suppressed. If the theology they taught was often gloomy
and censorious, it was placed in the hands of better- trained and
cultivated men, who subsequently showed themselves capable
of enlarging both their ideas and their sympathies as a con-
sequence of free intercourse with their fellow-preachers and
lay elders at the Classis.
The Classis not only desired control over the selection of
66 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
ministers, but also the right to inquire into the personal
conduct of all the inhabitants of the town or district, and to
summon before them any who were charged with ' scandalous
conduct ' or ' ignorance ' ; to reprimand, and if necessary,
to punish them by excommunication and withdrawal of civil
rights. The basis of the whole Presbyterian theory of govern-
ment was that the community was a religious one, and that
all citizens should prepare themselves to attend the Sacrament.
Those who were considered unfit to receive the Sacrament
were called ' scandalous,' and were to be outlawed from all
social rights and from protection by civil law. Others who
did not agree with the Presbyterian Classis hi doctrine were
regarded as ' ignorant,' and their education and conversion was
regarded as the essential duty of the local Classis who, having
found the person guilty, passed the delinquent to the civil
magistrate for punishment. This amounted to a claim and
assumption of judicial power by a rather arbitrary eccle-
siastical assembly, and ultimately brought the government by
Presbyterian Classis into discredit, for people were accustomed
to look for the interpretation of delinquency as well as the
local administration of justice at the hands of more or less
experienced and educated Justices of the Peace. It was also
particularly odious to the general body of regular Anglican
worshippers who had been brought up under less inquisitorial
and censorious discipline, where the sinner against moral law
was left to the general reprobation of his fellows, and the
criminal offender against the regulations of society was left to
the civil judge, on the theory that he disturbed the ' King's
Peace ' by causing troubles between himself and his neighbour
or by neglecting his duty towards the Crown.
In the constitutional struggle between King and Parlia-
ment, Lancashire at first took little interest. The collection
of ship money from the land-owning classes had presented
difficulties to the wealthy merchant, Humphrey Chetham, who
as sheriff of the county had been appointed to collect it, and
who it is believed had to pay a good deal out of his own pocket,
but neither local landowners nor merchants found much
cause for complaint. Indeed, they appreciated the efforts
made by William Laud, who had been largely instrumental in
saving the Manchester Collegiate body from the greedy courtier
Richard Murray, and had obtained for it a new charter. Public
feeling was however fully aroused at the receipt of the news of
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 67
the massacre of Protestant settlers in Ireland by the insurgent
Catholics, for intimate trade relations had been growing
up between the two countries, and the local Protestants
became alarmed at the prospect of a Catholic rising at home.
They applied for and obtained leave from Lord Derby —
Lord-Lieutenant of the county — to collect and store up
ammunition. On the actual outbreak of force between King
and Parliament, the various Lord-Lieutenants of counties
were ordered by the King to accumulate military stores and
ammunition on behalf of the Crown. The local Protestants
believed that this was a ruse to arm the Catholics and to
deprive them of their means of defence. Consequently, when
the Earl of Derby sought to obtain possession of the gunpowder
and arms possessed by the citizens of Manchester, they first
parleyed, and when the Earl tried to seize the stores they
opposed the seizure, and what has been called the Siege of
Manchester commenced. The struggle; however, was brief
and not very severe, for party spirit had not yet become
envenomed and local religious antagonisms had not been
aroused.
Warden Heyrick was one of those summoned to attend
the Westminster Assembly. The moderate Presbyterians who
composed the local committee for sequestrations in Lancashire
were favourable to existing conditions. They were little
inclined to interfere with the Collegiate body; since it was so
strongly Presbyterian in tone. Conflict was also delayed by
the prevalence of plague in the town in 1645, which frightened
away the wealthy merchants and prevented the collection
of revenues. The church itself was closed, and no one was
permitted to enter or leave the town. So severe was the
distress among the inhabitants that public collections were
made in London for them.
Even when the sequestrators were ordered to seize all
church revenue, moderate opinion still prevailed, and the
establishment of a local presbytery was generally acqui-
esced in, for the active Royalists had been so impoverished
that they did not desire to attract further attention. So
far from there being any general desire for the spoliation of
church property, it is evident from a church survey of 1650,
in which the nine Manchester chapelries of Salford, Stretford,
Chorlton, Didsbury, Birch, Gorton, Den ton, Newton, and
Blackley are namedj that the whole or a considerable part
68 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the salary of the incumbent must have been supplied
locally from voluntary funds. The report to the Presbyterian
synod of the neglected state of some of these chapelries and
the lack of adequate ministry, served as an incentive to many
local landowners to make better provision, and provided
openings for the young scholars who had recently been trained
for the ministry. This was all the more necessary on
account of the large number of the Sectaries or irregular
preachers who practised Independency, one section of
whom now came into Manchester life.1
George Fox the Quaker visited Dukinfield in 1647, where
the scholarly preachers of Independency, Samuel Eaton and
Timothy Taylor, had familiarised their audiences with the
teachings of a learned ministry. George Fox had expected
great support from the Independents, but enthusiasm was
no substitute for learning, consequently his first visit to
Manchester was evidently a failure, and his only other recorded
visit, that in 1657, was still more unsatisfactory. It took
place when the general populace had grown as tired of
Independency as they had of Presbyterianism.
William Langley of Manchester, who left an unsigned diary
and a volume entitled ' The Persecuted Minister,' thus bewails
the embarrassments of a peaceable scholar when he visits
his native town in the throes of conflicting opinion :
' Fain I would have kept communion with all those good
and learned men, but it would not be. To be familiar with
them of one party was to render me suspected of the other,
and because I thought it was more for my benefit to argue
with those of both persuasions as I respectively did with
others concerning those things in the ways wherein I was
unsatisfied than to discourse of such wherein I was of their
mind, that had like to have lost me to them both.' *
Suspicious of the sentiments of the Presbyterians and
anxious to regain their straying allegiance, the army leaders
demanded that all ministers should make a solemn engagement
to be true and faithful to the government established without
King or House of Lords ; the publication of this as the
1 Heyrick preached before Parliament on May 27, 1646, and attacked
the Independent and Cromwellian party with great vigour. — Queen Esther's
Resolves,
2 Chetham Society, vol. 106.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 69
' Agreement of the People,' in December 1648, virtually
demanded obedience to military control. The execution of
the King in the following January threw all Presbyterians
and Churchmen into opposition against the Army and the
Independents. The Presbyterian ministers of the district
met together, and though, in the past, they had declared
against the observance of all feast days, including Christ-
mas and Easter, yet they unanimously agreed to appoint
May 29, 1650, the birthday of Charles II, a day to be observed
with religious solemnity. When Charles subscribed to the
Solemn League and Covenant, they could not contain their
joy-
The conduct of affairs in Lancashire was completely
changed. The Presbyterian officers were dismissed,1 and
power was placed in the hands of a governor — the Independent
Colonel Birch, who claimed the deeds of the Manchester Col-
legiate body. Warden Heyrick refused to deliver, claiming
that he held them by right of purchase as well as by royal
mandate, and that the wardenship was his private property.
He locked up the deeds in the church. Colonel Birch there-
upon brought a body of his soldiery and forced open the
door. The soldiers smashed the stained-glass windows and
mutilated the carvings, seized the deed chest and carried
it to London. Not content with their work in the church,
the soldiers next forced their way into the school-house
and destroyed the effigy of Hugh Oldham, which had been
newly painted while Ralph Brideoak was in charge. When,
however, Colonel Thomas Birch heard there was danger of
the deeds being sold, and so alienated from Manchester, he
wrote to General Harrison under date December 10, 1650,
requesting his influence for their preservation,2 but they are
supposed to have been destroyed in the Great Fire.
Cromwell now decided to form a new army favourable to
Independency to enable him to fight against the Scotch
Presbyterians who had rallied round Charles Stuart. A
muster for Pendleton bears the date May 21, 1650 :
' The constables of Pendleton were enjoyned to order all
1 One of these was Captain Samuel Birch. In the list of officers and
soldiers disbanded by him at this time, the names of many Grammar School
boys occur. — Portland MSS.
2 Thirteenth Hist. M8S. Com. Reports (Duke of Portland's Papers, vol.
i. p. 545):
70 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
men between the ages of 18 and 50 in the township to
appear armed on the 22nd before the commission at Man-
chester, to oppose the Earl of Derby and other enemies
of the commonwealth, and to furnish a list of all such men
and all horses in the township.1 1
The first muster of Manchester took place at Chetham
Hill, Manchester, July 19, 1650. A second was held on
August 2. A fortnight later the troops marched North.
They arrived too late to take part in the battle of Dunbar.
Only the names of a few of the officers are known, but it
is evident that members of many of the best Puritan
families were taking active part. Major-General Worsley
of Platt, who was in command, had been educated at the
School. He was the officer who at the order of Cromwell
removed the mace from the House of Commons, and so
dissolved the Rump Parliament.
The Presbyterians became again distressed on the defeat
of the Scotch Presbyterian army at Dunbar, September 1650,
and the execution of the leaders by the English, for while
they were attached to royalty they feared the policy which
allowed Catholics to serve in the ranks of the army. It was
expected that some 500 fully trained and armed Presbyterians
would be forthcoming to suppress the rising of the Earl of
Derby, but only a few of them actually took part.
A MS. compiled at this date, ascribed to William
Crabtree, an old pupil of the School, is now in the Chetham
Library. It is called ' A true and perfect book ' :
* Of all rates and taxation which concern this County
of Lancashire, very necessary and needful and profitable for
all Justices of the Peace and gentlemen within the same,
may serve for a perpetual precedent to them and theirs for
the true and perfect easy mode, quick assessing and
charging of the several and particular towns with what
sums of money and food shall at any time be imposed upon
the same county as herein may plainly appear.' '
We have already noticed the efforts of Henry Bury to
encourage a town's library, and the signs in 1640 that some
1 13th Hist. MSS. Com. Reports, Pt. i, p. 615.
2 Palatine Note Book, vol. ii. p. 265; and Miscellanies, Chetham Soc.,
N.S., vol. hriii.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 71
progress had been made. In 1653 prospects became more
hopeful. John Prestwich, the old scholar who had been
evicted from his fellowship at Oxford, a brother of Edmund
Prestwich the Royalist, who had been evicted from his
tenancy of the School mills, made offer of some of his own
books for the use of the town, and received a very flatter-
ing letter in acknowledgment. His second letter is dated
April 19, 1653 :
< My fortunes are but slender, otherwise my intentions had
been greater ; however, if God shall please to continue these
my fortunes to me I shall still be adding more or less to the
small provision already made for you. Haply I may now
and then bestow a book on a friend which, if I do, I shall not
forget to recompense it with buying of two. Haply, I may
exchange one book for another. If I do that, be confident it
shall be your advantage. Many of those I have are small
ones ; not so fit for a public as for a private library. Many
also not so useful to men living in the country as for those
of the University. So now my purpose is, now that I have
received this intelligence from you, to begin to exchange
space and much to alter and transform my study, thereby
to make it more acceptable. Meantime, I am not destitute
of such as I hope may please you.'
A convenient room was finally provided, and on August
20, 1653, the roofless chantry of Jesus Chapel was handed
over to the feoffees by Henry Pendleton. It was placed in
repair at the town's expense, and the Prestwich Library}
the immediate forerunner of much greater things^ was thus
established. On October 12, 1653, Humphrey Chetham, who
was one of the trustees of the Prestwich Library, died.
Partly by steady adherence to trade, partly by ad-
vancing money to help distressed Royalists to meet fines,
Chetham had accumulated a very large fortune. He had a
natural inclination for scholarship. His elder brother had
been high master of the Grammar School. He had very
generously supported the efforts made by Richard Johnson
to reconstitute the Manchester College in 1635, perhaps
in return for material -help and wise advice given to him
when he was in the hands of greedy lawyers in London. The
numerous wills he had made show that he had taken much
thought about the proper bestowal of his gains. His final
intention, as set forth in his will dated 1651, included the
72 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
foundation of a public [Blue Coat] school for the support,
education, and apprenticing of poor boys ; the foundation
of four church or parochial libraries for ordinary readers,
and one town library for scholars. Under the first bequest
of £200, certain churches around Manchester received money
for ' Godly English Libraries.' For the Town or Scholars'
Library of Manchester a sum of £2000 was available. As
the Jesus Chapel was too small for the latter, accommo-
dation was found in the Old College buildings* which the
trustees purchased from the Earl of Derby for the joint pur-
pose of a residential school and a library. The library was
opened with a public dedication on August 5, 1656. Richard
Hollinworth gave the address to the assembled boys and
the public.1 After purchasing books, there still remained
sufficient endowment to provide the salary of a librarian, and
a surplus income for the periodical purchase of new books.
The Prestwich or Church Library consisted of volumes
of English sermons and commentaries on the Scriptures, and
was suitable for preachers and such members of the congrega-
tion as desired to study religious works. The remains of
the old Town Library co-existed for a time side by side with
the Church Library, but the ample provision for the purchase
of books of special interest to scholars in the great library of
Humphrey Chetham soon caused it to outshine the other two,
and they naturally fell into neglect.2 John Prestwich had
recommended Edmund Lees, a local scholar from the Grammar
School to All Souls College, Oxford, as librarian. The recom-
mendation was accepted, and Lees was retained as librarian
of the Prestwich and sub-librarian of the Chetham Library
till 1666. In 1681 John Prestwich himself died, and when
inquiry was made by the Chetham trustees about the Prest-
wich books, it was found that most of them had been dispersed.3
The establishment in the town of such considerable
libraries, with such a diversity of learned works, naturally
1 Cf. Manchester Literary Club, 1877, and Local Gleanings, July 5, 1878.
a Several volumes of the old Town Library of this period must have
passed to the Grammar School by 1690, for volumes still exist there con-
taining inscriptions of 1640, and subsequent scribblings of schoolboys of
1690-1700.
3 See Palatine Note Book, December 1882 ; Earwaker's Local Gleanings,
vol. ii. ; Christie's Old Church and School Libraries (Chetham Society, N.S.) ;
W. Axon, Manchester Literary Club Papers, vol. vi. 1880 ; Notes and
Queries, 1877, J. E. Bailey.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 73
encouraged scholars. John Ray (1628-1705), the famous
naturalist, wrote under date August 1658:
' I proceeded as far as Disley on the way to Manchester,
which is a large and very neat town. Here I took knowledge
of the College and the new library, which they had furnished
with useful and choice books. I saw the Free School
and the Church, from the steeple of which I had a prospect
of the town. Accompanied by Mr. [Samuel] Birch the school-
master [usher], I went to see the place where of old had been,
I think, a Roman fortification which they call the Castle.' x
The Scriptural commentaries and the devotional works
which were intended for the Chapel Libraries were chosen
by Richard Hollin worth and John Tilsley, the latter especi-
ally taking care to exclude all works which favoured the
Arminian teaching, to which the more orthodox Presby-
terians and Independents were still bitterly opposed, but
which was favoured by the Anglicans. The books for the
Great Scholars' Library were chosen by Richard Johnson
and included Arminian writers. Although the majority
were works on Theology, yet Chronicles, works on Archaeo-
logy and the History of Continental Europe were well repre-
sented, and there were numerous books of English Law. The
newer subjects of constructive thought, such as Mathematics,
which were being pursued to such effect by Descartes, were
only sparsely represented, though we have seen that particular
local scholars, such as William Crabtree, were already making
advances in them. Nor was there any sign that the new
experimental philosophy studied at Oxford had yet found
local adherents.
We must now consider the events which were taking
place at the Grammar School. Ralph Brideoak had prob-
ably left it before the outbreak of the plague. His restless,
ambitious nature could find little to satisfy it in the
county town with its trade interests and its Puritan
theology. Tradition says he was turned out, but this is
hardly likely. He was about this time presented to the living
1 Select Remains of the Learned John Bay, published by George Scott,
1760, and quoted in * Notes and Queries,' City News, Manchester, Decem-
ber 3, 1892.
74 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of Standish. The name Ralph Brideoak occurs among the lay
elders appointed by Parliament for the first Presbyterian
county synod, November 17, 1646.
For a short time x Nehemiah Paynter of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, held office as high master. This is the second break
in the record of Oxford high masters since the foundation,
and was probably made at the suggestion of the Earl
of Manchester, who was Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge, and had interested himself in the fortunes of
John Rowlands, the high master of 1630. Paynter was born
in London, and was probably related to Stephen Paynter of
Little Budworth, Cheshire. His tenure was very short, as his
death is reported in 1648.
About the time of the appointment of Paynter, steps were
taken to replace the business affairs of the School on a proper
footing. On March 6, 1647, the inhabitants of the town
petitioned the Council of State to appoint new trustees.
Those surviving were (i) Sir John Byron of Newstead, now
Baron Rochdale, who had fought on the Royalist side at
Edgehill and Worcester and was in hiding ; (ii) Sir Alexander
Radcliffe, who as Commissioner of Array had raised forces for
the King and had assisted in the defence of Lathom House, the
residence of the Earl of Derby ; (iii) Sir Cecil Trafford, who
had become a Roman Catholic in 1632, and whose Royalist
sympathies were equally unmistakable. Twelve entirely
new feoffees or governors were therefore appointed by Parlia-
ment, chosen from the local gentry, leading merchants, and
professional men in the town.2
Perhaps at the instigation of John Hartley himself, who
desired to succeed John Prestwich as tenant of the mills,
the feoffees were commanded by the Court of Sequestra tors,
viz. Richard Holland and Peter Egerton, to cancel the lease
of the School mills held by Edmund Prestwich the Royalist,3
and to appoint John Hartley of Strangeways as the new tenant,
charging a rental of £130 a year. To fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Nehemiah Paynter, the new Presbyterian trustees,
perhaps on the nomination of the President of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, appointed John Wickens, a native of Berk-
shire, about thirty-two years of age, who had been educated
1 Soon after 1645.
2 See Appendix, p. 496.
8 See State Papers, October 30, 1640.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 75
at Oriel College, Oxford, and had graduated M.A. 1636. John
Wickens at the time was occupying the post of head master at
Rochdale School, of which he had been chosen to take charge in
1638 by Archbishop Laud, at the same time as Laud chose his
own nephew, Robert Bath, to be vicar of Rochdale. Laud had
the reputation of being a good judge of character and ability,
and hi neither of these appointments was his judgment at
fault, though the direction in which both men ultimately used
their ability would doubtless have been a sore disappointment
to him had he lived to see it. Rochdale, like the other Lanca-
shire towns, was a centre of active Puritanism, and the two
young Oxford scholars became at first interested in and then
active supporters of Presbyterianism, and finally took the
Covenant together.
Robert Bath was appointed a preaching elder and John
Wickens one of the ruling or lay elders of the Bury Classis —
the Classis in which Rochdale was included. It is probable
that John Wickens was chosen elder owing to his scholarship
and ability to assist in examining the candidates for preaching,
and also that, being in charge of the local grammar school, he
was in a position to select and prepare scholars suitable for
undertaking the work of the ministry. There would naturally
be a frequent exchange of opinion and experience between
the Bury Classis and the Manchester one, which soon carried
the reputation of John Wickens there. He was not only
possessed of exceptional learning and piety, but his interests
were wide and his views on education were liberal. He was
perhaps related to William Wickens of St. Catherine's
College, Cambridge, and of Leyden University, a prominent
London minister in charge of St. Andrew's, Hubbard, 1649,
ejected from Poultry Chapel in 1662, who was a great student
of Jewish antiquities and Oriental learning. In 1654, John
Wickens was elected a ruling elder for Manchester, and seems
to have lived in Salford, then a residential suburb of Man-
chester, for his name does not appear in the Manchester Court
Leet records, neither does it occur in the records of the Salford
Port Mote. If so, he would be brought in contact with William
Meek, the first incumbent of the new Trinity Chapel, and with
Richard Holbrook who succeeded him, both men of moderate
views. His marriage with Penelope Chadwick, daughter of
John Chadwick, M.A., rector of Standish, brought him into
touch with some of the best Puritan families in the neigh-
76 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
bourhood. He also enjoyed the friendship of Richard Heyrick,
the Warden of the College, who, during all the ecclesiastical
changes at the Collegiate Church which took place at this
period, remained the head of the ministry and clergy in Man-
chester, as is shown by his being chosen moderator or chair-
man of the Manchester Classis. Scions of the best Puritan
families came to Wickens from all parts of Lancashire and
Cheshire, and not a few of the prominent Puritan preachers
placed their sons in lodgings in Manchester to be under his
care.
The town again became prosperous as soon as it recovered
from the severe visitation of the plague in 1645. The short
war with Holland, 1652-3, due to trade jealousy, rather
stimulated than curtailed its prosperity. Perhaps, too, the
adventures which many of the townsmen had passed through
in the Civil War had stirred their imagination and activities,1
for there must have been many contributing causes to the
marked success of the School during the Commonwealth.
During the period between the presentation of the Grand
Remonstrance (1641) and the restoration of the Stuart family
(1660), which largely coincides with the setting up of Presby-
terian discipline and the consequent specialisation of University
education to the training of ministers, sixty-six scholars can
be traced — eleven to Oxford, fifty-five to Cambridge. This
number was greatly in excess of the number during any corre-
sponding preceding period, particularly as regards scholars to
Cambridge,2 whose educational efficiency had been raised by
the exertions of its Vice-Chancellor, the Earl of Manchester.
There is a difference also in social class as well as in numbers,
for these University scholars were no longer exclusively the sons
of wealthy merchants or landowners, but included a number
of sons of less well-to-do citizens, for whose studies at the
University pecuniary assistance,3 either out of school funds or
from the private purses of wealthy citizens, had to be found.
1 In the list of soldiers who had served under Sir Ralph Assheton and
who were disbanded on January 15, 1647, and July 1648 by Captain Samuel
Birch, the Presbyterian commander who bought Ordsall Hall, the names
of several scholars who had taken part in the School Speech of 1640 occur : —
Cf. Hist. Com. Reports, Portland Papers, vol. iii. pp. 180-186 ; and Henry
Newcome's Diary, April 4, 1664.
* This being at the rate of three a year, instead of one every two
years.
8 See Matthew Poole, op. cit.
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 77
It is evident that a new social class was taking advantage
of the means of higher education. It is true that the majority
thus proceeding to the Universities were looking forward to
ordination as preachers, and this fact might be regarded as
showing a narrowing of the humanistic work of the School,
were it not for the fact that not only are biographical notes
of the candidates for ordination available for reference,1
but that these notes include lists of the subjects in which the
candidates were examined, the subjects being Divinity,
Chronology, Ecclesiastical History, Logic, Philosophy, Ethics,
Physics; and Metaphysics. As not a few of the candidates
were referred back to their studies, it may be presumed that
not only was the education provided a liberal one, but the
attainment demanded of candidates was a reasonably high
one.
In some respects it may be regarded as a revival of the
old system which had been replaced by Humanism, though
in other respects it materially differed from it. It was based
on the belief that human life was governed and directed to
some predetermined end rather than that it was capable under
favourable conditions of developing ends of its own. It
endeavoured to escape from a world of difficulty, struggles,
and disappointed hopes, which it regarded as a world of sin,
into a world within, where the mind dwelt in communion
with an all-ruling providence. This it called a State of Grace.
It was certainly more helpful than the permanent with-
drawal into monastery or cloister practised in the past.
Both systems involved a high capacity for unselfish devo-
tion , and bo tli produced men who by their learning and insight
have been pioneers in human progress ; but both failed when
considered as a system of education, suitable for all members
of the community, because they both failed to employ many
natural social instincts and emotions, and consequently in-
volved a truncation of so many of the possibilities of human
life.
The training in logic and metaphysics which the candi-
dates for the ministry received as part of their education, had
results more far-reaching than the immediate controversies.
The very thoroughness and heat with which matters of theo-
logical opinion and Church government were discussed, caused
1 Shaw, Manchester Classis (Chetham Society, N.S., vols. xx.-xxiv.)
78 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
such discussion to be followed with interest by many who were
not active participants. This led indirectly to the discovery
and recognition of the general principles by which social order
and government could be reconciled with individual develop-
ment and freedom. Two contemporary books, both written
by scholars who had been educated at the Grammar School,
attracted considerable attention at the time, and serve to
illustrate the indirect value of enlightened and open contro-
versy : Edward Gee of Eccleston, * The Divine Right and
Original of Civil Magistrates Illustrated and Vindicated ' ;
Richard Hollinworth, ' An Exercitation concerning Usurped
Powers.'
Of all the scholars who passed from the Manchester
School to University life, it is doubtful if any, with the single
exception of John Bradford, the famous martyr preacher,
exerted a wider influence on the thought of their own time
and in the direction and inspiration of others than John
Worthington, son of a town's merchant, who passed the
greater part of a lifetime not only in the study of the writings
of great thinkers, but in presenting and furthering the best
teaching of his contemporaries. His collection and anonymous
editing of the * Discourses of Joseph Mede,' to which he prefixed
a short biography, shedding light upon current university
education, is but one among many services he rendered.
The long list of scholars he welcomed to Cambridge during
his mastership of Jesus, and over whom he exercised a long
supervision, affords perhaps a still better illustration of his
public services.
It is probable that Worthington's contemporaries re-
ceived the credit for much creative thought which should
be given rightly to him, and which he would have received
if he had published his studies under his own name instead
of spending his life in the collection and interpretation of
the studies of others. He might then have been called to
occupy some episcopal chair, and receive such outward
honour as would have secured the public recognition of his
merits and established him among the leaders of the Church.
Instead of that, he passed the latter part of his days in poverty
in an obscure country parsonage. We shall meet with further
instances of his kindness and thought for the School and
town at a later date.
On October 6, 1654, six new feoffees were elected in the
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 79
place of six who were deceased. The feoffees' Michaelmas
meeting was summoned to pass the School accounts and to
grant the exhibitions to the boys passing to the University,
as recommended by the high master and the Warden, whose
place was at this time probably taken by Mr. Johnson or
Mr. Hollinworth.
In 1656 the leading parishioners of the town sent an
invitation to Henry Newcome (1627-1695), of St. John's
College, Cambridge, minister at Gawsworth, and Master of
Congleton Grammar School, to come to Manchester to succeed
Richard Hollinworth as preacher at the Collegiate Church.
John Wickens' name occurs amongst the requisitioned. For
the next thirty years, though Heyrick remained the official
head of the Church in Manchester, Newcome remained its
most popular and most beloved minister.
At the time Newcome came to Manchester there was
urgent need for combining moderation of opinion with
earnestness of purpose.1 Owing to straitened family cir-
cumstances, he had left the University before completing his
training ; his knowledge of current theology was therefore
not very deep. This may even have been of some advantage
to him as a popular preacher, for he made up for his defici-
ency by being ahead of his time in his attachment to the
more humanising studies of History and Travel. Indeed,
an early critic told him that he put too much history into
his sermons, and that people brought their Bibles to church
with them and expected quotations from Scripture instead
of from History. His diary and autobiography2 contain
constant reference to the books he read, as well as to the
local Grammar School, and to the poorer scholars who needed
financial help. They give a pathetic description of the
struggle which a contemplative nature experienced during
trying and quarrelsome times in his daily work as preacher
and parochial visitor. One such visit is to Luke Sut-
cliffe, schoolmaster in Salford, ' whom I found extremely
weak and desirous to repent of his wicked life. The
Lord pity him and help him in his sad estate ! ' Luke
Sutcliffe died in June 1662. The reference, combined with
1 The Savoy Conference of one hundred Independent ministers and
laymen was held October 1658.
2 Chetham Society, O.S., vols. xviii., xxvi., and xxvii.
80 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
references to other schoolmasters in the parochial registers of
the time, show that local education was not entirely confined
to the Grammar School, but of these teachers and schools
all but the bare names are lost. The diary also reveals Henry
Newcome's anxiety about subscribing to the Covenant im-
posed by Parliament in 1650 ; about the ensnaring influence
of his conferences with ' high Independents,' whose learning
he respected but feared ; about the ' great boasting of the
unsettled hankering party ' when William Barratt, an In-
dependent, was allowed to preach at Macclesfield ; of Henry
Newcome's relief when such preaching was ' nothing taking '
. . . and ' never gained one member from us, nor ever after
had any opportunity to disturb us, but the people were
settled hereafter and kept close unto us.1
On one occasion only Newcome himself is moved to
persecution. By means of an Act passed in 1659 against
blasphemous tenets, he succeeded in getting Harrison, who
was infusing among the people the tenets he regarded as so
dangerous, committed to prison at Chester for six months
' . . . and it proved an utter riddance of him out of our part.'
Such action was much opposed to the general tendency of
Newcome's conduct towards others and was not repeated.
His autobiography tells of his further anxieties in his work,
and his efforts in assisting suitable candidates to obtain
such posts as morning lecturer to the College, assistant
librarian to Chetham's foundation, &c. His comment on
his visit to the daughter of William Crabtree at the house of
Broughton, which the astronomer had built, is illuminating,
for it shows the disadvantage which Henry Newcome under-
lay on account of the limitation of his early training.
He (William Crabtree) was a famous mathematician and had
built the house ; ' I hope a better mystery [i.e. religious
devotion] resides in it now.'
No account of the effect of Puritan preaching and practice
upon the spread of learning in Manchester would be complete
which did not recognise the work of Henry Newcome.
Three of the new feoffees, who had been appointed in 1654,
also served on the Chetham foundation, and, as two of those
still remaining also held similar office, it is probable that the
relationship between the School and the Library were well
considered, particularly as John Wickens, the high master,
PRESBYTERIAN DISCIPLINE AND LEARNING 81
had been called upon to assist Newcome in the arrangement
of the books which were being purchased. For his services
Wickens received the thanks of the Chetham feoffees and a
present of twenty nobles. John Wickens applied for per-
mission for his advanced pupils to use the Chetham Library,
and some of them were able to support themselves partially
by taking temporary or subordinate charge under the duly
appointed librarian.1
1 Nathaniel Baxter, when preparing for his final examination for degree
B.A., Cambridge, 1657, came to live in Manchester in order that he might
have the use of the Library, for the custody of which he was subsequently
an unsuccessful candidate.
CHAPTER V
1660-1689
THE RISE OF NATURALISM
' The animosities are mortal, but the Humanities live for ever.' — ' Pro-
fessor Wilson's Apology to Leigh Hunt.'
Latin ceasea to be the language of Commerce, but the love of learning con-
tinues to be cultivated by the evicted Nonconformist ministers — Presby-
terians of Manchester welcome the return of the Stuarts — Arrival of
books purchased for the Chetham Library — Further local encourage-
ment of learning by Nicholas Stratford, Warden of the College, 1667-
1684— Richard Wroe, Fellow 1671, Warden 1684, who encourages
the local study of Natural Philosophy — Catholics are welcomed at
Oxford and favour the French critical study of the Classics — Occu-
pations followed by the learned evicted ministers — Adam Martindale
teaches mathematics — Influence of the Restoration on the Grammar
School — Threatened departure of John Wickens, who is appointed head
master of the Haberdashers' School at Newport — Agitation in the
town : Wickens is persuaded to stay in Manchester — His death —
William Barrow appointed high master 1678 — Almshouses erected in
Manchester — A Nonconformist academy for girls flourishes in the town
— The Romanist controversy.
THE changes which took place on the return of the Stuarts
from France were naturally most marked in the metropolis,
and in the circles about the Court. They were, however, far-
reaching, though slower to manifest themselves throughout
the country. The letter service by Royal Post had recently
been organised and main services along the six great roads
from London established, with post offices set up, which
served not only for the delivery of letters but for the purvey-
ance of intelligence.1 Increased intercourse with foreign coun-
1 Cf. The Post Office: an Historical Survey, published by H.M.
Stationery Office. Some Interesting Correspondence on the Manchester
Postmastership occurs in Domestic State Papers, 1686-7.
82
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 83
tries was leading to the disuse of Latin for commercial purposes
and for travel : it was also ceasing to be spoken at the English
Universities. Classical and Hebrew learning were no longer
the condition and qualification for professional advancement,
and dogmatic theology was displaced from its premier position,
for new interests were attracting attention.
Yet though Puritan discipline had failed to provide
a basis of government and its theology a system of
knowledge, its habits of serious thought and contemplation
remained deeply ingrained in English middle-class life.
For merchants and country gentry, no other institutions
had yet arisen to take the place of grammar schools,
which consequently retained their Puritan tendencies. The
study of the translated Hebrew Scriptures continued to
stir their imagination, and gave citizens that self-reliance
in moral judgment which has always been one of the
most valued possessions of English family life. The very
steps taken by Clarendon and the Church party who supported
him, to set the English Church upon a secure foundation by
rigidly excluding all who would not conform to the tests they
imposed, and to subject all Nonconformists — as they were now
called — to persecution, resulted in the maintenance of learning
among them. It spread those qualities which made Noncon-
formity really dangerous to a State Church, for, under perse-
cution, Puritanism lost the intolerance and self-sufficiency it
had exhibited in its days of power, and learnt that the true
source of its strength lay in the humble study of righteousness
and wisdom, and in the necessarily slow cultivation of personal
character. Daily intercourse with fellow creatures whose
failings and strivings were a cementing rather than a dividing
force, formed a better school than that which taught highly
developed rhetoric.
Such a class of men was hardly likely to surrender the
freedom of opinion they had already gained, and when they
could no longer cultivate it at home, they continued to do so by
intercourse with their fellow-countrymen and co-religionists
abroad. The subsequent attempts of Ashley, Lord Shaftes-
bury, who succeeded Clarendon, to secure comprehension of
the Nonconformists into a representative English Church,
and their joint union with Protestant Churches abroad, failed,
because Charles II, like Louis XIV, was striving to develop
a selfish nationalism founded on class privilege.
84 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The Nonconformists continued to use the grammar schools
for the training of their children,1 and sent many of them
subsequently to private academies either to continue their
studies at a university level,2 or preparatory to going
to the Scottish or foreign universities for special study. A
considerable number, however, continued to go to Cambridge.
At Oxford, Catholic emissaries, encouraged by the Stuarts,
were imparting a new zest to the study of the Classics,
owing to the better cultivation of these subjects in France,
and at the same time were alienating the allegiance of
scholars from their Protestant traditions. This once again
emphasised the difference between the kind of scholars who
attended the two English Universities.
Many Puritan scholars however retained their affection
for their own Universities and for a time continued to send
their sons thither, believing that though they themselves
were debarred by their consciences from repudiating the
oath they had taken in signing the Covenant, and in signing
their approval of the Thirty-nine Articles, yet such scruples
did not necessarily apply to their children. Philip Henry
(1631-1694), once of Oxford University, a prominent Puritan
teacher and scholar, who had been ejected from Malpas, in the
Chester diocese, and who afterwards lived on his small estate
at Broad Oak, near the place of his former ministry, spent his
time training young pupils. Of him his biographer relates :
' He had so great a kindness for the University and valued
so much the mighty advantages of improvement there, that
he advised all his friends who designed their children for
scholars to send them thither for many years after the change,
though he always counted upon their conformity. But long
experience altered his mind thereupon and he chose rather
to keep his own son at home with him, and to give him what
help he could there in his education than venture him into
the snares and temptation of the University. Sometimes
he had such with him as had gone through their course of
University learning at private academies, and desired to
1 Several London and other merchants founded new grammar schools,
such [as the one governed by the Haberdashers' Company at Whitney,
Oxfordshire. — Abraham Oowley's Book of Proposals for Founding a
Philosophical College out of the Qresham College, London, was favoured by
Worthington (letter to Hartlieb, 1661).
* Lectures were given in Latin in many of these academies after its use
had been discontinued at Oxford.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 85
spend some time in his family before their entrance on
the ministry that they might have the benefit not only of
his public and family instructions but of his learned and
pious discourse in which as he was thoroughly furnished
for every good work and word, so he was very free and
communicative.' 1
In an account of the Rev. Thomas Cotton, a native of
Workley, County York (published in 1730), it is stated that
when between six and seven years old, that is about 1660,
he was placed at the Free School of Rotherham. After
that he was brought home and more carefully instructed
by John Spawford. . . . ' But the greater advantage
he had from school learning was under the famous Mr.
Wickens of Manchester.' From that school he went to
Mr. Hickman's Academy, near Bromsgrove, co. Worcester.
Mr. Hickman ' was so disabled by age that he made a
very short stay there, and was removed from thence to
Mr. Frankland's in Westmoreland, and from thence to
Edinburgh. He finished his studies and trials in that
University about the year 1677, and had the degree of
M.A. conferred upon him.'2
Peter and Andrew Birch, sons of Thomas Birch, of Birch
Hall, entered at Oxford, where they sojourned in the house
of an apothecary, became students in the public library,
and had a tutor to instruct them in philosophic learning ;
but they did not matriculate, as, owing to their Noncon-
formity, they could not enter a College. The scruples of
Peter were, however, ultimately overcome, for he took his
M.A. 1674. About 1680 he must have been connected with
the Prestwich Library, for he seems to have been in possession
of the remaining funds and books which had become dis-
persed. He was created D.D. in 1688, became Prebendary
of Westminster, and was then ' a great stickler for the High
Church Party.'
The influences which enabled the Manchester School to
adapt itself to the changed condition of affairs and to continue
to supply a stream of scholars desirous of pursuing the higher
branches of learning, in spite of the falling off in public
support of a Presbyterian Ministry, were numerous and to
some extent special to the town.
1 Life of Philip Henry, p. 145.
2 Palatine Note Book, March 1882, p. 58.
86 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Both Episcopalians and Presbyterians, in Manchester as
elsewhere, eagerly welcomed the return of the Stuarts. The
Independents alone, with their fuller experience of the value
of Stuart promises and their more uncompromising principles,
held aloof. The celebrations in Manchester took place on
April 22, 1661, and were organised by Major John Byrom
and Captain Nicholas Mosley, who had both fought on the
Royalist side. Schoolboys as well as their elders took
part, the former no doubt with keener relish than in the
previous public celebration of the opening of the Chetham
Library. The scene is described by an eye-witness :
* Before Capt. Mosley's Company marched, in honour of the
day, forty young boys about the age of seven years, all clothed
in white stuff, plumes of feathers in their hats, blue scarfs,
armed with little swords hanging in black belts and short-
pikes shouldered. And in the rear of the said Captain's
company another company of elder boys about twelve years
of age with muskets and pikes, drums beating and colours
flying, marched in order, all which being decently drawn up
in the churchyard, laid down their arms and so passed into
the church to hear the sermon prepared for the day. At
which time there was such a concourse of people who civilly
and soberly demeaned themselves the whole of the day, the
like never seen in this nor the like place. The Rev. Richard
Heyricke, Warden of the College, made an orthodox sermon
. . . after the sermon, from the church marched in their
order the boroughreeve, constables, and the rest of the
burgesses of the town not then in arms accompanied by
Sir Ralph Ash ton, son of the general who had died in 1652.
. . . After drinking the king's health the Company as
before with the young boys marched into the town.' *
Richard Heyrick, the old Warden, who had from the
first strong Presbyterian leanings, was anxious about his
position, and hastened to London to make peace. He had
already suffered much in his struggles against the Repub-
lican party, and had always been a strong Royalist. His
claims to the retention of the wardenship rested on purchase
as well as on past service. He was consequently re-estab-
lished in his position, and, although he had previously signed
the Covenant, his principles were so emphatically on the side
1 Manner and Solemnitie of the King's Coronation at Manchester,
W. Heawood, 1661.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 87
of order and discipline, that he found himself able to assent
to the Act of Uniformity and to avoid eviction. Richard
Johnson, the single surviving Fellow of the old regime, who
had done so much for the College in securing its charter of
1636, was naturally restored to his old position.
Henry Newcome had during the last four years held
the position of ' preacher ' by public appointment. He had
never been actually elected Fellow, owing to the government
of the College according to its proper constitution having
been abandoned. Much to his disappointment and that
of his numerous friends, he did not receive an offer of one
of the three vacant fellowships. These were rilled up by
the appointment of Francis Mosley, who had been educated
at Manchester School under Brideoak, and at Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, under Dr. Worthington ; Thomas Weston,
of Oriel College, Oxford, who spent most of his time in
London ; and John Birch, son of George Birch, of Birch
Hall, educated at Manchester School, and also of Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, B.A. 1654, who died December 1670.
The local ecclesiastical conditions were favourable to
the spread of liberal thought. During the time that the
persecuting Acts should have been enforced, the Bishopric
of Chester was repeatedly vacant. Brian Walton, appointed
at the Restoration, held office only for eleven months. At
his death his successor only held the post for five weeks.
Bishop Hall held it from 1662 to 1668, when he was succeeded
by Bishop Wilkins, who may have owed his appointment
to his interest in the establishment of the Royal Society for
the Advancement of Natural Knowledge. His work on the
question of the Inhabitants of the Moon is still readable.
In 1667 the Wardenship of the Manchester College be-
came vacant owing to the death of Richard Heyrick. There
were several candidates for the post. John Worthington
had renewed his connection with Manchester, while staying
at Rostherne with his brother-in-law, and had introduced
Adam Martindale to John Wickens as a teacher of mathe-
matics. He now looked forward to settling in his native
town, as appears in the following letter, in which he seeks
the help of Archbishop Sheldon, dated August 12, 1667 :
* That which commends this place to me is that Manchester
is my native town where I was born and brought up. My
88 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
father was a grave, peaceful, honest man, one of chief note
and esteem in the town, a diligent caller of me up to the
early prayers in the church before I went to school. ^ The
town is become more acceptable to me by reason of the good
library which I sometime mentioned to your Grace where
I might have the advantage and pleasure of following my
private studies. It is a cheap place to live in, otherwise the
Wardenship would hardly be a competency to me that hath
4 children to take care for, and desires to live upon it
without other additional dignities. I am now in the after-
noon of my life and it hath been for some time my desire
that I might end my days among my friends, leave my
children among them and be gathered to the sepulchres of
my fathers. My desire also is to do the Church some service
there.
fc: 'What service I did heretofore in the late times is known
to some whom your Grace values.
' Mr. Richard Johnson is my ancient acquaintance. Mr.
Francis Mosley [another Fellow] was my pupil in Cambridge,
one whom I caused to be perfect in Music, and if I should
not know more what belongs to Church music than some
that are dignified, I have ill bestowed my time and money.'
In a subsequent letter he wrote :
' 1 had letters from Lancashire about it [the wardenship
of the College], one a little before his [Mr. Heyrick's] death,
another after it, wishing me to look after the place, it being
the desire of many and the chief there, to enjoy me. I suppose
it was too late, and yet because I would not seem to neg-
lect my friends I wrote two letters, one to the Archbishop,
the other to the Bishop of Rochester, of whose good will
towards me I had received proof formerly.'
The appointment was given to a younger man of con-
siderable intellectual as well as of administrative skill and
energy — Nicholas Stratford, who from the first exerted great
influence on Manchester life. He possessed a benevolent nature
and won the respect of Churchmen and Nonconformists alike.
On the death of Richard Johnson, which occurred very soon
after Stratford came to Manchester, he was elected a gover-
nor of the Chetham Foundation, and at once took an active
interest in the choice of books for the library, about which
he was accustomed to consult the most eminent scholars
of the day. He reorganised the work of the Collegiate body
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 89
and improved its discipline. He obtained the appointment
of learned and suitable persons as Fellows of the College.
Richard Wroe,1 a young scholar from the Prestwich district,
perhaps educated at the Manchester Grammar School, who
had won high praise at Jesus College for his devotion to
Natural Philosophy, being appointed in succession to Francis
Mosley.
There were other circumstances which favoured a widen-
ing of intellectual interests in Manchester at this time. The
town was becoming wealthy, and the intercourse, not only
with Holland, but with other foreign countries was increasing.2
Great as was the commercial rivalry between England and
Holland, the common interests which bound the two peoples
together were still greater, though it was nearly a genera-
tion before the merchants of England fully realised the claims
of the Dutch for their support against the aggressive designs
of Louis XIV. An increasing number of English scholars were
attending the Dutch Universities and profiting intellectually
and morally by this continued intercourse, consequently
the means taken by the Court persecuting party to revenge
themselves on their Puritan opponents were also the means of
spreading their real influence. Debarred from preaching, the
more learned evicted ministers occupied themselves in the
professions of medicine and law, subjects which they had
studied in Holland, and on their return England con-
tinued greatly to benefit by Dutch learning. Other evicted
ministers employed themselves in private teaching. Their
pupils were amongst the most thoughtful and enterprising
of the merchant and higher yeoman classes. Divinity had
ceased to dominate their outlook, and studies were directed
into humanistic and naturalistic channels.
The changed point of view in learning is well illustrated
in the difference between the books that were purchased
for the Great Scholars Library between 1653 and 1660 by
Richard Johnson (Anglican), Richard Hollinworth (Puritan),
and John Tilsley (Puritan), and those purchased after
1663, when the other governors of the Charity — merchants
and professional men — had had time to realise and express
1 An ingenious Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (Flamstead to
Collins, April 7, 1672).
1 The office of postmaster became of considerable importance and much
sought after.— Correspondence, Domestic State Papers, 1666-7.
90 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
their own needs and tastes. In the first set there were some
3900 volumes, many of which were portly folios, com-
prising the collected works of the Early Christian Fathers,
the works of the great scholars of the Middle Ages. In the
second set we can trace the influence of the wealthy apo-
thecary, Thomas Mynshull, the councillors-at-law, Richard
Howarth and James Lightbourne, and the foreign merchants,
Edward Johnson, James Marler, &c., for we find Gerrard's
' Herbal,' 1633, Anatus' * Seven Hundred Medical Remedies,'
Rhenodus' ' Medical Dispensary,' Mylius' * Medical Chem-
istry,' the works of the Cambridge Neoplatonists, Henry
More and John Smith, numerous works and commentaries
on English Law ; while English literature is recognised in
the presence of the works of Chaucer and Spenser.1
Now the study of medicine was at this time increas-
ingly regarded as a branch of general learning and not merely
the preparation for a professional career. Interest in the new
subject began to increase when Dr. Stratford resigned the
Wardenship in 1684. On the recommendation of Dr. Pearson,
Bishop of Chester, Richard Wroe was appointed Warden
in his place. Although not officially appointed a governor
of the Chetham Trust till 1692, he was present at many
of the library meetings, and was evidently consulted by the
other governors as to the choice of new books. It was
probably owing to his influence that they purchased for the
library * a speaking trumpet, a microscope, a telescope,
prisms, a pair of looking-glasses and a multiplying glass '-
these purchases being evidently associated with the optical
studies then carried on at Cambridge under Newton and
the microscopic studies conducted by Lewenhoeck and
Malpighi in Holland.2
1 Of. also MS. Note Book of Rev. John Hyde, dated 1674, in charge of
Salford Chapel, which gives a list of books he studied. — Palatine Note Book,
vol. vii. p. 39.
1 Besides these instruments there were purchased about this time
Willoughby's History of English Birds, 1678 ; Malpighi, The Development
of the Chick, 1673 ; Kircher's Physiology, 1676 ; Borelli, On the Movements
of Animals, 1680 ; Creulichian, On Bile, 1681 ; Grew's Anatomy of Plants,
1682 ; BayhV Natural History of the Blood, 1684 ; Gibson's Anatomy, 1684 ;
Morison and Bobart's History of Plants, 1680 (2 vols.); Ray's Natural
History of Plants (3 vols.) ; Keil's Physics, 1705 ; Cooper's Anatomy, 1698 ;
Rohault's Physics, 1702 : E. Dickenson's Physics, 1702 ; Locke's Essays
on the Human Understanding, 1694.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 91
The philosophical studies which had been encouraged
at Jesus College during the mastership of John Worthington
were evidently still continued there, for a number of local
scholars, particularly those intending to pursue a medical
career, had studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, even when
they had previously graduated in Arts at Oxford. This was
Warden Richard Wroe's own College, and Nathaniel
Banne, an evicted minister from Rutland, went there to study
medicine before he settled in Manchester. It is interesting
to note that, when the famous John Locke left an uncon-
genial atmosphere at Oxford to settle down to the quiet
study of natural phenomena, he found opportunity in the
home and under the stimulating and benevolent influence
of Lady Masham, who inherited the interests and mental
ability of her father, Ralph Cudworth — the most eminent
of the Cambridge Neoplatonists, and the intimate friend
of John Worthington. The two prominent Manchester
physicians, Nathaniel Banne and Charles Leigh, had both
graduated M.D. from Jesus College in 1680. Nathaniel Banne
was appointed governor of Chetham's Hospital in 1681 and
at once took an interest in the choice of books. His son
was acting librarian during the ill-health of Thomas Pendleton
from 1690, and was officially appointed in 1693.
In marked contrast to the influence exerted by the Dutch
on English learning was that exerted by the French, whose
study of the Classics was patronised by the Court as a social
accomplishment. Some £15,000 was spent by the French
Government in editing and publishing a series of eighty
volumes, known, from its dedication to the Dauphin, as the
Delphin Edition. The scarcely concealed Catholic mission to
England stimulated classical study at Oxford. The earliest
existing inscription * Manchester School Library ' is found in a
copy of Cicero's ' Orations ' published in 1577. It was at one
time owned by Obadiah Dana, son of James Dana of Man-
chester, who left the school for Trinity College, Oxford, 1674,
graduating B.A. in 1678. He proceeded thence to Douay, and
became a Benedictine monk. The names of several other
Manchester scholars are to be found in the Douay records
and in Dodd's « History of the English Church/ which suggests
that, while those scholars, whether Catholic or Protestant,
who desired further to pursue classical studies often left
Oxford for Douay, those who were inclined towards natural
92 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
science or mathematics passed to Cambridge and perhaps
to the Dutch Universities.
The encouragement of Roman Catholics and High
Churchmen at Oxford also resulted in the increased study
of the Early Christian Fathers. New works on these sub-
jects continued to appear at Chetham Library. Owing to
the spread of High Church principles, Oxford had now re-
sumed its position as the most favoured entrance to the
clerical profession, a position which Cambridge had occupied
during the time of the Commonwealth. A study of the
comparative numbers of Manchester scholars proceeding to
the two Universities illustrates the growing favour of
Oxford, particularly for those intending to take up a career
in the Church. Many of those desiring to study medicine,
after beginning at Oxford, continued their studies at the
sister University.
Manchester provided a very convenient home for Non-
conformists. In the first place several of the persecuting
Acts did not apply. The Corporation Act which compelled
all municipal officers to receive the communion according
to Anglican use, to renounce the Covenant, and take the oath
of non-resistance, had no force, for Manchester was still,
politically speaking, only a village governed by its anti-
quated Court Leet and without any municipal officers. It
is true that the county magistrates at their quarterly
sessions were taking over many of the duties of the Court
Leet, particularly those of imposing punishments for acts
of violence, but they had been educated at the School and
served on numerous bodies with the Nonconformists,
consequently they avoided dealing with matters of Church
discipline such as the use of the Book of Common Prayer and
the public expression of assent and consent to its contents
by all ministers and schoolmasters. For this reason many
evicted ministers found Manchester a convenient asylum
as well as a favourable place for professional employment.
Richard Holbrook, ejected from Trinity Chapel, Salford,
and Robert Birch, ejected from Birch Chapel, both became
physicians ; Edward Richardson, son of Thomas Richardson,
born 1617, M.A. Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Chaplain
of Manchester College, ' entered himself on the Physics line
at Leyden.' He returned to preaching on the passing of the
Act of Indulgence, 1671, 'a competent scholar, a pious man,
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 93
and very laborious in his Master's work J (H. Newcome) ;
Richard Goodwin, M.A., also of Emmanuel College, Cam-
bridge, ejected from Bolton on the passing of the Five Mile
Act, took refuge in Manchester, ' lived, retired and studied
Chemistry in which he was a great proficient ' (Calamy) , till
the Act of Indulgence of 1672, when he returned to Bolton.
He then took out a licence and continued preaching till
his death, December 19, 1685.
The struggles to obtain a living for those without inde-
pendent means were very severe. It is evident that Henry
Newcome's wife did something towards supporting the
family, for she undertook a good deal of private nursing and
midwifery. She attended Mrs. Wickens in her last illness,
February 1668.
The following is extracted from the diary of Adam
Martindale 1 at the time of his eviction :
' I thought of Physic and was encouraged by an anti-
quated practitioner promising me books and other assistance ;
but I considered the time would be long, practice uncertain
and above all that the lives of men were not to be jested
with, and bethought me of a less dangerous study, viz. some
useful parts of the Mathematics, and although I was now
almost forty years of age, and knew little more than Arith-
metic in the vulgar way and decimals in Jager's bungling
method, I fell close to the study of decimals in a more
artificial manner, logarithms, algebra and other arts, since
by me professed, in which work I was encouraged and
assisted by my noble Lord Delamere who gave me many
excellent books and instruments, lent me his choicest MSS.,
imparted freely any knowledge he had, and, which was as
useful as anything else, put me upon answering hard and
tedious questions which the distemper of his own head some
times prohibited him to beat out himself, and took very
kindly any new rule that I could invent to make operations
more short or plain than was to be found in books. While
I was fitting myself for this work, following my studies early
and late . . . the Act against Conventicles comes out . . .
I was under a necessity to throw up my school ; as I did,
placing mine own sonne, at Sir Peter Brooke's instance,
undertaking to pay the Master at Manchester School, under
Mr. Wickens, a most excellent teacher. I was very well used
by my brother and sister Hill for his diet and lodging, yet
1 Chetham Society, vol. iv. pp. 175-6.
94 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
that together with many costly books and apparel suitable
to ordinary men's sons in that proud town (he never having
any faculty for taking care of his clothes) was pretty heavy
to one of my small estate, so that something must be followed
whereby I might honestly get somewhat and yet would
give me leave to find time for lecturing among my own people,
and God presently put me into the way. My Lord Delamere
as His instrument, commending me to his town of Warring-
ton, where, notwithstanding the backwardness of the school-
master and the energy of some Scholiasts, I had scholars
enough which I thank God profited well and I got by them
20s. to 25s. per week to the best of my remembrance.'
On the passing of the Five Mile Act, by which Noncon-
formists were forbidden to teach within five miles of a cor-
porate town, Adam Martindale removed his family from
Warrington to share a house at Rostherne, his old home, with
Mr. Joseph Allen, of Birkenhead, while he himself proceeded
to Manchester to teach Mathematics. * When I came to
Manchester I had much encouragement from Mr. Wickens,
Master of the Free School, who sent me a good number of
his most ingenious boys and admired their great proficiency.'
In his * Country Surveying Book,' Adam Martindale
says :
' When I first began to instruct youths in Mathematical
learning at Warrington, some of my boys' parents desired
a sensible demonstration of their sons' proficiency, in some-
what that they themselves could understand, and particu-
larly pitched upon measuring a piece of land.
* Whereupon I took four or five of my scholars to the
Heath with me that had only been exercised within^ the
walls of the School, and never saw, that I know of, so much
as a chain laid on the ground, and to the admiration of the
spectators, and especially of a skilful surveyor then living
in the town, they went about their work as regularly and
dispatched it with as much expedition and exactness as if
they had been old Land Surveyors (p. 66) '.x
4 In the latter of these years [viz. 1667], Mr. Wickens
told me my son was fully ripe for the University and ad-
vised me to send him thither. I resolved that he should
be no stranger to academical learning, but how this
1 See also Ley bourn On Dialling ', Aaron Rath bone On Surveying, and
Notes and Queries, Third Series, vol. vii. (4th edition).
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 97
might be done needed consideration, for I was not free to
have him engaged in such oaths, subscriptions or practices
as I could not downe with myself ; not that I would tie him
to be of mine opinion, when he was once a man of competent
years and abilities to choose for himself, but, if possible, I
desired that he might be a good scholar without being in-
volved in what he understood not. In order to do this I
sent him up to Cambridge at the commencement, entered
him at Trinity College and paid his detriments a good while
there, though he came down immediately ; and after he had
learned some logic in the country, I sent him up to Oxford,
tabled him in a private house, and my noble friend, Sir Peter
Brook, prevailed with a gentleman of Brazenose College
to give him his tuition in his chamber. He could not
indeed be admitted to disputations in the Hall because no
member of the College, but he might be present at those
in the Schools. Here he profitted well, but was wearied
out with his pragmatical old school fellows that would be
ever asking when he must be entered and why he lost his
time, to which it was not convenient to give any account.
When I understood his trouble, I went up to him, taking
Mr. Hickman's house in my way (about five miles from
Stourbridge in Worcestershire), whom I found ready and
willing to receive him ... He stayed with this learned tutor
two years, who had a deare respect for him and brought
him clearly through the whole body of philosophic. ... I
took a journey with my son to Glasgow in Scotland, April
1670, where, being examined by the Principal and Regent
for that year's Laureation, he was admitted into the class of
magistrands, that is such as were to commence Master of
Arts about seventeen weeks after. In which time he ran
through the whole written bodie of Philosophic, went with
approbation through the smart examination on the Black-
Stone and was laureated, that is admitted Master of Arts.
. . . Among all that class there were three that were
accounted eminently the most able : George Glen, a Scotch
youth, my cousin Timothy Hill and my son. These three
were closely linked together in friendship and kept up con-
stant disputations, everyone in his turn being moderator,
opponent, and respondent, whereby they much improved
themselves and one another. For the carrying on of which
work and acquainting himself with Professor Burnet
[subsequently Bishop of Salisbury, Historian] in his way of
teaching Divinity, and to give Edinburgh College also a
visit on his way home to see the method there, he desired
me to give him leave to stay longer, which I did.'
98 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
As the funds at the disposal of the Chetham feoffees in-
creased, it became possible for them to make still further
purchase of books. Warden Stratford used his influence
with John Pearson, the famous Bishop of Chester (between
1667 and 1686), and with the almost equally famous scholar
William Lloyd, Bishop of Bangor (1680-1692), who was a
nephew of John Wickens, the late high master, to secure
their interest in the selection of books. The following letter
from the London bookseller employed is extant :
' HONBD SIR, — I have now received from Dr. Stratford
the names of such books as are made choice of for the library
by the Bishops of Chester and St. Asaph, who being so great
masters of learning and books that I believe there are scarce
two more able in the kingdom. Nothing more remaines
for me to do but to take all possible care and to get carriage
as reasonable as may be. Thus much I presume would not
be amiss to let you understand, which my humble services
presented is from
' Your most obliged servant,
' Rl>. LlTTLEBUBY.'
We must now retrace our steps to the study of the
influence of the Restoration on the management of the
Grammar School.
The status of the feoffees who had been appointed by
the Commissioners in 1647 and who had filled vacancies in
1654 was naturally challenged by Sir Cecil Trafford, who, as a
Catholic Royalist and a recusant, had been thrown out, though
two of his Puritan co- trustees, Robert Hyde and Richard
Holland, had been confirmed in their appointment. He now
attempted to turn the tables and secure the appointment
of nominees of his own choice. Considerable correspon-
dence took place between the two parties and Sir Orlando
Bridgeman, Chief Secretary of State, who, as a son of a
previous Bishop of Chester, possessed local knowledge and
influence. In the first list submitted,1 the two parties were
equally represented, the names of six Royalists being in-
cluded with six Puritans, but later five Puritans were erased,
one died, and six other Royalists were added.
With the exception of Sir George Booth, the substituted
1 Letter from the Trustees of the Manchester School to Secretary
Nicholas, 1660.— Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. E. 2537.283.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 99
feoffees seemed less likely to attend to the interests of the
school than those they displaced, who were prominent citi-
zens of the town and were also actively engaged in securing
the administration of the Trust of the Chetham Library and
School, two of them being lawyers, two physicians, and two
merchants. The substituted ones,1 on the other hand, were
members of large landowning families in the district who
were less likely to secure the constant readaptation of school
policy to changing needs. There were, however, some ad-
vantages in the change, at least to the feoffees themselves,
for they received further training from the performance in
public duties, while certain advantages ultimately accrued
to the School, in the form of benefactions which some of
the feoffees secured for its ablest scholars. The new feoffees
also possessed the disposal of a considerable amount of Church
patronage, and would look favourably on the claims of local
scholars. The effect of the change is shown in the altered
incidence of the scholars to the Universities.
The position of the high master was somewhat precarious.
Mr. Wickens had been chosen by the Court of Triers and ap-
proved by the old trustees, who had been similarly appointed
during the Commonwealth. He had not, as previous high
masters, been appointed by the President of Corpus Christi, and
he had signed the Covenant. Fortunately he had a good friend
among the new governors who possessed influence at Court.
William Butterworth, of Belfield, when preparing to study
at Gray's Inn, had been his old pupil, and wrote the following
letter to John Nicholas, one of the Secretaries of State : 2
' HONOURED COUSIN, — The many favours I received from
you and the great candor I found in you, during my small
stay at London, hath embould'ned me to importune you
in the behalf of this my worthy friend. The School at Man-
chester (for which he comes to solicit) being of an Episcopal
and brave foundation, is likely now to be ruined, except
upholden by the Secretaries, and your gracious assistance.
If you please to lend him your ear he will acquaint you more
fully with his requests. I doubt not but that your owne
love of learning will be a great motive to your speedy and
effectual dispatch hereof ; which I am the more urgent to
move you to do, by reason of the honour that will accrue
1 See Appendix. 2 British Museum MSS. F. 283, E. 92537.
100 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to you thereby, when it shall be known that by your means
alone this ancient foundation is revived from its ashes, and
restored to its pristine splendour. This trouble whiph I
create you I hope will finde yr pardon when you consider,
it is the only Schoole master I ever had, that wished me
to do it, to whom I owe wt I am, and can deny nothing
that lies in my power, hee is ould and infirm, if you
therefore please to expedite his business it shall be accounted
as done to him who subscribe himself e
* Yr obliged Kinsman & humble servant
' WILL BUTTERWORTH.
« Belfield : Sep. ye 29, 1660.' (Seal.)
Fortunately this application was successful, and Mr.
Wickens was confirmed in his position at the School.
Of all the influences that kept alive a devotion to high
aims and a love of learning in Manchester through the times
which succeeded the Restoration, that of Henry Newcome
stands foremost. He had fully earned a fellowship for his
past services in preaching and in parochial visitation, and his
appointment had certainly been the general expectation
of the local inhabitants. It is doubtful if his conscience
would have allowed him to retain the position after the
passing of the Act of Uniformity. He remained in the town
and continued a regular private worshipper at the Colle-
giate Church. He had always been in favour of moderation
and, on the cessation of his public preaching, his influence
in the town increased rather than diminished. He was the
constant visitor, ready helper, and spiritual adviser of
all who needed him in trouble and anxiety. In his journals
we get a clear insight into the intellectual and moral striv-
ings of contemporary Conformist as well as Nonconformist
Manchester homes. They tell us of his playing billiards
with the Warden, and bowls at the home of the wealthy
apothecary Thomas Mynshull ; of his curiosity in watching
the dancers and conjurers, and of his subsequent regret that
he had wasted his time in such frivolities ; of his love of
smoking, and his serious questioning with himself as to
whether he was growing so fond of such diversions that he
ought to give them up. Fortunately, perhaps, he never
did. He tells of his constant perusal of works of History
and Travel, as well as of his repeated efforts to settle family
quarrels. Perhaps most interesting of all is his constant
THE RISE OF NATURALISM1
care for the welfare of promising poorer boys of the Grammar
School, for there are stories of several occasions on which
he succeeded in collecting money from well-to-do friends
to enable such boys to proceed to the University. This is
all told with a delightful seriousness and simplicity which
give a real dignity to the most common affairs of daily
life. It is also very striking that in spite of his evident
ministerial though unofficial activity, Newcome never seems
to have aroused the jealousy of the rest of the clergy, but to
have retained the acquaintance and even the intimate friend-
ship of many who remained in the Anglican Church.
It is evident that Henry Newcome was on terms of friend-
ship, if not of intimacy, with many of the School feoffees,
for records of visits to them occur frequently in the pages
of his diary, and also in the diary of Adam Martindale. From
such references we gather that they all took active interest
in the current affairs of the town, and thus the prosperity
of the school was secured. One use that he made of this
intimacy deserves narration. By 1663 the fame of John
Wickens had spread so much that the Haberdashers' Company
invited him to take charge of their recently established school
at Newport, Shropshire,1 and Wickens seems to have pro-
visionally accepted. On July 13, 1663, Henry Newcome
with Mr. Jollie set out to see Sir George Booth, now Lord
Delamere, at Dunham, to secure his interest against such
a removal. Lord Delamere promised to do what he could
about it with his co-feoffees. The prospect of the removal
of Wickens was considered to be so disastrous to the best
interests of the town that a public meeting at which repre-
sentatives of all parties attended was held at ' The Booths,'
where the Manor Court was then held, to urge Mr. Wickens
to remain in Manchester. Newcome had already succeeded
in settling some outstanding difficulties with the usher,
Samuel Birch,2 who had some claims, if not actual rights
of succession, but whose treatment of the boys under his
1 Perhaps the proximity of this school had something to do with the
settlement of the neighbouring Nonconformist academy at Sheriff Halea.
2 Of Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; private tutor to Humphrey
Chetham ; taught at Prestwich. He was rebuked by the Manchester Classis
for preaching without license and making marriages according to the
Prayer Book. Appointed head master of Nottingham School, February
1664. — Henry Newcomers Diary, June 1669.
THE MAN1CHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
charge had caused a good deal of local comment and
disapproval.
Under these circumstances Henry Newcome drew up
the letter to the Haberdashers' Company, asking them to
withdraw their claim on the services of Mr. John Wickens.
' July 11, 1663.— Then I went to look for Mr. Wickens
and at last found him and Dr. Haworth and Mr. Minshull
and I had some discourse with him and we saw how the
matter was, and so resolved to endeavour if it were possible
to fix him, and if not, to use means to keep out an unfit man.
To this end Mr. Minshull went to Sir Cecil Trafford this
night, and I wrote to the Warden.
' July 17, 1663. — After noon I received money from Mr.
Alexander £14 and went at five with the justices and town-
men to speak to Mr. Wickens and to move his stay if we
could, and had a civil answer from him.
* Friday, Aug. 14. — After dinner Dr. Haworth was advising
about a townsmeeting for the School. Mr. Har(rison) and
I were at Mr. Green's with Mr. Tilsley and stayed two or
three hours with them ... I went to Mr. Warden's and
told him of the meeting to-morrow and he consented to be
at it.
* Saturday, Aug. 15. — Mr. Wickens sent for me to the
College. Mr. Illingworth came to me and we went together
to Mr. Booth's at four, and were till about seven and the
matters to and fro were freely discussed. About nine, I
thought myself in civility bound to give Mr. Wickens an
account, and so I did.
' Monday, Aug. 17. — I rose at six to go to Dr. Haworth
about Mr. Wickens' business where I was till toward eight.
I then looked on my mill and Mr. Birch came in and was
with me awhile. Then I went to Mr. Buxton's where I dined,
being there an hour before dinner.'
Afterwards the diary ceased to note the School business, but
it is evident the action taken by Newcome was successful.
The salary was increased and perhaps a better house was
provided in order that the master might take boarders and
so increase his income.
On the death of Mr. Wickens in 1676, the affairs of the
School again came under the serious consideration of the
feoffees. Mr. Daniel Hill, M.A., of Corpus Christi, Oxford,
was appointed high master, and seven new trustees co-opted
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 103
to take the place of seven who were deceased or had resigned.
Like their predecessors, they were all members of county
families and belonged to the Whig party which had been
formed from the Moderate Church party, reinforced by de-
scendants of many Presbyterian families who had favoured
the idea of a comprehension within the establishment. Of
them, Henry Booth, son of Sir George Booth, was destined
to influence indirectly but very profoundly the subsequent
fortunes of the school.
The others were William Hulton, of Hulton, 1625-1702,
James Chetham of Smedley, 1640-1692, Sir Ralph Assheton
of Middleton, all of whom had been students at Gray's Inn,
Sir John Ardern of Ardern, near Stockport, Wm. Hulme of
Davyhulme, and Henry Dickinson, feoffee of Chetham's
Hospital in 1649. For some unknown reason the latter
declined to serve, and was replaced the following month by
Mr. Richard Fox, a merchant, who was also a governor of
the Chetham foundation. From this time the three founda-
tions— the Collegiate body, the Public Library, and the
Grammar School — became closely, though unofficially, related.
Daniel Hill held the appointment for a very short time.
Among the ' Kenyon Papers ' l is a letter to Nicholas Stratford
referring to his resignation and to the appointment, 25 March
1677, by Robert Newlyn, President, College of Corpus Christi,
of William Barrow, son of Hugh Barrow of Lancaster, of St.
Alban's Hall, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who, at the
time of his appointment at the Manchester School, had been
head master of the Preston Grammar School from September
1675. He seems to have been a man of similar type to John
Wickens, one of whose daughters, Isobel, he had married
earlier than 1687, for Hugh, son of William Barrow, was
baptised February 14, 1687. The other daughter of John
Wickens was married to Stephen Paynter, son of a previous
Presbyterian high master. Mr. Barrow does not appear
to have shared in the public life of Manchester. Perhaps
he lived in Salford.2 He was probably, like the governors
1 Hist. MSS. Comm. Reports, XIV. Appendix IX, Part iv., 1894.
8 Will, dated 1721, proved at Chester, leaves competence for his stepson,
his nephew George Barrow, and his nephew (executor), Thomas Patten of
Warrington (ancestor of Lord Winmarley), who, after being educated at
the school, became Fellow of Christ Church, Oxon, D.D., Rector of
Childrey, Bucks. — Dictionary of National Biography.
104 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of this School, a Whig in politics, as the School became the
object of a popular outburst of Jacobitism soon after the
accession of William III. It is certain that the School was
well supported by the Whig party, and that many scholars
passed from it to Oxford and Cambridge.1 There is, however,
a marked change in the relative use of the two Universities :
Period.
No.
of
Years.
Total
to Uni-
versity.
Annual
Average.
Total
to
Oxford.
Annual
Average
to
Oxford.
Total
to Cam-
bridge.
Annual
Average
to Cam-
bridge.
1647-60
13
67
5
12
1
55
4
1660 90
30
98
3
36
1-2
62
2
Mr. Barrow is styled Reverend in the obituary notice, but
I cannot find that he held any benefice. He devoted himself
seriously to the work of the School, which continued to prosper
to such an extent that from 1680 the feoffees, having placed
the business of the mills and of their other property in new
hands, were able to make continuous the annual grants
from school funds which assisted boys proceeding to the
Universities. In 1685 they decided to provide additional
accommodation, and erected a new and convenient school at
the end of the original one,2 apparently as a preparatory
school, which was placed under the care of a special master,
Mr. Seth Broxup.
No small part of the prosperity of the School was due
to the rapid social changes which were raising the outlook
as well as the status of the merchant classes.
The increase in trade was affording fresh opportunities
for the benevolent to make provision for the less fortunate.
In 1680 almshouses were erected in Millars Lane at the
end of Long Millgate with the following inscription :
1 The following books of this date are still to be found in the School
Library : Athanasius Kircher's Historical Remains and Geography of Italy ;
Robert Plot's Natural History of Oxfordshire (1677) ; Anthony a Wood's
History and Antiquities of Oxford (1674) ; Thomas Gataker's History of
the Emperor Mark Anthony (1652) ; Sir Richard Baker's Chronicles of the
Kings of England (1670) ; Pliny's Natural History (printed 1572).
2 Cf. Warden Wroe's description of the Grammar School in Camden's
Britannia, 1690.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 105
' In usum mancium pauperum erecta fuerant haec domicilia
annuentibus Irenarchus fidei Commissionibus per curam
praefectorum Anno Dom. 1680.
Oswald Mosley Armiger Sam Dickenson gen:
Jacobo Marler generosus Johann Alexander gen:
Jacob Radcliffe gen: Edward Bootle gen:
Richard Fox gen: Humphredo Marler gen:
Anno prefecto emanciporibus.'
On a small house adjoining is inscribed :
' The gift of John Green and Alexander his son to the poor.'1
A further indication of the increased consideration for
others is found in the attention paid to the higher education
of girls. There is a letter extant from Richard Ducker to
his friend Williamson, dated October 1676, which says :
* Your little niece is well in health, but now she loses
some time for want of more conversation than her father's
house affords. 'Tis good company rather than means that
teaches manners. I do little as it is incompletely that I
can oversee her. There are good boarding schools at York
and Manchester, as good as any.' *
Ralph Thoresby (1658-1725) writes under date April 9,
1684:
1 Rode to Manchester. Placed sister Abigail (as the others
did their daughters) with Madam Frankland. The Lord
grant it may be as it is designed for the good both of soul
and body. Afterwards viewing the library and the famous
benefactions of Mr. Chetham, spent much of the afternoon
in perusing the monuments of the Church and viewing
Salford.
* 1684. Having dispatched some cloth for Holland, I went
with Mr. Ibbertson to Manchester, where I found my sister
Abigail more indisposed at the boarding school than I ex-
pected, but satisfied with Madame Frankland's patience
and care. I was pleased with the agreeable conversation
of Mr. Newcome and Mr. Tilsley, from whom I received
several remarks concerning Bishop Wilkins and Lord Keeper
Bridgeman, their temper and moderation, &c. Took leave
1 Cf. James Ogden's account of Manchester, 1784.
2 State Papers, Domestic Series.
106 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of sister. Her physician, the ingenious Dr. Carte, lent me
his transcript of Hollinworth's MS. History of Manchester.'
In the Romanist controversy of the period one local scholar
at least took active part, viz. William Assheton (1641-1711),
son of the rector of Middle ton, said to have been educated
at a private school and at Brasenose College, Oxon, Chaplain
to the Duke of Ormond, Rector of St. Antholin's, London,
and of Beckenham, Kent. He was a bitter opponent not
only of the Romanists but also of those who favoured the
comprehension of Puritanism within the Church. Among
his publications, ' Toleration disproved ' and ' Admonitions
against Popery ' are the most noteworthy. Copies of these
he presented to the Chetham Library. Of more permanent
interest than his theology are his early proposals to enable
clergymen to make provision for their widows by a system
of jointures payable by the Mercers' Company. The parti-
cular system advocated bfoke down, however, owing to lack
of statistical research, such as that given by Adam Martin-
dale in his letter to the Royal Society, ' Problem in Compound
Interest and Annuities resolved,' 1 but the attempt at bene-
volent forethought is interesting.
Intercourse with Holland was not only influencing the
direction of the study of English scholars. The sturdy
efforts made to retain individual liberty by means of its
republican government provided an object lesson which
was not lost upon Englishmen who had already taken part
in a struggle against previous encroachments by the Crown on
liberty, and who now found that jurisprudence was capable
of enunciating principles of State government as well as
principles of individual justice. It was probably the county
party which aroused the merchant classes from their trade
jealousy with Holland and taught them that the aggres-
sive spirit of France was their true enemy, and that to
secure their rights in England they would first have to check
Louis XIV.
Henry Booth, Lord Delamere (1650-1693), had as a
boy shared the imprisonment of his father, when the latter
had been arrested for taking part in the premature Royalist
rising of 1659. Before succeeding to the family estates in
1 Abstracts of Papers and Communications, vol. ii. p. 482.
THE RISE OF NATURALISM 107
1683 he had served as member of Parliament for Cheshire.
Owing to the advanced age of his father, he was the natural
leader of the Whig party which was gathering strength to
resist the encroachment of Charles II. By supporting the
Bill for the exclusion of the Duke of York from the English
throne, he had incurred the enmity, not only of James II but
of Judge Jeffreys, who tried to implicate him in the ill-fated
plot of the Duke of Monmouth to displace James II. Lord
Delamere appealed to his fellow-members of the House of
Lords, who formed a jury, and to the chagrin of Judge Jeffreys
returned a verdict of 'Not guilty.' A volume of his writ-
ings, published after his death, shows both his love of justice
and his interest in education. He subsequently returned
to private life at Dunham. Among his many other public
duties he acted as feoffee of the Manchester School, to what
effect we shall presently see.
CHAPTER VI
1689-1720
WHIG BENEFACTIONS
' Men in great places are thrice servants : servants of the Sovereign and
State, servants of Fame, and servants of Business.' — Advancement of
Learning.
Co-operation and mutual confidence between Whig county families and
the merchant classes lead to the continued support of grammar
schools and the provision of scholarships and exhibitions at the English
Universities — The Duchess of Somerset and the Delamere family —
William Hulme founds post-graduate exhibitions at Brasenose — In-
crease of charity schools and benefactions for apprenticing poor
cliildren — Nonconformist academies flourish and excite the jealousy of
Archbishop Sharpe — Debate in the House of Lords — Natural Philosophy
and Medicine further encouraged at the Chetham Library — Harley en-
deavours to promote trade intercourse with France, and sends Daniel
Defoe to gain political information in England — Defoe in Manchester —
The High Church revival in Manchester — The Cyprianites — Steady
growth of the Grammar School — Death of Warden Wroe and appoint-
ment of Warden Peploe.
No policy could have more effectively alienated the good-
will of the slow-thinking, self-satisfied, landowning classes
from their unquestioning support of the Crown and induced
them to unite with the merchant classes than the attacks
made on the Anglican Church by James II, which culminated
in the arrest of the seven bishops. However little the land-
owners observed its ritual, cared for its formula and creeds,
or even regarded its moral restraints in their own lives, there
was no doubt that they believed the Church was in no small
measure their own property. They held the advowson of
many of the benefices, and were accustomed to regard as
their dependents those whom they had presented. They
also considered they had a right to exercise influence in
the appointment to many dignities, such as the fellowship
108
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 109
and wardenship of the collegiate church, which they regarded
as the prerogative of the more intellectual members of their
own order. Their privileges and prerogatives in the material
possessions of the Church were as sacred as their more
secular possessions. Macaulay depicts the deficiencies and
the virtues of this class in no halting terms, and if his
picture should be lightened for Lancashire, it is because not
a few of the local landowners had acquired a broader outlook
by sharing in the government of a busy town and in the
administration of its local charities — the Grammar School
and Chetham Library. The business meetings of these
institutions brought them into touch with many alert and
enlightened merchants, lawyers and physicians, from whom
they had much to learn. The unsophisticated instincts
of boys, particularly when living in their own homes,
and free from the weight of tradition which too often clings
to a boarding school, offer little encouragement to social
snobbery. While at school, sons of local country squires had
rubbed shoulders with sons of merchants and had learned
permanently to respect their talents if not to recognise their
social claims. A successful school was then, as now, de-
pendent on the presence, in considerable numbers, of earnest
energetic boys urged to the acquirement of knowledge by
the spur of necessity or by the activity of innate intellectual
power. Even the dullest squire could appreciate the educa-
tional opportunities afforded by attending the Grammar
School before settling down to the performance of his public
duties and the enjoyment of his estates. It is therefore
not surprising that the period of Whig supremacy was one
of educational activity among the landowners and well-
to-do farmers as well as among the merchant classes.
During the period 1660-1730, there were 172 new Grammar
Schools established in England, while 51 of the old ones
received fresh endowments.1 Nowhere was the progress
more marked than in the North of England. In Lanca-
shire there were 79 Grammar Schools dating back before
1660, while, during the period 1660-1730, 21 new ones were
established and 9 old ones re-endowed, making up a total
of 100 for that county. In Yorkshire there were 100 schools
of an earlier date than 1660. In the same succeeding seventy
years, 28 new ones were set up and 6 were re-endowed, making
1 Cf. J. E. De Montmorency, The Progress of Education in England.
110 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
a total of 128. In Westmorland there were 40 schools in
1660. During the above-mentioned period, 15 new ones
were built and one was re-endowed. In Cumberland there
were 27 in existence in 1660, and by 1730 several new ones
had been created. In these four northern counties there was
therefore a total of 315 schools out of a total of 823 in the
whole of England. This appreciation of education was
not confined to boys. The education of girls was receiving
a good deal of attention, for we have seen that both at Man-
chester and at York there were high-class Nonconformist
academies for girls.1
In 1690 the Manchester Boarding School for girls must
have been in full activity, since at this time a rate book shows
that Mrs. Frankland, who occupied the house in Long Mill-
gate, which subsequently became the residence of Mr. Lawson,
paid rates for twenty-one girls of the age of fifteen years
and upwards : the boarders under the age of fifteen are
not included. In 1698 Ralph Thoresby writes :
' At Manchester I was much concerned for the death of
all my old friends, Mr. Newcome, Mr. Tilsley, Mr. Martin-
dale, and Mr. Illingworth (all now entered upon the joy of
their Lord). I enquired for his valuable MSS. but fear they
are all lost. There was not a face that I knew but good
old Mrs. Frankland, with whom I had boarded my sister
Abigail [subsequently wife of Rev. Richard] Idle.'
The general interest manifested in education by the land-
owning as well as the merchant classes was increased by dis-
trust of the activities of the numerous Catholic agents, whose
presence at Oxford had been favoured by the Court and who,
owing to their high training and agreeable manners, had suc-
ceeded in alienating the allegiance of many scholars of Whig
families from the Church of England. Several prominent
Whigs, viz. Lord Delamere, who had married Mary Langham,
niece and only surviving relative of Sarah Alston, Duchess
of Somerset ; George Grimston, her brother-in-law ; and Sir
William Gregory, Judge of the Queen's Bench, induced the
Duchess of Somerset to dispose of some of her ample fortune
in providing exhibitions for poor scholars from the great Whig
1 See also Mary Astell, 1666-1733, Essay in Defence of the Female Sex,
1497 ; Ballard's Memoirs of British Ladies, 1775.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 111
Grammar Schools to pursue their University training under
proper Whig supervision.1
The facts known about the Duchess are few in number.
She had been born about 1630 and was the co-heiress with
her sister, Lady Langham, of Edward Alston (1596-1669),
a wealthy London physician. She had been married at a
very early age to George Grimston of Brasenose College,
Oxon (1650), and Lincoln's Inn (1652), the eldest son of Sir
Harbottle Grimston (1603-1685) of Bradfield Hall, Essex,
and Gorhambury, Hertford, Member of the Long Parlia-
ment, Master of the Rolls, Speaker of the House of Commons
at the ' Healing Parliament,' elected just before the Restora-
tion and a prominent member of the Whig party. Her
husband, George Grimston, had died in June 1655, aged
twenty- three, and the young widow soon after married the
Hon. John Seymour, M.P. for Marlborough, a prominent Whig,
who was Lord-Lieutenant of Wilts and Somerset, and sub-
sequently fourth Duke of Somerset. She was again left a
widow in 1674. Her second husband's liberality is shown by
his gifts to Brasenose College, Oxon, and his setting apart
£3000 to be vested in land to provide income for apprenticing
poor children in the city of Salisbury. As Dowager Duchess
of Somerset, she soon began to make arrangements for the
settlement of her property. By deed dated February 17,
1679, she set apart the Manor of Ivor in Buckinghamshire
for the maintenance during a period of seven years of four
scholars to be elected from the Free School of Manchester,
particularly those scholars coming from the counties of
Lancashire, Cheshire, and Hereford, who desired to proceed
to Brasenose College, Oxford, where her first husband had
been educated. On July 17, 1682, she married her third
husband, Henry Hare, Lord Coleraine, best known as an
antiquary. Unlike her previous ones, this marriage was not a
happy one. She did not share her husband's tastes ; and
Le Neve, who liked neither her politics nor the method in
which she disposed of her money, described her as being ' of a
covetous humour, and left nothing to her husband, but most
of her property to charities.' He does not mention the provi-
sion she made for members of the Somerset family nor her
attachment to the Grimstons, for those were all Whigs.
1 According to ancient rumour, it was the success of the exhibitions
given to Shrewsbury School that induced the Duchess to take this action.
112 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Soon after her marriage with Lord Coleraine, she ceased
to reside with him, and began to make provision for the still
further disposal of her estates. Under a will dated May 17,
1686, she devoted the Thornhill and Wootton Rivers Estates
to the foundation of scholarships at Brasenose College,
Oxford, and St. John's College, Cambridge,1 to support
scholars of restricted means from the three principal Whig
schools, Hereford, Marlborough, and Manchester ; and ap-
pointed her brother-in-law, Sir Samuel Grimston, Henry
Lord Delamere of Dunham Massey (1652-1693), who had
just been created Earl of Warring ton, and Sir William Gregory
(1624-1696), of Howcapel, Hereford, Judge of Queen's Beach,
as the trustees of her will and benefactions.2
The following is a translation of the inscription on the
Duchess of Somerset's tomb in Westminster Abbey :
Here lies the illustrious
SARAH, late DUCHESS OF SOMERSET
celebrated for her never failing generosity to the poor
who for the sake of boys
Founded the Grammar School of Tottenham in the County of Middlesex
Largely increased the revenues of the Green Coat Hospital of Westminster
In order to promote the welfare of youths of excellent promise piety and learnii
She richly endowed for all time
The colleges of Brasenose, Oxford and St. John in Cambridge
and also enabled other youths to be fitted for mechanical pursuits
In her affection for old age
She caused a Hospital to be built and endowed
For the support of thirty Poor Widows at Trotfield in the County of Wilts
She established perpetual endowment for the better nourishment
of the poor of the Parish of St. Margaret Westminster
and splendidly decorated many other Churches
with magnificent ornaments.
She died 25th Oct. 1692. 3
The claims of the Manchester Grammar School to be
included in these benefactions would no doubt have been fully
1 Her father was of St. John's, Cambridge, and her brother-in-law,
Charles, fifth Duke of Somerset, was Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge in 1688.
* She left most of her estates, jewels, &c., to Lord Delamere and his
children, value about £50,000. — LuttreWs Diary, October 27, 1692.
3 Portrait by Sir Peter Lely in the library at St. John's College. In-
scription on tomb and notes of her sister Lady Langham in Granger's
Biographical History.
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WHIG BENEFACTIONS 115
and eloquently urged by Richard Wroe, recently appointed
Fellow of the Manchester Collegiate Church and Vicar of
Bowden, the parish in which the Delamere family was living.
He was a favourite pupil of the learned John Pearson, Bishop
of Chester, who had introduced him to the Delamere family at
Dunham Massey. The record of Wroe's early life is too scanty
to determine whether he had been actually trained at the
Manchester School, but he had come from Prestwich, in its
immediate neighbourhood, and was of Jesus College, Cam-
bridge, where he had met many of its scholars and must
have known of the work of John Worthington.
Nor was the association of the Delamere family with the
school a mere formal one. Sir George Booth, father of Sir
Henry, second Lord Delamere, had been a prominent and
active feoffee from 1660, and had been appealed to when the
town desired to exert influence on Wickens to remain in Man-
chester. On his death in 1683 his son, Henry Booth, second
Lord Delamere,1 had been appointed feoffee in his place. Both
father and son were active politicians, for the father had been
imprisoned for taking active part in the Royalist rising in 1658,
and the son was charged with being implicated in the plot to
place the Duke of Monmouth on the throne. While in prison
he was constantly attended and cheered by his talented wife,
Mary Langham, and after his acquittal he had retired to the
quiet enjoyment of family life, entertaining numerous parties
of friends in his beautiful home at Dunham Massey. Among
the honoured visitors would certainly be the Dowager Duchess
of Somerset and many notables, such as Bishop Pearson of
Chester and Richard Wroe, the vicar of the parish. The
character of Lady Delamere is depicted in the sermon
preached at her death by Richard Wroe, and a sketch of her
mother, Lady Langham, the only other member of the Alston
family, was given in another funeral sermon preached on
the occasion of her death in 1660 by Dr. G. Reynolds. It
gives some insight into the religious habits of thought common
among the wealthy Whig families of Puritan ancestry. After
alluding to her library of works on divinity, the preacher
dwelt upon the thoroughness of her studies.
She had, in the early part of her life, a tendency to atheism,
but as she advanced in years and understanding she became
1 Cf. Horace Walpole, Royal and Noble Authors, edited by Park,
vol. iii. pp. 315, 324.
116 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
a Christian, on sound principles and rational convictions, and
experimentally sound.
' I might reckon also as a part of her daily task the read-
ing over of one sermon a day most days out of her note books,
for she constantly penned the sermons she heard. I could
wish that other great sermon writers would herein follow
her example and not turn their notes to waste paper as soon
as they had filled their books.'
Perhaps the generous and well-considered provision
for needy but deserving scholars made by the Duchess of
Somerset had something to do with the action of William
Hulme of Kersley (1630-1691), who was at the time a feoffee
of the Manchester School. He had been a scholar under
Nehemiah Paynter, and had passed to Brasenose College,
Oxon, and was admitted at Gray's Inn, London. He also
was possessed of a considerable fortune. His only child,
Bannister Hulme, whilst a boy at the Manchester School,
had succumbed under distressing circumstances (September
1673) to an injury to the head received in a schoolboy tussle.
He was just seventeen years of age and ready to proceed
to the University.1 Oliver Heywood, the Puritan minister,
seems to have borne a grudge against William Hulme for
his attachment to the Anglican Church, and for his adminis-
tration of the laws against Nonconformity, for he wrote thus
about him :
4 The first work he did after he was Justice of the Peace
was sending good Mr. Wood to Lancaster jail for preaching ;
he hath said of my brother Hulton's house (where Bannister
Hulme was lodging while at school), which is his, that he
had rather set it on fire than have it hold a conventicle.' *
Heywood adds, in the censorious way too common
among Puritan preachers of that age :
' He hath been somewhat debauched, though of late much
reformed, yet exceeding devoted to Conformity. . . . Who
knows what this dreadful blow may do upon my old
companion ? '
1 The dreadful blow,' of the loss of his only child, was
1 Henry Newcome'a Diary. 2 Oliver Heywood's Diary.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 117
destined to do a great deal for higher education, for, by will
dated October 24, 1691, William Hulme devised a trust
estate consisting of property situate at Heaton Norris, Den-
ton, Ashton-under-Lyne, Reddish, Manchester, and Hey wood,
whose rents and profits should be enjoyed by his wife during
her lifetime and subsequently be distributed ' to four of the
poorest sort of Bachelors of Arts of Brasenose College,
Oxford, who should resolve to continue and reside there
by the space of four years next after such degree taken.'
The exhibitioners were to be nominated and appointed by
the Warden of the Collegiate Church (at that time Richard
Wroe), and the rectors of the parish churches of Prestwich (Wm.
Assheton) and Bury (Rev. Thomas Gipps) for the time being
and their successors for ever. The absence of the name of
the high master, or of a University authority who might
be supposed to be intimately acquainted with the character
of the candidates, is remarkable, but it is possibly accidental
and due to the fact that the will was hastily drawn up some
five days before the decease of the testator.
The trustees of the will were James Chetham of Turton
(1641-1697), William Hulme of Davy Hulme, Gray's Inn,
nephew of testator, High Sheriff of Lanes. 1701, and
William Baguley : while the rector of Prestwich, Rev.
Wm. Assheton (1649-1731), the rector of Bury, Rev.
Thomas Gipps, and the Warden of the College, Dr. Wroe, and
their several successors, were to nominate the exhibitioners.
Disputes soon arose as to whether the benefits should
be limited to boys from the Manchester School, or even to
boys from the county of Lancaster, though there was no
doubt as to their limitation to scholars at Brasenose College,
Oxon. It is due to these disputes that we have depositions
from several of WTilliam Hulme's intimate friends which
describe his reflections on the state of learning current among
the clergy.
* James Grundy of Bolton le Moors, Bachelor of Physic,
and Governor of Chetham's Library, 1687, died 1712, deposed
that he had often visited Wm. Hulme for two or three years
before his death, and that Wm. Hulme had spoken freely
of his designs. He had noticed that the county of Lan-
caster, especially about Manchester, had sent more scholars
to the University than any like county or place, but that
many who sent their sons were not able to maintain them
118 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in the University any longer than to make them Bachelors
of Arts, and consequently such young scholars were necessi-
tated to turn preachers before they were qualified for that
work, which is the occasion that we are not so well provided
with orthodox and able ministers as other counties, therefore
he designed a considerable part of his estate towards the main-
tenance of four such Bachelors of Arts, that were Lancashire
scholars especially of this part of the county where he lived,
and had not wherewith to maintain themselves any longer
in the University.' *
Thomas Sergeant of Pilkington, a near neighbour ; Joshua
Dixon, clerk and curate of Ringley Chapel, Prestwich, where
William Hulme attended on Sundays and holidays for divine
service ; and Robert Seddon of Kersley, another neighbour,
all confirmed the statements of James Grundy, and added
similar testimony from their own experience.
The spirit of benevolence and the desire to favour the
spread of knowledge continued to seek new outlets of expres-
sion. The benevolent designs of wealthy Whig families and
merchants were not limited to the providing of better University
training for preachers at home, but extended to the support of
preachers in the American colonies, now growing rapidly in
size and importance. Dr. Bray began to put forward his
schemes to provide missionary preachers for America with
Catechisms and other books in 1693. The Society for the Pro-
pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, instituted in 1701,
placed on a permanent basis many previous efforts. This
was followed by a movement for building new churches in
London, a movement which spread to the rest of the country.
Queen Anne devoted the first-fruits of ecclesiastical prefer-
ment— a royal prerogative — for establishing a fund, Queen
Anne's Bounty, for improving the stipends of poor clergy.
In 1708, an Act of Parliament was passed to make provision
for the establishment and care of parochial libraries. Charity
schools, almshouses, and various charitable trusts for helping
the poor by apprenticing children, &c., became increasingly
common.
The efforts to secure a higher standard of living were at
first shared by those who sought to combine a greater personal
devoutness with a stricter observance of Church ritual, and
1 Whatton'a Foundation* in Manchester.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 119
were therefore to be found in the ranks of the High Church
party. Consequently many of the public efforts put forth
at this time were supported by men of widely different political
as well as ecclesiastical views, but in a short time there
appeared a steadily increasing discrimination in favour
of objects supporting particular classes or parties. Thus
John Sharpe, who as Archbishop of York had interested
himself in the degraded condition of so many unendowed
Grammar Schools kept by ignorant masters, began to view
the prosperity and the excellent training of the private Non-
conformist academies with anxiety and perhaps jealousy.
He had written to Dr. Tillotson in 1694 upon the matter, but
failing to find support, subsequently brought the matter up
in the House of Lords, when a debate took place on the ' State
of the Nation and the Dangers to the Established Church
caused by increased numbers of dissenters and their academies.'
Appeal was made to Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice, to see
what remedies were provided by law to deal with the matter.
In spite of all that was being done, English education was
in danger of falling between two stools. There was the educa-
tion at Grammar School and University for men of established
positions or even leisure, or of family connection, which would
secure social advancement. This was open to a few poor
scholars who were fortunate enough to obtain exhibitions or
scholarships to help support them till they could find patrons
willing to present them to livings, too often only very poorly
paid. There was also a * Training for active life ' provided at
the academies suitable for those not possessing family influence,
and preparing for professional careers such as Medicine, Law,
Science or the Army, and for Commerce, but also used by
many of private means intending to enter political life or
who wished to cultivate intellectual interests in country life,
and finally for those who desired to enter the Nonconformist
ministry, often a position of great reputation and influence
and demanding considerable intellectual attainments. Strictly
professional studies were generally continued at foreign
Universities.
We have already mentioned that the most prominent
and successful academy in the North of England had been
that of Richard Frankland who, between 1672 and 1698,
had prepared some 303 students for various careers. On
Frankland's death in 1698, several fruitless attempts were
120 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
made to find a successor to take charge of his academy.
Henry Newcome of Manchester, the natural head of the Non-
conformists in the North- West of England, had died a few
years before. His place in Manchester had been taken by
Mr. Chorlton, a native of Salford, who had graduated at
Edinburgh, and who was strongly urged to undertake the
care of the academy at Rathmel. This Chorlton declined
to do, as he preferred to remain in Manchester, which, owing
to its library and the liberality of view of Warden Wroe,
continued to be the resort of many learned Nonconformist
ministers and others of similar interests and attainments.
Chorlton, however, consented to supervise the study of some
six or eight of Frankland's pupils, who were willing to come
to Manchester, and thus formed the nucleus of a Manchester
Nonconformist Academy. Mr. Chorlton died in 1705. Mr.
Conyngham, who had also been educated at Edinburgh, and
had subsequently been in charge of an Academy at Penrith,
had come as assistant minister to Mr. Chorlton in 1700, and
succeeded him both in his pastoral and teaching work. The
academy was continued in Manchester till the High Church
chaplains who had imbibed the principles current at the
English Universities caused legal proceedings to be taken
against him in 1712 under the Occasional Conformity Act of
1711, when the growing party bitterness shown towards the
dissenting body caused Mr. Conyngham to leave Manchester
and accept a pastorate at Haberdashers' Hall in London, where
he died, September 1716. The first Manchester Academy
was closed when Conyngham left. An interesting sidelight
upon it occurs in the diary of the Rev. James Clegg, who
ultimately settled as minister, and also practised medicine,
in Chinley, Derbyshire.1
1 When I left Rathmel (Frankland's Academy) I placed
myself in Manchester for the benefit of the library and the
conversation of other young scholars that lived there, and
boarded with Dr. Wild in Fennel St., where Mr. Richard
of Miln Row, near Rochdale Road, also boarded. I had
been very intimately acquainted with him at Rathmel, and
his conversation was of use to me at Manchester. But in
a little time he was called to be minister at Stockport, and
I removed from Dr. Wild to Mr. Chorlton. Several young
1 Cf. Oliver Heywood'a Diary, vol. iii. Ed. J. H. Turner.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 121
men who had been under Mr. Frankland's tuition at Rathmel
also came about that time and placed themselves under Mr.
Chorlton, who was admirably qualified for a tutor as well
as a preacher. He read lectures to us in the forenoon on
Philosophy and Divinity, and in the afternoons some of us
read in the Public Library. It was there I first met with
the works of Episcopius, Socinus, Crellius, and the writings
of Socinus and his followers. They made little impression
on me, only I could never after be entirely reconciled to
the common doctrine of the Trinity ... But after I had
spent little more than a year there I left the town and boarded
with Jos. Dawson, the pious, serious, dissenting minister
at Rochdale. . . . ' *
The important place which the Chetham Library was filling
in Manchester life is indicated by the following summary
of books purchased. It appears that from 1654-1662, £1000
was spent, and the total number of books purchased was
1450 ; from 1662-1693, £1469 was spent, and the total number
of books purchased was 2093; from 1693-1712 the total
number of books purchased was 910. A study of their subject-
matter reveals the general interest of the readers. Books on
gardening, the metamorphosis of insects, Leuwenhoek's ' Secrets
of Nature ' (microscopic studies in Nat. Hist.), Flamstead's
' History of the Heavens ' were purchased for those who
desired to use the scientific instruments, and other works on
Natural Philosophy for those who wished to follow the progress
of that branch of knowledge in relation to Natural Theology
or ancillary to the study of medicine.
English education was influenced by the Political Union
with Scotland in 1707, which was very popular among the
Whig party, though opposed by the Tories. Nonconformist
ministers were in close touch with the Scotch Universities,
and attempts were made to found a college for English
divinity students at Edinburgh by Dr. Calamy and Dr.
Daniel Williams. Legacies were left for the purpose, but
a theological controversy caused the interest and support
of English Nonconformists to be withdrawn.2
1 Extract from the Diary of James Clegg; also Geo. E. Evana,
Antiquarian Notes, vol. iii. p. 109.
2 Bower's History of the University of Edinburgh, vol. ii. p. 44 ; also
W. D. Jeremy, ' The Presbyterian Fund and Dr. Williams' Trust,' and
an account of ' Dr. John Ward's Life and Trust,' in Trans. Baptist Historical
Society, April 1914.
122 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
At this time many English scholars were attracted to
Holland to study medicine. It is hardly too much to say
that Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), who, after studying
divinity, had been appointed Professor of Medicine at Leyden
in 1700, made such extensive contributions to the healing
art by bringing it into relation with Natural Philosophy as
to have earned the title of its second founder. Boerhaave pays
high tribute to the work already accomplished by English phy-
sicians such as Harvey, Glisson, Wharton, and Sydenham, who
had preceded him in his task. Early editions of Boerhaave's
works were purchased for the Chetham Library, and among
them ' What a physician ought to know in relation to the
nature of bodies, the laws of Motion, Statics, Hydrostatics,
Hydraulics, Properties of Fluids, Chemistry, Pharmacy,
Study of Physics, Physiology, Pathology, Surgery and Diet.'
The continued election of physicians on the Chetham trust
explains the presence of contemporary anatomical and medical
books. Even the study of Practical Anatomy is mentioned in
the following letter from Francis Hooper,1 dated Chetham
College, April 20, 1719, which indicates that the library was
a centre of medical study though not of medical training :
' The library before now had not been opened for some
time, that it has become a novelty and frequented by a great
many, I believe only on that account. I have pretty good
opportunity of reading here and hope I shall now be master
of a great deal of time, so that I shall endeavor to qualify
myself as well as I can against the great, the important day.
Our audit here is upon the 14th May, when we shall have
a full meeting of the governors for the making up of the
College accounts and it is thought an order for the buying
of books into the library. Mr. Leicester's long illness obliged
him to omit that part of his office, so that we have £300
in bank for the purpose. John Clayton2 sends his service
to you. When we are all together he intends to cut up a
body for us and present the skeleton to the library. Your
brother (Edward Byrom) is very curious that way.*
1 Chaplain to Lady Ann Bland, incumbent at Didsbury. — Palatine
Note Book, August 1883, and Byrom's Journal and Correspondence.
* John Clayton of Fulwood (1693-1773) who, after studying medicine,
collected plants in Virginia and became Secretary of Gloucester Co., America,
and contributed to the Royal Society remarks on coal gas, on plants in
America, &c.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 123
At this time, there were several local physicians of con-
siderable repute, one of the most diligent searchers for new
knowledge, whether medical or scientific, being Charles
Leigh.
Charles Leigh (1662-1712) was the son of William Leigh
of Singleton in the Fylde, Lancashire, and a member of a
family in whom traditions of scholarship were deeply in-
grained. Of his boyhood and school training, nothing is known.
He entered Brasenose College, 1679, and after taking a degree
M.A. at Oxford graduated M.D. in 1685 from Jesus College,
Cambridge. In 1684 he communicated ' A Discourse con-
cerning Digestion ' to the Royal Society, in which he showed
that digestion could be conducted outside the body by the
digestive juices obtained from a dog, thus continuing and
enlarging upon the experiments made by Dr. Mayhew. Dr.
Leigh also contributed to the Royal Society some notes on
R. Bolton's ' Observations on the Heat of the Blood.' In 1685
he was elected a Fellow of that Society. In 1694 he pub-
lished his experiences as a physician in his works, Phthisio-
logia Lancastrensis, 1694, descriptive of the acute distempers,
particularly the pestilential fevers raging in Lancashire in
the years 1693-96. He also wrote De Mineralibus aquis and
* A Natural History of Lancashire.' His historical state-
ments were somewhat violently attacked by another local
scholar and historian, Dr. John Whitaker, in his account of
Whalley, but Leigh's work was regarded of sufficient merit
to be republished at Geneva in 1727. He was evidently a
physician of considerable note, and as such was visited by
Dr. Nicolson, Bishop of Carlisle, in 1704. * Dr. Leigh showed
me the remainder of his rarities, the rest being given to Dr.
Sloane.' He probably died about 1712, for about that time
Dr. William Stukeley records that he was invited to come to
Manchester as there was need of physicians.
Even before the death of William III, ideas were being
introduced from France, which took root on the accession of
Queen Anne. They moderated some of the Whig prejudices
of the English merchant classes, and gave to the more eager
and masterful members of the English Church new strength
to their aspirations for a High Church revival.
Robert Harley (1661-1724), after beginning life as a
Whig, had gradually become opposed to the policy of Marl-
borough and favoured a better understanding with France,
124 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
a country which was constantly visited by interested
and disinterested sympathisers with the exiled Stuart family.
These travellers could not fail to benefit by its atmosphere
of intellectual keenness, both theological and commercial.
Although war between England and France had again broken
out in 1702, many merchants were desirous of developing
trade relations with the French. In order to obtain first-
hand information about the possibilities of enlisting the in-
terests of English merchants in his foreign policy, Robert
Harley employed Daniel Defoe to travel first in France and
subsequently throughout England, and furnish reports and
descriptions of the places he visited and the prevailing
opinions of the people. These reports were written under the
pseudonym of Alexander Goldsmith.1 From these we learn
that Daniel Defoe visited Manchester on behalf of Robert
Harley several times in 1705-6, and that his letters were left
in charge of Conyngham, the Nonconformist minister. Defoe's
fuller description of contemporary Manchester was not
published till the second (completed) edition of a 'Tour
through Great Britain ' appeared in 1738. It is as follows :
' Manchester is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, mere
village in England. It is neither a town, city, nor corporation,
nor sends members to Parliament, but it is a manor with
courts, leet and baron. The highest magistrate is a constable
or head borough reeve ; and yet it has a collegiate church,
takes up a large space of ground, and, including the suburbs
of that part of the town on the other side of the bridge,
it is said to contain about 50,000 people.'
Trade questions were very seriously considered by politi-
cians desirous of gaining the support of the merchant classes,
and many useful treatises setting forth the quantity and
character of trade were published at this period. Among
them was ' State of Great Britain,' first published by Edward
Chamberlain and later editions by John Chamberlain. Of
Lancashire Chamberlain says :
1 The chief commodities are oats, cattle and oxen, especially
those of this county and Somersetshire are the stateliest in Eng-
land; fowl, fish, pit coal (which serves not only for fuel but
1 A considerable number of them have been published in the ' Portland
Papers ' (Hist. MSS. Commission);
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 125
to make curious utensils little inferior to jet). The chief
manufactures are woollen cloths, cottons, and ticken . . .
Manchester is a town of very great Trade for Woollen and
Linen manufactures.'
Dr. W. Stukeley, author of Itinerarium Curiosum, also
visited Manchester in 1713, and described it as * the largest,
most rich, populous and busy village in England.' He com-
puted the inhabitants to be about 2400 families.
* Their trade, which is incredibly large, consists much in
fustians, girth webb, tickings, tapes, &c., which is dispersed
all over the Kingdom, and to foreign parts. They have
looms which work twenty-four laces at a time, which were
stolen from the Dutch. The College has a good library for
public use endowed with £116 per annum to buy more books.
Dr. Yarburgh, son to him late of Newark, showed me a great
collection of old Greek, Persian, Tartarian, Punic coins
brought from Asia.'
The busy mercantile town would seem to offer little scope
for the religious idealists who created the Methodist revival,
or the ecclesiastical precisionists, who saw that the only hope
of destroying the toleration of Nonconformity lay in a return
of the Stuart dynasty. Yet both parties had a strong follow-
ing in Manchester, and were the cause of considerable local
agitation. Their leaders were men of intellectual attainment,
and found much inspiration and support for their opinions in
the writings of an early martyr bishop of the Christian Church,
St. Cyprian, whose writings had been collected and translated
by John Sage, the most learned of the Nonjurors, and pub-
lished in 1694. A copy of these writings was purchased for
the Chetham Library in 1708, when High Church principles
were becoming noticeable among the junior clergy, who
called themselves Cyprianites, and copied their model in
his zeal. They demanded a recognition of the special unction,
which they believed was attached to the priestly office, a
strict observance of priestly baptism and the discipline of
the English Church. As then- opponents both within and
without the Anglican Church were also men of learning, the
two schools of thought found ample ground for controversy,
while the existence of a well -furnished town library, containing
works of different schools of thought, provided opportunity
for their full discussion.
126 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Many of the more peace-loving inhabitants of the town
sought opportunity to escape these recriminations by absenting
themselves from the old church. The leader of the Whig
party in Manchester was Lady Ann Bland. She had in-
herited the lordship of the manor of Manchester with its
estates at the death of her father, Sir Edward Mosley of
Ancoats, who had built Cross Street Nonconformist Chapel
for Henry Newcome. She remained the supporter and
friend of Henry Newcome till his death in 1692, but sub-
sequently, like many other Presbyterians, returned to the
Established Church. The collegiate mother church was in-
conveniently crowded, and Lady Ann very naturally felt out of
sympathy with the Jacobite element. Possessing ample means,
she decided to build a new church. The foundation-stone
was laid in 1709. Partly in honour of the reigning sovereign,
who was encouraging the movement for erecting new churches
in London, and partly in honour of the local foundress, the
new church was called St. Ann's.
The zeal with which the High Church clergy sought
converts among the Nonconformists is shown by the following
local incident, which brought the Manchester Girls' Boarding
School, still prominently Whig and Nonconformist, again under
public observation. On August 1714, John Byrom wrote
from Trinity College, Cambridge, to his friend John Stansfield
in Manchester, ' I met with a pamphlet to-day entitled " Dona-
tus Redivivus " about Mr. Leicester and Mr. Malyn of Man-
chester, re-baptizing two young women at the Boarding
School. Is there anything in it ? J The pamphlet in ques-
tion was written by the Rev. Charles Owen, a virulent,
loquacious, but learned Presbyterian minister at Warrington,
under the pseudonym of Augustus Optatus, protesting against
the action of two young High Church Cambridge clergymen
recently settled in Manchester, Rev. Massey Malyn, B.A.,
M.B., of Queens' College, and Rev. James Leicester, M.A.,
librarian at Chetham's and chaplain of the Collegiate
Church, who had re-baptized two Nonconformists attached to
the girls' boarding school. ' Jane Chorlton,' one of the neo-
phytes, and perhaps a teacher in the school, made a spirited
reply, in the composition of which she was no doubt helped by
the High Churchmen, and the heat evoked by the conflict is
further illustrated in the reply by Charles Owen.
The Rev. James Leicester had succeeded Nathaniel Banne,
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 127
as librarian of Chetham's, when the latter was appointed by
Lady Ann Bland rector of the new church of St. Ann's.
He was the son of George Leicester, goldsmith, of Hale,
near Bowdon, and after a preliminary education at Madeley
Grammar School, Staffordshire, had entered St. John's College,
Cambridge, 1704, and graduated B.A. in 1708, M.A. 1711. He
had been engaged as travelling companion to Mr. Edward
Wright, M.B., of Offerton, near Stockport, whose travels in
France, Italy, &c., were published in 1724. He seems to
have been a delicate man l and quite unable to influence the
trustees in the selection of new books, about which there
seems to have been some difference of opinion, for on a visit
to Manchester in 1715 the famous antiquary and geographical
impostor, George Psalmanazar, thus writes :
1 At Manchester I had moreover the opportunity of fre-
quently visiting a noble library belonging to Chetham College
and well furnished with all manner of books that could be
purchased for money, for it is endowed with £100 per annum
to supply it with new ones as they come out, and yet when
I was there they had about £400 in Bank and scarce knew
how to lay it out,insomuch that they were thinking of purchas-
ing some of the most curious MSS. This I could not but ob-
serve to them as ill-judged, considering the situation of it
among tradesmen who have neither taste nor knowledge for
such valuable pieces, and rather advised them to lay out that
income in purchasing such valuable modern books as are
yearly published both in England and out of it, and which I
thought could better answer the intention of the noble donor.
They seemed to acquiesce in what I said, but whether they
followed my advice or not I never enquired.'
The High Anglican party in the district was also materially
strengthened when Francis Gastrell was appointed in April
1714 as Bishop of Chester. Gastrell had already, like other
High Churchmen, interested himself in educational provision.
He at once began a systematic examination of the educational
provision in his diocese. He was indebted for the information
concerning the schools of Lancashire to Warden Wroe, who
also provided some interesting details about the work of the
Manchester Grammar School, with which as Visitor, he was
closely connected, to the edition of Camden's Magna Britannia,
1 He was buried at Didsbury, December 5, 1718.
*
128 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
which was being prepared by Dr. Gibson of London, and
published in 1730.
For a very large part of this period there were vigorous
conflicts between latitudinarian Broad and the precisionist
High Churchmen, between Hanoverian Whig and Jacobite
Tory. During all the time that Richard Wroe remained at
the head of local church affairs and for a considerable time
after, ebullitions were short-lived. His continued interest
in experimental science is shown in the choice of books for
the Chetham Library, whose committee meetings he regularly
attended. The way in which he performed his duties as
Visitor at the Grammar School was equally painstaking.
The earliest extant list of holders of exhibitions from school
funds dates from 1684. The business affairs of the school
received regular attention, for the fresh appointments of
feoffees are dated 1686, 1696, 1706, 1716, and show that the
vacancies in the governing body were filled more regularly
than in the past, and that the number of feoffees was never
allowed to fall to the minimum number of four, when appeal
would have had to be made to the Crown for fresh nominations,
as had happened on previous occasions.
Of the personality of William Barrow, the high master
between 1671 and 1721, we know very little. He would not
have been recommended to the President of Corpus Christi
by Dr. Stratford without very good reason, and the wide area
from which boys were attracted to the School could not have
been due solely to the advantages of holding school exhibi-
tions and post-graduate scholarships at Brasenose, for there
were many boarders who did not go to the Universities, and
of those who did go, many did not hold these exhibitions.
A good deal of the high reputation of the school was no
doubt also due to Richard Thompson, the second master.
He was one of four trustees in 1704 for the management of
estates and the distribution of a valuable collection of Roman
antiquities, intaglios, coins, &c., collected by George Ogden,
Fellow of Manchester College, and was also employed in the
conveyance of lands.1
The school library at this time contained a number of
volumes of the best-known classics, edited by contemporary
Putch and French scholars, also of foreign works on polemical
* Of. Raines' Fellows of the Manchester Collegiate Church.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 129
theology, Christian apologetics, ethics, international law and
jurisprudence, by such writers as John Gerrard Vossius
(1577-1643) and his son Isaac Vossius (1618-1688) ; Nicholas
Caussinus, the Jesuit writer on Rhetoric and Eloquence ;
Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), and by no means least, Vegetus,
the presence of whose book, De re militari, in the library of St.
Paul's School is believed to have directed John Churchill,
subsequently Duke of Marlborough, to enter upon a military
career. Many of these school volumes bear marks of con-
temporary use in the form of schoolboy signatures and
scribblings. We gain information thereby, not only as to
the subjects which the boys studied, or at least their elders
expected them to study, and into which they dipped if only
to gain a superficial knowledge of their contents, but also
many of the names of actual scholars of whose presence
at the School there is no other record. So numerous are
the scribblings and so characteristically are the names grouped,
as ' condiscipuli,' often corresponding to the years in which
some of them proceeded to the Universities, that they suggest
actual class groupings. To some of the lists dates are
assigned — 1699, 1703, 1713 — which in general are accurate,
but occasionally manifestly so intentionally inaccurate as to
constitute schoolboy jokes. Thus Radley Aynscough gives
his date 1638 instead of 1698; and James Heywood, who
left the school about 1696, writes against his signature,
* de Churchyard side 1641.' Perhaps the numerous scribblings
also indicate some laxity in the management of the school.
From these books we also gain a little insight into the interests
of William Barrow. His own signature occurs in Camden's
1 Britannia ' and in Sir Thomas Baker's * Chronicles of
England.' Side by side with these books are to be found—
Anthony a Wood's ' History of the Antiquities of Oxford,'
Plot's ' Natural History of Oxford,' Favin's ' Theatre of
Honor and Knighthood,' together with works of classical
and Dutch writers.
Although the only early specifically medical work still
remaining in the School library is a volume of Sydenham,
yet there are other works, such as Pliny's ' Natural History/
which were regarded as useful preparations for the study
of physic, which show considerable marks of contemporary
use. The obituary notice of Richard Thompson,1 who for
1 In the Post Boy, 1721.
130 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
twenty-six years was second master of the School (1696-
1721), specially draws attention to his skill in the study
of botany. This may be connected with the prominent
position and the number of local practitioners of medicine,
both physicians and apothecaries, resident in the town.
At this time an incident occurred at the School which may
have been due to defective discipline, or may have been
the reflection of party spirit or of lawlessness in the town.
In 1690, while Rev. William Barrow was high master, there
occurred one of the school riots which frequently sprang
up between boys and masters on such questions as the length
of Christmas vacations. This particular one assumed graver
proportions than usual. The boys locked themselves in the
school and defied the masters. The townsfolk as usual
took the side of the boys, and supplied them both with food
and with firearms, with which the boys shot at the legs of
their opponents.1 The siege lasted a whole fortnight, and
neither origin nor conclusion is very intelligible. It is how-
ever probable that the rabble were Jacobites, while Mr.
Barrow, the high master, certainly shared the Whig pro-
pensities of the feoffees. Party spirit probably intensified,
if it did not actually cause the outbreak.
The Somerset and the Hulme benefactions to local learn-
ing were achieving their purpose in raising the level of pro-
fessional attainments, the self-respect and the reputation and
consequently the social utility of those scholars who were
willing, for the sake of following learning, to put up with a
career offering poor worldly prospects. Their influence in
determining the University careers of the scholars is shown
by the fact that from this time forward a change began in
the relative proportion of scholars proceeding to the two
Universities. Previously, as we have seen, owing to Puritan
traditions, the majority of scholars, and particularly those
destined to be preachers, proceeded to Cambridge ; hereafter
the majority of those destined for clerical careers proceeded
to Oxford, as is illustrated in the following estimate of the
numbers proceeding from the School:
Oxford. Cambridge.
1660-1690 . . 30 (1 a year) 60 (2 a year)
1690-1727 . . 91 (2-3 a year) 33 (1 a year)
1 Aikin's Twenty Miles round Manchester.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 131
Although these Exhibitions had early been thrown open
to scholars from other counties, a perusal of the lists of
Somerset scholars and of Hulme exhibitioners shows how
largely the Manchester School benefited by these foundations ,
and why the School continued to flourish at a time when
many other schools were falling into disuse.
The position of librarian to the Chetham Trust was gener-
ally held by promising alumni from the School and University,
and was compatible with a chaplaincy at the Collegiate Church
or one of the various chapelries of the widely scattered
parish of Manchester. It offered considerable attraction
to anyone of scholarly habits. Still Pope expressed a view
only too common when he wrote, * The parson knows enough
who knows a lord,' and it was very important for those seeking
advancement to belong to the political party possessing patron-
age. This is shown in a letter which Roger Kenyon wrote to
his sister-in-law, October 27, 1711, about a Manchester scholar
at Brasenose College, Oxford, the head of which had replied
to Mr. Kenyon, promising he would favour what he could
Mr. Entwistle's pretensions, but he added that the young
man he finds was a Whig, * which was against the pre-
sent humour of the College.' * In truth, unless the young
man's learning distinguish him a good deal, I doubt not
the party he is of will be some prejudice to him, for our
Colleges, like all other places, get into parties.'1 Perhaps Mr.
Entwistle, like many other aspirants to position and emolu-
ments, found a change of opinion would conduce to success,
for in 1717 2 we find him rector of Buds worth, Yorks.
One of the quaintest figures in this busy mercantile town
is that of Edmund Harrold,3 a wig-maker, who was born in
1679. He was evidently a scholar under Mr. Barrow. He
has left us a diary of his thoughts and doings between
1711 and 1714. His account of the books he purchased,
read, and resold, of the sermons he heard and discussed, are
interspersed with the relation of his frequent backslidings
into drunkenness, and his frequent but evanescent repent-
ance. He tells of his domestic troubles, his bereavements,
his rebuffs in searching for a new wife, and his successful
courtings. He was married three times, and both second
1 Kenyon MSS. 447.
Foster's Alumni.
3 'Manchester Collectanea' (Chetham Society, vol. Ixviii.).
132 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
and third wives belonged to the Nonconformist communion,
while Edmund Harrold was a Churchman. The sermons
preached by the young High Church clergy with their stric-
tures on dissent were a great source of mental perturbation
to him, and it was at times difficult for him to reconcile
worldly inclinations and religious duty. The enumeration
of the titles of the books he purchased and his discussions
upon them with his friends shed no little light on current
conversational interests of the time. His garrulous narra-
tion is so ingenuous and his repentances so numerous that
our reprobation of the sinner is obliterated in our sympathy
for the hapless scholar.
James Heywood (1687-1776) was another local scholar
who maintained his literary interests during a mercantile
career. He left Manchester to carry on the business of a
wholesale linen-draper in Fish Street, London. He acted as
London agent for James Chetham, one of the governors of
the school and of the Chetham foundation. In his leisure he
contributed essays to The Free Thinker, The Bee, The Plain
Dealer, and one or two to The Spectator.1 Richard Steele
describes him as a brisk little fellow, who had the habit of
twisting off the buttons of persons he conversed with. He
amassed a very considerable fortune, and served as governor
of Christ's and of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, also of Bridewell
and of Bedlam Hospital. His Whig propensities are shown
by the fact that when he was elected alderman of the city 2 he
preferred to pay the £500 fine imposed on those who would
not take the Sacrament, according to the Corporation Act,
rather than serve.2 In a letter to James Chetham he advises
' a father not to make his son a dull plodding curate, but to
send him to the city, and put him in the way of becoming a
sheriff or an Alderman of London.' 3
Perhaps still more interesting and typical of the kind of
man the school produced was James Chetham of Castleton,
1 His little book of poems, collects, and essays was published 1726.
In it he refers to his old schoolmasters : to Peter Molineux, who taught him
to keep accounts, to Richard Wroe, the Warden, and to the beauties of
Manchester.
2 In 1748, the City Council of London passed a by-law imposing a fine
of £500 on anyone declining office, even if in ill-health. They collected
£15,000 from this source.
8 Papers read at the Manchester Literary Club, vol. xxx. p. 161 ; Lane,
and Cheshire Local Gleanings, vol. ii. p. 22.
WHIG BENEFACTIONS 133
who passed to Cambridge and to Gray's Inn. He became
Recorder of Macclesfield, but surrendered the position when
he entered into possession of the estates of his cousin,
Humphrey Chetham of Castle ton. His book, ' The
Angler's Vade Mecum,' was published 1689, at first anony-
mously. It passed through several editions. (See also list
of feoffees of the school, Appendix.)
Discord broke out at the Manchester College on the death,
in 1718, of Richard Wroe, who had served for nearly thirty
years as Warden of the College. From the persuasiveness
of his preaching he had earned the nickname of the ' Silver-
tongued Wroe.' Owing to his persistent refusal to attack
the Nonconformists, he had aroused the antagonism of the
younger clergy at the Collegiate Church, who were now begin-
ning to openly manifest strong High Church and Jacobite
leanings. Warden Wroo had found it increasingly difficult
to restrain them. The Whig party had regained the reins
of government and naturally sought to bestow the position
on someone favourable to the Hanoverian succession. At
this time Samuel Peploe, vicar of Preston, was the most
outspoken champion of Whig principles available. It hap-
pened that he had been taking the services in his church
in 1715 when the followers of the Pretender entered Preston.
Undismayed by the sight of the military force in the church, he
continued to read prayers for the reigning monarch, George I.
A soldier sprang up and threatened to shoot him if he per-
sisted. The only reply was, ' Soldier, you do your duty
and I will do mine,' and the undaunted clergyman continued
the service. This incident was brought before the notice
of George I, who is reported to have said in his broken Eng-
lish, ' Peeplow, Peeplow ; he shall Peep High.' Samuel Peploe
was remembered when the wardenship of the College of
Manchester fell vacant. His appointment was extremely
galling to his Tory superior, Bishop Gastrell of Chester, who
found cause for a refusal to induct, by claiming that the
collegiate charter required the Warden to have pursued his
university training as far as that of a Bachelor of Divinity
or of Law. The degree in divinity possessed by Samuel
Peploe had not been conferred by a university, but by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who, from papal times, possessed
the right to confer divinity degrees as well as the university.
The dispute led to considerable debate on the exclusive
134 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
prerogative of the Universities to confer degrees. It was
perhaps for political reasons ultimately decided in favour
of Dr. Peploe.1
Although there was a very sordid side to these party
quarrels, yet they served to bring to the front men of energy
and ideas. They indicated vigour of growth, and were pre-
ferable to the torpor which came after a lengthened period
of the Whig ascendancy — a period which, though of enormous
value in settling and confirming a stable constitution, per-
mitted the growth of a laziness in belief and practice and
was associated with abuse of patronage, incompetence, and
sloth. The work which the Jacobite and Nonjuring party
in Manchester now set before themselves was the re-creation
of a sincere religious life and a fervour in learning. The
magnitude of the task and the extent of their accomplish-
ment will appear in the course of the next chapter.
1 1721, the Bishop of Chester's case; also Portland MSS., vol. vii.
CHAPTER VII
1720-1749
THREATENED COLLAPSE
' Negligence is the rust of the soul, that corrodes through all her best
resolves. ' — FELTHAM.
Rapid extension of trade and accumulation of wealth caused members
of the landowning classes to become merchants — Education tends
to become a class prerogative — Preoccupation in the pursuit of personal
gain among the trading classes associated with the decay of moral
and religious earnestness — The Grammar School neglected and almost
derelict, but saved by the devotion of William Purnell — The Holiday
Library and the Christmas plays — A rival to the Petit School — Henry
Brooke appointed high master — Arrangements for boarders — The
first Manchester Exchange — Efforts to establish a town's workhouse —
Further study of Natural Philosophy and Natural History — High
Church and Jacobite idealism — Manchester and the '45 Rebellion.
THE benefactions which had been provided to enable poor
scholars to receive that ample school and university training
which they needed, if they in turn were to lead and train others
adequately, were only too readily diverted into means of
self-advancement and their real purpose forgotten, while the
distribution of these benefactions was itself another form
of patronage too often abused by the landowning classes as a
means of protecting and maintaining their power and privi-
leges. Some of this patronage *• was no doubt used wisely in
regard to needs and deserts, but for the most part the men
selected for advancement were those most likely to support
the views of particular patrons or to satisfy particular interests.
Politicians ceased to study English constitutional principles
1 See also the benefactions to schools in the north by Lady Elizabeth
Hastings (1682-1739). — Female Biography, by Miss Heys.
135
136 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
by attending the Inns of Court, but sought knowledge and
experience by travelling abroad, especially in France, where
they gained ideas of class government hitherto unrecognised
in English political life. In order to adapt their ideas to
English conditions of parliamentary representation they
often made study of such questions as State regulation of
commerce and matters of local government, so that when they
entered Parliament they were able to support or oppose
the numerous private Bills which special interests were
promoting in the House of Commons.
In order to keep in touch with local interests and so gratify
the voters who sent them from the boroughs to Parliament,
it was necessary for them to acquaint themselves with matters
of local administration, and if possible take some share in
it. The degree and constancy with which they interested
themselves varied greatly, and though Manchester had no
direct representation, yet it was sufficiently important for
its interests to be considered by those representing neigh-
bouring boroughs.
Trade with America caused the seaport towns of Bristol
and Liverpool to rise rapidly in wealth and importance, and
owing to the growth of sea-borne traffic it became necessary
to provide better means of transit.
An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1720, by which
riparian owners were empowered to make the River Mersey
navigable for boats between Manchester, Warrington, and
Liverpool.1 The early attempts were expensive, costing
£14,000, and disappointing, for the river currents, always
strong and rapid, were subject periodically to heavy floods
and the works were repeatedly destroyed.2 In spite of diffi-
1 A special meeting of the feoffees of the Manchester Grammar School
was called February 1720, after which Charles Bestwick, the receiver,
called on George Kenyon, lawyer, with orders from six of the feoffees to say
that they would not oppose the Navigation Bill, but expected a clause to be
inserted to prevent the undertakers constructing any works which might
obstruct the free working of the School mills. — Raines* MSS., Chetham
Library, vol. xxii. pp. 145-6; Kenyon MSS.,p. 464.
* The Sankey Brook from St. Helens to the River Mersey was made
navigable in 1755, but the first actual canal to be cut through new ground
was that begun by the Duke of Bridgewater in 1758 and in use in 1761.
It was designed to bring coals from a mine from Worsley to Manchester.
It was seven miles in length, and was designed by James Brindley, a
self-taught millwright of Derbyshire.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 137
culties, permanently secure works were finally laid down, and
large quantities of goods — particularly pit coal for smelting
and also for warming houses — were conveyed between Liver-
pool and the inland towns. This increased use of coal soon
began to affect the atmosphere, for the lack of space between
the houses in the towns, and the narrowness of the streets,
prevented any proper clarification of the already moist air,
which now began on calm days to be clouded and dark with
the smoke from domestic fires.
This prosperity reacted on the inland towns. The rise of
a new merchant class with broad outlook and wide interests
was rendered possible by the entry into business of many
younger sons of the landowning and professional classes, who,
in consequence of the Peace with France, no longer found
careers in the army. Many of these naturally retained family
traditions of loyalty to the earlier form of organised govern-
ment and supported the High Church party against the dis-
integrating influence of latitudinarians. Others maintained
a liberal outlook on natural science, but for the majority of
tradesmen there was a lack of outside interests, and vulgar
pettiness became common. Money accumulated without know-
ledge to use it for material or mental betterment ; dissipation,
indifference, and wastefulness became common. Religion had
lost its moral certitudes, and divines vainly endeavoured
to attract the interests of their hearers by complacent and
rationalist discourses on the wisdom and power of the Creator
who had made the world for man's enjoyment, but did not
apparently expect that man should put forth constant
efforts to distribute its blessings. A narrow individualism
grew up which forgot that the degradation of some was the
degradation of all, and that dissipation of power soon involved
destruction of the source of power. Society was based on
a crude struggle for existence ; robbery and corruption pre-
vailed everywhere. Money or servile subservience became
too often the price of advancement in Church, State, or
Society.
The stratification of the population according to wealth
and other attainments and possessions had now become so
marked that, not only did the several classes manifest quite
different social interests, but their educational needs were
manifestly different, and the future career of each child had
become the determining factor in the subject-matter and
138 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
method of training. In order to understand the place
which Grammar Schools were filling in the preparation of its
scholars for active life in the town as well as for the learned
professions, it is necessary to consider the changes which
inevitably followed in the subject-matter of education.
The ostensible basis of English school education, both
elementary and advanced, continued, as it had always been, a
training in the principles and practices of the Christian religion,
in order that the child might perform his duties to God and
to his neighbours. By good teachers this was still regarded
as fundamental ; but a period had arrived when it was
realised that this purpose could no longer be accomplished
by training the lower classes in the Church Catechism and
Bible and the upper classes in the Classics. The mercantile
and industrial population had increased so enormously that
their children needed ampler training than they had pre-
viously enjoyed to equip them properly for their future duties.
Public writing-masters, arithmeticians, and mathematicians
had long been employed, with no official relation to the School,
to make up the deficiency of the School curriculum. At
this time music and dancing masters were also employed.
These special classes soon began to be grouped together in
commercial academies which offered an education alternative
rather than supplementary to that of the Grammar Schools.
The effects of trade prosperity became evident in many
ways. The wealthier manufacturers and merchants built
spacious mansions and their ladies began to drive about in
private coaches. In the Gazetteer on September 5, 1739, it was
stated that over £30,000 a year had been spent for the last
twenty years on additional buildings in Manchester, and some
2000 new houses had been set up in that time.1
As trade prosperity and general luxury increased, members
of the well-to-do middle classes soon found the exacting
demands of fashionable life incompatible with the domestic
cares of a family. Consequently the custom of sending even
young children to fashionable boarding schools became
common. Small boys were frequently sent with their sisters
to girls' boarding schools, but it is doubtful if they were
admitted after about ten years of age. The keeping of a
1 Gresswdl MSS., quoted by Hibbert Ware ; Foundations in Man-
chester ; Aikin's Twenty Miles round Manchester ; and Caston and Berry's
Illustrated Map of Manchester, 1741.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 139
boarding school for older boys became the acknowledged
source of income for schoolmasters at Grammar Schools, and
those schools which possessed endowments to enable special
boys to study at Universities and so gain social advance-
ment, were naturally the most popular, and, if conducted by
good masters, soon grew in repute.
With the changing opinions and occupations of the towns-
men new traditions in learning grew up and influenced the
kind of training at the schools. The old formal Grammar
School training persisted, but attempts to lighten the path of
the scholar and render it more attractive were made by the
use of translations, extracts, stories, biographies, and so-
called Introductions to the Classics. In most cases elemen-
tary instruction in Latin grammar and literature was free,
but extra fees were charged for out-of-school tuition, and
arrangements made for special tutors in French, Italian,
mathematics, &c.
The general intelligence among townspeople was kept
alive by the perusal of the periodical newspapers, and the
gossip of the news-rooms, which were frequently furnished
with maps on topography and with handbills. Concerts were
given by travelling musicians and dramatic performances
by travelling companies or by local effort.1 To satisfy the
spreading influence of Humanitarianism, Acts of Parliament
were sought to make better provision for the poor by erecting
workhouses, while attempts were made to repeal the Test
Acts which still pressed on the Nonconformists.
Attempts at adapting higher education in English Uni-
versities to the new conditions were made by the establishment
of the Regius Professorships in Modern History and Modern
Languages. These professorships were intended to encourage
the training of the upper classes in the subjects needed
for foreign travel, particularly for diplomatic and political
service. In effect, they were mainly utilised by those scholars
who wished to act as tutors for young English noblemen
on their foreign travels, positions hitherto filled almost
entirely by French Huguenots and graduates of the Scottish
Universities. Other changes in study were also taking place.
Hitherto, mathematics had been cultivated largely as a
method for making calculations in optics, geometry, and
1 In Jebb's Assembly Rooms. Cf. Byron? s Journal, 1725.
140 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
astronomy. It had now grown vigorous enough to be
cultivated for its own sake, and to be admitted as a separate
subject of liberal education. The opening of the new Senate
House at Cambridge in 1730 was the occasion of holding
public mathematical examinations at the University and
introducing the grading of candidates. Mathematics thus
became a definite educational objective, though it probably
did not appear as such in Manchester till the time of Charles
Lawson.
In spite of the Hulme post-graduate exhibitions, which
after all were limited in number, the training of the minor
clergy, particularly at Oxford, continued for va'rious reasons
to be less liberal than that of the academies provided for
the education of Nonconformist ministers, which were closely
in touch with the mercantile interests, and included the
study of Natural Philosophy. A knowledge of the Classics
was regarded as a suitable but by no means necessary
accomplishment for clergy and for schoolmasters, but of
no practical value for the trading classes. The private com-
mercial academies which claimed to prepare boys in a more
modern way than Grammar School and University were
paying concerns. The education of girls continued to be
somewhat better than that of boys ^though social accomplish-
ments were regarded as proper substitutes for thoughtfulness.
Dancing and deportment may have been well taught, but the
level of training in music could hardly have been high.
On the death of Mr. Barrow, which followed the death
of his chief assistant, Mr. Richard Thompson, in 1721, the
School was placed in charge of Thomas Colburn,2 apparently
an entire stranger to the town. Failing to retain ushers
or gain the support of the townsmen, he soon accepted a
living in Lincolnshire and resigned the Manchester School.
He was succeeded by a still younger master, John Richards,
who, perhaps in consequence of irregularity of payment
of salary, neglected the School and lost the confidence of
the feoffees. Anxieties about the failure to attract older
1 Cf. Mary Astell, op. cil.
2 It is difficult to identify this man, if the spelling adopted by Hibbert
Ware is correct. There was a Thomas Goole or Gool, subsequently head-
master at the Grocers' School, Whitney, Oxford, who in 1725 contributed
to the Manchester School library and of whose connection with Manchester
there is no other evidence.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 141
scholars were increased by the neglected state of the Petit
or Lower Infant School, where Mr. John Wall, curate at Ros-
therne, whose son had held a School exhibition in 1707-9,
was endeavouring in spite of feeble health to hold things
together. John Wall died May 1722, and pending a new ap-
pointment, Mr. Bennet Gray, son of Andrew Gray of Mottram,
who had also held a School exhibition at Brasenose in 1710,
undertook temporary duties while serving as curate of
Den ton. He 'deserted the school' February 2, 1721. Then
we meet with the name of Edward Hulton, who, after holding
a School exhibition at Brasenose, 1710-4, had come to assist
his father as curate of Blackley. On his father's death,
November 23, 1716, he had been nominated to succeed
to that incumbency. He had been supported by Warden
Wroe and two of the Fellows of the College, Roger Bolton
and Robert Assheton. Perhaps owing to party spirit,
perhaps to an arbitrary abuse of power, Warden Peploe placed
obstacles in the way of Edward Hulton's succession, for
he did not secure ordination and admission to his charge at
Blackley till 1727. During the ill-health of Mr. Barrow,
previous to the appointment of Mr. Richards, and in his period
of waiting, Edward Hulton, at the request of John Kay,1 the
School solicitor and of the School steward, had taken charge
of the Upper School. He had also had charge of the Middle
School managed by Mr. Thompson. The total number of
scholars must have been few when a young man of twenty-
two was left in charge of three departments. The ineffec-
tiveness of management at the Grammar School induced
Mr. Thomas Ryder, who, from 1717, had been in charge of the
Bury Grammar School and kept private boarders, to give
up his school in Bury and come to Manchester to open
a private boarding school. He had already got into trouble
at Bury for his zeal in baptising children of Presbyterian
parentage and otherwise indulging in High Church prac-
tices. Manchester offered great possibilities, especially as the
High Church reaction against latitudinarianism had already
set in, and there were numerous wealthy merchants who
did not want their children to mix with the children of
the ordinary townspeople at the now ill-managed Grammar
School.
1 Of Furnival's Inn, legal adviser to the Chetham estate. He enrolled
tho Hospital Charter in 1743.
142 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Four of the feoffees, Sir Ralph Assheton, Sir Holland
Egerton, William Assheton, and Samuel Chetham, decided to
take strong measures to put the affairs of the Grammar School
in better order. Perhaps this was on the advice of Rev.
William Assheton, who, in the absence of any recognition of
the appointment of Samuel Peploe, during the dispute about
his qualifications for the wardenship, would, as senior Fellow of
the College and Vice- Warden, naturally be regarded as official
visitor to the School ; or perhaps it was on the advice of
Bishop Francis Gastrell himself, whose interest in educational
foundations has already been noticed, and who would realise
the futility of Dr. Peploe making any application to a Univer-
sity while he was engaged in flouting the value of University
degrees. The four feoffees made formal appeal to Francis
Gastrell to use his influence with the president of Corpus
Chris ti College, Oxford, to secure the dismissal of Mr. Richards
and the appointment of a suitable successor. This was
not an easy matter, for Richards had not resigned, and the
Governors had at this time no confidence in the power of
Mr. Purnell, the usher, to hold and manage the School.1
Mr. Purnell was only twenty- three years of age, and up to
now had had no opportunity of manifesting those qualities of
leadership which he was subsequently to exert to such good
effect in the management of the School. At this distance of
time it is difficult to realise fully the services which Purnell
rendered to the School at its darkest hour. He was con-
nected with the School in various capacities for forty-one
years, during the last seventeen of which he filled the post of
high master. His work was long overshadowed by the
more assertive personalities of his colleagues, firstly that of
his senior, Henry Brookes, and secondly his junior, Charles
Lawson. It was always thorough and far-reaching, and it is
only after a process of exclusion that we can guess the real
person who, at this time, was doing so much to build up the
reputation of the School for efficiency of training and liberality
of outlook. One of the agencies by which this was accom-
plished was the formation of a School holiday library.
During the years 1725-1739, various sums of money
amounting to an aggregate of £30 were collected as a holiday
fund for the boys — to be used in the afternoons and other
1 Hist. MSS. Comm., Kenyan MSS., p. 467.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 143
occasions.1 The money was expended partly in the pro-
vision of ' scenes ' for the plays performed by the boys at
Christmas festivities, 1739-40-41, which took place either
in Jebb's Assembly Rooms or in the Long Room of the new
Exchange, and partly in the provision of works of modern
literature for the entertainment as well as the instruction of
the boys. The list of books purchased includes * Robinson
Crusoe,' first published 1719, ' Don Quixote,' a French
Dictionary, a French Grammar, and several French authors.2
There were about fifty-five subscribers, eleven of whom served
at various times as feoffees of Chetham Hospital, though
only two were feoffees of the School itself. The other sub-
scribers were public officials or professional men in the town.
The money must therefore have been collected by someone of
wide interest and kindly nature, who was as intimate with
the Jacobites as with the Whigs. The handwriting suggests
that the collector of the money was William Purnell,
the junior master, whose intimacy with Francis Hooper,
the Chetham Librarian, is elsewhere indicated. The use
of £5 5s. to provide ' scenes ' for the Christmas performances
of the boys may be considered to foreshadow their public
performance at the Manchester theatre in 1759. Finally
the absence of the names of the School feoffees emphasises
the fact indicated above that Mr. Purnell was not yet in
favour with them.
The first minutes of meetings of feoffees to be recorded
in the earliest extant minute book are those dated June 15,
1724. The meetings were held at the Angel Inn. After
granting £10 each to the three scholars already at the Univer-
sity, viz. Thomas Chadwick, William Shrigley, and John
Arrowsmith, the feoffees proceeded to grant gratuities of £25
to Mr. Richards, £13 to Purnell, and £3 to Mr. Broxup,
and continued :
' Ordered : That Mr. Broxup by reason of his insufficiency,
to forthwith quit the School, and that in consideration of
his quitting he have paid to him five pounds at Michaelmas
next, five pounds more at Christmas then following, and
five pounds more at Lady Day then following, the whole
1 The following facts are taken from some loose sheets found in the
feoffees' book of 1724-1758.
* Cf . Appendix for list of books purchased.
144 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
besides his last year's gratuity. That Mr. Gore (writing
master) have his usual salary.
' Ordered : That the High Master, after the accounts are
settled and signed, do withdraw while the other business
of the School is in consideration by the feoffees.
' Ordered : That the salary of Charles Bestwick, as Receiver
of the School rents, be withdrawn, he not attending to make
his accounts as by duty of his place he ought, and further
that the growing rents and rents behind be paid for the future
into the hands of Mr. Wm. Shrigley till the feoffees make
further orders therein, and he to pay the moneys as received
into the hands of Sir Ralph Assheton, Baronet, and Holland
Egerton Esq. or one of them.'
On June 30, 1724, Mr. Seth Broxup wrote a letter ' to
the Worshipful Feoffees of the Free School of Manchester,'
as follows :
' Most worthy patrons and my noble benefactors. Upon
the 17th of this instant, which was the first time I heard
you had a design of displacing me, it was surprising and
amazing to me and I was almost sunk down with horror
and dispondency, but my sorrow was soon alleviated when
Mr. Richards informed me you would continue me in my
place until the 25th March next ensuing, which comfortable
news brought great security to my mind and filled me with
transports of joy ; moreover a worthy friend of mine told
me that you would allow me a handsome maintenance for
my life. ... I have taught at the School in Manchester
ever since the year of our Lord 1688 and am now 68
years of age and begin to feel myself to decline. I
hope you will be kind unto me for my father's sake who
lived in the town many years in good credit and esteem.
He suffered very much in the times of the late usurpation
and was a true Royalist. I myself was born in this town
and had my education in it.'
At a slightly later date when in some doubt as to the
pension, Seth Broxup wrote :
' Your humble petitioner having been master of the Lower
School ever since it was builded, and your honours knowing
my being superannuated and incapable either to serve your
honours or myself, humbly begs leave to inform your honours
that my circumstance is very deplorable, and unless your
honours will please not only to consider my condition but
grant me something yearly I shall certainly want common
THREATENED COLLAPSE 145
necessaries of life. My thanks and gratitude for your kind-
nesses received since I have left the school are sincerely
acknowledged.'
On June 23, 1724, Mr. Joseph Hobson, who does not appear
to have had any University training, was appointed to take
the place of Seth Broxup and take charge of the Infant or
Petit School. On entering upon his work, Hobson drew up a
list of his scholars who amounted to eighty-six. This list was
found among the Kenyon MSS.,1 and should be compared
with another list of even date to be found in the cover of
a MS. volume of ' Notes on Hebrew Grammar and Texts of
Bishop Beveridge's Sermons.' 2 The book formerly belonged
to Joseph Allen, who entered Trinity College, Cambridge,
1705, graduated B.A. 1707 and M.A. Oxford 1709, and who
seems to have obtained it from the Rev. Thomas Ryder.
The book is to be found among the Rawlinson MSS. in the
Bodleian Library, Oxford. The list in it is entitled ' List of
Children admitted at Manchester, 1724-5.' For convenience
of comparison with that of Joseph Hobson it may be called
Ryder's list. There are fifty-two names in it, and of these
at least sixteen are those of girls. The ages of the children
vary from five to twelve. All the sixteen girls have brothers
already in the same school, and this seems to have been a
condition of their admission. In most cases the names can
be identified as those of children in the town or immediate
neighbourhood, and belong to the better-class families, but
a few cannot be so identified, and may have been those of
boarders. In association with Ryder's MS. list of ' Ad-
missions to Manchester School ' are found several names
connected with the Grammar School, such as Mr. Richards
(high master), Mr. Purnell (assistant master), also Rev. Francis
Hooper, Chetham's Librarian and subsequently Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and several lady teachers, in-
cluding Miss Arrowsmith, perhaps a sister of John Arrow-
smith, who obtained an exhibition to Brasenose College,
Oxford, in 1724, and in 1731 became a master of the Charl-
bury School near Oxford. The MS. notes also record that
' Jared Leigh ' paid Mr. Byrom for rent of rooms occupied
by Mr. Thomas Ryder, Clerk. Mr. Bell of Liverpool, probably
1 Historical MSS. Com. Reports, Kenyon, p. 467.
2 Cf. an account with names of children and masters and some expenses
given in Lane, and Ches. Gleanings, January 14, 1876, note 257.
146 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the father of John Bell, a scholar of Mr. Hobson ; Mr. Jebb ;
Miss Johnson, sister of Mr. Johnson, teacher of dancing in
1737 ;* Miss Jenny Lengard and Richard Ramsbottom are
also mentioned. A certain Lengard had held a University
exhibition from the school in 1705, and the name Joseph
Lengard occurs as music master and portrait painter in 1772.
There is a note that a volume of plays was lent to Miss
Lengard by Mr. Ryder, and that W. Purnell borrowed books
of W. Ryder.2
When the two lists are compared, there are several dif-
ferences as well as numerous similarities. All the boys are
very young, between five and ten, and correspond to a Petit
School. There are no girls mentioned in Hobson's list.
Ryder's list includes the names of lady teachers, and the
average age of the children is about one year higher. This is
due to the fact that the girls were considerably older than the
boys. Moreover, the dates of admission are given in weeks,
as if there were some weekly payment exacted. A possible
explanation of Ryder's list is that during a period of irregu-
larity of control and delayed payment of salary, the under-
masters had been allowed to make their own financial
arrangements, and to eke out their small and very precarious
official salary by assisting at a private English school near
by. This may have succeeded the old Whig Boarding School
for girls kept by Mrs. Frankland and have been held in con-
nection with the Petit School of the Grammar School. By
June 1725 the feoffees of the Grammar School found them-
selves in possession of sufficient funds to pay the salaries
of masters who could thereafter confine their attention to
the original purposes of the School.
At a meeting of the feoffees, July 28, 1726, there occurs
under the heading * An act concerning the High Master
of the Free School of Manchester,' the following note :
' Whereas the feoffees of the said School have had many
complaints against Mr. Richards the High Master, as to his
1 ' Opera Johnson,' Byrom's Journal, vol. i. p. 60.
2 The volume in which the MS. note occurs may have passed to
Oxford with Joseph Allen, whose associations with the Jacobite and
Nonjuring cause would bring him into relation with Rawlinson, or it
may have come into possession of Henry Brooke, the succeeding high
master of the Manchester Grammar School, for he corresponded with
Rawlinson.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 147
gross negligence and absence from the said School, so that
the inhabitants of the town and parish of Manchester and
the neighbourhood thereof are afraid to send their children
to him and several persons have withdrawn their children
from the said School and put them to distant schools, and
whereas the said Mr. Richards hath been admonished of
such his neglect and absenting himself, therefore the said
feoffees have thought fit and do hereby reduce (1) his allow-
ance to the sum of £10 per annum until he approve himself
in his constant attendance, diligence and care in the said
School to the satisfaction of the Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop
of Chester and Warden of Manchester who is desired in case
he approves his future conduct to notify the same to the
feoffees in such manner as he shall think fit, and the Receiver
of the said School is hereby ordered to pay the said sum of
ten pounds per annum to him in the meantime and no more
aid to be paid at the usual times.
' I vote for the wages not to exceed £10 per annum.
H. HULTON.
SAMUEL CHETHAM. HOLLAND EGERTON.
ALEXANDER RADCLJFFE. PETER LEGH.
RALPH ASSHETON. JOHN WARREN.'
This action was effective.
The name of John Richards appears for the last time
attached to the minutes of the meeting on June 9, 1727, when
it is associated with the recommendation that John Arrow-
smith, David Sandiforth, John Clayton, and Robert Thyer
should receive exhibitions from School funds while at the
University.
Under these circumstances it is scarcely surprising that
the mills which provided the school with its income were also
neglected and had become inadequate for their work. They
had fallen into such disrepair that they were unable to grind
more than a small proportion of the corn sent to them, and
this they ground badly ; consequently the prospective lord of
the manor, Oswald Mosley, while he was still tenant of the mills,
set up supplementary mills of his own in Hanging Ditch, which
he refused to close on the termination of his tenancy.1 The
feoffees had left the collection of the School rents to an un-
trustworthy steward. When Oswald Mosley surrendered his
lease the feoffees were more concerned in maintaining their
1 Foundation* in Manchester.
148 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
monopolies of grinding corn and malt, than in inquiring into
the adequacy of the provision they made for meeting public
needs or into the satisfactoriness of the methods of milling
they were adopting. The monopoly had become oppressive.
The inhabitants constantly made fresh efforts to escape it.
Mills were erected in Salford, and flour which had been
ground there was sold in Manchester. In 1701, the feoffees
had once succeeded in stopping this by obtaining a decree
in Duchy Court of Lancaster. During his tenancy Oswald
Mosley had expressly repudiated all right or title to use
his subsidiary mills in Hanging Ditch to the prejudice of
the School mills. On his death in 1727, his son, Sir Oswald
Mosley, who had been created a baronet in 1720 by George I,
continued to work these subsidiary mills. In 1728 Yates and
Dawson who were now the School tenants, brought actions
against certain brewers in Salford for selling beer made from
malt which had not been ground at the School mills. They
were supported in their action by the feoffees of the School,
who were now engaged in two lawsuits. Public and private
meetings took place to seek measures of relief, and the dis-
cussions naturally became very acrimonious. To cause a
diversion at one of these meetings, John Byrom, who had
settled in his native town in 1725, composed the following
squib, the point of which depends upon the fact that the
two partners who rented the School mills were tall and
gaunt :
* Here's Bone and Skin, two millers thin
Would starve the town or near it,
But be it known to Skin and Bone,
That flesh and blood can't bear it.'
These legal actions absorbed most of the School income,
and in order to meet their difficulties the School feoffees
decided to offer the high master a house large enough to
enable him to take boarders and so secure both his local
residence and the closer attention to school duties, which
would be necessary if he was to increase his income. The
house chosen was probably the house which had so long been
occupied as the girls' boarding school by Mrs. Frankland
and her successors. From their previous experience of
placing young men in charge, the feoffees were anxious
that the appointment should not be given to William
Purnell, who was only twenty-five years of age. He had
THREATENED COLLAPSE 149
probably received his early training at Wotton-under-Edge
Grammar School a few miles from his own home in Dursley,
co. Gloucester, whence he had passed to Oriel College, Oxford.
He was a cousin of Rev. John Purnell who was elected Warden
of New College, Oxford, in 1740. Finding his chances of
succeeding to the headship at this time very small, Purnell
applied on September 15, 1727, to the feoffees for arrears of
his salary for three years, and a refunding of the money he
had already spent in the repairs of the house which he occupied,
together with an undertaking that the house itself should be
properly repaired or rebuilt. They probably refunded the
money, though they discontinued the provision of a house for
the second master and made instead a special grant of £10
per annum for him to provide a house himself.
On September 27, 1727, after a good deal of correspon-
dence, the claims of Mr. Purnell, the Usher, to the high-master-
ship, were commuted. Mr. Purnell was given the incum-
bency at Uns worth to eke out his salary as second master ;
and another stranger to the town, Mr. Henry Brooke, son of
Anthony Brooke of Heddington, Wilts, and of Oriel College,
Oxford, during the years 1713-1720, who had succeeded in
ingratiating himself with both political parties, was appointed
high master.1 He was reputed to be a good scholar, for he
had recently published an edition of the speeches of Demo-
sthenes and Aeschines, and he renewed the old tradition of
declamation by the scholars in public speeches and in his
own sermons.
There is a minute in the feoffees' book of this date to the
following effect :
' Ordered that a convenient part of Walker's Croft be
taken in and added to the garden of Mr. Brooke for en-
largement thereof as shall be thought fit and appointed by
Holland Egerton, Esq., and the Rev. Wm. Assheton who are
desired to meet and view the same for the purpose on Monday
next the 4th March following :
' Whereas Wm. Hunter, gent., hath paid to Mr. Brooke,
high master of the Free School of Manchester, the sum of
sixty pounds out of the moneys due from him to the feoffees
of the School, it is hereby further ordered that the said
Mr. Hunter do pay to Mr. Brooke the further sum of sixty
pounds which is to be accounted by the said Mr. Brooke as
1 Manchester Notes and Queries, May 1, 1886.
150 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
his salary, he having had great and several occasions for
money in furnishing his house for the better accommodation
and boarding of young scholars in the said School, and that
the payment made by the said William Hunter shall be
allowed on his account to the feoffees : — H. Egerton, John
Warren, Wm. Assheton.'
Thanks to the interest of the Whig Warden and Bishop —
Samuel Peploe — and by mandate from the Crown, which con-
stantly intervened in the election of Fellows of the Collegiate
Church and ignored the undoubted right of the other Fellows
to elect, Mr. Brooke was appointed on June 8, 1728, to a
fellowship in opposition to two local and more properly
selected candidates — Mr. Francis Hooper, the Chetham
Librarian, and Mr. Heber, an old Grammar School boy.
Other vacancies among the collegiate body were also
filled up by marked High Churchmen — Radley Aynscough
(1681-1728) of Jesus College, Cambridge; Adam Banks,
possibly a relative of James Banks, Rector of Bury ; Richard
Ashton — all being elected to Fellowships. Thomas Cattell
and Thomas Moss were appointed chaplains. Probably all
of them had been educated at the School.
The properties of the School also received more considera-
tion. On the death in 1731 of William Assheton, the Rector
of Prestwich, the feoffees chose Rev. Jas. Banks, who had
succeeded Rev. Thomas Gipps as Rector of Bury, and was in
consequence one of the committee of three, to award the
Hulme exhibitions. They also chose James Chetham of
Castleton (1683-1752) ; Robert Radcliffe of Foxdenton ; and
Robert Booth, merchant and boroughreeve of Salford, who
had recently succeeded to his father's extensive estates.
The Somerset scholarships, the School exhibitions, and
the chance of Hulme post-graduate exhibitions for those
entering holy orders, were beginning to attract to the School
boys from long distances, and prudent parents were willing
to pay for their sons' residence in the boarding house of the
masters when this secured their advancement in life.
For the first ten years during which Mr. Brooke held
office, he seems to have worked steadily. The School rose
in prosperity and a full staff of masters was appointed. Mr.
Robert Lowe succeeded Mr. Hobson in the Lower School
and a third assistant was added. Numerically, if not quali-
tatively, the School was as prosperous as when William Barrow
THREATENED COLLAPSE 151
held office. Then Mr. Brooke, who had begun to tire of his
school duties, took occasion to leave the School in charge
of his brother, William Brooke, and followed the absentee
habits of his predecessor. That the upper part of the School
did not decline seriously was owing to the work of the second
master, Rev. William Purnell, the value of whose work was at
length becoming appreciated.
Pending the payment of the £500 damages awarded to
the School feoffees in their action against Sir Oswald Mosley,
the School finances remained in a bad condition. Henry
Brooke, with the consent of some of his trustees, was making
long visits to Tortworth, Gloucester, a living to which he had
been appointed hi 1730, leaving Mr. Purnell in charge. He
subsequently stated that he intended at this time to resign
from the School. In all probability during some part of the
years 1739-40 the School was actually closed.
Subsequently, when the School feoffees had been recouped
of their losses and the income of the School had been
placed in a more flourishing condition, the feoffees demanded
of the high master a closer observance of his duties. Rev.
William Purnell was paid an extra thirty guineas for the thirty
weeks he had taken the high master's duties as well as his
own, and Mr. Brooke was deprived of the use of the boarding
house which had been provided for him. His salary was also
reduced to the £10 decreed by the School statutes. These
measures were effective. Mr. Brooke returned to his work,
and in 1744, in an address1 on the importance of classical
studies delivered to a public audience which included the
Visitor of the School — Warden Peploe — he refers to the fact
that for the past three years he had attended at the School
diligently. The forceful language in which he claimed the
superiority of classical over English and French writers
suggests that he felt impelled to attack the modernising
tendencies of his assistant, Mr. Purnell. Mr. Brooke was
successful in satisfying the not too inquiring Warden Peploe
and readily obtained a certificate of attention to duty.
The rising purpose and sense of responsibility which caused
the feoffees to second the efforts of Mr. Purnell to restore the
School to its old position of usefulness were also shared by
several of the prominent merchants and lawyers in the
1 The address occurs in Whatton's Foundations.
152 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
town, who took part in various public movements. These
sometimes failed to achieve their immediate purpose owing to
party spirit, yet they had the effect of arousing the community
to the recognition of its duties. Some of these movements
were initiated by the Whigs, others by the High Church
party.
We must now return to the consideration of the public
affairs of the town which influenced the aims and the number
of scholars seeking their education at the Grammar School.
Oswald Mosley had built an exchange for the use of chapmen
and small drapers in 1727.1 It was never much used by them,
and finally was appropriated by stall- keepers, &c. On the first
storey there was a large room, often called the Long Reading
Room, in which books, maps, globes, and current newspapers
were to be consulted. In this room Court Leet business
was conducted. It soon became used for concerts, dances,
public assemblies, and public performances of all kinds, and
became the centre of the social life of the town. Social enjoy-
ment of other kinds multiplied and public subscriptions
were solicited for horse-races which were held on Kersal
Moor, as it was claimed these were a public benefit.
As regards the cultivation of music in Manchester, the
Collegiate Church already possessed an organ built for it
in 1684 by Father John Smith. In 1724 a larger one was
added, and an organist, Edward Betts, was appointed to
take charge and to train children, frequently selected from
the Chetham School, to act as choristers. Betts5 * Intro-
duction to the Skill of Music ' at once became a standard
work of instruction, and passed through several editions.
The subscription concerts for the town began about 1741
(' Harland's Collectanea ') and were probably held in the
Long Room of the Exchange. In 1742 a new organ was built
in the Collegiate Church.
Increased recognition of the social needs of destitute
children had become noticeable in the provision of public in-
stitutions for their care by private benevolence. Privately-
1 ' The lower part for chapmen to meet and transact business, but they
have generally preferred the market place before it for that purpose and
butchers' stalls are occasionally set up on it on market days. The upper
storey is for the sessions room and manor courts, having sometimes served
for public exhibitions before the theatre and public concert room was
erected.' — James Ogden's Description of Manchester, 1783.
THREATENED COLLAPSE 153
provided poor-houses had existed in Miln Row, Rochdale
Road, from 1684, but poverty and destitution, ignorance,
laziness, and ill-health were now outgrowing the resources
of private benevolence in the busy thriving town. The
time had come for civic action. As this affected the rates
levied by the overseers, the proper place for discussion upon
the matter would be the vestry meetings held at the church
and attended by the general body of ratepayers. Here
the desire to keep down rates would often preponderate
over public needs, however much some wealthier members
of the trading classes were willing to meet their social
obligations.
At the town's meeting convoked to consider the provision
of a workhouse for the poor it was proposed that equal num-
bers of guardians should be elected from each of the three
political bodies — eight from the 'High Church party, eight
from the Low Church party, and eight from the Dissenters.
John Byrom at once detected that this scheme was detri-
mental to the High Church party, since, in the existing state
of local politics, the Whig Churchmen and the Nonconformists
would on controversial matters unite against them. He
skilfully organised an attack on the scheme in the House of
Commons. The whole story is best told in the language
of a contemporary, viz. in James Ogden's ' Description of
Manchester,' 1783, where there occurs the following :
' On the left hand at the descent to Miller Lane towards
Rochdale Road there is a range of buildings which was
long unfinished until some families took possession, and
have continued it as a species of almshouses though the
materials and first erection are said yet unaccounted for.
This building was reared and covered as one side of an in-
tended quadrangle wherein it was proposed to confine the
poor and set them to work upon divers branches of manu-
facturing, with a power to punish them if idle or insolent,
under an Act of Parliament which was intended to erect
the town into a borough and commit the government of it
to a certain number of the principal inhabitants to be named
in the Act, one-third of whom were to be reputed High Church-
men, another third Moderate, in their principles, and another
third Dissenters.
' All parties at first came eagerly into the scheme and this
building was erected as a beginning, none doubting the Act in
contemplation would be procured as it was countenanced
154 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
by the Ministry at that time in order to throw the
Government of the town into the hands of their friends.
Though the design was very palpable from the first, yet a
fondness for novelty and power, with the plausible view of
uniting all parties, had made the High party as sanguine in
pursuit of the plan as might be imagined, till one of them
who saw deeper into it than the rest, observed that they
were giving the command of the town out of their own hands
to the Low party, as in every contest for power the Dis-
senters and reputed moderate men would divide against
the High party. This observation at once opened the eyes
of that party and a counter petition was procured with
all dispatch against the Acts which prevented the scheme
and the High party had a meeting which was continued
yearly in a grand cavalcade to Chorlton for the perpetua-
tion of the triumph. It was known as the " Chorlton
Rant."1
Further details occur in the following notes which appeared
in the Parliamentary Journal of the period, p. 594 :
'Petition of the inhabitants, traders, and proprietors of
Land who agreed to subscribe £2000 towards the better
maintenance and employment of the poor of Manchester,
presented 23 Jan. 1730, reported on 24 Feb. 1730. They
had examined the matter of the petitions and had cited
as witness Christopher Byrom, who showed the poor rate
had doubled within five years, that the officers had refused
to let him inspect the books, that he had attended a meeting
Oct. 1729 and had received instructions to prepare a draft
of a subscription deed and had presented it to a sub-
sequent meeting when 14 were present and all subscribed,
and previously in June 1729 when it was decided to hire
a temporary workhouse at which 45 poor were taken. Mr.
John Kaye said he had known the town about four years
and proved the signatures of the second petition presented
by Mr. Bowker (overseer of the poor for the last ten years
at a salary of £30 a year) who had a Book of Assessments
signed by the Justices of the Peace, Jeffrey Hart under an
abstract showing that the poor rate amounted to £1333, and
the Institutes who contributed paid £229 Is. 9d. that the
petitioners against paid £236 14s. 2d.
* Mr. John Byrom supported the objection and said he
had attended a meeting 27 Dec. 1729 of 190 inhabitants
when all present rejected the subscription deed and declared
against. Ordered Sir H. Houghton, Mr. Plumtree, Lord
THREATENED COLLAPSE 155
Malpas, Mr. Brockbank to bring a Bill. 25 March 1731 a
counter petition of inhabitants praying that they might be
heard by themselves or by counsel against the Bill before
the House.'
Money was collected on both sides, and the progressives
placed a Bill in the hands of Bishop Peploe, who undertook
to introduce it in the House of Lords. He either forgot all
about it or delayed the journey to London till it was too late.
Sir Oswald Mosley, who was greatly in favour with the Whig
Government, withdrew his support on being persuaded that
his authority when he entered into the lordship of the Manor
might be weakened if there was a local corporation govern-
ing the affairs of the town. The Government withdrew their
support, and the measure was defeated.
The importations of raw and manufactured material in-
volved correspondence with foreign countries, and this further
aroused an interest in foreign customs and natural produc-
tions. Skilled botanists and geologists were employed to
collect exact information about the natural products of
Georgia, Savannah, and other colonies. A catalogue of such
American plants as were worthy of cultivation for the
purposes of medicine, agriculture, and commerce was drawn
up by John Ellis, F.R.S. Entomology became a subject
of exact study in France, where the extensive manufacture
of silk goods rendered the study of the metamorphosis and
formation of cocoons and webbing by insects a matter
of considerable commercial importance. With increased
transit the manufacture of other textiles beside linen and
wool rapidly increased, raw cotton fibre being introduced
from the East.1
As regards the local study of natural history, it is evident
that the appointment of Darcy Lever (1742), of Alkrington,
Prestwich, to be feoffee of the Chetham Foundation was
of some moment. In 1727 he had purchased for himself a
1 In the early days of the cotton industry it was considered necessary
to mix wool or linen fibres with cotton fibre before weaving. In 1748
Thomas Wilford, of Manchester, chapman, was granted a patent for four-
teen years for a newly invented machine for intermixing thread, cords, or
thongs of different kinds, commonly called platting or fustians. — Gent.'s Mag.
Lewis Paul took out two patents for carding machines. — Baines' Lanca-
shire, vol. i. p. 392.
156 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
microscope (cf. 'Byrom's Journal'), and it was probably at
his suggestion that the feoffees spent £26 in September 1734
on the purchase of a ' reflecting telescope a yard long.'
Optical experiments at this time constituted a favourite
popular recreation, if not study. It was certainly on Darcy
Lever's suggestion that the trustees subscribed to the pub-
lication of the writings of John James Dillenius, the Dutch
botanist, who had been brought to England by James
Sherrard, partly to arrange Sherrard's own plants at Eltham,
Kent, and partly to organise the fuller study of botany in
England. This work has special interest for Manchester,
for in it Dillenius expresses his particular indebtedness to
the assistance of a local linen-draper — William Harrison, who
had been educated at the Grammar School, and had made
botanical collections about 1724. He died 1764. Perhaps both
Darcy Lever and Harrison had benefited by the botanical
knowledge of Richard Thompson, assistant master at the
Grammar School, who died in 1721 ' skilled in Botany.'
The collection of 4000 mosses which William Harrison
made was deemed so valuable that they were purchased
at considerable cost by some local library, stated by Richard
Pulteney to have been the Manchester one. It was either the
public subscription library established in the Exchange in
1765, or that at Liverpool or Warrington, or maybe it was
purchased by Darcy Lever. All other record of this botanical
collection has disappeared.
A steady change was taking place in the social circum-
stances of many of the boys who attended the School.
Hitherto most of the advanced scholars who proceeded to the
University, as well as most of the junior boys who constituted
the bulk of the Middle School, came from families resident in
the town. With the increasing emoluments of the Church, the
opportunities offered for those possessing classical training
at School and University also increased. The School exhibi-
tions, and the Somerset and Hulme exhibitions and scholar-
ships, attracted considerable numbers of boarders from a
distance, especially those who desired to take Holy Orders.
Commerce offered even better opportunities for the attainment
of comfort, and even of wealth, to local boys of energy and
talent, as well as opportunity for the gratification of that intel-
lectual curiosity which is at the root of a desire for learning. It
enabled merchants to collect and study objects of natural
THREATENED COLLAPSE 157
history, archaeology, &c. Sir Hans Sloane, a London phy-
sician and philanthropist, was making those vast collections
which were subsequently purchased on behalf of the nation
and formed the nucleus of the British Museum. His agents
were in constant communication with merchants and col-
lectors in various parts of the world. Others, such as
Darcy Lever, were doing the same thing, but on a smaller
scale.
John Woodward, M.D. (1665-1728), a Derbyshire linen-
draper, after building up a competency, began to study medi-
cine. He also collected and studied geological specimens, and
gained such reputation that he was appointed Professor of
Geology at Gresham College, London. To place his favourite
study on a satisfactory basis in England he founded a lecturer-
ship in Mineralogy at Cambridge. He left his cabinets of
English fossils to the University, which ultimately purchased
his remaining collection of foreign fossils.1 The third holder
of the Woodward lecturership was Samuel Ogden, who had
begun his education under Brooke and Purnell. His claims
to the post are obscure. His sermons testify that he was
an eloquent preacher, but his enemies record that he spent
£100 in bribes in order to secure the position. Interest in
natural philosophy and natural history was also kept up
by John Leech, M.D., a Manchester physician, who was
appointed feoffee of the Chetham Foundation in 1718 (vide
* Byrom's Journal'); by George Lloyd, M.B., F.R.S. ; and
by Sir Darcy Lever, who was laying the foundations of the
famous museum, subsequently greatly enlarged by his son,
Ashton Lever.
The works on Natural Philosophy in the Chetham Library
increased in number, though it is not possible to discover the
exact place in Manchester at which a series of lectures on
Natural Philosophy were delivered by Caleb Rotherham of
Kendal, during 1743. The MS. of these lectures is in the
Chetham Library and, though no author is named, the charac-
teristic handwriting of Caleb Rotherham can easily be
identified, and the subjects of the successive lectures can be
compared with the notes in a diary of Samuel Kaye, M.D.
(1708-1782), who attended them and who subsequently
practised medicine in the town for many years. The lectures
1 John Byrom attended the sale of his books in 1729.
158 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
were illustrated by practical experiments, and the subject-
matter was grouped in the following way :
Lecture 1. General Introduction. Reference to work
of Descartes and other Natural Philo-
sophers.
,, 2. Divisibility of Matter. Attraction and
Repulsion. Gravitation and Cohesion.
,, 3. Repulsion of Matter. Electricity. Phos-
phorus.
,, 4. Mechanism of Air-pump. Boyle. Rapin.
,, 5. Motion. Momentum.
6. Weight, the Lever, the Pulley, &c.
„ 7. The Inclined Plane, Wedge, and Screw.
Compound Engines.
,, 8. Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Nature.
,, 9. Gravitation. Projectiles.
10. The Tides.
,, 11. Hydrostatics.
12. Weight of Different Fluids.
,, 13. Of Spouting Water, and of Specific
Gravity.
,, 14. Pneumatics.
,, 15. Pneumatic Engines. The Air Pump.
,, 16. Elasticity of the Air. The Human Dia-
phragm.
„ 17. Further Experiments in Pressure and
Elasticity of Air.
„ 18. Optics.
,, 19. Reflection of Light and the Laws by which
it is accomplished.
20. The Eye and the Nature of Vision.
,, 21. Theory of Colour. Sir Isaac Newton's
views.
22. Of the Orrery.
23. Of the Earth and its Motions.
24. Of the Planets.
The intellectual life of the town was saved from absorption
into material aims at this time by the permeation of some
of the best current French thought. Francis Hooper, late of
Trinity College, Cambridge, was librarian, and probably was
THREATENED COLLAPSE 159
actively concerned in the decision of the governors of Chetham
to spend a large portion of their surplus funds, i.e. £200, in
the purchase of some 200 French books. All shades of
opinion were represented on the list,1 which included works of
Devotion, of Biography and Travel, also Atlases, Histories,
Commentaries, Dictionaries, as well as critical writings on
Classical and Biblical authors, and the works of moralists,
such as Diderot, Fenelon, Fontenelle. The inclusion of so
many works of reference, when there were so few in the
town likely to avail themselves of their use, indicates that
the library was still intended for scholars rather than for
general readers. Still stronger evidence of French influence
is presented by the appearance in Manchester of Dr. Thomas
Deacon, 1697-1753, a London Jacobite and Non juror 2 who
had taken part in the 1715 rebellion, and finding it necessary
to avoid publicity had engaged hi the study of medicine under
Dr. Joseph Meade. He left London and settled in Man-
chester in 1726, and soon gathered around him a body of men
who were profoundly dissatisfied with a philosophy of life
which left man to pursue his own selfish aims hi a universe
already well arranged for his convenience. They wished to
develop their spiritual growth. They cultivated a union with
God which differed from the ' State of Grace ' of the old
Calvinist Puritans by being based on a study of personal
feelings and passions. The leader of this school of thought
was Malebranche, whose writings were eagerly studied in
England, mainly through the influence of William Law,
whose ' Call to the Unconverted ' is the first piece of English
constructive psychology based on an analysis and training
of the emotions. Other evidences of this desire for personal
perfection are found in John Byrom's3 ' Journal,' 1707-1763,
which contains many comments on contemporary Man-
chester life. John Byrom bought William Law's book in
1729.
' I have bought Mr. Law's book since I came to town, but
Wm Law and Christian religion and such things are mightily
out of fashion at present. Indeed I do not wonder at it, for
1 See Appendix.
8 Cf . Lathbury, History of the Nonjurors. Malebranche had stayed with
the Byrom family at Kersal, January 1713. — Byrom's Journal, vol. i. p. 35.
3 Author of the hymn ' Christian*, awake, talute the happy morn.'
160 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
it (religion) is a plain calm business. These people are, and
love to be, all in a hurry and to talk their philosophy, their
vain philosophy, and which they agree with each other, is
nothing but in rejecting many received opinions.'
On February 20, 1729, Dr. Thomas Deacon wrote from
Manchester to Byrom :
* Thomas Cattell [a prominent local high churchman and
Fellow of the Manchester College] believes Wm Law may be a
good man, but that his book does harm with weak judgments,
and Father Malebranche is a visionary. O Christianity,
where art thou to be found ? Not among the clergy. Well,
more's the pity. I pray God mend them, then other people
will mend too.'
Although he continued to practise medicine, Dr. Deacon
regarded this as subsidiary to his main work of teaching reli-
gion. He was ordained according to the rites of the Non-
juring body of Anglican Churchmen. He published for
his congregation a special Prayer Book and a Liturgy which
omitted what he regarded as the Latitudinarian errors. He
translated Tillemont's ' Ecclesiastical Memoirs,' and ' History
of the Arians.' The list of subscribers published at the
beginning of these works contains the names of prominent
Manchester scholars of widely different shades of opinion, and
shows their broad outlook and high opinion of Dr. Deacon.
The High Church clergy, who constituted a large part of
the active intellectual life of the town, cultivated the study
of ancient creeds and patristic theology, and based their
claims of absolute verity on the writings of the Early Fathers
and the customs current when the Christian Church was
struggling for existence. The adoption of St. Cyprian for
their patron saint has already been mentioned. While at
Oxford, Clayton and several of his fellow-townsmen, such as
Robert Thyer, had come under the inspiring influence of
John Wesley. Clayton left Oxford in 1732, and was appointed
chaplain at Manchester. He was so successful in his ministry
that in December 1733 he brought sixty people for confirma-
tion. He was invited by Bishop Peploe to preach the Ordina-
tion Sermon at Trinity Chapel, Salford, and in 1738 was
appointed incumbent there. He was also appointed chaplain
of the Manchester Collegiate Church in 1740. He had opened
THREATENED COLLAPSE 161
his private grammar school in Salford about 1735. This he
called St. Cyprian's, but it was more generally known as the
Salford Grammar School. It was established for the sons of
well-to-do parents who desired a more markedly religious
atmosphere than was afforded by the somewhat lax Manchester
School, and who wished their children to avoid the supposed
contamination of being mixed up with the boys of a less
favoured social level. One of the earliest of Clayton's scholars
was James Dawson, son of William Dawson, apothecary, who
had previously been at the preparatory and co-educational
school associated with the name of Thomas Ryder. James
Dawson entered St. John's, Cambridge, 1737, and like the
majority of the young bloods of Manchester, entered very
deeply into Jacobite intrigue. He received a commission as
captain, took part in the 1745 rebellion, was caught, convicted,
and executed. Thomas Coppock, son of John Coppock, tailor
of Manchester, who had proceeded from the Manchester
School to Brasenose and graduated B.A. 1742, after having
taken orders, had also joined in the rebellion and suffered
the same fate.
In 1746, a number of Clayton's scholars got into trouble
for joining in the Jacobite Riots and molesting the worship-
pers at the Parish Church, by shouting out ' Down with the
Rump,' and throwing various missiles at those who expostu-
lated with them. Adherents of the Jacobite High Church
party in Manchester had grown considerably in numbers,
not only among the older-established gentry, but also among
the townspeople. They continued to form a distinct clique
at the Collegiate Church, until the foundation of St. John's
Church, Deansgate, in 1754, found another centre for them.
Had the military ability and the physical force at the
disposal of the Jacobites of Lancashire been at all commensu-
rate with the intellectual attainments and the spiritual vigour
of their leaders in Manchester, the 1745 rebellion would have
proved a very much more serious affair than it actually
became. John Byrom had been quietly working among his
friends, though his constitutional timidity prevented him
from taking a prominent public part. The clergy, with the
exception of Warden Peploe and the pluralist high master
of the Grammar School, Henry Brooke, were unmistakably
on the side of the Stuarts. Dr. Deacon had induced three of
his sons to take up commissions. On his entry into Salford,
M
162 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Charles Stuart was met by Rev. John Clayton at the head
of his boys of the Salford Grammar School. Many young
and impressionable sons of Manchester families, such as
James Dawson, Thomas Coppock, and Thomas Chadwick,
who were disgusted with the self-seeking and self-satisfaction
of the Hanoverian dignitaries and place-hunters, and whose
imagination had been stirred by the early fervour of the
Oxford Evangelical Revival, joined in the Rebellion. Very
few of the Manchester merchants, however, shared the fervour
of the High Church clergy. They were more concerned about
the stability of their trade in the event of a change of
monarchy than with any abstract principles of right or of
religious zeal. Those who were not members of the Whig
congregation at St. Ann's attended the ministration of Rev.
Joseph Mottershead, at Cross St. Chapel. They subscribed
nearly £2000 to raise a troop of soldiers to be placed at
the disposal of Edward, Earl of Derby, the lieutenant of the
county. The rebellion itself was a fiasco. Several of the
local rebels — Deacon, Sydall, and Chadwick — were caught and
executed, and, as a warning to others, their heads were placed
on the top of the Manchester Exchange. Like all forms of
intolerant cruelty, this action had the reverse effect to that
which was intended.
Whether the appointment of three new Whig trustees —
viz. Right Hon. Lord Strange, Sir Edward Egerton of Heaton
(died 1744), and the Rev. John Parker, who had just succeeded
to his father's estates at Brightmet, Oldham — had anything
to do with their complacent leniency, or whether they were
influenced by Warden Peploe's politics, does not appear, but
it seems singular that at a meeting held October 6, 1747, it
was ordered that
' Mr. Walley (the receiver) do pay Mr. Brooke the High
Master, within the space of three months next ensuing the
date hereof, the sum of four hundred and ninety pounds
in full for all arrears and demands due to him from the said
feoffees, it appearing by the Warden's certificate and other-
wise, that he hath duly attended for the time of 3 years
and nine months. Ordered likewise that Mr. Brooke be
let into possession of the School house in Millgate, on 1st
May next.'
The following letter from Mr. George Kenyon, which
THREATENED COLLAPSE 163
though only part of a correspondence that is no longer known
to exist, further clears up some of the charges against Mr.
Brooke, though it does not completely exonerate him :
' The reason of the feoffees reserving a residuum was the
inconvenience they had formerly found when the funds of
the School were so much exhausted during some contests
they had with Sir Oswald Mosley about the cost of grinding
malt that they were forced to lower the Master's salary and
at last for a time to shut up the School. It is true they after-
wards recovered the costs upon obtaining a decree, but
this did not remedy the inconvenience, for by the temporary
suspense, the scholars were removed to other schools, and
it was some time before it could recover its former credit.'
Perhaps there is some excuse for Mr. Brooke's absence
from the school during the period when his salary and that
of his assistants were very irregularly paid. He was a man
of scholarly instincts, and his subsequent career shows that
he was quite conscientious in the discharge of what he con-
sidered his duties both as a parish clergyman and as a school-
master. He lived in an age when pluralism was recognised,
and he had received, as he thought, proper authority to
leave a deputy in his place. The earliest register of the
School that remains in the possession of the School
authorities was commenced by him and is in his writing.1
A copy of his MS. notes on the local history both of the
Manchester School and of the Manchester Collegiate Church,
of which he was a Fellow, is in the School library. These
notes show that he could be painstaking in matters of
historical research, and it is to his efforts that we are
indebted for having even the imperfect list of the earlier
schoolmasters still available. He aroused within a number
of his pupils some love of learning. He endeavoured
to pursue a non-party course in Manchester at a time
when religious and political differences were too often an
excuse for virulent party strife, and when commercialism
too often consisted of the pursuit of petty gain without any
regard to the rights of others. In addition to his address
1 He is credited with having stirred the feoffees to take action to main-
tain their ancient monopoly of grinding corn for the town, and of being the
author of a squib. — J. E. Bailey, Local Notes and Queries, vol. vi. p. 1886 ;
Lancashire Hob.
164 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to the friends of the School gathered together in 1744, he
published a volume on ' Christian Peaceableness, with a
postscript to the inhabitants of Manchester,' chiding them
for their wastefulness of public money and their quarrels
in the matter of the workhouse. The portrait1 which Mr.
Singleton of Blackley saw in the possession of the Hutton
family in 1836 and described as that of Henry Brooke should
probably be assigned to Joshua Brooks.2
1 Raines' MSS. Chetham s Library and Diet, of Nat. Biography.
2 Cf. p. 197.
CHAPTER VIII
1749-1780
PRIVILEGE, PATRONAGE, AND PUBLIC SERVICE
' For there are in nature certain fountains of justice, whence all civil
laws are derived but as streams.* — Advancement of Learning.
Further organisation of patronage under the Whig oligarchy and
enlightened public spirit — William Purnell becomes high master,
and Charles Lawson, usher — Books in the School Library — Occupa-
tions of parents of scholars — Numbers and proportion of day boys and
boarders — Further study at the English Universities — Private Com-
mercial Academies — Changes at the Chetham Boys' School and the
Salford Academy — High-level Nonconformist Academies in the North
of England — Natural Science at Chetham Library — Social habits of
the townspeople — Growing antagonism between the town and the
country people — Quarrels about the school mills result in Act
of Parliament abolishing most of the monopoly — Foundation of the
Infirmary, and its effect on the study of medicine — The Grammar
School boys perform plays at the newly-built theatre — Movement for
improvement in the town — John Howard visits Manchester and pro-
motes prison reform — Death of William Purnell — Growth of the Lever
Museum — Character and work of Charles Lawson — Rebuilding of the
school.
BY the middle of the eighteenth century the oligarchy formed
by the great Whig landowning classes had become more
organised, enlightened, and efficient. The so-called British
constitution was in a state of equilibrium, for all the classes
possessing power were more or less satisfied. The smaller
landowners, the more important merchants, and the pro-
fessional classes, secured the consideration of their needs by
grouping themselves round great landowners who controlled
the government. They were the electors who chose representa-
tives in the House of Commons. By avoiding interference
with established privileges they secured the passage through
165
166 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Parliament of such local Bills as they needed for their natural
growth. Intellectual curiosity found ample scope in various
scientific, literary, and philosophic studies, which attracted
interest and found followers in most provincial towns. Semi-
private museums and subscription libraries became common.
These afforded the professional classes and more intellectually
inclined merchants opportunity to cultivate their special
interests. The study of Classics at Grammar Schools and Uni-
versities was rendered attractive by the inclusion of Ancient
and Modern History, which were used for the inculcation of
civic virtues. French, Italian, and mathematics were taught
by private tutors. Even if theology remained coldly rationa-
listic and mainly concerned with refuting the arguments
of the impossibility of miracles, &c., its appeals to reason
and natural philosophy made it of some interest to the better
educated worshippers. The more benevolent and philanthropic
merchants found scope for their kindly feelings in the erecting
and maintaining of hospitals, churches, and workhouses.
In such a social organisation, the smaller tradesmen,
artisans, and servants who were beginning to increase in
number had little opportunity to grow ; there was little
to arouse them from the apathy of ignorance and depen-
dence. Some rudimentary provision for the education of their
children existed in the towns where private schools and
academies, of different grades of inefficiency, were common.
A few attended the local Grammar Schools, but could have
gained little benefit from their school life and imperfect
training. It was the evangelical fervour of Methodism which
aroused in the middle classes a sense of self-respect, while the
more ignorant but enterprising children learned to read and
write at the Sunday Schools which were now being established
everywhere.
The building of hospitals caused highly trained
physicians and surgeons to settle in English towns, for the
Scotch Universities had now taken the place of Dutch Univer-
sities as centres for medical training. Their high-level training
attracted apprentices, who in turn benefited by attending
the local hospitals. The multiplication of town churches
and chapels provided fresh opportunities for highly educated
clergy and nonconformist ministers. The clergy took greater
part in public life, for between 1749 and 1780 there were
thirteen clergy of Manchester and Bolton who served as
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 167
trustees at the Chetham Library and School. The profes-
sion of law became liberalised by the study of jurisprudence
and the attention now paid to criminals and the prisons.
Lawyers were also taking their share in public life. In
Manchester, though the only corporate government was by
the Court Leet held under the auspices of the Lord of the
Manor, there were marked movements towards increased
self-government . A subscription library established in the Long
Room of the Exchange in 1757 was much used by the merchants.
Town meetings of ley or ratepayers, as well as parish meetings,
were held to discuss matters of general interest.
The resignation of Henry Brooke in 1749 had caused the
services of Mr. Purnell to be recognised by his appointment
to the vacant headship. Any anxiety which the feoffees had
felt formerly in 1727 concerning his succession must have
been completely dispelled after they had gained more ex-
perience about him. He was not only of a benevolent
disposition, but as a result of his wider studies in general
literature he had developed a sense of humour and of the
proper proportion of things that prevented the firmness of
his religious convictions from developing into narrowness or
bigotry. Of his humour, several instances are to be found in
the 'Diary and Correspondence of John Byrom,'1 while his
benevolence is shown by his support of such new movements
in the town as the building and maintenance of the Infirmary,
the Charity Schools, &c., and also in his aloofness from
the partisan opposition to the erection of a workhouse.
His retiring disposition and his lack of political partisan-
ship prevented him from pushing himself forward as a candi-
date for vacant fellowships at the Collegiate Church, but he
was much beloved and respected for the conscientious way
in which he discharged his duties at the school. He served
as incumbent at Unsworth Chapel, Prestwich, for many years,
and subsequently at Newton Chapel in succession to William
Crouchley,for whose benefit the affairs of the latter chapelry
had been put in order in 1738. Mr. Purnell from the first
took an active interest in the parish school of Newton.
The appointment of Charles Lawson at this time as usher
constitutes an epoch in the history of the School. He received
favourable recommendation from Robert Thyer in a letter
written to John Byrom, July 31, 1749.
1 Chetham Society, vols. 32, 40, 44.
168 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
' Our new usher is come down and entered upon his office.
He brought with him an excellent character in point of scholar-
ship, from Dr. Randolph, the head of Corpus Christi College,
and from Mr. Patten his tutor. He is but young, about
22, but seems a very modest pretty sort of young man,
and he will set very heartily about retrieving the char-
acter of the School which Dr. Randolph has very strongly
recommended to them both (i.e. Purnell and Lawson). There
was a meeting of the feoffees on Tuesday, when the salaries
of the Masters was fixed as before with promises of advance
on good behaviour.'
He was the son of Rev. Thomas Lawson, Vicar of East
Kirkby, Lines. He was born about 1728 and had entered
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1743. It used to be stated of
him that he was a staunch Jacobite, accompanied the Young
Pretender to Derby in 1745, was ordained deacon before the
canonical age, but never proceeded to the priesthood, being
unable to take the required oaths of allegiance to George II.
His appointment as second master must have been a matter
of congratulation to the Jacobite clergy. Perhaps the high
position taken in the study of Mathematics by the scholars
at this time should be attributed to the influence of Rev. John
Lawson, brother of Charles Lawson, of whose career we have no
knowledge other than the fact that he wrote mathematical books.
The four new feoffees who were chosen after the appoint-
ment of Mr. Purnell had been settled, and the two who were
appointed two years later were, like their predecessors, well-
to-do landowners. Some represented the county or one of
the neighbouring boroughs in Parliament, others served as
High Sheriffs of the county, the majority as Justices of the
Peace, then a position implying a settled income from land
of at least £100 a year.
It is possible that in the opinion of some of the friends
of the school, and almost certainly in the opinion of the
collegiate clergy, Mr. Purnell was outshone by his assistant,
Charles Lawson, and had he been less lovable and less liberal
minded, it would have been difficult for the two to have worked
harmoniously for so long together. The diversity of their
dispositions and of their intellectual interests must have been
very good for the boys. William Purnell exerted a genial and
enlightening influence fed by his love of modern literature,
while Lawson exerted the equally necessary exact discipline
involved in the rigid study of classics and mathematics —
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 169
an aspect of school education dwelt upon by Locke. We
have already noticed Purnell's choice of books for the School
library in 1727. There are still in the School library a
number of volumes of a later date which manifest a con-
tinuance of the same interests. We find the Works of
Pope (1754) ; Matthew Prior (1754) ; ' Life of Peter the
Great ' (1756) ; Sheridan's * Elocution ' (1762) ; Spenser's
'Faerie Queene ' (1758); Rollin's 'Belles Lettres ' (1737).
There are also introductions and translations of the classical
writers, and books on Modern as well as Classical History,
such as Shuckford's * Sacred and Profane History ' (1728) ;
Echard's ' History of England ' ; ' Conquest of Mexico ' (1753) ;
Smollett's 'History of England' (1737-63). We may be
confident that these were but a few of many works which
were well calculated to awaken the interest and stir the
imagination in the performance of public duty. How har-
moniously as well as effectively Purnell and Lawson worked
together is also shown in the number of scholars and the
subsequent careers of many. The school registers from
1730 to 1837 have been edited with much fullness by J. Finch
Smith, who prefaces them with the following remark :
' It will be apparent at the first glance that many more
scholars have been identified who entered into what are
called the learned professions than into those honourable
walks of life with which the town and neighbourhood of
Manchester are more closely connected in its merchants
and manufacturers, but it is much more easy to trace the
one than the other . . . with regard to the Manchester
names and others connected with mercantile life, there are but
few public sources whence information could be had.' . . .
Since the publication in 1866 of the first volume of the
School Register, so many fresh incidents of local history have
been brought to light that it is possible to trace in somewhat
fuller detail the influence which current education exerted on
the town in the eighteenth century. The old trade guilds
had disappeared, for it is evident that the attempts to illus-
trate ten of them at the town celebrations of the coronation
of George III were highly artificial. The old trade designa-
tions were often used for masters and servants alike, but,
owing to the increased growth of capital, the latter were
becoming separated more distinctly into masters and journey-
men or servants whose dependence was intensified with the
170 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
introduction of mechanical appliances, and at a later date by
the phenomenal growth of the cotton industry due to the
adoption of machinery and application of water-power. In
taking account of the occupations of parents, we note the
large proportion of those in which traditions of learning
were ingrained for professional or other reasons. Next in
number are those occupations which brought men into touch
with a large variety of their fellows, and caused them to appre-
ciate the advantages of education more readily than those
whose circle of acquaintances was more limited. Thus
taking the figures from 1740, when Mr. Brooke returned to
active work, to 1765, which corresponds to the end of Mr.
PurnelTs high mastership, we find :
Total
1740-5
1745-50
1750-5
1755-60
1760-5
1740-65
Nobility and gentry
5
11
19
18
15
68
Divinity .
2
5
12
27
19
65
Law .
...
2
4
4
2
12
Medicine and surgery
1
2
...
4
3
10
Freemen and yeomen
8
7
4
10
6
35
Innkeepers
8
11
13
12
17
61
Tradesmen
9
12
14
17
7
59
Dyers
8
4
6
1
9
28
Hatters
3
3
5
4
5
20
Unclassified artisans,
shop-keepers, and
minor occupations .
26
59
64
68
87
314
Total .
70
116
141
165
170
672
Presumably boarders *
Presumably day
scholars
1740-5
1745-50
1750-5
1755-60
1760-5
Total
14
66
25
91
44
97
60
105
53
118
196
477
80
116
141
165
171
673
' l In estimating the proportion of day scholars and boarders, it is assumed
that the boys whose parents lived at a distance were boarders and those who
lived in the town were dav boys. There is no other distinction in the register
itself.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 171
Of the boarders, 84 (i.e. nearly one half) are to be found
passing to the Universities, while only 16 of the day boys
appear to have done so. Of the non-professional classes
farmers sent 10 to the Universities, innkeepers sent 5, superior
tradesmen and merchants 8, grocers 3, and shoemakers 3.
It is very evident that only a small proportion of day boys
fully benefited by the classical system of education, and
probable that only a small proportion stayed beyond the
age of twelve.
Some notice must be taken of the other educational
institutions in the town. Private venture academies sprang
up in considerable numbers and prepared scholars for business
careers. The Nonconformist residential academies which
prepared scholars for the Scotch and foreign Universities or
for the Nonconformist ministry were undoubtedly important
centres for liberal higher education. Some of the private
day schools offered a very elementary education, which served
to prepare scholars intending to proceed to one of the English
Universities for the upper forms of the Grammar School.
Numerous advertisements of such private schools, preparatory
or commercial, are to be found in ten contemporary news-
papers which now begin to appear.
Harrop's Manchester Mercury was first published in 1752.
In the issue of May 11, under the heading of Manchester
Intelligence, we read :
' Whereas a report has been maliciously spread that the
said Hy. Whiteoake Fawcett has more scholars than he
can well teach, and consequently cannot take in any more
this is to assure the public, specially such as are disposed
to favour him with their children, that the said report is
groundless and entirely inconsistent with truth. Nor does
he think it necessary to say more to the candid part of the
public of the honesty of his intentions in taking in no more
scholars than he and his assistants can teach well and justly,
since it is evident in the natural course of things that a
practice contrary to this will have a tendency to blame his
character and entirely deprive him of business.'
The Rev. Henry Whiteoake Fawcett
'begs leave to acquaint the public that he continues to
teach English, Latin and Arithmetic, writing and merchant
accomplishments, in a plain, easy, useful and concise, yet
172 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
comprehensive method, in a large commodious room in the
late Wheatsheaf Court aforesaid, opposite the Half Moon
Tavern in Deansgate.'
And again, in the issue of January 2, 1753, we read :
* This is to give notice that the Grammar School at Burton
Wood in the parish of Warrington and the County of Lan-
cashire, will be vacant of a Schoolmaster in January next,
and any person who undertakes and is qualified to teach
the classic authors, writing and accounts, may apply to the
trustees of the said School residing in Burton Wood aforesaid.
The qualifications of the persons chosen must be made
apparent to some judicious person or persons appointed for
the purpose ; the salary belonging to the School is about
£13 a year certain, besides several other purchases which
make £20 a year or better. A testimonial of his morals
will be required.'
In the issue of April 30, 1754, we find the following
advertisement of James Wolstenholme,
* who had had his education in the Free School of Man-
chester, and stands well recommended by the Master, the
Rev. Mr. Purnell. He intends to open a School in Swan
Court, Market Street, Lower Manchester, for the reception
of those who desire to learn in the English, the rudiments
of the Latin tongue ; as he is determined faithfully and
diligently to observe such methods of instruction as have
been or may be recommended to him by his late Headmaster,
he hopes that those committed to his care will meet with
few inconveniences whenever their parents may think proper
to remove them from his school to any other.'
The following advertisement occurs in a current pamphlet
entitled ' The Schoolmaster flogged with his own rod :
a letter to Thomas Burrow of Manchester,' 1754, by Joseph
Partridge :
' Leonard and Thomas Burrow at their School House down
the Fountain Court, behind the Exchange, where, having
leased a house for the purpose, they continue to teach English
in a millhouse, recommended by some eminent masters in
the most easy and expeditious way for learners, and which
hath been as well practised, and found to succeed, also Latin
and Greek, following herein the course and custom of the
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 173
best schools. Together; with writing in a separate School,
Arithmetic universally and compendiously taught, with an
application of it to all the useful purposes of life and branches
of trade. Book-keeping, Mensuration, &c. Youths boarded
and ladies taught needlework in a commodious apartment
under the same roof.'
This particular schoolmaster came in for much criticism.
Lastly, in the Mercury of December 27, 1763 :
' Henry Whittaker, writing master and accountant, has
engaged Mr. William Paynter to attend his school at
proper hours to instruct young ladies and gentlemen in
the art of Drawing.'
The character of the training provided for the boys of
Chetham's Hospital also underwent a change at this time.
In 1760 the feoffees further decided that no boy should
be employed by the schoolmaster or others as a menial
servant out of school hours. In 1763, at the request of Rev.
John Clayton, Fellow of the Collegiate Church, two of the
hospital boys were allowed to attend the choir services in
the said church, and to assist ' the singing men.' In October
1765 an advertisement appeared in the Manchester Mercury : '
1 The Governors of Mr: Chetham's Hospital give notice
that they are desirous to treat with any Person who is
willing to instruct and employ any number of the Blue Boys
in spinning twine, candlewick, or in any other easy Business or
Employment fit for children between the Ages of eight and
fourteen. Persons who are inclined to send in such Proposals
are desired to apply to Mr. Gartside.'
The treasurer was instructed to summon a special
meeting of Governors, with power to make any contracts for
the purpose aforesaid, not exceeding the expense of £100.
In April 1767 Mr. Booth was allowed to employ twenty
of the Hospital boys daily in the making of shoes for the
following year, the said boys to work in a general room from
eight in the morning till twelve, and from one to six, except
the Master of the Hospital shall have liberty to employ two
of the said twenty boys one day in each week to assist in
washing and brewing, and except that the said boys shall
have liberty to go to church in the greater holidays and to
go home for one month at the Whitsuntide holidays without
174 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
any deduction being made by Mr. Booth on account of such
absence. Mr. Booth agreed to pay the Treasurer £20 for the
twelve months' service of the said boys.1
The Salford Grammar School entered into serious rivalry
with the Manchester one. It was by far the most successful
of the private schools, and was probably the successor of the
co-educational school of Thomas Ryder noted in a previous
chapter. Its pupils were recruited from the well-to-do
Jacobite and Tory families. The date of the accompanying
picture must be about 1738, for the boy sitting cross-legged
on the step is Edward Byrom (born 1724), son of Dr. Byrom.
Many of the scholars by their innate vigour of mind and
their careful training became distinguished in the Church,
in Medicine, and in Law. One of them, Charles White,
shares with Dr. Percival, of whom more presently, the honour
of establishing in connection with the Infirmary the reputation
of Manchester for enlightened medical teaching and sanitarian
reform.
None of Clayton's pupils exhibited more thoroughly the
religious character of the training at this Jacobite school
than John Clowes, who subsequently became the first rector
of St. John's. He has left an autobiography of considerable
interest, in which he tells us :
' He was born at Manchester, 31st October, 1743. His
father was a barrister-at-law and continued the practice
of his professional duties in Manchester and the neighbour-
hood during his life. His mother was a daughter of a pious
and learned clergyman in Wales, the rector of Llanbedr,
near Ruthen, and inherited all her father's virtues. She
died, however, when the author was only 7 years old,
so that he did not derive so much advantage as he might
otherwise have done from her piety and her example. All
that he recollects concerning her is that she was very as-
siduous about the attendance of her children at church and
also about their private devotions every night and morning.
For this purpose, as soon as they could read, she supplied
each of them with a book of Common Prayer, and also with
Bishop Ken's Manual of Prayers for the use of Winchester
1 At this time the custom of apprenticing workhouse children to the
factories in Lancashire and Yorkshire was coming into vogue. The children
could work the frames as well as adults and their services were cheaper.
The guardians got rid of their obligations by ' apprenticing ' the children ;
abuses naturally became common.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 175
scholars. From this latter book the author afterwards
derived the greatest benefit, insomuch that he has often
been led since to regard it as a special instrument under God
of inseminating in his mind the principles of Christian life
and duty. And here he is constrained earnestly to recom-
mend to all parents zealous attention to the early education
of their children in Christian principles, since the tender
mind at that age is in a fitter state than at any future period
to receive the seed of the eternal truth, and if that seed had
been neglected, there is too much reason to fear that the
ground may afterwards be so overrun with thorns and thistles
as to admit with difficulty the insemination and growth of
heavenly principles. Besides, the evil propensities of children,
it is well known, begin to manifest themselves with their
pernicious influence in the very dawn and springtime of
life, and consequently if no barrier of piety and virtue be
then opposed to their operation, they reign uncontrolled, and
confirm and extend every day more and more their bane-
ful dominion over the whole mind and life of the neglected
and untutored subject. ... It was not only to his mother
but to his father also that the author was indebted for his
Christian education, since it was a constant rule with the
latter not only to be accompanied by his children every
returning Sabbath to the House of God, both morning and
evening, but also to call the family together in the evening
of that holy day to hear a sermon and to join in the more
private duty of family devotion. ... It was about this
time, 6 or 7 years old, that the author was sent to a
Grammar School in Salford, the master of which was a pious
and devout clergyman of the Church of England, who did
not think it sufficient to instruct his scholars in Latin and
Greek, but extended instruction also to religious knowledge.
The duties of the school were accordingly always preceded
by prayer, and the morning of every Saturday was appro-
priated exclusively to an explanation of the Church Cate-
chism. The author has since looked back with unfeigned
gratitude to the Divine Providence and upon this instance
of paternal care in placing him at a school where Christianity
was taught together with classical knowledge, and where the
young mind, being instructed in the doctrines of the Gospel,
was less exposed to the dangers resulting from the perusal
of heathen literature and from the practices and impurities
of Heathen Mythology. . . . He had always a strong relish
for juvenile sports and pastimes, which relish he has since
been convinced is communicated from heaven for the double
purpose of recreation, and promoting the growth of mind
176 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
and body. After remaining at school until acquiring what
was thought a competent knowledge of the Greek and Latin
languages, he was removed at the age of 18 to the University
at Cambridge, where he was admitted in the year 1761 a
pensioner of Trinity College. . . . During the whole period
of his residence in the College he was never once called upon
to attend a single lecture on theological or religious subjects,
not even so far as related to the evidences of Christian dis-
pensation. The sad consequences were, as might be expected,
that the serious impression which he had brought along with
him from school, instead of being more confirmed and
extended, as it might have been, was in danger of being
weakened and entirely effaced.'
Annual meetings of the scholars were held, and even
after the school was closed on Mr. Clayton's death, in 1773,
the ' Cyprianites,' as they called themselves, continued to
hold an anniversary public dinner to preserve the memory
of John Clayton.1
Training for * active life ' at Nonconformist academies
had established itself as an educational tradition in the
Lancashire district, particularly for those who for various
reasons did not desire residence at Oxford or Cambridge.
It was especially adapted for those destined for country life,
or for mercantile careers, or for medicine, law, or the army, &c.
The following sequence of these local academies at which
many Manchester scholars attended shows how important
a part they took in the higher education of the middle classes
during the eighteenth century.
1. The Manchester Academy, 1693-1712 (John Chorlton,
cf. p. 120).
2. The Whitehaven Academy, 1711-1729, conducted
by Thomas Dixon, who had studied under Chorlton.
He graduated M.A. Edinburgh, M.D. Aberdeen, and
practised as a physician while he maintained a private
academy.
1 The success of these Tory dinners was probably the cause of the
establishment in 1784 by certain leaders of the opposite political school,
such as Sir Thomas Egerton, of the annual Whig dinners for the old
Manchester Grammar School boys, though the political aspect of these
latter changed after the death of Charles Lawson, as will be noticed in
a subsequent chapter.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 177
3. The Kendal Academy, opened by Caleb Rotherham,
who lectured in Manchester 1743. He died 1751. Besides
the 56 Divinity students, whose names and careers are
known, there were 120 other pupils, chiefly in the mathe-
matical and philosophy schools, whose names and careers
have not been recorded.
4. The Warrington Academy, 1757-1786, established
by Rev. John Seddon, the Nonconformist minister of the
town. The most notable of its scholars was Dr. Thomas
Percival, 1740-1804, who had been admitted to the
Manchester School in 1751, but owing to ill-health had
been transferred to Warrington, where he could receive more
individual attention. The most notable of its teachers
was Joseph Priestley, a copy of whose ' Plan for a Liberal
Education ' (published 1760) was among the educational
books in Charles Lawson's library. The aim of this academy
was ' to lead pupils to an early acquaintance with and just
concern for the true principles of religion and liberty.' Annual
subscriptions amounting to £469 came from Manchester,
Liverpool, Warrington, and Birmingham. The academy was
opened October 23, 1757, and though it was not formally
closed till 1786, for over ten years it had fallen into decay.
Altogether 393 students received a part or the whole of their
education there. Of these 22 came from or went to the West
Indies ; 21 followed the profession of Medicine, proceeding to
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leyden, or Utrecht ; 24 followed the
profession of Law ; 18 entered the Army ; 100 entered Com-
merce ; 55 became Divinity students, and of these 20 received
pecuniary assistance from the Presbyterian Fund,1 13 became
clergymen of the Established Church, and one became a
Bishop.2
The valuable work which many of these academies were
doing in the diffusion of science and liberal knowledge was
in contrast with the apathy of the well-endowed English
Universities and the illiberality of the wealthy clergy. This
did not escape the keen eyes of Adam Smith, who devotes one
chapter of his celebrated work, ' The Wealth of Nations '
(published 1776), to the study of the institutions for the
1 W. D. Jeremy, The Presbyterian Fund and Dr. Williams Trust, 1885
2 See Monthly Repository, 1812 and 1814; Transactions of the Con-
gregational Historical Society, August 1914.
N
178 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
instruction of youth, and one chapter to the study of
institutions for the instruction of people of later age. He
incidentally shows that owing to their lack of endowment
and public support these latter institutions were necessarily
of a temporary nature.
The local study of Natural History received encouragement
by the purchase of numerous illustrated works on the subject
by the feoffees of Chetham's Library. In the introductory
preface to the catalogue of 1791, John Radcliffe, the com-
piler, tells us that the special character of the librarianship of
Robert Kenyon (1743-1787) was the addition to the library
of many works on Natural History and numerous engrav-
ings, though interest was manifested in such subjects long
before Robert Kenyon was appointed and also extended
after his decease. The most important of these works were
Edwards' ' History of Birds,' Bloch's * History of Fishes,' and
Latham's ' Synopsis.' In fact, the governors, the majority
of whom had been educated at the School and were mostly
either merchants or professional men in the town, or
members of the county families around, took considerable
interest in the kind of books purchased for the library.
They were accustomed to send the librarian to London so
that he might bring back lists of the most recent publications
and submit them to small sub -committees.
Robert Kenyon seems to have held a highly favoured
position after he entered into some family property, as
he is then called custodian. He must have spent much of
his time away from Manchester, for he was Resident Fellow
at Brasenose 1771, and incumbent of Salford. The attention
paid to the study of Natural History is shown by the fact
that Dillenius 1 expresses his obligation to John Clayton, who
sent information about plants in Virginia, and John Frede-
rick Gronovius acknowledges the help of the same naturalist.
There are several John Claytons with local connections
and of local origin who travelled in Virginia about this time.
It seems impossible to identify this particular one.
Much of the floating capital which had been accumulated
in the country as a result of extension of our foreign trade,
1 See Introduction to the History of Mosses, 1741. He acknowledges
help from William Harrison, linendraper of Manchester, whose collections
were purchased by the Subscription Library held in the Old Exchange,
1765.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 179
by the beginning of the eighteenth century had naturally found
its way to the towns, where it was employed in increasing
the manufacture of textile goods and filling the coffers of
the merchants. Owing to the scarcity and high price of
linen yarn, the weaving of pure cotton was introduced. By
the middle of the century the wearing of pure cotton under-
clothing became common among the middle classes. The
increased cleanliness that ensued must have contributed
to the increased self-respect which is so essential a factor
in social progress. The improvement in housing and in street
arrangement took place at a later date. The growing demand
for textile goods caused the number of textile workers to multi-
ply at a great rate and to outstrip the production of food
for their subsistence. This, however, did not improve the
position of the farmers, for, owing to the growth of land-
lordism, the yeomen of the seventeenth century had dis-
appeared, and the smaller tenant farmers who had taken their
place could not command the amount of capital that was
necessary for the proper development of their independence.
Their increased earnings were paid in rent, and this still further
emphasised the class distinction growing up between town and
country. Consequently, agriculture continued to be a less
attractive means of livelihood for adventurous or ambitious
youths than that of textile manufacture. The available
amount of provisions, especially cereals, was always limited
and uncertain, and dependent on weather. Two successive
bad harvests were apt to increase the price of food for the
artisan of the town so much as to overthrow the balance of
earnings and expenses. The status of the artisan was there-
fore falling considerably below that of the master employer.
Owing also to the lack of guidance and regulation by means
of any organised authority, such as guild or State, and also to
the fact that the skill needed to work the new machinery was
very limited, the apprentice system with its technical training
had fallen into disuse. Self-respect and social tradition
disappeared. The character of industrial life therefore fell,
for there could be little home life in the towns where there
was no real comfort, privacy, or adequate provision for even-
ing occupation or recreation. Inns and taverns multiplied as
social resorts, and their importance is indicated by the many
sons of innkeepers who attended the School. Fortunately,
gin palaces, which indicate worse degradation of the workers,
180 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
were not so common in Lancashire as in London.1 Coffee-
houses multiplied for those who possessed intellectual curiosity,
but were dependent upon the society of their fellows for its
exercise. The new generation of retail traders and small
middlemen possessed neither the traditions of the old merchant
families nor made alliances with the county families, whose
growing wealth caused them to form a special caste separate
from those whose enterprise made their landed possessions
of so much value. Petty social gossip and petty parochial
politics were the main topics of discussion. Social prejudices
and misunderstandings became magnified owing to lack of
general enlightenment, and led to active opposition and
quarrels, and these accentuated the evils inseparable from
social caste. The antagonism between the trading interests
of the town and the agricultural interests of the country
beca^me constantly intensified. The general body of the
clergy adopted the self -regarding interests, ideas and principles
now increasingly prevalent among their patrons without
developing new traditions of learning and conduct. Their
theology consequently ceased to supply any adequate inter-
pretation of human existence, and their practice of religion
too often became formal and meaningless. The religious
teaching provided in churches and chapels, even when
possessing some of the glow of evangelical revival, did little
to unite and much to separate parties, while the instruc-
tion in the schools and universities included no systems of
mental and moral philosophy based upon the studies of
the characteristics and diversities of the different classes, nor
had literature delineated or studied class necessities. The
fact that a few wealthy and travelled landowners and wealthy
merchants were cultivating intellectual interests and social
accomplishments after having been brought under the in-
fluence of wise schoolmasters, or having served on the govern-
ing body of a well-endowed library, did not secure the spread
of learning and self-direction and control among their less
privileged fellow-citizens. Indeed, the advancement of the
1 * There are people yet alive who remember but one inn or publichouse
in the town that sold wine or spirituous liquors, and not above three or
four private houses that had either. . . . Those frequenting alehouses
and gin-shops were weakened by excess. . . . The workhouse generally
receives those who have the good luck to escape the gallows.' — Joseph
Stott, cobbler (i.e. Robert Whitworth), A Sequel to the Friendly Advice to
the Poor of the Town of Manchester, 1756,
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 181
fortunate few was too often accompanied by the degradation
of the many, for the increasing cost of education both in leisure
and in means caused learning to become a class privilege.
The long- established habits of co-operation and division
of responsibility which had characterised the old forms of
local government had disappeared. Private and individual
benevolence alone, though steadily growing in volume, was
inadequate to stem the social disintegration.
The following advertisement from a Manchester paper of
the time illustrates the extent of the cleavage that was
growing up between the town and the country inhabitants :
* Whereas the necessities of the poor are now very great,
as through the scarcity of work and the high price of corn
which hath been and still is artificially kept up by the policy
of farmers and dealers in corn, flour and meal, to the great
oppression of the public, and more especially the lower rank
of people who are obliged to buy all their bread and bread
corn at the shops on the worst terms, therefore I recommend
to all my farmers and tenants who have any corn or other
eatables to dispose of, that they gradually thrash up the
corn to supply the wants of their poor neighbours and after-
wards bring what they have to spare to be sold in public
market on reasonable terms, which I hope will be a means
to silence and put a stop to all further disturbances and
riots, and such of my farmers and tenants as shall disoblige
me in the reasonable request are not to expect any further
favours from me.
(Sgd.) HENRY WASHINGTON.'
(Dunham, Nov. 28, 1757.)
Under these circumstances it was not unnatural that
the high price of food, occurring among the labouring classes
at a period of agricultural depression, caused town riots in
1757-8, which culminated in what is popularly known as
the Shude Hill fight. In this case the sympathies of the
magistrate, John Bradshaw, were, if not on the side of the
rioters, at least to some extent with them.
It was at this time that John Wesley made one of his
visits to Manchester, and wrote in his diary, April 1756 :
' I preached at Manchester this evening. We had at
length a quiet audience. Wretched magistrates who by re-
fusing to suppress encouraged the rioters had long occasioned
182 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
tumults there. But some are now of a better spirit, and
whenever magistrates desire to preserve the peace they have
sufficient power.'
In another record of those times we read :
• Sunday, Aug. 12, 1758. The Assizes at Lancaster ended
when many capital offenders were tried. On the first day of
the Assize an account was received of prodigious riots and
tumults in and about Manchester, that near 10,000 manu-
facturers (i.e. workers) had left off working and entered into
a combination to raise the price of wages by force, that large
sums of money were collected, and paid into the hands of
some of the leaders for the maintenance of the poorer sort
while they refused to work, that they insulted and abused
such as would not join in the combination, that incendiary
letters were dispersed and threats of vengeance denounced
against all who should oppose them. That business was at
a stand, the magistrates were afraid to act and everything
seemed in great confusion,' &c. &c. 1
And again :
'July 10, 1762. An insurrection of the colliers of
Oldham and Saddleworth put the town of Manchester in
the greatest consternation. Their pretence was the high
price of corn. They demolished the warehouses of two
or three of the dealers in corn and meal and obliged others
to promise to sell at a moderate price.
'July 21, 1762. The port of Liverpool was opened for
the free importation of all sorts of grain.'1
Disputes and quarrels about the School mills maintained
the general dissatisfaction. The method of grinding corn in
vogue at the School mills was expensive and obsolete, for
the mills themselves were in bad repair. New and cheaper
methods had been discovered, and opposition mills had
been set up, yet the feoffees naturally clung to the School
monopoly, urging that the profits were for public, not for
private advantage. The feoffees claimed to have suffered
a loss of £1500 from the opposition mills, and brought an
action in the Duchy Court against the owners.2 Though the
feoffees ultimately won the case, the defendants, ostensibly
for the benefit of the whole town, succeeded in stirring up so
much active sympathy, that they induced the townspeople, by
Act of Parliament, to get rid of the whole monopoly.
i Gentleman's Magazine, pp. 391-2. 2 Whatton's Foundations.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 183
The following notice appeared in the Manchester Mercury,
December 5, 1757 :
' This is to give notice that all landowners and inhabitants
of this town are desired to meet at the old Coffee House
on Monday next at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in order to
consider certain proposals which will be laid before them for
taking the School mills from the feoffees upon a certain rent,
and other terms and conditions therein expressed, which
are afterwards to be laid before the feoffees for their
approbation.'
The riots and disturbances which had recently taken
place were used in Parliament in support of the Bill, which
was finally passed in 1758 as : ' An Act for discharging the
Inhabitants of the Town of Manchester from the custom
of grinding corn and grain, except malt, at the School Mills.'
By this Act the inhabitants of Manchester were released
from their old obligation of sending corn to the School mills,
though they were compelled to continue to send all their
malt to be ground there, the inhabitants paying Is. per load
of six bushels. It was intended that further recompense
should be paid to the School authorities for any loss of income
by freeing them from the obligation of paying town rates,
but, ' owing to a combination of artful knavery and care-
lessness,' this was not accomplished. The price of grinding
malt ordained in the Act was fixed at a time when money
was more valuable than it soon afterwards became, conse-
quently the millers who rented the School mills before long
complained that the price fixed by Government hardly allowed
them sufficient profit, while the inhabitants of the town com-
plained that the malt was so badly ground and kept so long
at the mills that it became mouldy. There can be no doubt
that the continued maintenance of the School on the proceeds
of an unpopular monopoly was a constant source of friction
and ill-feeling between the managers of the School and the
townspeople. It had, however, one great compensation,
which it would not have possessed had the School derived
its income from the possession of landed property. It re-
minded the local inhabitants that the School was maintained
by their industry in a way which, by a curious lack of insight
so characteristic of Englishmen, they would not have realised,
if it had been maintained by the proceeds of land in their
184 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
midst which their own enterprise and endeavour caused to
rise automatically in value.
In spite, however, of many difficulties and quarrels, the
Manchester School continued to pay its way and support
some four or five new scholars each year at Oxford and
Cambridge.
A second attempt to secure a Royal Charter of Incorpora-
tion for the town of Manchester was made in 1762, but it
was unsuccessful. Members of Parliament for the county and
for neighbouring boroughs such as Wigan, and Newton and
Preston, were glad, however, to earn the goodwill of their
constituents by furthering local claims, and the Government
itself desired to conciliate the trade interest. Consequently
many local Acts of Parliament appeared at this time, and
the demand of the rapidly growing towns for Parliamentary
representation was for a time silenced.
Among these various local Acts, one was obtained which
placed certain powers in the hands of local commissioners
(1765) appointed for cleaning and lighting the streets, lanes,
and passages within the town of Manchester and Salford.
In the Constable's Accounts, November 7, 1770, is the
first indication of money spent on public improvements :
' allowed Mr. Jas. Bancroft to leave unbuilt upon his land
in Toad Lane, to make the King's Highway more open, £2.'
For the most part, however, petty quarrels and antagonisms
prevailed until the ill-feeling provoked by partisan spirit
caused a number of leading inhabitants to seek to find objects
of common interest. The unsatisfactory state of the streets
and thoroughfares seemed to offer an aim at which all could
unite. Meetings were held, subscriptions solicited, and an
Act called 'The Towns Improvement Act of 1776' gave
200 commissioners who were owners or tenants of property
of the annual value of £20 the right to acquire certain
properties abutting on certain public thoroughfares, Old
Millgate, Market Stead Lane, St. Mary's Gate Entrance,
and to effect such improvement in highways as was for the
benefit of the public. Representatives of all parties joined
in the effort to raise the necessary funds, and in this way a
sum of £10,000 was raised by public subscription. The
public feeling which caused the passing of this Act is particu-
larly interesting, for it led to the rebuilding of the Grammar
¥* *'
'
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 185
School itself, the feoffees having power under the Act of
1758 to make such changes in their property without appeal
to Chancery or to Parliament.
As the town community progressed and gained cor-
porate intelligence some of its members became conscious
of certain elements of unsoundness and deficiency, and
sought to provide appropriate remedies.
It is the duty of a well- organised school to use the period
of later adolescence to awake a true civic or national spirit, but
local efforts for the prevention of poverty, unless inspired
by a true humanism, have often been cruel and selfish, and
directed to getting rid of obligations rather than to their
reform. Some indication of the completeness of the training
provided by the School may be found in the degree in which
those whom it had trained found themselves guided when
called upon subsequently to take their share in the public
efforts to deal with social problems.
The social problems that presented themselves to the
philanthropists of the middle of the eighteenth century
were sufficiently limited in scope to be readily grasped,
while the outlook was sufficiently rational and even scientific
for them to be efficiently solved. But there was an absolute
lack of any appreciation of the real nature of problems of
poverty on the part of many who cultivated a high degree
of personal piety. In 1730-1, the attempt to establish a
workhouse had been successfully opposed by the High Church
party, guided by Dr. John Byrom. In 1755, at the request
of the late and present officers of the town, the Rev. John
Clayton, a member of the same party, published a pamphlet,
'Friendly Advice to the Poor.' The entire absence of any
attempt at understanding, and even of offering sympathy
with, the real needs of the poor, which is shown in this
pamphlet by one of the most earnestly religious men of
the town, received severe criticism and exposure by Joseph
Stott.
In a thoughtful community the presence of a workhouse
would naturally serve as a reminder of the necessity to
find out and control the causes of destitution. The almost
entire absence of any civic effort to do this in England is due
to the separation of Poor Law administration from other
forms of local government. Complaints have always been
186 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
made at the payment of poor rates, but except at the
time of the Sanitarian revival, when not only the
arguments of the statisticians to prove its wastefulness
became unanswerable, but the claims on the pockets of
the taxpayers aroused their sleeping intelligence, English
statesmen have never seriously endeavoured to prevent
poverty. It was evident that the failure in 1730 to pro-
vide a local workhouse was also a failure to attempt to
solve a civic problem.
The effort to help the sick poor fortunately had a different
issue. About 1750 a number of benevolent citizens made
several attempts to establish an Infirmary. A prominent
local merchant, Joseph Bancroft, who, like several of his
brothers, had received his education at the Grammar School,
made the offer that if Charles White, a surgeon of local origin
and of great repute who had received his early training at the
Salford School, would give his services for twelve months,
he would guarantee the necessary funds for at least one year.
Charles White willingly assented. James Massey, another
scholar of the same school, became the first president.
Patients were admitted to the temporary premises opened
in Withy Grove, July 1752. Money was soon collected
from various sources for the erection and support of a more
permanent institution, and a suitable piece of vacant land in
Piccadilly was purchased from Sir Oswald Mosley. The new
Infirmary was opened in 1755. It seems to have been one
of the first provincial infirmaries, and its establishment un-
doubtedly raised the level of medical practice in the locality,
for it not only served to attract eminent medical men to
Manchester, but enabled local medical practitioners to improve
their medical knowledge and their apprentices to find oppor-
tunity for clinical instruction. It thus laid the foundations for
a fully organised local school for medical instruction. This
was first attempted on a limited scale in 1781. One of the
earliest of such apprentices was Thomas Seddon, who de-
scribes his transit from the Grammar School to the study
of physic at the Infirmary, and his early abandonment of
the profession of medicine in the following terms :
* Destined by parental decree, not by my own inclination,
which was for the Church, I was taken away from school in my
seventeenth year and placed as a pupil in the Manchester
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 187
Infirmary for the study of Physic &c. The advantages I
had to have obtained excellence in the medical line there
were superior to those in any country situation that I know
of, as the reputation of the physicians and surgeons demon-
strates. Notwithstanding these, and other opportunities
afterwards offered, I could never conquer my aversion to
the profession. I know not whether a foolish humanity
which almost made me fearful of being called to a patient,
or whether my prepossessions for the pulpit prevented the
prosecution of my medical prospects, and yet though my
wishes were always to be in the Church, every action of my
existence set me forth to the world as of too volatile a
disposition for either physician or divine. Indeed my
ill-grounded education would have disqualified me for
either profession, if a clerical trustee had not benevolently
instructed me in the classics. Mr. Clayton was a friend
to all mankind, and his qualifications to give such instruc-
tion are evinced by a monument erected to his memory
in the College of which he was a Fellow, by his scholars who
annually commemorated his excellence every St. Cyprian's
Bay.'
The other forms of social unsoundness to be dealt with
were crime and vice. They naturally first came under the
consideration of the Justices of Peace. As many of the
scholars after settling down in life occupied such a social
status (an income from land of £100 a year) as would qualify
them for these positions under the 1744 Act, many were
naturally called upon to serve in this capacity, and the way
in which they performed their public duties testifies to the
value of their school training. Unfortunately it is not possible
to identify the Justices to whom Manchester is indebted
for the prison reform that took place at this time on the
instigation of John Howard, who had been engaged in point-
ing out the miserable condition of prisoners, whether con-
victed criminals, or innocent but poor persons who were
accused of crime, often falsely, but it is evident that some
of them had been trained at the Grammar School. On
November 5, 1774, John Howard visited the new House of
Correction opened at Hunt's Bank in Manchester, and offered
suggestions for the better treatment of the prisoners, urging
particularly the cause of those who had been long confined.
His suggestions must have been appreciated and carried out,
for in the following year he found the number of inmates
188 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
reduced from twenty-one to six. He made other visits in
1776, 1779, and 1782, and when the new Bailey Prison was
opened in 1787, a tablet was placed in a prominent position,
which bears the following inscription :
' That there may remain to posterity a monument of
the affection and gratitude of this country to the most ex-
cellent person who hath so fully proved the wisdom and
humanity of separate and solitary confinement of offenders,
this prison is' inscribed with the name of John Howard.'
At this time religious activity was aroused in all sections
of the Christian Church in England by the preaching of
John Wesley, who had first preached in Salford in 1735.
In Manchester the Nonjurors and Jacobites, such as Dr.
Deacon, Rev. John Clayton, and others, were also very
active, and their zeal succeeded in arousing interest to repair
some of the old as well as to cause the building of new churches.
Trinity Chapel was rebuilt 1751 ; and St. Mary's, St. Paul's,
and St. John's, founded in 1753, 1765, 1769. Many of
the incumbents of these churches and some of their founders
had been trained at the School under Purnell and Lawson.
In 1757, the collegiate body was reorganised. The
revenues of the clergy had been increased ' near £500 a year '
(Joseph Stott), and greater zeal was manifest in many
directions. Some of the worshippers at the Nonconformist
chapel in Cross Street, dissatisfied with the Arian tendencies
of the new preacher Mr. Seddon, who had come to help Mr.
Mottershead the old minister, decided to hold evangelistic
meetings of their own at the old meeting-house in Cold Street.
They soon found themselves strong enough to build a chapel
of their own, and approached Dr. John Byrom, who sold
them a piece of his land in Cannon Street. This was not the
only interest he showed in them. Their preacher Rev. Caleb
Warhurst had been strongly recommended to Dr. Byrom
by his friend Rev. John Newton of Olney in a letter to Richard
Houghton, dated November 18, 1762, when Newton requests
that ' when Dr. Byrom has finished with Jonathan Edwards'
" Enquiry into Prevailing Notions of the Freedom of the
Will," he will let his servant leave it for Mr. Warhurst at
Mr. Clegg's in Turner Street. The Rev. Caleb Warhurst is
a truly humble and pious man.' l
1 Byrom and Wesley, by Elijah Hoole, and Byrom' s Journal.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 189
The Chetham Library continued to exert a marked in-
tellectual influence on the feoffees themselves, who chose
the books, as well as on the readers in the town. It served
as a natural intellectual centre, and the senior boys of the
Grammar School were accustomed to study there, and were
doubtless encouraged by the librarians, most of whom had
received their education at the School.
The peripatetic public subscription lectures on Natural
Philosophy, which we have noticed in 1743, were evidently
continued at intervals. They were mainly supported by
fashionable audiences, though medical students often attended.
The following advertisement appeared in the Manchester
Mercury, November 15, 1702 :
* A course of 20 lectures on Experimental Philosophy to
be given at the late Angel Inn, Market Place, by James
Ardenn, Teacher of Experimental Philosophy at Beverley.
Natural Philosophy, Mechanics, Astronomy, Geography,
use of globes, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Optics.'
And in the issue May 29, 1764 :
' Mr. Ferguson takes this method of acquainting his
friends that he proposes to begin his course of lectures in
Experimental Philosophy on Monday, 4th June 1764. He
desires that those who choose to favour him with their
attendance will leave their names at Mr. Newton's Book-
seller where a subscription list is called.'
John Banks, of Kendal, also conducted classes at the
Bull's Head Inn, 1772 (advertisement in Harrop's Mer-
cury}. An epitome of his course of lectures on Natural
Philosophy was published 1789, and is very similar to that
of Caleb Rotherham.
But natural philosophy was not the only subject which
awakened the interest and engaged the attention of the more
enlightened inhabitants of the town and district. Increased
trade and foreign travel caused sons of the well-to-do mer-
chants as well as sons of some of the county families to
become acquainted with the active Continental Universities.
Many of the wealthy began to make their own antiquarian
and natural history collections so as to become patrons of
workers in such subjects. Among them the Right Hon. James
190 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Stanley, Lord Strange, feoffee of the School, educated at
Leyden, began his famous Natural History collection.
Sir Ashton Lever (1729-1788), of Alkrington, Prestwich,
educated at Salford Grammar School and Christ Church,
Oxford, continued to add to the collections begun by his
father, Darcy Lever, of objects of Natural History, Anthro-
pology, and Archaeology, which included Captain Cook's
uriosities. He subsequently moved the collection, on which
he had spent £50,000, to London, in the hope of inducing
the Government to purchase them, and thus to reimburse
himself of some of his outlay. In this he failed, so he finally
attempted to dispose of it by lottery. Only shares to the
amount of £8,000 were taken up, and Sir Ashton Lever died
suddenly, it is believed by his own hand, at the Bull's Head,
Manchester, February 1786.
Many of the early physicians and surgeons attached to
the Infirmary had received their education at one of the
two local schools, and the liberal education they had received
enabled them to extend the study of medicine in its broader
aspects. Richard and Edward Hall, sons of Richard Hall,
and probably also Peter Main waring, M.D. (1695-1785), and
Charles White, were educated at the Salford School, under
John Clayton. Though it is not known that Samuel Kaye,
of Bury, and his son Richard Kaye, attended any school
in Manchester, they were closely associated with the town,
for John Kaye of Salford, appointed feoffee of Chetham's
Hospital in 1705, had come to reside in the town about 1725
and attended the lectures on natural philosophy given in
1743 by Caleb Rotherham of Kendal. Dr. Samuel Kaye
is famous for his early recognition of the medicinal value
of cod-liver oil.
James Walker, F.R.S., passed in 1733 from the Manchester
School to Brasenose College, Oxford, and, on the introduction
of Charles White and Thomas Percival, became Fellow of the
Royal Society. Of Dr. John Leach, long a resident in Man-
chester, and a graduate of Leyden University, a governor
and for some time treasurer of Chetham's Hospital, and
who died in 1744, very little is known. There is a volume of
MS. notes on Surgical Diseases, especially those of children,
written by a surgeon who studied at Leyden and Edinburgh
about this date which seems to belong to a series of lectures
on medicine given in Manchester about 1750.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 191
The amount of fever existing among the patients who
presented themselves for treatment at the Manchester In-
firmary soon provided an object-lesson for the study of public
health. Dr. Thomas Percival, who has been called the apostle
of the modern sanitarian movement, was early attached to
this Infirmary, and made his first studies in the extent of
distribution, the rise and fall of deaths, from various epidemics
such as smallpox, measles, &c. In association with Dr.
John Aikin of Warrington and Dr. Haygarth of Chester, he
provided a basis on which statisticians of a later age could
base their arguments for a fuller consideration of the value
of human life to the national welfare.
The first Manchester theatre was erected in Marsden
Street about 1753. So important a function of school life
had the public performance of Christmas plays by boys be-
come under Mr. PurnelTs influence, that within a few years
of the building of this theatre Mr. Purnell arranged to hold
the annual meeting of parents and friends of the Grammar
School there instead of in the more restricted school-rooms.
Pupils of the School performed various classical and other
plays before their friends and relatives in December 1759,
1760, and 1761. Such public performances met with the very
strong disapproval of Dr. John Byrom, who a few years pre-
viously had entered his vigorous protest against the appeal
for public subscriptions asked for in support of the Kersal
races. Dr. Byrom wrote a censure in the form of an epilogue
and sent it with an anonymous letter. Mr. Purnell replied
in a letter which reveals both his liberality of view and his
strength of purpose. He begins by expressing his disapproval
of anonymous letters, and continues :
* My notions of the stage are different from yours. I
think it may be made use of for good ends and purposes
and to promote virtue and religion as well as the pulpit.
There are some vices more fit for reproval by the
stage than by the pulpit. I have lately received some
volumes of sermons from a friend, a doctor of Divinity, and
some plays published by another friend, and there is more
sense, more learning, and more religion in the plays than in
the sermons. If I thought the play would take the minds
of any of my youths I would never have engaged in it. I
am sure the youths benefited by the play, and I have used
all possible care to prevent any ill consequences you are
192 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
apprehensive of. As to virtue and religion, I have as great
a regard for them as yourself, but as to reputation, I am
entirely indifferent about it. You may publish the epilogue
when you please.'
The volumes of sermons in question appear to be those
of Dr. Henry Stebbing, a controversialist of the famous Ban-
gorian controversy, while the plays were probably those of
Dr. John Brown, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who had taken part
in the siege of Carlisle against the Jacobites, and had written
the tragedies of ' Barbarossa ' to show the evils of inordinate
and selfish ambition, and of * Athelstan,' both of which met
with considerable success when performed at Drury Lane
Theatre about this time.
It has been pointed out that the subsequent career of
each of the participants in the public play of 1759 abun-
dantly supports Mr. PurnelPs contention that a liberal
education was the best preparation for a useful and purpose-
ful life.
William Purnell died in 1764, after forty-one years' service
at the School. It is strange that nothing but the bare notifi-
cation of his decease occurs in the local periodicals, and also
that four of the Tory collegiate clergy adopted the unusual
course of petitioning that Charles Lawson should be appointed.
He was so evidently suitable for the post, and he had recognised
rights of succession. It seems as if there was some likeli-
hood of interference by the Whig Warden Peploe, on account
of Lawson's High Church sympathies, and perhaps on behalf of
some nominee of the Crown. No such hitch actually occurred.
Mr. Lawson was at once appointed. He gave an introductory
address on entering into his duties as high master on ' The
Ancient Glories of the School, and the Use of the Classical
Languages to Education.'1 If he did not continue the interest
shown by Mr. Purnell in dramatic representation, he was
at least during his early life interested in the outdoor life
of his boys, for he annually presided at the Bull's Head Inn,
Market Place, whilst the boys shot with bows and arrows
for prizes.2
With each appointment of a fresh high master the School
had undergone a rapid expansion. During the five years
that succeeded the appointment of Mr. Purnell the entrances
1 Whatton's Foundations.
2 Harland's Collectanea, vol. ii. p. 67.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 193
had risen from 100 to 150. During the first five years that
succeeded the appointment of Mr. Lawson, they rose from
150 to 250. The number proceeding to the University, and
the number of boarders, similarly increased. The over-
crowding of the old premises had not been due entirely to
the increased number of boys seeking University training nor
to the larger number of boarders : the sons of the commercial
classes in the town were now fully appreciating the high
training offered by the School, especially when this was
reinforced by additional teaching at private mathematical
schools kept by Ainsworth, Henry Clarke, and others. Both
Purnell and Lawson were men of deep religious feeling and
a high sense of responsibility. Though neither were engaged
in public preaching in the town, as Henry Brooke had been,
they had profoundly impressed the public with a sense of
seriousness quite compatible in the case of Purnell with a
strong sense of humour.
The main ostensible object of the School was still the
preparing of boys for the English Universities, where they
might obtain that further general intellectual equipment
which continued to be the aim of English learning. When
we examine in detail the extent to which its educational
privileges were enjoyed by actual residents in the town, the
result is very remarkable. During the period now under
review (1749-1784), 183 scholars proceeded from the School
to the English Universities ; of these 153, or 84 per cent.,
had been boarders, and only 30, or 16 per cent., were
local residents, most of them being sons of local clergy or
others seeking professional and almost exclusively clerical
careers. Many of the Cambridge scholars took high posi-
tions in the Mathematical Tripos examinations, after 1747,
when the examinational attainments of candidates were classi-
fied and published. The year 1759 was 'Annus Mirabilis '
for the School, since the positions of first, third, and fifth
Wrangler were all held by scholars from the Manchester
School. It is doubtful whether many English Grammar
Schools possessed equally good mathematical teaching at this
period.1 In the further movement for the reform of the ex-
amination initiated by John Jebb, an old Manchester scholar,
Miles Popple of Trinity College, took a prominent part.2
1 Cf. Mr. Ayscough, quoted in Hone's Year Booh
2 Vide Gentleman's Magazine, 1786-7, and School Register.
o
194 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Although theoretically the benefits of the School were
available for able boys of restricted means, as an actual fact
this had largely ceased to be the case in the eighteenth
century. The difficulties that beset the early career of,
at any rate, one of the most notable of such boys proves the
failure of the School to accomplish this purpose at this time,
for the incident could hardly have occurred in the time of
Henry Newcome and John Wickens, when the need for public
preachers caused diligent search to be made for able boys.
Henry Clarke, born 1743, son of Thomas Clarke of Salford,
was admitted to the Manchester Grammar School about
1752 under Purnell.1 He learned the rudiments of mathe-
matics from Mr.- Lawson and constructed a globe nine inches
in diameter when only nine years of age. Having no means
of support he soon left the School, and at the age of thirteen
became assistant in the Academy of Aaron Grimshaw of
Leeds. Here he met Joseph Priestley. In 1762 he helped
Robert Pulman, land surveyor, mathematical teacher and
writing master of Sedbergh, who kept an Academy at Leeds.
An advertisement in Harrop's Manchester Mercury, 1765,
shows that Clarke practised as a land surveyor in Manchester,
and later advertisements (e.g. December 22, 1772) show
further that he practised as a schoolmaster. It was to the
Chetham Library even more than to the School that he owed
his opportunities for study, for in the presentation copy of
his translation of A. M. Lorgna's ' Dissertation on Converging
Series,' published 1779, Henry Clarke writes to the librarian
of Chetham's :
' As an acknowledgment as well for the advantages I
have received from the College library as the very obliging
manner you have accommodated me with the books, I would
wish to deposit a complete copy. In this, Sir, I hope to meet
with your usual indulgence.
1 Rev. Sir, your most obliged,
CLARKE.'
Clarke was appointed Professor at the College of Arts and
Science established in Manchester in 1783, which had so
short an existence. ' About 1791 he became schoolmaster
1 The School Candidates, 1788, with Memoir of Henry Clarke, LL.D.,
by G. E. Bailey, 1877.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 197
in Salford, describing himself as penman, arithmetician,
geographer, and experimental philosopher, and as such was
responsible for the commercial education of the sons of many
of the better merchant families.
Jeremiah Ainsworth (1743-1784) entered the Manchester
Grammar School about the same time as Henry Clarke.
He was of unusual talents, but they were not in demand for
any recognised occupational career. As already mentioned,
for many years he kept a mathematical school in Long Mill-
gate, opposite to the old School, and taught many of its scholars
when they were not with Lawson. A few months before
his death in 1784 he was appointed steward of the Chetham
Hospital estates.
In contrast to the lack of encouragement of Henry Clarke
and Jeremiah Ainsworth stands the benevolent help afforded
to another clever but poor lad, Joshua Brookes, who
became one of Manchester's most noted worthies and whose
characteristics are so vividly portrayed by Mrs. Linnaeus
Banks in * The Manchester Man.' He was admitted to the
School in February 1764, and soon became a distinguished pupil
under Charles Lawson. In consequence Thomas Ayscough,
senior fellow of the College, collected together sufficient
money to send him to Oxford. He graduated B.A. 1778,
Brasenose College, and obtained a Hulme Exhibition. He
was licensed to the chapelry at Chorlton-cum-Hardy in
1782, but resigned that living in 1790 on being appointed
chaplain to the Collegiate Church, a position he held for
thirty-one years. ' Mindful of the help he had himself
received, he willingly helped others.'
'He was rough and unclerical in outward demeanour,
but he possessed qualities of heart and mind which com-
mended him to those who regarded the inner man. . . .
He was a profound scholar and a divine of strict discipline,
of a warm yet forgiving temper, of acute feeling, of a generous
and benevolent disposition, yet in the conscientious dis-
charge of his sacred duties often assailed by the ridicule
of the ignorant, the malicious and the uncultivated rabble.'1
We have already noted that the extant School registers
were begun in 1733 after Henry Brooke had been in charge for
1 Of. Booker's History of Chorlton Chapel ; Raines' M8S.t vol. xiii
p. 131 ; Manchester School Register, vol. i. p. 108.
198 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
six years. They are fairly, though not absolutely complete, for a
number of boarders in the houses of masters have been omitted.
Total
Admissions.
Yearly
Average.
Probable No. in
School at one time.
To the English
Universities
Between 1733-1749 >
1749- 1764 f
1764-1785'
829
1026
26
50
100
205
} 183
1
Although the admission of wealthy boarders to the bene-
fits of Classical training at the school was quite within the
1524 regulations that ' no boy of any other county (than
Lancashire) should be excluded,' it is very doubtful if
that phrase should have been extended to include the bribing
of boys from distant regions by means of University Ex-
hibitions derived from the taxing of the corn and malt of the
inhabitants of the Town of Manchester. The boys attending
the Grammar School became an increasingly selected class,
not perhaps from any deliberate policy on the part of feoffees
or masters, but simply because the study of Latin and Greek,
though still, as in Hugh Oldham's time, the gateway to learn-
ing, was not the gateway to the commercial and industrial
life which was now so rapidly absorbing the interests of the
majority of the townspeople.
The mixture during school life of wealthy boarders
with sons of well-to-do merchants of equal ability and
enterprise proved of great service in the cultivation
of public spirit, for it caused the boarders, many of
whom came from considerable distances and had been
brought up in the somewhat limited atmosphere of country
life, to become acquainted with the interests and activities
of a thriving commercial town which possessed few rich idlers,
and therefore offered few temptations to dissipation. The
constant presence of a number of serious scholars, of whom
four or five were annually leaving the School for the Univer-
sities, also insured a degree of though tfulness and maturity
of mind among the senior boys, which enabled the highest
value to be derived from a classical education.
George Morewood entered the Manchester Grammar School
in the summer 1771 and continued till Christmas 1780, nine
and a half years. He tells us that he entered the under part
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 199
of the Lower School in 1771, held perhaps in the outbuilding
of 1684, for the old building was one of one storey. Here the
first rudiments of learning were taught, and out of it a class
of proficients yearly ascended into what was called the Middle
School. The Middle and Higher Schools were then conducted
in the long room, into which he entered after the Christmas
recess of 1772. At this time the Upper and Middle Schools
were under the direction of Mr. Lawson as High Master,
Mr. Darby as second master, and Mr. Jackson as assistant ;
and the Lower School in the care of Mr. Samuel Jackson,
a relative, it is believed, of the assistant master. During
Mr. Morewood's stay the whole School was rebuilt, and for
a time the scholars were taught in a triangular room in that
end of Chetham's Hospital or the College, as it was popularly
called, next to the Grammar School. Mr. Morewood's im-
pression of Mr. Lawson was that, if not a profound teacher,
he was generally correct, and he considered that his most
striking characteristic was a strong love of justice and a great
impartiality in all his dealings with the boys. For this, as
well as for other qualities, although a severe master, he was
much liked by the boys generally, and by some of the seniors
respected and beloved. Both Mr. Lawson and Mr. Darby
had boarders in their houses, and Mr. Morewood thinks that
twenty guineas a year was the sum paid for each boarder.
A sketch of the School life is also given by Thomas Seddon,
whose attempted entry into the study of medicine after a
two years' stay at the School has been recorded above. It is
evidently coloured by a sense of failure :
' In that highly reputable Grammar School at Manchester
(though fixed as Fate to the dunce's form) I must by dint
of memory have been made into a decent classic, for the
progression there is so cautiously slow that, according to
the rules established there, neither the brightest boy nor
the most consummate blockhead is permitted to advance
more than one class in twelve months, so that the ignorant
associating with the ingenious, through a course of educa-
tion, cannot remain altogether in ignorance. The apt
scholar is under a kind of necessity to assist his ignorant
class-fellow, and as in communicating our ideas we commonly
correct our own, the expediency serves as a payment for
the pains then taken by stopping that rapidity of fancy
which is the offspring of a quick apprehension, to reflect
200 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
upon what otherwise might be too cursorily read and too
soon forgotten. ... I have, and ever shall have, to lament
the want of a longer continuance in this School, but it was
my fate never to be more than two years under the same
preceptor, and most of my teachers were so inadequate
to the province they assumed, that, though I read Homer,
it was with a man who I could discover had little knowledge
of even his accidence.'
Another indication of the type of boarders who frequented
the School is given by the contents of a bill paid to John
Darby, usher of the School in 1776 : 'A carriage and four
and a pair of saddle-horses for the journey of Mr. John and
Mr. William Bagshaw to Manchester School.' 1
The Speech Days were generally held on the first Tuesday
in October, when the boys were encouraged to recite their
own poems, no doubt after being corrected by Charles Lawson.
Old alumni of the School were also invited to send their
University poems to Mr. Lawson, and these were frequently
given as well. Occasionally the University prize poem itself
was recited as a model for the boys. In this way a love
of good expression was encouraged among them, and the
poems were greatly prized in after years.2
Annual feasts were held on Shrove Tuesday, the School
festival. After the boys had finished their competitions
of shooting with bows and arrows, they adjourned to the
Bull's Head, in the Market Place, the most important inn of
Manchester, where they were entertained by Charles Lawson.3
One of his favourite mottoes was ' What will please the boys
will please the multitude.'
The state of the Manchester School was evidently very
much better than that of many other Grammar Schools of
whom Lord Kenyon, in delivering judgment in the case of
the King v. Archbishop of York, thus speaks :
* Whoever will examine the state of Grammar Schools
in different parts of the kingdom will see to what a lament-
able condition most of them are reduced, and would wish
that those who are in superintendence or control over them
had been as circumspect as the Archbishop of York, Dr.
1 School Registers, vol. ii. p. 10.
2 See School Registers, vol. i. p. 121 ; vol. ii. p. 71.
8 Harland's Collectanea (Chetham Society's publications), vol. ii. p. 179.
PRIVILEGE AND PUBLIC SERVICE 203
Markham, formerly headmaster of Westminster. If others
had equally done their duty we should not find, as is now
the case, empty walls without scholars, and everything
neglected but receipt of salaries and emoluments. In
some instances that have lately come within my knowledge
there was not a single scholar in the school though there
were large emoluments to them.' *
The remark, attributed to Churton, and which is said to
have offended Joshua Brook, is capable of more than one
interpretation : ' Manchester is more celebrated for its
School than for its learning.'
A general spirit of improvement of the town was in the
air. Large sums of money were subscribed by the inhabitants
to purchase property so as to enlarge and widen Old Millgate
and St. Mary's Gate, to open a new street from the Exchange
to St. Ann's Square, and to obtain parliamentary powers
to pave, clean, and light the streets. A public meeting was
held January 15, 1776. The scheme of the Bill was presented
to the House of Commons, March 12, and passed the House of
Commons in April, receiving Royal assent, May 20, 1776.
At length, however, it was unmistakably evident that
the School premises were unsuitable for the new conditions.
It was decided to pull down the one-storeyed stone building
of the Grammar School which had been standing from 1515,
with its annexe of 1686, and erect a more capacious building
capable of holding from 200 to 250 boys. There is no known
illustration of the old building, though perhaps the outlines
may be identified in the view of Manchester from the north,
published 1760. Money for the new building was obtained
partly out of school funds, and partly out of the sale of school
property in Essex, for by the Act of Parliament, 1758, the
feoffees had power of sale.2 The new building was larger than
the old, but was erected on the same site. It was two storeys
high and stood till 1879.
It was probably due to the energy of Robert Radcliffe,
Edward Greaves, Sir Thomas Egerton of Tatton, and his
namesake Samuel Egerton of Tatton, that the new scheme
was carried through. In 1779 Mr. Lawson obtained permission
from the Chetham feoffees to rent and use part of the Derby
Garden as a playground for his boarders, who were now very
numerous.
1 Term Reports, vol. vi. p. 490.
1 Kenyan MSS,, p. 519.
CHAPTER IX
1780-1806
OLIGABCHY ON ITS TRIAL
* That it may please thee to bless and keep the Magistrates, giving them
grace to execute justice and to maintain Truth. We beseech thee to hear
us, good Lord.' — English Litany.
The Grammar Schools fail to provide training for the unprivileged classes —
The establishment of Annual Dinners for the Old Boys — Enhanced
position of the clergy — The wealthy landowners raise local troops for
the American War, which are sent to Gibraltar on the Declaration of
Peace with America — The Nonconformist members of the merchant
classes, already shut off from the English Universities, where learn-
ing is monopolised in the interests of the clergy, failing also to get
suitable training at the Grammar School, cultivate the study of science
and the fine arts — They found the Manchester Literary and Philo-
sophical Society — The Chetham Library gradually ceases to be the
centre of liberal learning or of natural science — The rivalry of Pitt
and Fox emphasises the growing antagonism between town and country
and leads to the split up of the old Whig party — Further alienation
of the town interest in the Grammar School on account of the increasing
needs of the industrial population — Death of Charles Lawson.
THE study of grammar — that is, of Latin and Greek literature
— was originally established by men with practical knowledge
of public affairs to provide an open gateway, available for
all who desired to enter into the possession of knowledge.
By allying it with the humanistic study of the Scriptures
which took place at the Reformation, educational pioneers
in England had created a new basis of authority in the
instructed but self -directing conscience of the individual.
After the Reformation a knowledge of Latin had served the
study of Government at the Inns of Court. During the
Commonwealth the study of Latin and Hebrew had assisted
in setting up, in London and in Lancashire, a theocracy under
Presbyterian ascendancy which, in spite of the excellence of
204
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 205
its educational discipline, failed to hold the people permanently
because its intolerant dogmatism and censoriousness inter-
fered with the freedom of the individual and was thereby
opposed to the English character. Further liberalising
tendencies were introduced into education by international
commerce during the time of Whig supremacy and were
fostered by Whig benefactions. They do not become an
organised part of the general system of English learning
because the highest seats of English education had become
monopolised at the beginning of the eighteenth century in
the interests of the clergy, whose self-seeking and self-
indulgence restricted their outlook, and whose lack of moral
purpose was only partially redeemed by the Pietist movement
set going by the Non jurors and the more religiously inclined
Jacobites. At those schools which possessed masters like
Purnell and Lawson who were capable of inspiring their
pupils with some zeal for public duty, a revised classical
training, amplified by the study of Modern and Ancient
History, was very helpful to the well-to-do country gentry
and merchant classes. We have noticed how such training
had marked influence in awaking general intelligence in many
directions at a time when the nation was elbowing its way,
with little regard for the needs of its humbler members or
the claims of its rivals.
We now come to a period when Whig oligarchy had
become permeated by caste prejudice and separated from the
rest of the community. It had developed a social antagonism
born of a jealousy of the rising power of the trading classes,
who had received in the Evangelical revival a widely different,
but by no means necessarily inferior moral training to its own.
This jealousy became combined with a fear of the violence
of an industrial class altogether untrained. We have now
to consider how far the old learning, reinforced by the later
additions, helped those in power to overcome their party
spirit and welcome new classes to share their privileges. Was
it able to break down caste prejudices, to moderate social
antagonisms, to discover new principles of political justice
between those of the poor who were downtrodden and those
of the rich who were self-indulgent ? If it failed in these
things, it might continue as a social luxury or as an intellectual
accomplishment and provide means of relaxation for a selected
few of the leisured classes, or remain a suitable preparation
206 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
for the limited number who were seeking ecclesiastical or
professional advance and preferment, but it could in no sense
be regarded as affording the common groundwork needed
for a truly national education which would serve the needs
of the most intellectually enterprising of all classes.
The rebuilding of the School in 1776 was itself in some
measure a recognition of the fact that a new order of things
had arisen with new needs. The feoffees who held office
at the time were mostly elderly men. For many generations
son had succeeded father, or nephew had succeeded uncle in
the management of the School affairs, as well as in the
succession of family estates, and an idea of hereditary
proprietorship had grown up which was compatible with
benevolence and with a form of public spirit, yet less likely
to keep the School in touch with local needs than would have
been the case had its administration been shared by merchants
and professional men. Though the building was new, the
policy was old. Similar circumstances were causing the
Chetham Library also to lose touch with the corporate life
of the town, though in both cases the feoffees were undoubtedly
men of integrity and honour, and of experience in public life.
The prosperity of the School had begun to decline towards
the latter part of the high mastership of Charles Lawson,
even at a time when efforts were being made to secure its
permanence through the deliberate cultivation of school
traditions and the perpetuation of school friendships by the
establishment of anniversary School Dinners and by the
consistent election of old boys on the body of feoffees. The
full manifestation of its failure was, however, delayed for
some years.
The period of the School's greatest numerical and social
success was therefore also the period when serious, though
fortunately not fatal, symptoms of decay began to appear.
The following statement appears on the front page of
the ' Anniversary Dinner Book ' :
'Sept. 24th, 1781. At a meeting of gentlemen educated
at the Free Grammar School in Manchester, Sir Thos.
Egerton, Bart., in the chair, the following resolutions are
agreed upon : —
' That there be an annual meeting of such gentlemen as
have been scholars of the Free School on some day near the
feast of St. Michael of which previous notice shall be given
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 207
by the stewards of the meeting in the Manchester, Liverpool,
and Chester papers one month before the said meeting.
' That there be two stewards elected annually.
' That there be a holiday for the whole day for the school-
boys on the anniversary.
' That such members as may attend insert their names
in the book.
' That the masters sit on the right hand of each steward.
' That Sir Thomas Egerton and Mr. Wm. Egerton of Tatton
be stewards for the year ensuing.'
There are thirty- two signatories to this document, five
of them being feoffees of the School as well as old scholars.
The account of the second meeting, held October 2, 1782,
gives the lists of toasts :
1. Success to the meeting.
2. Success to the School.
3. Success to the Town and Trade of Manchester.
4. Health of Mr. Lawson and Mr. Darby, second master,
who were present as guests.
The dinners were distinct social successes, perhaps in
part because they were begun at least two years before the
break-up of the Whig party and the antagonism between
Pitt and Fox caused political differences to become violently
acute. The earlier dinners were regularly presided over by
Sir Thomas Egerton, while member of Parliament for
Lancashire and before he became member of the House of
Lords. Many old scholars travelled long distances to meet
their old masters and companions, and to offer congratula-
tions to those who had achieved such social distinctions as
appointment to the position of Sheriff of the County or
Borough-reeve of the Town. Both Charles Lawson and
John Darby the assistant master regularly attended these
dinners, and during the first twenty years some two hundred
different scholars took part. If, in these early days, there
was less honour rendered to high scholarship than was the
case in the succeeding period when the School was under the
sway of Rev. Jeremiah Smith, yet in acknowledging public
service something even better was accomplished, and oppor-
tunity was afforded for welcoming those who like Colonel
Drinkwater had received recent military recognition and
honour.
208 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Sir Thomas Egerton, the founder of the Old Boys' Anni-
versary Dinners, always devoted to his old schoolmaster,
Charles Lawson, naturally took the leading position. The
Holland family from whom he inherited his estates had
been connected with the School from Elizabethan times,
and his wife Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress of Ralph
Assheton, was the representative of a family which had been
connected with the School from its very foundation. Her
only brother had died while a scholar at the School. Sir
Thomas Egerton was elected Parliamentary representative
of the county in 1768, and held this office till 1784 when he
was raised to the peerage as Baron Grey de Wilton ' in recog-
nition of his unremitting labours for the public benefit,
particularly in his raising at his own expense a company of
cavalry ' which he drilled in Heaton Park. He was made
Earl of Wilton in 1801, and died 1814 at Heaton House.1
The ineptitude of our political and military leaders in
the American War, and particularly the discredit attached
to the failure at Saratoga, in 1778, had begun to rouse
the country from its lethargy and self-sufficiency. Sir
Thomas Egerton raised a troop of cavalry at his own charges
and had them trained in his own private grounds at Heaton
Park. The general citizens of Manchester and district raised
a sum amounting to £8,000 in order to provide a regiment
for service in America. Some 1,082 men were soon enrolled.
Hitherto only an occasional scholar from the School had fol-
lowed the profession of arms ; now the spirit of patriotism
pervaded all ranks of Society. The aristocratic feoffees of the
School and the sons of wealthy merchants alike taking com-
missions, the senior scholars soon followed, some obtaining
commissions, others entering the ranks. Among the earliest
to join the new town regiment — subsequently known as the
72nd or Manchester Royal Volunteers — was John Drinkwater,
son of John Drinkwater, surgeon in Salford, born July 12,
1762. He had entered the School January 18, 1773, and
obtained his commission in 1778, at the age of sixteen.
The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown prevented the
Government sending the regiment to America, but caused them
to send it to join the force under General Eliott, engaged
in the defence of Gibraltar, the siege of which had originally
1 For other feoffees see Appendix.
THE HIGH MASTER'S HOUSE, OLD MILLGATB
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 211
begun in 1779, but whose complete blockade started in 1781.
It reached its greatest intensity September 1782, when the
combined French and Spanish fleets of 47 ships- of- the- line,
numerous frigates and ten floating batteries, commanding
500 guns, anchored within 1,200 yards of the British entrench-
ments, while the British garrison could only oppose 96 guns.
Nevertheless the garrison sustained the siege till January
1783, when they were relieved.
John Drinkwater was in Gibraltar during the whole of
the defence, which constituted the one bright spot in the
long series of disgraces and disasters that characterised the
English management of the war. He afterwards accompanied
General Sir George Eliott as secretary, when he was made
Viceroy of Corsica. He was present at the battle of St.
Vincent and published an account of it. He returned to
England and served as Chairman of Commission on a Military
Enquiry. He also acted as Controller of Army Accounts in
1811. In answer to his request the feoffees of Chetham's
Hospital placed the colours of the disbanded Manchester
Regiment in the public library. Drinkwater published a
history of the Siege of Gibraltar which went through some
four or five editions. An author's presentation copy is in
the School Library. The following description of the citizen
soldiers who served under him is given by Joseph Bud worth,
who entered the Grammar School January 1769 and died
1815, in the introduction of his poem on Gibraltar :
' When my native town of Manchester gladly gave one
thousand men to Government, and even clothed them till
they arrived at Gibraltar, they were put under the command
of Lt.-Col. Gladstones. A finer regiment of recruits had
never been seen before, and in a very short time, from the
indefatigable exertions of the Colonel, they were completely
disciplined. ... I was the oldest but one of a company of
one hundred strong, and it is a great credit to them, and
satisfaction to their officers to have seen them return to
their looms with as much industry as they had shown alert-
ness against the common enemy at Gibraltar.
'Sloan St., Chelsea, Nov. 17, 1794.'
The increasing income of the old Collegiate body not
only benefited the Warden and Fellows, but improved the
incomes of the many chaplains and curates who held local
212 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
benefices. Efforts were made in which many successful
merchants and manufacturers took active part to establish
new churches or to rebuild and enlarge the old ones, and thus
provide for the personal convenience of the well-to-do, as
well as to raise the level of intelligence and the standard of
conduct of the rapidly increasing general population. For
the newly established churches highly trained clergy were
needed. Consequently those grammar schools which had
maintained their close association with the English Uni-
versities, and retained a high-level classical curriculum,
continued to be well attended.
The natural head of the local clergy was Warden Richard
Assheton (1727-1800), who had succeeded the somewhat
supine Dr. Samuel Peploe, junior, June 1780. With him was
associated Rev. Thomas Aynscough (1719-1793), only sur-
vivifcg son of Radley Aynscough, who had been educated at
the Manchester Grammar School, under H. Brooke, and at
Brasenose College, Oxford. He was the life-long friend of
Charles Lawson, whom he had known at Oxford. In
November 1761 he was elected Fellow of the Manchester
College, and in 1765 was curate of Birch, where he lived, and
where he was instrumental in causing the chapel to be rebuilt.
He succeeded Richard Assheton as feoffee of Chetham in 1766,
and in 1788 was appointed feoffee of the Grammar School.
He took an active interest in the Charity Schools of Manchester
and served as trustee to the Elizabeth Scholes Charity,
established in 1731 for ladies in reduced circumstances.
His interest in Joshua Brookes, already related, was only one
instance of his regard for boys at the Grammar School.
Another Fellow at the College of considerable influence
was Rev. Maurice Griffiths (1721-1798), born in Denbigh-
shire, 1721 ; educated under William Purnell and at Jesus
College, Oxford. He lived at Hunt's Bank close to the School,
and was one of the early subscribers to the Manchester Sub-
scription Library established in 1765.1 He became a feoffee
of his old School in 1770, and of Bury Grammar School in
1778. He served as J.P. for the county, and, though he is
reported to have had a great regard for literature, no modifying
effect of this on his public actions is noticeable. In public
affairs he was strongly opposed to Warden Peploe, and showed
1 Avon's Handbook of Public Libraries of Manchester and Salford.
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 213
great animus against those holding reforming opinions.1
He had sons of good abilities and striking presence, all edu-
cated at the School, but whose habits earned for Dr. Griffiths
and his family the title — ' the Rev. Dr. Eli and his two sons,
the Revs. Hophni and Phineas.'
Numerous old Grammar School boys served as Justices
of the Peace for town or county, Members of Parliament, &c.,
and took active interest in the administration of the work of
the town, such as in the foundation of a public institution for
giving advice and medical attention to poor married women.
This institution later became the St. Mary's Hospital.
Dr. Thomas Percival (1740- 180 4), son of Joseph Percival,
merchant of Warrington, the apostle of Sanitary Science,
had been entered as boarder at the Grammar School at the
age of eleven with a view to proceeding to Oxford, but owing
to ill-health had returned home and had been placed under
tuition at the Warrington Academy. He subsequently studied
at Edinburgh, Paris, and Leyden, and finally, in 1767, settled
down to practise in Manchester, taking active part in the
public movements in the town. About 1790, in conjunction
with other physicians, he established the Board of Health2 to
obtain facts concerning the cause of preventable disease and to
disseminate knowledge of the rightful method of prevention.
Probably the most far-reaching result of the establishment
of this Board was the invitation to Dr. Philips Kay (later
Kay-Shuttleworth) to come to Manchester as secretary.
Dr. Kay settled in Ancoats and with a few friends established
the Ancoats Dispensary (later Ancoats Hospital) and gained
that intimate knowledge of the evil effects of ignorance and
poverty on national life which he used to such purpose in his
public work as virtual founder of our English public educa-
tional system — a work which he began in Manchester by
establishing the Manchester Statistical Society, 1833.
The biographical notices attached to the names of many
of the scholars in the printed School registers which have been
edited by Finch Smith certainly show that religious training
and classical education, reinforced by private tuition of some
1 Prentice's Historical Sketches and Personal Recollections of Man-
chester, 1792-1832.
2 Medical Essays, by Thomas Percival, M.D. ; Medical Histories and
Reflections, 1795, by John Ferriar, M.D., vol. ii. ' Prevention of Fevers in
Great Towns.'
214 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
modern subjects such as those described in Dodsley's ' Pre-
ceptor,' had been successful in inspiring not a few to the
performance of recognised public duties, though a great deal
more general enlightenment, human interest, and sympathy
were needed, particularly among those who were called upon
for service in the Church and in the administration of the
law. The limitation of the franchise to an insignificant few,
though favourable to important interests, was unfavourable
to the growth of a sense of public justice. Before social
justice could be re-established, a new spirit of brotherhood
needed to appear, which could recognise that the equality of
opportunity ought not to be rendered inoperative by the
inequality of wealth and power.1
It is only when we come to the consideration of the kind
of training needed by the teachers, leaders, and thinkers who
were called upon to guide the people through their new social
anxieties and problems, that we realise how far the training
hitherto provided by the eighteenth- century grammar schools
and universities had fallen below the actual needs of the
times.
Patriotism and public spirit could not have saved the
nation in the hour of its trial had there not been a movement
of great force spreading among the lower middle and opera-
tive classes to kindle their enthusiasm and inspire them with
fresh ideals. This movement found expression in the support
given to the Sunday Schools, whose foundation, extension,
and activities formed the groundwork of the next process of
social and national repair. Classes were held in cellars and
in disused parts of warehouses. The teachers were generally
members of the working classes themselves, often those
who had received their education in Scotland. Others, who
had secured their own development by persistent struggles
against great obstacles, willingly gave up their scanty leisure to
help others. The lesson books were the Bible and the Church
Catechism ; the materials often only broken slates and pencils.
Stories from the Bible and application of its teaching, in
homely fashion, by those who had struggled with circum-
stances, soon stirred the imagination and aroused effort to
further progress. So eager were the pupils to learn that
1 The question of how to deal justly with inequality of innate endow-
ments is one of the pressing problems of democracy.
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 215
many teachers, particularly in schools not under clerical
control, added instruction in writing which could not be
obtained elsewhere.
The movement seemed at first to solve so many problems
of social disorder that, on the suggestion of Robert Raikes
of Gloucester, the Borough-reeve of Manchester summoned
a public meeting to which inhabitants of the town of all
denominations were invited, and as a consequence a Sunday
School Association, representative of all religious bodies,
was formed to raise funds.
Rev. Robert Aynscough, though a stickler for the full
carrying out of the Anglican rules in his own church, was
active in supporting the movement, for he did not share
the anxiety of his fellow clergy who regarded it as antago-
nistic to the movement for extending the Charity Schools
started by the Established Church for the actually destitute.
One of the latter had grown out of the charity of £100 a
year left by Catherine Richards, the last of the family of
Hartley of Strangeways, and had expanded, under the control
of the Warden and Fellows of the Collegiate Church, into
extensive Charity Schools which were now held in Hanging
Ditch. Other clergymen , however, regarded the new movement
with more concern. Half-way between them was Robert
Kenyon, librarian at Chetham Hospital and Incumbent of
Sacred Trinity Church, Salford, who wrote, under date
December 13, 1786 :
' I have no objections to Sunday Schools in Salford, pro-
vided they are properly regulated and the children are brought
duly and constantly to church, otherwise you are teaching
the children this false and wicked principle, that for the
sake of learning to read or write, or other worldly advan-
tages, it is lawful to neglect the public worship of God. But
I am convinced in my own mind that regular Charity Schools
are much more useful institutions, and had not my ill state
of health prevented it, it was my fixed purpose and inten-
tion the last spring, to have solicited your kind assistance
in establishing two regular Charity Schools, one for fifty
boys, and the other for fifty girls.'
For fifteen years the various Sunday School societies
in the town, whether attached to or independent of any
particular religious organisation, were combined in a Sunday
216 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
School Association ; not until 1800 did the Sunday Schools
attached to the Anglican Church separate from the rest,
and form their own organisation.
Among those less favourably circumstanced, who entered
business careers, habits of industry and prudence increased the
comfort and opportunities of others as well as of themselves.
Mechanical ingenuity found scope, and artistic powers found
expression, in the decoration of textile fabrics and furniture &c.
Others, owing to ill-health, ignorance, and indifference of their
neighbours, fell in the crude competitive struggle, for it is
only in a highly organised and well-instructed community that
the prizes do not gravitate to the most self-assertive, and that
discrimination takes note of other valuable social qualities.
Once discrimination according to pecuniary position had
begun, social cleavage was increased by social tradition. The
unsuccessful soon became the downtrodden. It was this that
made the eighteenth century so sordid.
For the new political ideals and for the new incentive
the middle and lower classes were indebted to the inspiring
French Revolution. These ideals would have been far more
destructive of good order and control among the English
industrial classes had they been introduced before the appear-
ance of the new Evangelical spirit in religious teaching and
the establishment of Sunday Schools, for, though much
intellectual ignorance existed, yet for a considerable number
life was already imbued with a moral purpose. Among
the better- educated middle classes who already possessed
some love of logical order and established method, the
Calvinistic teaching of Whitefield which obtained social as
well as pecuniary advantages by the support of the Countess
of Huntingdon, seems to have been the activating power.
Among the less educated and more unsophisticated, the
teaching of John Wesley had an extraordinary influence.
The influence of the Grammar School, as of all official
Manchester, was almost entirely against political reform.
This is natural, for though numerous works on Medicine and
Administration of the Law are mentioned in the catalogues
of Charles Lawson's library and the Chetham Library, and
though some still exist among the few eighteenth-century books
still remaining in the School library, there is little evidence
of the presence of the writings of the political economists,
or of anything likely to assist in the interpretation of the
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 217
aspirations and needs of the rising industrial world. The
nearest approach is found in the writings of the Scottish
moral philosophers such as James Beattie, Hugh Blair, James
Harris, David Hartley, and there is a copy of Jeremy
Bentham's ' Moral Philosophy.' As to devotional writings
and theological works, those which predominate are cal-
culated to combat the Latitudinarian writings of the period,
such as those of John Leland. There are no signs of
appreciation of the Evangelical work which the brothers
Wesley and Whitefield were doing to raise the self-respect
and purposefulness of the lower classes.
The constant increase in commercial prosperity was
associated with an intensification of the belief in the
sacredness of property and privilege. The spread of this
belief among those beneficed clergy and the popular Non-
conformist ministers who were fully sharing in the general
rise of comfort naturally caused current religious teaching
tacitly to regard deference to property and privilege and
established opinion to be of quite as much importance as the
observance of authorised ritual, and perhaps too often of even
more importance than the strict observance of Christian
standards of conduct. This seems to be the explanation of
the dignified formalism that passed for religion. The in-
creased powers of capital, and the multiplication of middle
men, bagmen and agents, took away much of the personal and
human relationship between maker and user of goods. Even
the richer merchants too often shared the narrowness of out-
look, only a few using their wealth and leisure to cultivate or
patronise the Arts and Sciences.
It is interesting to note that the son and biographer of
George Romney was admitted to the School in 1777, and that
his fellow scholar William Sneyd was awarded three gold
medals by the Society of Arts for his work on agriculture and
horticulture. The high degree to which the cultivation of
music was carried, and the patronage extended to it, are shown
in the career of Joah Bates, son of an innkeeper at Halifax,
who entered the School as a boarder in 1755. He was a
distinguished scholar at King's College, Cambridge, and
conducted the Handel celebrations in Westminster Abbey.
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society was
the outcome of the long-standing interest in Natural Science
which had been kept alive at the Nonconformist academies,
218 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
and also to some extent by the Chetham Library. For
some years before 1781
' a few gentlemen, inhabitants of the town, who were in-
spired with a taste for Literature and Philosophy, formed
themselves into a kind of weekly club for the purpose of
conversing on subjects of that nature. These meetings
were continued with some interruption for several years.
Many respectable persons being desirous of becoming mem-
bers, the numbers were increased so far as to induce the
founders of the Society to think of extending their original
design. Presidents and other officers were elected, a code
of laws formed, and a regular Society constituted and
denominated the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Manchester.'
Many joined the new Society who desired to increase
their technical knowledge of chemistry in dyeing and printing
and bleaching, just as French merchants in the earlier part
of the century had encouraged the study of the meta-
morphosis of insects to the formation of the cocoon in
connection with the development of the silk industry.
Of the twenty-four original founders, thirteen were in
medical practice in Manchester and Salford. James Massey
and Dr. Thomas Percival were appointed joint presidents ;
Rev. Samuel Hall, M.A., Dr. Charles White, F.R.S., George
Lloyd and Mr. George Bew, Vice-Presidents ; Rev. Thomas
Barnes, minister of Cross Street Chapel, and Thomas Henry
acted as secretaries. Although the word Literary seemed
at first to refer to Modern Literature and Belles- Lettres,
and was more concerned with those interests which were
bound up with what was called an ' active life ' rather than
the more sedentary life led by a student of books, it is
evident that the new Society appealed strongly to some
who had previously received a classical training at the Man-
chester Grammar School, or its offshoot the Salford Grammar
School. During the first twenty years of its existence nearly
170 members were elected, and it is possible to identify
about forty of these as having received their preliminary
training under Lawson. Apart from the leaders of the
medical profession, the great majority of the members were
either engaged or interested in the extension of Science and
Art to manufacturing purposes, and a few desired to keep
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 219
alive their intellectual interests in matters other than purely
commercial. It is to be noted that though neither Charles
Lawson nor his assistant, Rev. John Darby, were enrolled
as members, yet Rev. Robert Kenyon and Rev. John Radcliffe,
the Chetham Librarians, Joshua Brookes, the Chaplain of the
Collegiate Church, and Rev. John Foxley, Rev. John Bennett
(admitted School, April 19, 1773), Rev. William Hawkes, Rev.
William Houghton (admitted School, January 1757), Rev.
William Rankin, Rev. John Vaux (admitted School, January
1766), Rev. George Walker, F.R.S., were all members and by
their presence showed that the new Society was by no means
banned by the local clergy, though it is probable that the
strongly marked High Church Collegiate clergy looked with
some disfavour on a society in which merchants, without
university training, cultivated literary and scientific interests.
The Rev. S. Hall, the most important representative of the
clergy to interest himself in it, though rector of St. Peter's
Church, had incurred the disapproval of the Senior Fellow,
Rev. Thomas Aynscough, so that he was effectually barred
from election as Fellow of the College. On comparing the
list of those who served as borough-reeve, or constables of
Manchester, between 1782 and 1802, the date of the second
Towns Improvement Act, I can only find five who were members
of the new Society. During a similar period — that is, for
the first twenty years from the establishment of the anniver-
sary dinners of old scholars — nearly two hundred are recorded
as having attended those gatherings, the majority of whom
were University men, Manchester lawyers and merchants.
Of these only about twelve appear on the rolls of the Man-
chester Literary and Philosophical Society. It is noteworthy
that no feoffees of the Grammar School, and only two of
Chetham's Hospital — viz. Rev. Robert Kenyon and Rev.
Peter Haddon — took sufficient interest in the work of the
new Society to become members. It is evident that the
Society met the intellectual needs of a class for whom no
provision had hitherto been made.
An attempt was made in 1783 to overcome this antagonism
between the groups interested in the advancement of know-
ledge, by founding an Academy in Manchester, to be sup-
ported by all parties, and placed under the patronage of
Edward, the twelfth Earl of Derby, Lord Lieutenant of the
County, and the two members of Parliament, Sir Thomas
220 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Egerton and Sir Thomas Stanley, where boys should receive,
after leaving school, some training in Natural Philosophy,
in Applied Chemistry and Applied Mathematics, and in the
Laws of Jurisprudence and Moral Philosophy. In spite of
the cordial good wishes of the patrons and of many others,
this college had only a brief existence. This was the college
to which Henry Clarke was attached.
If, however, the studies of physical science and chemistry
were little favoured by the classically educated boys of the
Grammar School, the studies ancillary to the medical profes-
sion, and those which engaged the leisure of the wealthy, such
as the Fine Arts, Natural History, &c., secured more con-
sideration. Botany, as an out-of-door inexpensive hobby,
continued to be studied even by the humble members of the
community. Thus George Caley explored the districts round
Manchester very thoroughly and was employed for a short time
at Kew Gardens under Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1829). He re-
turned to Manchester and was employed by Dr. Wedbury, then
compiling his studies of English plants. He then studied
Latin and Drawing. He was sent by Sir Joseph Banks on
a botanical expedition to New South Wales. He collected
quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, and his collection was bought
in 1818 by the Linnean Society.1
The story of James Henry Clough (1734-1804), of Long-
sight, is also of interest. He was a handloom weaver and a
diligent botanist. Whilst watching the passengers alight from
the Bridgewater Canal packet at Knott Mill, he was accosted
by a gentleman who was looking for someone to carry his bag
to the White Bear Inn, Piccadilly. ' Old Clough,' nearly
seventy years of age, volunteered all the more readily as the
traveller wanted to be conducted along a rural path so as
to pick up a few plants. Congenial conversation sprang up,
for the visitor was interested in the newly established Liver-
pool Botanical Gardens. So sound and so extensive was the
botanical knowledge of the old weaver that he was invited
to join the meeting to which the traveller was going. A few
months later Clough was offered an important position at the
Liverpool Gardens, and a sum of money was presented to him
to recoup the expenses of his outlay.2 He probably died 1809.
1 Account of Lancashire Artisan Naturalists, by A. H. Reade, 1876.
2 Earwaker, Local Gleanings, 1915, vol. i. p. 192.
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 221
Many of the wealthy merchants like John Leigh Philips,
who was a fellow-scholar with Joseph Budworth (though his
name does not occur in the register), had special opportuni-
ties for making collections of beautiful objects of Art and
Natural History, owing to his commercial correspondence.
Mr. Philips was particularly interested in insects, and
through a London entomologist, John Francillon (obit.
1818), was introduced to John Abbot of Savannah (1760-
1840), one of the most famous collectors and observers of
American insects.1 Abbot had been a member of the
Aurelian 2 Society, formed in London for the study of insect
life, which had come into popular vogue owing to the work
of Reaumur (1683-1757) and the more general studies of
Buff on (1707-1788). In France the study of insects and
plants had a direct bearing upon silk manufacture, and
though, in the early days of the Georgian Society, founded
in 1732, trained botanists had been sent from England to
study natural products of the country, this general scientific
interest dwindled to the personal interest of wealthy collectors.
John Abbot's paintings of butterflies were published by Sir
J. E. Smith in four handsome volumes in 1795, and numerous
other drawings were purchased by various public libraries.
In 1792 the Chetham feoffees purchased a hundred paintings
of birds at a cost of £27 10s. and a few years later a further
hundred ; these are bound up in four large volumes. Some-
what later they purchased a large bundle of his paintings
of spiders with descriptive catalogue. The British Museum
purchased seventeen volumes of Abbot's drawings on the
death of John Francillon in 1818, but the actual specimens
are now housed in the Hope Collection of the Natural History
Museum, Oxford.
On the death of Mr. J. Leigh Philips, all his Art and Natural
History specimens were sold, the collection of insects was pur-
chased by J. H. Robinson, a brother-in-law of Sir Benjamin
Hey wood, and its further history as regards the study of
Natural History in Manchester belongs to the next chapter.
We must now consider the rapidly altering position
1 Cf. Taxidermy, by William Swainston, 1840, in Lardner's Scientific
Series, and John Abbot, the Aurelian, by Scudder, in Canadian Entomologist,
1888, also by Duncan in Jardine's Naturalist, pp. 69-71. John Abbot must
have known of, if he had not studied, John Hunter's collection.
1 One of the predecessors of the Linnean Society.
222 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the Chetham Library, as regards public enlightenment.
On the death of Rev. Robert Kenyon in 1787, John Radcliffe
(1764-1850), son of James Radcliffe, attorney, of Ormskirk,
who had entered the Manchester School in January 1777
and graduated B.A. from Brasenose College, Oxford, 1784,
was appointed librarian in his place, 1787. He occupied
an entirely different status from that of his predecessor, who
had been non-resident and had been styled ' prelector and
curator,' and who had also been appointed Governor on
coming into possession of the family estates. Radcliffe's
appointment served as a convenient occasion to complete
the catalogue which had already been begun by Thyer. It
was printed and published in 1791 for the benefit of readers
at a distance. In the compilation of this work there is
little doubt that Radcliffe availed himself extensively of the
assistance of his old high master, Charles Lawson, who had
been appointed a feoffee of Chetham's in 1784. Charles
Lawson's own catalogue is in the Chetham Library, and a
comparison between his method of arrangement and the
arrangement adopted by Radcliffe affords distinct evidence
of such indebtedness. The absence of specific acknowledg-
ment in the full and otherwise interesting Latin preface
prefixed to the catalogue is probably another illustration of
the retiring nature which prevented Charles Lawson taking
that position in the public life of Manchester to which his
abilities and his services entitled him. The catalogue is dedi-
cated to the Warden, to four prominent local clergymen, of
whom three had been educated at the School, and to eighteen
trustees, of whom eight had been educated at the School and
of whom ten served also as feoffees of the Grammar School.
The preface is a long one and deals partly with the history of
the collection and partly with the difficulties in arrange-
ment of books. It well repays a study. The catalogue
contains a list of 6,667 books. A further catalogue of the
books added between 1791 and 1826 was compiled and edited
by Mr. William Parr Greswell. An examination of the rela-
tive increase in the different classes of books shows the di-
minished importance attached by the purchasers to the study
of Theology and Law, and the increased importance attached
to the study of History, Science, and Literature. Paley
takes the place of the Scotch metaphysicians that were
in Lawson's Library ; Political Economy is only represented
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL
223
by the evidence taken by the Parliamentary Commission
upon the slave trade, and by John Macfarlane's ' Enquiries
concerning the Poor.' The works of Adam Smith and of
Jeremy Bentham had not then been purchased. There is
a great increase in the number of medical works, and it is
interesting to note that a few works by German authors
begin to appear on the shelves.
No. of books bought
betweenl655&1791,
still in the library
at the latter date.
Additions bought
between 1791 &
1826.
Per cent,
increase.
Theology
Jurisprudence
History .
Science and Arts .
Literse Humaniores
1,920
308
1,702
1,608
1,129
215
29
363
320
288
11-2
9-9
21-3
20
25
18-2
Total
6,667
1,215
The break-up of the old Whig party, as expressed in the
rivalry for power between Pitt and Fox, was in part due to
the desire for Parliamentary representation and self-govern-
ment among the trading classes of the community. They
had not yet formed themselves into a political party, and they
were still too unconscious of civic ideals to realise corporately
their lack of them, yet it was necessary for their political
rulers to conciliate them as individuals from the middle of
the eighteenth century, since the more important merchants
held or controlled votes in such corporate boroughs as sent
members to the House of Commons, and many had votes
for the county also. It was the pressure of taxation and
the success secured by William Pitt at the polls in 1784
that succeeded in awakening the interest of local merchants
in politics. Up to this time Pitt had regarded himself as
a Whig and had introduced a Reform Bill to redress some of
the anomalies of Parliamentary representation, but he had
withdrawn this measure in face of the active opposition of
many of his supporters who felt their privileges were threat-
ened. Pitt's mathematical training had led him to study
the Free Trade principles of Adam Smith, and in the following
224 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
year he endeavoured to improve the external trade relations
of Great Britain by attempting to repeal the tax on Irish
fustian coming into England. This roused the fears of English
manufacturers as to the stability of their trade. That their
fears were not entirely selfish but were based on a genuine
concern lest Irish cheap labour should take away the occupa-
tion of English artisans is shown by the willingness of some
of them to contribute voluntarily to the Exchequer much
larger sums than the taxes would have produced. An
instance of this is found when Robert Peel, of Bury, M.P.
for Tarn worth, who had gone to London for the purpose and
had offered £10,000 from his own firm, on expressing to his
partner his doubts as to whether he ought to have offered
so much without previous mutual consultation, was met with
the characteristic Lancashire reply ' You might have made
it £20,000 while you were about it ! ' A Committee of Trade
was formed in Manchester by the wealthy manufacturers,
and it is recorded that they sent a deputation to Edmund
Burke, then member for Bristol, and the accepted exponent
in Parliament of the needs of the trading classes. The
attempt to repeal the protective taxes on the imported Irish
textiles produced a great change in the politics of Manchester
merchants. They left William Pitt and became supporters
of C. J. Fox, who became increasingly * Liberal ' in his domestic
politics, while William Pitt abandoned his early efforts of
reform and refounded the ' Tory ' party.
A public dinner was given by the merchants to Thomas
Stanley, M.P. for Lancashire, on August 27, 1786, to celebrate
his share in the repeal of the Fustian Act, and on September 15,
1786, another public dinner was given to Charles J. Fox, at
which Lord R. Spencer, M.P. for Oxford, Sir Frank Standish,
and Mr. Greville were guests. As the career of Thomas
Stanley is typical of that of many others, it may be noted
in some detail. He was the eldest son of Rev. Dr. Thomas
Stanley of Winwick, and like his two brothers he had been
educated at the Manchester Grammar School. He was ad-
mitted January 1759, and delivered the Latin oration in 1766.
He was elected M.P. for the County of Lancashire in 1774, aged
twenty-five, and continued to represent it till his retirement
in 1812. At his first election, he entertained some of his
friends at dinner at the famous John Shaw's Inn. When the
closing time, 8 o'clock, arrived, the duly elected member
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 225
asked for special privileges. John Shaw's characteristic reply
was : ' Thomas Stanley, you are a law maker, and should
not be a law breaker. If you and your friends do not leave
my room in five minutes, you will find your boots full of
water.' Within the five minutes, Old Molly, the factotum,
entered with her usual mop and bucket of water, and the
Law was effectually vindicated.
' In September 1786 [writes Horace Walpole] Charles Fox,
Lord Derby, and others of the party, were received at Man-
chester with singular acclamations and compliments on their
opposition to the new taxes and Irish impositions. That
town had been the headquarters of Jacobitism and as such
singular \y distinguished by the King, who had preferred a
guard on himself and palace in the late war of a regiment
of raw lads raised there for him by Sir Thos. Egerton, who
had been rewarded by a peerage.'
The pleasure this return of popular sympathy gave to
Mr. Fox he expressed, with almost boyish satisfaction, in a
letter dated Knowsley, September 10 :
* Our reception at Manchester was the finest thing imagin-
able and handsome in all respects. All the principal people
came out to meet us, and attended us into the town with
white and buff cockades and a procession as fine and not
unlike that upon my chairing at Westminster. We dined
with 150 people, and Mr. Walker, one of their principal
men, who was in London last year upon their business, before
he gave me a toast, made them a speech in which he told
them they knew how prejudiced he had been for Pitt and
against the India Bill, but that in the course of his business
in Town he had occasion to know both Pitt and me, and
found how much he had been mistaken in both. That it
was the part of honest men when they found they had been
wrong to set themselves right as soon as possible, all which
was echoed by the whole room in the most cordial manner.
You must allow this was very handsome. The concourse
of people to see us was immense, and I never saw more
apparent unanimity than seemed to be in our favour, and all
this in the town of Manchester, which used to be reckoned
the worst place for us in the whole county.' *
1 Memorials and Correspondence of C. J. Fox, edited by Lord John
Russell, vol. ii. p. 270.
Q
226 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
In 1788 there was a great commemoration of the cen-
tenary of the English Revolution. Thomas Walker was
chosen borough- reeve. Apologies for absence were sent
from the Earl of Derby, Colonel Stanley, Lord Grey de Wilton,
Samuel Birch, Doming Rasbotham, and many prominent
Whigs of the county party, who were feeling the necessity
for ' hedging,' while the merchant Whigs attended in force.
In 1789 C. J. Fox attempted to gain further political
support by endeavouring to obtain the repeal of the Test
and Corporation Acts. Increased wealth had brought into
prominence many Nonconformist families, who were feeling
the ignominy of being compelled to take communion accord-
ing to a ritual of which they disapproved as a condition of
their holding corporate or magisterial office, as well as the
injustice of being virtually refused admission to their own
national universities. In many instances their own educa-
tion, either at the Nonconformist academies or at the Scotch
and the Continental Universities, was more liberal than
that at Oxford or Cambridge. The exclusion of their sons,
however, involved some loss of social prestige as well as
prospects of appointment to official positions or other patron-
age. On the other hand, the caste spirit which fostered a
social distinction between merchants and clerical and other
landowners, was steadily damaging the National Church
in public estimation. This the protagonists of ecclesiastical
exclusiveness could not see, but, finding their privileges
threatened, they did not dare to contemplate the discontinu-
ance of even the perfunctory and not infrequently profane
use of the sacrament which gave a formal recognition to
their claims. Rather than give way in any particular they
again raised the cry of 'The Church in Danger,' and per-
petuated the antagonism which still further embittered party
politics.
All such minor questions were put aside when the blazing
volcano, into which the hitherto suppressed anger of an out-
raged populace had exploded, had destroyed the rotten fabric
of the French Government. The French Revolution lit up
with its lurid light many a dark and hitherto unrecognised
danger zone in English life. Its sparks had already begun
to fall on many an inflammable area, and had aroused the
industrial classes to a consciousness of their own misery and
degradation. It finally split the Whig party into two sections.
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 227
One followed C. J. Fox and maintained their sympathy with
the cause of reform, the other followed Burke and Pitt and
set their back against all change, and denounced the reformers
as Jacobins or Revolutionaries. To the industrial classes
the French Revolution offered the promise of a social emanci-
pation and gave a vision of social salvation. The industrial
classes, however, were not the only ones ready for new ideals.
Tom Pained ' Age of Reason ' and ' The Rights of Man J
had been read with trembling and in secret by many young
scions of orthodox middle-class homes, and had awakened
questions as to the justification of the prevailing method
of rule and the basis of prevailing orthodox opinion to
which no answer but established custom was then forth-
coming. The reactionary party began to gather together
the forces of law and discipline, with intent to control the
general conflagration threatened by the inrush of new opinion.
Although by its nature the awakening will of a great people
is unconquerable, yet it may be possible to hold it in control
sufficiently long for it to lose some of its irresponsibility and
to use some of its strength in efforts of construction rather
than those of destruction. Among the forces tending to
steady the national judgment must be reckoned the 30,000
copies of Burke 's ' Reflections on the French Revolution ' which
were speedily sold. Unfortunately for the immediate end in
view, which was the adequate consideration of the principles
of government, but perhaps fortunately for the ultimate
result, the sermon of a London Nonconformist minister, which
was the ostensible cause of this remarkable essay, loomed
too largely in Burke's mind. His repeated reference to it
tended to accentuate the division of the old Whig party into
its two sections — one now becoming a new Tory party,
centred round Pitt, and identified with the old and exclusive
method of Parliamentary election supported by landowners
and the clergy of the Church of England; the other, now
called the Radical or Reforming party, at that time the
more opulent and energetic, rinding its chief, though by no
means its exclusive support among the Nonconformist
bodies. Their members were beginning to realise how
completely they had allowed themselves to become cut off
from the formal centres of higher education in England, and
the injustice of the Test Acts. They naturally aimed at
parliamentary reform. Until partisanship had ceased to
228 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
retain its malignant control over learning, and had been
reduced to harmless proportions, it was impossible for all
the people to find proper outlet for the various activities of
free intelligence or render proper service to the needs of an
increasingly powerful nation.
The declaration of war against England by the French
Republic in 1791 again aroused patriotic ardour in Manchester,
and further troops were raised for foreign service and for
home defence. John Forde, son of Charles Forde, a
manufacturer who had served the office of borough-
reeve, 1767, and was a feoffee of the School and of Chetham's
Trust, had entered the School July 1781. He had taken
part in the School public speeches in 1785, and had passed
to Balliol College, Oxford, but soon threw up his studies to
take a more active share in the stirring events around him.
He was largely concerned in raising the Manchester and
Salford Light Horse Volunteers to resist the threatened
French invasion. He was made Colonel of the Regiment,
and it is said that he worked with such zeal that he frequently
rode from Abbeyfield to Manchester and back again the same
day — a distance of sixty miles — in addition to spending
some hours in drilling his men. He was one among several
who subscribed £1000 each to raise a body of marines and
despatched them, free of cost, to headquarters. When, a
little later, the artisan and middle classes of the County of
Lancaster had become much disaffected at the heavy taxa-
tion and the almost prohibitive cost of living, Colonel Forde
was asked to serve as High Sheriff, but felt obliged to
decline on account of his military duties. He died at Abbey-
field, April 14, 1839, aged seventy-two. Another patriotic-
citizen who was an old scholar, and like John Forde attended
anniversary dinners to honour Lawson, was John Entwistle,
son of James Entwistle, a merchant of Manchester, who had
entered the Grammar School, January 1753. He also took
active part in raising volunteer regiments, in one of which
he was a major. Later, in 1798, as Colonel Entwistle he
served as Sheriff of the County.
Patriotic fervour and generous contributions of money,
even wise administration of existing laws — and the adminis-
tration was not always either wise or just — provided, however,
no solution of the new problems that had been brought about
by the social upheaval and the growing demands of the new
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 229
classes. New principles of jurisprudence needed to be dis-
covered to meet the new problems, and before new laws could
be made in which such principles could be embodied, the new
classes had themselves to find champions capable of expressing
their too often inarticulate needs, for they were still outside
the influence of national education. The merchants were to
some extent prepared, but they were practically unrepresented
in Parliament. Consequently the reform of parliamentary
representation, somewhat feebly foreshadowed by William
Pitt in 1784, had to be made an accomplished fact. This
involved a struggle of more than a generation, for it was thrown
back by the French Revolution and not finally accomplished
till 1832. As regards new principles of legislation, a con-
venient phrase was coined by Joseph Priestley, and subse-
quently adopted as the test of political justice, and applied
with great effect by Jeremy Bentham, viz. ' the greatest
happiness of the greatest number' — a phrase which was
ultimately found inadequate, yet which in the absence of a
more perfected statement, for a long while served as a nucleus
round which claims for the satisfaction for many of the needs
could gather. Parliamentary reform was only one of the
means by which this end could be approached. Let us see
what Learning and established methods of education had
to say to this.
The Manchester Constitutional Club was formed in
October 1790 with the object of securing the reform of Parlia-
ment by constitutional methods, though its intentions were
wilfully misrepresented by those already in power, Crown
Ministers construing them into an attempt to spread the
anarchical principles of the French Revolution in England.
The leader of the Reform party in Manchester was Thomas
Walker (1749-1817), son of a Bristol merchant who had
settled in the town. We have noted the prominent part he
took in the political agitation about the Fustian Taxes. He
was elected to the chair in 1788, when 130 of the principal
gentlemen of Manchester sat down to a public dinner in the
open space of the old Exchange to celebrate the anniversary
of King William III landing in England.1 When at the
height of his popularity, he had been appointed borough-
reeve of Manchester, 1790. He shared C. J. Fox's sympathies
1 C. F. Espinas, Lancashire Worthies.
230 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
with some of the ideals of the French Revolution. On July 14,
1791, he presided at the dinner held at the Bridgewater Arms
to celebrate its anniversary — a proceeding which naturally
brought upon him the anger and vengeance of the followers
of Pitt. The stewards at this dinner were :
George Lloyd (1750-1805), who had entered the Grammar
School April 1762, and took part in the public speeches 1764.
He was a son of George Lloyd, M.B., F.R.S., of Halme Hall,
and by profession was a barrister, though being of independent
means he did not practise. He was long resident in
Manchester and served as borough-reeve in 1784, and as
major in the Manchester Volunteers. His name appears at
the head of a protest against the Convention Bill (1795)
limiting the right of public meeting. He was one of the earliest
Vice-Presidents of the Manchester Philosophical and Literary
Society. His presence at the anniversary School dinners shows
the respect in which he was held by those of an opposite
opinion in politics. He died at Bath, 1805, aged fifty-five.
James Darbishire, wine merchant, who had been educated
at the (Unitarian) Manchester College, York. He died in
Manchester in 1836.
Thomas Cooper (1759-1840), born in London and educated
at Westminster School and University College, Oxford. He
was called to the Bar in 1787, and entered into the political
agitations of the period in company with James Watt, the
inventor of the steam-engine. He visited the democratic
clubs in France, practised as a chemist, and found out the
secret of making chlorine. He set up works for bleaching
in Manchester, and became Professor of Chemistry at
Dickinson College, Carlisle.
(Sir) George Philips, Colonel of Volunteers in 1803, who
laid the first stone of the new Exchange on July 21, 1806.
Thomas Kershaw.
Samuel Jackson, son of William Jackson, weaver. He had
been admitted to the Manchester School on December 1 1 , 1759.
As neither Harrop's Manchester Mercury nor Wheeler's
Chronicle would advertise or receive communications from
the Reform party, the Manchester Herald was started, March
31, 1792. On September 13, 186 innkeepers and alehouse
keepers signed a memorial refusing to allow any meeting of
clubs or societies in favour of Reform on their premises.
In April 1794 the Government became thoroughly alarmed
at the growth of Reform opinions, and by the use of spies and
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 231
false informants, thought they had collected sufficient evidence
to justify them in bringing an action for high treason against
Thomas Walker, together with William Paul and Samuel
Jackson, at the Spring Assize at Lancaster. The evidence
adduced was so flimsy that the prosecution resulted in a
complete fiasco, and the Attorney-General for the County
Palatine, subsequently Lord Ellenborough, publicly threw up
the case. Other sympathisers with Thomas Walker were
James Cheetham, son of James Cheetham, dyer, admitted
to the School February 1767 ; Oliver Pearsall ; Benjamin
Booth, son of George Booth, watchmaker, admitted to the
School on January 18, 1779 ; and Joseph Collier. Of these
Thomas Walker, William Paul, Samuel Jackson, James
Cheetham, Oliver Pearsall, Benjamin Booth, and Joseph
Collier were again indicted for high treason at Lancaster,
October. The trial ruined Walker ; his out-of-pocket expenses
alone amounted to £3000, and his business was lost owing to
the boycott set up by his political opponents. He died on
February 2, 1817.
On December 12, 1792, in opposition to the Reform
party, another society was formed among those who feared
that any yielding to popular demands would be regarded
as weakness, and the signal for further disorder. Sir Thomas
Egerton, now Lord Grey de Wilton, became president of
the local branch. The society was called the 'Association
for preserving constitutional order and liberty as well as
property, against the various efforts of Levellers and Repub-
licans.' A list of its members1 reveals the decided position
taken up by the feoffees and masters of the Grammar School.
The gaunt spectre of want which even threatened famine
now began to appear, as is shown in a notice issued in the
Manchester Mercury, January 28, 1796 :
* In compliance with the recommendation of the Lords
of His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, to reduce
the consumption of wheat flour at least one-third of the usual
quantity used in ordinary times, and with the example of the
House of Peers and the House of Commons. The magis-
trates at the last General Quarter Sessions held in this town ;
the Borough -reeve and Constables, the Clergy and other in-
habitants have pledged themselves solemnly by subscribing
their signatures to similar resolutions for that purpose to
1 See A. Prentice, Personal Recollections of Manchester,,
232 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
follow the example strictly, and to recommend it in the
most earnest manner in their respective neighbourhoods.
'A parchment containing the Resolutions now lies for
signature at Mr. Harrop's in the Market Place.'
At no period of their history did the Grammar Schools
of England exhibit such signs of decay as at the end of
the eighteenth century.1 In Manchester the diminished
popularity of the School appears to have been the result of
several conditions, the most important probably being the
commercial depression which followed the prolonged wars
and caused a diminution in the number of wealthy boarders.
There was also a lessening value attached to classical
education in comparison with other studies, and finally there
was the increasing age of the high master and his assistant,
Total
Admis-
sions.
Yearly
Average of
Admis-
sions.
Total
Number to
University.
Yearly
Average.
1732-1749
829
48
62
4
(probably 90-100 in the School)
1764-1782 ....
1052
58
118
6
( probably 150-200 in the School)
1783-1807 ....
745
31
115
5
(probably 120-1 50 in the School)
-J
0
I
1
f
1
|
Jj
i-s
|
E
fc
3ugh-reevesj
d Mayors.
3
6
i
a
|S
1720-1729 .
180
16
4
—
—
—
—
—
.
1730-1739 .
222
21
7
—
—
—
—
—
—
1740-1749 .
205
28
12
19
—
—
. —
—
—
—
—
1750-1759 .
281
25
11
26
g
5
—
5
4
—
—
1760-1769 .
354
26
16
25 i 15
4
—
10
11
—
—
1770-1779 .
548
46
21
39 i 13
10
3
18
20
6
8
1780-1789 .
490
47
24
31
26
8
4
21
30
4
—
1790-1799 .
285
45
13
20
9
5
—
?
10
1
—
1800-1809 .
288
22
7
9 5
4
—
—
3
1
—
1 See The Annual Orations at St. Paul's Cathedral before the S.P.C.K.
on Behalf of Charity Schools in London, 1799, by Dr. Rennell, and in 1800
by Thomas L. O'Beirne, D.D., Bishop of Meath, and the reply of Dr.
William Vincent, Dean of Westminster and headmaster of Westminster
School.
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 233
Mr. Darby, which limited their grasp of the changing con-
ditions and their adaptability to the new needs. It could
not have been due to a lessened number of local candidates
for higher education, for the total population was rapidly
increasing, and in spite of frequent bankruptcies and failures
the merchant classes were sharing in the rise of the general
standard of life.
During this time the population had risen from 42,000
in 1773 to 84,000 in 1800.
The best contemporary description of the life in the
upper part of the School at the end of the eighteenth century
is given by Thomas De Quincey in his Confessions. De
Quincey was born August 15, 1785, and after the death of his
father in 1792 he was placed under the tutorial care of one
of his guardians, the Rev. Samuel Hall, rector of St. Peter's,
who gave him a good training in classics. In 1800, De
Quincey was entered at the Manchester Grammar School
to facilitate his entry into Oxford by means of the Brase-
nose Exhibitions. He became discontented, and after eighteen
months ran away from school, retaining some bitter memo-
ries of his stay there. His Confessions were first published
in the London Magazine, December and November 1840 :
'The school-room, though of ample proportions, was
dreary, and the external walls, which might have been easily
and at little expense adorned with scenes from classic
history, were quite bare, nothing relieved the monotony.
The headmaster was Mr. Charles Lawson. His life-work
was practically over (he was 75 years of age), and though
I may have been mistaken, I had no very high opinion
of his abilities.1 Politically, he was a Jacobite, and in his
private life he had known the pangs of unrequited affection.
One characteristic feature of the School was the entire
absence of all forms of corporal punishment, a state of affairs
due to the loyalty of the masters and the upper boys, so
that the master could afford to laugh over Horace's ' ' plagosus
Orbilius." Discipline was maintained by the self-restraint
and example of the older boys, these being for the most part
boarders in the master's house. There was no playground —
at least none connected with the Upper School, though there
1 De Quincey subsequently suppressed this opinion, and the subsequent
statement about flogging must be modified in view of other testimony, though
no doubt years may have modified the vigour of the discipline, which at one
time earned the sobriquet ' The Flogging Turk.'
234 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
may have been one connected with the Lower School which
extended beneath ours. The lack of a playground may
have been in some respects an advantage, since it kept us
exclusive and added to our sense of dignity. On my intro-
duction to the School, I was invited to turn into Latin
part of one of Steele's papers in the " Spectator." My know-
ledge of this language, as well as of Greek, was not very
extensive at the time, on account of my youth, but I had a
great command of both languages. I hold that there is a
great difference between the two terms. One's knowledge
of a language increases with the time spent in the study of it,
whereas one's command of it is a gift of nature. It is more-
over a fact that the greatest scholars in Greek are by no
means the greatest composers in that language.
' To return, the result of my examination was such that
the headmaster complimented me on my rendering, the
first and last time he did such a thing. Two or three days
afterwards I began residence in the master's house. Part-
ing from friends, the bad weather and the dreariness of
my rooms, combined to depress me, but all this feeling
passed away when I was presented to my schoolfellows,
from whom I received the kindliest welcome — a welcome
that impressed me the more in that though they had not
the advantages of birth which Etonians have, yet they were
superior to them in self-restraint and self-respect, however
deficient they may have been in other qualities. A longer
experience has since led me to the conclusion that the natives
of Lancashire are pre-eminent in many high qualities.
4 My first evening was spent in a discussion on Grotius,
whose book on the evidences of Christianity was prescribed
for the Sunday evening exercise. A feature of this dis-
cussion, which called forth my admiration, was the way in
which one of the boys argued with great ability against the
generally accepted notions with regard to the author.
'The boys of the Manchester Grammar School, however,
were quite free from the reproach of ignorance of their own
literature, and considering the circumstances in which they
were placed, I have not found anywhere a greater compre-
hensive knowledge of the subject.'
The Grammar School had now not only lost touch with
the most liberal and enterprising members of the merchant
classes by its continued neglect of science and modern
languages, but it still more completely failed to help the
industrial classes. By retaining the Latin grammar as the
principal method of instruction for all boys who could read at
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 237
all, it provided nothing liberal for those who would never study
classical literature and knew nothing even of English literature.
How little the Grammar School was doing for the educa-
tion of the working classes is shown by the following passages
from 'The Life of a Radical,' Samuel Bamford (1788-1872),
where he describes his entry into the lower school about
the same time as De Quincey.
1 The School was a large room of an oblong form extend-
ing north and south, and well lighted by large windows.
At the northern end of it was a fireplace with a red cheer-
ful fire glowing in the grate. The master's custom was
to sit in an arm-chair with his right hand towards the fire
and his left arm resting on a square oaken table, on which
lay a newspaper or two, a magazine or other publication,
a couple of canes with the ends split, and a medley of boys'
playthings, such as tops, whips, marbles, apple-scrapers, nut-
crackers, dragon banding and such articles. The scholars were
divided into six classes, namely Accidence or Introduction to
Latin, Higher Bible, Middle Bible, and Lower Bible, Testa-
ment, and Spelling classes. The Accidence class sat opposite
the master, and the Higher Bible class was at the back. Each
class sat on a strong oaken bench, backed by a panel of the
same placed against the wall and a narrow desk in front,
so that all sat round the room in regular gradation. The
spellers only had not a desk, they sat on forms outside the
desk of the Higher Bible Class, they being considered as
children among the boys.'
When Samuel Bamford's father had attained to the
position of Master of the Salford Workhouse, the boy was
removed from school, and sent to work as a weaver, greatly
to his disappointment, for he had manifested from the first
a great aptitude for knowledge. His persistent efforts at
self-culture, and his lifelong devotion to the cause of indus-
trial emancipation, cause his autobiography to be one of the
most inspiring as well as one of the most illuminating records
of the struggles of the working classes during the period.1
On October 1797 Lawson's old scholars presented him
with a portrait painted by W. M. Craig. Of this an engraving
has been made. Of few headmasters could it be said more
truthfully than of Charles Lawson that the record of his
life is to be sought in the after careers of his scholars. It was
1 Life, of a Radical, S. Bamford.
238 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
said of him that he was passionate, and, in spite of De
Quincey's statement, too much addicted to the use of the
cane. This may well have been the case. He lived in an
age when passions were little under control, and when gross
insubordination was common. It was said by some that
he was not a profound classical scholar. This may also have
been true, if he is to be judged by the contributions of
his scholars to the critical study of the classics, but a
perusal of the catalogue of his library shows that he was a
man of wide interests, and if he was not skilled in the new
classical criticism that was springing up, he could train
high-minded, earnest citizens. During the greater part of
his educational life he kept himself abreast of all current
educational movements. On his bookshelves Joseph Priestley
' On Education ' accompanied John Locke, and Dodsley's
* Preceptor ' and Henry's * Choice of Studies,' while Sterne
and Swift, Addison, Steele, and Johnson were well repre-
sented. It was therefore a wise choice that selected Charles
Lawson on a committee of nine ' to secure the distribution
of works and pamphlets on plain and undisguised constitu-
tional principles to endeavour to undeceive such as may have
been misled by the sinister and inflammatory insinuations
of designing men.'
The following is an analysis of the MS. catalogue of his
books. Both MS. and sale catalogue are now in the Chetham
Library :
Classical works, History, Philology, Grammar,
Greek 392, Latin 733 . ". . .1125
Theology, Ecclesiastical History (Greek and
Latin authors) ..... 473
Divinity and Ecclesiastical History (English
authors) ...... 575
Chronology, Geography, History, Antiquities,
Biography, Research and Travels . . 519
English Poetry, Criticism, Translations of
Classics 343
Natural Philosophy and Natural History &c. . 493
Miscellaneous ...... 243
Law and Physic . . . . .149
Total of separate works . 3920
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 239
The sale catalogue describes several bundles consisting
of a number of duplicate copies of devotional books, calcu-
lated to correct or oppose the Latitudinarian tendencies of the
eighteenth century. These were presumably for distribution
among the boys. They therefore reveal something of the
incentives by which Lawson tried to arouse the interest of
his boys on matters other than mere scholarship or social
advancement.
Hugh Blair, ' Importance of a Religious Life ' 6 copies
Henry Stebbing (1663-1747) on ' Prayer ' 4 „
John Fred Ostervald (1663-1747) . . 10 „
' The Whole Duty of Man ' . . . 10 „
Ed. Gibson's * Pastoral Letters ' . 8 „
Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761), 'Discourses' 4 „
It may be said that it was easy for Lawson 's boys to
achieve high social position and to receive acknowledgment
for social services rendered, since they included members
of some of the most socially favoured families not only in
the county of Lancaster, but in the whole of the North
of England. This was certainly true, and no school can
possibly live by, or to, itself. It should never be forgotten
that a school cannot accomplish its highest ultimate purposes
unless the homes in which its scholars have received their
early nurture, and from which they gain their later incentives,
are able to provide the physical, mental, and moral pabulum
which is needed for proper moral, spiritual, and physical
growth. To get the best results, the highest ideals of life
must prevail both in home and school. The Manchester
Grammar School, then as now, retained its usefulness because
seed, soil, and surroundings remained favourable.
During the vigorous growth of independence in Puritan
times, the School had provided a seed-plot or nursery for
a highly trained ministry, and had also prepared some of
its best citizens for further study of constitutional law in
the Inns of Court. During the brief period of Jacobite idealism
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it had sent forth
to Oxford and Cambridge scholars who caught the early
fervour of Methodism, and returning home had enlightened
the materialism of a dull trading town with ideals of personal
piety, which were not entirely extinguished by the failure
of the 1745 rebellion. It was the privilege of Charles Lawson
240 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to assist in keeping alive the incentives of religion among
many who became leaders in public life in Manchester.
The following obituary notice of Lawson appears in Aikin's
Athenaeum, May 1807 :
' On the 19th April died at his house in Manchester
at the advanced age of 79 years, after a long and most
painful disorder which he supported with a degree of
fortitude and serenity that characterised his life, Charles
Lawson, Master of Arts, sometime Fellow of Corpus
Christi College, Oxford, and for more than 43 years
the high master and the distinguished ornament of the
Free Grammar School in Manchester. ... In this arduous
situation, for a period almost unprecedented, Mr. Lawson
uniformly displayed a dignity and a propriety of conduct and
a fixed principle of action that could not fail to conciliate
the esteem and affection of his pupils, and the warm
admiration of his fellow townsmen. The extensive literary
abilities which he possessed were of a higher class than are
usually met with even in the most distinguished of our pre-
ceptors, and the depth and assiduity with which he constantly
pursued his erudite researches rendered him eminently
qualified for that station wherein he was judiciously placed.
Although engaged in a profession at once laborious and
irksome, although accumulated knowledge is productive,
with some, only of satiety and confusion of ideas, yet his
vigorous conception and the perspicuity with which he
engaged on suitable topics of conversation, amply proved
the success by which he adapted his large stores of literary
acquirements. No better proof can be adduced in testimony
of what is here advanced than the celebrity which the Man-
chester Free School acquired during the period he presided
over it. Men of the first eminence in the learned world
and of distinguished rank in society have received their
education in this seminary. Yet from a peculiarity of
local disadvantages, the School has for some years past
considerably diminished in the number of its members. It
is, however, to the social and domestic virtues which adorned
MJ. Lawson that the biographer would more immediately
advert, in the intercourse which friendship and esteem held
out for his acceptance, his colloquial talents and the suavity
of his manners were highly conspicuous, and irresistibly
endeared him to that numerous and respectable body of
friends by whom his memory will long be " praised, wept
and honoured."
OLIGARCHY ON ITS TRIAL 241
At the anniversary gathering of old scholars held the
following October, it was decided to erect a marble monu-
ment designed by Bacon, consisting of a figure of Lawson
seated instructing two of his pupils. It was placed in the
old Collegiate Church, with a Latin inscription composed by
an old pupil, Rev. Frodsham Hodson, Principal of Brasenose
College, 1809-1822, of which the following is a translation :
This Memorial is erected
to the memory of Charles Lawson, M.A.,
High Master of the Manchester School,
who justly claims a place second to none
among those who have successfully taught the elements
of the Greek and Latin tongue. Such was his indefatigable industry
and method of training
that neither the brilliance of ability
hastening to higher things,
nor the sluggishness of mind
which rejects all literature,
could prevent him from transfusing into his pupils
his own remarkable spirit of accuracy.
So scrupulous also was he
in the discharge of his duty
that neither the weighty cares of business
nor the seductions of sodal recreation
so alluring to an agreeable and witty disposition,
could draw him away from his beloved school.
But for 58 years,
even when racked with illness and broken with old age,
he nevertheless watched diligently
over the progress of his pupils to his last breath.
If he left no literary memorials of his genius,
manifold testimonies of his industry and erudition
are to be seen in the forum, in the senate, in the church.
His surviving pupils
dedicate this memorial of their respect
to the memory of a man
obeyed by boys, honoured by men, and loved by friends.
He died April 19, 1807, aged 79.1
Besides the erection of a monument, engravings were made
from the portrait for distribution or sale. After meeting all
these expenses there was still some balance left, and from
the surplus funds at the disposal of those who had sub-
scribed to the portrait, it was decided to establish a Lawson
1 Particulars of the subscription to the monument were also given in
Manchester Guardian, December 1, 1849, and Notes in Manchester Guardian,
July 1879.
1
242 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
medal, which was instituted October 14, 1840. When, nearly
forty years after his death, it was found that the ' Lawson '
medal was in danger of disappearing from the prizes of the
school, owing to lack of funds, his name was still held in
such respect that a further capital sum was subscribed by
his old pupils, sufficient to provide a yearly income for the
annual purchase of a gold medal, and so place the memento
on a permanent basis.
CHAPTER X
1806-1837
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL
' The great movements of the human spirit have either not got hold
of the public schools or have not kept hold of them.' — MATTHEW ARNOLD.
Increased class prejudices and prevalent ignorance — A Church and King
School — Public criticism of classical education — Fresh theological
colleges to provide training for lay and itinerant preachers in prevailing
systems of theology — Efforts to provide a new kind of liberal educa-
tion for the middle classes — Foundation of London University — Day
schools become general — Manchester Grammar School again efficient
as a Church and King School — The Natural History Museum of Man-
chester forms the nucleus of a liberal provincial Medical School — The
Royal Institution — Fresh attempts to found a Manchester University
— Mechanics' institutes and lyceums — The Country Party excludes
manufacturers from the magistracy — The school feoffees become alarmed
at the Charity Commissioners' Reports and propose a new scheme of
instruction at the Grammar School.
As long as the modified classical curriculum provided in certain
Grammar Schools served to inspire a considerable number of
wealthy pupils with a desire to practise civic virtue in public
.life, neither its lesser failure to provide adequate preliminary
training for the learned professions and the higher phases of
commercial life nor its greater failure to help the lower middle,
and working classes received general condemnation. The
malversation of funds involved in turning day schools founded
for all classes into specialised boarding schools having regard
to the needs of the few well-to-do was overlooked in the occa-
sional glory of the School being the early home of any one
who happened to catch the popular fancy. When, however,
the ruling classes found their privileges and prerogatives
endangered by the spread of democratic ideas, they had little
desire to continue to associate with sons of the non-privileged
classes whom they were learning to fear if not to hate. They
243
244 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
left the town Grammar Schools and attended more exclusive
boarding establishments, where they could associate with
other members of their own order. The withdrawal of wealthy
boarders not demanding a high standard of intellectual attain-
ment was a serious blow to many old Grammar Schools, and
some of them sought to take advantage of Sir Samuel Romilly's
Act of 1812, which allowed trustees to make application to
the Court of Chancery for power to alter their curriculum.
Some sought by increased efficiency and higher standards
of work to attract as boarders serious scholars who were
intending to take Holy Orders or enter the professions of
Law or Medicine, for endowments were rarely sufficient
to support an ambitious headmaster, and the general mass
of the people were too little interested in education to supply
him with many day scholars. Even when the curriculum was
specially suited for those desirous of entering the learned
professions, the fees of the boarding schools were too heavy.
Richard L. Edgeworth (1744-1817), in conjunction with his
famous daughter Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849), published
an essay on professional education, which excited violent
controversy. Sydney Smith (1808) discussed the book in
the Edinburgh Review, making it the text for a caustic attack
on the classical teaching at Oxford and Cambridge. It was
also discussed from the Tory point of view in the Quarterly
Review. A spirited reply from Dr. Edward Coplestone of
Oriel College, Oxford, showed, however, that Oxford classical
training was quite well able to justify its existence.
Nonconformists were still excluded from the English
Universities by the Test Acts, and, for them, the only public
avenues of higher learning were their own private academies
and the Scotch Universities. Of the former the Manchester
Academy was removed to York in 1804, and continued to be
the only academy 1 in the North which admitted lay as
well as divinity students. It had usually about thirty
students, and was supported partly by fees and partly by
subscriptions amounting to £700 or £800 per annum. At
the beginning of the century there had been a joint board
of the three denominations of Protestant Dissenters —
Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists — to provide funds
1 James Yates, Thoughts on the Advancement of Academical Teaching
in England, 1826 ; and Monthly Repository, 1814.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 245
for theological students,1 but the increased vigour of Evan-
gelical teaching, promoted by George Whitefield among
the wealthier classes and by Charles and John Wesley
among the poorer classes, caused the Evangelicals to
separate from the Presbyterians, who did not adopt their
Evangelical doctrines, and to decide not only to extend
their own colleges, but to found a fresh one in the North, to
counteract the Socinian (Unitarian) doctrines prevalent at
the York Academy.
At this time one of the most prominent of the Evangelical
Dissenters in the North of England was William Roby, who,
after leaving the Wigan Grammar School, had been appointed
classical master at Bretherton Grammar School. It was
there his duty to instruct the pupils, according to their talents,
in religious as well as in secular matters. Parents asked to
be allowed to attend his Sunday services or addresses to
the boys. These proved very popular, and soon excited the
jealousy of the local clergyman. Finding he could not
suppress Roby, he persuaded many parents to withdraw
their children from the school. This drove Roby out of the
Established Church. Conscious of possessing powers as a
preacher, Roby sought theological training at the Evangelical
Trevecca College founded by the Countess of Huntingdon.
Roby's powers soon attracted attention, and he was invited
to become Minister at the Independent Chapel in Lower
Mosley Street, 1795. Here one of his supporters, Robert
Spear (1762-1818),2 who had been a pupil under Charles
Lawson and had built up a fortune in business at a com-
paratively early period of life, offered to pay the expenses of
as many students as William Roby would train. A private
Evangelical Academy was thus set up in Manchester, which
lasted from 1803 to 1808, when it gave place to a more
ambitious academy established at Leaf Square, Pendleton.
As the work proved too heavy for Mr. Roby, Rev. George
Philips, M.A., of Glasgow University, minister of New Windsor
1 See Walter Jeremy, The Presbyterian Fund and Dr. Daniel Williams'
Trust, 1885 ; T. S. James, Presbyterian Chapels and Charities in England
and Ireland — Lady Hewley Trust, 1867 ; William Brock on Dr. John Ward,
Transactions of Baptist Historical Society, April 1914.
2 John Spear, father of Robert Spear, had been one of the trustees who
bought the ground for the Cannon Street Evangelical Meeting-house from
Dr. John Byrom. See p. 188.
246 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Chapel, was appointed classical tutor, and John Dalton tutor
in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. In order to increase
the funds, a private Grammar School was also started in
connection with this academy, which became so prosperous
that it long continued as a private school under Rev. Dr.
Cluny (1784-1854). When the academy began to flag,
efforts were made to launch a bigger scheme. Thomas
Harbottle, a supporter of Mr. Roby, and other wealthy
merchants, who took active part in opposing Lord Sidmouth's
Bill,1 took up the work of Robert Spear. Harbottle presided
on February 9, 1816, at a meeting of Evangelical Non-
conformists in Manchester met to take common steps to
equip a large academy for Calvinistic preachers. After
much discussion Mr. Fletcher, minister of the Independent
Church at) Blackburn, was asked to take charge. For his
convenience the academy was begun at Blackburn. It was
ultimately removed to Whalley Range, Manchester, and
became known as the Lancashire Independent College.
The central doctrine of the Calvinistic theology was that
an omniscient Deity must know His own ulterior purposes,
and had specially chosen a number of favoured individuals
to carry them out. It was the basis of the Evangelical
teaching favoured by Independents and Baptists, and was
acceptable to the privileged classes. For his adherence to
this theology, Whitefield had felt compelled to separate from
Wesley, and for its continued spread the Countess of Hunting-
don had founded the College at Trevecca. Its rigidity was
disappearing, and its desire for social amelioration increasing.
Consequently Homerton Academy, near London, had been
opened without demands for doctrinal statements from
students.
The Arminian theology, with its insistent belief in the
moral perfectibility of each individual under proper religious
training, was the central truth put forth by the Wesleyan
body. The Wesleyan Methodists, as the immediate followers
of John Wesley were now called, had also begun to organise
their teaching and training for the ministry. Like their
founder, they established numerous high schools and colleges
for the children of preachers and ministers throughout the
country, and were steadily raising the level of earnestness as
well as of general intelligence.
1 Cf . Proceedings of Dissenting Deputies.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 247
The older Nonconformist academies, particularly the
Manchester Academy, now at York, originally supported
by all three denominations of Presbyterians, Independents,
and Baptists, were untouched by the Evangelical move-
ment. Natural Philosophy had formed the basis of Natural
Theology, and discussion during student life had been free
and rationalistic. They had adopted the Socinian theology,
which had started in Italy and had appropriately found its
first martyr in Serve tus, who was burnt by Calvin. They
refused to make any final statements on theological doctrine.
Socinianism succeeded the Arian theology, with its mild
toleration of prevalent conflicting opinions, and had ultimately
become the essential teaching of the particular body of
Christians who had retained from Puritan times their intimate
touch with Natural Philosophy. Its exponents expressed
their intellectual interests by the foundation of the Manchester
Literary and Philosophical Society, and fully participated
in the public benevolence by their share and interest in
education and by the foundation of Sunday Schools, for they
had opened one as early as 1785, and on the closure of this
in 1808 had opened a much larger daughter school in Lower
Mosley Street. This in time became so successful that in 1835
it became necessary to build an entirely new school. A sum
of £2948 was raised by public subscription, the sale of the
old building realised £420, a loan of £800 was obtained,
and a school was built which lasted many years.
In 1810 the Bible Christian Society under Rev. William
Cowherd opened the ' Salford Grammar School and School of
Science ' in King Street, Salford, for 1000 children. Cowherd
had come to Manchester to serve as curate to Rev. John
Clowes, the Swedenborgian rector of St. John's. Owing to
the growth of his radical views, Cowherd left the Established
Church, and, with the help of the Brotherton family, founded
a new religious community which practised vegetarianism,
studied the Bible, and read Chemistry.
Another group of Swedenborgians founded the Peter
Street Schools out of a fund left in 1823 by Mr. Thomas
Chester of Dover to the Swedenborgian Conference for pro-
moting religious and moral instruction. The school for boys
was opened in 1827, and that for girls in 1832. The first
teacher was Joseph Moss, and under him was trained his
successor, Mr. James Scotson, ob. June 5, 1911, who was
248 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
nominated headmaster in 1857, when the school came under
full government inspection.1
Another religious body whose efforts to spread education
were very widespread, were the Quakers. Joseph Lancaster
had begun to form schools in London in 1798. He was
invited to Manchester in 1809 by David Holt, a fellow Quaker,
and a local merchant who, like Robert Spear, had been a
pupil of Charles Lawson's, to meet other benevolent persons
with a view to establishing a day school in the town on
the principles he had advocated elsewhere. Considerable
obstacles were placed in their way, and placards were dis-
tributed through the town denouncing the plan in favour
of day schools under clerical control (Dr. Bell's system) ;
but sufficient support was forthcoming for David Holt and
his friends to open a school in Lever Street, capable of holding
1000 children. Similar schools were opened by the National
Church of England Society in Granby Road and in Bolton
Street, Salford, on April 20 and June 20, 1812, respectively.
The new humanitarian spirit was therefore independent
of the special forms of theological teaching into which the
several denominations had fallen, for, though many of the
new schools were naturally established in connection with
the organisation of particular denominations, its effects
were to be seen stirring within them all.
The educational needs of the Nonconformists throughout
the country were further recognised when in 1827 a public
appeal was made for funds to found a National University
in London, open to students of all denominations, irrespective
of creed. £160,000 was collected, and the foundation-stone
of the new college was laid by the Duke of Sussex. Vested
interests became alarmed. In 1831 King's College was
founded for the exclusive use of the Established Church. In
1835 the two rival colleges were incorporated, and a new
examining body — the London University — called into being
with power to grant degrees to students of approved colleges
after examination and without religious tests ; one of the
1 The Mosley Street and Peter Street Schools came under the School
Board in 1877 and were combined, and the new ' Central School ' built
in 1880 to accommodate the pupils. This was removed to the Whitworth
Street site in 1904 when the site of the buildings was acquired by the Great
Northern Railway Company. It is now the Municipal High School for
Girls and Boys.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 249
earliest academies to receive recognition was the Manchester
College still meeting at York.
Although the study of Natural Philosophy was practically
extinct at the English Universities, and received no encourage-
ment from the State, yet private members of the merchant
and trading classes continued to cultivate special interests,
thus preparing the way for its re-establishment at the
universities at a later date.
The collections of insects made by John Leigh Philips
had been purchased at his death by J. H. Robinson, a brother-
in-law of the wealthy banker, Sir Benjamin Heywood, on
behalf of himself and a number of friends who wished to
found a Natural History Society in Manchester. There was
some delay in founding the Society, and the scheme was not
completed till after the death of J. H. Robinson. In August
1821, the new Society was founded with an entrance fee of
£10 10s. and an annual subscription of £3 3s. Rooms were
taken in King Street to house the collections, but as other
collections were also purchased, the rooms became too small,
and a commodious building was erected in Peter Street for
the accommodation and display of the rapidly accumulating
specimens.1
Perhaps the early scientific value of this Museum was
limited by the exclusive spirit shown by the members. There
were, however, a few genuine naturalists, and the position of
curator was eagerly sought after. The collections attracted
the attention of local surgeons and students of medicine, for
the study of natural history had been extremely popular
among surgeons from the time of John Hunter, and was at
this time closely associated with chemistry and natural
philosophy.2 Dr. Thomas Turner, a young surgeon who
had studied in London and Paris, came to Manchester in
1817 as house surgeon to the Royal Infirmary. He found
all the materials ready for providing a general medical
education for the pupils apprenticed to the surgeons of the
town. He had attracted, and retained throughout his life,
This building was long used for the Manchester Y.M.C.A.
Dr. White's Museum of Anatomical Specimens, Casts, &c., at the St.
Mary's Lying-in Hospital was open to the public, on payment of Is. A
miscellaneous collection of natural history curios was exhibited at the
Chetham Library. Many working botanists, such as George Caley, were
collecting and studying plants.
250 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the high regard of two of the leading local physicians — Dr.
William Henry and Dr. Ralph Ainsworth, who constantly
forwarded his plans when he settled down to practise in
1820. His first public appointment was that of Secretary
to the Natural History Society. He was soon asked to
give lectures to students of the Royal Infirmary at the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. In 1824,
in conjunction with John Dal ton, he opened the Pine Street
Medical School, the first medical school to be established in
the provinces.1 There had been detached courses of lectures
given in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, and perhaps York,
Hull, and Nottingham, but this was the first provincial school
to attempt to provide a complete preparation for University
and College examinations.
The Manchester Horticultural and Botanical Society was
founded in 1827, and established the Botanical Gardens at
Old Trafford, where annual shows were held for the ex-
hibition of rare and highly cultivated plants and for the
recreation of the shareholders and subscribers.
Students of natural history in humbler life formed the
Banksian Society of Manchester, and began to report their
proceedings in the Edinburgh Journal of Natural Science,
October, 1829.
Other merchants, some of whom had been associated
with the old Academy of Arts and Science of Manchester in
1783, had been accustomed from 1817 onwards to hold private
exhibitions of pictures and works of art among themselves.
At a general meeting of the town summoned for the purpose
in the Exchange Rooms, October 1, 1823, they brought
forward a project for the establishment of a public institution.
The scheme was warmly supported, and suitable rooms were
taken, pending the erection of a special building. A sum of
£20,000 was raised, and the building in Mosley Street, formerly
called the Royal Institution (now the Municipal Art Gallery),
was begun in 1825 and completed in 1830, at a total cost of
£30,000. The promoters seem to have inherited, from the
first, from the old Academy of Arts and Science founded
in 1784, definite educational aims. They intended to
celebrate the opening by a course on Chemistry by Richard
Philips, F.R.S. and F.L.S. On account of the lecture-room
i Blackwood's Magazine, 1839, p. 490.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 251
of the Mechanics' Institute not being ready in time, this project
had to be abandoned, and Mr. John Philips, honorary member
of the Leeds and Yorkshire Philosophical Society, gave a series
of lectures on Natural History instead. There was evidently
at this time a renewed attempt to found a teaching University
in Manchester by Thomas Whatton, whose brother, William
Robert Whatton (1790-1835), surgeon and antiquary, had
settled in Manchester in 1810. In 1822 he joined the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society and was made
librarian. In 1828 he contributed the ' History of the
Grammar School ' and the ' History of Chetham Hospital
and Library ' to the ' History of the Foundations in Man-
chester/ then being edited by Hibbert Ware. In 1829, he
wrote two letters to the President, Council, and Governors
of the Royal Institution of Manchester, advising the
establishment of a local University in connection with it.
The first letter I have not seen, but the second, dated May
1829, contains the following :
' In an address which I had the honour of laying before
you a short time since, I endeavoured to draw your atten-
tion to the great and increasing demand for education which
has displayed itself in all ranks during the last few years,
in such an eminent degree, in this extensive and populous
district.
1 The advantages of gratuitous instruction in the Free
School as available towards a preparation for the higher
branches of general and professional education, were pointed
out . . . and a plan was prepared for engrafting on the Royal
Institution a University, open to all persons under certain
regulations to be hereafter proposed ... (it has been ob-
jected) that I have shewn a desire to convert the revenue
of the Grammar School to the purposes of the University.
This is not the case, because I am well aware it cannot be
effected, the charters of foundation being special, neither
would it be desirable if it could ; and in no part of my ad-
dress as far as I can conceive have I offered such an opinion
The points I have urged in reference to this question are
merely a judicious and economical administration of the
present large income arising from the School estates by
which all charges for tuition might be very well dispensed
with, a gradual extension of the privileges of the School
and the introduction of such a system of instruction in the
modern languages and the necessary branches of science as
252 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
should be in every respect adapted to the wants of a
commercial and manufacturing district.
' In this way, and in this only, am I desirous that the
revenues of the Bishop of Exeter's noble foundation as well
as those of the Chetham Hospital should afford the means in
common with other schools of preparing youths for admis-
sion into the Manchester University.'
The branches of knowledge which Whatton considered
appropriate, he arranged under three heads similar to the
arrangement adopted in the recently established London
University.
I. Those objects which constitute the essential parts of
a liberal education : Greek and Latin, French and English
Languages and Literature and Antiquities. Mathematics,
Natural Philosophy, including Astronomy, Chemistry, Logic,
Mental and Moral and Political Philosophy, Political
Economy.
II. Certain ornamental accomplishments : Italian,
Spanish, German literature; Geology and Mineralogy, Botany,
Zoology.
III. Preparation for profession of Law, of Medicine,
of Engineering and the application of Mechanical Philosophy
to the Arts.
The full course estimated to be not more than £70 per
annum except for the medical and surgical courses.
The governors of the Chetham Library evidently en-
deavoured to keep abreast of the times, and published a
catalogue of additions to the library in 1826. A current
leaflet by Tim Bobbin, ' Museum Chethamensis,' published
1827, is of interest because it gives a humorous description
of the miscellaneous collection of curiosities and now unused
apparatus which had fallen into neglect, and even ridicule,
owing to the want of interest in science on the part of the
governors and the fact that the old Manchester library
had lost touch with the public life of the town.
In addition to the efforts of the merchants to gratify
their personal tastes, there was also a very general desire
to arouse among the working classes some interest in the
scientific principles which underlay their arts and trades,
and to increase their knowledge in all matters which
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 253
encouraged their intellectual and social development. It
led to the establishment of Mechanics' Institutes and Lyceum
Schools of Art and Design. The following forms part of the
Prospectus of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution issued
on its foundation in 1824 :
' This Institution is formed for the purpose of enabling
mechanics and artisans, of whatever trade they may be, to
become acquainted with such branches of science as are of
practical application in the exercise of that trade ; that they
may possess a more thorough knowledge of their business,
acquire a greater degree of skill in the practice of it, and
be qualified to make improvements and even new inventions
in the arts which they respectively profess. It is not intended
to teach the trade of the machine maker, the dyer, the
carpenter, the mason, or any other particular business,
but there is no art which does not depend, more or less, on
scientific principles, and to teach what these are, and to point
out their practical application, will form the chief objects
of this Institution. The value to the mechanic of the acquire-
ments which it is thus intended he should be enabled to
make, he will find — in the most likely means of advancing
his success and prosperity — in the agreeable and useful
employment of his leisure — and in the increased respectability
of character which knowledge has always a tendency to
confer.'
The Mechanics' Institute, Cooper Street, held its first
meeting March 30, 1825. The building cost £6600, and was
the first one erected in England for such a purpose. The
three gentlemen who had initiated the Royal Institution
in the previous year had urged that another institution
should be established in Manchester to teach the application
of science to mechanical and manufacturing arts for the
benefit of young men who needed practical instruction and
had not the means to obtain it. In the report for 1827
the managers stated that detailed and systematic courses
of lectures in Mechanics and Chemistry would be arranged.
In addition they announced courses in Mathematics and
Mechanical Drawing. An interesting detailed syllabus was
given covering the principles and applications of Chemistry
and including Physics. In Chemistry, laboratory instruction
was given, in addition to lectures. These lectures were
continued in subsequent years.
254 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
In 1836 it is stated that there were delivered :
Eight lectures on Gaseous Chemistry.
Six ,, on Matter and Heat.
Twelve ,, on Geology.
Twelve ,, on the Mechanical Properties of the Air.
Twelve ,, on Astronomy.
Twelve ,, on the Applications of Chemistry in the
Arts and Manufactures.
Twelve ,, on Electricity.
The number of students in attendance at the Chemistry
Laboratory course was about 216.
On March 25, 1829, the new Mechanics' Institute was
opened in Brasenose Street. The Ancoats Lyceum for work-
ing people was opened in 1828, at a charge of 2d. a week,
and within three months 2000 persons availed themselves of
its privileges. Other Lyceums had the following number
of members :
Ashton . . 191 Huddersfield . 310
Bolton . . 320 Oldham. . 350
Potteries . 280 Stockport . 454
Rochdale . 70 Halifax . 417
Ancoats . 530 Leeds . . 260
Chorlton . 800 Ripon . . 70
Salford . . 500 York . . 150
Bury . . 128 Keighley . 119
Barnsley . 152 Sheffield . 352
Bradford . 541
The following quotation occurs in the Report of a Com-
mittee of the Statistical Society, on Education in Manchester,
in 1834 :
' Mechanics' Institutions afforded opportunities for gain-
ing an acquaintance with branches of knowledge higher
than can be supplied in ordinary schools and offered other
advantages to persons of all ages, rank, situation, and pursuits.
The subjects there studied are taught by men of judgment
and ability, the affairs of each institution conducted by a
body of directors who are well able to judge of the merits
of different plans of instruction and have ample opportu-
nities of observing and comparing them. The plan of such
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 255
institutions and the whole course of instruction is adapted
to and chiefly attended by a class considerably superior to
the really operative class.'
Unfortunately, whilst a number of merchants and manu-
facturers were using their newly acquired wealth in various
philanthropic and other public ways, many of the landowning
classes were too much concerned with retaining their threatened
privileges to share in such work. With the loss of their
ideals of public service they had lost touch with the merchants
as well as with the people, and Parliament ceased to
represent the country. So marked was their jealousy of
the merchants that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
refused to appoint any manufacturer tcr the post of justice
of the peace and reserved this entirely for landowners and
clergy. In order to cover up the injustice of this proceeding,
an Act was introduced into Parliament (1817) to appoint
a permanent paid or stipendiary magistrate. In support
of this measure, it was claimed that the merchants would
sympathise too much with the insurgent working classes to
carry out the necessary administration.
Party feeling grew very high in Manchester. The famous
informal and non-political club which had been held at John
Shaw's Punch House, Smithy door, since 1750 had become
exclusive and removed to the ' Hen and Partridge,' where it
formally constituted itself as a Church and Eang Club — some
of the High Church collegiate clergy being especially dis-
tinguished for their violence and conviviality. The term
' Church and King ' had been inscribed on the banner of the
Jacobites who had paraded in Manchester in 1745 and had
been continued as a toast to a forlorn hope drunk with hushed
voices behind closed doors. It was now revived to keep up
old prejudices against wealthy Nonconformists when efforts
were made to repeal that Act.
Church and King Clubs therefore became common in all
centres of social ferment, but as the meetings became more
serious and discussed political aims, such clubs became known
as Pitt Clubs, the Manchester one being organised in October,
1812, when George Canning came to the town and dined with
300 gentlemen ' and delighted them by his eloquence and
urbanity.' Perhaps the well-recognised leaning of Canning
to the reforming principles advocated by Pitt before his
258 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
'The Trustees hope the inhabitants of Manchester will
not fail to comply with the Act of Parliament for regulating
the custom of grinding at the School Mills which direct (under
penalties recoverable before the Magistrates) that all the
malt used in the town of Manchester shall be ground at these
Mills.'
A new Receiver, Josiah Twyford, was appointed. Several
of the old mills were pulled down in 1818, and by a judicious
purchase of new property out of accumulated funds, a suffi-
ciently large site was obtained for the erection of mills of an
entirely new pattern and of ample size at a total cost of £3238,
so that the tenants of the mills were enabled to enter into
open competition with other millers of the town and regain,
by efficiency and repute, the custom of grinding corn which,
since the Parliamentary Act of 1758, was no longer theirs by
privilege and monopoly. They retained their monopoly of
grinding malt, and for a long while there was little complaint
about their competence to deal with the requirements of the
town in this respect. The complaints which subsequently
broke out in 1834 were not so much on account of inefficiency
of the milling as of burdensomeness of the charges, and were
no doubt partly political in origin.
The only possible policy to restore the School was to
re-establish it as a high-class boarding school. The old half-
timbered house, assigned to the high master, had served
many purposes before it had been inhabited by Charles
Lawson. For many years before his death it had fallen into
great dilapidation. Yet it was all the accommodation that
was provided. Rev. Jeremiah Smith made the following note,
July 27, 1807, nearly three months after his appointment :
1 It is now an admirable house, and never did I expect
to find one so good. Observe I say now, for it was an Augean
stable as to filth, through which I thought when I first saw
it that it would be necessary to turn the neighbouring river
Irk in order to cleanse it. It was too, in its plan, so uncouth
that it seemed a labyrinth : in its conveniences so unaccount-
able that I shall never cease to wonder how any feeling
and rational creatures should have so long acquiesced in them.
But an entire revolution, and that, in a measure, planned
by myself, has taken place.'
As soon as the house was put in order, a new register was
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 259
begun. At least eight of Mr. Smith's boarders were trans-
ferred from the Birmingham school, and other boarders soon
came, and an increasing number of sons of tradesmen and
merchants and professional men attended as day scholars.
An analysis of the occupations of the parents and the ultimate
careers of many of the pupils, as given in the School Register
published by Rev. Prebendary Finch Smith, shows the relative
degrees in which the School was utilised by different social
classes and the large proportion of the scholars who subse-
quently entered professional careers.
When quite full, the buildings were estimated to hold
200 scholars. To teach these, five masters were allowed.
To the salaries allowed for this number an extra grant of £30
for a mathematical master was decided upon in 1825.
The distribution of the boys in the school was as follows :
Under High Master . 20 Salary £416 (with extra
allowance for teach-
ing Mathematics and
House for boarders)
„ H. M. assistant . 30 „ £160
„ 2nd'Master . 40 „ £218 (with house for
boarders)
„ do. Assistant . 60 „ £125
Tso
,, Master of Lower
School . 50
200
In Buckler's ' Sixty Views of Grammar Schools, with
Descriptive Text,' published 1827, we read :
'The afternoons of Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
are holidays and are devoted to Mathematics. The business
of the School begins and closes with prayers, in summer
from 7 till half after eight. Return at half after 9 and
remain till 12, return again at 3 and remain till half after
five. In winter it commences an hour later.'
All boys able to read were admitted on application to the
high master about the age of six or seven and were instructed
in English and in Latin. The description of the Lower School
256 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
change of policy in 1786 had something to do with the
cordiality of his reception.
The part taken by the supporters and managers of the
Grammar School in the struggle between town and county
is expressed by the fact that before 1808, among the earlier
and more important toasts proposed at the old boys' dinners,
* The Trade and Prosperity of the Town of Manchester '
held a prominent place, being drunk with honours * three
times three.' About this time it drops out, being replaced
by one in favour of ' Our County Members.' It was replaced
at the bottom of the list (28th toast) in 1822-6, and again
dropped, to be replaced a second time in 1835, being one of
forty-three toasts in 1843. Perhaps the rare presence of a
friendly Tory borough-reeve who was an old boy was the
occasion of such honour to the town.
It was therefore at a time of great educational and
political activity, both among the merchant and the working
classes, that Rev. Jeremiah Smith came to Manchester to
restore its old Grammar School. The number of boarders had
diminished and the number of scholars at Oxford and Cam-
bridge, despite the supplementation of their school exhibitions
by close scholarships at Brasenose, Oxford, and St. John's,
Cambridge, had lessened. Few scholars went to Oxford,
practically none to Cambridge. Perhaps the financial
position of the country since the declaration of war with
France in 1797 had something to do with this, attracting
many to military rather than to academic careers. The
business of the School mills had been neglected, and con-
sequently the income of the School greatly reduced.
The setting in order of the once famous but now sadly
decadent and impoverished School, deprived of so many of its
boarders and placed in the midst of an indifferent if not
actually hostile town population, was no easy task. Dr. John
Cooke, a man of kindly but firm nature, had been president of
Corpus Christi College for over twenty years, and had been
privileged to watch the careers of many distinguished pupils.
He showed his knowledge of men and events in appointing Rev.
Jeremiah Smith to the vacancy. Jeremiah Smith had been
born in 1771 and was therefore thirty-five years of age. He
had had fourteen years' experience of teaching as assistant
master in the King Edward VI Grammar School, Birming-
Jiam, then in its unreformed state, devoting its ample funds
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 257
to a few privileged scholars, but entirely out of touch with the
needs of the poorer classes of the town. The college friends
with whom he kept up an intimate friendship were Dr. Henry
Phillpotts, subsequently Bishop of Exeter, an extreme Tory
politician and controversialist, and Dr. Edward Copleston,
who had done much to reform the classical teaching at Oxford.
He was unmistakably a scholar of high attainments, and soon
after settling in Manchester was awarded the D.D. of his
University. He had already held several curacies at Birming-
ham, and, on coming to Manchester, at once engaged in similar
work there. His personal appearance has been delineated
by one of his most talented if not scholastically distinguished
pupils, Harrison Ainsworth, who in his semi-biographical
novel ' Mervyn Clitheroe ' thus describes his old master :
* A spare man with large thoughtful features and a fine
expansive forehead powdered at the top. He looked like a
bishop and ought to have been one. His voice was particu-
larly solemn and it was quite a treat to hear him read prayers.
Under him, the boys began to give themselves the air of
young men, wore well cut coats and well fitting boots, were
very particular about the fashion of their hair and, above
all, wore gloves.
' He was very quiet and controlled in manner, but very
firm. He is only known to have used the cane once, and
then it was very evident that it was more painful to himself
than to the culprit. He had the faculty of at once inspiring
respect and retaining it. Dignified in manner and deportment
and ever preserving an air of grave courtesy, it would have
been impossible to take a liberty with him and it was never
attempted. '
The following advertisement appeared in the Manchester
Mercury, February 20, 1810 :
* The Trustees of the Free Grammar School in Manchester
inform the Public that having been lately apprised of the
existence of some abuses in the management of the Malt
Mills belonging to the School, they directed a strict inquiry
to be made into the circumstances ; and in consequence
of the investigation that has taken place they have thought
fit to discharge all the former servants employed at the Mill,
and have adopted such regulations for the time to come as
they expect will remove all cause of complaint.
260 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
by Samuel Bamford about 1800 may be compared with the
account given in the Charity Commission Report written
about 1825. It is noted that the opening of the Lancasterian
and National Schools had practically emptied the Lower
School, and consequently the boys were better prepared
and the masters were able to concentrate their attention
upon more advanced subjects.
In 1818 the feoffees made an allowance of £84 a year to
the second master, in addition to his salary, to enable him to
rent a house sufficient to accommodate twenty to thirty
boarders. In 1821 when a suitable house had been found they
agreed to pay in addition the rates and taxes ; while the
old house he had occupied, being a possession of the School,
was let to one of the junior masters at a rent of £30 to
enable him also to keep a few boarders. By these means
the proportion of boarders to day scholars became naturally
increased.
In 1825, owing to the great increase in the profits from the
mills, the accumulated funds in the hands of the trustees
amounted to £3879. Dr. Smith made application for the
feoffees to build an entirely new high master's house sufficient
to hold an .increased number of boarders either on the existing
site or on a more desirable situation if one could be found.
Parlour boarders paid 120 guineas to 140 guineas per annum,
others sixty guineas per annum. Under his guidance the
School once more rose to a high level of efficiency. In 1811
he had re-established the annual Speech Day, which had
fallen into abeyance. It was still held on the first Tuesday
in October. Relatives and friends of the boys were assembled,
the senior boys made speeches, and examiners' reports were
read. The function was continued till 1830.
School and University knowledge were increasingly re-
garded as a possession, necessary for those who sought
advancement in the Church, and ornamental for those who
had wealth or other possessions, but quite unsuitable for the
lower middle and industrialised classes, who were still being
denied all opportunity of independent development. Learn-
ing thus continued as a material possession to be bought
and sold like other possessions, and though the commercial
nature of the transaction was disguised, yet it was by keeping
a boarding house for boys desirous of entering professions
that schoolmasters made the larger part of their income.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 261
The public repute of the Manchester School may be
estimated by the numbers and after-careers of those pupils
who went to the old Universities. It had exhibitions or
scholarships, it had influential patrons, it had a scholar and
a gentleman as high master. Other grammar schools, which
did not offer such University exhibitions, failed to attract
serious scholars, and had to adapt their curriculum to
the less specialised and more general interest of the
inhabitants.
During the thirty years in which Rev. Jeremiah Smith
held the office of high master, viz. from July 1807 to
October 1837, the registers contain the names of some 1521
boys : this implies an average of 52 entries each year, if we
may estimate that the average length of school life was slightly
under four years, with a general variation between two to
seven years, the latter for University scholars.
145 (about 10 per cent.) took orders in the Church. Of
these, 79 on leaving passed to Oxford, and of these
28 benefited by Hulme Exhibitions ; 56 proceeded
to Cambridge, and the rest did not graduate at
either University. Of the total number only 35
were Manchester boys, many being sons of local
clergy, the rest were boarders from a distance.
Many entered the teaching profession as well as
taking orders.
Ill (or about 7 per cent.) entered various branches
of the law ; 17 of whom were called to the Bar ;
8 of them graduated either at Oxford or Cam-
bridge.
52 (or 3*5 per cent.) entered the medical profession —
the large proportion availing themselves of the
advantages offered by the several Manchester
Schools of Medicine.
13 others actively participated by writing or by other
forms of public activity in the various political
and social movements of the day.
20 entered the Army, Navy, or Indian Civil Service.
8 became architects, surveyors, or civil engineers.1
1 See also ' A Review and Analysis of the School Registers,' by Thomas
Nash, Ulula, July 1875.
262 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Jeremiah Smith very industriously collected the writings
of old scholars. These he often referred to as being so
numerous and so varied as to form a little library of their
own. The collection was presented to the School library
in 1878 by his son, Rev. J. Finch Smith, though unfortunately
many of the volumes are now misplaced or missing.1 The
prosperity of the School was due to the fact that Jeremiah
Smith succeeded in arousing among his advanced scholars his
own love of perfection. The public examinations and the
grading of candidates set up in Oxford in 1802 had raised the
standard of University training and this was reflected in the
teaching of those schools to which the scholars returned as
masters. The teaching profession and the professions of law
and medicine were called upon to display greater knowledge and
understanding than before. Schools that prepared for them
became noted. Therefore the upper classes of the Grammar
School became crowded, while the lower classes were emptied,
since children of less capacity attended other public day
schools. The boarders increased, and the day boys tended
to be crowded out. The boarders received special tuition
and practically monopolised the School exhibitions. There
was nothing in this which could not be defended by the School
statutes, which ordained that no boy of any county was to
be refused admission, though it does not seem very consonant
with the good mind which the bishop * bare towards the
children of the County of Lancashire considering their bring-
ing up in learning and virtue and good manners,' that they
should not receive more adequate consideration. Perhaps
less objection could be taken to the use of the School for
the preparation of day boys for learned careers such as
that of medicine.
This increased efficiency was all to the good, but there
was on the other side a growing recognition that the educa-
tional provision for the less prosperous was an urgent matter,
and inquiries were made, especially by those who were watch-
ing the results of the inquiries initiated in Parliament by
Henry Brougham on the uses of charitable endowments,
as to why the ample funds of the Manchester School should be
used to maintain wealthy boarders at the Universities who
had nothing to do with the town. The extensive nature of
1 Particularly the manuscript volume of speeches delivered at the
Annual School Gatherings in October.
A CHURCH AND KING SCHOOL 263
the local educational shortage was also brought to light by
the work of Dr. James Philips Kay, a physician at the
Ancoats Dispensary, who with some of his friends started
the Manchester Statistical Society with the particular object
of finding out the facts.
The inquiries that were being made into the application
of the funds of old charities, educational and otherwise, as a
result of Lord Brougham's action in the House of Commons,
at length began to arouse the governing body at the Man-
chester School. Among the new feoffees appointed about
this time several possessed parliamentary experience, and
therefore were acquainted with the new tendencies which
led, among other changes, to the passing of the Reform
Bill. The most prominent was Wilbraham Egerton (1781-
1856) of Tatton Park, eldest son of William Tatton Egerton
who had been educated at the School and had served as
feoffee and had been a prominent founder and active
supporter of the Old Boys' Dinner till his death in 1804.
Wilbraham Egerton himself had been educated at Eton and
Christ Church, Oxford. He had served as Parliamentary
representative for South Cheshire 1812-1830, and had been
appointed feoffee of the Manchester Grammar School in
1816. On account of his opposition to the Reform Bill he
had lost his seat at the general election in favour of George
Wilbraham of Delamere. At the same election his nephew
William Tatton Egerton was elected for North Cheshire and
consequently the family interest in current national events
was maintained. Wilbraham Egerton also served as J.P.
and Deputy Lieutenant for Chester for nineteen years, Lieut.-
Colonel of Yeomanry Cavalry and of local Militia, High
Sheriff 1808. He was present at the Anniversary Speech Day,
1829. His character was thus described in the Gentleman's
Magazine, in April 1856 :
' Mr. Egerton was a fine specimen of a Christian gentle-
man ; warm hearted, humble minded, generous from in-
clination and from duty, tender to a remarkable degree of
the feelings of others, but possessed with a stern sense of
right and wrong, courteous and hospitable. He has left
behind him in the hearts of his family, his numerous de-
pendents and his many friends, an endearing memory and
an example worthy of imitation by all who may be placed
in like influential position.'
264 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
With him were associated his brother Thomas William
Tatton of Withenshaw, elected feoffee of the School 1816, died
1827, and William Hulton of Hulton Park. Hulton was born
in 1787 ; served as Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1809,
and as Chairman of Magistrates during the Peterloo gathering
in 1819. He was invited to come forward as Parliamentary
candidate for the County of Lancaster, but declined. As a
counterblast to the Revelation of Panic and Arbitrary Use of
Power published in the Press, he drew up an address to the
Prince Regent, which was signed by 1800 magistrates, clergy,
bankers, and merchants, expressing their entire approval
of the acts of the Magistracy, the Civil Forces, and the
Military Powers during the rioting.
Another prominent feoffee was Sir Robert Holt Leigh of
Hindley Hall, Wigan (1762-1843), a Deputy Lieutenant
for the county, and many years M.P. for Wigan. He was
the eldest son of Holt Leigh of Wigan, and was born at
Wigan on December 25, 1762. He entered as a pupil of
Lawson's about 1776 ; passed thence to Christ Church,
Oxford, but did not take his degree till sixty years of age,
when he desired to use his vote. He was returned as member
for Wigan 1802-1820 ; was a staunch Conservative in politics,
&c., and a firm supporter of Pitt and Canning, except on
the Roman Catholic question. He was created baronet by
Mr. Canning, May 22, 1815, and suffered much from mob
violence at the Wye election in 1830. Throughout his life he
retained the love of literature. Dr. Donnegan, in the
preface to the fourth edition of ' Greek and English Lexicon,'
writes :
' Among the many advantages I have derived from the
publication of my Greek and English Lexicon, there is none
I deem more precious than its having procured me the
acquaintance, the friendship, of Sir Robert Holt Leigh, Bart,
a gentleman who has improved his talents by refined well-
directed and assiduous culture. Thoroughly acquainted with
the best writers of modern Languages, and having attained
a critical and profound knowledge of the Greek and Latin
literature — the excellencies of which his peculiar turn of
mind enables him to appreciate fully — he still devotes a
considerable portion of his studious hours, with glowing
enthusiasm and untiring ardour, to the poets and orators
who have bequeathed to us such splendid and enduring
A CHURCH AM) KING SCHOOL 265
monuments of Grecian genius. To the accomplishments
of a scholar, he has added the advantages of having visited
the most interesting countries of Europe, surveyed the
choicest specimens of art with a critical eye, and observed
the characters of men and manners so keenly as to justify
the application to him of the commendation bestowed on
Ulysses by the poet.'1
He died unmarried in January 1843.
These were some of the trustees who held office at the time
that Henry Brougham was making his inquiries as to the dis-
posal of charitable and other trusts, and who were put into a
state of alarm when Richard Potter, a Manchester merchant,
who had succeeded Holt Leigh as M.P. for Wigan, brought
the case of the Manchester School before the reformed House
of Commons on February 16, 1833, while presenting a petition
from some Salford residents in favour of national education.
The attention of the feoffees was drawn to the incident by a
letter which Thomas Wilson Patten, Tory member for North
Lancashire, had written to Dr. Jeremiah Smith, and which
Dr. Smith at once brought before the trustees, February 23,
1833. After some correspondence and conference between
Wilbraham Egerton, Thomas Patten, and Lord Francis Leve-
son-Gower, who, as Lord Francis Egerton, was destined soon
to be a local magnate of great force and influence, the
feoffees decided, May 1833, to lodge a petition in the Court
of Chancery, under Sir Samuel Romilly's Act of 1812, for
permission to alter the curriculum of the school teaching
and to add the teaching of English, French, German, and
Chemistry to that of the Classics, for, though English and
Mathematics were also taught, these were extra subjects
and were charged for. To meet the needs of the poor of
the district, it was decided to build two or more new schools.
The fuller draft of the scheme, as amended, included the build-
ing of a new high master's house to enable him to have an
increased number of boarders, for it was evident that the
School received its chief University distinction, and all the
masters a considerable proportion of their income, from
boarders. The petition was referred to the Master in Chan-
cery to make a report. In June 1833 the report was made ;
1 IToAAwv kvQpfinrwv t8fv Hffrca teal v6ov '4yvu. — ' Manchester School Regis-
ter,' Cheth. Soc., vol. box. pp. 217-219.
266 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in August it was confirmed. On May 29, 1834, a report of
the new scheme appeared in the Manchester papers.
The most active agents in formulating so clear a scheme
and in getting it through the Court of Chancery so rapidly
were William Tatton Egerton, son of Wilbraham Egerton,
Thomas Wilson Patten, and William Slater, whose unweary-
ing services to the School through its many trials were the
constant source of gratification to feoffees and high master.
At the feoffees 'meeting, October 10, 1833, the two feoffees
were publicly thanked for their services.
CHAPTER XI
1837-1848
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY
' Education is the culture which each generation purposely gives to
those who are to be its successors, in order to qualify them for at least
keeping up, and if possible for raising, the level of improvement which has
already been obtained.' — JOHN STUART MILL.
Manchester merchants at length realise the full significance of Lord Henley's
decree, and relate a case in the Court of Chancery — The isolation of
the English School from the old Grammar School — Lord Cottenham
decrees boarders to be ineligible for the University Exhibitions — This
diminishes the number of boarders and causes a great falling off in
,the upper part of the School, as few town boys desire to continue
their studies at Oxford and Cambridge — J. W. Richards appointed
high master in 1839 — He endeavours to arouse fresh interest, especially
in modern subjects — Dean Herbert makes unsuccessful attempts at
mediation between the feoffees and the merchants — Rev. Nicholas
Germon appointed high master, 1842 — Lord Lyndhurst in. a further
Chancery decree upholds the purely classical teaching of the School
and negatives any extension of the commercial teaching or the
erection of more English schools — The clergy rally round tha Grammar
School and share its isolation from the commercial life of the town
— The study of Science and Art in Manchester — British Association
meeting in Manchester, 1841 — Colossal educational soire'es at the Man-
chester Athenaeum — The final decree in Chancery of Lord Cottenham
leads to the resignation of all the remaining old feoffees.
PERHAPS the full significance of the new scheme for the
management of the School Trust, allowed by Lord Henley
in the Court of Chancery, was not at once apparent to the
leaders of the Reform movement in Manchester, for though
a deputation of the borough reeve, the constable, the newly
elected member of Parliament, Mark Philips, and Thomas
267
268 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Potter, presented a memorial to them, May 1, 1834, it is
noticeable that there was some delay in their taking further
action. The town had just passed through the unwonted
experience of a parliamentary election — the first since 1657.
Public feeling was being stirred up against the old govern-
ment by the Court Leet, now discredited owing to the manifest
jobbery, favouritism, and political intrigue of the town's
officers. Many high-minded merchants refused to accept the
office of borough -reeve, and were mulcted in heavy damages.
Finally a wealthy merchant, who had to decline on account
of ill-health, was fined to a vindictive extent. Richard
Cobden was one of the jurymen, and the event made a deep
impression on his mind. An agitation for the incorporation
of the borough and for obtaining self-government, instead
of the government by officials, was started and supported
by the liberal-minded merchants of various parties.1 By 1838
they had overcome numerous obstacles, and the Charter of
Incorporation was granted, Mr. Thomas Potter being elected
the first mayor.
The Reform party were looking to France for light on
educational as well as on political questions. At a public
town's meeting presided over by Thomas Harbottle,
August 31, 1830, three of the most prominent citizens, Mark
Philips, Alexander Kay, and Joseph C. Dyer, had been deputed
to visit Paris to convey the congratulations of the town to the
French people on the recovery of their constitutional liberties.
Among other impressions they brought back one of admiration
for the State system of education prevalent on the Continent.
Others shared the same view. A Central Education Society
was formed in London, in which both Liberals and Tories
joined, with the object of advocating the establishment of
a similar State system of education in England.
We have already mentioned Richard Potter's reference
to the Manchester Grammar School in the House of Commons,
February 15, 1833. Lord Brougham had convinced himself
and many of the Radicals that funds sufficient to maintain a
national system of education were available from the educa-
1 The immediate cause of this action was the vindictive fining of
Robert Barbour, subsequently trustee of the School, to the extent of
£150 for refusing to serve in 1834-5. This aroused the indignation ot
Richard Cobden, who led an agitation by his pamphlet called ' Incorporate
Your Borough.'
THREE OF THE RELATORS WHO OPPOSED THE FEOFFEES IN CHANCERY
FROM 1837 TO 1848.
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 269
tional and other charities already in existence, and which
they believed were the subjects of maladministration and
abuse ; and they also succeeded in impressing on Parliament,
even previous to its reform, the need for many endowments to
be restored to their original charitable purpose . Their case was
enormously strengthened when the House of Commons had,
by the passing of the Reform Act, again become more repre-
sentative of the towns. The point which the Reformers
failed to grasp was that the Grammar Schools were founded
to prepare boys for the Universities, and therefore the en-
dowments were for the benefit of those who desired to pursue
a course of learning higher than the elementary education
which was now, for the first time, claimed as the birthright
of every citizen — an entirely new problem.
As the new school buildings progressed, public comment
became more articulate.1 Certain ' relators,' merchants of
the town of Manchester, stirred by the passion for reform,
and no doubt encouraged by the firm establishment of the
Whig party in power, and in consequence the reappointment
of Baron Cottenham in January 1836 to the position of Vice-
Chancellor, on May 23, 1836, had lodged information in the
Court of Chancery, and petitioned :
1. To have the accounts of the charity brought before
the Master in Chancery.
2. To remove the present trustees who were not residents
in the town, and who were therefore supposed to be unable
to realise the needs of the townspeople.
3. To obtain a reference to the Master in Chancery for a
revision of the scheme set forth by Lord Henley.
The real sting of the protest of the relators was in the
demand that the funds of the School estate should be open
to public inspection and criticism, and that some of the citizens
1 The protest of the town against the policy of the School feoffees really
began with the maltsters objecting to the retention of the monopoly of
grinding malt (Manchester Guardian, April 26, 1834). 'Letters on the
School Policy,' by A. Prentice, appeared on June 14, 1834, and the full
report of Lord Henley was given in the issue May 24, 1834. Discussion
continued on March 24, June 14, and August 23, 1834, when it was proposed
to introduce a Bill in the reformed Parliament. Subsequently Dr. Beard
took up the question of the work of the School in his. pamphlet.
270 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the town should be elected feoffees. Exaggerated opinions
as to the extent of these funds were current ; one estimate
placed them at £120,000. Other grievances were the con-
tinued exclusion of Manchester merchants from any voice
in the management ; the continued devotion of a large pro-
portion of the funds to the support at the Universities of
wealthy boarders, who filled a quarter of the School, virtually
monopolised the scholarships, and conferred no honour
on the town ; and finally the waste of money (£5000) on
the new boarding-house for the high master, when he was
already provided with a handsome salary by the School
and also held a good benefice.
The principal arguments against the scheme were gathered
together in a pamphlet entitled ' The Abuses of the Manchester
Free Grammar School,' by ' A Friend of Popular Education/
the author being the Rev. J. Relly Beard, D.D., the minister
of the Greengate Unitarian Church, whose members had sent
a petition to the House of Commons, presented by Richard
Potter, M.P. for Wigan, on February 15, 1833, which had
first opened the eyes of the feoffees to the unpopularity of
their action. Dr. Beard was born at Portsea in 1800. He
had been educated partly in France and partly at the Man-
chester (Unitarian) Academy, York. On March 2, 1825, he
accepted the charge of the Unitarian church, Dawson's Craft,
Greengate, Salford, and in the following year opened a
private school on reformed educational principles at Wood-
lands, Higher Broughton. He soon removed to more com-
modious quarters in Stoney Knolls. Here he trained many
pupils destined to take a prominent part in Manchester life.
Among them the late W. H. Herford, who had entered the
Manchester Grammar School, February 1833. Of the educa-
tion there provided at that time Mr. Herford writes in a
letter to Dr. Beard : ' My indebtedness to you begins about
1835, when I came to your school, having till then been
gnawing, with particularly little appetite, the divine meal
of sour thistles and brambles, as Milton calls it, meaning
thereby the classical and mathematical education — more
ma jorum — at the Manchester Grammar School. The intro-
duction to literature, the rational geometry, and the natural
sciences, which you provided for us, were all rich, rich feasts
after starvation.' From this time forward Dr. Beard continued
to be in the forefront of the battle for the establishment in
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 271
Manchester of popular education free from ecclesiastical
control.
'When Grammar Schools were first founded, Latin was
acknowledged the fountain of all that was useful or orna-
mental, the chief mental discipline, the great requirement
in education, and to provide therefore a good education for
the poor and ignorant was to secure a competent apparatus
for instruction in Latin. At the present day no benefactor
of ordinary capacity would found a school without taking
measures for having taught therein more or less of Natural
Philosophy . . . what Natural Philosophy is now, the Latin
language and literature were then, the one indispensable
requisite in a good education. '
Dr. Beard urged that at least £2000 of the funds of the
School should be given annually to the Lancasterian Public
Schools for Elementary Education.
A reply was forthcoming, probably from the pen of Robin-
son Elsdale, recently appointed high master of the School,
1837-1839, entitled ' The Abuses of Self-constituted Authority
and Misrepresentation, exposed in a Letter to Rt. Hon. Lord
Cottenham, High Chancellor of England,' by 'A Friend of
Enlightened Education, 1837.'
' Those who are now endeavouring by means of news-
paper insinuation and anonymous slander to excite the
indignation of the public against the feoffees and masters
of the Manchester Free Grammar School . . . will find
themselves, I have no doubt, miserably disappointed. . . .
'The feoffees, in consequence of this surplus (viz. £12,080
2s. Id.), have long entertained and expressed a desire to
enlarge the system of education pursued in the Manchester
Grammar School, but they did not feel themselves justified
in going beyond the letter of the Founder's will, till the
surplus accumulated should be so ample as to enable them
to carry on both Schools with due energy and utility.
'The vast majority of the day scholars who frequent the
Grammar School are intended for commercial pursuits or
professions that require not a university education. The
few destined for college or exhibiting extraordinary ability
have generally been committed to the care of the High Master
in order to complete their studies. The most talented of
the neighbouring county have also been sent to the same
individual on account of the superior advantages enjoyed,
272 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
"for, " says the statute, "there shall no scholar, nor infant
of what county or shire whatever, be refused." . . . By the
terms of the new scheme an examiner is in future to attend
once a year and present exhibitions to those who acquit
themselves most to their satisfaction.'
The following extract is from the Manchester Courier of
October 5, 1836 :
Grammar School Anniversary.
* The 55th Anniversary of the gentlemen educated at
the School took place at the Albert Hotel, Piccadilly, when
about forty of them sat down, ... In the course of the even-
ing Rev. J. S. Masters, in proposing the health of the feoffees
of the Grammar School, took the opportunity of bearing
testimony to the untiring zeal and unremitting exertions
they had displayed in the management of the School estate.
A few years ago, he observed, the income was insufficient
to defray the annual expenses, but by a delicate scrutiny
into its affairs, and a strict and well-organised system of
economy, these gentlemen, who had been grossly calumniated
in the charges brought against them of extravagances and
mismanagement, had so far improved the income of the
School that they had been enabled to raise splendid new
buildings which were an ornament to the town, and to extend
its utility by adding to it many branches of education which
had not hitherto been taught there.
It was intended that some £600 should be annually devoted
for the upkeep of the English School, which was to be spent
as follows ;
£200 for a mathematical master.
£200 for a master in English literature.
£150 for a teacher in French and German.
£100 for a writing master.
£50 for lexicons to be sold at half price to deserving boys
or to be put in the library.
Finally an undetermined sum was to be set apart for
the payment of a teacher and the purchase of apparatus
to be used in the teaching of Natural Philosophy.
The English School was opened in January 1837 as an
independent establishment, incomplete in equipment and
curriculum, and without organic connection with the old
Grammar School. The unfinished state of the buildings and
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 273
the bareness of furnishing of the English School corresponded
with the imperfectly thought-out details of its curriculum.
This was not because the necessity for a commercial edu-
cation, conducted at a high level, had not been fully realised
in Manchester, for a scheme had been put forward under
the patronage of the Warden and Fellows of the Collegiate
Church, and supported by many wealthy Churchmen, for
the establishment of a middle class Proprietary School at
Didsbury,
* To provide a course of instruction for youth, comprising
classical learning, mathematical and commercial instruction
and such modern languages and other branches of science
and general literature as it may from time to time be prac-
tical and advisable to introduce combined with religious
and moral instruction in conformity with the principles of
the Church of England. . . . The proprietary to consist of
500 shares of £50 each bearing interest at not more than
4%, the principal going to the purchase of land and erec-
tion of a school, and any surplus being applicable to the
general purpose of the Institution.'1
It was thus evident that liberal education, or instruction
in subjects other than the rudiments of reading, writing and
arithmetic, had come to be generally regarded as the special
privilege of the well-to-do middle classes. If a scholar of
humble origin but of unusual ability turned up at the
old Grammar School, he could only obtain advancement by
the personal interest and efforts of some particular patron,
and as such might conceivably even be awarded a Univer-
sity Exhibition. Such a case did actually once occur, but
the unctuousness with which it was announced on prize day
showed how unexpected and rare a circumstance it was.
The Rev. Jeremiah Smith, who, even before 1833, had
desired to retire from office, perhaps thought that he had
finished his work at the School when the new scheme
had been ratified by the Court of Chancery. He resigned
the high mastership October 1837, and settled down in his
country living in Cambridgeshire, with a very handsome
pension from the School, as well as a generous presentation
from his wealthy scholars for the really valuable services he
had rendered to the School.
1 Wheeler's Manchester, p. 393, published 1836.
274 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The Rev. E. Dudley Jackson (1802-1879), LL.B., B.C.L.,
of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, was next placed in charge of the
English scholars as teacher of English literature. He had pre-
viously held the position of perpetual curate of St. Matthew's
Church, Manchester, and subsequently that of St. Michael's,
Chetham Hill. He was closely connected with the Sunday
School movement. He was a writer both of sacred poetry
and of prose, and had partly compiled and partly composed
a collection of Sunday School hymns. On taking charge
of the English School, he divided it into an Upper and Lower
School, in both of which young boys were taught writing
and elementary arithmetic, and thus the pressure on the
lower forms of the Grammar School was relieved. In 1844
Mr. Dudley published an edition of Goldsmith's ' History
of England ' for the use of boys, and also an Elementary Latin
Grammar.1 If any promising boys appeared in the English
School, they were transferred to the Classical School, where
there was at least the semblance of fuller opportunity.
French and mathematics were also taught in the English
School to various mixed classes, mainly consisting of the
older boys from the Classical School. They were not regarded
as a development of the English School. Mr. Mordacque2
was appointed visiting French master in place of the one who
had previously acted as private tutor to the boarders before
the opening of the English School. Mr. Cullen was appointed
teacher in writing and arithmetic for the English School. A
teacher in mathematics was also appointed, but did not
continue long at the School. This subject was subsequently
only very intermittently taught. No appointment of a teacher
in German or Natural Philosophy — both subjects included
in the scheme — was ever made.
The English School attracted a large number of boys, and
within two years of opening, at the Annual Dinner, held
October 1838, Rev. E. D. Jackson was able to announce that
there were altogether between 400 and 500 boys in the different
departments of the School, and that there were no less than
1 See John Evans' Lancashire Authors and Ulula, 1879.
1 Mordacque also taught at the Commercial Schools and at the Athenaeum.
He retired 1867. As there were no funds available for a retiring pension, the
trustees and old scholars raised a sum of money to purchase an annuity,
Rev. George Perkins, second master, acting as chairman, and S. H. Hodson,
receiver, acting as secretary.
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 275
300 candidates for admission. Mr. Jackson also gave some
details respecting the new Commercial Schools which were
about to be established under the supervision of the Anglican
clergy in various parts of the country. At the same meeting
Rev. Dr. Robinson Elsdale, who had just been appointed
high master, made an ineffectual bid for popular support,
by expressing a wish that in future no one would consider
the dinner as a merely political one. ' It had been stated
to him that it had been so regarded by some, and that con-
sequently they had refused to attend. This (he said) was
a mistake. The entertainment was a literary one at which
persons of all political opinions might meet, united by the
bonds of old acquaintance and old recollections.' In view
of the character of the toasts proposed, and the strong
partisanship of the company, this wish was hardly likely to
carry much weight.
Administratively, from the point of view of the Trust, all
the school departments formed part of a single establishment.
Educationally, from the point of view of the high master, they
constituted a group of separate departments housed in
contiguous buildings, and having no relation to one another.
The only parts of the scheme which were carried out
consisted in the regularising of the unofficial out-of-school
instruction that had long gone on among the senior boys,
organising it, and providing it free of cost, for the benefit of
boys intending to enter business careers. If the boys of
the old Grammar School chose, they might now benefit by
having free lessons in the English School, in mathematics,
in French, and to some extent in writing, without, as had
previously been the custom, paying for it. So indefinite and
loose were the relations between the Grammar School and
the English School that the afternoons of Tuesday and
Thursday were regarded as half holidays even for the Grammar
School boys who devoted their time to the study of
mathematics in the English School. The English School
also offered an alternative training for boys of poorer
capabilities and lesser means, who were not regarded as
capable of benefiting by the classical teaching. It was
nominally under the direct control of the feoffees, who
possessed neither the educational outlook nor the under-
standing necessary to make it an educational success. The
high master accepted no responsibility for any teaching
276 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
except that of the two upper classical forms. These were
regarded as full when they contained twenty boys. It was
evident, therefore, that he was handsomely paid. The high
master's assistant had the charge of the next group of thirty
boys. The second master or usher had a third group con-
sisting of forty boys and some vested interest in succession,
and his assistant a fourth group of about fifty. There were
also fifty boys in the lower part of the Grammar School,
learning the elements of reading. They were about six or
seven years of age.
In February 1839 Robinson Elsdale, whose health had
begun to fail, applied for and was granted twelve months'
leave of absence, his place being taken by the second master,
John William Richards. At Christmas, 1839, Robinson
Elsdale, still in poor health and residing in France, sent in
his resignation. Mr. J. W. Richards was appointed in his
place.
The character of the scholars had become greatly in-
fluenced by the course of the proceedings in Chancery. In 1 839
Lord Cottenham issued a decree which forbade the trustees
devoting any part of the surplus funds to granting University
Exhibitions to boarders or to the building of boarding-houses
for the masters. This was a severe blow in several ways. The
Exhibitions had attracted the boarders, and this paid the
masters. Other anxieties were accruing, for the accumulated
funds of the School had become seriously diminished, mainly
by the cost of the expensive buildings for the high master and
the English School, and to a less extent by the long-drawn-
out Chancery action.1 The mills were yielding a diminishing
income, and the two liberal pensions granted to Dr. Smith
and Mr. Elsdale constituted a heavy tax. The salaries of
the assistant masters, already lessened by the loss of boarders,
had to be diminished 10 per cent, all round, the recipients
of the pensions alone excluded. The mathematical master
was dismissed.
Although the feoffees had never been in a position to
carry out the full scheme outlined by Lord Henley — for neither
German nor Natural Science teaching had been introduced
into the School, and that of mathematics had become some-
1 The relators, Mark Philips, Thomas Potter, and Joseph Brotherton,
paid their part of the expenses out of their own pockets (according to a
private letter written by Mark Philips to J. R. Beard).
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 277
what irregular — some renewed activity in the School was
noticeable under J. W. Richards. This first showed itself in
the publication of a school magazine — The New Microcosm
— which appeared between June 1839 and June 1840. It con-
sisted of records of Travels and of Essays on such subjects
as the comparative advantages of classical and mathematical
education. The signs of increased activity of the School were,
however, only short-lived, for the majority of the trades-
people of Manchester viewed with utter indifference anything
but trade prosperity.
In Ulula, March 1876, there appears an article signed
by ' G. P.,' who was at School under Elsdale and Richards :
j ' In the higher part of the School especially, there was
in my time an enormous amount of idleness, by which
most of us became demoralised, so far at least as to lose
the habit of steady industry, and seriously impair our chances
of success in life. . . . The sudden transition from the
harsh scolding and rough pedagogics of Elsdale to the
gentle manners and finer scholarship of Richards was a
change no boy who experienced it can ever have forgotten.
Even in his best days, and with the lower classes, Elsdale
had no doubt much of the inelastic method of the older
system . . . and yet as I look back along the vista of past
years, I feel how thoroughly as a boy I respected Elsdale
. . . and even now, while I may have doubts about the width
of his knowledge, and suspicions of an occasional want of
judgment, I have no doubts nor misgivings as to the genuine
kindness and integrity of his character.'
The Public Speech Days, which had not been held since
1830, were re-started in October 1840. In order to re-awaken
general interest, the results of the University examinations
were publicly announced, the examiners' reports read, and the
prizes publicly distributed. These annual gatherings were
attended by the local clergy and became very imposing
affairs, and, though it is doubtful whether they brought
many boarders to the houses of the masters, they undoubt-
edly kept alive the public interest in the higher traditions
of the School, and helped to prevent it being entirely swamped
when the cries for ' useful ' education and ' practical ' educa-
tion were often being urged with more clamour than insight.
Mr. J. W. Richards soon realised the impossibility of
attracting any considerable number of boarders, and that
278 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
there was prospect of their further decrease in the future.
It was doubtful whether even School prizes could be awarded
to boarders. Consequently, Dean Herbert, the Visitor of
the School, offered them a special prize for the best Latin
archaic poem. Finding the funds as well as the boarders
were rapidly dwindling, Mr. Richards resigned his position.
He became perpetual curate of East Harnham, Hants,
1855-9, and Chaplain of St. Michael's School, Bognor, under
the Woodard Trust. He died at Walton, October 30, 1887.
Attempts at mediation were now made, and on receipt
of Chancellor Cottenham's decree, Messrs. Clowes, Hulton,
Patten, Foster, and Birley were appointed a committee by
their fellow feoffees to confer with the Dean ' on the present
state of the proceedings, and the steps to be taken ' to promote
the interests of the Charity.
Dean Calvert had just died. He had been succeeded,
July 9, 1840, by the Hon. and Rev. Dean Herbert, who had
been offered and accepted the position of Warden after
Thomas Arnold of Rugby had declined, on account of the
difficulty of maintaining his large family on the limited
stipend then available. The high master and assistant masters
presented a memorial to the feoffees claiming that the funds
of the school were never intended to be restricted to local
scholars, and pointing out how adversely they were affected
by the clause which debarred boarders from holding School
exhibitions. They explained the large proportion of such
exhibitions going to the boarders by stating that the day
boys were accustomed to leave school too early to be ready
to be trained adequately for the University. Another
petition, from parents 'who believed that the removal of
boarders would greatly deteriorate the School, and lower its
social prestige,' was also presented.
Dean Herbert therefore interviewed the relators, together
with Alexander Kay, their legal representative, and induced
them to formulate certain proposals, which he placed before
the feoffees :
4 (1) That one-half of the number of trustees of the School
be elected by the Town Council, and that to effect this a
sufficient number of the present trustees retire.
' (2) That no exhibitions be in future given to scholars
going to Oxford or Cambridge, the amount and character
of the income of the Charity rendering it improbable that
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 279
there ever can be any surplus fund applicable for such a
purpose after supplying the means of education to the present
and increasing population of the district.
' (3) That no retiring pensions be granted unless three-
fourths of the trustees for the time being concur in the pro-
priety of the grant. [This clause probably related to the
high pension awarded to Jeremiah Smith, which was now
running concurrently with the pension of Rev. R. Elsdale.]
' If these conditions were agreed to, the relators proposed
to raise among their friends,1 the funds required for building
four new schools within the borough, for the reception of
infants as well as youths, in such situations as most required
them. They further suggested that there should be at least
two masters to each such school at salaries of £150 a year
for the headmaster, and £100 for the usher ; and that the
Lower School in Long Millgate should be discontinued, the
Rev. Mr. Dallas being appointed to one of the new schools
at a stipend equal to the present one. Finally that the scholars
should be drafted from the four schools into the school in
Long Millgate, to be placed in such classes under the High
master or second master as the proficiency of each scholar
shall warrant.
« (Signed) ALEXANDER KAY.
'Jaw. 12, 1841.'
The feoffees considered that these suggestions contem-
plated such a change in the general principles of the School as
was totally irreconcilable with the charter, and that therefore
they would not be justified in recommending them for adop-
tion. They consequently decided to let the inquiry before
the Master in Chancery take its course, leaving to him
and to the Lord Chancellor the determination as to what
i Comparison may be made with the course of events at King Edward VI
Grammar School, Birmingham, a far wealthier school as regards endow-
ment. In 1824 the governors, masters, and the visitor — the Bishop of
Lichfield — planned to remove the school into the country and make it more
select. The inhabitants of the town fought the scheme in the Court of
Chancery. A Bill was presented to Parliament, May 1830, to raise £50,000
for building a new school. There was a clause in the Bill directing that no
person should be elected a governor who was not a member of the Established
Church of England. This clause was ultimately withdrawn in conse-
quence of the opposition of the Dissenters, and the Bill was passed in 1831.
The effect on the spread of higher education in each district as a result of the
different policy pursued by governors of the Manchester Grammar School
and those of the Birmingham School ought to make an interesting sociological
study.
280 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
alterations should be made under the scheme of 1833 in view
of the steadily diminishing funds.
The fall of the Whig Ministry of Lord Melbourne and the
consequent resignation of Lord Cottenham, followed by the
reinstatement in office of Lord Lyndhurst under Sir Robert
Peel, September 3, 1841, induced the feoffees to accept the
opinion of their counsel, James Russell, and to apply for
a complete rehearing of the case, particularly as the high
master was now able to point out the very injurious effect
which the decree had already produced on the School. It
was about this time that Mr. Richards resigned the high
mastership. He was succeeded by Rev. Nicholas Germon,
who had been at the School since 1825.
John Singleton Copley, as he was at first known, but now
Lord Lyndhurst, was the son of the celebrated artist, John
Copley, who had emigrated to America. In early life he had
been an ultra-Liberal, though when he entered Parliament
in 1818 he did so as a Tory, and represented the University
of Cambridge in 1845. After a brilliant University career
at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he had been second
Wrangler and Smith's Prizeman, he had practised at the
Bar and occupied his leisure with the study of Chemistry,
Mechanics, and Mathematics. He had held the office of
Lord Chancellor under the Duke of Wellington 1827 and
1828, 1834, and 1841. He was singularly fitted to form an
enlightened opinion on the opposing claimants. He made a
statement April 6, 1843, in which he concurred with much of
his predecessor's judgment, but directed that the part of
Lord Cottenham's report, as to boarders being ineligible for
exhibitions, be omitted and the matter referred to the Master
in Chancery to decide the restrictions and conditions under
which this should be allowed.
He expressed himself in the following terms :
* He was in opposition to views then prevailing in some
quarters that the old foundation should be converted into
a purely commercial academy. There were many persons
who thought the character of the School should be entirely
changed, that it ought to be devoted to commercial pur-
poses exclusively. He would very much lament such a
change, because the tendency of such a practice would be
to form men into classes, and it was therefore of the utmost
importance, for the purpose of obviating that great incon-
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY
281
venience, that they should as far as possible all be brought
up according to one general system of education. No system
of education was better for the purpose of refining and
humanizing the manners of a nation than a system of
literature founded on classical learning.' l
Lord Lyndhurst also decreed against the application of
the relators that as soon as possible other English schools
should be built out of the School funds.
The building of the English School had cost £2000, the
boarding-house for the pupils of the high master £5000.
The headmaster of the English School was only receiving
£120, and his two assistants £80 and £60 severally ; they had
to provide their own houses. The salary of the high master
of the Classical School was to be £450, that of the usher
£225, and boarding-houses were provided for them and taxes
paid. The English School had 160 boys from the age of
six up to the age of fourteen. The Classical School had
about eighty.
The following figures show the extent of the diminution
in the numbers of scholars, mostly boarders, who, at this
period, proceeded to the Universities.
Number of
Boarders admitted
Number of Boys
awarded School
Total Numbers
sent to the
yearly.
Exhibitions.
Universities.
1836 to 1840 .
33
10
26
» „ 1841 .
25
1
6
„ „ 1842 .
13
1
4
„ „ 1843 .
12
1
4
„ „ 1844 .
?
1
2
The decree of Lord Lyndhurst was naturally the source
of some jubilation to the supporters of the old regime, but
the public were beginning to consider that such a regime was
one of privilege and even reaction, for, evidently in reply to
current criticisms, at the Annual Speech Day, October 1843,
Rev. Canon Parkinson, Fellow of the College, made reference
to the democratic character of the grammar schools of
England, and their selective value in picking up poor clever
1 Cf. Ulula, p. 92, November 1882.
282 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
boys, and furthering their educational career to the Uni-
versity. He made complaints of the heavy expenses incurred
by the continuance of the lawsuit, which, combined with
the continued loss in value of the School property, had caused
the feoffees to reduce the number of leaving exhibitions from
four to one.
In 1844 Rev. E. D. Jackson was appointed rector of
St. Thomas, Heaton Norris, and resigned his post at the
English School.1 He was succeeded by Rev. George Slade
(1808-1872), M.A., of Wadham College, Oxford, who, after
serving as curate of Prescott 1835, had been appointed
incumbent of St. Thomas, Radcliffe, 1838. He evidently
began well and imparted some fresh enthusiasm into the
work, for after two years' service he was presented with a
rosewood writing-desk and set of silver plate by his scholars.
He seems to have introduced into the English School the
use of some elementary text-books of general knowledge,
consisting of answers and questions, a plan very popular at
that time. These were learned by rote, a method capable
of affording very fallacious results. He was accustomed
to sell these books to the boys, and so increase his very
limited income by percentage profit, estimated in amount as
£20 per annum. Presently the sale of text-books by other
masters became common, and parents began to complain of
the frequent changes in the text-books used. The custom
was therefore prohibited, though it is not clear that the
masters' salaries were raised to make up for the deficiency.
One of the most potent of the liberalising elements at the
School at this period was Richard Thompson who had become
second master in 1841. The 'Grammar School Miscellany,'
published 1845, was dedicated to him. He was instrumental
in re-establishing the School Library about 1845, and its
shelves were, at a later date, enriched by over a thousand
volumes which had constituted his own private library. He
encouraged the pursuit of literature, and the Thompson's
History prize was founded to keep his memory green.
The French department also became very popular, per-
haps influenced by the awakening interest in French ideas
under the teaching of Mr. Mordacque, who was employed at the
1 There is a character sketch of Rev. E. D. Jackson, by John Evans,
in Lancashire Authors and Orators, published 1850.
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 283
Athenaeum, and at a later date at the Commercial Schools,
Stretford Road. Plays were performed by the scholars of the
Free Grammar School on the Thursday and Friday of Easter
week during three successive years, viz. 1846, 1847, and 1848.
On the first occasion the performance consisted of the Andria
of Terence, and was performed by the elder boys of the School,
April 18, 1846, while the junior pupils gave a private per-
formance of a selection of scenes from Shakespeare's Julius
Ccesar. On March 27, 1847, the plays performed were the
Adelphi of Terence and Moliere's Manage Forcee. In 1848,
under the patronage of the Earl of Ellesmere, the Pseudolus
of Plautus and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme of Moliere were
performed. The credit of originating and conducting to a
successful issue the entire series of performances was mainly
due to one of the senior boys — J. W. Taylor, subsequently
Scholar and Hulme Exhibitioner of Brasenose College, Oxford,
M.A., and incumbent of Little Marsden, Lancashire, ' who
besides enacting (and that most ably) the principal
characters, wrote and recited the prologues, and with
whose departure for the University it may be added
the Latin play seems to have finally disappeared from
Manchester School.' *
The year 1847 is noteworthy for the School for several
reasons. On July 18, the Rev. G. H. Bowers (1794-1873)
was installed Dean of Manchester in succession to Rev. W.
Herbert. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and
had already distinguished himself as an educational reformer
before coming to Manchester. He had been concerned in the
re-organisation of Marlborough College, in the foundation of
Rossall School, and in the creation of the Haileybury School
on the site of the old East India College. In this year also
the Rev. James Frazer of Oriel College, Oxford, soon to be
engaged in other educational work of importance, and sub-
sequently Bishop of the diocese in 1870, appears as one of
the examiners appointed by the University to visit the
School.
It was also the first occasion on which the Lawson Gold
Medal, the blue ribbon of the classical side of the School, was
awarded. A silver medal had previously been provided out
1 John B. Shaw in City News, Notes and Queries, February 22, 1868,
p. 155.
284 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the surplus funds of the donations to the Lawson Memorial,
and from the sale of engravings of the portrait of Mr. Lawson
which now hangs in the high master's room. As already
stated, when this surplus became exhausted, a further
subscription was made by his old pupils, to furnish a capital
sum , whose interest would provide an annual income for the
purchase of a gold medal.
Meanwhile the Manchester merchants were making strong
efforts to improve the commercial education of the middle
classes by arranging for lecturers and teachers to hold classes
on modern subjects at the Athenaeum (established 1827).
On October 27, 1837, the great Educational Soiree was held
in Manchester in support of the Central Society for Education ,
whose formation in London we have already mentioned. This
monster soiree, for which special building arrangements had
to be made by extending the accommodation of the Theatre
Royal, and at which some 4000 guests were entertained, was
the first public local recognition of the educational fervour
that was permeating all the European countries. Members
of both political parties met in support of the movement for
extension of public education among all classes. Mr. Mark
Philips, the member for Manchester, was in the chair. Lord
Brougham had promised to attend, but was prevented by
a family bereavement. The first speech was concerned with
' Infant Schools ' and was delivered by Wilderspoon. The
second speech was that of George William Wood, Chairman
of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, M.P. for Wigan,
who spoke of the influence already exerted on education by
the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, the effect
of the establishment of Sunday Schools by Robert Raikes
of Gloucester, and of the Day Schools established by Joseph
Lancaster and Andrew Bell. Dr. Gerard spoke of the work
of the newly established London University. As a conse-
quence of this meeting, a Manchester branch of the Society
for promoting National Education was started. It endorsed
the practice of the British and Foreign Society in prescribing
Bible classes for every school, and placing the Bible, without
special directions or instructions, in the hands of every child,
except the Jews and the Roman Catholics. As it omitted
to place the control of education in the hands of the clergy,
it was looked upon with suspicion by the National Society,
established in the interests of the Church of England, which not
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 285
only objected to the teaching of the Bible without the teach-
ing of the Church Catechism, but still regarded education as
the prerogative of the clergy, and demanded, not only clerical
representation on the management, but also full clerical
control. This, neither the larger proportion of the laity
among the Churchmen, nor the Nonconformists, were willing
to yield, and much controversy naturally arose.
Interest in Science, particularly in Applied Science, con-
tinued to grow. The British Association for the Advancement
of Science, established 1838, held its meetings in Manchester
in 1841, Lord Francis Egerton being the President.
Colossal and brilliant educational soirees were held at
the Manchester Athenaeum, during the series of years, 1843,
1845, 1846, 1847, and 1848. Merchants of both political parties
joined in the effort. Hugh Hornby Birley and Mark Philips,
Richard Cobden and James Heywood, attended, though -the
clergy and Nonconformist ministers were conspicuously
absent. The meetings were attended by many of the most
famous statesmen, writers, and educationists of that very
remarkable period of English history. Their object was to
establish the Manchester Athenaeum as a permanent institu-
tion, free from political bias, for the cultivation of social and
intellectual interests among the middle classes, and to
supplement the provision made by the Mechanics' Institutes
for the working classes.1 Of the foundation of the Manchester
School of Design in 1839 we shall speak in the chapter on
Technical Education. At the first soiree held Thursday,
October 5, 1843, Charles Dickens was the principal guest. At
the second great soiree, held October 3, 1844, the main object
was to further the movement on behalf of popular education ;
Benjamin Disraeli was the chief guest ; Lord John Manners
and others also spoke. At the third great soiree held
October 23, 1845, Thomas Noon Talfourd, Douglas Jerrold,
John Lowe were speakers. At the fourth, held October 22,
1846, Dr. Richard Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, was the
principal speaker, and a permanent memorial of his visit
to the School is found in an extensive gift of books to the
1 The Manchester New College was opened in Grosvenor Square,
Manchester, having been removed from York in 1840, as a more convenient
centre. It continued to give a course of general instruction of University
level in connection with the London University. It was again removed in
1848 after the foundation of the Owens College.
286 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
School Library. At the fifth, held November 18, 1847, Sir
Archibald Alison was present, and at the sixth, held
November 16, Viscount Mahon was the principal speaker.
To meet current criticism the Chairman remarked in
opening the proceedings :
4 It had been cast in their teeth, no longer ago than yes-
terday, that the members of the institution were only a set
of apprentices, clerks and shopmen. . . . The Athenaeum
numbered among its members men of science and men of
education, of the highest order ; there were professional
men of all grades, architects, millwrights, mechanics, and
men of science in every department.'
In 1849, however, it was realised that in spite of these
brilliant and costly gatherings (perhaps even because of
them), the steady educational work of the Athenaeum suf-
fered. The attendance at lectures and the list of members
had greatly diminished. Mr. Samuel Ogden was thereupon
appointed honorary secretary, and a policy of steady, sus-
tained educational effort was initiated instead of the spas-
modic effort at the soirees. A debt of £6000 was greatly
diminished by means of a bazaar held in 1850, and was
finally extinguished by donations a short time afterwards.
Regular adult evening classes were held for instruction of
men in business pursuits, and, though the social side was by
no means extinguished, it no longer occupied the almost
exclusive place it had previously held.
Meanwhile the action in Chancery was dragging on its
wearying course. Lord Lyndhurst had retired for the third
time from the Lord Chancellorship, May 4, 1846, and was again
replaced in July 1846 by Lord Cottenham, when the Liberal
party resumed office. Both litigants agreed to urge the im-
mediate completion of the report of Mr. Dowdeswell, the
Master of Chancery, and to expedite the termination of the
suit. This was all the more necessary as the School revenue
derived from the corn-grinding was dwindling to an alarming
extent, and repeated sales of capital stock had to be made
to meet current expenses. It was evident to all that there
was no prospect of finding the means to carry out the original
scheme as ordered by the Court of Chancery in 1833. The
feoffees therefore decided to lay before the Court the present
state of income and expenditure. It is to their honour
IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY 287
that all through the time of serious financial anxiety they
had made every effort to continue the grant of at least one,
and sometimes more, University Exhibitions to deserving
scholars, particularly when the limited means of the scholars
rendered such a course necessary. There seemed even better
prospect of harmonising the views of the opposing parties,
when an ill-advised advertisement of Mr. Nicholas Germon,
claiming for boarders the right to school exhibitions, was
inserted in the ' Manchester Guardian ' of January 24, and,
being wrongly attributed to the feoffees as their usual and
official advertisement, again stirred up the slumbering fires
of antagonism.
At last the report of the Master in Chancery, John
Edward Dowdeswell, was received April 25, 1848. It
abolished the system of boarders altogether, and suggested
that the whole of the school room provided for carrying into
effect the proposed extended system of education, should
be considered as one connected establishment, to be called
the Manchester Free Grammar School. It was made the
substance of a decree by the Vice-Chancellor Shadwell, and
although the legal adviser of the feoffees recommended a
fresh appeal to the House of Lords, the feoffees decided
that they would not be justified in incurring the serious
additional expense to the funds of the charity by such
an appeal.
Resignations were received at the next meeting of feoffees
from the Earl of Ellesmere and Mr. John Wilson Patten,
and it was resolved (by the feoffees still remaining in the
trust) that
' inasmuch as it appears to the present feoffees that the
recent decree of the Vice-Chancellor will effect such a total
change in the character of the School, alike inconsistent
with the original intention of the founders and with the
former decrees of the Court of Chancery under which the
School has been hitherto conducted, and that the Vice-Chan-
cellor has directed the Master in Chancery to supply the
existing vacancies on the Trust, and as the decree may
afford an opportunity of obtaining the appointment of the
full complement of feoffees under the sanction of the Court,
the feoffees now present, who constitute the whole body
now remaining on the Trust, have decided also to resign
office and hereby authorise the adoption of such steps as
288 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
may be necessary to procure the appointment of the full
complement of feoffees by the Master in Chancery.
WILBBAHAM EGERTON (Chairman),
WILLIAM HULTON,
W. L. CLOWES,
W. TATTON EGERTON,
J. FRED. FOSTER.
'24 Jan., 1849.'
CHAPTER XII
1848-1859
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWET
' If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but if
he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.'
' Another error of learning, of a diverse nature from all the former, is
the over-early and peremptory reduction of knowledge into arts and
methods ; from which time commonly sciences receive small or no augmen-
tation.'— Advancement of Learning.
Uncertainty of educational aim among the mercantile classes increased
by the opposition of the clergy to any system of public education
which threatened their established prerogatives — Dr. Thomas Arnold
on middle-class education — The Middle Schools of the Church of
England — The formation of the Lancashire Public Schools Association
reveals the presence of incompatible aims among educationalists and
causes the appearance of two parties— State subsidy without State
control gives place to a new Government policy in 1847 — The two
Manchester Education Bills and the Newcastle Commission — The New
Trustees at the Manchester Grammar School — Their qualifications
for their task — The teaching staff — Course of events at the School —
Current opinion about the state of middle-class education in
Manchester— E. Edwards, 1854; W. C. Williamson, 1855; James
Heywood, 1856; Rev. Chas. Bigg, 1857 — Agencies tending
towards enlightenment of public opinion : Mechanics' Institutes,
Athenaeums, Schools of Design, Free Libraries — Revival of the School
Library — Foundation of the Owens College — The Lancasterian and
other Schools established by private benevolence-^Classical and
modern education in competition — Two ancient streams lose their
force — The trustees twice seek the advice of Dr. Norris of Corpus
Christi — Resignation of Nicholas Germon.
THE period during which the new trustees appointed by
the Court of Chancery and their immediate successors held
office lasted till 1876, when an entirely new scheme for the
289 u
290 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
management of the School was drawn up under the Endowed
Schools Act of 1867. It may conveniently be divided into
two somewhat unequal terms — viz., from 1849 to 1859 and
from 1859 to 1876. Both were periods of educational
difficulty and struggle, but they differed in the fact that,
while the first witnessed confusion and incertitude of
educational aims and objectives, the second witnessed a
certitude of aim which was pursued in the face of bitter
and unreasoning opposition organised by a number of those
who had been educated at the School and who believed that,
because certain abuses and accretions had been removed,
no further changes were necessary to keep the School in
touch with the highest educational interests of the town.
They had received a caste education, and they could conceive
of nothing better. Thanks to the repeal of the Corn
Laws, which had so heavily oppressed the lower middle
and artisan classes, and to the increasing prosperity of
trade, the c hungry forties ' had passed away, and with
them a period of intellectual meagreness. With improved
conditions a new crop of hitherto suppressed or obstructed
social and intellectual aspirations and capacities were seeking
expression.
So long as these aspirations towards social betterment
were confined to a few benevolent individuals of a party,
they did not interfere with the old party groupings. When
they succeeded in arousing public sympathy, they set in
action some social instincts which are not confined to party,
but are common to benevolent men of all parties. Conse-
quently many who had previously been in opposition now
found themselves in co-operation. Instead of the old
groupings of Calvinists, Swedenborgians, Arminians, new
groupings took place, and new parties were formed along
social lines, with great temporary confusion in the
process.
4 The time had gone by for churchmanship to evaporate
in hurrahs over a bumper for Church and Queen ' (Canon
Stowell). Many of the clergy shared the Evangelical zeal
of the Nonconformists, but the influence of the Evangelical
movement was social more than intellectual. It had become,
to a large extent, a middle-class movement. The sympathies
of its members were aroused by the degraded condition of
the people around, and it sought to re-inspire them by bringing
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 291
them to the realisation of the blessings of Christianity. Being
a middle-class movement, the petty struggles of trade allowed
its members no time to cultivate intellectual interests, and
for these its more enlightened members looked to the Broad
Churchmen. The High Church Party alone seems to have
had little share in the public movements in Manchester at
this period. The census of 1851 is the only census which
gives official information about the comparative strength
of the various religious denominations. From it we gather
that there were some 1632 buildings for religious worship
in Lancashire. Of these 529 belonged to the Church of
England, and 1103 to other religious bodies. There was
provision in these buildings for nearly 800,000 worshippers ;
of these 383,466 were provided by the Church of England,
and 406,702 by the other bodies. This was in spite of the
fact that the number of Anglican churches had doubled
between 1821 and 1851, for the Nonconformists, the
Wesleyans, and the Catholics had multiplied in equal if
not greater proportion.
We have already seen how the zeal for education had
permeated these several bodies, in the provision for Sunday
and Day Schools. We must now consider the efforts made
for the better education of the middle classes. The
benefaction of John Owens, in 1845, had caused still
further attention to be directed to the new problems con-
cerning educational aims, by revealing the paucity of numbers
of those whose elementary training was sufficiently advanced
to enable them to benefit by higher training in anything
but classics and mathematics. The trustees of the Owens
benefactions had become alive to the difficulties in 1851,
as was proved by the efforts they made to solve the problem
by seeking the advice and assistance of educational experts
at the Scotch, the Irish, the London, and the Durham
Universities, as well as at the older English Universities.
The narrowness of their escape from complete disaster,
even with such experience to guide them, showed the com-
plexity of the problem that awaited the trustees of the
Grammar School.1
It is interesting to note here the opinions of Dr. Thomas
1 The Owens College : Its Foundation and Growth. By Joseph Thompson.
1886.
292 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Arnold, whose influence in Manchester was so much desired l
at this time, and whose convictions about the social import-
ance of a spread of liberal education among all classes is
shown in his letters to the Sheffield Couranl?
Writing in 1832 on the education of the middle classes,
Dr. Thomas Arnold thus expresses himself :
* It seems to me that the education of the Middle Classes
at this time is a question of the greatest national import-
ance. I wish exceedingly to draw public attention to it.
. . . The Schools for the richer classes are, as it is well known,
almost universally conducted by the clergy ; and the clergy,
too, have the superintendence of the parochial schools for
the poorer classes. But between these two extremes, there
is a great multitude of what are called English or Commer-
cial Sch^)ls, at which a large proportion of the sons of farmers
and of tradesmen receive their education. . . . There is now
no restriction on the exercise of the business of the school-
master and no enquiry into his qualifications. . . . The
masters of our English or Commercial Schools labour under
this double disadvantage, that not only their moral, but
their intellectual fitness must be taken on trust. . . . We
have no regular system of secular education. . . . The Clas-
sical Schools throughout the country have Universities to
look to, distinction at school prepares the way for distinc-
tion at College, and distinction at College is again the road
to distinction and emolument as a teacher. It is a passport
with which a young man enters life with advantage either
as a tutor or as a schoolmaster. But anything like local
Universities — anything so much as local distinction or ad-
vancement in life held out to encourage exertion at a Com-
mercial School, it is yet vain to look for. Thus the business
of education is degraded ; for a schoolmaster of a Commercial
School, having no means of acquiring a general celebrity,
is rendered dependent on the inhabitants of his own im-
mediate neighbourhood — if he offends them, he is rained.
This greatly interferes with the maintenance of discipline.
The boys are well aware of their parents' power and complain
to them against the exercise of their master's authority.
Nor is it always that the parents themselves can resist the
temptation of showing their own importance, and giving
the master to understand that he must be careful how he
Conversazione of deputies of Literary Institutes in South Lancashire,
held at Manchester Athenaeum, October 5, 1844.
2 Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Arnold, 1845.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 293
ventures to displease them. . . . The interference of Govern-
ment seems to me indispensable in order to create a national
and systematic course of proceeding instead of the more
feeble efforts of individuals, to provide for the Middle Classes
something analogous to the advantages offered to the richer
classes by our great public schools and Universities.'
Dr. Thomas Arnold also makes numerous references to
the current danger of substituting a shallow instruction in
modern subjects for a disciplinary training in the classics,
and while not unfavourable to much of the work of the
* Mechanics' Institutes ' repeatedly expresses very clearly
his anxiety that the religious purpose of education (i.e.
training the pupil in the tenets and practice of the Christian
religion, with constant reference to a moral purpose in his
life), was in considerable danger of being lost sight of in
the attempt to improve his earning capacity and material
progress.
The crowded state of the English department of the
Grammar School no doubt encouraged the members of the
newly constituted diocesan branch of the Church of England
Educational Society to make further effort to provide middle-
class education, subsequent to the effort described in the
last chapter. Under the chairmanship and the actual per-
sonal canvas of the Hon. and Very Rev. Dean Herbert,
assisted by his intimate friends, Rev. Charles Richson,
Hugh Birley, Rev. John Clowes, J. C. Harter, and other
prominent Churchmen, enough money was collected to
build an English Middle School, subsequently known as
the Commercial Schools, in Stretford Road. The founda-
tion stone was laid June 19, 1845, by James Collier Harter.
Rev. Hugh Stowell, who took part in the proceedings, refers
to their intentions as follows :
' If we come to the rank of a clerk and small shop-keeper
and book-keeper, and warehouseman and superior stone-
mason and artisan, whose wages allowed them to get a better
style of education for their children than the working classes
can command by their earnings, we find that the children
of such persons are sent to any school that happens to be
in the neighbourhood, because there is no authenticated
or endorsed school to which they can trust, or where they
may send their children, knowing that they will receive
a sound, scriptural, Church of England education in the
294 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
school, and it is a fact that a great many of the middle schools
in Manchester will be found to be kept by broken-down
tradesmen, men who have miscarried in every other attempt,
but who are thought, it would seem, quite sufficient for an
attempt which is less only in importance and magnitude
of consequence than the office of the ministers of the Gospel
themselves. ... I will only further remark, before I close,
that nothing can be further from the intention of those who
are erecting this School than any wish or intention to come
into rivalry, or to appear to come into rivalry, with our
own venerable Grammar School, one of the most venerable,
the best endowed, and I hope one of the best conducted
schools in the Kingdom, which has sent up many senior
wranglers, men who have conferred oftentimes real honour
on both our Universities. Our object is not rivalry, and
you may suppose that when I tell you, as Mr. Parkinson has
just informed me, that in the Commercial School connected
with the Grammar School there are about 100 applicants
for whom there is not room, so that none of them can be
admitted. And in Birmingham, a beautiful model for Man-
chester, where the funds belonging to the Grammar School
are so ample as to allow them to have four different auxi-
liary schools planted in the outskirts, these are filled with
crowds of promising youths who are drafted and transplanted
to the Central King Edward's School, and they are mothered
in these district schools till they are found sufficiently ad-
vanced for transplantation. Why should we not have four
such schools in Manchester ? Why should Birmingham,
whose population is so much smaller, take the lead of Man-
chester ? The truth is we are lamentably behind other towns
in the matter of middle-class education. ... I trust we
shall not be content with a single solitary school in Hulme
but that we shall have another at Chetham Hill, that another
will spring up in Salford, and that we shall plant a fourth
at Ardwick Green.'
The Middle-class School was opened January 26, 1846,
and at a general meeting of the subscribers and friends of
the Manchester Church Education Society the objects and
aims were still further defined. After alluding to the
necessity of model schools for training teachers, Rev. C. D.
Wray proceeded :
' The schools they were about to open were commercial
schools in which the youth of a higher class would be edu-
cated in conformity with the principles of the Church of
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 295
England. Valuable masters had been selected for the various
departments of the School, and he did trust that under their
care and the auspices of the Society, the success of the schools
would equal their most sanguine expectations.'
Referring to the report of the Church of England Com-
mittee he continued :
' At the commencement of the report it was shown on a
rough calculation that about 20,000 or 30,000 young persons
in the parish (of Manchester) are provided with education at
the cost of their parents and friends. But large as such
a number appears, it is a well-known fact that with the ex-
ception of the Grammar School in its two departments,
there is no institution whatever in the parish which can
claim to make adequate provision for the education of such
persons as the committee have now ir. view. . . . More-
over they have the pleasure of announcing that they are
under obligation to the Committees, both of the Natural
History Society and of the Geological Society of this town
for the readiness they have shown to co-operate with them
in the objects they have in view. From the Natural History
Society duplicate specimens will be from time to time for-
warded to the schools, and, by permission of the Geological
Society, the scholars of these schools, under the charge of one
of their masters, may visit the specimens in the Geological
Museum on any day from 10 till 4.'
At the Annual Meeting and Prize Distribution of the
Commercial School, June 22, 1865, Rev. Canon Richson
presided, and in speaking of his early connection with the
establishment of the new schools twenty years previously,
stated :
* When he came to the North he resided at Preston. He
then felt that efforts should be made to establish a school
for the middle class which should be wholly separate from
proprietary management, an institution in fact which should
be a public school. This object was soon carried out by
the son of the late Richard Newsome of Preston, who, at
his own cost, built a public school in that town for the middle
class as a memorial to his father. On coming to Manchester,
a society was established at the head of which was the late
Dean of Manchester (Dean Herbert) who principally raised
the money for the erection of the school.'
296 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The first head master of the Commercial School was
Rev. J. G. Slight, M.A., Scholar of St. John's, Cambridge,
who held the post till his appointment as Chaplain to the
Chorlton Union. He was subsequently Rector of Taxall,
Chester, till his death in 1851. He was assisted by a staff
of seven assistant-masters, who gave instruction in English,
French, German, Drawing, Music, Writing, and Arithmetic.
The school was intended to hold 150 scholars, and 137
were admitted in the first year. The fee charged was £8 8s.
a year.
On the resignation of Mr. Slight, the Rev. William Wilson
Howard, M.A., Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge,
was appointed. He seems to have left in a couple of years, for
he appears as third master of Rep ton School in 1855, and
in 1856 became Diocesan Inspector for the National Society.
The third headmaster was the Rev. Charles Edward
Moberly, M.A., Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford. He had
previously been head of St. Nicholas College, Shoreham,
and left to be Perpetual Curate at Bees ton, Yorkshire. Sub-
sequently he became assistant-master at Rugby School
(1859 to 1879) and finally Rector of Come Rogers, Co.
Gloucester (1879-1883).
The fourth headmaster was Rev. John Henn, B.A., of
London University, who was appointed in 1854. During his
headmastership, which lasted till 1873, the school rapidly
came to the front as the leading public High School in Man-
chester. Mr. Henn had previously served King Edward's
School, Birmingham, under Dr. Prince Lee, who had sur-
rendered the headmastership of the school to become the
first Bishop of Manchester in 1847, and who had previously
served as assistant-master at Rugby School, under Dr. Arnold.
Mr. Henn was a man of ability and exercised a very profound
influence on the boys under his care. He was for a few
years contemporary with Rev. Nicholas Germon at the
Manchester Grammar School, to whose English School,
being a ' Free School,' something of the mistaken stigma
of a Charity School was attached.
As the Owens College developed, the Manchester Com-
mercial Schools as they were now called, found a more
appropriate outlet for their best scholars, though this was
only a small part of their work, for a University course of
training or a prolonged stay at school was held to unfit a
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 297
merchant's son for a business career. When the family
resources allowed of the expense, he was generally sent to
a boarding school for domestic convenience and for a little
worldly experience, which was often distinctly bad.
It is convenient at this place to follow the subsequent his-
tory of this remarkable institution. Mr. Henn was appointed
Rector of St. John's, Deansgate, in 1876, and subsequently
of St. Thomas, Heaton Chapel. Rev. Benjamin Winfield,
B.A., of London University, who had served as assistant-
master since 1873, introduced practical instruction in
Chemistry and arranged the work so that the scholars could
participate in the Science and Art Department Examina-
tions of South Kensington, and in the Cambridge University
Local Examinations. In its musical training, its physical
training, its public swimming competitions, and chemical
laboratory work, the institution was well in advance of
many contemporary schools.
It should be noticed that, unlike the Grammar School,
the Commercial Schools had no organic relationship, either
by exhibitions, by endowment, or by the personal attach-
ment of any of its masters after 1854, with the older Univer-
sities of Oxford or Cambridge. School exhibitions were
granted June 1856. The natural outlet for those of its
scholars who were desirous of further educational facilities
was the Owens College, which offered higher training in the
study of Law, Medicine, and Engineering, and in special
subjects of skilled industry, such as Chemistry. First the
examinations conducted by the College of Preceptors, then
subsequently the Local Examinations set up by the Univer-
sities of Oxford and Cambridge, and finally the Matriculation
Examination of the London University, provided standards
of school accomplishment to be reached by candidates enter-
ing the several professions. Judged by such standards, the
Commercial Schools continued to maintain a high, if not the
premier position, before the reform at the Grammar School.
University honours and professional distinctions, however
useful for Speech Day purposes in inciting the ardour of
coming generations, offer only a very poor test of the
efficiency and influence of a school. Of much greater value
is the testimony of so many of the old pupils of Mr. Henn
and Mr. Winfield of what they owed to the school, as
298 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
illustrated in the letters they wrote from widely -scattered
quarters of the British dominions, and which were often
published in the local press.
At the Annual Meeting, held January 22, 1865, Canon
Richson took the chair. He recorded the visit of James
Bryce on behalf of the Schools Inquiry Commission and
reported results of examinations in Latin, French, German,
History, Arithmetic, English Composition and Dictation.
While these efforts were being made to improve the educa-
tion of the middle classes, still greater efforts were being made
on behalf of the poor.
The statistical work which Dr. Kay accomplished
in Manchester, 1831-1835,1 brought him at once before
the notice of Edwin Chad wick, who introduced him to
Lord Lansdowne, as a man of rare quality and singularly
valuable experience. Dr. Kay was asked to act as secretary
to the Special Committee of the Privy Council on Education
which was appointed 1839. The story of the organisation
of State assistance to education from this time to 1849 is
really the life-work of this remarkable man. By persistent
and quiet endeavour he overcame the self-satisfied ignorance,
the prejudice, and the calumny and the mistaken zeal that
were arrayed against him ; he triumphed in finally carrying
through his work, by which the State gained a directing and
supervising power over popular efforts for providing general
education. In 1833, when the first Government grant of
£30,000 was voted for education, the National Society and
the British and Foreign School Society were made the agents
for applying it. In 1839 the duty of administering this
grant was entrusted to the Special Committee of the Privy
Council. This was the origin of the Education Department,
though that name was not used till 1856. Reports of
the Committee were issued in 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, and
1843.
The policy of State provision and State control of public
education had been advocated by the Central Association
formed in London in 1833. It was from the first supported
by members of both political parties. It received enlight-
ened criticism in a series of lectures delivered by Rev. F. D.
Maurice, on ' Has the Church or the State the Power to
1 Proceedings of the Manchester Statistical Society.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 299
Educate the Nation ?' published 1839. Some of his observa-
tions on the ultimate results likely to follow the uncon-
trolled State education in Prussia and France when read
to-day seem to possess the prevision of prophecy. State-
provided and State-controlled education was adopted as a
policy by the reforming party till the minutes of the Com-
mittee of the Privy Council on Education, issued in 1846,
created considerable stir and changed the current of public
thought by advocating the formation of local committees
to deal with education.
This inaugurated an entirely new epoch, during which the
civic community as such became conscious of its responsi-
bility, and acknowledged that the public education of its
children was its own affair, and should be met by local rates,
and that it could not be delegated to any agency, whether
clerical or philanthropic . The reforming party now demanded
that education should be secular in its management and
control, though it desired active co-operation with religious
and philanthropic bodies. As a result of a meeting in the
vestry of Lloyd Street Chapel, Manchester, in July 1847,
an influential committee was formed, of which Jacob Bright,
Samuel Lucas, William Ballantyne, W. B. Hodgson, LL.D.,
Alexander Ireland, and Rev. W. McKerrow were members.
The advocates of publicly provided education for the poor
now formed two antagonistic parties, one of whom claimed
that public education had not ceased to be the prerogative of
the clergy, at least as far as clerical control was concerned, and
that all publicly managed education was necessarily ' godless ' ;
while the other claimed that it was only under conditions
of lay control and management that public education could
be freed from that subservience to the old traditions
of classical education which, except as preparatory for
professional careers, had become limited and obsolete. The
latter party, so far from having any objection to religious
training, for the most part welcomed it. They believed in
a * secular ' management, though not necessarily a ' secular '
teaching. The controversy was confused by the growth
of new traditions of middle class and artisan learning which
were springing up among the adult members of the com-
munity in connection with the Mechanics' Institutes and
the commercial and science classes at the Athenaeum. The
Free Public Library movement was also supported on
300 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
behalf of the working classes, who formed a separate
committee and raised more than a quarter of the initial
funds.1
The educational committee formed at Lloyd Street
Chapel held a public meeting on August 25, 1847, at
the Mechanics' Institute, Cooper Street, when an associa-
tion was formed, under the title ' Lancashire Public
Schools Association for Promoting a General System of
Secular Education.' Its policy was defined as the provision
of free day schools for children of five to fifteen years; evening
school for children ten years and upwards ; infant schools ;
industrial schools ; administration to be by local authorities
and finance based on local rates.
Dr. J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth felt compelled to resign his
membership on account of its detachment from any religious
organisation. He regarded clerical control as essential, and
did not regard clerical co-operation as sufficient. The first
annual meeting was held January 1849, and its second annual
meeting January 16, 1850. Dr. T. Relly Beard, whose pam-
phlet on the administration of the Grammar School had
prefaced the attack on the feoffees, was appointed Chairman
of Committee.
There were three possible methods by which the expense
of providing education for the poor could be met :
I. Voluntary benevolence, the plan supported by Lord
Brougham, E. Baines, and many wealthy philanthropists.
II. Local rates, the plan supported by those who, having
experienced the limited value of local effort under denomina-
tional stimulus, realised how inadequate was the support
forthcoming.
III. State provision, the plan supported by politicians,
who were enamoured of Continental systems which they
had only imperfectly studied.
Each had its advocates, but soon the several groups
became split up and regrouped according to their support
or rejection of the control of the clergy over the schools.
Meanwhile the Lancasterian Schools continued their
excellent work. At the annual meeting of subscribers,
held Friday, June 15, 1855, Mr. Alfred Nield not only
gave a history of their progress during the forty-five years
1 Credland, Manchester Public Libraries.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 301
they had been in existence, but also described their
present condition.1
The system advocated by the Lancashire Public Schools
Association was based on local rates, district Education
Committees to be appointed over large areas, not parishes,
with wide powers in the building of schools, the employment
of teachers, and the curriculum. Education was to be
free.
The system advocated by the National Education Union
was based upon a tax on property, to be distributed as a
Government grant or subsidy to certain District Committees,
of somewhat narrower scope than the District Committees
advocated above, and which were to be under the control of
a central authority. Money for building was to be derived
from a local rate : money for support by private subscrip-
tion, and State subsidy. The Committees were to be allowed
to pay gratuities to deserving scholars to promote their
further education.
To check the growing influence of the Lancashire Public
Schools Association, a Manchester and Salford Committee
was formed for providing education under the control of the
Church of England. Of this committee Canon Richson
was the most active and enlightened member. He was
supported not only by the local clergy, but by many
Nonconformists who believed that the resources of volun-
taryism were not exhausted, and that the religious bodies
were still able and willing to provide the public with means
for elementary education.
Meanwhile the Lancashire Public Schools Association
brought forward an Education Bill whose object was to
establish free schools, first in Lancashire, then throughout
England and Wales, for secular instruction. The Manchester
and SaJford Committee then brought forward the Manchester
and Salford Boroughs Education Bill, whose object was to
provide that all the youths of the three kingdoms should be
religiously brought up and the rights of conscience respected.
It abandoned the pure voluntary principle, and sought sup-
port by rates levied on property for all schools qualified to
have the parliamentary grant, but refused to allow any part
of the management to pass out of the hands of the bodies
1 See contemporary reports.
302 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
which originated the schools. It offered free admission to
all such schools for all applicants. On the presentation of
the two local Bills to Parliament in 1852, a Select Committee
consisting of
Mr. Milner Gibson Mr. William Miles
Mr. Peto Mr. Monsall
Mr. John Bright Marquis of Blandford
Lord John Russell Mr. Gladstone
Mr. Heald Mr. Cobden
Mr. Caldwell Mr. Fox
Mr. Ker Seymour Mr. Brother ton
Mr. William Banks
was appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into the
education provided within the two boroughs of Manchester
and Salford.
The urgency of the need for providing public elementary
education is shown by the following figures :
The population of Manchester and Salford in 1851 was
390,000, 75 per cent, living in houses under £10 a year and
11 per cent, living in houses between £10 and £18 a year.
From a religious census taken in 1851 , there were then 2,407,642
scholars upon the books of the Sunday Schools in England
and Wales. About three-eighths were in schools of the Church
of England, the rest divided amongst the various denomina-
tions of dissenters and Roman Catholics, the largest
proportion being among the Wesley ans, who had nearly
half as many as the Church of England.
The statistics prepared for the Select Committee were
sharply criticised by the Rev. Canon Richson, who possessed
both insight and wide sympathy. He drew up and read
before the Manchester Statistical Society figures alternative
to those put forward by the Public Schools Association.
He was not only a thinker, but an active worker, and had
prepared for the National Society useful text-books on
school planning and furnishing, and on the teaching of
drawing, writing, and elocution. He did much to raise
educational controversy in Manchester above sectarian
bitterness.
The following quotation represents Canon Richson's
point of view :
' Unless the inducement to leave school early by the
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 303
remuneration offered to juvenile labour can be properly dimin-
ished, the period of education among the working children
of a district like Manchester cannot be expected to extend
much beyond the period when children usually obtain em-
ployment, viz. the age of eight or nine years. At such an age
no reasonable person can consider their education completed.
The establishment of Mechanics' Institutions, Athenaeums,
&c., cannot be regarded as a substitute for schools of purely
practical science inasmuch as they want that authority and
control which are necessary to conduct any study to effect.'
The new trustees of the Manchester Grammar School
were thus called upon to reconstruct an educational policy
at a time when educational aims were confused and conflicting
and when it was difficult for open-minded men to choose
wisely and temperately between opposing claims, or to strike
out new ideas which naturally met with the disapproval of
the extremists of either party.
In accordance with the plan laid down by the Master
in Chancery, they had been selected from persons residing
in the townships of Manchester and Salford. They were
all merchants of experience and of public reputation, chosen
from the several conflicting parties in the town. Two had
been themselves educated at the School, but none were in
Orders, or had received actual University training, though
the Dean of Manchester naturally continued to be their
occasional adviser, as he remained the official Visitor of the
school. Their names and their qualifications for the work
are given in the Appendix.
By the exertions of the * Relators ' the School trust had
been virtually recovered for the use of the townspeople ; by
the exertions of the old feoffees it had been saved for the
purpose of higher education, and no part could be diverted
to provide elementary education for the poor. It is true
that the latter was badly needed, but other organisa-
tions had to be called into play to deal with it. Perhaps the
colossal expense of the eleven years' Chancery actions was
not too high a price to pay for this solution of the
controversy. The new trustees, in addition to witnessing
the successful completion of the political struggle for the
repeal of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free
Trade, had memories of the fight for the passage of the
Reform Bill, and had seen how the reformed Parliament had
304 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
shown its interest in education by making the first public
grant since the grants of the Duchy Court of Lancaster
in Queen Elizabeth's day.1 They had witnessed also the
appointment of Charity Commissioners, of Poor Law Com-
missioners, of Ecclesiastical Commissioners, of Factory
Commissioners, and of The Health of Towns Commissioners
— all with the purpose of obtaining information for the
guidance of Legislature on these subjects. Lastly, the recent
incorporation of the town in 1839 had established a Town
Council, whose duty it was to look after the welfare of the
inhabitants. To them education was one of the processes
of social amelioration for all ranks of society.
The outlook of the new trustees was naturally somewhat
different from that of the relators. They had not been
protagonists in the struggle, and though the eleven years
which had elapsed since its commencement had been strenuous
ones, and many differences of opinion and even of principle
continued to exist, yet there was a much clearer under-
standing of opponents' views and a diminution of class
antagonism. Indeed, all the new trustees were Manchester
merchants, half being Nonconformists and half Churchmen.
Most of them had had considerable experience in Local Ad-
ministration of Municipal or Poor Law, and many had served
on unofficial public bodies concerned with public philan-
thropy or public education, such as the Mechanics' Institute,
the Athenaeum, the School of Design, &c. They therefore
fully realised that middle-class education could no longer
be limited to the kind of training still regarded as suitable
for the so-called learned professions, but that it was necessary
to include, for boys destined for commercial careers, some
form of training in mathematics, science and art, English
history and literature, and the use of modern foreign
languages. Fortunately the Broad Church movement led
by Archbishop Whately and others was breaking up the old
spirit of exclusiveness which had grown up among the Church
clergy and Nonconformist ministry alike, for Nonconformist
and Anglican laymen were finding plenty of ground for
common action in the educational efforts put forth by the
supporters of the Athenaeum and other philanthropic institu-
tions. It was, however, noticeable that unless these efforts
1 See Bainei' History of Lancashire.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 305
were markedly concerned with religious propaganda they
were not supported by Anglican or Nonconformist clergy,
until the recognition of the defective food supply of the
people caused many of them to share in the work of the
Anti-Corn Law League.
The educational scheme proposed by the Court of
Chancery, which the new trustees had been asked to carry
out, embraced two hitherto non-related and even exclusive
aims — the one for boys intending a commercial career and
leaving school at 13 to 14, the other for boys staying till
18 or 19, and intending a University and professional career.
The natural leaders of Higher Education to whom they
turned could offer little assistance. They were, firstly, the
official Visitor of the School. This was the Rev. Dr. G. H.
Bowers, who had been appointed Dean of Manchester in 1847,
the title of Warden having been dropped. Ecclesiastical
administrative affairs were very engrossing at this time, for
the See of Manchester had just been created, and changes
in the Collegiate body were taking place. Dr. Prince Lee,
though coming fresh from the position of headmaster of
Birmingham, was too fully occupied with the organisation
of his diocese to give much detailed attention to the purely
educational needs of Manchester. Indeed, his experiences
of the recent reorganisation of the King Edward School at
Birmingham might have been more of a hindrance than
a help.
The other natural leaders were the high master and
the teaching staff. The Rev. Nicholas Germon was un-
doubtedly a man of considerable power and attainments.
He had graduated B.A. from Oriel College, Oxford, 1821,
when the reform movement within the University, which
derived its name from that college, was concentrating itself
on securing increased efficiency of classical teaching, though
it had not yet entered on a phase of increased width of
outlook. He had been recommended as assistant master
to the School in 1825 by Dr. Coplestone, famous for his share
in raising the efficiency of classical training at Oriel College.
By successive promotions he had reached the position of
high master in 1842. He was respected by the boys and
by the townspeople. He had been incumbent of St. Peter's
Church, Mosley Street, from 1825, and his congregation at
this time included many of the wealthy merchant families,
306 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
while other such families, perhaps the most opulent and
influential in the town, attended Cross Street Chapel, or the
Scotch Presbyterian Church in Lloyd Street. His church -
manship is described as being moderately high and dry, and
it does not appear that he exerted any considerable influence
on the intellectual and religious life of the town. Though
St. Peter's was the fashionable church of the town, the income
attached to it was not a large one, and the salary available
for the high master from school funds, though considerable,
was depleted by the pension paid to Dr. Smith. Thus, in
order to maintain his social position, Mr. Germon was
dependent upon the additional income derivable from taking
of wealthy boarders.
He expected high attainments among his scholars, whose
limited numbers naturally caused him disappointment and
anxiety. His experience of the social needs of a city
school had not been broadened, though it might have
been softened, by his long association with Rev. Jeremiah
Smith. His very virtues prevented him from under-
standing the social and civic changes around him ;
while the fact that the School funds no longer provided
scholarships, and wealthy boarders were no longer attracted
to the School, no doubt considerably intensified any anxiety
he might have felt about his personal income. Meanwhile
confusion and dissatisfaction continued among the other
masters of the Grammar School, who naturally shared
the feelings of the high master, for they were also sufferers
under the new conditions.
The most liberalising leement in the School at this time
was the second master, Richard Thompson, assistant master
in the Classical School. He began to reorganise the School
library in 1845, which still contained a number of old books
which had probably been in the School nearly 200 years.
These received a detailed consideration and description by
the late John Harland in the Manchester Guardian, while a
further description of the School library at this date appeared
in Ulula, 1882. The oldest extant MS. book containing a
list of borrowers is dated 1845, when a number of books were
taken out in the name of the high master and several pupils.
The entries seem to have been made once a week, and small
sums of money are entered up, which indicate that a weekly
payment was made by those using the books. Books were
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 307
presented by Richard Whately and many others. A number
of benefactors, among whom was William Slater, presented
books and sums of money. The whole question was recon-
sidered about 1855. To the remains of the old library (about
forty volumes) and the volumes more recently purchased by a
subscription library, some 500 new volumes were added. A
catalogue was printed, 1856, and the whole placed under
the management of Richard Thompson.1
The English school might conceivably have been of greater
importance, but Rev. George Slade was a man of lesser calibre
than his predecessor, Rev. E. D. Jackson. John Deas Mac-
kenzie, who came to assist in the English School in 1853,
though of considerable attainment and influence among the
boys, only stayed about eight years. I have been quite
unable to follow his career. He was a great lover of history,
and had such a particular admiration for Cromwell that the
boys when in trouble about their work would often deftly
turn the conversation to the subject of the Great Protector,
and so mollify any anger. He was evidently highly respected
in the district, for he acted as hon. secretary at the Athenaeum
during a period of acute partisanship in 1858. Mr. Mac-
kenzie's portrait hangs over the fireplace in the Board-room
at the School, having been presented by his sister. He was
a quiet man and lived a somewhat retired life at Irwell View,
Lower Broughton, and used constantly to talk to himself
as he wandered about.
The clergy of the district, many of whom had been
educated at the School, had been accustomed to attend
regularly on the Annual Speech Day. This had been a
fashionable gathering held in the English School, previous
to the Anniversary Dinner of the Old Boys. The University
examiners, who were frequently old scholars, had generally
attended both functions. The School meetings had not been
held since 1847, but the Anniversary Dinners were continued ;
the University Examiners often attended these and spoke
more freely than in their reports to the trustees. It is evident
from the accounts of these dinners that the general policy
of the School received ample criticism, and that, though
they cemented old friendships, they also perpetuated old
1 Richard Thompson's own valuable library was subsequently pre-
sented to the School by Miss Thompson in 1876.
308 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
prejudices and tended to deprive the trustees of the sympathy
and co-operation of the old boys in their new task of adapting
the old School.
Finally, the trustees might look for guidance to the Pre-
sident of Corpus Christi College, Oxon, hi whom rested the
right of appointment of high master. This was Dr. Norris,
who had been made president in 1843, and who held that
position during all the stormy years of University reform.
He is credited with having been of Conservative tendencies,
but he was certainly the most helpful of all the advisers.
The prolonged conferences which the trustees held with
all of these authorities shows how earnestly they endeavoured
to fulfil their responsibility. In spite of their experience
of the working of the Mechanics' Institute, the Athenaeum,
the School of Design, and of the new Owens College, perhaps
because all these institutions were directed to providing
training for the adult members of the community, they
failed adequately to organise the English School or to make
it an efficient centre of commercial training. Consequently
the first ten years of their work seemed barren of outward
results. They, were, however, by no means really so, for much
experience was gamed of the causes of failure, and many
problems, if not actually solved, were placed in the way of
more easy solution when the proper time came.
On their appointment the new trustees, as business
men, at once set themselves to inquire into the condition of
the funds. Sir Elkanah Armitage was appointed chairman ;
Mr. Oliver Heywood, banker, was appointed treasurer.
They found all the accounts were kept in good order, and
there was still a sum of £14,782 10$. Sd. in 3J per cent.
Bank Stock. They determined to try to increase the
school income, firstly, by making the business of the mills a
more efficient and paying concern, and secondly, by making
judicious arrangements with the rest of their property by
renting it to the Lancashire and Leeds Railway Company,
whose extension to Hunt's Bank had been opened January
1843, and which was now needing more space for an approach.
They then devoted their attention to the internal
management of the School and the character of the teach-
ing. Probably there was a good deal of outward re-
spec tabihty and decorous behaviour when the boys were
under observation, which passed for educational efficiency.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 309
The beadle was a very imposing personage, with his gold bands
on his coat and his tall beaver hat. Both Mr. Thompson and
Mr. Mackenzie were men of dignified bearing, and Mr. Germon
was certainly treated with respect. The curriculum was,
however, very bad. The masters would often sleep during
part of the school-time. There were no home lessons, for all
preparation was done in class, and the boys would gather
round the master's desk to say their lessons. There were
maps on the walls, but these were never used. Admission
to the School was nominally in order of application, but
practically by favour, for the applications were numerous.
The curriculum had been settled by the Court of Chan-
cery. To see how far it was carried out the trustees ap-
pointed a Committee (December 7, 1849) — Messrs. Armitage,
Peel, Rickards, Barbour, and Hunter — to examine the school
buildings ; to ascertain the number of masters employed ;
the number of scholars ; the hours of attendance ; the mode
of admission, about which there had been some suspicion
of favouritism ; and, finally, the general state and manage-
ment of the School. The Committee reported that they
found that there were eight masters employed, and that
the two schools were kept entirely separate, even possessing
separate registers. There were
Four higher classical masters in charge of 130 boys.
One lower classical master in charge of 73 boys.
One master of English literature in charge of 150 boys.
One French master with occasional duties.
One master of writing and accounts with occasional duties.
The appointment of a mathematical master, so essential
for boys intending a commercial career, appeared to have
fallen into abeyance. The School Committee therefore
reported that in order to carry out the scheme of studies
laid down in the Court of Chancery, it would be necessary
to appoint :
1. A mathematical master (Mr. Boardman) at a salary
of £160 a year.
2. A librarian at £10 a year.
3. One or more occasional lecturers on Natural Philosophy,
and to provide proper instruments and apparatus for
illustration of lectures.
Before proceeding to carry out these ideas the trustees
held a conference with the Dean, Rev. G. H. Bowers, and
310 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the high master, as a result of which recommendations
3 and 4 were postponed as unnecessary at present for the
type of boy in the English School, while 1 and 2 were
carried out.
While granting a sum of £20 to the high master for prizes
in October 1850, the trustees requested him to resume the
custom, which had again fallen into abeyance, of making a
public distribution of the prizes immediately after the School
examination. This was particularly advisable, as the
only other public function associated with the School was
the Anniversary Dinner held by the old boys, to which the
new trustees were not likely to be welcome guests, particularly
as it was the custom to invite the high master and the
examiners, and to hear from them expressions about the
policy of the School.
Whether the Public Speech Days were at once estab-
lished is uncertain, as no accounts of them appear in current
newspapers. The Examiners' Reports, however, were regu-
larly published, and from them we learn that the examiners
repeatedly pointed out the great falling off in numbers of the
boys attending the higher classical departments, and their
lack of proficiency in classical and other knowledge, owing
to the rapid promotion from the elementary classes to fill
up vacant places. The examiners did not, however, suggest
that the number of classes or the subjects of study should
be diminished. They expressed themselves satisfied with the
results achieved in the English School, and the presence
there of some very promising material, but regretted that the
majority of pupils continued to leave the School in less than
two years after entry, and before the results of its teaching
could be fully ascertained.
In spite of the often too favourable University Examiners'
reports, the trustees continued dissatisfied and believed that
the School was capable of doing more for Manchester boys than
it was then accomplishing. They requested (April 13, 1853)
Sir Elkanah Armitage, Mr. Peel, and Mr. Hunter to inspect
the School personally, and, after conferring with the Dean
and the high master, to ascertain whether the existing course
of instruction was consistent with the terms and spirit of the
regulations governing the School, approved by Court of
Chancery, 1848. The public to some extent shared their
dissatisfaction. There are a number of descriptions of the
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 311
School at this period ; among others, a very interesting series
of reminiscences of contemporary school life, particularly
with regard to its boy nature and boy occupation, was pub-
lished in the Courier, and republished in Ulula, 1904, by
Alexander Hulme, who was in the School about 1854. Mr.
Edwards, who had come to Manchester in 1851 to take up
the position of Chief Librarian in the newly established Free
Library in Campfield, thus writes of the School in his
* Manchester Worthies,' published 1855 :
4 The Upper, or Classical School, consists of 4 masters and
nearly 70 boys ; the Lower School in which boys are pre-
pared for the Upper and also for the English School, one
master and 70 boys; the English School in which a single
master has to try to do the impossible task of teaching English
History, Grammar, Geography, and a multitude of other
subjects to 150 urchins of 8 to 12 years old ; for an English
School which forms part of a great and venerable foundation
in one of the chief cities of the realm, this is no satisfactory
report. The amount expended in master's salaries is, ac-
cording to a statement which has been printed, about £200.'
The backward state of secondary education in Manchester
in 1855 is also referred to by Professor W. C. Williamson.
In speaking of the difficulty of finding students adequately
prepared to avail themselves of the advantages offered by the
newly established Owens College, he comments :
' One thing was unquestionable, school education in Man-
chester was at that time at a very low ebb. Of course the
schoolmasters of the day ridiculed this explanation ; but
it was a fact. The students were not prepared for those
higher standards of education which a collegiate institution
demanded, and below which its professors could not descend.
The teachers of the schools retorted by declaring that we could
not know anything about their teaching because they were
not such fools as to send their upper students to us. Ere
long the truth of our assertions was plainly demonstrated.
At that time the local University Examinations were be-
coming popular and were being held in a number of the
larger centres of population. At length one such was held
in Manchester, and when the usual annual report of these
examinations was published Manchester stood at the bottom
of the entire list. But whilst our complaints respecting
the low standard of Manchester educationalists were thus
312 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
justified, other influences equally unfavourable were at work.
At that time opinion prevailed widely amongst the merchants
of the town that if lads were to do any good, either to their
masters or to themselves, they must enter the warehouses
very early in life, i.e. by the time they were 14 ; and, having
done so, they must undertake the most menial of the opera-
tions which were demanded by the business men of to-day.
That this conviction was then very widely spread, even
among the most intelligent portion of the mercantile com-
munity, I know from my own personal association with many
such.' 1
James Heywood, M.P. for North Lancashire, son of Sir
Benjamin Heywood, and brother of Oliver Heywood, perhaps
the most active member of Parliament for promoting
university reform, made a report to the Association for the
Reform of Educational Endowments in 1856, in which he
mentions the controversy at the Manchester Grammar School
concerning the lack of introduction of Modern Languages
and Practical Science into the curriculum.
* The appointment to the High Mastership of the Man-
chester Free Grammar School is vested absolutely by Bishop
Oldham's Will in the President of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford. Fortunately at the present time the head of that
College is willing to act in unison with the Trustees of the
School in Manchester, and a favourable opportunity is thus
afforded in the event of any change hi the officers of the School,
of rendering the range of instruction more extensive, by
introducing Modern Languages and Practical Science as a
principal part of the Education. Manchester Free Grammar
School is connected with Oxford by several Exhibitions,
and should the matriculation examination in that Univer-
sity be extended (i.e. should the religious tests be abolished)
a favourable effect in education would be the result.'
Rev. Canon Charles Bigg had left the School for Christ
Church College, Oxford, in 1858, though, owing to his not
having been five years at the School, he was not entitled to a
School Exhibition. Preaching the Founder's Day Sermon
at the Manchester Cathedral in 1903, he remarked :
1 Well, it is a good thing that there should be that ladder,
and I know that the School still provides it in liberal measure.
1 Reminiscences of a Yorkshire Naturalist, pp. 138, 139.
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 313
But all climbing has its dangers. We boys in those days
came almost without exception — I daresay the same thing
is true still — from those homes where there was little luxury
and not much refinement. There were many ambitious
boys ; some admirable ones whose example left nothing to be
desired. The teaching was old-fashioned and narrow, as
was all teaching in those days. It provided all that was
necessary for the head, but I found in myself, and often
noticed in others, how insufficient it was in other ways. There
was no playground — that was one great drawback ; and
in consequence we saw very little of one another out of school
and still less of the masters. We were not sufficiently brought
under any elevating influence ; we saw a good deal of the
seamy side of the world, and not enough of its brighter
aspects. I do not doubt that all this has much changed for
the better. But in my time many a bright lad went up
to Oxford full of Latin and Greek, but with everything else
to learn, the speech and habits of Society, knowledge of
mankind, above all self-control. There they found them-
selves in a new world with wine at command, and almost
unlimited credit, and a great range of pleasure good and
bad. Many went to wreck. They climbed only to lose
their heads and fall. I could tell you many a sad story,
and I could tell you many bright ones — more bright ones
than sad.'
Canon Bigg became head master of Brighton College,
Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Oxford, Canon
of Christ Church, and friend of John Mathias Wilson, the
last of the Benthamites, and was perhaps thereby one of
the influences which induced F. W. Walker to come to
Manchester.1
The main cause of the difficulties which beset the English
School was the lack of general enlightenment among the
middle and industrial classes living in the neighbourhood,
capable of providing the School with a stream of able, energetic
and well-prepared boyhood, whose education could be ad-
vanced into the higher reaches of learning for which the School
was intended. Such enlightenment was rapidly occurring,
thanks to the provision of free public libraries, and the activities
which now centred round the Mechanics' Institute. Though
the Institute was intended primarily for the members of the
1 Obituary Notice, Manchester Guardian, July 16, 1908.
314 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
working classes, it was attended by the youth of the
middle classes, whose school education had been limited,
and who desired to continue their studies. The lower middle
classes now contributed a larger proportion of the members
than did the bona-fide operative classes. Many Manchester
men who were subsequently well known for their public spirit
and wide culture — George Milner, Charles Rowley, and others
— after having received their school education at Bennett
Street, Oldham Road, Manchester, during their early business
career, spent their evenings in study at the Mechanics'
Institute.
About 1837 the Manchester Athenaeum, which had been
opened as the social and intellectual meeting-place for
members of the middle classes, began to provide evening
instruction.
In 1840 the Manchester and District Association of
Literary and Scientific Institutes was founded, with Edward
Herford as Secretary, and within three months 2000 people
availed themselves of the various Lyceums.
The London School of Design had been established by
the Board of Trade as a result of the findings of a Royal
Commission appointed to inquire into the causes of the
general inferiority that existed in the country, in the applica-
tion of arts to furniture, pottery, metal- work, &c. Benjamin
Robert Haydon was sent from London on a lecturing tour
-through the provinces to arouse interest in the matter, and
induce other towns to establish Schools of Design in the
locality. In his diary, 1837, Haydon writes :
* Manchester is in a dreadful condition as to Art. No
School of Design. The young men drawing without instruc-
tion, a fine anatomical figure shut up in a box. The house-
keeper obliged to hunt for the key. I'll give it them before
I go.'
In October, 1837, George Wallis delivered two lectures
at the Mechanics' Institute, Manchester, on the desirability
of establishing a School of Design. The result of these efforts
was such as to induce a number of manufacturers and others
to take action. James Heywood, banker, F.R.S., M.P. for
Lancashire, brother of Oliver Heywood, became president, and
contributed largely to the funds. The Manchester School of
Design was opened without ceremony in some rooms belonging
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 315
to the Royal Institution, Mosley Street, October 4, 1838.
On the recommendation of David Wilkie, John Zephaniah
Bell was appointed head master. A committee of the sub-
scribers arranged the course of study. George Heys, Warwick
Brooks, Henry Travis, Francis Chester were prominent among
the first students, and a few young men from the Athenaeum
also attended. The school was supported by donations and
subscriptions from Manchester merchants and others, and to
a small extent by fees from students.
On January 15, 1844, George Wallis, on becoming head-
master, delivered an introductory address. Lectures were
given to the students twice a week. A definite plan of in-
struction was drawn up and approved by the local committee.
Subscriptions soon fell off, and, in order to place the institution
on a firm basis, the Committee made application to the Board
of Trade for pecuniary assistance, and for its establishment
as a recognised Government School of Art. An inspector
was sent down from the Board of Trade who disapproved of
the general cultural plan of instruction pursued at the College,
and insisted, probably acting on specific instructions from the
Board, that the training should be in immediate practical
relation to the after career of the pupil. The use of the human
figure or model was forbidden unless the study of this was
necessary for subsequent occupation. As the Committee
felt they were dependent upon Government aid, and could
not continue the School without it, they adopted the Scheme
of Study. George Wallis thereupon resigned in 1846, and
the school continued as a Trade School under Government
supervision.
Henry Johnson, the next headmaster, who delivered his
introductory address, May 6, 1846, only remained a short
time.
David Cooper, son of Abraham Cooper, was next ap-
pointed. At this time the school was removed from the
Royal Institution to Brown Street.
James Astbury Hammersley, F.S.A., late Art Master
at Nottingham, who succeeded in 1848, remained till 1862.
He was allowed to restore the cultural method, for he taught
landscape-drawing. Clarence Waite was one of his principal
pupils. The title was now changed to The Manchester School
of Art. It was during Hammersley 's time that the Great
Exhibition was held in Hyde Park in 1851.
316 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The school was visited by John Ruskin in 1859.
In the spring of 1856 a meeting of Manchester merchants
was held at which J. C. Deane, P. Cunningham, Thomas Fair-
bairn, and T. Ash ton brought forward the project of holding
.an Art Treasures Exhibition in Manchester. A Guarantee
Fund of £70,000 was raised, and it was decided to erect a
building similar in plan, but smaller in size than the famous
Crystal Palace. There were ancient and modern paintings,
sculptures, and many valuable objects illustrative of Orna-
mental Art and Handicraft. The Prince Consort himself
not only secured a loan of collections from the Royal Palaces,
but visited the Exhibition. Hammersley was president of the
Artists' Committee, and as such drew up the presentation
address.
We have already briefly referred to the Owens College.
In 1846 John Owens, a Manchester merchant having no near
relations, left a sum of nearly £100,000 in the hands of fourteen
trustees to establish a University College which should be free
from the religious tests which prevented many boys from going
to Oxford or Cambridge. The trustees obtained suggestions
from the recently founded London University and Durham
University, and particularly sought advice from the Scottish
Universities where the classes were attended by young
men desirous of continuing their school education, but not
necessarily intending to follow any one of the learned pro-
fessions. It was recognised that there might be many men in
Manchester who would ultimately engage in the business of
commerce, but who would be very glad to study one or more
particular subjects under competent tuition. A report of
their conclusions was issued by the trustees to the public,
Dec. 17, 1850. Premises in Quay Street, formerly belonging
to Richard Cobden, were acquired and opened October 1851 —
sixty-two students attending during the session. The history
of its early struggles and subsequent firm establishment
is so fully told in Joseph Thompson's ' Foundation and
Growth of the Owens College,' and the various depart-
ments and scope of its work so adequately treated in Dr.
Philip Hartog's ' History of the Owens College ' that it is
not necessary to follow it here. From time to time allusions
will be made to its relation to the Grammar School.
Valuable as were the educational efforts of the Owens
College, the Athenaeum evening classes, and the Mechanics'
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 317
Institution, they were in every case restricted by the same
circumstances, the pupils were unable to benefit properly
owing to the defects of their previous education, in spite of
the increasing clarity of educational outlook and recognition
of the value of sustained regular schooling. Progress was
slow. It was not limited to the upper middle classes, but
was extending among the lower middle and artisan classes
who were attending the voluntary National and British
Schools. From a report of the meeting of the supporters of
the old Lancasterian School we read :
* Until 1849 the system was the old Lancasterian, with
which the school commenced, and which had become all but
obsolete throughout the county, being generally superseded
by that of the British and Foreign School Society which may
be regarded as its offspring. At first about one thousand
children of both sexes were collected in one vast room with
two male and one female teacher for the whole. Anything
beyond a general superintendence of this great body was of
course out of their power, and the teaching was necessarily
of a very unsatisfactory quality. The committee appointed
in 1849 thought it their duty to endeavour to amend, in some
measure, the defects of this arrangement, though with much
reluctance to disturb rudely the existing state of things. Their
first step was to erect a separate room for the reception of the
higher classes of boys, with a view to their more thorough
instruction, and consequently increased efficiency as monitors,
and this room placed under the charge of a new master, trained
in the British and Foreign Society School in the Borough
Road. In 1850 they applied for Government inspection,
and obtained the apprenticeship of several pupil teachers.
The early reports of Her Majesty's inspector, J. D. Morell,
Esq., were necessarily of a qualified character, and in 1853
urgent representations from him, together with other circum-
stances to which it is not necessary now to allude, compelled
the committee carefully to review the position of the school.
They came to the unanimous conclusion that the attempt
they had been making to combine the old with the new system
was endangering the existence of the latter, and they could
not hesitate in deciding which of the two should be sacrificed.
They had accordingly superseded the old teachers, and divided
the large room into four portions better adapted for the exist-
ing arrangements. The whole boys' school is now under
one headmaster, Mr. Seddon, and two assistant masters and
eleven pupil teachers. The present number on the books is
318 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
585 boys, 117 girls, 214 infants— total 916. Of these children,
the boys attend various Sunday schools in about the following
proportions : 70 per cent. Church of England, 20 per cent.
Protestant Dissenters, 5 per cent. Roman Catholics, 5 per cent,
none — total 100.
' The course of instruction includes reading, writing,
arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, vocal music,
drawing, and in the higher classes, the elements of algebra
and geometry. . . . There are in the school the children
of parents of various grades, some in easy circumstances,
others in great poverty. The higher fee to the select class
seems to answer well, and to raise the tone and character
of the school.'
From the Report of 1858 we read :
' About 900 scholars are now on the book. The number
admitted during last year was 1233, from which, as will be
seen, the average period of their school attendance is
but short. . . . Instruction is given in reading, writing,
arithmetic, grammar, geography, vocal music, drawing and
other useful subjects, according to the time at the command
of the scholar. Drawing is taught by a master from the
School of Art, and thirteen boys have received prizes from the
department of Science and Art.
* Besides the headmaster and mistress there are now em-
ployed in the boys' school (about 450 pupils) three assistants
and eight pupil teachers ; in the girls' and infants' schools,
seven pupil teachers.'
It is evident that two parties with differing ideals were
striving at the Manchester Grammar School for mastership.
The one contemplated a curriculum of learning based on the
old classical tradition, which aimed at preparing the mind of
the scholar by a course of Latin and Greek grammar before
allowing him to enter upon a specialised course of training in
Science or Natural Philosophy, whether at Cambridge or else-
where. The other, supported by those of the governing
body associated with the Manchester Athenaeum, Mechanics'
Institute, &c., desired the so-called practical education which
had already found expression in the Mechanics' Institutes,
Schools of Design, Athenaeum, &c., which commenced with
the study of such modern languages as French and German,
and attendance at lectures and demonstrations in Natural
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 319
Science. The training of the pupil by means of practical
experiments in chemistry, and practical measurements in
physics, had not yet been sufficiently organised for it to
become part of the School curriculum till a much later date,
though, as we have seen, Adam Martindale made practical
surveying a method of teaching mathematics in 1665. Dean
Bowers, the official Visitor of the school, and the coadjudicator
with the high master in the award of University Exhibitions,
believed that, if the classical boys spent more time in writing,
in studying mathematics and foreign languages, their classical
studies would suffer. He urged that the standard of examina-
tions set by the Universities was rising year by year, and
that the School could only maintain its reputation by increas-
ing the efficiency of its classics. He also pointed out that
the Owens College had recently been added to the other local
educational institutions, and had already provided for the
alternative and newer forms of training. The fact that higher
training in Science needed as much school preparation as
classics did not occur to him. It is because the Grammar
School was for so many years the seat of such conflict of
ideals that its history during this period is so instructive
to students of education. Reconciliation between the two
ideals was impossible while the outlook of the protagonists
remained so limited. One preliminary lesson was being
learnt from the (temporary) failure of Mechanics' Institutes
and even of Owens College, and that was the need for great
improvements in elementary training for the artisans and
the lower middle classes.
At last we come to a period when the confusion was to
cease. The turbulent forceful stream of the Irk, which for
more than three centuries had turned the wheels of the mills,
and thus provided the power which ground the malt and corn
for the inhabitants of Manchester, and in so doing had pro-
vided the means for the higher education of a selected group
of scholars, had now become a murky, sluggish stream. The
head-waters were diverted into reservoirs and used for other
purposes in other districts. The flood of February 2, 1852,
was the last. What stream remained grew more and more
unsightly, and more capable of doing mischief than conferring
benefit on mankind. If the mills were still to grind corn
and malt, a new force would have to be found. This the new
trustees were called upon to provide in the form of steam-
320 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
engines and by the use of coal. It involved the outlay of
large capital expenditure, but it was accomplished and the
funds from the School mills again became available for school
needs.
At this period, too, the stream of forceful boyhood, seek-
ing various professional careers, which had been gathered
from neighbouring counties into the boarding-houses of the
masters, showed signs of entirely drying up. The reputation
of the School for high scholarship was falling for want of
able scholars. How was the vigour of this stream to be
renewed ? How was the reputation of the School to be again
built up ? There was plenty of boyhood available, energetic,
enterprising, capable, but the pathways of commerce led to
quicker advance than the School. The credit for the change
in the School curriculum and the School management which
solved the problem of attracting a new stream of boyhood
to the School belongs to one man of great initiative,
amounting to genius, Mr. Walker, the story of whose work
at the School must be told in a separate chapter. It must,
however, not be forgotten how well the trustees of 1849 had
prepared the ground.
In October 1855, they made a third attempt to get the
curriculum of the School on a more satisfactory basis, and
appointed Alderman Watkins, Thomas Hunter, and Mr.
Robert Barbour to visit the School and examine all its
departments. In their report, dated April 9, 1856, they
expressed the opinion that the present separation of the
English and the Classical Schools, and the practice of the high
master confining his attention to a superintendence of his
own class, i.e. to 11 boys out of a total of 200, and not super-
vising the English or the rest of the Classical School, was
inconsistent with the design of the scheme, as sanctioned
by the Court of Chancery, and that the subject was one
deserving the serious consideration of the Dean and high
master. The latter was irremovable, even by the head of
Corpus Chris ti who appointed him. With a view, therefore,
to secure the high master's active superintendence of the
whole School, ' they resolved that, considering the limited
advantages of the Lower School, and the small pecuniary
means at the disposal of the trustees, it appears very desirable
to consider with the Dean and high master the expediency
either of doing away with the Lower School, as preparatory
THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN 321
to the Classical School, altogether, or of materially reducing
the salary of the master of that school.'
Mr. Peel, an old scholar and now a trustee, wished to revert
to the old custom of allowing masters to take boarders, and
gave notice of his intention to bring under the consideration
of the trustees the serious injury which, in his opinion, the
School had sustained by the masters being deprived of their
former powers.
On hearing that Mr. Wadham, the second master, had placed
his resignation in the hands of the President of Corpus Christi,
who had the power of appointing the second master as well
as appointing the high master, it was decided that a depu-
tation of Messrs. Hey wood, Rickards, and Barbour should
wait on Dr. Norris, the President of Corpus Christi College
and patron of the School, and discuss the present state of the
working of the School with him before any new appointments
were made.
On their return they reported that this interview had
been very satisfactory, that Dr. Norris had expressed a warm
interest in the success of the School as well as a desire to
consult the wishes of the trustees in any appointment he had
to make, and had offered to advertise for a man to take the
second master's place. He pointed out the difficulties of
getting an applicant, either for the headship or for the assist-
antship, on the limited salary the trustees could offer, without
giving them the privilege either of taking boarders, or charging
a capitation fee, or giving them some other pecuniary interest
in the success of the School. He strongly urged the expedi-
ency of endeavouring, with the consent of all parties, to get
the Scheme of Chancery so altered as either to authorise
the masters to take boarders or to receive capitation fees
for the boys, beyond their fixed salaries.
On April 13, 1859, a letter of resignation was sent to
Mr. Barbour by Mr. Nicholas Germon. In the following
October it was announced that F. W. Walker, M.A., Fellow
and Tutor of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, had been
tppointed in the vacant place.
CHAPTER XIII
1859-1877
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX
* Where there's a will, there's a way ! ' — Old Proverb.
F. W. Walker creates new ideals and traditions. He organises a new
curriculum and incites the trustees and merchants to subscribe
handsomely for new buildings.
/Recognition of the need for guarantees of efficiency in the learned pro-
fessions and in the Civil Service leads to the establishment of qualifying
entrance examinations — Preparation for these examinations affects
the curricula of grammar and higher grade schools — Reforms at the
English Universities widen the entry and throw open to public com-
petition many hitherto close scholarships — This enables sons of
many professional and lower middle -class Nonconformist families
to enter — Many Manchester boys take high University honours —
Harrison of Balliol — The Schools Enquiry Commission (1864-7) reviews
English Secondary Education.
The coming of F. W. Walker to the School — His early training ; his quali-
/ fications for the task in hand ; he solves the problem of the two
schools by combining classics and modern subjects in one liberal
curriculum — The effect of this apparent at the Oxford Local Examina-
tions— Re -establishment of Speech Day, 1860 — Class lists— The
introduction of drawing, of physics, and of chemistry — The South
Kensington Examinations — Mr. Walker induces boys to compete for
Civil Service appointments.
The Trustees, under his inspiring influence, at length find a way of restoring
the School to its rightful place as a nursery of learning in the town, by
obtaining permission to add a number of capitation or fee-paying boys
to the number of free scholars already on the Foundation, on condition
of providing the proper buildings and equipment from specially
subscribed funds — Total capital newly raised for extensions and
endowments, £150,000.
THE fable of the Phoenix rising from its ashes was now
about to receive a practical illustration in the restoration of
the once famous, but now decadent, Manchester School.
322
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 323
Had the old School traditions of middle-class self-sufficiency
not been so completely crushed, had the loss of resources
not been so desperate, the resurrection of the new School
would never have been so complete. The Classical
and Mathematical scholarship, which had been high under
Charles Lawson and Jeremiah Smith, was the scholarship
of boys of good birth and circumstances, whose parents could
afford the high fees charged for boarding and for private
coaching in the houses of the masters, and whose University
expenses would be well covered by the School Exhibitions,
reinforced by close scholarships and Hulme Exhibitions at
Brasenose. Social influence and patronage secured that their
subsequent claims should not be forgotten nor their merits
hidden. No wonder that many achieved good social status.
The time had now arrived when the scholarship of the highly
placed landowning and prosperous middle classes was to give
way to the scholarship of the sons of hard-headed, energetic
citizens of Manchester, often of restricted circumstances.
Classics and Mathematics were now to share their University
honours with Science, and to gain, not to lose, by the result.
The change was accomplished because the grave financial
difficulties of the School stirred the lion heart and the pene-
trating insight of one who has been called the Apostle of the
Day School system, to call forth such generosity on the part
of Manchester merchants that, within the next twenty-five
years, all the invested funds that the School had previously
lost were replaced, and its income duplicated and triplicated,
while its scholars were multiplied even in larger proportion.
Fresh University scholarships were founded to take the place
of the lost exhibitions from trust funds, which were now
devoted entirely to school purposes, and striving boys of
good abilities were enabled to make their way in the Uni-
versities in spite of straitened circumstances. The spur
of necessity provided them with an incentive often lacking
in their more easy-going predecessors.
The substitution of competitive examinations for patronage
and favouritism in State and Civil appointments was one of
the valuable legacies of the French Revolution. It had been
advocated by Jeremy Bentham, by John S. Mill, and still more
convincingly by Edwin Chadwick, who particularly pointed
out the disastrous results of patronage in the selection of
officers for the Indian Army, as shown in the inquiries into
324 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the causes of the Indian Mutiny. Political economists were
profoundly influencing current English legislation, not only
by discovering new political principles, but by pointing out
the rightful solution of many social problems. It is significant
to note that the realisation that efficiency was to be obtained
by the training of those who had shown their superiority in
competition took place at the same time that Charles Darwin
and Alfred Russel Wallace were formulating the biological
principles of progressive development through the struggle
for existence and the survival of the fittest, as embodied in
the ' Origin of Species.' It was, however, a long time before
it was realised how profound was the light that Darwinian
principles shed on social and economic problems. When
at last the connection between biology and sociology was
realised, the earlier attempts to apply principles were crude
and misleading, owing to a very incomplete recognition of
the complexity of human nature. Hasty conclusions have
been drawn, and are still, which have debased the influence
of competition in human life, yet the wise application of the
principle of struggle and emulation is the very basis, not only
of progress, but also of health.
The first calling for which it was found necessary to
institute standards of efficiency had been that of teaching.
The necessity for providing occupational training for those
intending to be engaged in teaching had begun to be recognised
in the Lancasterian Schools and National Schools by the
foundation of Normal Colleges, though the career of teaching
had not yet risen to its proper level as a profession. So
largely did Normal Colleges loom in the minds of the official
classes, that when a few years later the newly founded Owens
College was threatened with extinction, Government
Inspectors suggested making it into a Normal Training School
for Teachers. The College of Preceptors was established, and
instituted its preliminary examinations in 1846. The passing
of the Medical Acts of 1858 and 1861 had led to the establish-
ment of a Medical Council, in 1861, with duty to inquire
into the qualifications of those practising medicine and
surgery. The Law Society, established in 1823, also insti-
tuted its examinations, for none of these three professions
relied on the English Universities to set standards to be
demanded of entrants, either of general intelligence or attain-
ments, or for the provision of a curriculum for the special
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 325
training desirable before qualification and licence. The proof
of capacity which the governing bodies of the learned profes-
sions and the heads of the army now demanded of entrants
was the passing of certain examinations, either those which
they instituted themselves, or those held by other bodies such
as the College of Preceptors, the examinations of the Oxford
and Cambridge Delegacies (O. and C. Local Examinations),
and the University of London (Matriculation Examination).
These examinations thus became educational objectives in
the more progressive and efficient middle-class schools,
while the successful preparation for them became the best
guarantee which the parent or guardian could get as to the
teaching capacity of a school. Up to this time a liberal
education had been regarded as one without a definite
occupational objective, though the new examination statutes
of Oxford, 1850, had recognised Physical Science as a
branch of academic study.
In the Oxford and Cambridge University Acts of 1854-
1855 the question of University Reform was, however, dealt
with, and Lord Palmerston's Government then turned their
attention to a consideration of the work which the
Great English Public Schools were doing for education,
and their adequacy to supply public needs. A Royal
Commission, under the Chairmanship of Lord Clarendon,
inquired into the revenues, management, and curricula
of the nine chief public schools — Eton, Winchester,
Westminster, Charterhouse, St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors',
Harrow, Rugby, and Shrewsbury. Their report was
published in 1864. In the same year another Commission
was appointed to inquire into other public (Grammar)
Schools. Dr. Temple and W. E. Forster were members, and
H. J. Roby (subsequently Chairman of Governors of Man-
chester Grammar School) Secretary. Matthew Arnold and
James Bryce (Lord Bryce) both collected evidence. In their
report the Commissioners dwelt on the fact that there was on
the part of many parents a desire for higher education in
advance of the means to secure it. The seventeen volumes
in which the report is contained are full of matter which
still possesses profound interest.
The coming of Mr. Walker to Manchester is described in a
semi-satirical autobiographical sketch written by one of the
assistant masters to the School :
326 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
1 One day the whole of the School was thrown into a com-
motion by the news that the old Germyn (Mr. Germon) had
resigned, and that we were to have a brand new Headmaster,
straight from Bosphorus (Oxford). He was only 27, had
been at Rugby, and had brought all the traditions of that
great place and of his alma mater with him. He proved
equal to his reputation. From the moment of his arrival
everything was changed in the School. It began hence-
forth to compete with the great public schools of England,
a hitherto unheard of ambition filled both masters and boys.
A pass degree was no longer trumpeted forth as a great event.
Essays, Original Latin Verse, Speech Days, Prize Days, even
comparative Philology and Sanskrit date from his coming.'1
Walker was ambitious, masterful, able, and far-seeing,
and the stirring events of the times had exerted a powerful
influence on a nature that was impulsive and generous. He
was a true son of the people, for his father had come from
Tullimorein North Ireland, where the family had been settled
since 1689, when they had taken part in the defence of London-
derry. He was born in London, 1830, and after receiving a
preliminary training in St. Saviour's Grammar School, South-
wark, he had become a day scholar at Rugby, under Tait.
While there, he won an open scholarship at Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, in 1849. He gained the Vinerian Scholarship
in Law, the Boden Scholarship in Sanskrit, the Tancred
Scholarship in Law, and, after this distinguished career at
Oxford University, went to Dresden to study philology.
He was admitted a Barrister at Lincoln's Inn, and joined the
western circuit with the intent to follow Law as a profession.
Though strongly urged to come and undertake the reformation
of the Manchester School by Dr. Norris, the head of Corpus
Christi, he declined until the case was more strongly put to him
by John Matthias Wilson, the last of the Benthamites, whose
influence shone through so much of Walker's work. If his
combative instincts were great, his human sympathies were
even greater, and enabled him to maintain his hold on many
who were otherwise social exiles. He wanted boys and men
to be successful. Indeed, so overmastering was this feeling
that he was intolerant of those who could not, or would not,
succeed, though it was not so much the glamour of success
that attracted as the squalor of failure that repelled him.
1 A Son of Belial, by Martin Geldart.
THE FABLE OP THE PHOENIX 327
He was once asked what was his greatest triumph in Man-
chester. After a long pause for thought, he finally replied
by relating the incident of a son of a drunkard publican, of
poor mental abilities and of untrained moral nature, whom
he had finally settled on a Canadian farm. His University-
career had made him familiar with new opportunities for
success which were thrown open by recent reforms. He
therefore pushed his pupils for all they were worth to strive
for high University attainment. His Nonconformist ancestry
led him to watch with some interest the progress of the Schools
of Design and the Mechanics' Institutes, which were so largely
supported by the Nonconformists among his governors, for the
High Church leanings of his early youth had been of short
duration. In the reorganisation of the School he chose the
first Art master, Mr. Evans, from the Manchester School of
Design in 1859, and one of his Science masters, Mr. John
Angell, from the Mechanics' Institute. The two other
Science masters he chose from the Owens College. When
one of the governors of St. Paul's School, London, on his
application for the post of high master, asked him, 'Well,
Mr. Walker, what do you do in Manchester ? ' he replied,
* Oh, I just walk about and hear everything.'
The method he adopted in planning a school curriculum,
designed to meet the new educational needs of the middle
classes and afford scope for many forms of talent, was remark-
able. It included the throwing over of much evil school
tradition, as well as the organisation of a time-table.
The teaching of Modern Languages and of Science had been
an important part of the scheme drawn up for the Manchester
School by the Court of Chancery in 1848, but it had never
been put into execution. At the request of the School
Committee, Mr. Walker set himself the task of realising the
continued but hitherto unsuccessful attempts in this direc-
tion, as well as of assuming personal control of the unorganised
and ineffective English School. A time-table for both schools
was drawn up, and all the boys rearranged according to their
mathematical attainments. He decided that Latin and
French should be taught throughout the whole school. The
old method of examinations of the younger boys by Uni-
versity tutors was discontinued, and the duty relegated to
local educationalists, though the examination of the advanced
classes by University specialists was continued. In 1865
328 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Mr. Walker obtained permission to alter the date of class
examinations from October to July, immediately before the
midsummer examinations, so that boys could learn the results
before leaving. ' Why don't you teach your boys the great
English classics, Bacon and Locke and David Hume ? ' said
a prominent merchant to him one day at dinner. Amid an
expectant and uneasy silence, Mr. Walker slowly replied :
' If you had read the books, you would not have asked.'
Previously not only was the English School entirely
separate from the Classical School, but the several masters
in the English School were accustomed to work quite in-
dependently of each other. Different masters taught Writing ,
Mathematics, History, and perhaps Geography and French.
These subjects bore no relation to each other, and boys were
sent when it was convenient to the masters, who used the
afternoons for private coaching. The English literature
of the English School had nothing to do with the English
teaching given on the classical side. In the former, it was
vague and unorganised ; in the latter, Morell's ' Analysis of
Sentences ' was used as their text-book. The boys in both
schools were taught some elements of English history, such
as learning the dates of English kings and English battles.
Roman and Greek history were quite unknown subjects,
even on the classical side. There must have been a great
falling off from Lawson's time, for a number of well-used and
worn History and Geography books of his date and inscription
are in the School library. Some of the more advanced boys on
the classical side were encouraged privately to study a little
English literature of their own accord, and Mr. Richard
Thompson was in the habit of setting occasional holiday
tasks, such as reading some gem of English literature. When
he was satisfied with the results, he presented the boys with
a copy of other works of the particular author which he had
urged the boy to read. So popular and helpful was he that,
after his decease in 1862, a number of his old pupils and
admirers collected a sum of money which was invested, and
provides the annual income which is still devoted to the
purchase of books for the Thompson History prize.
Under Mr. Walker's influence, a few boys in the upper
part of the Grammar School had begun to take Mathematics
and French in the English School, as these subjects were not
taught in the old Grammar School buildings, but the lack
THE FABLE OF THE PHOENIX 329
of system in the curriculum was as unsatisfactory to Mr.
Walker as the lack of unity and control was to the trustees.
A classical master, Mr. Warburton, was therefore called from
his own side of the School to take some of the boys of the
English School and give them some little instruction in Latin
Grammar, while the French master was engaged to teach
classical boys, as well as those in the English School. Arrange-
ments were also made which enabled Mr. Slade to change his
English classes with the Mathematical and French masters
at hourly intervals, instead of letting them remain with one
master during the whole of the school period. A time-table
had therefore to be drawn up, which was the basis of the
subsequent division into hourly periods, and ultimately led
in the later sixties to the complete merging of the two schools.
The study of Mathematics had been introduced into the
school curriculum for two widely different reasons. Firstly,
because an aptitude for calculation and measurement was
needed in various civil and mercantile employments such as
book-keeping, surveying, architecture, &c. ; and secondly,
because since the time of Descartes, Newton, and Leibnitz, it
had been encouraged at the Universities, especially at Cam-
bridge, as a method of exact inquiry into natural phenomena
and the fuller elucidation of human experience. A sharp and
illuminating controversy about its place in a liberal education
had taken place between Whewell and Sir William Hamilton
in 1838.
Failure to realise the essential limitations of purely academic
mathematical study in a community lacking general intel-
lectual enlightenment had nearly wrecked the newly founded
Owens College about 1855.1 The Department of Science and
Art, newly transferred from the Board of Trade to a Committee
of the Privy Council on Education, offered pecuniary aid in the
teaching of geometry, with mechanical drawing and building
construction, in 1859, and set up examinations (South Kensing-
ton) in 1860. It was, however, probably the offer of Whitworth
Scholarships to the Grammar School in 1868 that first drew
Mr. Walker's attention to the matter, for he was ever on the
look out for Civil Service as well as for University opportunities
for the boys. To assist them and to enable others to compete
1 Cf. Joseph Thompson, History of the Foundation and Growth of
Owens College.
330 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
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THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 331
for Science Scholarships, F. A. Aldis, of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge (second Wrangler), and E. L. Balmer, of Magdalen Col-
lege, Oxon., were invited to the School to organise a complete
curriculum of mathematics suitable for all classes, as suggested
by the Schools Enquiry Commission. A Mathematical and
Physical Sixth was created, whence many boys were advanced
in the study of engineering, mining, &c. Soon the boys were
encouraged to enter for South Kensington Examinations in
Mathematics and for the Oxford Local Examinations. Thus
both applied and theoretical mathematics came to be acknow-
ledged as educational objectives in the School.
In 1865 Mr. Walker gave evidence before the Schools
Enquiry Commission : *
' Before the new 1864 Scheme, the School was largely at-
tended by children of the small tradesmen class, and really
consisted of two separate schools, an elementary and a
secondary. The children belonged to a slightly less pro-
sperous section of the tradesmen. There were many private
schools in Manchester whose masters were industrious, ener-
getic, and thoroughly acquainted with their work, charging
a fee of £14 14s. to £18 18s. a year. At the Grammar
School, there was no drilling or gymnasium, though this
was needed. All but the very lowest were learning Greek.
At least as many boys were rejected as were admitted.'
In his zeal for efficiency, Mr. Walker soon seized on the
opportunity afforded by the Oxford Local Examinations
being held in Manchester.2 In 1860 the Examining Board
made Manchester one of the centres. At the first examina-
tion, several candidates from some of the private schools
presented themselves, but none from the Grammar School.
As soon as he had rearranged the school curriculum Mr.
Walker intimated that he intended that some of his boys
should compete. Mugleston, one of the assistant masters,
afterwards of Cheltenham School, prepared a number of
1 Cf. Times on Manchester Grammar School, June 23, 1865, p. 10,
column 5 ; column 9.
* A public meeting had been held in the Mayor's parlour, Town Hall,
March 11, 1858, to receive the reply of the Oxford delegacy in answer to a
requisition that Manchester should be made a local centre for the examina-
tion of candidates. The Dean of Manchester was present, E. R. Lang-
worthy and other School trustees, representatives of the Owens College,
and other educationalists. See Manchester Courier, March 13, 1858.
332 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
suitable text-books in history, geography, and other subjects.
The following table shows the educational success that re-
sulted from this merging of the two schools and the creating of
a proper curriculum :
OXFORD LOCAL EXAMINATIONS.
Seniors.
Juniors.
Year.
Passed.
Honours.
Passed.
Honours.
1863 .
5
1
13
4
18
1864 .
7
3
17
6
24
1865 .
8
1
28
18
36
1866 .
12
4
28
10
40
1867 .
12
8
31
8
43
1868 .
10
1 ,
34
15
44
54
18
151
61
205
After 1873, for some reason, the boys ceased to compete at
the Oxford Examinations and began to compete at Cambridge
Local Examinations instead. In connection with this a public
prize distribution took place, June 22, 1873, when it was
announced that six boys had passed.1 At the examination
held in December 1874, thirty- three passed in the Junior and
six in the Senior division. At a public distribution and
meeting held in the Free Trade Hall, November 27, 1875,
Professor Max Miiller spoke on the subject of the Local Exam-
inations. It was during this year that all the upper classes
of the School began to be examined by the first Oxford
and Cambridge Examiners' Board, which had been established
in 1873. Thirty of the boys obtained certificates.
Much credit for the high standard of classical work at this
time in the upper part of the School must be given to Rev.
George Perkins, an old pupil of Nicholas Germon, who had
passed to Brasenose with a School Exhibition and later held
a Hulme Exhibition, and had returned to his old School in
1848 in the humble capacity of junior assistant in the Lower
School. He was moved into the Upper School as second
master's assistant on the death of Lorenzo Smith, and suc-
1 Dean Cowie, Visitor of the School in the Chair. After this the
two delegacies combined for public prize distribution.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 333
ceeded Richard Thompson as Second Master, a position in the
gift of Dr. Norris, of Corpus Christi College, who, no doubt,
acted on the advice of F. W. Walker. His ability, gentleness,
and power proved invaluable when the School began to feel
the effect of Walker's missionary enterprise. He resigned in
March 1877. An appreciatory notice appeared in Ulula on
his retirement, March 1877, and again in 1887, at his decease.
Under the inspiring influence and the capable handling
of Mr. Walker, whose profound and ample learning seemed
to have no limits, helped by the conscientious scholarship of
Mr. George Perkins, the Grammar School boys began to
assume an entirely new attitude to learning. The first boy
from the School to compete for and to win an open Balliol
scholarship was Joseph Wood, who passed a distinguished
University career, and ultimately became headmaster of
Harrow.1
Of phenomenal interest is the career of Edwin Harrison,
only son of a mechanic and mill-girl, who at the age of eighteen
was studying Greek at the Owens College, where Walker
held evening classes. Walker first met him when the lad
was occupied in repairing some property. Entering into
conversation, Walker soon detected the lad's merits, took
him into the Grammar School at the age of nineteen, and had
him prepared for competing for a scholarship. Harrison
was admitted to Balliol, 1867, at the age of twenty- three, and
became a most intimate friend of Benjamin Jowett. ' The
best talker I have ever met,' said the Master of Balliol, who
took him everywhere. He was introduced to A. C. Swin-
burne, whose appreciation and admiration finds frequent
expression in his Letters.2 Harrison unfortunately suffered
from some brain trouble and never enjoyed proper health.
* One year of health, and Harrison will make his mark in
Europe,' once said the master. Unfortunately this was not
to be. Harrison died May 6, 1899, having left no other per-
manent remains of his genius than the effect of his con-
versation on his intimate friends.
The annual Speech Day, which had been dropped since
1848, was resumed, Saturday, October 4, 1860. Canon Clifton
presided, R. N. Philips, R. Barbour, trustees of the School,
1 Biographical notice, Times, November 4, 1898.
1 Letters of A. C. Swinburne, T. Hake, and A. RicTcett, 1918; also Life
and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, 1897 ; Manchester Guardian, May 12, 1899.
334 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
being present, also Professor Greenwood of the Owens College ;
Rev. Nicholas Germon alluded to some of the causes which
had led to its discontinuance. It seems to have been held
in the Grammar School, and not in the English School.1
On the following Speech Day, the chair was taken by Canon
Richson, who, after the decease of Dean Herbert, was the
most prominent educationalist among the Church clergy in
Manchester, and as such was asked to preach the sermon in
the cathedral on the occasion of the second visit to Manchester
of the British Association on October 4, 1864.2 The meetings
continued to be held in the School till 1872, when they were
first held in the Free Trade Hall. In 1876 the custom of
inviting some distinguished visitor to speak to the boys
reappeared, a custom associated with the prize distributions
for the Oxford and Cambridge Examinations. Dr. James
Eraser was the first so invited.
I am unable to trace the origin of ' Founders' Day ' Sermon
at the Collegiate Church, now the Manchester Cathedral. It
was probably a very old institution and took the place of the
* obits ' for the souls of Hugh Oldham, Anne Bestwick, and
the other founders. The earliest exact information I have
refers to the sermon preached in 1872 by Rev. Thomas Marsden,
Hulsean Lecturer and an old scholar.
An early innovation of great interest was the printing and
publishing of the class lists, with each boy arranged in his
proper place in form. Soon after Mr. Walker arrived, one of
his staff showed an old Eton class list, which an old Etonian
had picked up from a second-hand bookstall and perused with
great interest, as it reminded him of his golden school days.
The possibilities of thereby developing and cementing school
life were at once apparent to Mr. Walker, and so strongly
appealed to him that, in 1860, there began the issue of the
Grammar School Class Lists, which, in 1870, culminated in the
Green Book of Midsummer and the White Book of Christmas.
The Honours Boards hung up in' the Drawing Hall, recording
University successes, also date from 1860, and were the gift
of E. R. Lang worthy.
The increased national attention which had been
given to Art subjects since the Great Exhibition of 1851,
1 ' Saturday's Proceedings,' Manchester Courier, October 6, 1860.
2 Speeches reported in Manchester Guardian.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 335
and the activity of the Society of Arts, which had instituted
examinations in Arts in 1853, and had subsequently trans-
ferred them to the Science and Arts Departments of the
Committee of Education of the Privy Council, had aroused
the interest of many educationalists and had no doubt been
still further stimulated by the Art Treasures Exhibition
of Manchester in 1857. Rev. Canon Richson collected a
large number of writing and drawing books, with the intention
of using them in the National Schools. Finding most of them
unsatisfactory for the purpose in view, he compiled fresh copy
books and drawing books of his own. One day he brought
some of the drawing books before the notice of Mr. Walker,
who, passing them on to Mr. War burton, asked him to dis-
tribute them among the boys and to see what power in this
direction the boys possessed. The only manual employment
at this time consisted in the wearisome writing lessons given
to elementary boys by the assistant English master, other-
wise the boys were employed in learning by rote dates in Eng-
lish history, or reciting their lessons during the din of school.
It was, therefore, a considerable relief to the boys to have some
change of employment. They entered keenly into the new
subject, and showed such zest and spirit that their drawings
were collected together by Mr. Walker and brought before
the notice of the Governors of the School, who were willing
for an experiment to be made on a small scale. They offered
a small salary, which Mr. Walker and Mr. Thompson sub-
sidised from their own pockets, and in March 1860 Mr. Evans
from the School of Art began to attend three hours a week
to give instruction in drawing to the boys of the Upper School.
The work of the boys was collected and sent up to South Ken-
sington, and prizes awarded. The experiment was so successful
that the Governors allowed the teaching to be extended. In
1865, John Ruskin, who for the third time was lecturing in
Manchester and was on intimate terms with Sir Elkanah
Armitage, C. H. Rickards, Richard Johnson, and other
governors, visited the School and gave an address to the boys.1
In 1869, Mr. Zachariah Pritchard 2 was appointed Art teacher.
In order to increase his salary he was allowed to have evening
students, and the Drawing School of the M.G.S., both day and
1 See collected writings of John Ruskin.
* Obituary notice, Ulula, December 3, 1883. The Pritchard Art
Prize founded to perpetuate his memory.
336 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
evening classes, then became recognised by South Kensington
as a Government Art School. It soon became, and continued
to be for many years, one of the most notable Schools of Art
in the North of England, and only surrendered its evening
classes when their continuance was thought to be injurious to
the prosperity of the Manchester School of Art in Grosvenor
Street. A long series of awards of gold medals and certi-
ficates attested the high attainments of the pupils, though it
must be remembered that these were largely evening students
and not boys actually in the School. One of the early argu-
ments for the extended use of drawing as a school subject,
was that, by it, boys might learn control of the finer movements
of the hand in case they took up such handicrafts as surgery.
This would particularly apply to the Grammar School, for
surgery was a career which had always attracted a consider-
able proportion of the scholars.
The master mind of F. W. Walker can also be seen in
the method of his introduction into the School curriculum
of physics and chemistry — subjects of which he knew and
cared little. The teaching of physics or natural philosophy
had long retained signs of its dual origin. On the one hand,
there was its relationship to mathematics. This it
derived from its University associations. On the other
hand, there was its connection with popular educational
movements, such as Mechanics' Institutes, which were
endeavouring to arouse the interest and intelligence of the
artisans and of the general public in the principles under-
lying their commercial and industrial occupations. The one
method of study was disciplinary, and so was readily adaptable
to the old ideas of school training ; the other method, though
still instructional, depended on the existence on the part of
the pupil of a desire to understand more fully the outward
circumstances and affairs of common daily life, a point of
view to which few scholars or even schools had then arrived.
The mathematical point of view included the study of the
principles of mechanics. It was taught by two mathematical
masters. The popular enlightenment was entrusted to Mr.
Angell, who had been trained in the school of educational
reform associated with such pioneers as William Ellis, Dr.
Birkbeck, and George and Andrew Combe. It might
well be described as Economic Realism, for it concentrated
attention on the outward realities of daily life, especially
THE FABLE OF THE PHOENIX 337
those of Physiology and that part of Political Economy which
we now call Civics. Mr. Angell has often described his method
of teaching as Socratic. He was in the habit of taking up
some matter of common experience, e.g. vision, sound, res-
piration, &c., and, by means of questions, stirring the interest
and reasoning capacities of the boys. When he had succeeded
in eliciting some general statement or principle, he would
illustrate this further by a practical experiment. The de-
scriptive method of teaching science still appears to be the
best way of teaching such subjects as Physiology, Hygiene,
&c., where the performance of individual experiments by the
pupil appears difficult or unsuitable. A recent attempt has
been made to teach some portions of Hygiene by individual
experiments on the senses, particularly those of touch,1 but
the method of Birkbeck, Ellis, and Coombe still appears most
suitable for school teaching in Physiology and Civics. As
regards the teaching of Physics, the descriptive and illustrative
method was abandoned on the retirement of Mr. Angell in
1882, and replaced by the experimental method organised
under Mr. Holme.
In 1867, i.e. two years before the appointment of Mr.
Angell, Dr. Marshall Watts, previously lecturer at the
Owens College, had been appointed Science Master. He
soon found his time was fully occupied in organising the
teaching of chemistry, and the only provision for teaching
Natural Philosophy was that of the mathematical masters
preparing boys for University examinations. Consequently
Mr. Angell had been appointed to undertake the teaching of
Physics. Dr. Watts left the School in 1872 to become
Science Master at Giggleswick. He was succeeded by Mr.
Francis Jones, who after forty-seven years' service, during
which many boys have passed through his hands to occupy
various posts of distinction and usefulness, still remains at
the head of the department. He had studied at Edinburgh
and Heidelberg Universities. He brought to the School the
exact disciplinary method of teaching science by each indi-
vidual pupil performing his own experiments, which was
common in Germany but hitherto only adopted in England
at the Owens College, Manchester, and the School of Mines,
London. The text-book of practical chemistry which he drew
1 The Gateways of Knowledge, T. A. Dell, 1912. Many other mental
tests could be tried in class.
338 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
up in 1870, and which embodies his method of teaching, has
proved the standard book for nearly two generations, and
has directed the footsteps of many youthful scientists in the
pathways of exactitude by following which signal success
in science can alone be achieved. In 1874, several classes
were grouped together so as to form a c Science School '
which should be under the control and direction of Govern-
ment inspectors.1 In the same year four Science and Art
Scholarships were offered by the Committee of the Privy
Council for boys in the School.
Mr. Walker was a great administrator as well as a great
teacher, and as such was ever on the look out to further the
interests of the masters as well as the boys.
The Science and Art Departments, which had been formed
by the Board of Trade at the instigation of the Prince Consort,
had been transferred to the Privy Council in 1858, though
still constituting a department separate from that which dealt
with Elementary Education. This duality remained till the
formation of the Board of Education in 1899. In 1861 the
Science and Art Department began to hold public examina-
tions for students, and to make grants to the teachers and
award prizes to the scholars. As these examinations grew in
number and importance, and as the School became better
organised, Mr. Walker took advantage of them, not only to
encourage the special science teachers to present boys for
physics and chemistry, but to encourage other masters to hold
voluntary tutorial classes to prepare boys for other subjects.
Thus Mr. C. F. Bourne started classes in biology, and, pur-
chasing a microscope, became a keen naturalist and thus
sowed the seeds of the School Natural History Society.
Another master took up the study of geology and procured a
collection of geological specimens ; but, either from imperfect
preparation or confusion of mind, he allowed the different
specimens to be mixed up by some mischievous pupil, and
thereby suffered such humiliation that the class was abruptly
closed.
In December 1872, when Mr. Walker was in need of a new
mathematical master, he received some 247 applications.
From these he chose Mr. Start, who, in addition to his other
qualifications, was able to teach book-keeping, shorthand, and
1 Ulula, 1874, p. 59.
THE FABLE OF THE PHOENIX 339
the mechanism and use of the steam-engine as extra out-
of -school subjects, from which boys might compete at the
Science and Art examinations. The steam-engine Saturday
morning class was designed for boys intending to become
engineers and was not discontinued till 1900, when Mr. Start
retired from active work.
When the science classes at the School, which included
for this purpose the mathematical classes, became an
* organised Science School ' under the department at South
Kensington, all the teaching, apart from that of boys
preparing for University Scholarships, had for its
natural objective the passing of the South Kensington
examinations.
The organisation of science teaching at the* School proved
very successful. On Speech Day, 1874, Mr. Walker
announced that 960 certificates and 320 prizes had been
awarded as the result of the South Kensington examinations.
On March 23, 1875, Col. Belfield, the official inspector of the
Science and Art Department of South Kensington, met the
trustees of the School and discussed the whole bearing of
the Science and Art teaching then taking place at the School,
more particularly as the Drawing Hall had been opened as
an evening school in 1872 to qualify it for special grant.
The educational value of these examinations has been severely
discounted, but if we are to estimate them properly, the time
at which they were instituted, and the prevailing attitude of
the public towards education, should be taken into account.
If their value as criteria of advanced mental discipline was
small, the same could not be said of their value for mental
enlightenment, and there can be no doubt that they were the
cause of a general humanising of the curriculum in many
schools. They prepared the way for the more exact methods
that naturally followed when boys were better prepared to
receive scientific training during their school life. In looking
through the lists of medals and certificates gained from 1874
onwards, one is struck with the appearance in the Honours
List of the names of many boys who subsequently became
recognised science workers in various parts of the world, and
who probably owed the early recognition of their particular
talents to the Science and Art examinations.
The estimation in which Mr. Walker was already held by
the educational world is indicated by the fact that in 1865
340 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
he was summoned to give evidence before the Schools Enquiry
Commission.1
In the report of the Commissioners it is stated :
* The success of the School both in the Oxford Local
Examinations and in obtaining Honours at the Universities
deserves special mention. In three years, 87 juniors and 29
seniors passed at the Local Examinations, making an average
of 29 juniors and nearly 10 seniors. In May 1867 there were
39 undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge, and of this
the extraordinary proportion of 20 were holding open scholar-
ships or exhibitions. As much as this cannot be said of
any other school in England, and it is all the more remark-
able because this School is purely a Day School. This success
must be partly attributed to the ability and exertion of the
Head Master, but partly also to the system of admission
which fills the School with the boys who are best able to
profit by the teaching.'
In an article appearing in the London Times, January 3,
1868, the following appears :
' The Manchester Free School has during the past seven
years sent up 70 boys to the Universities. The great majority
of these have gained open or other scholarships. The School
has offered a most extended course of instruction to those
who are able to engage in commercial pursuits, and its
immense success in passing boys at the University Local
Examinations is a proof of this.'
During the time of Jeremiah Smith, a very strong
class division between the well-to-do boarders and the
majority of the day scholars had grown up, owing to
the fact that the sons of well-to-do Manchester merchants
were generally sent to boarding-schools away from the town,
and even the sons of the less prosperous trading classes, who
possessed clear ideas of the proper subjects and character of
school education, attended the more modern day schools,
unless they were prepared for a University career or other-
wise needed training in classics. This left in the School a
large residue of aimless boys content to accept the methods
and opinions of the classes above them without any inquiry
into their utility. This was hardly the kind of boy who
would impress a school with new democratic ideas.
1 See also above, p. 331.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 341
The English eighteenth century middle-class home had
never made any attempt to organise the upbringing of any
but very young children. Owing to the superior advantages
the boarders possessed from living in the houses of the masters,
and from the definiteness of their aims, they monopolised the
School Exhibitions and Brasenose Scholarships. The rare
exceptions when day boys received such awards were loudly
trumpeted forth to support the claim that the School was
really very democratic in its policy, but the rarity of these
occasions was itself condemnatory of the value of the system
in remedying the social injustice of poverty. The occasions
on which wealthy boarders received pecuniary assistance
were too frequent to arouse comment. On the opening
of the English School, however, a new form of caste spirit had
appeared, which became more intense as the boarders became
less numerous, so that the old social distinctions were less
marked. The boys in the Classical School now regarded
themselves as of superior intellectual and therefore superior
social merit. ' The great majority of the boys are, and always
have been, the sons of persons in the middle ranks of life,
well-to-do tradesmen, upper clerks, clergymen, lawyers,
&c.' * Intellectual snobbery had taken the place of social
snobbery.
There were always two or three times as many applicants
for admission both to the Classical and English Schools as there
were vacancies, and consequently many boys who were capable
of benefiting by a stay of several years at a good school were
kept back at an early age, and were deterred from seeking
admission later by a knowledge of the comparative useless-
ness of a short stay. Boys from neighbouring districts
who particularly desired a classical training were frequently
sent to lodge in Manchester, and so to qualify for admission
to the classical department. Some of these would stay
till they reached the upper classes, but they constituted a
minority, for the majority left school at an early age. The
upper classes of the School had become therefore very small
indeed. During the early part of Mr. Walker's time the
number of applicants who had to be refused each year
amounted to 150. The age of admission tended to rise steadily
from 10 or 11 to 12 and even 13, and, what was equally
1 Statement of trustees in favour of proposed charge of capitation fee.
342 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
disadvantageous to school benefits was that the age of leaving
continued to be 14 or 15 as before, so that the period over
which traditions of study or intellectual purpose could act
remained too brief to be of permanent value. This disad-
vantage was increased by the lack of discipline due to the
large number of boys who were placed under the care of a
single master. The problem of efficient teaching under these
circumstances was very difficult. Much of the teaching in
the English School was reduced to learning by rote from
books of questions and answers, which enabled the master
to keep some outward show of order, but the babel of
voices of other classes and masters in the same room soon
rendered lessons in reading aloud impossible. Consequently
the major part of the time was occupied in ineffective prepara-
tion and time to test acquirements was necessarily limited.
It therefore excites little surprise that the imperfection of the
teaching in the English School was frequently pointed out
by the University examiners in their annual visitations.
Such inefficiency was extremely distasteful to men of any
high ideas. This, combined with the inadequacy of the
salaries which could be paid out of school funds to all except
the high and the second master, caused frequent changes in
the teaching staff, and the retention only of such as were of
limited attainments or efficiency, or who could supplement
their stipends by holding incumbencies or performing other
duties. The constant recurrence of proofs of inefficiency and
of failure again forced the governors to take action. On
October 9, 1862, it was resolved that :
' Sir E. Armitage, Mr. Oliver Heywood, Mr. Philips, Mr.
Barbour, and Mr. Langworthy be appointed a committee
to consider and report upon the desirability or otherwise
of an application being made to the Charity Commissioners
in order to obtain their sanction to the establishment of a
capitation fee to be hereafter paid by the boys attending
the School, and under what regulations such fees should be
paid and applied, and that the Headmaster be respectfully
requested to attend the meeting of such committee and to
afford to the members the advantages of his knowledge
and experience.'
They conferred with Mr. Patrick Cummin, Inspector of the
Endowed Schools Commissioners, and Mr. Hare of the Charity
FOUR OF THE TRUSTEES APPOINTED 1849, WHO ENABLED F. W. WALKER
TO REFOUND THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 343
Commission, while the incidental talk which Rickards had with
the Charity Commissioners in 1849, and the report of the
deputation to Dr. Norris of Corpus Christi College in 1856, were
recalled. Finally, in April 1863, the trustees decided to make
application to the Charity Commissioners, who had been
appointed under the Charitable Trusts Act of 1860 to deal
with such matters, to be allowed to charge £1 Is. a quarter
to all boys, with the exception of fifty free scholars. They
were advised that this course would be less expensive than an
application to the Court of Chancery, which could only grant
an order against which any opponents might appeal.1
As soon as the application was announced, a meeting of
old scholars, who were not in sympathy with the new spirit
of progress at the School, was summoned. Messrs. Leresche,
Sowler, John Clough (surgeon), Walmsley, Adam Fox,
T. H. Guest, and Samuel Cottam met and conferred with
the trustees, May 16, 1863, and when they failed to secure
their object they drew up a memorial to the Charity Com-
missioners. They claimed that the existing funds were quite
adequate for the work to be accomplished, since £1713 had
been saved in ten years to pay off past loans. They urged
that a capitation fee even of £1 Is. a quarter would affect
not only the poorer parents, but also the clergy, professional
classes, tradesmen and many widows, who sent their sons to
the School. Large numbers of the local inhabitants who were
very imperfectly acquainted with the difficulties of the
management, signed the memorial, though, in many cases,
their own children had been excluded on account of lack of
space. The list of signatories was a long one, and contained
the names of some boys actually in the School. Signatures
were also probably obtained by past members of the teaching
staff who were strongly opposed to Mr. Walker. In June
1863, the matter was brought up in the Town Council.
Alderman Goadsby moved that the Council memorialise the
Charity Commissioners against the proposed capitation fees.
The Council subsequently referred the matter to its Charitable
Trusts Committee.
1 The School was still encumbered by its mixture of a preparatory
branch and a grammar school proper. In the first draft scheme the trustees
proposed one -eighth of the free scholars to be between five and eight, four-
eighths between eight and ten, two-eighths between ten and fourteen and
one-eighth over fourteen.
344 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
A counter-requisition was prepared by those favourable
to the scheme, and a request made for calling a public town's
meeting. This meeting was held October 15, 1863. The
majority present declared themselves adverse to the policy
of the trustees, who were further embarrassed by the news
that Mr. Walker had decided to apply for the headmastership
of Charterhouse. While they could not help expressing
their regret on behalf of the School, they felt that he deserved
to occupy a much more extended sphere of power and of use-
fulness, and that it was unlikely they could offer him sufficient
inducement to remain. Fortunately for the town, however,
Mr. Walker did not leave at this time.
On March 28, 1864, the Charitable Trusts Committee
of the Town Council, who had delayed their report in the
hope of securing agreement between the two parties, made
their full statement. They suggested a compromise by
which the money of the Foundation should be reserved to
support as many free scholars as were at present in the School,
viz. 250, but that power should be sought by which the
trustees could undertake the instruction of a further number
of capitation scholars at a charge of £12 125. per annum.
Unfortunately, so much personal and political animus, directed
particularly against Mr. Walker, had now been imparted to
the matter that agreement was impossible. The Town
Council refused their support to the suggestion of their own
Committee, though they do not appear to have taken further
action. On October 30, 1864, the trustees made an applica-
tion, amended in accordance with the new suggestions, to
the Charity Commissioners.
Another public meeting was held, January 25, 1865, at
which Dr. John Watts proposed and Mr. W. R. Callender1
seconded a resolution to support the application of the
trustees. Mr. Samuel Cottam and his supporters made
strenuous efforts to oppose, but the principal motion in
favour of the scheme was carried. The public controversy
was continued in the newspapers, and though a good deal
of bitterness still remained, the public were becoming
enlightened, and the School was advertised in a very
extraordinary manner. Three of the trustees, Thomas
Hunter, Thomas Armstrong, and J. C. Harter, junior, resigned.
1 Hon. Secretary to the Athenaeum, who died June 7, 1872.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 345
W. B. Watkins had died July 1864. Four new feoffees, James
Chadwick, Murray Gladstone, Richard Johnson, John Morley,
were elected, more determined than ever, if possible, to secure
the refoundation of the School. On January 11,1 865, applica-
tion was made to Vice-Chancellor Wood. On February 15,
1865, a new scheme was presented by the trustees. In
November 1865, the Vice-Chancellor delivered judgment.
This was passed by Order in Chancery, December 11, 1865.
The change of Ministry, which occurred in 1866, encouraged
the opposition to make a further appeal in the House of Lords,
April 27, 1867. Finally, the Lord Justices of Appeal suggested
some minor modifications, and, in addition, decreed that the
funds requisite for the erection of any additional room needed
for the accommodation of the proposed 150 fee-paying boys,
and for the payment of the additional masters required, must
not come out of the funds of the trusts, but must be publicly
subscribed. This had always been the intention of the
trustees, for they were as willing to support their public
action with their purse as with their time.
On the receipt of this decree, public notices were issued
in the three Manchester newspapers, announcing twenty-
five vacancies for free scholars and the new provision for
the admission of paying scholars. There were one hundred
and nine applications for the vacancies. Each candidate
was required to name three references and afford informa-
tion as to pecuniary circumstances. Sir Elkanah Armitage,
Mr. Langworthy, and Mr. Callender attended at the School
to elect the scholars for admission.
The next matter was the provision of funds for the new
buildings required.
On April 8, 1868, Mr. Langworthy offered the trustees
a suitable site in Long Millgate, valued at £1000, which he
had bought to be in readiness for the extension of the School,
together with £4000 towards the building expenses. This
was gratefully accepted, and the other trustees present sub-
scribed a further £3600. The high master was requested,
November 17, 1869, to confer with Mr. H. J. Roby, then
Secretary of the Endowed Schools Commissioners, with re-
gard to making further desirable changes in the teaching
curriculum, so that the School might be conducted on the
most up-to-date methods.
Plans of buildings,? which included a central hall (now
346 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the Drawing Hall) and class-rooms above, were soon drawn
up and decided upon. It was at first intended to make an
immediate public appeal for further funds, but the issue of
this appeal was delayed owing to anxieties about trade.
Mr. Langworthy was, however, so determined the scheme
should go through that he subscribed another £5000. A public
meeting was thereupon called for May 10, 1870, in aid of the
Building Fund ; Dr. James Fraser, the newly appointed
Bishop of the Manchester Diocese, took the chair.
To provide immediate accommodation for the influx of
boys which resulted from the adoption of the new scheme,
temporary arrangements for extra class-rooms were made
by taking buildings at the corner of Cannon Street and Cor-
poration Street, at a rent of £100. Other temporary school-
rooms were erected between the English School and the
schoolmaster's house (now the Cathedral Hotel). These
were planned so that they could be utilised subsequently
as stock-rooms by the tenant of the hotel — a purpose to
which they are still devoted.1
The new buildings were ready for occupation in 1871.
They not only provided accommodation for 500 boys, and
gave ample opportunity for the remarkable development of
the Art teaching which now took place under Mr. Pritchard,
but they also increased the efficiency of teaching by enabling
the classical and mathematical classes to be held in separate
class-rooms, instead of several of them being crowded together
into large single rooms. The new class-rooms had the further
advantage that they set free the old 1776 building. This
was now fitted up as a chemical laboratory by Dr. Marshall
Watts. Rooms were found for Mr. Angell in the English
School. Mr. Pritchard had at length the satisfaction of
seeing the teaching of drawing extended to all but the highest
forms in the School. In 1872 he was allowed to establish
evening classes for drawing, and their complete success was
shown by the large number of his pupils who distinguished
themselves in the examinations of the Science and Art
Department.
The opening of the 1870 buildings was celebrated by a
banquet at the Town Hall on October 25, 1871, at which
the then Prime Minister, the Earl of Derby, presided.2 In the
1 Of. Murray Gladstone, Speech Day, 1870.
a Manchester Guardian, October 1871.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 347
course of his speech, he mentioned that out of the total cost of
£28,000, one single donor, E. R. Langworthy, had contributed
£10,000. Dr. Benjamin Jowett, of Balliol College, Oxford, was
a guest, and spoke in the highest terms of all that Mr. Walker
had done for the School. He showed, however, a curious lack of
knowledge that the School had any important history previous
to the coming of Mr. Walker, a lack of knowledge the less
harmful because the Chetham Society had already under-
taken to publish the School registers of 1730 to 1837, with the
valuable biographical notes collected by Mr. Finch Smith.
Another speaker at the banquet was Harrison Ainsworth,
the novelist, who had been educated at the School. He
was singularly qualified to speak of the many illustrious men
who had benefited by their education there, since he himself
owed to the School much of his antiquarian tastes, and
incorporated in his famous historical novels much of the
material he had acquired when studying in the Chetham
Library.
In 1861 a number of gentlemen who felt an interest in the
Manchester Grammar School, and also in the Owens College,
and who were desirous that some bond of union between the
two should be established, had undertaken to collect by sub-
scription an amount sufficient to found one or more exhibitions
which should enable boys from the Grammar School to continue
their studies at the Owens College free of any expense on
account of college fees. The sum of £1060 having been
subscribed, three exhibitions were accordingly founded.
These exhibitions, under the title ' The Manchester Grammar
School Exhibitions,' were to be awarded, one in each year,
on the nomination of the Principal of Owens College, the
high master of the Grammar School, and the Recorder of
Manchester, or any two of them, and were each tenable for
three years. The first of these scholarships was awarded
in 1861, and for a considerable number of years the holders
used them to obtain University training in order to compete
for London University degrees. With the amalgamation
between the Manchester Medical School and the Owens College,
which occurred at the opening of the new buildings in Oxford
Road in 1870, the direct influence of London University on
the Manchester Grammar School became for a time very
marked. The natural approach to the higher ranks of the
medical profession was now through a preliminary training
348 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in science, and was no longer dependent upon a literary
training at Oxford or Cambridge, and, in spite of great tempta-
tions to popularise it, a high standard of instruction in science
was maintained by the professors in the Owens College, and
the equally high standard of efficiency demanded by the
London University, even for a pass degree, at once called forth
strenuous effort from some very able scholars, to whom
Oxford and Cambridge Universities offered little attraction.
As soon as the Civil Service appointments were thrown
open for competition, Mr. Walker began to encourage his
boys to compete. It was resolved by the Governors (April
1869) that the Chairman write to Mr. Bailey, M.P., requesting
him to use his influence in the proper quarter to obtain
permission for boys in this School to compete for clerk-
ships in Government offices and to place nominations in
the hands of the trustees. The Civil Service Form at Man-
chester Grammar School was created in 1869. Boys were
encouraged to take special classes at the Owens College,
in the case of subjects such as geology, mining, and engineer-
ing. An illustration of this occurred in the career of
Edw. Crabb, C.B. Being too old to prepare for a University
career, he began to study at the School, and subsequently
at the Owens College, with a view to training in mining
engineering. He showed such ability that he was induced
by Walker to enter the Post Office, where he attained a high
position. He was present at the dinner of the London Old
Mancunians Association with other prominent Civil Servants
of the Crown. He died December 16, 1914. Whitworth
Exhibitions of £25 were offered in 1868 to youths under
twenty-two years of age to enable them to prepare for the
more valuable Whitworth Scholarships of £100 a year. Eight
were tenable at the Owens College, two at the Manchester
Grammar School, three at each of the Universities of Oxford,
Cambridge, and London, and one each at thirty-five other
educational institutions throughout the country.
Plenty of able, keen, and ambitious boys were at
this time entering the School, and another direction in which
the master mind of Mr. Walker found expression was in pro-
curing such financial assistance as would induce clever boys
of limited means to remain at school after the usual wage-
earning age of fourteen. Walker was well able to secure that,
for to him was entrusted the duty of examining the candidates
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 349
for admission, choosing from them those whom he regarded
as the most suitable, and recommending them to the Governors
for the vacancies as they occurred. How wisely he used
this power is indicated by the subsequent careers of many
of the boys chosen. Regard was generally paid to family
circumstances, and special comment was often made on
deserving cases. Such free schooling, however, was not
enough. Business prosperity constantly caused employers
of clerks and warehousemen to offer tempting situations to
bright boys of fourteen years of age, consequently even when
family resources did not necessitate the withdrawal of boys
from school at this age, the force of social tradition led the
majority of parents to consider further schooling after fourteen
as unnecessary, while, where family resources were limited,
as was so often the case, and early departure from school was
unavoidable, some pecuniary assistance to the poorest boys,
and some counter-attraction to others on the border-line of
need, had therefore to be found. One of the earliest methods
of help consisted in employing senior boys to help the
masters in the correction of exercises, or other paid clerical
work. A striking instance of the value of this has been
publicly narrated by one of the scholars who has recently
received the recognition of knighthood l for public services
at the hands of the Crown, and who, at one of the old
boys' annual dinners, described his early struggles. Lazarus
Fletcher entered the school at the age of eleven as a foundation
scholar from the elementary school attached to St. Mark's
Church, Hulme. He proceeded through the School to the
Classical VI, when family circumstances rendered it necessary
for him to commence earning at once. Mr. Walker was
consulted, and gave the boy paid clerical work, which
enabled him to remain. As quick progress towards earning
was necessary, Walker encouraged his study of science,
and the boy was brave enough to endure temporary degrada-
tion to a lower form on the science side and the loss of certain
school privileges.2 He soon exhibited his powers in the
1 January 4, 1916.
2 In 1874 the high master sanctioned a plan by which all scholars who
obtained scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge, or who obtained the
certificates granted by the O. and C. Schools Examining body, should wear
a commoner's gown while at school. Fortunately this does not appear
to have been acted up to, for it indicated a separation between Sixth
Form and other boys.
350 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
new direction and was made paid part-time helper in the
chemical laboratory, the rest of the time working hard at
mathematics.' He earned one small scholarship at the School,
and soon after earned an exhibition at Balliol. His subse-
quent success fully justified the early efforts put forth on
his behalf. He was elected member of the Council of the
Royal Society, 1910 ; Hon. Fellow of University College, Oxon,
1911 ; Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society, 1912.1 The
career of Lord Sumner, though less dramatic, was also in-
teresting. He entered the School as A. J. Hamilton in 1870
with a foundation scholarship, and soon distinguished himself
by winning prizes and exhibitions, including the Lawson Gold
Medal. He went up to Balliol College, Oxon, passing first class
in the Classical Schools, 1881-2 ; and was president of the
'Oxford Union. He was called to the Bar 1883, and joined the
Northern Circuit. In 1901 he was made K.C. He was
appointed Judge of King's Bench Division of the High Court
of Justice 1909, and Lord Justice of Appeal 1912 ; received
the title Baron Sumner, Oct. 20, 1913.
Casual and perhaps uncertain and insufficient support was
not enough for Mr. Walker. He induced his merchant friends
to found scholarships and bursaries tenable at the School.
The kind of argument Walker used in persuading his wealthy
governors to assist him may be illustrated by a story which
one of them, Mr. C. F. Beyer, was not unwilling to relate.
Mr. Beyer was at the time in actual conflict with his own
employees. In the course of the discussion, Mr. Walker
pulled a sovereign out of his pocket, and placing it in front of
his opponent's eyes so as to block the line of vision, exclaimed,
' That's what prevents you seeing the position of the men.'
So thoroughly did Mr. Beyer appreciate the force of the
argument that, in addition to the large sum he gave to the
Owens College, he left £10,000 for the Grammar School,
and his thoughtfulness is commemorated in the name given
to the chemical laboratory.
The School Exhibitions, originally awarded out of surplus
school funds to boys leaving for the University, which had
been part of the original foundation, had long been seriously
curtailed before Mr. Walker came to the School. One had
been given in 1859, two in 1860 to James Marshall and W. H.
1 Of. Manchester City News, Jan. 11, 1896, and Ulula, November 1911.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 351
Keeling, and two in 1861 to W. J. Birch and Millington ;
after this they seem to have been stopped altogether.
This naturally by no means satisfied the impetuous fervour
of Mr. Walker, who not only seemed to possess an unerring
eye for a scholar, but cared for his love of learning above
all social qualifications. A mother who came to him for
information as to the class of boys who frequented the School,
received the following answer, * Madam, so long as your son
behaves properly and the fees are paid, we shall ask no
embarrassing questions about your social status.'
Walker now set about getting help to send boys to the
Universities.
The Manchester merchants at this time were flushed
with their success in obtaining a repeal of the obnoxious
Corn Laws. While demanding opportunity for their own in-
dividual advancement in wealth and social position as the
result of energy and enterprise, they willingly made generous
provision for the advancement of the less socially fortunate
of the lower middle and artisan classes on the same terms.
The general diffusion of benevolence which supported this
was in part due to the continued spread of evangelical
Christianity which had now thoroughly permeated Church-
men and Nonconformists of all shades of opinion alike. Its
direction was guided by the great Lancashire sanitarians
and educationalists, J. Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth and Edwin
Chadwick, who were now directing the course of Parliamentary
reform. Walker was surrounded by this influence, for his
father-in-law, Richard Johnson, was a prominent member
of Dr. Maclaren's congregation.
In 1869, in recognition of the public services of Mr. C. H.
Rickards, governor of the School, a number of his friends and
well-wishers presented him with a sum of £1100. He there-
upon wrote to his co-trustees at the School and requested
that the sum should be invested to found a scholarship in
classics, tenable either at Oxford or Cambridge. The first
Rickards scholarship was given to J. R. Broadhurst,1 who has
so long and so worthily served his old School and trained
generations of scholars.
In 1870 Miss Brackenbury transferred £4000, subse-
quently increased by £2600, L. & Y. Railway stock, to
found scholarships and exhibitions tenable at Oxford.
1 Died July 21, 1919.
352 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Four scholarships, of which two are of the value of £20.
and two of £7, were founded to encourage the study of the
English language and literature. They are available for
boys under seventeen, and are tenable for two years, of which
one must be passed at the School, and the second may be
passed either at the School or at some other approved place.
An exhibition was also awarded by the Early English Text
Society. In 1872, £10,000 was left, free of legacy duty, by
E. R. Lang worthy to found twenty scholarships to enable
clever boys to remain at school over the age of fifteen. Six
were to be awarded for boys under seventeen, seven for
boys under eighteen, seven for boys under nineteen ; their
value was £20 a year. None but the successive high masters
of the School can fully realise what these have meant to
striving boys ' of pregnant wits ' for whom Hugh Oldham
originally founded the School, many of whom are now occupy-
ing high positions in Church and State, who otherwise could
never have found proper opportunity for the development
of their talents. In 1874 the Philip Wright Scholarships
were founded out of funds left in the hands of the executors
of George Thorley.
On October 14, 1874, Mr. Richard Johnson, as Chairman,
suggested as a matter for consideration at a future meeting
whether it would not be advisable to offer, after a suitable
examination, a free education in the School for three or four
years to two or three of the best scholars from some of the
elementary schools in Manchester, and to offer in addition
an annual grant of £10 as an inducement to their remaining
in the School. He intimated that he would be prepared to
provide such allowances out of his own private funds. Some-
thing on these lines must have been attempted, for the School
Receiver was instructed (November 30, 1874) to obtain from
the clerk of the Manchester and Salford School Boards a list
of the public elementary schools recognised by them, and
the names of the principal teachers. The establishment
of the first scholarships to enable boys of the elementary
schools to continue their education elsewhere, by private
subscription of members and friends of the Manchester School
Board, followed in 1876, the first three School Board scholars
to enter the Grammar School under these provisions being
J. Bewsher, Percy Morton, and A. J. Sutton, all of whom
subsequently took distinguished positions at the University.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 353
Between 1874 and 1878 twenty-seven scholarships were
founded at the School (Speech Day, 1898).
The last of the private ' University Examiners' reports,'
which had been begun in 1840, was -made in 1872, when
R. B. Somerset thus expressed himself :
' I may perhaps be permitted to congratulate the trustees
on the evidence given by my personal examination that the
great extension in the course of studies in the School which
has been effected since my first visit as classical examiner
1861 has not been purchased by the sacrifice of the older studies
by which the School has so long maintained its great repu-
tation, and by which so many of the scholars have of late
years gained high honour and promotion in the University
and elsewhere.'
After 1873, these examinations by private individuals
were discontinued in favour of examination by the Oxford
and Cambridge Universities Examination Board, whose first
report was received in October 1874.
Although the efforts of Mr. Walker were all primarily
directed towards securing the personal advancement of his
pupils in whatever walk of life seemed to offer success — for
great as was his ambition, it was always an ambition for
others rather than for himself — yet the effect of these efforts
was by no means confined to the boys themselves, but
extended to the whole intellectual life of Manchester. The
mere fact of the aggregation of many keen purposeful scholars
caused many instincts and capacities to seek expression,
many questions to come under discussion, many ideals to
receive criticism, analysis; and purification, which could never
have happened if the social exclusiveness and self-sufficiency
of the past had remained. For social exclusiveness is largely
fed upon ignorance and misunderstanding, and when different
classes are brought into social intercourse, much of their
antagonism and discontent disappears and their energies
become united in a common aim. A sleepy school, or a sleepy
community, is full of cliques and castes ; an active busy school
may be full of diverse and even opposing activities, emula-
tion is rife, but antagonism has no time to crystallise into
permanent prejudices.
Although endowed with an indomitable will and inde-
fatigable in his efforts, there was another and tenderer side
AA
354 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
which Mr. Walker showed only to a few. Soon after coming
to Manchester he had become a privileged guest at the
home of one of the governors, Mr. Richard Johnson, an
active worker and deacon at the Union Chapel, Oxford Road.
Always courteous and gentle to womanhood unless aroused
by bigotry, he became attached to one of the daughters, and
was married at the Cathedral Church in 1867. His married
life, however, was a very brief one, for Mrs. Walker died after
a very short illness in 1869, leaving an only son. The blow
was a heavy one, but the only reference to it that I have come
across is a single remark he made on returning to the School :
* I have never preached morality to you, but I urge you to
remember that there are many things which we regret when
it is too late. Never do or say anything of which the
recollection may cause you sorrow.' As a memorial to his
wife he presented a handsome pulpit to the newly erected
church, of which others of her family were members. On
the pulpit is the following inscription :
D.D.
FREDERICTJS GUL. WALKER, A.M.
Scholae Mancuniensis Archididascalos
In Memoriam
dilectissimae conjugis Mariae
quae tenera adhuc aetatula
in societatem hujus Ecclesiae recepta
studio et caritate
candore animi morum innocentia
usque ad extremum spiritum comprobavit
quanto esset momento ad omnem virtutem
religio vere Christiana.
The inspiring influence that Mr. Walker exerted on many of
the boys of the upper classes of the School was also shown by
their varied out-of -school activities. As early as 1860 he was
concerned with Mr. Rickards in procuring the use of a cricket
field. A gymnasium instructor was first appointed in 1868.
From 1873, we have a continuous record of the School activities
in the pages of the School magazine Ulula. There had
been two short-lived predecessors. The first appeared 1839-
1840 and was called The New Microcosm ; the other appeared
in 1845, and was called The Grammar School Miscellany.
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 355
Neither contained school news or revealed any corporate
activity, but both consisted of essays, poems, and an
occasional letter descriptive of travel. In Ulula, on the
other hand, we read of the attempts at the formation of foot-
ball and cricket clubs, of a swimming and rowing club, of
a musical society, together with general discussions on such
contemporary questions as City v. Country School Life, the
Danger of School becoming a mere Workshop of Knowledge,
the Need for a Gymnasium, &c., the latter being strongly
supported by an Oxford Committee, who had seen the work
of Alexander Maclaren. A sum of £104 was collected in July
1874 for erection and equipment of a gymnasium at the
School. Throughout all, there shines the vigorous personality
of the high master. ' The chief requisite for success is a
determined will, without which genius itself is powerless,
but, armed with which, the dullest boy may achieve success,'
was his message to the boys on Speech Day, 1873. What
wonder that when twitted on his small stature but resonant
voice, he replied, ' What I lack in inches I must make up
for in sound ' ; or, when presented with an unexpectedly
large bill for chemical apparatus, he humorously replied :
' Science is very expensive ; I believe in Latin grammar
and the cane. They are cheap and efficient.'
On Speech Day, 1873, it was reported that the numbers
in the School were over 500. In 1874 they rose to 570 ' in
1875 to 700 ; in 1876 to 750. Still the reformer was not
satisfied. He had put his whole soul into a new branch of
social progress, viz., Education.
' The School Boards of Manchester and Salford were deal-
ing with the difficulties of Elementary Education with energy
and success. Secondary Education was not making a com-
mensurate advance. Instead of one Grammar School, there
ought to be in this city and environment, four or five, as
large and important as their own. That had been the waking
dream of his life for the past ten years. He cherished the
hope that he had in some degree been preparing the way
for its accomplishment, and he trusted that Manchester
energy and Manchester munificence would one day convert
the dream into reality.'
Meanwhile the financial difficulties were increasing as well
as the size of the School. The high standard of teaching
356 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
demanded an expensive equipment. This was generously
provided, but the balance-sheet gave new cause for anxiety.
The year 1869 was the only one when income met expenditure.
A meeting of the trustees was held at which Mr. Fearon,
one of the Endowed Schools Commissioners, attended to
explain the views of the Commissioners and to confer with
the trustees as to the best method of remedying the difficulty
in which the trustees were placed by deficiency of funds. This
difficulty, Mr. Fearon stated, the Charity Commissioners were
anxious to overcome so far as practicable. They considered
it must be done either by increasing the endowment of the
School or by diminishing the number of free scholars, or by
a combination of both. The Commissioners had before them
two important claims in Manchester besides the Grammar
School, viz., those of the lower middle classes and the educa-
tion of girls. Mr. Fearon further stated that the Charity
Commissioners desired to have only one governing body for
the three trusts of William Hulme, Humphrey Chetham, and
the Manchester Grammar School. Failing the union of the
three, thereby making adequate provision for the higher educa-
tion of the district, the Charity Commissioners wished to amal-
gamate the Chetham Hospital and the Grammar School trusts.
This suggestion the Chetham feoffees refused to entertain.
A discussion took place as to the claims of other lower middle
class schools, already existing in various parts of the town.
Mr. Fearon then said that the Commissioners wished to keep
up a first-class education at the Grammar School, and
proposed to reduce the number of free scholars to 100.
Several of the trustees, and Mr. Walker himself, considered
this inadvisable and unnecessary.
In March 1874 the Conservative party again returned to
power, and, as usual, the change in ministry involved a change
in educational outlook. This manifested itself in the proceed-
ings towards the Reports of the Endowed Schools Com-
missioners.1 A new Endowed Schools Bill was brought
before Parliament in July 1874. A meeting of trustees was
called to consider the effect which this Bill would have on
the interests of the School, and, as it was thought that some
of the provisions, if not altered, would be prejudicial, Lord
Sandon was requested to receive a deputation from the trustees
1 See H. J. Roby's evidence before the Secondary Schools Commission,
1894.
THE FABLE OF THE PHOENIX 357
in order that they might lay their objections before him.
After considerable discussion, a scheme was agreed upon by
which the governing body of the Charity was extended and
the number of boys on the Foundation became limited in
accordance with the income available from the Foundation
funds, and, to avoid a repetition of the variance which
existed in Germon's time, the future high masters were to
be appointed by the governors instead of by the President
of Corpus Christi.
The antagonism against the new spirit evidenced by the
opposition to the 1864 scheme had not entirely ceased, and
a number of old boys of the preceding generation were still
ready to take alarm at any further change. Consequently,
when the scheme was presented to the Charity Commissioners
in 1876, ' a meeting of the gentlemen interested in the sub-
ject ' was held at the Mitre Hotel, May 28, and a requisition
was signed to request that a town's meeting be called. Such a
meeting was held in June. It reflected little credit either
on the organisers or their adversaries. An appeal was made
for funds to extend the School buildings, dated August 5,
1876, but the Town Council, contrary to the advice of Sir
Joseph Heron, the Town Clerk, resolved to petition against
the scheme. A fresh series of letters appeared in the Press
during August, and finally on August 31 a petition against
the scheme was drawn up for signature. Fortunately, with
greater knowledge, better counsels prevailed, and on April
12, 1877, Mr. Croston stated at the Town Council that, before
the deputation of opposers went to London to lodge their
protest, they had had an interview with the governors of the
School and found that they wrere entirely in accord with the
Town Council, and that mistakes had arisen from attributing
to the governors certain objectionable clauses put in by the
Charity Commissioners, which the governors were themselves
opposing.
In July 1876, Mr. Walker decided to apply for the head-
ship of St. Paul's, London, and on December 13 a farewell
meeting was held in the School at which Bishop Fraser took
the Chair. The function was double, for it was also the
leave-taking of Rev. George Perkins. There were many of
the most prominent educationalists of Manchester present at
the meeting. The opinion expressed by the governors on
this occasion was to the following effect :
358 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
* Mr. F. W. Walker has been for seventeen years the able,
energetic and successful Highmaster of the Manchester Gram-
mar School. When he was appointed in 1859 by the President
of the Corpus Christi College, Oxford, there were on the foun-
dation not more than 250 boys, all free. A comprehensive
scheme of instruction ordered by the Court of Chancery in
1849 remained almost a dead letter. Spirit and power were
wanting to give it effect. Mr. Walker breathed a new life
into the School, and while zealously urging the advantages
that would surely follow upon the consent of the Court of
Chancery to the admission of other than foundation scholars,
he at the same time inspired the trustees with confidence
to erect new buildings which are now crowded with 750 boys .
Mr. Walker's success in training pupils for the Universities
is proved by testimony stronger than can be expressed in
any words of ours.
' To the teaching of science, of modern languages, of Eng-
lish literature, he had devoted an attention not less careful
and assiduous than that given to the study of classics and
mathematics.
' It is not possible to speak too highly of what Mr. Walker
has done for the School, and it is only just to state that his
work has been accomplished in the face of many difficulties
and at a cost of personal anxiety and toil for which the trustees
have never been able to offer any adequate reward. It is
a pleasure to add that their intercourse with him has
always been of a most friendly and cordial character. The
assistant masters of the School have recorded in their
own words the opinion they entertained of their Head.
With the boys Mr. Walker was deservedly popular. Their
physical comfort and well-being had always been objects
of his constant consideration.
' The trustees cannot too strongly express the sense of
the loss the School would sustain by the removal of Mr.
Walker. They are unable willingly to contemplate such
an event, but his long and invaluable service demands from
them the highest testimonial which it is in their power to
offer.'
Mr. Walker wrote the following reply :
' DEAR MR. HEYWOOD,— I desire to tender my warm
acknowledgments to the trustees for the generous testimonial
they have been kind enough to accord me, and to thank
you personally for appending your signature, an honour
which I value highly. What may become of my application
THE FABLE OF THE PHCENIX 359
I do not know, but of this I am sure, that wherever I go I
shall never find a body of gentlemen from whom I shall
experience the same personal kindness or who will exhibit the
same disinterested earnestness in the cause of education as
the trustees of the Manchester Grammar School.
' With sincere regards and acknowledgments,
' I am, dear Mr. Heywood,
' Yours very truly,
' FRED. W. WALKER.' 1
1 The bust of Mr. Walker^t present in the School is a copy of one by
Bruce Joy, and was presented by Colonel M. Clements in 1907. See also
obituary notices, Times, December 14, 1910, and Ulula, February 1911.
CHAPTER XIV
1877-1888
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
* Yet because in time to come many things may and shall survive and
grow . . . which at the making of these present acts and ordinances were
not possible to come to mind . . . the above named feoffees and others
hereafter to come, where need shall require, calling unto them discreet
learned counsel and men of good literature . . . will have full powers and
authority to augment, increase, expand and reform all the said acts,
ordinances, articles, compositions and agreements ' — School Statutes, 1524.
The trustees, guided by Mr. Walker's ideas, plan the extension required
for the gymnasium, chemical laboratories, lecture theatre, and class-
rooms— The new board of governors, sanctioned by the Endowed
Schools Commissioners in 1876, secures the representation of various
public interests : this involves an alteration in status of future
high masters — The new buildings favour the growth of a public
school life and traditions — The creation of a separate modern
side — The housing and reconstruction of the School Library — The
foundation of Victoria University induces more parents to enter
their sons at the Owens College for further study — This coincides with
an increase rather than with a decrease in the number passing to
Oxford and Cambridge — The foundation of Higher Grade Board
Schools, on a Continental plan, establishes new educational traditions
in the city towards technology, and at first diminishes the number of
able boys coming from elementary schools to compete for the founda-
tion scholarships at the Grammar School — Efforts to increase the
applicants by further subsidising selected boys — Value and limitation of
selection by examination at such an early age — The establishment
of the Hulme Grammar School — Resignation of Mr. Samuel Dill.
AFTER the resignation of Mr. Walker, the progress of the
School, though less volcanic, was no less certain. His inspiring
influence and clear-cut ideals had impressed themselves so
deeply on the governing body, and their approval of them
360
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 361
was so whole-hearted and complete, that they determined to
do all in their power to secure the realisation of his plans.
The course was the more difficult as the governors had to work
against the opposition to all active progress which had come
over the country in 1874, and which was expressed in the
altered political opinion that had placed Disraeli and Lord
Derby in power. Many of the reforms in higher education
which had been suggested by the Schools Inquiry Commission,
appointed by Gladstone in 1864, and which had been so
favourably reported on in 1867, were quietly put aside.
Among them was the project for the amalgamation of the
three great educational charities of Manchester, the Hulme
Trust — whose phenomenal growth had already caused it
to be the subject of several Acts of Parliament — the Chetham
Trust, and the Manchester Grammar School. Owing to the
failure to secure co-operation, all three educational move-
ments suffered a set-back in ideals. The Grammar School
ceased to maintain the prominent position it had previously
held as a ' seed plot ' for the clergy, who thereby lost that
intimate contact during adolescence with boys intending
to follow other callings which is so necessary in a demo-
cratic community. Thus both their religious and scholastic
teaching became prematurely specialised. Nor does it appear
that until the pupil-teacher system was evolved there was
any compensation for this in an increased association with
other forms of public teaching except perhaps that of the
Nonconformist preachers who now found a high level school
without tests or traditions of exclusiveness. Hulme Trustees,1
it is true, made a donation to the funds of the school. They
founded and equipped two other Grammar Schools, one at
Alexandra Park, Manchester, and one at Oldham, and
they undertook to set apart £1000 annually to the funds
of the Owens College, which the authorities devoted to the
support of Professorial Chairs in Greek and History, but they
made no provision to secure co-operation and to prevent
overlapping. All these projects left secondary education
in the district scattered and not a little of its resources
wasted — a condition which remains even to this day,
if we are to judge by the proportion seeking higher
training subsequent to school life. The Chetham feoffees
1 Reformed under a new and liberal scheme about this time.
362 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
also missed the opportunity of carrying out the full
educational aims of the founder, Humphrey Chetham, who
included in his vision the oversight of the training of his
boys beyond the age of thirteen and fourteen and throughout
their apprenticeship. Changes in industrial methods had
practically abolished apprenticeship to an individual master
as a complete method of learning a skilled trade, but it would
seem to have been the natural prerogative of the Chetham
Trust to lead the way in founding a high-level Craft School,
associated with the liberal education which the Grammar
School was affording to other poor boys from the elementary
schools of Manchester, Bolton, &c., who were already com-
peting for the foundation scholarships. Had an under-
standing between the charities been reached at this time, some
of the technological efforts to be described in the next chapter
might have been materially expedited by experience gained
from the working of a clearly thought-out educational policy,
and might have had a much ampler and more satisfactory
issue.'
The creation of a new governing body l at the Grammar
School was the expression of a new principle in English
legislation by which attempts were made to arouse and
preserve general interest in charitable and educational
endowments by providing for the representation of outside
authorities on the governing body. It secured such endow-
ments from the danger of exposure to sudden gusts of
temporary and ill-informed public opinion, to which they
might be subject if they had been placed solely under the
control of a public not fully acquainted with their value
and importance. It undoubtedly had a great effect in securing
for the advanced secondary education of the district a very
prominent part in the public educational schemes, and in
enabling the Grammar School to maintain its standards of
learning amid circumstances which threatened its stability,
by interfering with the sources from which its scholars came.
These dangers were still more completely removed when
the School was formally related to the local organisation in
the national system of public education put forward in 1902.
The scheme also involved the altered status of the high master,
who no longer held a life tenure of his position, but was
1 The names of the new governing body are given in the Appendix.
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 363
removable by the decision of the governing body. Hence-
forth he became the chief officer, with wide executive powers,
whose duty it was to carry out their agreed policy.
Sir Elkanah Armitage, who had so successfully dealt
with the opposition organised in the Town Council against
the 1867 scheme, now resigned his post on account of failing
health. Mr. Oliver Heywood, who since 1849 had acted as
Treasurer, was appointed Chairman in his place. This
position he occupied till his decease in 1892. His active
benevolence was manifested everywhere, while his courtliness
and charm of manner enabled him to tide the School over
the new difficulties which now began to surround it. The
public appreciation of his numerous services to Manchester
has been commemorated by the erection in Albert Square of
a statue to his memory by his fellow- townsmen. E. R. Lang-
worthy, who might be called the second founder of the
School, had died in 1874, and Robert Barbour had retired
on account of age.
Abraham Haworth 1 was appointed Treasurer ; Richard
Johnson, Vice-Chairman. Among the many important repre-
sentatives of public bodies added to the Board of Governors
at this time no one was more helpful in maintaining the high
state of efficiency in the School training than H. J. Roby.
He had already gained a unique educational experience by
serving as secretary to the Endowed Schools Commissioners
from 1865 to 1872 and subsequently as one of the Commis-
sioners from 1872 to 1874. The Rev. James Eraser, Bishop
of Manchester, had visited the school as examiner in 1847.
He also possessed a great experience in educational adminis-
tration. Many other governors worthily upheld the past
traditions of the town, for Manchester merchants had always
taken an interest in the School. The Bestwicks had shared
the expense of its foundation, the Mosleys had furnished it
with scholars, and one at least had left legacies to assist poor
scholars to the Universities. The Chetham family had
provided it with a high master, several feoffees, and many
scholars. A number of the Byroms had been educated
there, and the celebrated Dr. John Byrom, though not a
scholar, was the personal friend, though occasionally the
critic, of its high master, William Purnell. William Hulme
1 ' A tower of strength to the School.'— F. W. Walker.
364 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
had left endowments for its scholars to continue post-graduate
studies at Oxford, and, at a much later date, C. H. Rickards
and John Peel, after being educated at the School, had
served on the governing body. It was natural, therefore,
that the mayors of Manchester and Salford should be included
among the ex-officio governors. Presumably Justices of
the Peace were elected to see that no malversation of funds
took place. Herbert Birley and Richard Radford were also
of great value in maintaining the channel of supply from the
elementary schools, for they were the representatives of the
Manchester and Salford School Boards.
The first duty which confronted the new governing body
was to find the funds necessary for defraying the cost of the
new gymnasium block of buildings, the plans of which had
already been passed at an estimated cost of £30,000. The
liberality of some of the citizens of Manchester towards educa-
tion at this time, as shown by their contributions to the
Owens College and the Grammar School, seemed inex-
haustible. It was only equalled by the increase in number
of scholars and students attending these two institutions, for
the direct and indirect effects of the Public Elementary
Education Act of 1870 and its successors had begun to tell
on the mental outlook of the community.
A public meeting was held at which the following speakers
urged the claims of the School. Bishop Eraser moved the
first resolution. It was seconded by Alderman Joseph
Thompson, who was elected to represent the Manchester
Town Council and was also a Governor of the Owens
College and subsequently the writer of ' Its Foundation
and its Growth.' Joseph Heron, Principal Greenwood, and
Dr. John Watts were also among the speakers. An exten-
sion committee was formed to raise the money. Mrs.
Langworthy, who had previously contributed £5000, now
offered another similar sum. A timely legacy of £10,000
from C. F. Beyer, and a donation of £5000 from Richard
Johnson and a similar one from Thomas Wrigley, of Bury,
afforded very material help towards meeting the cost of the
extension, which ultimately amounted to £52,000.
The new chemical laboratory, which was named after
C. F. Beyer, at first caused some anxiety to one of the
governors, who was interested in the Owens College, lest
there should be some educational overlapping, but this anxiety
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 365
was not shared by its official representative. The munificent
gifts of Edward R. Langworthy caused the governors
to associate his name with the new gymnasium. Perhaps
it was owing to personal wishes that the names of Richard
Johnson and Thomas Wrigley were not connected with other
portions of the new buildings.
Mr. Walker's resignation took place before the new scheme,
which included the duty of appointing a new high master,
was in operation ; consequently his successor, Mr. S. Dill,
Dean, Senior Tutor, and Fellow of Corpus Chris ti College,
Oxford, was selected by Dr. Fowler, the patron of the School,
who followed the usual course of previous conference with
the trustees. Under the new scheme of administration the
high master became the executive officer of the governors.
On him devolved the duty of organising the entire School
curriculum and appointing or dismissing assistant masters.
The new buildings were opened for school work in October
1880. The high master held a public reception in them, on
December 10, 1880. The gymnasium was one of the best
in the country. It was 120 feet by 135 feet and 30 feet high.
The floor consisted of a 6-inch layer of sawdust overlaid with
a foot of hair, and covered with one huge sheet of canvas.
The apparatus equipment consisted of 100 pairs of dumb-
bells, varying in weight from 7 to 24 lb., also 100 bar-bells
and other fixtures, including a ladder, prepared walls for
climbing, horizontal and parallel bars, horses, &c., and a large
dressing-room. Both equipment and curriculum of physical
training were thoroughly thought out in accordance with
the views held by leading authorities of that time. The
gymnasium was able to accommodate 500 members of the
school at one time for mass physical training.
On Speech Day, 1883, Mr. Dill referred to the marked
tendency of the School towards modern languages and science,
and reported that out of 940 boys, 400 were on the modern
side, 295 attended classes in which chemistry was being
taught practically, and 158 attended classes in physics, while
50 were in classes devoting the greater part of their time to
science. Mr. Dill added :
' It is in this direction that the recent expansion of the
School has mainly taken place, and it is here that there is
still the greatest room for fresh effort and adaptation. The
classical system, in schools as old as ours, rests on a tradi-
366 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
tion of more than three and a half centuries. During that
time the teaching has been conducted by a succession of
highly educated men who communicated or improved upon
the training they had received themselves. That system
has justified itself by results. It needs no defence, pro-
vided that it does not, in the altered circumstances of our
time, claim any exclusive rights ; but the needs of the great
commercial societies like our own, with ramifications ex-
tending all over the globe, and the increasing number of
subjects which claim attention, now imperatively require us
to provide for a large number of boys an education which,
while it does not sacrifice the training of the faculties, shall
have an immediate and direct bearing on e very-day life.
To shape and develop such a curriculum is the task of the
schoolmaster in the great industrial centres. Very much
has to be done. Many years of effort and experiment must
pass before perfect adaptation and completeness are attained.
In the meantime, that we at the Grammar School are
making real progress will, I think, be clear to you, when
I read you the judgment of two eminent examiners in modern
languages who have just reviewed the work of the higher
forms.
* Dr. Buchheim, professor of German in University College,
London, writes : " I consider the result of the examination at
your school in both French and German most satisfactory, far
more satisfactory than is generally the case at large public
institutions. I was particularly struck by the uniform good
work of the boys, and I may mention as a proof of the effici-
ency of the instruction that, out of 83 boys, only 28 failed
to obtain 50 per cent, of the maximum marks allotted for
their performance in French and German." Mr. York Powell,
who has examined the modern side for three years, permits me
to say, " I wish first to note the fact that a very distinct ad-
vance is being made in the subjects which come under my
tests In each form. Believing as I do that these subjects, if
properly treated, afford a most excellent educational training,
I look for a really good outcome being attained in this
school on the modern side — first because I see the care
with which they are taught, and secondly because I am sure
that a clear and steady progress has been going on in them
ever since I was first able to look into the work three years
ago. Manchester School in my opinion bids fair to have
the most complete and best organised modern side of any
school in England." 1
1 Quoted in Ulula, October 1883.
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 367
The rapid increase in the number of boys, particularly on
the modern side, necessitated a complete change in the
existing time-table and a large increase in the teaching
staff.
' The many difficult problems that consequently arose
in the recasting of the curriculum Mr. Dill faced and settled
one after another by his clear-sighted intelligence and his
marvellous grasp of detail, and that indomitable capacity
for hard work for which he had already gained a name at
Oxford. Nor in any of the alterations which he introduced
did Mr. Dill ever show rashness, or a disposition to make
changes simply for the sake of change. Where an old custom
could be retained, he retained it. He often acted with a
quickness which to some might seem rashness, but those
who knew him well knew there could not be a more cautious
man. If his action was quick, his deliberation was long,
and he had fully estimated even the remote consequences
of every change he made. From Lent term, 1879, to Mid-
summer, 1888, the numbers of the modern side rose from
279 to 411. The Modern VI form was established out of
the old Civil Service form, and arrangements were made for
this part of the School to be included in the regular examina-
tions conducted by the Universities Board.' i
In his speech at the prize distribution in July 1886,
Mr. Dill said :
' There is nothing in the period of my connection with the
School which I regard with so much satisfaction as the steady
improvement in scholarly habit and range of knowledge
among the senior boys of the modern side. They have the
best training we can procure for them in French and German ,
History, English Literature and Philology, Mathematics
and Physical Science. The courses have been carefully
planned to meet the growing demands of modern commercial
life. If we have not succeeded fully, I still believe that
success is only a matter of a few years, and that you will
soon have in Manchester what has long been regarded as
unattainable, a modern education which shall be at once
thorough as a discipline and complete as a preparation for
commercial life.'
On July 23, 1887, the high master reported his intention
1 Ulula, 1888.
368 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of opening evening classes in foreign correspondence, modern
languages, precis writing, commercial geography, book-keep-
ing, shorthand, commercial arithmetic and writing.
The long list of honours won by the School at Oxford and
Cambridge not only indicates the excellent training of the
boys in classics, mathematics, and science, but also the signal
success of the method of attracting large numbers to the
school and selecting the best by repeated tests, subsidising
those who needed pecuniary help and sending them forth
to the older Universities. Their high records in subsequent
University tests show the mettle of which they were made.
The successes obtained by science pupils and the record of
subsequent high scientific work, which is, after all, the true
measure of the success of any training, afford eloquent
testimony of the value of the method of combining practical
with theoretical instruction as adopted by Mr. Francis Jones,
first in the chemical laboratories which had been set up in
the 1776 building by Dr. Marshall Watts in 1870-71, when
the Drawing Hall building was opened ; and more fully
developed (by Mr. F. Jones) on the opening of the Beyer
Laboratory in the gymnasium buildings in 1880. It had
very forcibly impressed Mr. Dill with the need for making
provision for practical instruction in physics. He decided
to use part of the old English School, built in 1835, for a
physics laboratory, as it had now been vacated by Mr. Hall,
who had taken charge of the Hulme School. The planning
and furnishing were entrusted to an old pupil of the
school, W. W. Haldane Gee, B.Sc., demonstrator and assistant
lecturer in physics at the Owens College, in whose ' Text
Book of Practical Physics,' published 1887, a description
of the recently erected Physics Laboratory at the Grammar
School appears. The organisation of the teaching and
curriculum was placed under the care of another old pupil,
A. E. Holmes, later headmaster of Dewsbury School.
The effect of the opening of the roomy buildings and
the wider outlook of the curriculum on the actual life of
the boys was very striking.
The ample space provided by the new gymnasium and
the new lecture theatre, for the first time afforded scope for the
natural creative instincts and activities of boyhood to manifest
themselves. The social gathering which took place in the new
buildings on December 10, 1881, was intended to inaugurate
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 369
this new era of school life. All the organised school societies
into which the past informal gatherings of boys had now
developed were represented. The Debating Society planned
part of the entertainment. The Philosophic Society, organised
among the science boys, perhaps in emulation of the title of
the Manchester Literary and Philosophic Society, showed
chemical and physical experiments. There were exhibitions
of drawings by pupils of the School and a gymnastic display
by a squad of twenty boys. A Natural History Society
was also formed from among the boys who attended
Mr. Willis's classes in botany. It still maintains an active
existence.1 Arrangements were made in Michaelmas term,
1882, for the delivery of public lectures in the new theatre,
which was calculated to hold 600 people. To these parents
were invited. The first was given in March 1883 by Pro-
fessor Boyd Dawkins on the * Dawn of History.'
Athletic life became more vigorous by the holding of
swimming contests on October 7, 1881. A Rifle Corps was
formed with fifty-eight members, a cricket field was rented
at £30 a year, and the question of a special school recreation
ground began to be mooted by the Football Club in 1882.
The Glee Society was formed, which gave concerts at the
annual school soirees. To develop still further the cor-
porate school life, these were continued by the high master
on December 11, 1885, and December 10, 1886; while in
order to satisfy the new and increasingly desire for
unity, a Junior Old Boys' Dinner was held in 1884. It
was followed by a second, held on December 23, 1885.
Subsequently the committee which managed it amal-
gamated with the dinner committee of the boys of an
older generation. Nor were amusements and recreations
the only bonds of union that began to spring up. A
movement was set on foot to establish a Working Lads'
Club in Ancoats. It was the expression of the awaken-
ing consciousness of responsibility towards the neglected
artisan youth of the city, whose rioting and scuttling
and savagery were at this time prominently before
the public. As the financial difficulties and need of
1 This is now (1919) replaced by Nature Study classes under Mr. F. A.
Bruton, under whose care an exceedingly valuable Natural History Museum
is growing up in the School.
BB
370 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
permanent interest and support came up for discussion, some
one suggested that if the Manchester Grammar School boys
would take the matter up and support it, not only with money
but with the personal interest of its boys, some of the diffi-
culties would be solved. Mr. Alexander Devine, the originator,
consulted Mr. Dill. A letter appeared in Ulula, June 1887,
asking for help. A public meeting of governors, old boys,
and present scholars was held January 18, 1888, in the lecture
theatre. Mr. Dill, from the first, took a very active interest
and aided the scheme by his sympathy, advice, and money.
He felt its evident power for good, not only to the working
lads but also to the Grammar School boys. It was therefore
decided that a club for the working lads of Oldham Road
and Rochdale Road be established on lines suggested by
Mr. Dill, and that it should be worked as far as possible by
Old Mancunians and friends of the Manchester Grammar
School. A suitable building was found in Livesey Street,
Oldham Road, and the club was formally opened, as one of
a group of working lads' clubs in Manchester, by H.R.H.
the Duke of Clarence, on October 20, 1888.
Another expression of school activity that took place in
the new building, though of high initial purpose, was for several
reasons of less striking immediate as well as ultimate result
— the rehousing of the School library. Perhaps the relation
of a school library to a complete school life varies from time
to time. In an age of reflectiveness and individual study, great
use is made of its books for reference. In an age of hurry
and bustle and outdoor activity, the needs of the more
reflective and less active boys are apt to be overlooked, and
a school library becomes neglected, especially if its housing
is cheerless, and its comforts limited. We have already
mentioned the seventeenth-century volumes whose inscrip-
tions reveal some of the thoughts and occupations of our
Puritan predecessors. We have also noted the eighteenth-
century library collected by William Purnell and the later
collections by C. Lawson, and how his distinguished pupil
William Arnold, the senior wrangler of 1766, left £100 to be
expended on the purchase of books.1 We have observed
the prominent position assigned to the provision of books
1 Cf. NicolTs Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 579 ; vol. ii. p. 704 ; vol.
vi. p. 499 ; Grammar School Register, vol. i.
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 371
by the 1833 Chancery scheme. In 1876 Miss Thompson
presented to the School 1900 volumes which had belonged to
her brother, Richard Thompson. About this time also the
Rev. Finch Smith, son of Jeremiah Smith, the former high
master, presented a large number of portrait prints of old
scholars, feoffees, and friends of the School, together with a
number of works written by old scholars. They had been
collected by Jeremiah Smith and had been extensively
referred to by Finch Smith in editing the School register.
Unfortunately, for some years prior to 1882, the library had
been little used. Many of the books had fallen into dis-
repair, and valuable sets of books had been broken- up and
lost. Largely at the instigation of Mr. Henry Lee, one of
the governors, a large attic at the top of the new gymnasium
buildings was appropriately furnished. Mr. Oliver Hey wood,
the treasurer, gave £1000, Mr. James Chadwick, vice-chair-
man, gave a donation of £500, and for some time, attempts
were made by the sixth form boys to use the room as a nucleus
of school life. Mr. Joseph Hall, the master of English
literature, undertook the post of librarian, but, soon after
his departure, the library again began to fall into disuse and
neglect, and its books into disrepair, owing to its position and
lack of adequate control. Complaint was made in the pages
of Ulula that the library was practically non-existent, except
as a place of reference for a few of the masters and sixth
form boys. The growth of special form lending libraries,
with their many modern works and novels, also withdrew
school interest, while the Old Mancunians' Association, which
might have taken an interest in the preservation of the works of
past scholars, had not at this time been called into existence.
The valuable books described by John Harland in the columns
of the Manchester Guardian x are fortunately still in the School
library and have been carefully preserved and re-bound
by the present librarian, Mr. J. R. Broadhurst. The whole
question of the relation of this valuable school asset to the
current life of the School, and its influence in preserving
school traditions, needs fresh consideration.
We now come to the consideration of the effect which
the power of conferring University degrees, granted to the
Victoria University, with which the Owens College was now
1 Manchester Guardian, August 19, 1856.
372 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
incorporated, had upon the progress of the School. Though
the original charter of incorporation was granted in 1880, the
power of granting medical degrees was reserved till 1883.
Provision for the housing of the Manchester School of Medicine
had been made in the Owens College buildings opened in
Oxford Road in 1873. The combined institutions thereupon
offered greatly improved professional, as well as scientific
and other training, to boys who, for various reasons, would
not have passed into the older English Universities. Many
boys began their studies at the Owens College, and qualified
themselves for competing at the London University examina-
tions, or, after a brief period of study, passed to Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and elsewhere. Others, intending to follow the
career of engineering, consulting chemist, &c., sought special
training in geology, physics, &c. With the rapid develop-
ment of the Owens College that followed the opening of the
new buildings, the number of boys passing from the Grammar
School greatly increased. Some idea of the relative number
of those following the learned professions in Lancashire may
be gained from the ' Court Guide ' for 1884, which contains
the names of 1211 clergy, 133 barristers, 1417 solicitors,
55 notaries, 1481 practitioners of medicine, 727 actuaries,
402 architects, 289 civil engineers, and 322 surveyors, out of
a total population of three and a half millions.
On Saturday, June 19, 1884, an important conference
of educationalists, professors, and others, was held at the
Owens College, to see how far the local schools could be
brought into more intimate relationship with the new
University. This was held with the more confidence in that
the application for a charter had been signed by repre-
sentatives of the chief schools in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Dr. Greenwood, the Vice-Chancellor, remarked :
' It was unnecessary to say that they neither expected
nor desired, and they would regard it as nothing less
than a calamity, that the ties between the old School and
the older Universities should be weakened, but experience
showed that there was a large number of men who could not
go to the University unless there was one identified with
their own district as in Scotland and abroad. The Victoria
University would be at a great disadvantage because of the
lack of endowments. Aberdeen had 250 entrance scholar-
ships and exhibitions, tenable for four years, of the annual
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 373
value of £4500, so that more than 60 were offered each
year. The Owens College had a few entrance scholarships,
but the Victoria University was entirely without any.'
Professor Roscoe pointed out the difference between the
teaching University which was established in Manchester,
and the examining University of London. Professor Ward
spoke of the Courses of Studies. There was a preliminary
entrance examination for those who desired to prepare for
courses of study in Arts, Sciences, and Law, which was intended
to be somewhat higher than the entrance examination
demanded of other students, but it was of such a nature that
any boys of good school education could pass. There were
to be pass degrees and eleven Schools of Honours.
Mr. Dill was present at this meeting, and on the following
Speech Day, July 30, 1884, stated that friends of the Grammar
School
' would observe with pleasure that they were establishing a
close connection with all departments of the Owens College,
especially the scientific and medical departments, and that
a fair proportion of Manchester boys occupied places of
distinction in the first-class lists of Victoria University.'
An attempt has been made to estimate the number of
such boys in order that they might be compared with the
number who passed to Oxford and Cambridge, and also to
classify them according to the special courses of study they
followed, in order to gain some impression of the ultimate
result of the work of the School.1
Although the fuller consideration of the provision made in
Manchester for technical education will be left to the next
chapter, it is necessary, if we are rightly to understand the
progress of the School at this point, to make some reference
to the Technical Education Commission, which was appointed
in 1880 and which issued its report in 1884, and also to the
work which Mr. Mundella was accomplishing as Vice-President,
1880-1885, of the Committee of the Privy Council which
dealt with education, for both these events were indirectly
the cause of some concern to the Grammar School. The
work of the Manchester and Salford School Boards, under
the enlightened chairmanships of Herbert Birley and Richard
1 See Appendix.
374 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Radford, had revealed in many Board Schools the presence of
a considerable number of boys of such ability and keenness
that it seemed desirable to make provision for their further
educational advance than was included in the six standards.
Consequently a seventh standard was established in 1882
and was soon followed by an extra-seventh. Prominent
among the schools where many of these scholars were found
were the Peter Street School and the Lower Mosley Street
School.1 These schools had long competed in friendly rivalry
for the palm of excellence, and for many years both had sent
many of their most promising pupils to compete for founda-
tion scholarships at the Grammar School. The Manchester
School Board decided to merge these two schools into one,
and to accommodate the pupils in an entirely new building,
capable of holding 1200 children, with special provision
for the teaching of Art and Science. There was to be a
drawing studio for 200 pupils, a lecture theatre for 120 pupils,
and a chemical laboratory for 80 pupils, and an ample and
well-equipped gymnasium. It was to be called the Manchester
Central Higher Grade School.
Mr. Mundella, whose business firm had established a branch
factory at Chemnitz, had in his early life made personal and
close study of the German system of technical education.
He must also have been brought into touch with Manchester
needs by his association with Professor Henry E. Roscoe and
A. J. Slagg in the Technical Education Commission, and have
realised the desire of the Victoria University to be brought
more closely into touch with the public system of education.
He accepted an invitation to come to Manchester on July 5,
1884, (1) to open thenew Museum at Queen's Park, Harpurhey,
(2) to open the new Central School. The occasion was taken
to present to Manchester men some of the new educational
ideals. In his speech, Mr. Mundella also drew attention to
the contrast between the English and Scotch attitude towards
national education, and gave point to his speech by describing
the fears expressed by the Scotch peers in the House of Lords
lest their own national system of education should be dragged
down to the level of English public education by English
educationalists.
' They won't have the term elementary education men-
1 See p. 248.
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 375
tioned in connection with Scotland. In their poorest schools
they claim the right to teach Latin, Greek, and mathe-
matics, and hundreds of men are sent direct from the public
schools of Scotland to the Universities year by year. It is
to that fact that Scotland owes her pre-eminence.'
Mr. Herbert Birley, Chairman of the School Board, added :
' They might reasonably hope that many of the elder boys
would compete, as successfully as before, for the foundation
scholarships at the Manchester Grammar School ; but the
principal and perhaps the most important part of the instruc-
tion to be given would be such as would prepare the pupils
for the highest and more precise instruction, perhaps in the
Technical Schools, or for responsible posts in the commercial
and manufacturing establishments in the city and neigh-
bourhood.'
The establishment of higher-grade schools in 1882 led to
an extension of school age beyond 14 at the Public Elemen-
tary Schools, which extension was now organised as a ' Science
School ' under the supervision of South Kensington, as was
also the Science, Mathematical, and Art teaching already
carried on at the Grammar School. The passing of Standard
V was regarded as a minimum for entrance to the higher-
grade schools which were opened at Ardwick, Hyde Road,
St. Luke's (ultimately Cheetham Hill Higher Grade), Waterloo
Road, Cheetham Hill ; Birley St., Beswick ; and Ducie
Avenue (1885). The numbers of elementary school pupils
who used these schools were :
In 1884-5, 1106 children in standards VII and Extra VII.
„ 1887-8, 1543
(over 500 being in Extra VII).
The teaching of higher grade subjects in the Board Schools
was a serious matter to the Grammar School, for it threatened
to dry up the stream of the most promising boys entering
from the elementary schools, as the number of such boys
ready at this time for secondary education was very limited,
though the number of middle-class boys desiring a liberal
education was increasing. Probably this was the cause of
Mr. Dill saying on Speech Day, 1885 :
1 The School hardly succeeded in winning from the general
public and from the leaders of public opinion in Manchester
376 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
that measure of support and solicitude for its future which
it might fairly claim on the ground of its connection with
the general well-being of the district . . . yet there were
many signs of late that its place in our educational system
was little recognised and its capacities for service to the com-
munity were quietly ignored. ... It rested with them (the
leaders of public opinion) to say whether the School should
become the property of a single class, or remain the meeting-
ground of all classes ; whether it should be cramped and
crippled, or have further scope for the development of its capa-
cities for usefulness. It would be lamentable if, under the in-
fluence of well-meaning but narrow theories, existing agencies
should be ignored and splendid resources wasted. This
city was great and rich and powerful, but its educational
authorities might yet find that it was easier to pull down
than to build up an institution which had done honourable
and useful work for nearly 400 years, and which had at once
the associations of antiquity and the energies of youth.'
There can be no doubt that the original intention of
Hugh Oldham had been to provide the highest form of educa-
tion available, free to all, rich and poor alike.1 For 150
years this free education consisted entirely in a training in
classical languages. As soon as it was evident that other
subjects, such as mathematics, were equally essential, extra
teachers were privately employed by parents and privately
paid to give lessons out of school hours. In 1833, the Court of
Chancery decreed that all school tuition was to be made free,
and it was to include several other subjects. When the funds
proved inadequate to provide teaching for all applicants for
admission, as it speedily did under Mr. Walker, a selection
of the applicants had to be made. It was made by the
governors with the assistance of the high master. Such
selection was capable of abuse, and it is believed that mer-
chants of established position occasionally exerted influence
on the governors to secure recommendations for their sons.
There was no definite financial bar to the holding of a founda-
tion scholarship, and, though the governors could exclude
any boy whose circumstances seemed to render him an
unsuitable recipient, it was difficult to refuse these recom-
mendations, particularly when made on behalf of a promising
1 ' The State does not want poor men, but able men, whether they are
rich or poor.' — Educational Commissioners' Report, 1852.
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 37*7
boy. An entrance examination of all candidates was held
to see if they were fit for the School. This became utilised
for the selection of the better candidates, and was finally the
sole method adopted. There is no reason to believe that the
selection made was other than perfectly fair and according to
merit, and it is certain that the School benefited very pro-
foundly by the selection of the ablest boys for foundation
scholarships. There were indeed a few instances in which
parents expressed their desire to pay the school fees after their
boys had achieved the honour of winning a scholarship in open
competition, but the number of scholarships was limited,
and it is highly probable, particularly at certain periods, that
many deserving boys of restricted means and limited social
influence did not always obtain the educational assistance
which they both needed and deserved, at the hands of the
school authorities. The fees derived from the capitation
boys under the 1867 scheme, had enabled the governors to
pay better salaries to masters, and so retain the services of
the more highly trained men, but they did not pay for an
increased number of free scholars. When in 1875 it was
evident that, in spite of the capital cost of the 1870 building
having been defrayed by public subscription, the income of
the School from all sources would not meet expenditure, it
became necessary to restrict the number of foundation scholar-
ships to such a number as could be paid for out of the existing
foundation funds, that is from 250 to between 150 and 160
boys. The Court of Chancery stipulated that half of them
should be preferably offered to boys of public elementary
schools. The first election of foundation scholars under the
new scheme took place early in 1878, when there were already
600 capitation boys in the School, and as there were 154
candidates for 24 vacancies for foundation scholarships, the
competition was keen. In the following September there
were 144 candidates for 21 vacancies.
The restriction of half the scholarships to boys from
elementary schools was evidently an attempt to redress any
adverse educational balance against poorer boys that may
have been created by social position. Its possible drawback
was that boys of inferior merit might be preferred to abler
ones as a consequence. This, however, very rarely occurred,
for, as a matter of actual fact, a considerable majority of the
foundation scholarships had, from their first creation in 1867,
378 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
been awarded to boys from public elementary schools, because
several elementary schools provided an education distinctly
in advance of that provided by most private venture schools,
and such elementary schools were often frequented by many
boys already possessing good family traditions, including
that of the appreciation of higher education. Among such
schools the Peter Street and the Lower Mosley Street Schools
ranked high, and there were others of considerable merit.
Had such an adequate preliminary training at good elementary
schools not existed, the restriction of half the foundation
scholarships might have resulted in lowering the intellectual
standard of the School. There is, on the contrary, every
indication that it raised it considerably except at the
particular period which now comes under consideration.
On Speech Day, July 1886, the high master, Mr. Dill,
reported that the competition for the restricted scholar-
ships had, within the last three years, seriously fallen
off in quality, and that the best boys from the elementary
schools were no longer competing for them. He reported
that the governors, thinking that the offer of a free educa-
tion alone was not strong enough to induce the parents of
such scholars to allow their children to prolong their educa-
tion at school, and so forgo the benefit of the wages they
would have earned if they went early to business, had
decided to obtain the necessary powers to offer bursaries of
£12 125. in addition to the free education, even though this
would necessitate diminishing the total number of restricted
scholarships.
In order to understand the scholarship system of the
Manchester School Board, which had now come into com-
petition with that of the Grammar School, it is necessary
to retrace our steps and study the early phases of its
growth ; for as soon as the injurious effects of the competi-
tion were realised, measures were adopted to harmonise the
two systems.1
In 1875 the members of the Manchester School
Board, in order to obtain eligible candidates for subse-
quent apprenticeship as pupil teachers, formulated a scheme
for establishing a fund to enable promising scholars in public
elementary schools to continue their studies in more advanced
1 Of. Chap, xv, p. 416.
I
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 379
schools. These exhibitions were not only ample enough to
pay school fees and provide books, but a] so included a money
maintenance grant. Special advantages were offered to
those exhibitioners who intended to become teachers. One
condition was that candidates should be between eleven and
thirteen years of age, and should have attended a public
elementary school for at least two years. The first three
exhibitions were awarded in 1875, and all the winners entered
at the Grammar School :
James Bewsher, admitted at Balliol College, Oxford.
Percy Morton, admitted at Exeter College, Oxford.
Alfred Hughes, admitted at Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
and late Professor of Education, Birmingham.
Between 1876 and 1886, thirty of these exhibitions were
given by the School Board, and were mostly held either at
the Manchester Grammar School or at the Manchester High
School for Girls . At the end of the period , half of the recipients
were either actually engaged in teaching, or were preparing
to do so.1 In 1887 it was reported that since 1875 the
Manchester School Board had awarded 37 exhibitions of the
annual value of £25 for three years tenable at the Grammar
School and at the Girls' High School ; 45 of the annual value
of £15 a year, and 120 of the annual value of £10. These
exhibitions were also tenable at other centres of higher
education. R. L. Taylor, who had been assistant to Mr. Jones
at the Grammar School, was placed in charge of the science
teaching at the Central Schools, which now became very
efficient. Consequently many boys preferred to stay at the
higher-grade schools rather than enter the Grammar School
or the High School for Girls, and this process naturally
became more marked as the scholarships rose in value.
The Science and Art Scholarships of the School Board
developed out of the School Board exhibitions when they
had been augmented by grants. The Science and Art Depart-
ment of South Kensington offered to subscribe an equal sum
for every £5 subscribed by living donors. This condition
was added to rule out the use of old charities. The new
scholarships could be held either at the higher grade schools
1 Cf. Watts, Fifteen Years of School Board Work, Manchester
Statistical Society.
380 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
or elsewhere, and were open to all children from publio
elementary schools.
In 1887 the rules of the Science and Art scholarships were
altered, and a new scheme introduced, which raised the total
value to £9 for the first year, £12 for the second, £15 for the
third. Of the total sum the Government contributed £4,
£7 and £10 respectively. This certainly retained many of
the best boys at the higher grade schools and other educa-
tional centres, and the Grammar School was now regarded
by the working classes mainly as an entrance to the professions
and universities, an object which few boys from elementary
schools then had in view.
In order to overcome some of the difficulties associated
with the rival systems of scholarships, an arrangement was
made between the Grammar School authorities and the School
Board to hold a joint examination for the School Board
scholarships for boys aged twelve to sixteen, and for the
Grammar School scholarships for candidates aged ten to
fourteen.
The first joint examination was held December 1887, the
last in April 1889. While there were 250 candidates for the
School Board scholarships available at higher-grade schools,
there were only 100 candidates for the Grammar School
scholarships, which seemed at this time to possess insufficient
attraction for parents of the classes who had hitherto sent
their children to the School. Consequently the suggestion
was made that bursaries of £7 105., £10, and £13 10s.
successively should be given from the Langworthy funds to
holders of the Grammar School foundation scholarships, so
as to render them equal in value to the School Board Science
and Arts scholarships. The following rule was finally adopted :
* Bursaries not exceeding thirty-six in number may also be
maintained out of the foundation, and may be awarded to
foundation scholars on the results of the examination for such
scholarships. Each holder of a bursary shall be entitled to
such money payments, not being less than £10 or more than
£15 per annum, as may be determined by the governors. In
the award of the said bursaries and of one-half of the founda-
tion scholarships, preference shall be given to boys who are,
or have been, not less than three years scholars in any
elementary school. The governors shall make such arrange-
ments for the election to the scholarships and bursaries to be
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 381
so preferentially awarded as seem to them to be best adapted
to secure the double object of attracting good scholars to the
School of the said foundation and of advancing education at
the public elementary schools.'
The difficulty was not yet overcome. A larger volume
of well-prepared boys was needed as well as a curriculum
of training more suitable for boys intending to enter a
business career. The success of any process of selection
of scholars by examination at such an early period of life —
say under twelve or thirteen — depends upon a variety of
circumstances, among them the health and vigour of the
boy, his previous intellectual training, the earning capacity,
social position, moral qualities, and family traditions of his
parents, and the effect of these in arousing at an early period
the desire of the child to make use of educational oppor-
tunities. Moreover, before it could be decided whether the
educational training at the Manchester Grammar School
would suit the ultimate as well as the immediate interests of
a child from the elementary school and would therefore be
in the best interests of the community, it was necessary to
know the general conditions of the children attending the
elementary schools of the district. It was quite possible
that the time of the pupil might be more usefully employed
in some other school than in beginning a course of training
in the Grammar School, and prematurely cutting it off before
a definite stage of attainment had been reached. No doubt
as to the value of the free-place system ever arose, as far
as the Manchester Grammar School itself was concerned, until
the establishment of the scholarships at the higher-grade
schools diverted the stream which had hitherto provided
the Grammar School with many of its best pupils, and threw
its particular scholarship system into confusion. It was at
first intended that the Grammar School should represent
an intermediary stage, and that the course of national
education should be from elementary to secondary
school, and from secondary school to schools of science and
design. The higher-grade schools carried the education of
the brighter boys of the elementary school to a seventh and
an extra-seventh standard, and passed boys direct to the
local University, which thus occupied the place of an occupa-
tional technical school. This rendered necessary a clearer
382 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
understanding of the essential difference of educational aims
between the Grammar School and the higher-grade schools:
The establishment of the higher-grade schools was a distinct
educational gain to a certain type of child, for it carried his
training along a line which gave immediate success. The
training provided did not, however, include a knowledge of any
foreign language or even of any considerable amount of
English literature. A pupil was thus able to make consider-
able progress along the few lines of a limited education, but if
he did seek admission to the Grammar School, at the age of
thirteen or over, his linguistic deficiencies placed him at a very
decided disadvantage. At first neither pupils nor parents,
nor even the masters of many elementary schools, realised the
educational advantages of the Grammar School system of
humanistic studies, and it was this that caused the numbers
and attainments of the candidates for the restricted scholar-
ships at Manchester Grammar School to fall so very materially
about 1885-1888, when the restricted scholarships had to be
given to boys who, neither by personal ability nor by family
tradition, had any other object than an early entrance into
a business career at fifteen years of a,ge — an object for which
the curriculum of the Grammar School was not suited.
We must now briefly review the methods adopted to enable
clever poor boys to remain at school sufficiently long to be
able to compete for the ' open University scholarships.' We
have seen that Mr. Walker had made great efforts to secure
financial assistance of various forms to enable clever boys
to remain at school till they were ready for the Universities,
who otherwise would have been compelled to become wage-
earners before they had received the full benefit of school
opportunities, and that in 1874 twenty Lang worthy Scholar-
ships were founded with this object. In announcing the
foundation of the Walker and the Armitage Scholarships
on Speech Day, 1878, Mr. Dill, who had caused a com-
plete list and description of the scholarships tenable
at the school to be drawn up and published (see Ulula,
November 1878), mentioned that new scholarships had been
added to the list of scholarships already existing, making
a total of 54 scholarships now tenable either at the School or
University, exclusive of the 162 free admissions. The total
value of the 54 scholarships was £1750 a year. Twenty-
nine of these could be held in the Grammar School, and 25
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 383
were tenable at the University or some place of higher educa-
tion. Forty of these had been founded since 1862 — that is,
within the last fifteen years, and 27 had been founded in the
last four years.
Mr. Dill pointed out that the School was open to all classes
and creeds in the kingdom, and by means of these scholar-
ships any boy of distinct ability and good conduct might
make his way from the humblest elementary school to the
oldest University. He believed that Grammar Schools did
much more in this way to popularise education Wo hundred
years ago than forty years ago, but they were all now turn-
ing to the Grammar Schools, as the principal means whereby
they could follow out in spirit the wishes and intentions
of those old founders to whom they owed so much.
The question of the disposal of the accumulated excess
funds of the Hulme Trust also came up for reconsideration
about this time. A summary of the history of this trust
had been given to the Charity Commissioners in 1833, and in
1852 by Mr. Alexander Kay to the Committee of the House
of Commons which was appointed to report on provision
for education in Manchester and Salford. We have men-
tioned the attitude taken towards it by the Charity Com-
missioners of 1867-74. A scheme for the disposal of its
further accumulations was produced about 1876, and the con-
sideration of this scheme came before the Governors of the
Manchester Grammar School in April 1879. A deputation
consisting of the Bishop of Manchester, the Chairman, Vice-
chairman, Mr. Richard Johnson, Mr. Roby and Mr. Haworth
waited on the Charity Commissioners to request them to
revise the scheme so as to make the boys' school or schools
which they contemplated preparatory to the Grammar School,
rather than make them of a similar level. They pointed
out that by endowing a rival school with an annual in-
come of £1000 it would compete unduly with the old
Grammar School, which was financially handicapped by the
necessity of providing 150 free places out of its limited funds.
I have not the means of knowing how far the divergence of
opinion between the two bodies was a factitious one created
by the legal advisers of the Crown, or how far it was due to
divergence of local opinion, but it is necessary to remem-
ber that some of the Hulme Trustees regarded their fund
as belonging entirely to the Established Church, and that
384 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
therefore ' representative ' governors on behalf of the public
educational interests would be out of place. For some
undeclared reason, they declined to take over the Com-
mercial Schools, established in 1847 by the Church of England
Educational Society. It might have seemed a dereliction
of their duty for the Hulme Trustees to amalgamate with the
Grammar School, though it is not evident why they would
not support the Commercial Schools, which were sinking
from the lack of endowment. Perhaps they thought they
could best serve the interests of public secondary education by
purchasing ample grounds, and erecting such good buildings as
would attract a full stream of well-to-do boys from a more
prosperous middle-class suburb, as, after considerable dis-
cussion, they ultimately decided to build a large school at
Alexandra Park at the south side of Manchester to accom-
modate 300 or 400 boys. Dr. Joseph Hall, M.A. (Dublin),
who had been a most valuable lieutenant to Mr. Dill, parti-
cularly in organising the English part of the school, the
gymnasium, and the library, was invited to take charge.
The development of this school has a very profound
interest to all connected with the Manchester Grammar
School. Although quite an independent organisation, it was
called upon to do somewhat similar work in the provision of
high-class education among a population favourable towards
education, but not discriminating in its aims. Many of the
problems which confronted this school were, and still remain,
similar to those which have always faced the governors of
the Manchester Grammar School. Both institutions, though
endeavouring to meet public needs, were necessarily at times
considerably in advance of public demands in their strivings
to supply a liberal training when many parents wanted a
purely technical one. This must be a condition of all first-
rate institutions. They are bound to lead the way and to
forestall public opinion. They educate the community.
In this, as in so much else, supply actually creates demand.
Their justification comes when they have shown how
thoroughly the school training they provide combines with,
and completes, the work of the home, in affording an adequate
preparation for the deeper problems of life that await the
scholars after leaving school. Only so can the directors of
the school expect to meet with the appreciation and under-
standing they deserve. Probably even then, only the most
UNDER REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 385
thoughtful of the community will fully understand their
aims, but fortunately public opinion is based on the instincts
of the herd and follows its leaders somewhat blindly. The
Hulme Grammar School, with its ample buildings, generous
provision of playgrounds, its healthy atmosphere, its
admirably equipped science department, and its guidance
by an able headmaster, at once attracted a number of sons
of well-to-do residents in the south part of Manchester.
In 1887 Mr. Dill resigned his position of high master
at the Grammar School. The governors expressed their
appreciation of his services by presenting him with the
following testimonial :
' The governors hereby place on record their high appre-
ciation of the zeal and ability with which Mr. Dill has for
eleven years performed the important duties of the highmaster-
ship of this School. They are glad to recognise in the
numerous successes obtained by the scholars in University
and other examinations proof of the excellence of the teach-
ing and discipline maintained and developed by Mr. Dill
and his assistants, and they have pleasure in acknowledging
that the agreeable relations which have existed between
the high master and themselves have greatly assisted them
in the discharge of their duty as governors.'
In his farewell address, July 1887, the high master thus
spoke :
' You must not estimate our work merely by the numbers
and importance of successes in competition. Great develop-
ments in music, athletics, literature, and social life have
taken place, the full result of which can only be seen after
some time. If these schemes prosper, as they seem likely
to do, the change in tone and character of your School in
the next ten years will be more striking than any change
you have yet seen. The position of the School as a com-
petitor in examination is already assured. Its great weak-
ness, the absence of a common life outside the class-room, is
in process of being ended. If you can overcome the difficul-
ties completely, the last reproach against day-school life — that
it fails to form the boy's character — will be wiped out, and
your Grammar School will stand even higher in its influence
and in its distinction than it does to-day.'
oo
CHAPTER XV
1888-1903
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY.
• First therefore, among so many great foundations of Colleges in Europe,
I find it strange that they are all dedicated to professions, and none left
free to Arts and Sciences at large.' — Advancement of Learning, Book II.
6, 8.
' The ultimate end of education is not a perfection of the accomplish-
ments of the school, but fitness for life.' — Pestalozzi to T. P. Greaves.
Music restored to its former place in education — Gradual recognition of
some of the limitations in education — National movement for im-
proving Technical Education in England — Royal Commission on
Technical Instruction, 1880-1884 — Formation of the National Associa-
tion, 1886— T. H. Huxley in Manchester, 1887.
Mr. Glazebrook, 1888-1890, introduces development in Arts and Handi-
craft— The Proctor Bequest — Sir Henry Irving and the School drama-
tics— The Gymnasium — Increased attention to Modern Languages,
Mathematics, and Science results in increased number of high
University honours — The Teachers' Guild, established in 1887, causes
the profession of teaching to receive more public recognition — Masters'
Pension Fund founded at the Grammar School — The Mechanics'
Institute becomes a Technical School, 1888 — J. H. Reynolds Director
(1879 to 1912).
The Technical Instruction Acts of 1889 and 1891 create new Educational
Authorities and educational overlapping results — The Manchester
Concordat — Reasons why the technical scholarships failed to attract
the more highly educated boys.
J. E. King (1890-1903) — Royal Commission on Secondary Education, 1894
— F. E. Kitchener's evidence concerning the School. Re -organisation
and amplification of entrance scholarships at Victoria University en-
courage more boys to attend the local University — Opening of the
New Central Schools by the Duke of Devonshire, October 15, 1900,
and opening of the new School of Technology by A. J. Balfour, Octo-
ber 15, 1902 — Resignation of Mr. J. E. King.
GREAT as were the intellectual benefits conferred on national
386
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 387
life by the establishment of Grammar Schools in the sixteenth
century, there was at least one serious drawback : it empha-
sised the separation which had already begun to spring up
between book learning and handicraft as a means of mental
cultivation. The evil results of this separation have lasted
in this country for centuries. Not only has the proper
development of our civilisation on its artistic and imaginative
side been arrested, and no small proportion of the incentives
to learning lost, but many unnecessary and still unrecognised
obstacles have been placed in the way of a national system of
education by limiting its fullest benefits and honours to boys
and girls of one particular type, and neglecting, when not
actually discouraging, the creative artist and craftsman.
The incentives to all forms of creative activity lie deep in
the imagination and often do not appear till later adolescence.
Artistic capacities are therefore often more difficult to
recognise at an early age than are linguistic or mathematical
capacities; yet the cultivation of the creative imagination,
and the training of incentives, are far more satisfactory proofs
of the permanent value of education, to the individual as well
as to the State, than the obtaining of school and University
honours. A further restriction of the physiological amplitude
of learning, owing to the increased use of manuals, occurred
with the extension of cheap printing in the nineteenth
century.
While speech and song constituted the predominant part
in Grammar School education, the major appeal of the school-
master was to the ear and the subject-matter of knowledge
was auditory. Of all the senses, hearing possesses the most
profound emotional associations. It follows that the imagina-
tion of a large proportion of human beings is more readily
stirred through the power of sound and the spoken word
than through sight and the written page. One illustration
of this is found in the high value of the cultivation of music,
dialogue, and declamation in Elizabethan and early Puritan
times, while another illustration is found in the power of the
preacher and the orator — a power which, when used upon the
ignorant, is greatly liable to abuse. When, therefore, owing
to the cheapening of printing, text-books became general,
their indirect appeal to the imagination was made through
the medium of sight. They favoured the growth of a special
sensitiveness to language often described as taste or refine-
388 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
ment, which did not eventuate in action.1 Oral teaching
was for a time displaced, though, to some extent, ultimately
restored by the ' direct ' method, and the difficulty of stirring
the imagination of those who could not readily translate
written words into thoughts was frequently forgotten or
unobserved. With such pupils, school progress was more
limited than it need have been, and the proper development
of the intelligence was left to the chance effects of after-life.
Such ' audiles ' constitute a large proportion, if" not the
majority, of ordinary boys. No doubt some gain in accuracy
has resulted from the change, for the practice of written
composition, like all training of activities, increases the power
of discrimination ; but there has also resulted a restriction
in the number of successful scholars, as well as a limitation
in the scope of school education, for the proportion of those
capable of responding quickly to visual verbal appeal and
replying in action is smaller than those capable of responding
quickly to an audible appeal.
Reading maketh a full man,
Speaking maketh a ready man,
Writing maketh an exact man.
Some restoration of balance of training frequently took
place after school life, and, though other forms of art
languished for long periods in our history, music at least
never became entirely neglected. In 1680 the fellows of the
Manchester Collegiate Church made a grant of £100 for the
purchase of an organ, and in 1685, the organist was instructed
•to make arrangements for teaching music to boys. The
beginning of the eighteenth century is generally regarded as
the period when school and college education was lowest,
yet it was the period when English books were first placed
in the school library and humanitarianism appeared. In
1733, E. Betts, then organist at the Manchester Church,
published a book of Instructions for Singers. Concerts and
musical gatherings were held in the buildings of the Manchester
1 The cultivation of visual imagination by pictorial art and by the
study of the concrete is also a return to fundamentals of physiological
mental growth. As regards school life its scope seems to embrace the in-
creased power of discrimination, memory, and judgment rather than the
cultivation of the will, by impelling action and habit and so creating
character.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 389
Exchange, erected in 1729, and, though there are no books
on music mentioned in Charles Lawson's library catalogue,
Finch Smith notes that more than one of PurnelTs scholars
became distinguished musicians (e.g. Joah Bates). In 1824
the first public concert was given in Manchester.
The reappearance of music as a school recreation under
Mr. Dill was therefore of considerable moment. It implied
the recognition of another educational movement which had
been aroused by the attack on the formalism and exclusiveness
of the old classical learning by writers in the Edinburgh
Review at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and
which had received unexpected and powerful democratic
support from George and Andrew Combe (1788-1858). Im-
pressed with the efforts of Spurzheim and Gall to find some
interpretation of the real capacities of individuals by an actual
study of the brain, while sympathising with the general
agitation in favour of popular education that was then
universal in England and in Scotland, the brothers Combe
desired that education should take into account many valuable
human faculties which the prevailing methods of education
either simply ignored or actually suppressed.1 The artificial
phrenological classification of faculties which they adopted
quietly disappeared before increased knowledge of the real
character and use of the brain, but their services to general
education were very great and enduring. At their own
expense they caused many generous educational experiments
to be conducted and many mechanics' institutes to be founded,
which created some new educational traditions as potent
arid as helpful to the artisan classes as She renaissance of book
learning in the sixteenth century had been to scholars.
Their early influence in Manchester has already been indicated.
They were now to receive fuller attention.
An important deficiency in English education had been
pointed out as early as 1867 by Dr. Lyon Playfair, who had
directed the attention of the Schools Enquiry Commissioners
to the matter. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, many
observers began to realise that, though England still retained
the possession of most of the instruments and machinery of
1 The Constitution of Man in Relation to Natural Laws, by George Combe,
1828 ; The Principles of Physiology applied to the Preservation of Health and
to the Improvement of Physical and Mental Education, by Andrew Combe,
M.D., 1838.
390 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
manufacture, yet the training of her mechanics and artisans
was being neglected in the elementary schools as well as in
the workshops, and that our commercial supremacy, already
challenged, was being seriously threatened by other nations
who were taking more pains to secure the proper educational
training, efficiency, and inspiration of their workers. Inter-
national and other exhibitions had been held in England, but
the Government had failed to apply the lessons they taught.
At the International Health Exhibition held in London in 1884
considerable space was devoted to educational exhibits. The
French Government were able to show what great efforts it
was making in regard to the application of new views to
education, and issued a handbook full of wise descriptions
of their practice. The Belgian Government also figured
prominently. The English Royal Commission (1881) appointed
1 to inquire into the Instruction of the Industrial classes
of certain foreign countries in Technical and other subjects
and the means of improving the Education of the corre-
sponding classes in England,5 in their Report, published in
1884, recommended that technical education, instead of being
regarded as the sole concern of artisans and mechanics, and
following an ordinary elementary school training, should re-
ceive its natural place in secondary education. They insisted
that increased training in the scientific and artistic principles
that underlie industrial occupation should be accompanied
by increased training in mathematics, modern languages,
history, and geography. From this time onwards the
term ' technical instruction ' was extended to cover the
whole field of mathematical and physical science and some
departments of history and geography.1 They also recom-
mended that scholarships should be more liberally founded,
so that pupils from the higher elementary schools should
be able to proceed to higher technical schools and colleges.
As we shall see, these scholarships were not at first under-
stood, and it was some time before their proper influence
was noticeable.
The National Association for the Promotion of Technical
and Secondary Education, founded in 1886, was an educational
missionary society ' to encourage educational reforms that
would improve capacity in the broadest sense.' Lord Harting-
1 Technical Education Commission Reports, vol. i. p. 43.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 391
ton was the President, and T. H. Huxley undertook to act as
one of the secretaries in order to promulgate its aims. Its
main objects were ' to develop increased dexterity of hand
and eye in the young seriously threatened by the decay of
the old apprenticeship system, to encourage the principles
of Art and Science which underlie the industrial work of the
nation, and to encourage the effective teaching of foreign
languages.' It proposed to stimulate public opinion on
these matters by consultation, discussion, conference and
other forms of meetings. It started a propagandist move-
ment throughout the country of great force and effectiveness ;
and on November 29, 1887, at a time of family bereavement,
Professor Huxley paid a visit to Manchester.
' I am glad I resisted the strong temptation to shirk the
business. Manchester has gone solid for technical in-
struction, and if the idiotic London papers, instead of giving
half a dozen lines to my speech, had mentioned the solid
contributions to the work announced at the meeting, they
would have enabled you to understand its importance.' x
Michael Glazebrook, who succeeded Mr. Dill, was the
first high master to be appointed by the representative
governing body. He thoroughly realised that the new move-
ments did not aim at merely occupational training, but desired
to exert a humanising influence, and although no purely
technological training was then, or subsequently, undertaken
by the School, considerable modifications were made in its
curriculum. They began in the following way.
Soon after taking up his work as high master, Mr. Glaze-
brook noted that one of the boys, through being second in
his form, became ineligible for a foundation scholarship for
which he applied, though he would have been very notice-
ably first if mathematics or any other of his subjects had
been taken into account as well as Latin. Mr. Glazebrook
therefore requested the governors to allow him to make
such alterations in the examination of boys for scholarships
as would enable him to judge them on their general merits
rather than the single subject of classics. The governors
thereupon awarded a scholarship to the boy in question, and
asked the high master to report on the prominence and value
1 Letter to Sir M. Foster, December 1, 1887.
392 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to be assigned to the several subjects of examination in
both entrance and Langworthy school-maintenance scholar-
ships. As the result of his report, mathematics, modern
languages, and English literature were assigned a more
important part in the school curriculum, and a system of
assigning appropriate values to each several subject was
initiated. Discussion led to a general revision of the form
places, and brought into prominence the need for reconsidera-
tion of the educational value to the School of the certificates
gained in such large numbers by the boys in the South Ken-
sington Science and Art Examinations. Mr. Glazebrook
also introduced the method of assigning places by means of
fortnightly lists, and arranged that each boy should take
his fortnightly report with the mark of his master to his
parents and have it signed by one of them.
Mr. Glazebrook established regular masters' meetings for
the discussion of the internal organisation of the School, and
encouraged the form masters to accept responsibility for
boys and to interview parents, a privilege previously rather
jealously regarded as the prerogative of the high master.
He arranged for form masters to have some general super-
vision over all the home work of the boys, and an attempt
was made to break down the overwork which often resulted
from each boy being accountable to four or five independent
masters. He brought modern language classes under the
Oxford and Cambridge Examinations Board, and appointed
a chief modern language master to supervise the whole of
the modern language teaching : even an Old Mancunian
Modern Languages Society was formed. He allotted special
form masters to the several forms on the modern side, similar
to those on the classical side, and he broke down the isolation
which separated the sixth form boys from the rest of the
school. Previously they had had prayers in their own
room : now they were induced to mix freely with the rest of
the school, and Glazebrook chose a number of prefects from
among them to take special duties. A distinct school cap
was adopted. He also made some attempt to introduce
literary and religions training into the science forms. By
organising the punishments and arranging a handbook of
Customs and Curricula for the masters, he was able to claim
that the discipline improved while the punishment diminished.
He had some share in developing still further the School
MUSIC, ART AND TECHNOLOGY 393
athletic ground, for, in his time, some £400 was collected to
level the piece of ground already rented for the School, and
which was subsequently purchased for the School during the
time of his successor. The School Harriers Club and the
Hockey Club were started. Ulula entered upon a freshly
invigorated term of its existence. The Cambridge Old
Mancunian Society was revived under the presidency of Mr.
Barnes-Lawrence, formerly assistant master at the School.
Mr. Glazebrook's influence was particularly marked
among the junior assistant masters, many of whom subse-
quently carried out some of his ideas in other schools. Alfred
Hughes became assistant master at Liverpool Institute, and
subsequently Professor of Education at Birmingham, Lancelot
became master at Rochester and Liverpool College, Watson
at Maidstone, A. T. Pollard at the City of London School,
Harrison at Newcastle-under-Lyne, Holmes at Dewsbury,
Urwick, head of the Pupil Teachers' College at Durham, and
H. L. Withers at Isleworth, and subsequently at Victoria
University. During 1890 Mr. Glazebrook introduced ambu-
lance work and hygiene teaching into the School, Dr. G.
H. Darwin undertaking the work.
Apart from these school activities, Mr. Glazebrook took
an active interest in the progress of the Hugh Oldham Lads'
Club, of which he was chairman of committee, his lantern
lecture at the club on ' A Visit to Norway ' being much
appreciated. He also shared in the work of the Manchester
branch of the Teachers' Guild, which was formed in 1888
with the object of promoting and safeguarding the interests
of the teaching profession. Four hundred members were soon
enrolled, and the meetings, which consisted of social gatherings,
conferences, and debates, soon became very popular. He was
President in 1890, when he gave an address on ' The Universities
and Specialisation ' and entertained the members at an ' At
Home ' so as to give teachers of different types opportunity
of meeting each other.1
In 1889 the trustees of the late Daniel Proctor desired
to make a donation of £2000 to the School funds, and con-
sulted Mr. Glazebrook as to the most suitable form for the
gift to take. He suggested that it should be devoted to :
1 See also ' The Teaching of English Literature,' by M. G. Glazebrook,
in Thirteen Essays on Education.
394 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The encouragement of reading by the establishment of
reading prizes.
The foundation of prizes for the modern side of the School.
The proper equipment of the physical laboratory, recently
instituted by Mr. Dill.
The purchase of a school organ.
The establishment of a workshop for instruction in manual
training.
To these suggestions the Governors readily agreed. Con-
siderable impetus was also given to the study of music at the
school, both instrumental and vocal, as well as to the other
subjects. Early in 1889, the Rev. R. M. Parkes of Harrington
offered to the Governors for the School Library some seventy
volumes of music, which had previously belonged to his
brother, the late R. J. Parkes, formerly a member of the
School. About this time Mr. H. Stevens, Mus.Bac., Cam-
bridge, organist, was appointed to instruct the younger boys
of the School in singing. Mr. John Farmer, the famous
organiser of school music at Harrow, paid several visits to
the School between April 1889 and December 1891, and
helped very considerably in arranging the work for the Glee
Societies. He was also present at the School Speech Day 1899.
Mr. Glazebrook collected a number of school songs, some of
which (e.g. ' Dr. Gym ') he wrote himself. They were set to
music by John Farmer, who was definitely appointed director
of the school music in 1890. Foremost among all those who
rendered service to school music was Mr. George Broadfield,
who, with the assistance of Mr. Alfred Hughes, Mr. J. R.
Broadhurst, and Mr. Florian, maintained the school singing
and orchestras at a high level for many years.1 A public
recital was given May 1, 1891, by Mr. W. Rowley, to celebrate
the formal opening of the Proctor organ.
We may continue our study of the progress of musical
education and the development of fine art and of the drama
at the School in this place, though it extends beyond the
period of Mr. Glazebrook's high mastership.
On May 9, 1894, the School Glee Society was sufficiently
strong to undertake, under Mr. George Broadfield and Mr.
Hughes, the performance of the first part of Mendelssohn's
1 Some record of Mr. Broadfield's 'Ten Years' Work,' Ulula, 1901,
p. 275, and 1905, Oct. 5.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 395
' Elijah.' In 1894 the Orchestral Society started, and sub-
sequently both musical societies participated in School
concerts and soirees. This activity in the School was a
reflection of the musical activity in the city outside.
As soon as the desirability of standardising attainment in
music had become recognised, various institutions had begun
to hold local examinations. On January 11, 1880, Trinity
College, London, had begun to hold musical examinations in
Manchester, and attention was drawn to them in the current
number of Ulula. The establishment of local examinations
by the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of
Music, founded in 1850, soon followed, and it was to raise
funds for the extension of the latter that H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh visited Manchester in 1883. The Proctor school
organ showed the spread of the movement in the School.
The Royal Manchester College of Music was established
in 1892 by Sir Charles Halle. It was a teaching institution,
providing a three years' curriculum which prepared for such
careers as that of organist, music teacher, instrumentalist, &c.
It awarded a Diploma of Association after a three years'
course of training. There are a few special, but no municipal,
scholarships, though municipal support is given to the whole
expenses by way of a grant to the* College. For particularly
gifted students, scholarships for further study are awarded
both at the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music
in London. As there is no qualifying entrance examination
in general knowledge, even for the London scholarships, in
any other subject than music, no organic connection has
hitherto existed between the College of Music and centres
of secondary education, such as the Grammar School, yet
there can be no doubt that a preliminary general education
of a liberal character would be of as great value to a musician
as to any other professional man. In 1900, E. W. Horrocks
gained an organ exhibition at Pembroke College, Oxon., and
in the same year, E. M. Isaacs gained the Halle Memorial
Scholarship of the Royal College of Music, Manchester.
We have seen how art training was restored to a place
in the School curriculum, after the Manchester School of
Design had outgrown the narrow utilitarian purposes of
teaching designers for calico printing and pottery by the
rule of thumb, which was at one time imposed upon it by
the Committee of the Privy Council, and which only at a
396 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
much later date had begun to recognise its cultural possi-
bilities. John Ruskin's missionary zeal in this cause had
brought him to the Grammar School to speak to the boys in
1864, and his address is printed in the collected volumes of
his works. His conversation with Mr. Walker no doubt
influenced the latter in his introduction of drawing to an
important place in the School curriculum.
From 1874, annual exhibitions of the work done, by day
and evening pupils, were held at the School before the work
was sent up to South Kensington to be adjudged. These
exhibitions were largely attended, and spread the fame of the
day school. In 1879, the Art School held at the Grammar
School stood first in the number of individuals successful in
the second grade, Birmingham School of Art being second.
On July 11, 1883, the School governors voted a further sum
of £100 for the purchase of more plaster casts. About this
time Mr. Pritchard, chief art master, was elected Associate
of the Academy of Fine Arts in recognition of his services
to Art education. In September 1883, the Council of the
Royal Institution of Manchester offered special Art prizes
of £10 to be competed for by the students of the School
of Art at the Grammar School. Having further funds
at their disposal, they repeated their offer in 1889. Art
questions were again receiving much attention in Manchester.
In 1878, Ford Madox Brown had been commissioned to paint
the frescoes for the New Manchester Town Hall. The Royal
Jubilee Arts and Treasures Exhibition at Old Trafford had
been held in 1887. It had done much to arouse further
interest in Art, and the promoters and guarantors devoted
a generous sum of £8000 for the building of a Museum of
Art in connection with the City School of Art. A further
grant from the Whitworth trustees enabled Art teaching
in Manchester to be put on a firm footing. The School
of Art was taken over by the City Council on the advice
of the Technical Instruction Committee and opened as a
Municipal School of Art in 1890. In 1892, the governors of
the Royal Institution of Manchester presented their Art
collections, together with their buildings, estimated to value
about £80,000, to the city on condition that the Council
should spend an annual sum of £2000 for twenty-five years
in enlarging the collection.
The Art classes of the Grammar School continued to be
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 397
maintained at a high level. In 1892, a special room was pro-
vided for teaching the boys to model in clay. At the following
South Kensington examination, five first class and eight second
class certificates were awarded to boys in the School for pro-
ficiency in this particular subject, the greatest school Art
triumph being the occasion when J. Knight received a National
Scholarship at South Kensington, being fourth out of 500
competitors. At this time Mr. Lilley, an old boy, who had
been assistant drawing master at the School between 1881
and 1893, left on receiving the appointment of head master
to the Poole Art School. Mr. J. Knight now came to assist
Mr. Jackson in the Art teaching at the School, helped by
three student teachers. Mr. Fred Garnett, who had left the
school in 1894, came to work as an assistant in 1897. In 1901
Mr. C. C. Marsh, an old boy who had become a student teacher
— then a natural outlet for artistic ability in the School —
obtained the silver medal in the National Art Competition.
Hitherto the only recognised * Art Masters' ' certificates
had been those granted from 1852 by South Kensington. In
1902, the Royal Manchester College of Art began to award
diplomas. In 191 1 , the Board of Education issued ' Teachers'
certificates ' for Art students, who, after giving proof of such
preliminary general training as the possession of the school-
leaving certificates, &c., had passed through a three years'
course of Art training, and showed their proficiency. Thus,
although the successful prosecution of Fine Art demands a
high standard of general culture, and professional artists of
the highest attainments have generally shown evidence of
liberality of training, it was Applied Art in the form of Art
teaching which first assumed the status of a learned pro-
fession. Art scholarships of the Technical Education Com-
mittee of the Manchester City Council were now frequently
awarded to successful candidates, particularly those who
wished to follow such careers as that of Architecture or the
Fine Arts.
We have noted that dramatic performances had been
given by the boys at the annual Christmas soirees held in
the gymnasium and other buildings. They were a revival
of the Commemorations of 1641 and the plays of 1724-31 ;
a few ordinary rehearsals, one dress rehearsal for the boys,
and one public performance were regarded as affording
sufficient exercise for their talents. Some additional zest
398 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
was imparted when, on December 9, 1891, Sir Henry Irving
came to the School, offered suggestions to the players, and
spoke to the boys. On December 7, 1894, Mr. F. R. Benson
showed similar interest.1 After a time the performances
increased in number. This involved greater preparation,
and a school stage was erected and equipped, though the
School Dramatic Society was not founded until some years
later. This Society was the outcome of an effort to keep
together during the winter all those who were interested in
dramatic art, with a view to reading plays and papers on the
Drama. Among the recent dramatic writers the following
old boys, Stanley Hough ton, Harold Brighouse, Gilbert
Cannan, L. du G. Peach, and H. Bestwick, had some awaken-
ing of their Art at the School, while B. Iden Payne, for some
years director of the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester, made his
debut on the School stage.
A very important part of any liberal training in crafts-
manship depends on the proper use of the hands, yet manual
work in schools is generally relegated to a subordinate position.
The successive efforts to make it a cultural subject at the
Manchester Grammar School are of interest.
The cultivation of these artistic and other activities at
the School was not accompanied by any failure to cultivate
the more severely intellectual pursuits. They seemed rather
to act as an incentive if we are to judge by the records of
boys at Oxford and Cambridge.
The School had long enjoyed a high reputation for the
excellence of its teaching in mathematics, and we have noticed
the reorganisation that took place under Mr. Walker in 1868.
In the development of the teaching and in the preparation
of boys for Oxford and Cambridge, foremost must be men-
tioned Rev. John Chambers, who came to the School in 1871,
and remained on the active teaching staff till his resignation
in 1890. It was then said of him that he had kept an accurate
record of the mathematical progress of every boy in the
School during the whole time of his stay there, and that
it was continued for some years after he left. On his
1 Many great actors have shown their interest in the efforts of school-
boys to delineate character by dramatic art. On March 27, 1847, Mac-
ready wrote to the boys his deep regret that he could not redeem his
promise to come and see them perform. — See Manchester Guardian, April 3,
1847.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 399
resignation, a farewell meeting of past and present members
of the Mathematical Sixth took place, at which Mr. Chambers
was presented with a theodolite, an instrument which he
kept frequently in use till within a few days of his death, which
took place some seventeen years later, when he was seventy-
seven years of age.1
The place of master to the Mathematical Sixth was next
taken by Mr. Joseland, and the mathematical successes at
Oxford and Cambridge became even greater than before.
Owing to the reorganisation of the scholarships at the Victoria
University, clever mathematical boys were also attracted
to the Manchester University and showed their grit and
training there also. Mr. Joseland continued at the head
of the mathematical department until 1897, when he was
appointed head master at Burnley. He was succeeded
by Rev. A. Taylor. The following indicates some of the
successes at Cambridge :
1888. R. H. D. Mayall, of Sidney Sussex, 2nd Wrangler,
1891.
1888. H. Hirsch Kowitz, of Gonville and Caius, 14th
Wrangler, 1891.
1889. R. Sharpe, of Christ's, 2nd Wrangler.
1892. E. T. Whitaker, of Trinity, 2nd Wrangler, 1895.
1895. J. R. Corbett, 20th Wrangler, 1895. Astronomer-
Royal for Ireland.
1897. Percy Fogg Lever, of Christ's, 1900.
1900. H. Bateman, of Trinity, bracketed senior wrangler,
1903.
We have mentioned that Mr. Glazebrook proposed that
some of the Proctor bequest should be used for further equip-
ment of the physical laboratory, and for a time a number of
boys distinguished themselves in that subject at the Uni-
versities. Mr. Holme, physics master, left on being appointed
head master at Dewsbury. One of the junior physic assis-
tants of the physics department, Mr. Parrott, was sent to
Sweden to study the Sloyd system of manual training. On his
return this system of manual training was adopted, and for
a while a voluntary class served as the basis for the training
of young boys in the use of tools. It was extended to benefit
1 Cf. Ulula, October 1890.
400 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
a larger number of boys as a ' carpentering ' class under Mr.
King, but though of some value for boys under thirteen, it
was subsequently found to be not sufficiently developmental
to be applicable for boys of older growth, for Swedish
manual training, at this time, apparently corresponded to
the grammar or accidence stage which formerly was the
beginning of a classical education. The whole system of train-
ing was reorganised, and further extension had to be devised
in order to enable it to become more virile. Owing to the
generosity of Sir William Mather, a metal workshop
department has recently been added, the ultimate relation-
ship of which with Learning seems to lie partly in the
direction of further Art training and partly in elementary
engineering.
The level of classical and of modern language scholar-
ship at this time also continued high. The former was
kept up by J. R. Broadhurst, who has proved such a worthy
successor to Mr. Perkins. He was helped by men of energy
and enterprise such as Wilkinson, while modern language
training attained an ever-increasing value under the direc-
tion of Mr. Morich, the first head of the modern language
department.
The following extract from Mr. Glazebrook's speech on
Prize Bay, 1890, illustrates the University successes achieved
at this period :
' It is also worth mentioning that nine first classes at
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge is greatly above
our average, while eleven open scholarships and exhibitions
is exactly our average for the last ten years. Almost all
these and other distinctions have been won by boys who
were originally placed on the classical side of the School.
Ten years ago the classical side was twice as large as it is
now, for slowly and steadily the modern side has been
gaining, and is now considerably the larger of the two. It
is obvious, if this state of things continues, many of our
ablest boys being excluded from University competition,
we cannot expect to maintain the average of University
distinctions. Now what are our feelings about this pos-
sible change ? No doubt it is a schoolmaster's greatest
pleasure to teach boys who have a talent for science or litera-
ture, and the honours of his pupils are his most tangible
reward. But the main business of a school like ours is, after
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 401
all, to do the best for ordinary boys — to train them to be
good and useful citizens, and if our commercial side (for
that is what our modern side really is) is successful in turning
out youths who can play their part well in the commerce
and manufactures of this great city, then I for one shall
be consoled if there should then be a shrinkage in our list
of honours. During the past year we have devoted much
time and thought to the development of the modern side.
Of course the effect of our changes cannot be felt at bnce,
but already there has been a distinct improvement in the
work done in that part of the School, and a diminution of
punishment. The energy and ability of the Form Masters,
together with the admirable organising power of Mr. Morich,
who is the director of the Modern Language teaching, has
already done much, and will in two or three years produce
still better results. Nor must I omit to mention another
cause which has contributed to this improvement, and which
I earnestly hope will continue to do so in an increasing degree .
Many of you will remember that last year I made a special
appeal to you that the home might co-operate with the school,
that we masters might feel that we had the support and
sympathy of you who are parents. To-day I thank you
for the generous spirit in which very many of you have
responded to my appeal.'1
The reforms instituted by Mr. Glazebrook during the
short time he held office have had a permanent influence on
the School, though he did not remain long enough to see
their results. His standard of work was high, and he had
the courage to institute the practice of rejecting a number
of candidates for admission to the School when, owing to the
competition of the Higher Grade Schools and the Hulme
Grammar School, Alexandra Park, the total number was
already falling. Thus there were in the School in July in
1887, 815; in 1888, 815; in 1889, 781 ; in 1890, 761, at
which latter date he reported that ' the decrease was more
than accounted for by the rejection of thirty boys ' — a novelty
in practice but ' required by the scheme and necessary in the
best interests of the School.' He was distressed at the long
railway journeys many of the boys took, and encouraged
the improvement of Grammar Schools in the neighbouring
towns to obviate this, though such might seem against the
immediate interest of his own School. His last service to
1 Ulula, 1899, p. 100.
D D
402 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the School was his invitation to his old head master at
Harrow, Dr. H. Montagu Butler, then Master of Trinity
College and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, to
distribute the school prizes. Dr. Butler gave an address
to the boys ' On the Need for the Preservation of Greek
and Roman Thought in School Life by means of English
Translations.' He urged that if the English nation had
woven the thought and ideals of the Jewish nation so
thoroughly into their lives by translations of the Hebrew
Scriptures as to give an impress to their national character,
there was no reason why the lucidity and nobility of the best
that was in Greek and Roman thought should not also be
available for the same purpose by English translations,
particularly for those who would never study classical authors
in their original language.
On the resignation of Mr. Glazebrook in 1890, Mr. J. E.
Bang was appointed high master. He had been educated at
Clifton College and Lincoln College, Oxford, of which he was
appointed Fellow in 1882. He had served as assistant
master at St. Paul's School, London, under Dr. F. W. Walker,
and he had been appointed tutor of his old college in 1890.
He was therefore singularly well able to maintain the high
reputation for scholarship the School had attained. In
addition to this, he was called upon to face an extraordinarily
confused, yet very active stage of educational development,
whose centre was in Manchester, where the movement in
favour of increasing the public opportunities for technical
training for industrial and other classes had become very
active. New educational authorities had been created with
little experience of educational administration, though with
intimate knowledge of industrial requirements. These
authorities had large sums of money at their disposal and
they were full of zeal in the new cause. During the second
administration of Lord Salisbury (June 1886-1892), the
authorities at Whitehall had been stirred into fresh activity
by the realisation of the enormous industrial efficiency of
Germany and France. They began to make efforts to recover
their lost ground and to cultivate friendly relationships.
The Emperor William II visited England and became a
guest of Lord Salisbury at Hatfield in 1891. Sir Philip
Magnus, one of the Technical Education Commissioners, had
successfully organised the City and Guilds of London Institute.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 403
Sir Henry Roscoe, Professor of Chemistry at the Victoria
University, had entered Parliament to promote the cause.
Huxley was willing to put forth every effort to serve it.
The most enlightened of the merchant classes also took active
interest in the matter. The Whitworth Trustees placed funds
at the disposal of the proprietors of the Mechanics' Institute,
which had been reconstituted in 1887 as the ' Whitworth
Technical Institute.' It had been steadily growing in scope
and influence under the direction of an enterprising and able
committee and the leadership of Mr. Reynolds, who, after
having received some very rudimentary instruction in the
old ' English School ' of the Grammar School, received the
real inspiration of his life at the Lower Mosley Street School
and later as an evening student at the Mechanics' Institute,
of which he subsequently became director. The Technical
Instruction Act of 1889 gave local authorities the power
to levy a small rate for technical instruction in addition to
their rate for elementary education, and the Act of 1890
placed £800,000 (whisky money) at the disposal of local
authorities throughout the country for the same purpose.
Unfortunately the governing bodies to which it was entrusted
knew little about education, and much competition and
confusion resulted. In Manchester the new committee
appointed — the Technical Instruction Committee — soon re-
ceived offers from the Whitworth (Technical) Institute and
the Whitworth School of Art 1 to place their institutions at
their service, an offer they gladly accepted, and wisely co-opted
on to their own committee the members of the old committees,
who were qualified by experience and position to advise on the
matter. The Whitworth Trustees thereupon offered a valuable
site in a central part of Manchester, consisting of 6400 square
yards, to enable a suitable building to be erected. To this the
Corporation added another 900 yards. The first sod was turned
July 20, 1895. A celebration was held October 15, 1902, at
which Mr. Balfour took part, and the buildings were opened
for use July 20, 1903. The history of the organisation of this
work, contained in the reports of the Committee between
1890 and 1903, constitutes a striking chapter in the spread
1 The Whitworth Technical Institute was the outcome of the old
Mechanics' Institute and was steadily rising in efficiency and requirements of
its pupils. The Whitworth Art Gallery had succeeded the Manchester
School of Art and was making great efforts to rise to higher levels of work.
404 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of Technical Instruction in England. The reports record
Continental visits, numerous conferences in Manchester and
elsewhere, the establishment of scholarships to attract able
scholars, informal meetings and discussions with various
educational bodies, including the leaders at the Manchester
Grammar School where the scholarships were not as eagerly
competed for as had been anticipated ; indeed, every form
of intellectual activity which manifests itself when a
democracy seeks to find methods of self -education. Mr.
Balfour, who represented a Manchester constituency, then,
as always, in close touch with Manchester interests and
Manchester needs, no doubt received a great deal of help
from these conferences in the elaboration of his plans for
the 1902 Act. Whether the founders and supporters of the
National Society for Promoting Secondary and Technical
Education were the originators of Government action or
not, they certainly enlightened and very profoundly stirred
up public opinion by their conferences held in London,
September 11, 1896, and at the Owens College, Manchester,
on July 9, 1897, and again on December 3, 1899.
In spite of much good will and desire to co-operate with
other bodies, the creation of a new and independent educational
authority was for a time the cause of some confusion, over-
lapping and even distrust. The Technical Instruction Com-
mittee of the Manchester Corporation, which was formed on
April 2, 1890, was primarily entrusted with the duty of dis-
tributing the ' whisky money.' It made grants to several
centres of Secondary Education, including the Grammar
School (£250), the Owens College (£1000), &c., and, in
addition, offered scholarships tenable at secondary schools.
It further offered four day scholarships of £60 a year, tenable
at the Owens College, in order to encourage boys from
Manchester Grammar School, the Hulme Grammar School,
and the Higher Grade Schools of Manchester. They were
particularly planned for those scholars from the last-named
schools who were entering for the National Scholarships
restricted to those willing to study at the Royal School of
Science and the School of Mines in London. Sir Henry
Roscoe had made unsuccessful efforts to persuade South
Kensington to allow these to be tenable at Owens as well as at
London, for the Victoria University wras developing its tech-
nology. So well were the boys of the Central Schooli trained
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 405
that of the first four city scholarships offered, they secured
three, and, being well equipped in French and mathematics
and science, were able, with a few weeks' extra study in English
literature and history, to pass the Matriculation Examination
in September, which allowed them to enter for University
courses. The total number of applicants for these city scholar-
ships was at first limited ; this caused considerable disap-
pointment, which is confessed in the evidence subsequently
given to the Royal Commission of Secondary Education 1894,
by Sir James Hoy and Mr. Reynolds. Probably the Grammar
School boys who were intending to follow skilled industrial
and textile pursuits passed into business life directly they
left school. If they desired further technical instruction,
they attended evening classes in special subjects instead of
taking day classes. There was as yet no tradition of boys
preparing for highly skilled industrial careers by a previous
training in technology. The fact that the Grammar School
by means of scholarships continued to pass its best boys to
Oxford and Cambridge was rather adverse to their competing
for local technical scholarships. There was also at that time
no demand from employers for highly trained experts, and
there was no desire on the part of the parents for their sons
who were not intending professional careers to remain at
school till they were adequately prepared to take advantage
of the scholarships offered by the newly established Technical
Education Committees. A new intellectual outlook among
employers, parents, and pupils needed to be created,
perhaps a new generation needed to arise, before it became
generally recognised that careers in the applied arts and in
manufactures needed to be prepared for by a systematic
course of study in scientific principles.
Another factor which for a while limited the popularity
of technical training as an objective for those leaving the
higher-class schools at this time was the increasing popularity
of the teaching profession, owing to the encouragement of
residential and day training colleges by Sir William Anson
at the Committee of Education at Whitehall, as a result of
the findings of the Royal Education Committee, 1886-1888.
Professor Bodington of Leeds University, who had at one
time held a post as assistant master at the Manchester
Grammar School, and was familiar with the new problems,
brought forward a scheme for the affiliation of training colleges
406 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to local Universities, since the training for this profession
was readily grafted on to educational methods already in
existence. The local branch of the Teachers' Guild,
established in 1888, under Glazebrook's encouragement
became the centre of some missionary activity, and the active
support first given to it by Mr. Glazebrook was continued
by Mr. King. The Owens College opened a Day Training
Department in 1890 for 25 men, and in 1893 another depart-
ment for women, offering diplomas in teaching for those
who, after having passed an intermediate examination in
Arts or Science, had attended certain specified courses on
Logic, Psychology, Ethics, Method of School Management,
&c., and showed their proficiency on examination. This
department was constituted a complete Faculty of the
University a few years later. Pupil teachers' centres provided
a more elementary training for the teaching profession, and
many students passed from them to the Universities to
qualify for degrees.
In 1890, a pupil teachers' centre was opened at Roby
Chapel, Grosvenor Street, where evening classes had been
held from 1876, and in 1893 a second centre was opened at
the old Commercial Schools, Stretford Road. There were
then 392 pupils, of whom 80 were boys. Ten years later,
on the opening of the Municipal Day Training College, which
took the place of these two pupil teachers' centres, there
were 801 pupils, of whom 135 were boys. This new move-
ment at once exerted a stimulating effect on Secondary
Education, particularly as pupil teachers' bursaries were
given to children of the age of 14 to induce them to remain
in secondary schools till 16, and then to present themselves
for qualifying examination and become Queen's Scholars,
with annual subsidy of £25, to enter the centres and be
prepared for matriculation or other further qualifying
examinations for teaching.
That the early stages of this movement succeeded so
well, not only in increasing the number of scholars seeking
higher education, but also in linking up the secondary and
elementary schools, and thereby accomplishing social aims
of exceptionally high value, was largely due to the energy
and activity of the Manchester branch of the Teachers'
Guild and the way in which it was supported by all local
educationalists. It was a powerful missionary agency.
MUSIC, ART AND TECHNOLOGY 407
The causes which led to the complete failure of so
promising an educational movement as the connection of
elementary school teaching with the Grammar School, and
the diversion of a stream of earnest, intellectually keen and
enterprising boys into other employments, will be considered
in the next chapter, where figures will be given to illustrate
the force of this movement, and the period and causes of
its decadence.
In September 1891, the Annual Conference of the
Guild was held in Manchester1 under the presidency of
Professor Wilkins, and discussions on general problems
connected with Secondary Education took a prominent
place. In 1892, when Mr. J. E. King served as president,
Sir Henry Roscoe gave an address explaining the aims of
the Technical Instruction Commission, and on November 4
a reception and social gathering was held at the Grammar
School. Many subsequent meetings were held to consider
bills in Parliament, details of the various educational schemes
and school problems. In April 1897, another conference
was held in the Grammar School. On March 3, 1898,
Mr. J. E. King again being president, Mr. J. H. Reynolds
opened a discussion on Technical Education.
We now come to a consideration of the exact nature of
the opportunities offered by the Grammar School to those
who were carried forward on the rising flood. Perhaps it is
best expressed in the words of H. J. Roby (1830-January
1915), educational reformer and administrator, scholar
and teacher, author of works on Jurisprudence and Latin
Grammar, cotton-spinner and Member of Parliament, who
as chairman of the governors of the School, 1893 to 1905,
gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Secondary
Education in 1894. He seems to have regarded Secondary
Education as a social adornment or equipment available for
members of the middle and upper classes who were willing
and able to pay for it. Other classes, with less economic
status, had naturally less money to spend on education and
would have to do without such a luxury. If, however, a boy of
exceptional ability and industry appeared among the artisan
or lower middle classes, then it was only right to lift him out
of his class. ' I should be most sorry that any boy who really
1 SeefJournal of Education*
408 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
had the capacity and industry should not obtain a very high
education, but I do not think such boys are very common.'
* Educational ladders,' advocated by Huxley, were regarded
as sufficient instruments for removing any existing social
injustice.
The same idea is expressed by the high master ( J. E. King)
on Speech Day, 1892, who took occasion to speak of the
intermediary position of the Grammar Schools of England
between the elementary schools and the Universities and
technical schools, and of the advantages they offered to
clever boys :
' The chief distinctions in the University lists [from Man-
chester Grammar School during 1891-2] had been gained by
scholars who had come to them from the elementary schools
of the district. ... If the best pupils from the elementary
schools went to the Grammar Schools, a larger future was
open to their industry and ambition than would otherwise be
the case. Grants had been made to various educational insti-
tutions in aid of Technical Education. Hereafter this School
had the opportunity of serving as a link ; first came the
elementary education, then the more general training in
languages, mathematics, and the principles of science, and
lastly the more special technical training. In this way all
the chief educational institutions of the city would have an
opportunity of playing the part for which they were severally
fitted. The place of the School stood midway.'
It was Gladstonian liberalism, inherited from the
benevolent Whigs of the eighteenth century who had done so
much for education ; it was also the political doctrine of the
Manchester School. As a principle of social organisation it
had done, and was destined to continue to do, great things,
but it was incomplete as a measure of social amelioration,
for it paid no heed to those who did not happen to be quick-
witted and precocious enough to outstrip their fellows at an
early period of life, or did not happen to have the favouring
early surroundings which stimulated intellectual growth,
or whose independence of mental outlook prevented them
submitting to a course of educational training that was not
adapted to their method of thought. Higher education
was to be had for those who could pay for it. It was to be
as efficient as school committees and high masters could
make it, but there was no need to provide for it out of
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 409
public funds. Private benevolence and old endowments were
sufficient to look after the deserving poor. H. J. Roby, when
giving his evidence at the Secondary Schools Commission, said :
' I do not think that the desire to have it [superior educa-
tion] is a test of the utility for the public supplying it. Even
the education provided by the Higher Grade Schools should
be kept in check by a central authority. The fees already
charged were too low. Such schools had their proper place,
and there was no reason why those scholars who proved
themselves capable and hardworking should not pass from
these schools direct to the Universities, but the study of the
humanities was more likely to unfit them for their future
sphere than to help them to rise out of their present sphere.'
The ' Secondary Education ' which was offered by the
Grammar School at this time was undoubtedly both generous
and highly efficient. It continued to send to the older Uni-
versities a stream of boys, self-contained and self-restrained,
who took high honours at the examinations and conferred
distinction on their School, and whose intellectual equipment
was of the highest order, as is shown by their successes at
the older Universities.
Between 1878 and 1894, that is, in sixteen years, the
School had gained at the older Universities :
8 Fellowships.
16 University scholarships.
5 Prox. accessit.
117 First classes.
186 Open scholarships and exhibitions.1
The table on p. 410 also illustrates the use made of the
4 Education Ladder ' by boys at the Grammar School about
1894.
Between 1888 and 1894 the entries into the Manchester
Grammar School were as follows :
From Public Elementary Schools . 688, i.e. 40 per cent.
Endowed Schools . . 201
Private Schools . . .741
Private Tuition . 60
1690
Cf. St. James' Budget, July 20, 1894.
410 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
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MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY 411
Since, however, scholarships were offered by the Tech-
nical Education Committee of the Town Council (Technical
Education Acts, 1889-1891) and tenable at the School, the
high master endeavoured to make some special provision
for them.
' Boys came to the School with scholarships under the
new technical instruction scheme, and the School received
a grant from the Technical Education Committee of the
Manchester Corporation. They were therefore extending
their workshop (from 16 benches for voluntary workers,
to 32 benches, to become an organised part of the School
curriculum) and they had further this year fitted up the old
and disused chemical laboratory as a room for teaching
modelling in clay. In different ways then, by their work-
shop, their modelling and drawing classes, and their chemical
and physical laboratories, they would be able to give a
general training, consistently with the scheme and character
of the School, which would serve as a preparation for sub-
sequent special extension.'
Another matter that materially affected the flow of
boyhood to the Victoria University was the reorganisation
of its Entrance Scholarships.
' No fewer than ten scholarships at Owens College had been
won this year by Grammar School boys, and six of them
were entrance scholarships. This was interesting as showing
that without, he hoped, lessening the number of those who
proceeded to the old Universities they would also find scholars
who would go with distinction to the University College
of Manchester. Another pathway to the local educational
institutions was provided in the technical scholarships and
exhibitions offered by the Lancashire County Council and
the Manchester Corporation. Since the last prize-giving,
five science, six commercial, and three art scholarships
and exhibitions had been won by boys from the Grammar
School. He was glad to say that these scholarships had
been won with but little preparation and without disturbance
of the regular school course. It would be a misfortune if
preparation for the examinations had a tendency to cramp
a boy's general education, by turning him to special studies
before the proper time, particularly when he was intending
to proceed to a University College. The number of the
technical scholarships which the School had obtained, as
412 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
well as the Owens College Scholarships, and the long array
of distinctions in the Victoria University lists afforded, so
he thought, good proof that they were playing their part in
that co-ordination of the work of the Educational Institutions
in Manchester of which they heard so much.' l
In 1894 also, just after the reorganising of entrance
scholarships, Principal Ward and Professor Wilkins stated :
* We are of opinion that poor and meritorious boys may
without difficulty pass from the public Secondary Schools
and the highest classes of Board Schools, into the University,
with a prospect of covering their expenses, so far as classes
are concerned, by scholarships gained on entrance. There are,
however, occasional instances where maintenance is beyond
the power of young men at this College, but this cannot be
remedied except with the aid of special funds.2 As to students
requiring technological instruction, the correlation has hitherto
remained inadequate, and we are very decidedly of opinion
that a more satisfactory correlation might be secured if the
grant of technical scholarships by the interested public bodies
were confined to persons who give evidence of passing satisfac-
torily through courses of technical sciences definitely laid down
and pursued. A fair proportion of our graduates, both in
Arts and Science, take up the work of teaching in Secondary
Schools after graduation.'
The numbers actually proceeding from the School to the
various Colleges and Universities for further study, arranged
in quinquennial periods, are as follows :
Year.
Oxford.
Cambridge.
London.
Victoria.
Technological
College.
1893-1897 .
41
24
49
131
23
1898-1902 .
63
18
?
91
34
1903-1907 .
32
24
30
134
37
1908-1912 .
49
29
12
146
58
While the several subjects for which students entered
with a view to completing a full course at the local University
were as follows :
1 UMa, Speech Day, 1895.
1 Evidence before Secondary Schools Committee, 1894.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY
413
Year.
Arts.
Science, includ-
ing Technology.
Law.
Medicine.
1875-80
8
13
5
12
1881-85
18
17
6
39
1886-90
4
8
3
39
1890-95
7
24
6
53
1896-1900
10
23
6
38
1900-95
14
21
6
32
1906-10
41
87
1
27
1910-15
15
41
2
16
The entry for commerce and teaching accounts for most
of the increase 1906-10 ; also the new regime at the Grammar
School. The last quinquennial total is very incomplete on
account of the deficiency of records.
Another way of showing how slow were the stages by
which the Grammar School was linked on to the scheme
of technological education is shown by the small proportion
of its candidates who gained the scholarships. Between
1891 and 1899 the Manchester Education Committee awarded
272 scholarships, available either for Higher Secondary
Schools or for technical or University careers. Of these,
108 were awarded to pupils from Higher Grade Schools and
assisted them in their further study at the University, while
only 67 were awarded to those who entered from other schools.1
Out of 100 scholarships to the Technical School which
had been awarded before June 1894, only 18 had been
awarded to candidates from local Grammar Schools, 11 from
the Manchester Grammar School, and 7 from Hulme Grammar
School. The reason for this failure was possibly in part
the prejudices of the middle classes, who confused the new
policy of the Technical School with that of the old Mechanics'
Institute out of which it had sprung. They did not yet
realise that both the Technical School and the School of Art
were now preparing for careers which required a higher
standard of preparation than the elementary schools afforded.
They now offered preparation for future high-level employ-
ment, in which neither technological, art, nor musical training
by themselves could take the place of a liberal prepara-
tion at school. The reason for the failure of the Higher
1 School Board Gaxttte, November 1900.
414 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Grade Schools to provide the number of candidates expected
of them was shown by Mr. Wyatt to be the limited
number of scholars who remained in them till fifteen,
which was the age of entry demanded by the Technical
Schools. Prolonged stay at the Higher Grade Schools spoilt
many of these boys for the humanistic forms of secondary
education and did not inspire them to pursue the higher
branches of technical education. Moreover, commercialism
and the prospect of immediate wage-earning still tempted
many parents to withdraw their children too early from
school, for the enormous business prosperity of Manchester
caused merchants to make tempting offers of well-paid im-
mediate occupation to the brighter boys and diverted them
from continuing their intellectual training to a higher level,
the advantages of which they had not sufficient knowledge to
see. An analysis of the subsequent careers of the boys from
these Higher Grade Schools shows that the majority became
imperfectly trained clerks and employees of the Manchester
warehouses, few really attaining a complete knowledge of
any art or trade which amounted to a mastery. They
no doubt helped the merchants to make the money which
they did not share.
It was particularly in the Modern and Science sides of the
School that increased expansion in numbers and efficiency
of work became most noticeable, where those who passed to
the Owens College were helped by the Dal ton, Hulme, Kay-
Shuttleworth, and many other entrance scholarships after
these had been placed on a satisfactory footing. The study
of Chemistry continued to be pursued with vigour. This
is shown by the fact that in 1893, in the list of Fellows of
the Chemical Society, there occurred the names of twenty-
three old scholars. Of these all but five were graduates of
a University.
At the Old Mancunians' Dinner in 1896, Dr. Lazarus
Fletcher stated that, since the accession of Mr. Jones to the
Chemistry department, i.e. during twenty-four years, no
fewer than ninety-two open scholarships and exhibitions in
science had been won at Oxford and Cambridge. Forty-four
Mancunians had been placed in the first class in science,
fifteen in the second, and only ten in the third. Nor was
Art neglected, each boy receiving on an average three hours'
instruction in drawing per week.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY
415
The following table shows the extended use of the Science
and Art facilities throughout the School at this time :
Science.
Art.
Day.
Evening.
Day.
Evening.
Gross total of Students
under instruction, 1898 .
940
9
974
—
No. of separate Students
presenting themselves for
examination .
143
4
559
—
1899 gross total
935
10
974
65
No. for examination .
140
5
299
35
1900 gross total
920
8
934
60
No. for examination .
47
—
227
21
1901
—
—
700
—
Meanwhile every effort was being made officially to
prevent the wasteful overlapping. To clear up the confused
mass of conflicting opinion, and to establish definite principles
for the guidance of educational authorities, the Prime Minister
induced the Crown in 1894 to appoint a Royal Commission
of Enquiry into Secondary Schools. Manchester was again
well represented. Dean Maclure, who had entered the
School 1844 and was now Deputy Chairman of the Governors,
was one of the Commissioners. The Lancashire evidence
was collected by F. E. Kitchener, who stated :
'The Manchester Grammar School stands far ahead of
any other Secondary School in my district. The advanced
character of the education given, the largeness of the area
from which it draws its boys, and the extraordinary number
of boys which it sends up annually to the Universities, not
only distinguishes it from other Lancashire schools, but
give it a foremost, and in some respects, the foremost place
among the great Day Schools of England.'
Other Manchester evidence was given by Sir James Hoy,
Chairman of the Technical School ; J. H. Reynolds, Director
of Secondary and Technical Education ; Professor Ward,
416 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Vice-Chancellor of the University ; Mr. Wyatt, Director
of Elementary Education, and H. J. Roby, Chairman of
the Board of Governors of Manchester Grammar School.
Michael Glazebrook, though he had left the School four
years previously, evidently used much of his Manchester
experience when describing his views of the relation of a
school to its local University.
A conference of School Boards was held in Manchester
in 1893, of which a full account was given in the School Board
Gazette. In 1894-95 a conference was held between the
Manchester School Board, the Technical Education Committee,
and the Manchester Grammar School, the latter being repre-
sented by Oliver Heywood, H. J. Roby, and the high master.
They drew up what was known as ' The Manchester Con-
cordat.' * In 1896, the several positions of the Manchester
Grammar School, the School Board, Higher Grade Schools,
the Technical School, and the University were further defined,
and the Manchester Concordat was adopted. On July 10,
1897, a public meeting was held at the Owens College still
further to clarify the issues.
In 1896 the movement for the actual purchase of the
playing fields, then only rented by the School, took form.
A fund was opened with a donation of £500 and with two
others of £50. It was thereupon decided to form a committee,
with Sir William Bailey, an old scholar, as chairman, and
to make a public appeal for funds. A public meeting was
held on April 30, 1896, Sir William Bailey in the chair. It
was decided to raise the sum of £10,000 for the purpose of
purchasing two playing fields for the Manchester Grammar
School boys, one field to be on the north and one on the
south side of the city. A committee of old boys and friends
was formed to raise the money. The boys themselves raised
£650. By January 1, 1897, the total which had been raised
only amounted to £4500, so it was decided to restrict the
scheme to the purchase of one field on the Clowes estate
on the north side of Manchester, the purchase price being
£2500 in cash, and a promise to pay a further £1200
1 Memorandum of arrangements (a) between the Manchester School
Board and the Municipal Technical School, (6) between the Owens College
and the Municipal Technical School, with regard to technical instruction
adopted by the City Council, January 8, 1896.
MUSIC, ART, AND TECHNOLOGY
in four years. The ground was drained, levelled, and
sodded at a cost of £782, and a pavilion erected which
cost £1125. The committee, however, realised that, owing
to the unexpected popularity, the ground was often in-
conveniently crowded. They urged that it was desirable
to purchase a further and adjoining piece of ground,
necessitating an increased outlay of £950, but, as there was
already an outstanding liability of £1923 on the field, and
the fund had been practically stagnant for two years, the
committee felt considerable anxiety about increasing their
liabilities. The grounds were formally opened on August 1,
1899, by the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Manchester, who
were welcomed by Sir William Bailey. The outbreak of the
South African War now entirely diverted public attention,
and the story of the full completion of the scheme must be
left to the next chapter.
In the spring of 1903, J. E. King, on his appointment to
the post of head master of Bedford Grammar School, placed
his resignation in the hands of the governors, who thereupon
recorded the following resolution :
' The Governors recognise his scholarly attainments, his
insight into the needs and conditions of every department,
his unfailing zeal and tact, the value of his personal influence
on the teachers and scholars which have done so much for the
success of the School during his term of office.'
At the 108th Old Boys' Dinner, held April 16, 1903, Mr.
J. E. King gave a valedictory address, and stated that in his
opinion the success of the School in the past had depended
on three things :
(i.) Its freedom to all comers, (ii.) Its adaptability to
changing conditions, maintaining its classical traditions while
giving attention to modern languages and the teaching of
science, (iii.) Its aims : the pursuit of learning and good
manners.
Articles appeared in the Manchester Guardian, July 17,
1903, giving a summary of the work which the School
had accomplished in building up the ladder of education.
And another article, in the Saturday Review, June 11, 1904,
stated :
•l
418 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
' No Secondary School in the country is doing so much
to bridge over the gulf between the Board Schools and the
University. Its successes are not selfish and individual.
They are genuine democratic triumphs, which, if we may
be allowed to employ a much abused word in its broader
and truer sense, possess social and political, as well as
scholastic importance.'
CHAPTER XVI
1903-1915
THE BROAD HIGHWAY
' A heart to resolve, a head to contrive and a hand to execute.* —
E. GIBBON.
Unification of educational aims under the Board of Education (1899) con-
firmed and extended by the Education Act (1902) — Local Authorities
called upon to make more adequate provision for higher education — The
Manchester Grammar School enters the national scheme and reserves
15 per cent, of all its vacancies for * free -placers,' or selected boys from
elementary schools — It secures its channels of supply of middle-class
boys by establishing a preparatory school in the suburbs — J. L. Paton
appointed high master : he creates a new attitude — He modifies
the curriculum at the request of the Board of Education, which had
succeeded the Endowed Schools Commissioners as supervisors of
Trust Funds, and the Education Committee of the Privy Council as
supervisors of the character of its Science, Mathematical, and Art
teaching in all forms except the sixth — Advantages and disadvantages
of the Board of Education thus exercising control over all forms of
instruction at the School — Further development of corporate life
at the School by encouragement of all forms of public service — School
camps, social gatherings, rambles, scout meetings — Photographic
and Natural History Societies — Formation of the Old Mancunians
Association — Appointment of School medical officer — The Call to
Arms and the Public Schools Battalion.
TOWARDS the end of the nineteenth century many of those
who had been closely observing the growth of English educa-
tion had begun to realise that the so-called ladder from the
elementary school to the technological college and the Uni-
versity, provided by scholarships and bursaries, was far too
narrow. They realised that favouring social circumstances,
good health, home interests, and good family traditions at
an early period of school life, had so much to do with school
capacity that the selection, by scholarship examination at
thirteen, or even later, failed to catch many whose after
419
420 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
careers showed they would have greatly benefited by more
thorough school training than they had gained at the ele-
mentary schools. They urged that boys and girls must be
admitted to the secondary school not by right of exceptional
capacity, but by right of desire for knowledge. It was
evident a wider understanding of adolescence had yet to be
found. As regards Manchester, Hugh Oldham had founded
the School for the industrial lower middle classes, not for the
specially clever nor for the specially favoured, but because
'he had often taken into consideration that the youth,
particularly in the County of Lancaster, had for a long time
been in want of instruction . . . and that the bringing up
in learning, virtue, and good manners of children in the
same county is " the key and grounde to have good people
there."
By the Education Act of 1902 the obligation of making
adequate public provision for higher as well as for elementary
education was placed on the local authorities. The nature, as
well as the adequacy of such provision was to be decided,
after consultation, between the Board of Education, which
had been created in 1899 and the local committees. Both
nature and provision varied greatly in different districts.
From the national point of view, the new Bill required a very
greatly increased supply of educational opportunity for all
classes. With the increased supply, there soon arose an
increased demand. The demand was primarily in the
direction of seeking the preparation needed for teaching in
public elementary schools, for it was evident that teachers
must be educated in advance of their pupils. In addition
to this the lower and middle classes, inspired by the Workers*
Educational Union and similar movements, had shared in
the progressive general enlightenment due to the multiplica-
tion of libraries, art galleries, concerts, cheap popular news-
papers, &c. A new spirit of responsibility and a recognition
of need for further social service was abroad. It was conse-
quently generally realised that school education, conducted
through the period of adolescent life, was as beneficial and
desirable for the child of the artisan and small tradesman as
for the child of the merchant and professional classes. In
the presence of an advancing wave of public reform, it is
easy for critics to point to particular drawbacks, and illustrate
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 421
these by quoting a number of cases where such higher school
education during adolescence was probably less valuable than
apprenticeship to some skilled handicraft. Some drawbacks
of this character will appear later. At present we are only
concerned with chronicling the events so as to understand
the new conditions created. These may besummed up in the
statement that the educational ladder from the Board School
to the University created by scholarships and bursaries,
and available for a few selected and exceptional children,
had now become so crowded that it needed to be replaced by
a highway open to all who could show their ability to make
proper use of it, and whose guardians were willing that their
children should surrender the tempting benefits of immediate
wage-earning for the sake of the ultimate moral and material
advantages to be obtained by availing themselves of the new
opportunities. For some, the Technical and Technological
Schools became the objective. For the rest some other,
perhaps new, educational objective had to be created. An im-
portant one was found in training for the teaching profession.
Although, with the exception of drawing, it has never
been the duty of the Grammar School to train pupil teachers
in the technique of their ultimate life work, yet many
educational authorities have recognised that it would be a
great advantage if their intending teachers gained some
experience of the life of a large public school with great
traditions. The Manchester Education Committee early
offered bursaries tenable at secondary schools to a number
of scholars in their elementary schools who signified their
intention of subsequently entering the teaching profession.
Pupil teachers' bursaries were also granted by the Education
Committees of Salford, of Lancashire, and of Cheshire.1 In
November 1904, application was made to the Board of
Education for the recognition of the School as providing pre-
paration for bursary holders of these Education Committees.
I have endeavoured to discover their number.
1 In order to attach the School still more closely to the public bodies
which were sending boys to it, application was made to increase the number
of representative governors by adding two from the Lancashire and two
from the Cheshire Education Committees, and additional ones from Man-
chester and from Salford, thus increasing the total number of governors
representing Local Education Authorities from nine to fifteen, in addition
to the four University representatives, one ex-officio and eight co-optative
governors, making a total of twenty- eight.
422 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL SCHOLARS REGISTERING
AT VARIOUS TEACHING CENTRES
LOCAL AUTHORITY.
Year.
Manchester
Education
Committee.
Salford
Education
Committee.
Lancashire
County
Education
Committee.
Cheshire
County
Education
Committee.
Manchester
Pnpil
Teachers'
Centre.
Education
Depart-
ment Man-
chester
University.
1904
9
1
_
__
2
_
1905
7
3
—
. —
4
2
1906
7
—
—
—
10
3
1907
8
3
2
. —
5
5
1908
3
2
—
—
3
11
1909
2
—
—
2
4
1910
—
—
—
—
1
3
1911
1
—
—
—
—
5
1912
—
—
—
—
2
1913
1
—
—
—
—
3
1914
2
—
—
—
—
4
1915
1
—
—
—
• —
—
1916
1
—
—
1
~
—
A considerable number of the above were assisted by
the Thomasson Trust of Bolton. I have not been able to
get the figures for Lancashire and Cheshire.
The figures represented in the last two columns have
been extracted from the admission registers of the Manchester
Pupil Teachers' Centre and the Education Department of the
Manchester University, and give the number of boys who
had received their previous training at the Grammar School
and might be supposed to be able to do something towards
breaking down the barriers between primary and secondary
education.
The existing buildings of the Grammar School had been
erected in 1881 with a view to accommodating 1000 boys.
There were only 720 on the lists in July 1903. The Municipal
Secondary School in Whitworth Street was opened in 1904.
It made provision for 500 boys as well as 400 girls. The
Salford Secondary School made provision for 300 boys and
300 girls ; the Hulme Grammar School, Alexandra Park, for
300-400 boys. The Lever family had restored the old
Grammar School at Bolton, and had equipped it with ample
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 423
playing fields and all modern needs. Other neighbouring
towns, such as Bury, were extending their own secondary
schools, or were erecting new ones. For the more opulent
middle class, private and public boarding schools were also
rapidly multiplying. Many of them gave high-class training,
and were admirably adapted for providing that moral and
intellectual stimulus and training in class tradition during
adolescence, which the upper middle-class home had ceased,
if it had ever been able, to provide, and which it did not care
to entrust to the public day schools.
How long would the Manchester Grammar School be able
to retain the high position it had acquired from its long tradi-
tion of good scholarship, its staff of able masters, its well
equipped laboratories ; from its perfected organisation as an
instrument of higher education ; from its admirable scholar-
ship system arranged for the selection and retention of clever
boys of limited means, and for securing their advancement
to the Universities ? All these things might be of little avail
if there was no sufficient stream of boyhood to fill the School.
If it was to hold its own under the new conditions created
by the 1902 Act, it needed to be alive at every point of modern
life. Were its traditions sufficiently clearly established and
appreciated by the public for the School to retain its hold on
the middle-class boy of a good home, whose parents desired
an earnest and strenuous life for him ? And were they
sufficient to stir the imagination of the increasing number
of boys from the elementary schools to whom university
honours, established social status and social obligation, meant
little, but who desired learning, and whose parents were
willing that they should postpone the period of their wage-
earning till certain advantages had been fully assured ?
To answer this we must study the channels of supply.
Within a few years of its inclusion under the Board of
Education, the School again became filled, even to the
extent of overcrowding. Its hold on the middle-class boy,
seeking professional or high-level commercial training, was
made more secure by the rapid growth of its preparatory
schools, which had originally been established in order to
obviate the necessity of sending, at an early age, young
boys by railway or other long journey into Manchester, or
boys who were inadequately prepared for the somewhat
strenuous intellectual curriculum which it was always
424 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
intended the Grammar School should offer. The Chorlton
High School — a middle-class preparatory school established
in 1839 by Dr. Merz, and carried on in Dover Street by Mr.
Adams and Dr. Hodgson and Mr. Fuller successively, had
been removed to Withington some years previously. It
was taken over in 1897 by a special committee acting in
association with the governors of the Manchester Grammar
School, and opened in January 1898 as a preparatory school.
The connection between it and the Manchester Grammar
School gradually became more intimate, though it was some
little time before the new traditions sprang up, which caused
it to become a natural feeder for the central School. Another
preparatory school was opened at Higher Broughton in
1905 by well-wishers in the district and placed under the
care of Mr. Dennis, who had already served twelve years as
assistant master at the Grammar School. At the request of
the Cheshire County Council the Sale High School was
taken over as a third preparatory school in 1908. All the
buildings and goodwill of these schools were, with the con-
sent of the Board of Education, made integral parts of the
Grammar School property in 1908.
On February 7, 1906, Mr. Fuller reported to the governors
that there were 117 boys in the South Manchester Preparatory
School, that 40 were new boys and 17 had been passed on
to the Grammar School during the year, two of whom
had gained Foundation Scholarships. On March 18, 1908,
he reported that during the preceding ten years 126 boys
had proceeded to Manchester Grammar School.
The following table of the number of boys attending
the preparatory schools from 1908 (Michaelmas) to 1916
Year.
North Man-
chester School.
South Man-
chester School.
Sale High
School.
1908
114
124
43
1909
124
119
48
1910
126
126
62
1911
124
138
71
1912
139
153
75
1913
150
165
80
1914
171
166
104
1915
176
179
122
1916
183
179
130
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 426
(Lent) also gives some indication of the growth of the
preparatory schools which were now taking their place as
natural feeders to the central Grammar School.
Free Secondary Education, assisted in some necessitous
cases by bursary or maintenance exhibitions, was, however,
provided on the School Foundation for 150 boys, half the
places being restricted to boys from elementary schools and
the other half open. A number of maintenance bursaries
were also given by outside authorities to pupils who expressed
their intention of preparing for the teaching profession, and
who, in return for their training, undertook to serve the
community by engaging in teaching in elementary schools
for a certain length of time. It was decided that the
number of Foundation scholars, now largely consisting of
Free Placers, i.e., of boys from elementary schools, with a
privilege of free education during the whole of their school
life — should be increased till they amounted to at least 15 per
cent, of each year's admissions. If both Foundation and
Capitation boys remained at the School for the same
length of time, there would then be 150 Foundation
scholars.
Experience soon showed that the Foundationers were
more serious about their education than the capitation boys,
and as they often came at an earlier age, the average length
of their stay at the School was longer.1 The lengthening
of their school life caused their proportion to increase, and,
though they were only 15 per cent, of entrances, they gradually
amounted to 25 per cent, of the total number of boys actually
attending.
Every boy who does not hold a scholarship, whether he
comes from an elementary or other preparatory school, pays
£15 a year, if entering under 14. This fee by no means pays
the full cost of his education, for the buildings and equip-
ment were given by public subscription. The fee has not
been an absolute bar, though it has probably acted to some
considerable extent as a deterrent to the boy from an
elementary school who fails to secure an entrance scholar-
ship. In 1894 they constituted 38 per cent, of the School —
that is, there were 285 boys from elementary schools out of 750,
1 The Physiqut of the Modern Boy, Manchester Statistical Society,
December 1912.
426 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
and at the Hulme Grammar School, Alexandra Park, with
300 boys, there were at the same time about 36 per cent,
from elementary schools. There were 160 Foundation
Scholarships.1 If all the Foundation Scholarships had been
awarded to boys from elementary schools, there must have
been at least 125 more such boys paying fees. In 1915,
with over 1000 boys, there were 750 capitation boys, of
whom 250 were fee-paying boys from elementary schools.
It follows there was an increased number of parents of
children attending elementary schools who were able to
pay the school fees. It would, however, be unwise to
deduce from this that the economic factor is not a serious
deterrent in many cases, for it is a remarkable fact that
40 per cent, of the capitation boys were ' only sons,' and
only 38 per cent, of the scholarship boys have no brothers.
In lower middle-class families, it is to be feared that the
failure to obtain a Foundation Scholarship has in some cases
served as a deterrent from entering the Grammar School.
Such deterrence may be expected to increase in times of
bad trade.
Tear.
Capitation.
Additional
Free Places.
Foundation.
Total.
1905
710
148
858
1906
747
—
149
896
1907
734
158
892
1908
690
171
861
1909
683
201
884
1910
677
204
881
1911
686
208
894
1912
701
7
242
950
1913
722
23
252
997
1914
716
36
249
1001
1915
747
42
259
1048
1916
756
43
252
1051
The free placer of the Manchester Grammar School
1 Every boy whose education is paid for out of public funds, whether
elected as a Foundation scholar at the School or supported from other public
funds, if he comes from a public elementary school, is a free placer. He has
a right to attend the complete course of training at the School unless his
behaviour is such as to earn dismissal
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 427
generally comes from a home which, in spite of somewhat
restricted economic circumstances, possesses moral and intel-
lectual traditions of no mean order. A comparison between
the free placer and the capitation scholar at the Man-
chester Grammar School brings out several suggestive facts.1
In order to avoid misinterpreting these facts, we need to re-
member that the free placer (a term which is synonymous
with the foundation scholar from an elementary school)
is now, though he has not always been, a highly selected
boy, since between ten and twenty are chosen out of 200-250
candidates. He is of quick apprehension, and his early child-
hood, though devoid of luxury, has usually been singularly
free from such retarding or devastating influences as frequent
colds, sore throats, rheumatism, and infectious illness,2 and
bad health in early life is a serious handicap to school progress
before adolescence, though its influence steadily diminishes
after fourteen. He is therefore generally of good physical, as
well as of mental, stability. He generally comes from a home
which possesses a moral though tfulness. The capitation boy
is usually also from a good home, generally with wider
opportunities for social enlightenment and unfortunately at
times for social luxuries as well as dissipation of energy,
but he is less highly selected from his companions as regards
his intellectual abilities, for the qualifying entrance examina-
tions which all boys must pass is not a stiff one. Any
intellectual difference between the capitation boy and
the foundation scholar on entrance is constantly being
accentuated with each successive year of school life, because
each year a number of the best capitation boys, owing to
their school attainments, get school exhibitions and so get
placed on the Foundation list ; while the less able (or less
precociously intellectual) capitation boy does not obtain a
Foundation Scholarship, and remains to accentuate the
intellectual difference between the Foundation and the
Scholarship holder. The test of ability and attainments
at an early age on entrance examination, though valuable
as a test of innate power of discrimination amplified by
proper training, has serious drawbacks. The different organic
1 Manchester Statistical Society, December 1912 — Some Physical Factors
necessary in Higher Education, North of England Education Conference,
Bradford, January 1914.
* Transactions of the Clinical Society of Manchester, February 1912.
428 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
systems of which the human body is composed are the nervous,
the osseous, the muscular, the cardio- vascular, and the nutri-
tive and digestive systems. Each of these passes through
several stages in its growth, and the rate of development
of one system is not necessarily the rate of another, so that
a boy may be mentally precocious and muscularly delayed,
&c. The width of this range of variation to be detected
among these boys is as much as four years, so that one boy
of ten is frequently as matured as another of fourteen. More-
over the social conditions which profoundly influence mental
and bodily growth, such as hours of retiring to bed at night,
opportunity of social diversion, and even dissipation of energy,
differ in different homes, and so affect the attainment previous
to and during school life.
PREVIOUS SCHOOL TRAINING OP BOYS OBTAINING
UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS.
Free-placers who are either Foundation Scholars or
boys sent from Elementary Schools by other Educa-
tional Authorities or Charities who pay the School
Fees.
Capitation or Fee- Paying
Boys.
Year.
Oxford
and
Cam-
Man-
chester.
County
Council
Scholar-
Oxford
and
Cam-
Man-
chester.
County
Council
Scholar-
bridge.
ship.
bridge.
ship.
1910-11
8
3
11
6
3
6
1911-12
4
4
4
10
0
4
1912-13
6
1
7
8
3
4
18
8
22
24 1 6 1 14
Total 48
Total 44
At a Conference on Secondary Education held at Victoria
University 1897, Mr. King had pointed out the harmfulness
of the uncertain position in which the School stood, owing to
the fact that some parts of its curriculum — Science, Mathe-
matics, and Art — were under the Science and Art Depart-
ment of the Privy Council (South Kensington) and the others
— Classics, Modern Languages, and English subjects — still
under the Endowed Schools Commissioners who had succeeded
1. X. (i
2. S. DILL.
3. F. W. WAI.KKR.
4. J. L. PATON.
5. 31. (i. GlAZKBftOOK.
G. J. E. KING.
Six recent High Masters.
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 429
to the educational work of the Charity Commissioners. In
1900, the first part of the School organisation passed under
the Board of Education which succeeded the Science and Art
Department of South Kensington: administratively it be-
came a Secondary School, Division A, Science and Art
only.
After the passing of the 1902 Education Act, the whole
question of the relation of the School to the national scheme
of education came up for further consideration. One of the
last acts of Mr. King as high master was to forward a letter of
application, dated February 16, 1903, to the Board of Educa-
tion asking for complete recognition under Division B (all
subjects) . This meant such modification of its school teaching
as would provide a three or four years' curriculum satis-
factory to the Board of Education. The new curriculum
involved the practical displacing of Art teaching in favour
of increased elementary science and mathematical teaching,
the displacing of the teaching of English literature in the
higher forms above the thirds in favour of increased teaching
in French and German. There were also some other less
important changes. It was at this time that Mr. J. L. Paton
was appointed as high master. After much correspondence a
new curriculum was finally drawn up January 11, 1904, which
embodied the desires of the Board : this is, in a general way,
the scheme still in use. During the latter part of the year
1904, on the reconstruction of the Consultative Committee of
the Board of Education, J. L. Paton and Albert Mansbridge,
General Secretary of the Workers' Educational Union, were
appointed new members.
The School of Art at the Grammar School, which had
first received recognition in 1869, ceased to be a special depart-
ment October 1905. It had completely lost its former premier
position, and this was accompanied by a loss of touch with
the higher aspects of pure and applied Art. It is true it gained
some freedom by being released from the limitations imposed
by South Kensington, but it also lost the stimulus of being
in touch with a great centre of progress. It is to be regretted
that, in spite of the great development of the Proctor work-
shop and the development of Dramatic Art at the School, so
many boys leave school without having their imagination
stirred by a love of creative Art. This is a problem for to-
morrow, and the inclusion of handicraft and drawing among
430 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the qualifying subjects for the school-leaving certificate of
the Northern University Board should have great effect.
Dramatic Art has made considerable progress as an out-
of-school subject, and seems capable of very considerable
further development, particularly in association with the
Proctor reading prizes, for it appeals to certain boys who
have no book memory, or book imagination, or poor visual
imagination.
Consultation with representatives of the Manchester
Educational Committee was held July 3, 1907, on the question
of overlapping and possible conflict of aims. It resulted
in the Manchester Education Committee supporting the
application of the Grammar School for a full place
in the general local scheme. It passed the following
resolution :
' That the Board of Education be informed that, in the
opinion of the Manchester Education Committee, the Man-
chester Grammar School is required as part of the secondary
school provision of the city and that article 24 of the regu-
lations may be waived with advantage on its behalf, subject
to the condition that the Governors of the School agree to
the proportion of free places for scholars from public ele-
mentary schools being not less than 15 per cent, of the
scholars admitted.'
This co-operation of the civil educational authority was
no doubt greatly assisted by Dean Maclure, Chairman of
the Manchester School Board till his death in 1906, and Mr. E.
J. Broadfield, who had served as Chairman of the Manchester
School Board in 1878, and under the 1902 Act had been
Vice-Chairman, and became Chairman of the Educational
Committee established by the new Act of 1902 in succession
to Dean Maclure. Both were active governors of the
Grammar School.
The increased financial resources secured by the change
enabled the Board of Governors to increase the sum devoted
to assistant masters by nearly £2000 and it now approached
the sum formerly paid in Mr. Dill's time. A timely grant
to School funds by the Hulme trustees on April 22, 1910,
and continued yearly, enabled the Governors to increase the
Masters' Pension Fund.
THE BROAD HIGHWAY
431
TABLE TO SHOW THE AGE INCIDENCE OF BOYS AT THE
MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL, AFTER IT CAME UNDER
DIVISION A OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Year.
Under
10.
Between
10-12.
Between
12-14.
Between
14-16.
Between
16-18.
Over
18.
Total.
1907-8
6
46
271
405
145
6
879
1908-9
—
62
281
382
129
14
858
1910-11
2
47
305
397
116
14
881
1912-13
3
62
299
424
147
13
948
1913-14
2
76
314
427
160
12
991
1914-15
13
66
313
444
162
6
1003
1916-16
9
76
336
443
164
20
1048
The changes in the curriculum had the effect of increasing
the number of boys who remained at the School during
adolescence, while the further attempt to restore the School
to its original position of being open to all comers by the
now fully acknowledged position of the free-placer, rendered
obsolete the class feeling which separated the boy of the
elementary school from the boy of the secondary school.
Two factors contributed to its disappearance : (1) Change
in the traditions of the School itself ; (2) Change in the type
of boys obtaining scholarships. The social exclusiveness of
the Victorian middle-class home was crumbling before the
new spirit of social service, which was heralding a new epoch
in the brotherhood of man, before which social snobbery and
intellectual priggishness became ridiculous. This spirit of
social service had to be harnessed to concrete facts. The
need was at hand. The imagination of the boys was stirred
by the great extension of school lectures and addresses given
by distinguished workers and thinkers — Dr. Wilfred Grenfell
of Labrador, Lieut. Shackleton, Captain Scott, and many
others. The boy in the middle of the School received as
much honour for work faithfully done as the distinguished
graduate at Oxford and Cambridge :
* [One] left SB last year to go to the School of Technology.
Besides gaming many prizes for home work and sessional
examinations he won a Cheshire County Council scholarship
432 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
to be held at the School of Technology. . . . "The old
Grammar School did well for him," writes his father, and we
thank the father for the kind thought which prompted him
to send us his letter.'1
The project for erecting a memorial in the School to
commemorate the patriotism of the sixty-three old boys
who had taken part in the South African War, which had
languished, was again revived. A committee was appointed
in November 1903 under the chairmanship of Dean Maclure,
an old scholar and now Chairman of the Governors. Sub-
scriptions were called for, and after a little further delay a
memorial tablet was erected for those who had fallen, which
was unveiled in September 1904 by two old boys, Colonel
J. Wright, R.A., D.S.O., and Captain H. S. Nickerson,
R.A.M.C., V.C.
Lacrosse, football, athletic sports, musical and orchestral
societies were now increasingly used as a means of social
intercourse, by which the influence of masters might act on
the boys, while constant companionship with the boys
humanised the attitude of those masters. Whitsuntide
holiday camps for working-class lads had become very
popular. Fifteen such, many with 500 boys, left Manchester
each Whitsun week. Four or five Sixth Form boys began to
assist as orderlies, at the one held among members of the
Hugh Oldham Lads' Club.2 In 1904 a holiday camp was
held on ground lent by Lord Stanley of Alderly. In order to
satisfy the intellectual curiosity of the boys attending these
camps, and to stir up a love of inquiry, Mr. F. A. Bruton,
who had already made valuable contributions to archaeology
by his excavations and records of the Roman Fort at Castle-
shaw, of that at Foothill and Melandra, and of the Roman
Fort at Machele, drew up some very helpful notes for campers
on Natural History and Geology. The establishment of
scout troups began in 1912.
We have noted the establishment of a Biology class by
C. J. Bourne. Various geological and other collections
had been given originally to the School Philosophical Society
on the advice of Dr. Lazarus Fletcher, and were often studied
by boys who possessed some little knowledge of chemistry,
and were intending to follow such careers as mining, engineer-
1 Ulula, October 1903. » Sea Ulula.
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 433
ing, &c. A Natural History Society was formed in February
1885, under the auspices of Mr. Earl, Mr. Willis, and J. G.
Milne, and succeeded in attracting some juvenile entomologists.
After a number of miscellaneous collections had been gathered,
a reconstruction of the Museum took place in 1905, when a
committee of masters, members of the Natural History
Society, and old boys, were invited to co-operate. Lessons
on Botany by Mr. Willis were followed by Nature Study by
Mr. Bruton. Five cases of birds presented by the Manchester
Museum authorities and a series of Palaeolithic specimens
given by Mr. Sutcliffe of Littleborough formed a basis of an
anthropological and archaeological collection which is now
steadily growing. These collections are also used for the
voluntary classes held in connection with the Scout Move-
ment. Not a few boys have discovered the direction of their
own tastes and inclination by these means, and the future
developments in agriculture with the need to understand
bird and insect life which is so intimately associated with its
scientific study, would indicate the advisability of extending
this branch of school work.
The Old Mancunians Association was formed Sept. 7, 1904,
firstly, for the benefit of boys who had recently left, or were
about to leave, the School ; secondly, for the past generation ;
and, thirdly, for the city and community, so as to secure re-
newal and continuance of friendships between schoolfellows
and masters by reunions and cultivation of mutual interests,
literary, social, and athletic. The first annual meeting was
held November 3, 1905, with 278 members, J. L. Paton, the
president, taking as the subject of his address, * Each for all
and all for each,' illustrated by the combining of loyalty to the
School with loyalty to the city, and * Be just to the Poor/
as expressed in the need for increased educational oppor-
tunities to enable every citizen to become and to do the best
that is within him, since the ultimate cause of all social
evil lay not in difference of material wealth but in violent
contrasts of educational opportunity.
On December 19, 1903, 200 working lads of the Hugh
Oldham Lads' Club were invited to meet the boys of the
Grammar School and to share in their interests. A return
visit of the Grammar School boys to the Working Lads' Club
was paid the following March. This exchange of visits became
annual. Hugh Oldham of Livesey Street again rubbed
FF
434 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
shoulders with Hugh Oldham of Long Millgate, and some
social prejudices received a shock.
The Natural History Club and the Photographic Club had
for some time been Field Clubs with organised plans of
country excursions.
' The excellent teaching of such experts with the camera
as Mr. Parrott and the late Mr. Sykes, and the practical
lectures organised throughout the year by the Society are of
inestimable value, but we must remember that boys in a day
school have more leisure for such pursuits than those whose
school hours are always compulsorily occupied.' l
When the Ruskin Exhibition was held in the City Art
Gallery in Manchester, 1904, the boys were sent, under the
charge of the Art Masters or of Form Masters, as part of their
school work. Pictures began to appear on the bare walls
of the School, and Mr. Charles Rowley presented a series of
photographs of figures drawn by Frederick Shields for the
Church of the Ascension, London, in 1908. The Music Study
Circle was formed November 1909, with the help of Mr.
Sydney Nicholson.
To stimulate capacity for social service, the Ambulance
Lectures, started in 1890, became increasingly practical by
the addition of instruction in ambulance drill. Boys were
encouraged to qualify themselves to obtain the St. John's
Ambulance Certificate. A Swimming and Life-saving Class
was established, and in order to popularise it a demonstration
was given by a champion team from the Royal Schools for
the Deaf and Dumb, Old Trafford. Individual prizes at the
Athletic Sports were abolished in favour of marks, which were
credited to the form rather than to the boy, so that success
in sports competitions counted like success in football or
competition in cricket.2
While the larger proportion of boys come from homes
whose restricted circumstances in no way imply restricted
moral or social outlook, or lack of adequate parental guidance
and inspiration, yet there is always a small proportion of
boys, quite as often from secondary as from elementary
1 Ulula, 1909, p. 111.
» Cf. ' Sports without Prizes,' School World, 1906, by A. Pickles, of
Trinity College, Cambridge.
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 435
schools, whose homes are less favourably endowed ; where
social failure has crushed effort ; where ineffectiveness finds
constant expression in querulousness ; where overbearing
manners have dried up the natural wells of sympathy ; where
money-making has been pursued at the price of commercial
honesty ; where carping criticism is regarded as a sign of
social superiority ; or where servility is regarded as the sign
of good manners. Fortunately these homes and these ideas
are the exception. Their presence must be considered if the
school is to carry out its work fully and the oncoming genera-
tion is to be better than the last. Attempts are made in the
high-class boarding-schools, which have monopolised the
term Public Schools, to moderate social exclusiveness by
arousing a sense of social responsibility. The Public Schools
of the democracy are called upon to repair deficiencies of
home training by devising new ideals of personal and of
/social service.
The most effective way of keeping both capitation and
scholarship boys under the influence of the great traditions
of the school is by their personal association, both before
and during adolescence, with masters who themselves fully
recognise such influence and express it in their daily life.
Companionship between individual boys and individual
masters had never been absent in the past, but now masters
were called upon to give most of their recreation and leisure
time to the boys. So freely and generously were these services
given, particularly by the junior masters, that there was at
one time a danger of its being forgotten that they had been
tendered as a voluntary gift and must not be regarded as
an obligation, and that only single men, or those possessing in-
dependent means, could afford to render them, for the salaries
of assistant masters were quite insufficient to allow them to
maintain a family at their own social level, and those who
were married men were compelled to seek additional work
outside the school hours to make an income adequate to
support a household. This extra work often impaired their
freshness and efficiency, and prevented them from partici-
pating in, and furthering, the social and intellectual activities
of the city to which they were entitled by tastes and education,
and the cultivation of which is so important in the highest
interests of the School. The urgency of the question of more
adequate remuneration for the assistant teaching staff has
436 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
been acknowledged by the prominent position given to the
matter in the appeal associated with the fourth centenary
celebrations.1
School Conversaziones, by bringing parents and masters
together, had done something to break down the conventional
barriers which had separated the interests of the School from
those of home. The personal responsibility of form masters
for the boys under their particular care and the granting of
opportunity for the discussion of difficulties with parents
had done much more, but there was still a considerable gap
to be filled up before any complete understanding could
occur. ' Parents' Social Evenings ' were therefore estab-
lished in 1906, at which parents were definitely asked to meet
the assistant masters, who placed themselves- at their disposal
for the consideration of any difficulties that either might have
met with, clearing up any misunderstanding as regards con-
duct or work, and often offering advice as to lines of future
conduct. The first part of the evening was devoted to in-
dividual conference, the latter half to a general conference
at which matters of wider and more public interest were
brought forward and discussion invited between parents and
School authorities. These have been regularly continued
with mutual benefit. Here the School explains its aims.
Here the parents can state their grievances or difficulties or
get enlightenment and understanding, guidance and assistance
on matters which must closely affect their method of training
the children. Of the right of the School to speak upon all
such matters and spreading its ideals, public testimony is
not lacking. Mr. Walter Runciman, in distributing prizes
at the Manchester Town Hall, September 17, 1910, remarked :
' The Manchester Grammar School occupies an almost
unique position in English education, as it is not only one
of the largest of our great schools, but it is also one of the
greatest. It is very nearly 400 years ago since the School was
founded, and I venture to say that never throughout its
long career were its attainments so great, its record of scholar-
ship so high as to-day, and I hope that Manchester realises
how much it owes in that regard to the services and the
scholarship of the high master.'
1 I.e. in 1914. The question has been dealt with since by Mr. Fisher's
grant.
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 437
A barrier also tended to exist between the boy from a
secondary school and the boy from an elementary school.
This was largely broken down by the change in type brought
about by the greatly increased competition for scholarships
and consequently the higher selection value. The free-placer
so frequently distinguished himself, that the scholarship-
holder became regarded with respect. The percentage of boys
from elementary schools rose within a few years of the change
from 38 per cent, to 55 per cent., but it is doubtful whether
the increased proportion represented any material change of
social status of the scholars. The disappearance of the
too often somewhat ineffective private academy had com-
pelled the middle-class parent to choose between an expensive
boarding school, without traditions of learning, and a public
elementary school, whose teaching efficiency was rapidly rising
and where many keen boys were attending. Nothing shows
more clearly the disappearance of the old prejudice against
the public elementary schools than the number of boys from
elementary schools who, after passing through a full course
of study at the Grammar School, entered upon a course of
university or technological study which involved considerable
pecuniary outlay.1 The elementary school was fast becoming
the national school for the majority of lower middle as well
as for industrial class boys.
With the popularisation of national education, greater
attention began to be paid to all phases of child life
and child welfare, which were likely to help in remedying
inequalities of opportunity, or removing disabilities. An
unexpectedly strong expression of public opinion caused
the Liberal Government in 1907 to tack on to its Edu-
cational Administrative Provisions Act a clause requiring
local authorities to make arrangement for medical in-
spection of the children in their elementary schools. The
reports of the various medical officers appointed under this
clause soon revealed such a mass of preventable illness inter-
fering with the efficiency of teaching, that steps were taken
by many progressive local authorities to extend greatly the
teaching of hygiene and, later, even to provide medical treat-
ment under their own auspices where such could not be secured
1 Cf. the evidence given by H. J. Roby in 1894 before the Secondary
Schools Commission.
438 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
elsewhere. So helpful did managers and teachers in ele-
mentary schools find these medical reports in the organisation
and development of curricula, that a number of secondary
schools appointed medical officers, so as to obtain fuller
consideration of the physical conditions underlying higher
education. In September 1909, the governors appointed a
medical referee, and in the following July he was styled
medical officer.
His duties were :
Status. — To be purely advisory. The medical super-
vision to consist in detailed suggestions to the high master.
Duties in General. — To inquire into and report upon all
matters affecting the general health of the boys and the
hygiene of the School. To draw up an annual report to the
Board of Governors to be presented through the high master.
Duties in Particular. — To inspect all the general sanitary
arrangements, such as lighting, heating, ventilation, desks,
cleaning, lavatories, drainage, &c., and the general hygiene of
the School premises. Also the arrangements for cooking and
feeding.
Medical Inspection. — To examine all new boys as to their
physical condition, and to examine from time to time such
old boys as are reported by the assistant masters, through
the high master, as being physically unfit for the strain
involved in their school work or school games, gymnastics
or other athletics.
Attendance. — To attend the School regularly at stated
hours and to be available for particular reference when special
circumstances arise which cannot be dealt with at the stated
hours.
Relation of School Doctor to Parents and Guardians of
Boys. — All reports upon the health condition of boys to be
confidential to the high master, who shall, if he think fit,
report in full, or in part, to the parents.
The need for securing greater physical efficiency among
the general population had been brought before those respon-
sible for the defence of the realm by the enormous number
of rejects among those who had presented themselves at the
recruiting stations during the South African War, 1899-1902.
A Royal Commission on National Degeneration was appointed
to consider the matter, and, at the urgent solicitation of the
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 439
War Office,1 attempts were made to introduce instruction in
military drill in elementary public schools, which most un-
fortunately resulted in supplanting the carefully graded
and much more suitable systems of physical training which
many educational authorities had already adopted. Scotland,
with its usual caution, desired to make proper inquiries first,
and another commission was therefore appointed to inquire
into the opportunities already available. The inquiries
extended to the physical condition of the people and were
extremely valuable. They enabled the Scottish educational
authorities to avoid the pitfall of confusing military drill
with physical training into which the English authorities
had stumbled when they issued a model course in 1901-2
based on exercises already out of date for the English Army,
exercises which completely ignored all the principles of
Swedish drill, and were in other respects singularly inappro-
priate for growing children. It was confessedly an attempt
to provide recruits for the Army and was a conspicuous
failure. France had made a similar attempt after 1870
by the establishment of ' bataillons scolaires,' which,
after a brilliant beginning, had fallen into discredit on
account of the excessive cost in money and time out
of all proportion to results. By familiarising boys with
the semblance of military habits, without their inspiration,
it had disgusted them before the appeal of duty became clear,
and had induced boys to affect the manners and language of the
barracks and drill sergeant. Moreover, the regular officer of
the army found that the precocious specialisation actually
interfered with subsequent training. The last of such
' bataillons ' was therefore suppressed in 1890, and a system
of graduated exercises adopted, based on the Swedish system,
and applicable to the young adolescent as well as to the
adult. With a change in the English Government, there
occurred a change in the policy of the Board of Education.
The ' Model Course ' was withdrawn, the help of the Scotch
Commissioners was sought, and a * Syllabus of Instruction '
was drawn up, based on physiological principles and having
close relationship with the teaching of hygiene now advocated
by the Board of Education.
1 See a series of articles on Physical Training and National Deteriora-
tion in Manchester Guardian, 1902-3.
440 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
With the creation of the Volunteer Territorial Force in
1908 as a special reserve to replenish the Expeditionary Forces
in the event of a prolonged campaign, a condition of affairs
arose which demanded new standards of physical efficiency.
School Cadet Corps and University Cadet Corps became
Officers' Training Corps. A section of the Old Mancunian
Society was formed, September 1909, to maintain the mutual
interests of the old scholars who were serving in various regi-
ments. Sir William Bailey presented a challenge cup for shoot-
ing to be competed for among the members. A movement also
arose to form an Officers' Cadet Corps among the senior boys
in the School itself. Inquiry was made by the War Office
as to the number of boys who, after leaving School, had taken
up Commissions in the Army and Navy. The number was
found to be much larger than was anticipated, among the
more recent being Captain Nickerson, V.C. The idea was
discussed at a parents' meeting, March 1910, and so strong was
the expression of opinion in its favour that the high master,
in making his statement to the governors, was able to say
that it was the unanimous wish of the parents who attended
the meeting. The formation of a School Corps was finally
sanctioned by the War Office, May 1910, and enrolment began
on the reopening of the School in the following November,
Lieutenant (now Major) C. Potts, who had largely been
instrumental in getting the movement started, being appointed
Officer Commanding. The corps started with 56 members,
and rapidly gained strength, for its appeal was to that spirit
of corporate responsibility which the School had done so
much to foster. In 1911-12 there were 106 ; in 1912-13, 118 ;
in 1913-14, 124. Sixteen passed the A certificate before the
outbreak of war. Consequently, the Government's call for
assistance was readily acknowledged, and many old boys
either took up commissions or presented themselves at the
recruiting stations to join the ranks. Within less than one
month, a list of 125 boys who were serving with the Colours
was drawn up.
On September 3, a more or less informal meeting was
held at the Manchester University to consider the pro-
posed formation of a special corps of old Public School
and University men, who were willing to enrol as private
soldiers without waiting to obtain commissions. The meeting
was short and to the point. The next morning, posters
THE BROAD HIGHWAY 441
appeared outside both the School entrances. The gymnasium
was used as an examining station, and the drawing hall as
an inquiry office. The School Scouts acted as orderlies,1
and many old boys volunteered to act as examining doctors.
Within a few days 1023 men were enrolled, and a first draft
of 300 was sent off to London to be attached to the Royal
Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). The numerical result
was startling, but still more impressive was the quietude and
fixed faces which showed the high resolve of the new recruits.
Many had voluntarily thrown up lucrative and responsible
positions, others had jeopardised important prospects. All
were serious and realised the price they might be called upon
to pay. Whatever their position in school or form had been,
they had all learnt to play the game, and in after life had
realised that the games of school were but the prelude to the
struggle of life. In the world of nations a compact made for
the protection of the weak had been ruthlessly broken, and a
great Empire had decided that she could ignore the rules of
the game. Nothing but war could repair the wrong and
re-establish International Justice.
This was the beginning. As the struggle continued, the
cost began to mount up, but there was no failure of response.
Hardly a list of casualties came out without the news of one
or more among the fallen.
It would be an impossible, as well as an invidious, task
to estimate the services actually rendered. It may be
possible to tabulate the military honours and distinctions
awarded, but this would give no indication whatever of the
sacrifices made ; nor is it possible to enter adequately into
the feelings which prompted them. These things must be
left till the present oppressive darkness has disappeared;
till Time, when it has somewhat lulled the pain and covered
over the wound, will also have revealed something of the task
accomplished. A single extract must be allowed, that of a
boy who, after an undistinguished career at School beyond
some success in nature study, paid the great price, but who,
before so doing, was able to testify what the School had done
for him. He wrote from British Columbia where he had
just given up his fruit-farming to enlist, and was waiting for
orders to sail for Europe. He lost his life in the fierce fighting
1 Cf. Ulula.
442 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the days which followed the capture of Vimy Ridge, in
which he had taken part with his battalion.
' The Southland is calling, calling me to come. I can
hear the companionable coyote chorus, the lively whir-r-r
of the rattlesnake, the wind sweeping through the mesquit
bushes rattling the empty pods, through the yuccas and
the cactus. The wide, wide desert stretches away into the
distance, the mirage dances on the horizon, over there, just
below the blue line of the mighty sierras. The sage-hens
rise with a startled whirr from the sweet-smelling bushes
from which they derive their name, and I am on the foothills,
climbing up, up, terrace by terrace, until I reach the first
stunted pines. On yet higher and higher, meeting the first
streams of pure live water, babbling over the pebble beds,
on into the glorious pine groves where axe and saw have
never raised their harsh, merciless voices, where the great grey
squirrels stare with wondering eyes at the creatures who
trespass on their domain, and chatter to their fellows to
" come and see." The summit of the trail, but, higher yet
above, tower the peaks of everlasting snow. Those I will
not tread, but leave them alone in their age-long solitude.
Below, beyond the line of trees, stretches a vision of peace-
ful valleys, orchards, grain, homes, all that man holds dear —
'tis California, and beyond that, calling the wanderer on,
the enticing blue Pacific, telling secrets of far-away lands
nestling on its shores.
' But the vision fades. " Over there " the sky is red with
blood and flame. There is where men are found, men from
the desert, the mountains, the orchards, the forests, aye,
men from the blue Pacific, men of the Anglo-Saxon race
giving their lives and their all for the cause of justice and
liberty. Europe ! En avant ! The deserts, streams, moun-
tains and woods will wait, will mourn, perchance, and will
welcome back their old friends, when Europe's seething
hell has cooled. C. H. C.'
CHAPTER XVII
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
1 The younger generation is bound to win : That's how the world goes
on.' — WILLIAM STANLEY HOUGHTON (1881-1913).
THE prominent position which the Manchester Grammar
School now holds in the English system of national education,
as well as its inheritance of the high traditions which have
been created by the devotion and foresight of so many genera-
tions of well-wishers, have made it the subject of much public
criticism and impose upon it the duty of self-examination,
in which its faults and failures should receive as much
examination as its virtues and successes.
A number of questions arise — Is the School really open to all
classes who desire or are capable of benefiting by its teaching,
or does it in practice debar from its privileges, either by the
scale of its fees or by a too rigid curriculum, many who should
be admitted ? Does it succeed in inspiring its scholars both
immediately and ultimately with a desire for excellence
(i) in knowledge, (ii) in manners or conduct, (iii) in self-
expression ? Does it deal justly with its moral and intellectual
failures ? Does it adequately train the physique of the boys,
or does it miss some of its opportunities for stimulating
dormant activities and remedying the injurious effects of
town life ? Does it serve the community efficiently in
providing a useful sorting-house of character and ability T
No existing educational institution would dare to claim
a favourable answer on all these points, nor would any dare
to deny that all these are included in its aims. Institutions
must specialise, yet the perils of specialising upon such funda-
mental matters when dealing with the training of one thousand
boys are serious indeed.
443
444 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Is the School a Free Grammar School in the sense of the
Renaissance, or does it, by fees or curriculum, debar any
considerable class of boy for whom its benefits were intended ?
That three-quarters of the boys pay a part of the cost of
their education in capitation fees would be no real disad-
vantage if the payment of such fees were well within their
means. It would, however, constitute a failure to carry out
the object of the School if the present scale of fees really
debarred deserving boys, and no room was found for them
on the Foundation.
The size and character of the stream of boyhood entering
a school where the curricula of teaching are not obligatory on
all citizens depends primarily on the desires and ambitions
of the parents of the community from which the school
draws its pupils. Their judgment is not always a purely
utilitarian one. They expect their sons to obtain certain
social and moral advantages, and to find opportunity for
the use of their natural powers, if not advancement in status.
In the case of boys intended for the learned professions,
the parental task in the choice of a school is a com-
paratively simple one, for public opinion recognises that
there is a stock of common training necessary for all pro-
fessions. It is more difficult for commercial and artisan
parents to realise that the proper preparation for non-pro-
fessional careers is fundamentally of the same nature, and
that to give a child a liberal education before entering
a commercial occupation is quite as necessary as to have
him trained in the subject-matter of that occupation. Sup-
posing that a parent desires a liberal education for his
child, the first question that presents itself is naturally the
financial one. Are the earnings of the young adolescent
actually needed for the support of the family ? If they are
not necessary, are the parents able and willing to provide
sufficient financial assistance to pay for the food, clothing,
books, school fees and other expenses till the youth becomes
a wage-earner ?
The stages by which the Manchester Grammar School has
developed its scholarship system are as follows :
(1) Original 1515 plan, that of free higher education to ap-
plicants of all classes, provided by the old foundation. Those
boys who wished to continue their studies at the Universities
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 445
and were approved were assisted as a natural course out of
school funds.
(2) Lack of adequate income in 1856 caused the trustees
to limit the School to 250 boys, and to stop the University
exhibitions.
(3) The number of scholars was increased by the addition,
in 1867, of capitation or fee-paying boys, the fees of the capi-
tation boys being used for increasing the remuneration of
the masters.
(4) Persistent deficiency of the School income caused
the trustees in 1874 to appeal again to the Charity Com-
missioners, who authorised a reduction of the number of
foundation scholarships to 160, i.e. one for each £15 of the
net yearly income of the Foundation, one half to be
preferentially offered to boys from public elementary
schools.
(5) Twenty scholarships founded by E. R. Langworthy
to encourage capable boys over sixteen to remain at school,
and not to accept the tempting situations offered by com-
mercial houses. Private philanthropists provide close scholar-
ships to assist them at the Universities.
(6) The establishment of higher-grade schools in 1880
diminished the stream of exceptional boys from elementary
schools seeking entrance by scholarship. The opening of
the Hulme Grammar School and later the Municipal Secondary
School, at a time when the proportion of citizens seeking
higher education was limited, reduced also the number of
those seeking entrance by capitation.
(7) Various public bodies and educational charities made
provision by bursaries and exhibitions to assist able boys
desiring to enter the school, to remain there during adoles-
cence, and to proceed to the University.
(8) The pupil-teacher system, by which provision is made
for particular scholars who are not selected for their out-
standing ability, but because they desire to attain the power
and position of teachers in public schools. The first pm>il-
teacher centre was established in Roby Street in 1890, and
the second at the Manchester Commercial Schools buildings
purchased in 1893 ; a Day Training College was opened at
the Owens College ; it was proposed to open one at the
Manchester Grammar School, but the proposal was sub-
sequently withdrawn on account of objections raised to
446 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
competition. The number of boys who held bursaries pre-
paratory to attending the public teachers' centres is given on
page 422.
(9) There remains yet unrealised the stage when every
child who can show himself capable of benefiting by it
receives secondary education free of cost, and if family
circumstances are straitened a bursary for his maintenance.
In general terms we may say that there is a total attend-
ance of some 1000 boys l — 300 enter the School each year, so
that another 300 boys leave. The average period of stay is
therefore over three years. Of these entrants, 45 at least must
be boys from elementary schools whose education is to be
paid for out of the Foundation funds of the School. They are
to be free-placers through the whole of their school career.
Analysis shows that another 120 at least come from
elementary schools, some being assisted by various scholar-
ships and bursaries, others paying full capitation fees of
£15 a year. Thus altogether 55 per cent, come from
elementary schools. These scholarship boys are in the main
undoubtedly capable of benefiting by the School curriculum,
and utilising their training for the benefit of the community
in after life. They more than hold their own in the class-
room, and in the public life of the School,2 whether games,
sports, or other activities, with the single exception of those
activities which entail expense, such as camping, O.T.C., &c.
An ever-increasing proportion of these remain in the School
till they pass matriculation or school certificate examina-
tion, though, owing to the cost, a smaller proportion pass to
the Universities or technological schools. For the last ten
years, in inquiring into the family medical history of boys
entering the School, I have regularly asked whether there
have been elder brothers who have been educated at the
School, and I have frequently been met with the answer : ' No,
we were not able to afford it then, for the family expenses
were heavy, or our means less able to support the expense ' ; on
other occasions the answer has been, ' No, we did not know
of the entrance scholarships.1 It is rare to hear that the
scholarship winner was the only one of the family capable of
1 1913-14. In 1918 about 1200 boys and probably 400 entries.
2 See Physique of the Modern Boy, Manchester Statistical Society,
Dec. 1912.
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 447
earning an entrance scholarship or benefiting by the School
curriculum.
The standard of mental ability among the fee-paying or
capitation boys is considerably more variable. Among
these boys are many of the ablest, who, thanks to the wider
interests of their home life and perhaps to better provision for
their health from infancy upwards, continue to exhibit an
expanding mind throughout their whole school career. Others
— the great bulk — achieve a middling position, while a small
proportion make so little progress that the question is fre-
quently asked why they are sent to the School at all. Further
examination of some of their characteristics and of the school
problems they present is desirable. They are a complex
group and difficult to understand, but in the meantime
we may say that though their mental as well as their physical
development has in many cases been gravely delayed owing
to ill-health in early life, and their power of memorising
and of reasoning lessened, so that the ordinary school curri-
culum seems unsuitable, yet knowledge of their after-careers
shows that they make as good and as intelligent and as
useful citizens as many of their brighter schoolfellows who
formerly out-distanced them. They, even more than others,
need a high-class education during their adolescence, and
our failure to succeed with them indicates the weakness and
limitation of our curriculum rather than the unsuitability of
the boy for higher education.
The study of the life history of these boys leads to the second
part of the first question — viz., whether the opportunities
of the School are restricted to special boys owing to the rigidity
of its curriculum. In a general way, the curriculum, even to
minute details as to number of hours to be devoted to special
subjects, is settled by the Board of Education,1 which has
never yet attempted to consider the problem of the retarded
and backward boy in secondary schools, though it admits
the still more difficult problem of the mentally defective
scholar of the elementary school. Under the present arrange-
ments the School would forgo certain grants by making
special arrangements, but this deficiency from the Board of
Education might be remedied by raising special funds ;
1 Some evidence on this matter is included in the report of the
Consultative Committee of the Board of Education on Practical Work
Schools, issued 1912.
448 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
experiments could be made in the education of a number
of such boys in handicraft work on a far more generous scale
than at present exists, and lessons learned of high educational
value for the benefit of the whole school.
While the desire to benefit by the opportunities of the
Grammar School has caused the applications to be so
numerous that only the highest-grade boys from elementary
schools obtain scholarships at the Grammar School, the
reverse process determines the home and family charac-
teristics of the boys applying for free education at its
near neighbour — the Chetham Hospital. This charity was
founded for the benefit of a class of boy similar to the 250
free-placers at the Manchester Grammar School, with particular
regard to those who had lost one or both parents. They have
to forfeit what remains of their home life and enter a boarding
school. They have to wear a garb distinctive of social
dependence. Their education was intended to be preliminary
to apprenticeship to the skilled crafts which flourished in the
seventeenth century, for the school was founded before the
present industrial era, at a time when the homes of the poor
were broken up much more readily than now. It was necessary
then to provide board and lodging and clothing if the children
were to be kept from destitution. This is no longer the case.
Public funds from many sources are available, and it would
seem such a natural development to unite the two schools,
for the distinction of social grade is entirely an adventitious
and artificial one, and the problem of the establishment of
a high-grade Craft School with a very liberal English education
is an urgent matter at the Grammar School.
The question of Craft and Guild Schools should be clearly
distinguished from that of occupational training, with which it
may be readily confused. The craft training should be of
the most liberal character and should cultivate all forms of
natural expression. It should involve the early transference
of the bulk of the curriculum from books to actvity at the
age of thirteen or fourteen. It should retain all the training
in citizenship and leadership that is attempted at the Grammar
School, but it should provide an alternative to grammar
teaching. To a considerable proportion of intelligent boys
words mean far less than things. Hearing and writing mean
far less than doing and making. It should teach mathe-
matics by actual measurement and utilise its methods in
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
449
actual construction. It should not train for the market but
for the self-expression of the scholar. If the Board of Educa-
tion already recognises a Science side, as distinguished from
Classical and Modern Language sides, might it not also recog-
nise an Art and Handicraft side ?
Concerning the second question as to whether the School
succeeds in inspiring its scholars with a desire for excellence
in knowledge, in conduct, or in self-expression, it is more easy
to supply an answer because two sets of judgment are already
expressed. The one set consists in the examinations con-
ducted by external authorities, the other in the reports which
masters and high masters send at the end of each term to the
parents.
The first set enables us to mark the success of the School
in the pursuit of a clearly defined aim, whether competitive
examination for scholarships and prizes, or efficiency exami-
nation for standardisation. Concerning the examinations for
scholarships and the subsequent attainments of its scholars
at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge the record of
the School has always been remarkably high.1 Of greater
significance as regards the place the School occupies in the
national scheme to raise the education of the whole com-
munity is the number of boys who present themselves for
standardisation, and the proportion who succeed in satis-
fying the requirements of the standardising examinations
of the local or other University.
Of the three hundred who leave, about eighty possess the
School Leaving Certificate issued by the Northern Universities
Board, whose examination has succeeded, and to some extent
replaced, the Matriculation Examination. Concerning these
the following figures are of interest :
Quinquennial Periods.
Matriculands from
Elementary Schools.
Matriculands from
Secondary Schools.
* 1893-1 895
6
7
1896-1900
13
13
1901-1905
28
30
1906-1910
147
137
1911-1914
136
101
1 See Appendix, p. 531.
OQ
450 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Or arranged in annual periods :
—
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
1907.
1908.
1909.
1910.
1911.
1912.
From Elem. Schools
4
7
4
35
23
24
31
36
34
33
From Second. Schools
8
6
7
23
22
36
29
26
24
23
12
13
11
58
45
60
60
62
58
56
If the September examinations, which are not really
School examinations, are added to the July lists, the following
numbers result. They show the rapid advance of the free-
placer to such intellectual level as the School affords : 1
—
1910.
1911.
1912.
1st
Div.
2nd
Div.
School
Leaving
Cer-
tificate.
1st
Div.
2nd
Div.
School
Leaving
Cer-
tificate.
1st
Div.
2nd
Div.
Capitation .
20
27
27
5
6
31
1
5
Free place .
9
12
11
7
4
17
—
2
29
39
38
12
10
48
1
7
The great drawback to standardisatio"n by examination is
the uncertainty of results and the inequality of pressure,
intensified by the fact that examinations have to be conducted
partly in the interest of the examiner and only partly in the in-
terest of the boy. The examiner naturally chooses written work
as being more easy to carry away and mark at leisure, while oral
methods of examination, which rely on what are for certain
i In 1883 the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge instituted their
Leaving Certificates, and the following numbers indicate the extent to
which the boys availed themselves of this school test :
1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890
26 20 11 15 11 20 22
Lower Certificate . 40
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 451
boys both readier inlet and readier outlet, are consequently
omitted for want of time. This matter directly involves the
problem of method and aims in language teaching. Perhaps
we are too much in a hurry to consider proofs of imaginative
and creative thought afforded by artistic attainments, drafts-
manship, handicraft, singing, or dramatic powers, and still
less inclined to urge preparation during school life for their
more complete acquirement.1 It is not till we compare school
reputation with after-school attainments that we realise how
examination in knowledge gained from books often unduly
favours the boy whose plastic mind readily adopts the opinions
of his teachers, and handicaps the boy of more creative mind
whose dormant powers await the stir of appropriate incentive,
or the revelation of some particular interest, or the natural
term of their proper appearance.
In addition to the formal school examinations, there
are the informal examinations for Scout badges, which may
be compared with the certificates formerly granted by the
South Kensington Science and Art Department. Though
of very limited value for estimating actual attainment, they
are of great value as incentives to new studies, and as arousing
the habit of observation. They can readily be grouped in
accordance with particular interests and capacities and are
less Procrustean than a formal grouped examination. If
a sufficiently enlightened Board of Examiners could be
secured, Scout tests might with advantage be taken over and
standardised by the Board of Education, and perhaps some
mathematical and physical tests be added. But the value
of Scouting is not primarily intellectual, but social and moral :
by encouraging comradeship between boy and master and
corporate action between boy and boy under adequate super-
vision, natural and half-unconscious instincts are allowed
fuller play than is possible in the class-room. Laughter
and song, play and relaxation are quite as important in the
development of character and health as formal training.
Emulation and competition begin naturally in the home
and in the school, and Scouting continues the work of both.
Just as a very important part of the work of home and
of school is to establish such conditions of emulation as
1 The virtual, if not the actual, exclusion of art and handicraft training
in the various matriculation examinations affords painful proof that limita-
tion of outlook still prevails among University Boards.
452 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
prevent competition becoming socially destructive, so Scout-
ing leads boys to be strenuous and yet play their parts in a
larger game.
Concerning the judgment which the school passes on
its own work in the terminal reports it sends to their parents,
it is interesting to note how often, in the past, it has been
assumed that conduct, progress, and diligence were exclusively
expressions of the boy's nature, growth, and home training,
whereas the school must participate in the responsibility
for failures, since it was founded for the very purpose of
training the boy. When the parent peruses these ex-
ceedingly valuable and often well-founded judgments, he
naturally asks, first, wherein he has fallen short ; secondly,
wherein the boy has fallen short ; and, thirdly, how far the
school has done its work. Nothing but frank conference
between schoolmasters and home will clear up doubtful
points. The efforts and means at the disposal of the school
are set forth in the parents' handbook. Parents are given
the opportunity of conference with any of the masters in
matters of special difficulty, and regular conferences are
held to clear up outstanding points. Perhaps, however, a
few of the problems might receive some notice here from the
point of view of a physician and a parent rather than that
of a schoolmaster.
An ever-increasing number of boys remain at school
during the later years of their adolescence, when their wills
are becoming stronger and more self-assertive. Fortunately
the majority of them have entered school before their adoles-
cence and have therefore come early under the influence
of their schoolmasters, though there is still a small proportion
who do not enter till the age of fifteen or sixteen, whose
parents hope they will receive a ' final finish ' which they
showed no signs of obtaining elsewhere. Perhaps it is really
a varnish that is then desired. Adolescence is a time when
imagination and emotion are strong, and though the earlier
period of unconscious imitation has passed and given place
to one of self-assertion, yet the expanding mind is busy watch-
ing the behaviour of all with whom it comes in contact. Boys
are uncomplimentary critics, but their generous emotions
prevent them from being unkindly ones. They are influenced
far more by the unconscious than by the deliberate behaviour
of others which they often attribute to mere pose. Hence
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 453
the extraordinary value of patient courtesy and kindliness,
of evident earnestness of purpose, of unselfish devotion,
and of quiet self-control, which so many masters exhibit
daily and even hourly in dealing with boys, and the malign
influence that sarcasm or loss of temper exerted in the
evil days that are past.
Discipline must be the discipline of deliberate voluntary
service, otherwise it is suppression or even oppression.1 Self-
control must not be based only on self -suppression, but upon
the higher training which means higher freedom, for no one
can use his powers on the world around to the full until he
has learnt to govern and direct his powers from within. With-
out such training, increased freedom results in dissipation,
not in conservation of energy. Thus, the discipline the school
seeks is the discipline which arises from the inclination to learn
and to serve and which proceeds from incentives within, not
the discipline which is impressed from without and consists
in the obedience to an external and arbitrary authority which
may use its powers for ill as well as for good, and in any case is
not always subject to the criticism of reason. On this account
a full punishment school implies bad, not good, discipline.
These things are truisms. Yet, though their actual observance
in recognised cases may never be omitted, the principles
which they embody need constant reconsideration before
we can properly interpret the new duties which are, from
time to time, imposed on a school.
The school is accustomed to give judgments in its
terminal reports to parents on 'diligence' or 'application.'
The term really includes two quite separate qualities : the
power of sustained attention, and the desire to use that
power in a particular direction. The opposite of diligence
is frequently termed slackness, though the two terms are not
entirely opposed, for slackness, on occasion, is a valuable
relaxation after past effort and a proper preparation for the
future. If mind or body is kept continuously on the strain,
harm inevitably results. The person becomes ' nervy ' and
1 jumpy/ and judgment is unbalanced. At the age of fifteen
or sixteen, quite normal boys frequently go slack. There
is not sufficient vital vigour to keep the mind fully at work.
1 It is this that constitutes the danger of placing physical training in
schools under instructors who have been trained in the army only, and
not in the gymnasium or playground.
454 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
If nature's warnings are neglected, a more severe reprimand
will be given a year or so later, when some illness or other
breakdown may occur, or perhaps, worse still, arrest of mental
growth. The other form of want of diligence, or slackness, in
school life depends on the failure of the boy to appreciate the
claims of some particular piece of school work. He believes
that he has a right to choose between one subject and
another. The arbitrary assertion that he must do what he is
told is useless. There seems some need for bringing before
boys a clearer presentation of the significance of their present
obligations and future careers, and so enabling them to
realise the relation that their immediate tasks bear to
their ultimate ones. If even educationalists are not agreed
upon this relation, it is natural that many boys do not see it.
Traditions of behaviour, or ' manners,' to use the old
English word, are the joint product of the influence, often
unconscious, of the masters and of the home. A boy may
respond to neither, his response may be delayed, or it may
vary at different times. In spite of the decay of arbitrary
discipline, perhaps even because of it, the real ultimate in-
fluence of the master on the behaviour of the boys is rapidly
increasing. This is especially due to the increase of the
school activities, both indoor and outdoor, in which he is
brought into relationship with the boys. Although the home
sees less of the boys in consequence of the greater demands
of the school on his social life, it is by no means certain that
the influence of the home is really lessened, though the mani-
festation of that influence may be delayed, for the seeds of
truthfulness, honesty, and purity are set at a very early period.
The first of such qualities to come under school influence is
truthfulness. It is fostered by kindness and understanding.
It may be killed by fear or by unwise punishment. It is
an essential element of self-respect, and, without it, fair play
is impossible ; it is ennobled by public spirit, and often
sanctified by religion, at school or at home. Another quality
which grows up under happy school conditions is the readi-
ness for service. This is deliberately cultivated in Scout
troops, but is also unconsciously favoured in the class-room.
The formation of Scout troops for the younger boys, and
of the School Officers' Training Corps for boys over 16 who
do not become Scout leaders, with their joint appeal to
moral and physical efficiency to be used for corporate and
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 456
not selfish purposes, also offer valuable opportunities for
acknowledging good, and showing disapproval of bad, conduct
by means of the conferring or withholding of privileges or
honour. The danger inherent in the Cadet Corps of intro-
ducing the manners and the language of the barrack-room,
the worship of social caste and the uncritical deference to
authority, the physical injury of subjecting immature boys to
a training based on the powers of a man, which caused the
failure of the system in the French schools between 1875 and
1890, is discounted by making form masters, who are the
companions of the boys, into the officers. There are two
drawbacks to the present arrangement for incorporating
this work in school life, and both are removable. The first
is that the old army traditions of separation between officers
and men is utterly inapplicable to school life, where the
relationship needs to be that of elder to younger brother ;
and, secondly, the limited training in the principles of
physical growth and development possessed by those who
have not made it a matter of special and prolonged study.
Unless the physical training is in close relationship with
school games and gymnasium instruction, the danger of
actually injuring the development of boys by a mechanical
form of training is very great.
Perhaps the greatest privilege which assistant masters
enjoy is one which they share with the medical profession,
and which brings them nearest to the parents of the boys. It
is a privilege frequently withheld from members of the legal
and clerical profession. They are brought into such close
relationship with the boys that their own misunderstandings
and failures are often brought before their notice by the
boys without any carping or false interpretation. Failures
are candidly discussed and forgotten as well as forgiven
by the generous feelings of youth. The false dignity, which
prides itself on never acknowledging its error, is very trans-
parent to the searching eyes of boyhood, and the master
who wraps himself up in it loses rather than gains in their
esteem. In the presence of candour, the idols, which
poor humanity erects for its own deception and enslave-
ment, soon lose their glamour and fall harmless to the
ground.
Owing to the pressure of events rather than to any par-
ticular intention on the part of its leaders, a good secondary
456 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
school, in addition to its work of fostering learning and
training the immature faculties and powers of mind and of
body to understand how to put forth and enjoy strenuous
effort, also inevitably becomes a preliminary sorting-house of
ability. If it is amply equipped and all its departments well
organised, it cannot fail to discover the directions in which
individual boys are likely to work to definite and creative
purpose. There has been at the Manchester Grammar School
for many years a department to which employers may apply
when they are desirous of obtaining boys of good training and
character for business careers. This is capable of very wide
extension, and its records should be of high value for analysis
and criticism. The School authorities will naturally place
the ultimate interest of the boy first before recommending
him to a particular employment ; and, owing to the fact
that the economic pressure which forces boys early into
wage-earning has been somewhat less urgent of late years
than was formerly the case, owing also to the fact that
numerous bursaries and scholarships are available to maintain
the abler and more strenuous boys at school, who are there-
fore less likely to leave school prematurely than was formerly
the case, employers who desire to obtain sharp boys of fifteen
have to be content to choose from the residuum which has
been left after many of the ablest have been selected for
higher training. The constant complaint of mercantile
houses that they cannot get the quality of boy they were
accustomed to get, so far from being an obloquy, is an honour.
It shows that the better boy is better provided for than
formerly. If employers want to secure first-class boys they
should subsidise their general education till they have finished
their college or technical training at the age of nineteen or
twenty. The boy will of course then be a better educated
man, though he will naturally require a higher salary.
American enlightened employers have recognised the value
of this, but so far not many English employers.
The Board of Education has for some years made efforts
to tabulate the leaving age and the ultimate career of boys
of different schools, but the data are imperfect and reliable
results are difficult to obtain. Greater attention might be paid
to the collection of facts, and such collections might be made
available for study by the managers of the school. The
Old Mancunians' Association would seem to be the best means
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW
45?
of gathering the facts concerning the immediate and also
the ultimate careers of all old boys of the Grammar School.
If an Employment Bureau, and perhaps a Benevolent Society,
were established in connection with it, this would gather
much useful knowledge for a board of studies.
The progressively increased use of the local University is
indicated in the following figures :
School Bras.
5^*0.3
tJEK ft**
h I •'
as r
i*
to all
rsities
ticular
Eras.
Un
in
i
1860-1868
1869-1877
1878-1887
1888-1901
1902-1914
9
9
10
14
13
1
50
97
121
47
199
308
360
37
64
93
126
96
19
21
44
74
49
56
85
336
608
505
6
9
336
36
38-8
The Fellowship of the Royal Society under present con-
ditions is generally regarded, not only as guaranteeing a high
standard of scientific attainment, but also as a recognition
of some considerable personal contributions to scientific
knowledge. Of recent years this honour has been conferred
on nine old Grammar School boys, and in spite of the social
advantages that connection with the older Universities
affords, four of them had received their further scientific
training at the Owens College, Manchester, four at Cambridge,
and one at Oxford.
It is sometimes asked : ' Does the City really value the
School ? ' There is no doubt that a large proportion of
middle-class parents have shown their opinion in the way
most open to them. Perhaps it would be better to ask :
' Does the City really understand the School ? ' To the
modified question we might also add : * Does the School
really understand itself, and is it able to make its aims in-
telligible ? ' Current newspaper accounts contain a summary
of the advice of the eminent men invited to address the boys
on successive Speech Days, together with the statement of
the high master and that of any of the governors who put
forth expressions of school policy. School aims have also
been summarised in the * Parents' Hand Book ' which is
given to parents or guardians of all boys in the School.
458 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Social and political changes resulting in greatly increased
organisation will undoubtedly be made in the near future.
Their object will be to increase efficiency, but there is no little
danger that decay or a lack of further development of the
public interest in the School may lead the public to believe
that greater organisation necessarily involves greater effici-
ency and implies adequate performance. There are too many
valuable Parliamentary Acts on the Statute Roll rendered
useless by lack of public spirit to enforce them, for English
people to trust to organisation. Recent experience of the
working of the Tuberculosis Act, of the National Health
Insurance Act and others should lead us to beware of the
re-entry of laissez faire habits in a new, and even more
dangerous, because more insidious, form. We too often think
things will be done because after much consideration we have
agreed on a plan for doing them, or may have employed
certain public officials to do them. Nothing but enlightened
public opinion which really appreciates because it first examines
and criticises its public service and its public servants will
secure the efficiency of such public organisations as have been
called into being. This is work which should be undertaken
by boys who have left the Grammar School.
No school can be really progressive which does not con-
sider its failures with as much assiduity as it considers its
successes.
Previous to entering the school, the boys have received
widely different training ; many are backward owing to its
imperfections, others because of frequent absences from
school owing to ill-health. But still more commonly back-
wardness is due to the fact that there is a wide variation
in the dates at which the several powers mature.
All vital activities, whether bodily or mental, have
as a physical basis the setting free of a stream of energy.
Their growth does not increase by steady and gradual
stages coincident with the calendar age of the child or the
adolescent, but by fitful and somewhat erratic leaps whose
height as well as whose time of appearance vary greatly,
With the full onset of adolescence a great and sudden increase
of energy output usually takes place, which may be restricted
to one or few of the functional systems of the body or may be
uniformly diffused, though this is rare. The rate of develop-
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 459
ment of one system or function by no means affords a guide
to that of another, and violent forcing the pace of any system
will be accompanied by injury, the appearance of which may
be delayed but will not be prevented, for, in the absence
of unusual vigour, precocious growth involves premature
decay.
Social circumstances decree that the organisation of a
school must begin on an age basis, but in any adequate
scheme this basis becomes modified according to attain-
ment. In a second sorting, many boys of twelve and
thirteen are found to be as mature in their powers of
energising and making sustained effort as other boys of
fifteen or sixteen, while many boys of twelve to thirteen
retain the limitations of energy usually characteristic of boys
of ten or eleven. This variation of vigour is independent of
the growth of the bodily framework, and for its measurement
the term ' stamina ' is more applicable than physique, in
which height and weight and muscular power are included.
The output of energy at adolescence may show itself in the
growth of the higher nervous system and thinking powers,
in the muscular system, or in both at once. If the higher
nerve centres of purpose and control are not ahead of the lower
centres of emotional activity, the boy is noisy, boisterous and
ill-controlled, and we must allow time for growth and maturity.
Delayed development also occurs in the emotional nature,
owing to physiological variation and independent of early
ill-health, as expressed in the delay in the appearance of the
instincts of self-preservation, mastery, combativeness, &c.,
in the retentiveness of memory and in the growth of the
creative capacity, in all or one of which a child may retain
the qualities of a period two or four years younger than that
which he has attained, or he may be correspondingly pre-
cocious. If backward, he is characterised by undue excita-
bility to outside impressions, and to a lack of control, which
may lead him into trivial faults of behaviour or acts of rude-
ness which would be venial in those of more mature age, but
in him are marks of childishness rather than serious faults.
Unfortunately, in the past there has been a lack of adequate
school tradition to guide masters in the understanding of
the backward and delicate boy, and no adequate provision
has been made for him. This is due to the fact that there
has been no organisation of the knowledge of the conditions
460 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
under which retardedness occurs. Considerable extension
of co-operation and consultation between teachers and
medical officers will be necessary before satisfactory traditions
can be created.
Lastly we come to the matter of failure from overwork,
to deny the existence of which, in the face of such obvious
facts as loss of weight, repeated absence from school with
colds, &c., deficient number of hours of sleep, unsatisfac-
tory school work and occasional notes in the magazine
of the premature death from preventable illness of brilliant
alumni soon after leaving the school, is to follow the con-
duct of the ostrich. Unfortunately, there are many cases
in which the signs of overwork are not obvious but must
be carefully watched for. Yet * safety ' can never be a
rallying cry to inspire effort. It can only be the call of
the umpire who expresses the matured and combined judg-
ment of masters, parents, medical officers, and Old Boys'
Associations which keep a record of after-careers, and record
and study school failures as well as school successes.
For, indeed, much of the price of overwork is paid in
deferred bills.
In search of a national system of education and an
adequate training for youth the Englishman has travelled
far and many have told him that he has travelled to little
purpose. He has not attained to a finality in any field of
knowledge or of art, and he has not succeeded in impos-
ing arbitrary authority upon a conquered empire. He has
travelled rather carelessly without clear aims in view. Yet
he has demanded that the overbearing will must be curbed
and he has refused to believe that reason alone can solve
the riddle of life. He has claimed that such human emotions
as sympathy and benevolence must be called into council,
as well as reason and established authority. In fact, he has
shown his practical belief that justice and truth, love and
holiness, are realities, and that it is man's work to seek to
establish them throughout the world, rather than attempt
to solve the unknowable or to master the unconquerable.
Cruelty and indifference are no part of his awakened
creed. He has bent his whole nature to the task of
tempering learning with humanity, discipline with freedom,
economic hardship with benevolence, social inequality with
justice.
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 461
Wordsworth believed that ' our birth is but a sleep and
a forgetting,' that
' Heaven lies about us in our infancy !
Shades of the prison house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows
He sees it in his joy.
The Youth who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended ;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.'
The light of common day which guides man in the physical
universe, and rouses him to put forth effort in pursuit of his
needs, seemed too ordinary and simple a matter to engage
his serious attention, until he saw that the rays of the sun,
passing through rain as it fell from the alembic of the clouds ,
became broken up into the glorious majesty of the rainbow.
Then he began to wonder, to think, and to observe. Aristotle
watched the sunlight through the spray thrown by the oars-
men in the water and he knew that daylight was complex.
Others extended their inquiries, by means of glass prisms and
various glowing and florescent bodies, until they succeeded
in discriminating the different elements, and they then found
that daylight was more wonderful than they had supposed.
Still other searchers found that, by special screens, some rays
of light could be arrested while other rays of light were able
to pass through. The difference between the red or heat-
producing, and purple or chemically active rays, was thus
discovered. By further study, the ultra-purple florescent
rays were isolated and rendered evident, and the living flesh
was rendered transparent, so that man could study the very
structure and movement of the living bones, the expansion
of his lungs, and the movements of his heart. Further
studies were made of the effect of heat and light rays in sick-
ness and in health. Man thus came to reconsider the effect
that ordinary daylight exercised on his energies and activities,
and realised that, without the heat-producing red, the restful
and moderating green, and the illuminating and yet disin-
tegrating purple, daylight would be robbed of much of its
462 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
virtue, and the guidance it afforded him in his daily life would
be limited.
If this is all true of the light of common day ; if, so far
from the morning light alone giving guidance and direction,
he needs the light of the whole day for his perfect growth
and activity, what does it suggest as to the guidance man
may hope for in his earthly pilgrimage ? Are sentiment
and emotion to be excluded, and reason to be his sole guide,
or will to be his sole director ?
In the sixteenth century, the Englishman began with the
pursuit of Righteousness and Truth which he studied in the
classical and Hebrew writers. In the seventeenth, he learnt
the value of Liberty and Justice at the Inns of Court, and
embodied these in the constitution of the State at the time of
the Puritan Revival. In the eighteenth century, he sought
and found Hope and Mercy in the humanitarian movement
of the Broad Church, and in the religious revivals of the
Evangelicals. During the nineteenth century, all the ideals
which had survived the fires in the crucible of the French
Revolution needed reconsidering. The Englishman had to
learn the need of securing the political and social emanci-
pation of all classes of the community. He witnessed and
utilised the High Anglican movement for spiritual fervour
combined with intellectual honesty. He strove, with only
partial success, to achieve industrial efficiency by introducing
into schools, at the bidding of trade interests, the study
of science and, to a limited extent', handicrafts. In the
twentieth century, he finds himself a wanderer, doubtful
of his destination, somewhat anxious about his equipment,
yet conscious of his ability to continue his journey to a still
distant goal. He believes his route is already marked out
for him, and every action he takes shows that he believes in
an absolute Justice that he cannot yet define, an absolute
Truth that he cannot yet discover, an absolute Beauty he can-
not yet interpret, and an absolute Righteousness he cannot
yet attain . His hope , thou gh deferred , does not grow dim . His
faith is undismayed. Before he was a wanderer abroad, he
set himself to discover and establish these ideals in his own
home. Hitherto he has believed he was only concerned with
their establishment there. Shall he again put on the shackles
of prejudice and exclusion and pride, or shall he render loyal,
whole-hearted service in the new cause of a wider humanity ?
TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW 463
The new spirit of Empire places on its citizens the duty of
helping to establish the pursuit of these ideals in the Council-
chambers, the Judgment-halls, and the Market-places of the
world. For this Erasmus aroused him ; Shakespeare and
Milton summoned him ; Newton and Locke instructed him ;
Pitt, Fox, and Burke exhorted him ; saintly men of all ages
and every branch of the Christian Church prayed for him ;
Philosophers spent their lives in unravelling life's mysteries
for him ; warriors innumerable fought and died for him.
Because the children of the nation in elementary schools
as well as in secondary schools, in Technical as well as in
University Colleges, have believed that to render service is
greater than to demand it, the nation has again become
welded into a united Empire, with common aims and
common aspirations.
* To travel hopefully is better than to arrive,
And the true success is labour.*
APPENDICES
1. University life in Early Tudor Times.
2. National physical training in Henry VlII's reign.
3. Puritan efforts to establish a scholarship system, and assist selected
boys of restricted means by supporting them at the English
Universities.
4. Trade relations and contemporary descriptions of Tudor Manchester.
5. Abstract of Foundation Deeds of the Grammar School.
6. The cost of building the School in 1515.
7. Friends to whom Hugh Oldham entrusted the oversight of the School.
8. Early schoolmasters and scholars.
9. The feoffees and their influence in the School.
10. List of the relators in the Court of Chancery, 1837-1848.
11. The trustees and governors after 1849.
12. Notes of an early Speech Day.
13. Inventory of goods at the School Mills in 1649.
14. The School Library and Museum.
15. Books purchased for the Holiday Library between 1725 and 1740.
,16. Some scholars of John Clayton.
A7. Estimates and Summaries of figures illustrating the size of the School
at various periods, and number of scholars proceeding to the
J Universities.
18. The social status and future occupations and other statistics concerning
the boys.
19. Relation of Manchester Higher Grade Schools to Grammar School.
20. Entrance Scholarships.
21. Other Scholarships and Prizes available.
1* UNIVERSITY LIFE IN EARLY TUDOR TIMES.
SIR THOMAS MORE'S comment on the diet at Oxford, and at
the several Inns in London at which scholars were supposed
to be trained for the higher branches of the legal profession,
is interesting :
' 1 have been brought up at Oxforde, at the Inns of
Chancerie, at Lincoln's Inn, and also the King's Court, and
so forth, from the lowest to the highest. ... So we will not
descend to Oxford fare, nor to the fare of New Inn, but we
will begin with Lincoln's Inn diet, where many right worship-
full of good years do live full well, which if we the first year
find ourselves not able to maintain, then will we the next year
step one foote lower to New Inn fare with which maine an
honest man is content. If that also exceed our abilities,
465 HH
466 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
then we will the next year after fall to Oxford fare where
many grave and ancient fathers be continuallie conversant,
which if our power stretch not to maintaine then may we like
poor scholars of Oxford goe a begging with our bags and
wallets, and sing salve regina at rich men's doors where for
pitie some good folks will give us their merciful charitie and
so keep company and be merrie together.
' There be divers there, whych rise dayly betwixt foure
and fyve of the clock in the mornynge, and from fyve until
syxe of the clock use common prayer, wyth an exhortation of
God's worde in a common chapell, and from syxe unto ten
of the clock use ever eyther pryvate study or common lectures.
At ten of the clocke they go to dinner, where they be contente
with a perye piece of biefe amongst four having a few potage
made of the broth of the same beefe wyth salte and otemele,
and nothynge elles. After this slender dinner they be eyther
teachinge or learninge untyll five of the clocke in the evenynge,
when as they have a supper not much better than their dinner,
immediatelye after the which they goo eyther to reasoninge
in problemes or unto some other studye untill it be nine
or tenne of the clocke, and then being without fyre, are feyne
to walke or run up and downe haulfe an hour to get a heate
on their fete when they go to bed.
* There be menne not werye of their paynes but berye sorye
to leve theyr studye, and sure they be not able some of them
to continue for lack of necessary exhibition and relief.'
2. NATIONAL PHYSICAL TRAINING IN HENRY VIII.'s REIGN.
The matter of National Physical Training then received full
attention. An Act was passed in 1542, which enjoined more
strict training in archery. 'Also the father governor and
ruler of such as be of tender age, to teach and bring up them
in that knowledge of the same shooting, and that every man
having a male child or men children in his house, shall provide,
ordayne or have in his house for every man child being of the
age of 7 years and above till he shall come to the age of 17
years, a bow and two shafts, to induce and learn them, and
bring them up in shooting, bows of Yew only to be used by
those whose fathers have estate yearly rental of £11 or be
worth in moveables the sum of 40 marks sterling.' It was the
duty of the Manchester Court Leet to provide shooting butts
for the archers.
This statute of Henry VIII. was primarily designed to
maintain the national defences of England, for in past times
APPENDIX 3 467
English bowmen had won much renown. The neglect of
active out-door sport by townsmen in favour of indoor and
less active amusements such as cock-fighting, tended to
promote effeminacy and to occasion some anxiety on the part
of the rulers who, even at this date, thus sought to correct
what a later age would have described as the physical
deterioration of the town dweller.
Cock-fighting,1 a favourite amusement with all classes
on Shrove Tuesday, the public holiday, was particularly en-
joyed by Grammar School boys, who were also accustomed to
the cruel sport of tying cocks to a post and shying sticks and
stones at them. These cocks were often kept by ushers
or subordinates, who eked out their scanty stipends by the
fees which they charged school boys for the maintenance of
the cocks, such payment being known as cock-pennies. Cock-
fighting had always been a source of social disorder by attract-
ing a rabble. It had been forbidden in 1365, and was
again forbidden by Henry VIII. Its prevalence is indicated
by the fact that boys were expressly forbidden by the
School Statutes to attend.
3. PURITAN EFFORTS TO FOUND A SCHOLARSHIP SYSTEM.
The remarkable efforts put forth by the Puritans to choose
and train preachers is shown by the following extracts from
4 A Model for the Education of Students of Choice Abilities at
the University, and principally in order to the Ministry,' by
Matthew Poole, April 1, 1658 :
Section 1. — That a Subscription be made by such whose
hearts are affected with God's Glory and the Churches good
in the advancement of learning and piety.
Section 3. — That the money collected be disposed of by
persons chosen to be trustees not exceeding the number of
fifty, whereof thirty to be gentlemen or citizens of eminence,
and twenty to be ministers in or within five miles of the city
of London ; of which number any seven to be a quorum,
whereof three to be ministers.
Section 5. — That the trustees, or any five of them (whereof
three to be ministers) appointed by the rest or any nine
of the rest met together . . . shall go about to schools in
or within twenty miles of the city of London, or thereabouts ;
and shall confer with the schoolmasters, and out of six of
the most ingenious boys being strictly examined, two of the
best be chosen. And so to go from one school to another.
1 Chambers' Book of Days ; Hone's Every -Day Boole ; Notes and
Queries, Manchester City Newt, December 24, 1886.
468 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
And because we would not have the benefit of this work
confined to London and the adjacent parts : we would have
ingenious boys of any county to be capable of it, and there-
fore if any lad of rare parts from any place be recommended
and found to be such, that care be taken to maintain and
instruct him more perfectly in some eminent school where
the trustees think fit, and so send him to the University :
and that for this present time (but no more) the students be
picked out of the most ingenious scholars of the first or second
year that now are at the University, six out of twelve ; and
that more respect be had to their parts than learning, seeing
learning may be added.
Section 6. — That the boys to be chosen be, as of eminent
parts, so of an ingenious disposition, not enemies to godli-
ness, nor such as have a sufficient maintenance any other
way. That they be the children of such parents as are not
scoffers at godliness. 2. Nor men of corrupt principles
as to the weighty points of religion. 3. Such as are poor or
but in a mean condition. Yet if a boy be towardly and pious,
his parents' corruption shall be no prejudice to him, but
godliness wherever it is shall be in a special manner con-
sidered.
Section 7. — That the boys so chosen be sent to the Uni-
versity, and be there placed under such tutors as the trustees
shall choose . . . that there they have 10 or 15 or 20 pounds a
year allowed them, as the trustees shall think fit, till they
be bachelars, and if need require, and the trustees see fit,
that they be considered for their degree (as also afterwards
for their Master of Arts degree) and after they are bachelars,
(if they have been very diligent, &c.) 20 or 30 pounds a year
as the trustees think fit. And that they shall be obliged to
study to be eminent in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew and other
Oriental languages, and in the several Arts and Sciences,
still reserving a power to the trustees to consider the differ-
ences of the parts or dispositions of lads, and accordingly
to accommodate them as they see cause. And that over
and besides their ordinary Universities exercises, they be
tied to special exercises in those things as shall be thought
fit by the trustees, and such learned men in the University as
they shall advise with, as the making of speeches, verses,
epistles, &c., in the languages, holding disputations and making
lectures in the Mathematick, Civil Law, &c.
Section 8. — That they have their allowance continued
for eight years and that they intend and direct their studies
towards the Ministry.
Ten more sections follow, and the whole document, of
APPENDIX 4 469
which seven editions were published, was signed by heads
of colleges at Oxford University and at Cambridge University.
Some £900 was collected. The whole scheme naturally fell
to the ground on the restoration of the Stuarts.
4. NOTES ON THE TRADE RELATIONSHIPS AND CONTEMPORARY
DESCRIPTIONS OF TUDOR MANCHESTER.
In an Elizabethan novel ' The Honour of the Cloth Work-
ing Trade or the pleasant and famous History of Thomas
of Reading and other Worthy Clothiers of the West and North
of England,' by Thomas Deloney of Reading, of which the
earliest known edition is dated 1612 :
' In this King's Days (i.e. Henry I, an entirely erroneous
date), there were men of good credit, the six worthy husbands
of the West.
' Then there were three great clothiers living in the North,
that is to say — Cuthbert of Kendal, Hodgekins of Halifax,
and Martin Byrom of Manchester. Everyone of these kept
a great number of servants at work, spinners, carders, weavers,
fullers, dyers, shearmen and rowers, to the great admiration
of all those that came into their house to behold them.'
To this account Hollingworth adds, ' He sayeth also that the
said Martin gave much money toward the building of a free
school in Manchester, which, if true, the money was lost in
some way or other wickedly alienated (which in time of the
civil warres might easily be done) for no free school was
built for about 400 years after. The Byrom Chapel, however,
is known to have existed in 1506.'
The demand for wool early caused sheep- rearing to be
remunerative. This in turn raised the status of the yeo-
man and farmer classes. Immigrants, both merchants and
tradesmen, gathered into the town, so that when John Leland,
the King's librarian and antiquary, made his journey in 1533,
' with power to search all cathedrals, abbeys, and colleges,
for records ' he spoke of Manchester in the following terms :
' Manchester is the fairest, best builded, quickest, and
most populous town of all Lancastershire, yet is in it but one
parochial church, but is a College and,almost throughout,doubled
ilyed [aisled] (ex quadrato lapidi durissimo), whereof a goodly
quarry is hard by the towne. There be divers stone bridges
in the town but the best [is] of 3 arches over Irwell. This
bridge divides Manchester from Salford, the which is a large
suburb to Manchester. On this bridge is a pretty little chapel.
470 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The next is the bridge that is over the Irk River, on which
the fair built College stands, as in the very point of the
mouth of it, for hard by it runs into the Irwell. On the Irk
River there be divers fair mills that serve the town. There
be two fair market places.'
In 1552 an Act was passed concerning the Woollen
Trade, which shows the prominence Manchester had attained
in making these goods. ' For the true making of woollen
cloth, all the cottons called Manchester, Lancashire and
Cheshire cottons, should be in length 22 yards, &c., &c.,
. . . also all other cloths called Manchester rugs, otherwise
Manchester friezes.'
The effect on the Grammar School of the administrative
reforms of Queen Mary is shown at a Court Leet held
September 30, 1556, when it was declared that ' all the
inhabitants and householders shall have warning in the
Church to come and grind their corn and grain at the
mills belonging to the Free School of Manchester according
to their duties and as they may be thereto bounden."
The increased trade prosperity in Lancashire under
Elizabeth is shown by the appointment, in 1565, of deputies
of the Queen's Aulnegar (Seal-master) in Manchester, Roch-
dale, Bolton, Blackburn, and Bury, to examine and certify with
the Queen's seal, cotton friezes and rugs. Much of the cloth
was exported abroad. ' Rouen is the chief est vent for Welsh
and Manchester cottons (i.e. linen and woollen textiles),
Northern Kerseys, White Lead, and Tin.' (Robert Hitchcock,
' Political Plan,' 1580.)
5. ABSTRACT or THE ORIGINAL FOUNDATION DEED OF THE
MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
Extracted from the Report of the Commissioners for enquiring concerning
Charities, dated 24th June, 1826.
By Indenture, bearing date 20th August, 7th Henry VIII.
(1515), between Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, the Rev.
Thomas Langley, rector of Prestwich, Hugh Bexwyke, chap-
lain, and Ralph Hulme, gentleman, of the first part ; the
abbot and convent of Whalley of the second part; and
the Warden and Fellows of the college of Manchester, of the
third part ; reciting, that the said parties had often taken
into consideration that the youth, particularly in the county
of Lancaster, had for a long time been in want of instruction,
as well on account of the poverty of their parents, as for
APPENDIX 5 471
want of some person who should instruct them in learning
and virtue, and therefore to the intent that there should be
some fit person to teach youths and boys freely, without any
thing to be given to, or to be taken by him, had covenanted
and agreed as thereinafter mentioned ; and further reciting,
that the said Hugh Bexwyke and Ralph Hulme, together
with Joan Bexwyke, widow, had by indenture bearing date
20th June then last, demised to the said warden and fellows
all their lands, tenements, rents and services of the water
corn-mills, called Manchester Corn-Mills, and all their tolls
of, &c., to the tenants of Lord La Warr, for 70 years, at the
yearly rent of 13 marks, payable to the said Lord La Warr ;
and further reciting, that the said Hugh Bexwyke, Ralph
Hulme, and Joan Bexwyke, had by deed, bearing the same
date as that indenture, released to the said warden and
fellows all their right in the said premises, to the use and
intent thereinafter expressed ; and further reciting, that the
said Ralph Hulme and Richard Hunt had by indenture
bearing date 2nd July then last, demised to the said warden
and fellows the messuages, lands, and tenements, &c.,
in Ancoats, which they had held jointly with Roger
Sondeforth, D.D., deceased, John Veysey, archdeacon of
Chester, and Thomas Marler of the gift and feoffment of
Barnard Oldham, archdeacon of Cornwall, to hold to the
said warden and fellows for the like term of 70 years, paying
the accustomed rents and services to the chief lord ; and
further reciting, that the said Ralph Hulme and Richard
Hunt had by deed bearing date 6th July then last, released
all their right and interest in the said premises to the said
warden and fellows and their successors, to the use and
intent thereinafter expressed, all which premises above
mentioned were stated to be of the yearly value of £40,
and were given to the said warden and fellows to the intent
that they, with the rents and profits thereof, should perform
the agreements thereinafter expressed. It was witnessed,
that for the performance and execution of so great a work;
the said parties covenanted and agreed that the said Hugh
Oldham, bishop of Exeter, the said warden and fellows, and
the said Thomas Langley, Hugh Bexwyke and Ralph Hulme,
during the lives of the said bishop, and of the said Thomas,
Hugh and Ralph, should provide and nominate a fit person,
secular or regular, learned and fit to be master, to teach and
instruct scholars in grammar, in the town of Manchester,
according to the form of grammar then taught in the school
in the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, and an usher (hosti-
arium) or substitute to such master, to teach such grammar
472 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in his absence, or for his assistance ; and after the death of
the persons above named, that the said wardens and fellows
for the time being should for ever provide such master, &c. ;
and the said warden and fellows agree to pay annually,
without any deduction, £10 to the said master, and £5 to the
said usher ; and William Pleasington was thereby appointed
as the person who should first, freely and without any thing
to be therefore given to him, except his stipend, instruct in
grammar all boys and children in the said town of Manchester,
coming to him in the place appointed for the purpose ; and
Richard Wolstoncroft was appointed to be the usher to teach
such boys as aforesaid coming to him, without any thing to
be taken by him, except his salary appointed as aforesaid ;
and it was agreed, that in case the said warden and fellows
for the time being should be remiss or negligent, or should •
not be able to agree in the election of a master or usher
within two months after a vacancy, the abbot of Whalley
and his successors for the time being should elect for that
turn ; and that the said master and usher should not be
removed except for reasonable cause, as for incontinence, or
neglect of their scholars, or such like, which should be brought
to the notice of the said warden and fellows ; and that the
master and usher should perform certain services in the
church therein mentioned, and that the said warden and
fellows should provide for such services, and make certain
payments for the same ; and that upon every nomination of
a master and usher so to be appointed as aforesaid, the said
warden and fellows should cause the said master and usher
respectively to take an oath, impartially and indifferently
to teach and correct the boys and scholars, and to use due
diligence therein, and that they would not take any the
smallest gifts, by colour of their office, or for their teaching,
except their stipends.
By Lease, bearing date llth October, 7th Henry VIII., the
said warden and fellows demised the Manchester Corn -Mills,
and the premises at Ancoats, to the said Hugh Bexwyke and
Joan Bexwyke for 60 years, at the yearly rent of £15 185.
over and above the rent of £9 13s. 4d. payable to the said
Lord La Warr.
Notwithstanding it appears from the above-abstracted
indenture and the deeds therein recited, that the mills and
other premises therein mentioned were vested in the warden
and fellows of the college of Manchester, as trustees, for the
support of a grammar school, yet within a few years after-
wards they became, with some additional premises, the sub-
ject of the following conveyance from the before-mentioned
APPENDIX 5 473
Hugh Bexwyke and Joan Bexwyke to other trustees, which
conveyance, with the ordinances contained in the schedule
annexed thereto, may be considered the foundation-deed of
the school, as it at present (1826) exists, and in which no notice
is taken of the former grants.
ABSTRACT OF THE FURTHER AND PRINCIPAL FOUNDA-
TION DEED OF THE MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR
SCHOOL, CONTAINING THE STATUTES.
Extracted from the Report of the Commissioners for enquiring concerning
Charities already referred to.
By indenture of feoffment, bearing date 1st April, 16th
Henry VIII. (1525), reciting, that Thomas West Lord La Warr
had by deed indented, bearing date 3rd October, 1st Henry
VIII. , granted and confirmed to the said Hugh Bexwyke
and Joan Bexwyke, with the said Ralph Hume, since deceased,
all the lands, tenements, rents, reversions, and services of his
water-corn-mills, called Manchester Mills, situate in the town
of Manchester, on the stream of Irk, and also the tolls of all
the tenants and servants of the said Lord La Warr in Man-
chester, and of all other residents there ; and also his fulling-
mill there, called a Walke Mill, on the same stream of Irk,
and a close of land in Manchester, called Walker's Croft, and
the water or stream of Irk, and the free fishery thereof from a
place called Asshelle Lawn unto the river Irwell, and all his
lands and tenements adjacent and adjoining without the
several closes and burgages on both sides of the said stream of
Irk, from Asshelle Lawn to the river Irwell ; and also full
power and authority to make and fix mills or messuages, and
so many and such weirs, engines, and fastenings on both
sides of the said stream of Irk, and upon, through and across
the same stream, from Asshelle Lawn to the river Irwell,
as to them should seem fit, and to repairing the same weirs,
&c. ; to hold to the said Hugh and Joan, and the said Ralph
Hulme, and their heirs to their own use : The said Hugh and
Joan granted and confirmed to Lewis Pollard, knight, Anthony
Fitzherbert, justice and knight, William Courtenay, knight,
Thomas Denys, knight, Alexander Ratcliffe, knight, John
Beron, knight, Edmund Trafford, Richard Assheton, Thurstan
Tildesley, Robert Langley, Richard Holland, and John
Reddiche, esquires, and their heirs, all the said mills, lands,
tolls, and premises ; and the said Hugh and Joan further
granted and confirmed to the said Lewis Pollard and others,
474 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
and their heirs, all their messuages, lands, rents, &c., in the
hamlet of Ancoats, in the town of Manchester ; and one
burgage, lying in the Mill Gate in the town of Manchester,
between a burgage lately of one John Platt on the one side,
and the Hunt Lode on the other side, which burgage the
said Hugh and Joan lately had to them and their heirs from
the gift and feoffment of John Bishop of Exeter, and Thomas
Marfer, as appeared from a deed indented, bearing date
19th May, 16th Henry VIII. And the said Hugh and Joan
thereby granted to the said Lewis Pollard, and others, and
their heirs, the house called Manchester School House, and
the land on which the same was built, in the northern part
of the town of Manchester, between a stone chimney of
George Trafford on the east, the eastern part of the college
of Manchester on the west, the road leading from the said
college to a street called Mill Gate on the south, and the
water called Irk on the north ; which messuage and land
they had to them and their heirs of the gift and feoffment of
Thomas Langley and Hugh Marler, as appeared by a deed
dated 3 1st March, 16th Henry VIII. ; to hold the said mills,
messuages, lands, and premises to the said Lewis Pollard
and others, and their heirs, to the use of the said Hugh and
Joan for their lives, and the life of the survivor, so that they
and the survivor of them should fulfil all the ordinances
and constitutions contained and expressed in a certain
schedule annexed to that deed ; and after their decease,
to the use and intent that the said Lewis Pollard and others
should fulfil the said ordinances and constitutions.
In the annexed schedule, after reciting that the right
reverend Hugh Oldham, late Bishop of Exeter, deceased,
considering that the bringing up of children in good learning
and manners was the chief cause to advance knowledge, and
that the liberal science or art of grammar was the ground and
fountain of all the other liberal arts and sciences, and for the
good mind which he had and bore to the county of Lanca-
shire, where the learning of grammar had not been taught for
lack of sufficient schoolmaster and usher, had at his great costs
and charges within the town of Manchester builded an house,
joining to the college of Manchester in the west, the water
called Irk in the north, the way going from the said college
into a street called Mill Gate in the south, and a stone chimney
of George Trafford in the east, for a free school, there to be
kept for evermore, and to be called 'Manchester School,'
and that for the same intent the said bishop at his further
charge had purchased a lease of many years then to come of
the Corn Mills of Manchester, with the appurtenances, and
APPENDIX 5 475
had also caused other lands and tenements in Manchester,
called Ancoats, and a burgage in Mill Gate, to be disposed
and converted to the use of the continuance of teaching and
learning in the same school for ever as thereinafter was
declared ; and also that for the continuance and maintenance
of the same school, the said Hugh and Joan Bexwyke, at
their cost and charge had purchased to them and their heirs,
and to the said Ralph Hulme deceased, all the mills, lands,
tenements, rents, reversions, services and hereditaments
contained and specified in the said indenture : It is stated
that the said Hugh and Joan had by the said indenture given
and granted all and singular the same premises to the said
Lewis Pollard, knight, and others, and their heirs, to the
intent, that they, their heirs and assigns for ever should stand
thereof seised to the use therein specified, and should perform
and observe all the acts, ordinances, and constitutions there-
after ensuing by the said Hugh and Joan made and specified
in the said schedule for the maintenance of the same grammar
school ; that is to say,
1 First, The said Lewis and other his co-feoffees beforesaid,
their heirs and assigns, of the issues, revenues, and profits
coming, rising, and growing of the said mills, lands, tenements,
and other the premises contained and specified in the said
deeds indented, the said school-house called " Manchester
School," sufficiently shall repair, sustain, maintain, or cause to
be repaired, sustained, and maintained, for evermore, in cover-
ing, walling, and such other as by the discretion of the warden
of the said college of Manchester or his deputy, and the church-
wardens of the said college church for the time being, shall be
thought necessary.
4 Item, Within the same school, nor library of the same, by
night or by day, any other arts, things, plays, or other occupa-
tions be had or used in them or any of them, but always kept
honest and cleanly, as it beseemeth a school or a library, and
that after the cleanest manner, without any lodging there of
any schoolmaster or of any usher or either of them, or of any
other person or persons.
' Item, That the said school be weekly, once in the week,
made clean, by two poor scholars of the same house thereunto
assigned by the high master for the time being, or in his ab-
sence by the usher ; the same poor scholars therefore to have
of every scholar, at his first admitting, one penny sterling, and
therefore to write in a several book all the names of scholars
that do come into the same school as scholars, and that book
and books thereof always to be kept, and every third year to
be delivered to the warden of the said college of Manchester,
476 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
or his deputy, to the intent that therein may and shall always
appear, which have been brought up in the same school, and
so they to have exhibitions to Oxford or Cambridge as here-
after is expressed.
' Item, If there be sickness infective, as pestilence univer-
sal, the school to be left for the time being, by the discretion
of the warden of Manchester college for the time being, or
his deputy, and if such sickness continue by the space of
twelve weeks whole, so that the master and usher there teach
not usually by the same space, then the master and usher
every of them to have but half the said wages for that time ;
and if it continue the half year, they to have in like manner ;
and if it continue by the space of 12 months, so then they to
have £6. 13s. 4d. and no more, that to be divided between
them according to their portions of wages ; and the rest of
their said wages then to go to the store chests set and ordained
to keep the money and receipts of the said lands and
tenements.'
' Acts concerning the naming of the Schoolmaster, and Usher,
and their Ordinances.
' Item, The said Hugh Bexwyke and Joan Bexwyke,
during their life and the longer liver of them, shall name,
choose and elect a convenient person and schoolmaster, single
man, priest or not priest, so that he be no religious man, being
a man honest of his living and whole of body, as not being
vexed or infect with any continual infirmity or disease, and
having sufficient literature and learning to be a schoolmaster,
and able to teach children grammar after the school use,
manner and form of the school of Banbury, in Oxfordshire,
now there taught, which is called " Stanbridge Grammar,"
or after such school-use manner as in time to come shall be
ordained universally throughout all the province of Canter-
bury.
' Item, The said Hugh and Joan, during their life as
beforesaid, shall name, choose and elect a convenient usher
in like manner as they do elect and name the abovesaid high-
master.
* Item, After the death of the same Hugh and Joan, and
either of them, the president of Corpus Christi College of
Oxford for the time being, and his successors, shall within
one month after the death or departure of every schoolmaster
and usher, and either of them, name, elect and choose a school-
master and usher, and either of them as before is expressed,
APPENDIX 5 477
being a man honest and literate, not regular, as he shall think
convenient ; and if the said president do not name, elect and
choose the master and usher within the said month as is after
expressed, then the said warden or deputy of the college
of Manchester for the time being shall, within one other month
then next ensuing, name, elect and choose such master and
usher, and either of them, as before is expressed in the first
chapter of the master, being a man honest and literate, as
they shall think convenient.
' Item, that every schoolmaster and usher, for ever, from
time to time shall teach freely and indifferently every child
and scholar coming to the same school, without any money or
other rewards taken therefor, as cock-penny, victor-penny,
potation penny, or any other whatsoever it be, except only his
said stipend and wages hereafter specified.
* Item, That the high-master and his usher for the time
being, if they be within holy orders, at every festival day and
double feast, being kept holy day, in the year, yearly be at
Divine Service in their surplice in the choir of the college of
Manchester aforesaid, and be there at the commandment of
the warden of the said college, or his deputy for the time
being.
' Item, The high-master and the usher, for the time being,
every Wednesday and Friday weekly for ever, with their
scholars being and going two and two together, shall go in pro-
cession solemnly before the warden of the same college, or his
deputy for the time being, and fellows of the same, and their
successors for ever, if they have any procession for the day ;
and every scholar to say, if he be able of learning, the common
Litany, with the suffrages following, and " De profundis "
for the soul of Hugh Oldham, late bishop of Exeter, and founder
of their school, his father and mother's souls, and for the
souls of Sir Richard Ardern, Henry Trafford, and Thomasin
his wife, deceased, and for the souls of George Trafford, of
" The Garrett," and Margaret, his wife, then next and im-
mediately ensuing, when and what time it shall please God
Almighty of his mercy and grace to call for the said George
and Margaret, or either of them ; and for the souls of Hugh
Bexwyke, clerk, and Joan Bexwyke, widow, special benefactors
of the said school, when and what time it shall please God
Almighty of his mercy and grace to call for the said Hugh
and Joan, or either of them, and for the souls of all the feoffees
and benefactors to the maintenance of the same school at that
day departed, and all Christian souls, and for the good pro-
sperity of the feoffees and benefactors then being in life.
* Item, That no high-master or usher be expelled or
478 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
removed against his will from the said school and office of high-
master or usher, except it be for his or their mis-living, or in-
sufficient attending or teaching the scholars there, or having
any sickness or disease incurable, as pox, leprosy, or such other
great offences or sicknesses, which be and shall be reserved to
the discretion and order of the warden of the college church
of Manchester aforesaid for the time being, or his deputy.
' Item, Every schoolmaster and usher, in form aforesaid
elect and chosen, within one month of his said election or put-
ting in to the said office, shall, before the warden of the said
college of Manchester, or in his absence before his deputy of
the same college, swear upon the Evangelists that he shall
diligently and indifferently teach and correct all and every the
said scholars of the same school for the time being, all fraud,
guile and deceit in that behalf only laid apart.
' Item, The master or usher, which of them cometh first
into the school in the morning, say openly with the scholars
there, this psalm, " Deus misereatur nostri," with a collect as
they use in churches Dominical days, and every night in such
like manner, the master or usher to sing the anthem of our
Blessed Lady, and say " De profundis," for the soul of the late
bishop of Exeter, Hugh Oldham, founder of that school, his
father and mother, and for the souls of Sir Richard Arderon,
Henry Trafford, Thomasin his wife, deceased ; and for the
souls of George Trafford, of " The Garrett," and Margaret his
wife, then next and immediately ensuing, when and at what
time it shall please Almighty God of his mercy and grace to
call for the said George and Margaret, or either of them, and
for all the souls of the feoffees and benefactors of the same
departed, and all Christian souls, and to say in audible voice
in the school before the beginning of " De profundis," in this
manner, For the soul of Hugh Oldham, late bishop of Exeter,
founder of our school, and his father and mother's souls, and
for the souls of George Trafford and Margaret his wife, and
for all the souls that they be bounded to pray for, and for all
the benefactors' souls, and all Christian souls, " De profundis."
' Item, That no high-master nor usher leave or depart from
the said school, except he thereof give openly knowledge to
the warden or his deputy, and openly in the school before the
scholars, by the space of 14 weeks before his or their depar-
ture, or else to leave and lose his or their quarter's wages that
so departeth.
' Item, The said high-master, nor his usher, shall grant no
license to the scholars there to play or depart from their school
and learning, except it be by the consent of the warden or
deputy of the said college of Manchester for the time being,
APPENDIX 5 479
and then to play honest games and convenient for youth, and
all together and in one place, to use their Latin tongue.
' Item, The said high-master and usher to continue teach-
ing in their schools before every feast, unto four days next
before every feast, as Easter and Christmas.
' Item, Every high-master and usher shall take yearly only
20 days to sport them at one time or sundry times, as they be
not both absent at one time.
' Item, That if the high-master be sick of sickness incurable,
or fall into such age that he may not conveniently teach, and
hath been a man that long and laudably hath taught in the
said school, then he to have of the surplusage and store
belonging to the same school, yearly, £4 sterling.
' Item, In like manner the usher to have yearly four marks.
' Item, If the high-master be sick of sickness curable, the
usher to help him, and to take the more pain upon him, and
also to have for his said pain, by the discretion of the said
warden or deputy of the said college of Manchester, of the
wages of the said high-master ; and in likewise if the said
usher be sick, then the high-master to take more pain in
teaching the scholars, and to have part of the wages of the
said usher, by the discretion of the warden of the said college,
or his deputy.
' Item, The high-master for the time being shall always
appoint one of his scholars, as he thinketh best, to instruct
and teach in the one end of the school all infants that shall
come there to learn their ABC, primer, and so forth till they
begin grammar, and every month to choose another new
scholar, so to teach infants ; and if any scholar refuse so to
teach infants at the commandment of the said high-master,
or in the absence of the high-master at the commandment of
the usher for the time being, the same scholar so refusing
to be banished the same school for ever.
* Item, The usher being well literatured and honest of his
living, shall have the high-master's room and office, whenever
it is void, before any other, if he be able in learning.
4 Item, If it happen the high-master and usher to be both
sick at once, and of sickness curable, as agues and such other,
then they to hire one sufficient after the use aforesaid, to teach
for them, and they to pay his wages, that is to say portionably,
after their wages, the high-master more than the usher or
sur-master, after the discretion of the warden or his deputy.'
' Acts and Ordinances concerning the Scholars.
' Item, There shall be no scholar nor infant, of what
country or shire soever he be, being man-child, be refused
480 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
except he have some horrible or contagious infirmity infec-
tive, as pox, leprosy, pestilence for the time being, or such
other infirmities which be, and shall be always remitted to
the discretion of the warden or deputy of Manchester college
for $he time being.
' Item, Every scholar within the same school shall be
obedient to help the schoolmaster and usher for the time
being, for the correction lawfully of any scholar or scholars
of the same school, at the commandment of the schoolmaster
or usher for the time being.
' Item, No scholar then being at school, wear any
dagger, hanger or other weapon invasive, nor bring into
the school staff or bat, except their meat knife.
' Item, That no scholar there make any affray within the
same school upon the master, the usher, or upon any other
scholar of the same school, upon pain of leaving off his said
school by one month ; and if any scholar there make two
frays as above is said, then to leave the same school by the
space of two months ; and if any make the third, he to be
banished the same school for ever without any favour.
* Item, The scholars of the same school shall use no cock-
fight nor other unlawful games, and riding about for victory
and other disports had in these parts, which.be to the great
let of learning and virtue, and to charge and costs of the
scholars and of their friends.
' Item, That every scholar of the same school be at the
said school in the morning betwixt Michaelmas and Easter
before seven of the clock, and between Easter and Michaelmas
at six of the clock, except such as come daily far to their
learning, which shall come to the school at such an hour as
shall be limited to them by the master, according to the
distance of the place that they come from.
4 Item, That the master or usher be in the school at the
hour limited to the scholars.
' Item, Every scholar pay at his first admitting and writing
in of his name in the book of scholars one penny sterling,
and not above, that always to be paid to the two poor children
for the time being which keep the book of scholars' names,
and make clean the school, as is before rehearsed.
' Item, That no scholar shall bring meat or drink into the
school, nor there to use then* meat and drink ; but always,
if any such poor scholars there be, that for their great poverty
bring their meat and drink with them, they to go to some
house in the town there to eat and drink, and so to resort
again to the school.
' Item, That if any scholar of the same school go from
APPENDIX 5 481
and forsake the same, and repair to any other school, and
after return again to the same school, he to be taken again
for one time ; but at the second departure he to be excluded
and banished the same school for ever without any favour.
* Item, That the schoolmaster and usher shall cause all
scholars, being learned in grammar, at all times to use to
speak their Latin tongue within the school, and all other
places convenient.'
1 Acts for the Wages of the Schoolmaster and Usher.
' Item, The said Hugh and Joan, and either of them
longest living, with the issues and profits of the above-named
mills, lands, tenements, reversions and services, called
" Manchester Mills," shall by them, or their sufficient deputy,
pay or cause to be paid yearly, without fraud, guile, delay
or deceit, at the feasts of Easter, the Nativity of St. John
Baptist, St. Michael the Archangel, and the Nativity of our
Lord, by equal portions, £10 sterling, that is to say, at every
of the feasts aforesaid 50s. to the high-master there for the
time being teaching.
' Item, That the said Hugh and Joan, in like manner,
shall pay or cause to be paid of the issues and profits afore-
said yearly £5 sterling to the usher sur-master there for the
time being teaching, that is to say, at every of the feasts
aforesaid 255. sterling.
' Item, After the death of the same Hugh and Joan, the
within-named Lewis Pollard, knight, Anthony Fitzherbert,
Justice William Courtenay, knight, Thomas Denys, knight,
Alexander Radcliffe, knight, John Beron, knight, Edmund
Trafford, Richard Ashton, Thurston Tildesley, Robert
Langley, Richard Holland and John Reddiche, and their
heirs, by them, or by their sufficient deputy, shall, with the
issues and profits aforesaid, pay or cause to be paid the
wages yearly of the high-master and usher in manner and
form as is aforesaid, for ever.
' Item, That if any man, being high-master or usher sur-
master for any time being, happen to die before the quarter
payment as is aforesaid, then the same master or usher
sur-master, his executors or assigns, that so shall happen to
die, shall be paid after the rate and time of his death as the
same quarter wages will amount.
' Item, In like manner the high-master or sur-master that
happen to come and teach in the same school before the
quarter, he to have after the rate of his quarter wages for the
coming and teaching before the quarter.
' Item, The wages of the receiver of the lands concerning
ii
482 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
the same school shall be 20<s. yearly, to be paid at Michaelmas,
when he maketh his accompts, and not otherwise.'
' Acts for the Feoffees.
' Item, When it shall happen the said feoffees to die to
the number of four, then the same four to make like feoffment
and articles, in manner as this is, to twelve honest gentlemen
and honest persons within the same parish of Manchester,
and so they in like manner to make from time to time for
ever, when it cometh to the number of four, to the use
aforesaid.
' Item, The feoffees for the time being shall make no
manner of lease or estate of the said mills, lands, or tene-
ments belonging to the same school, or any parcel thereof,
above ten years.
' Item, The abbot of Whalley for the time being shall
name from time to time one substantial person dwelling
within the parish of Manchester, putting in surety to be
bounden to two of the said feoffees, to make true accompts
and pay quarterly the master and usher as is aforesaid, and
also paying to the lords their rents due and accustomed,
which shall receive the rents and profits of all the whole
lands concerning the same school ; which receiver shall make
his accompts for the said receipt, and for all necessary
reparations and payments done there, once in the year at
Manchester, before the warden of the college, or his deputy,
two of the feoffees, and the high schoolmaster for the time
being, if they can be at it, or two of these persons at the
least there, to make a true accompt of everything, and true
allowance ask upon hie oath, and bring and deliver yearly
the surplusage above all wages, reparations, and such other
necessary expenses ; the same surplusage to be, by the
auditors aforesaid there being present, put into a chest
therefore made, remaining in the vestry of the said college
of Manchester, whereof the feoffees for the time being shall
have one key, and the master of the college for the time
being another, the abbot of Whalley for the time being the
third, the high schoolmaster for the time being the fourth
key, so that the said chest in nowise may be opened except
all four keys come together.
' Item, The said warden or deputy, the two feoffees, and
the high schoolmaster for the time being, for their pain in
hearing and viewing the said receiver's accompts, shall have
a dinner of 5s. charge among them that be present at the
said audit yearly.
1 Item, When it shall happen the chest to be at surplusage
APPENDIX 6 483
the sum of £40 sterling, the rest to be given to the exhibition
of scholars yearly at Oxford or Cambridge, which hath been
brought up in the said school of Manchester, and also only
such as study art in the said Universities, and to such as
lack exhibition, by the discretion of the said warden or
deputy and high-master for the time being, so no one scholar
have yearly above 26s. 8d. sterling ; and that till such time
as he have some promotion by fellowship of one college or
hall, or other exhibition, to the sum of seven marks.
' Item, The feoffees of the time being shall pay of the
stock being in the said chest all charges in the law, if any
happen to be, for the defence of the lands of the said school,
or any part thereof ; and also shall pay the costs and charges
of making of new feoffments, and acts and ordinances for the
good maintenance of the same, when need shall require, as
well to substantial learned counsel in the law, temporal and
spiritual, as also for writing and engrossing of the same, with
all other necessary expenses belonging to the same.
' Item, The masters and fellows of the said college shall
have yearly for their good and safe looking to the same chest,
and because it shall stand in their vestry, the sum of 3s. 4d.
every Michaelmas yearly to them and their successors for
ever be truly contented and paid.
4 Item, Notwithstanding those statutes and ordinances
before written, yet because in time to come many things may
and shall survive and grow by sundry occasions and causes,
which at the making of these present acts, ordinances, were not
possible to come to mind ; in consideration whereof, we the
said Lewis, Anthony, William, and other our co-feoffees,
trusting greatly to the fidelity of the above-named feoffees,
and other hereafter to come, will that they hereafter from
time to time, when need shall require, calling to them discreet
learned counsel and men of good literature, they to have full
power and authority to augment, increase, expound and
reform all the said acts, ordinances, articles, compositions,
and agreements, only concerning the schoolmaster, usher,
and the scholars, for their and every of their offices con-
cerning the said free school for ever.'
6. THE BILL OF COSTS FOR BUILDING THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
The building of the Manchester School actually took
place in 1515. The following is extracted from the docu-
ments in possession of the School :
' SUMMARY of the Account of Mr. Hugh Beswyck, Master
484 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
of the work of the new Grammar School in the town of
Manchester, from the foundation and expense of the Reverend
Father and lord in Christ, Lord Hugh, Bishop of Exeter.
c Begun on 28th day of April in the 8th year of King
Henry VIII. until 28th day of August in the 10th year of
the King aforesaid.
' He is accountable for :
Received from the Bishop — £ s. d.
per Ralph Hulme & Richard Hunt . 100 0 0
per Thomas Langley, Rector of Prest-
wich 20 0 0
per Sir Alexander Ratclyff . 20 0 0
per Richard Heton . . 20 0 0
per Lawrence Stavley, Receiver of
Lancaster . . ' . . 20 0 0
per Thomas Langley aforesaid . 22 0 0
from gift of Thomas Langley aforesaid 6 13 4
Total . . £208 13 4
He begs to be allowed off —
Paid in money to Thomas Langley by
order of Bp. of Exeter . . 89 6 8
Paid in money to George Trafford for site
of School 100 shillings . . . 500
Paid in money to Masons and other work-
men from 28th April 8 Henry VIII.—
18 August following on construction
of School as per bill shewn . . 12 1 10
Examd. and sworn to by said
Accountant.
Paid in money to Masons, carpenters, tilers
and other labourers, also for lime,
stones, sand, timbers, ironwork and
other things employed
From 18th August 8 Henry VIII. to
8 August 10 Henry VIII. as per
book made up and written by said
accountant and examined and sworn
to by him 112 4 11
Total 218 13 5
APPENDIX 7 485
Surplus of expenses £10 0 1
Received rent of
Ancoats, 2 yrs. .£250
Paid — Two Oaks
bought from Sir
John Standley . 068
1 18 4
£8 1 9
Received remainder and also £10 from
Bishop for necessary work at the
School.'
7. SOME LOCAL FRIENDS OF HUGH OLDHAM.
The friends to whom Hugh Oldham entrusted the over-
sight of the new School in 1515 were :
Robert Cliffe, who was in some way connected with
Whalley Abbey, since, in 1478, he was in receipt of a pen-
sion from the Abbey funds. In 1483 Cliffe had become
connected with the Collegiate Church of St. Stephen's,
Westminster. He was admitted to Cambridge University
1488, had graduated B.C.L. in 1496, and was elected to the
wardenship of Manchester Collegiate Church in 1506. He
was evidently a close friend, and perhaps the locum tenens
of James Stanley, the preceding warden, who had left Man-
chester and become Bishop of Ely.
John Paslow, the Abbot of Whalley, was also in the
confidence of Hugh Oldham, for, in an early agreement
drawn up in 1515, he was appointed co-trustee of the property
together with Warden Cliffe and two members of Hugh
Oldham's own family.
A third friend of Hugh Oldham was Thomas Langley,
who had been appointed rector of Prestwich in 1498 and
who died in 1524. He was a member of the family to which
Cardinal Langley, Bishop of Durham, the founder of the
Middleton School, belonged. Warden Cliffe and the Abbot
Paslow were at first entrusted with the appointment of the
future headmasters and ushers, and Thomas Langley was
to be associated with them in the general supervision of the
School. Their subsequent history gives further insight into
their character as well as into the customs of the age.
486 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Dr. Robert Cliffe resigned the wardenship of the Man-
chester College in 1516, on his appointment as chancellor,
to James Stanley, now Bishop of Ely. In his new situation
he showed his zeal for reform by inflicting punishment for
grave immorality on a dissolute scholar, whom the University
of Cambridge regarded as not under his but their own juris-
diction, though they would take no notice of his fault. It
was claimed by the University authorities that he had
exceeded his authority, and as he refused to withdraw, he
was excommunicated by Cardinal Wolsey, but ultimately
received pardon on acknowledging his error. Cliffe died
in 1538.
John Paslow, who was the twenty-fifth Abbot of Whalley,
showed an equally courageous spirit, for after the alienation
and destruction of his abbey, so long regarded as a centre
of learning, he joined in the insurrection of Robert Aske
in 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was caught,
and with one of his monks was hanged at Lancaster by the
Earl of Shrewsbury, ostensibly for resuming his preaching
at the disestablished abbey, but really because he was known
as an opponent of the great confiscation of Church property
that had been going on.
If Hugh Oldham can be judged by his friends, these
details will help us to elucidate his character.
8. EARLY SCHOOLMASTERS AND SCHOLARS.
A MS. list of the early high masters was compiled by the
Rev. Henry Brooke (headmaster 1730-1749), which, though
helpful, is manifestly imperfect. It has been copied with
some annotations, which do not add to its accuracy, by
William Whatton, in the ' Foundations in Manchester.' As
two very evident mistakes occur in the Christian names,
there may also be others not so readily detected, and this
makes it imposs ble to identify all of those given. Perhaps
also the names of some ushers are included in the list of
high masters.
William Pleasington1 and Richard Wolstencroft are
mentioned in the 1515 deed as master and usher. On H.
Brooke's list the names of Henry Plaisington, William Hinde,
James Plumtree and Richard Bradshaw, Thos. Wrench and
William Jackson are given. William Plaisington was perhaps
a Lancashire man, as the village of Pleasington is near
1 ' William ' in the 1515 deed ; * Thomas ' in Whatton's list ; * Henry '
in H. Brooke's list.
APPENDIX 8 487
Whalley. His name does not appear on any University
lists. He may have been in charge of the Chantry School
of Manchester, established in 1506 by Richard Bestwick.
He probably died before 1525, as his name disappears in the
deed of that date.
A certain John Hinde applies for a B.A. degree at Oxford,
May 1515, and is excused from attending processions because
he is ' ipo-didascalos ludi literariae Magdalensis et est etiam
conjugatus ' (under-master of the occupations of the boys
of Magdalen College School, and also married) ; while another
John Hinde, from Middlesex, is mentioned as being a scholar
and Fellow of Corpus Christi College.
John Plumtree (James, cf. Whatton's list), son of Henry
of Nottingham, was admitted Corpus Christi College 1522,
and took B.A. 1525. He appears at Lincoln Grammar
School, 27 February 1547-8,1 while Richard Wrench is also
of Corpus Christi, B.A. 1524, M.A. 1530, the latter being
described as a 'poore schoolmaster.'
The name Nicholas Plumtree occurs in connection with
the Nottingham Grammar School about this date, and
another John Plumtree was master at Lincoln, 10 July 1576
and 12 December 1588 (A. F. Leach).
The Bradshaws were a well-known Lancashire family,
mention of whom frequently occurs in the private letters of
John Bradford, the Manchester martyr, and some of them
must have been his fellow- scholars ; and one of them founded
the Wigan Grammar School. Richard Bradshaw, the high
master about 1534, was also a Fellow of the local collegiate
body in 1533, at which date he attested the will of a Thomas
Pendleton, whose son subsequently became high master of
the School. He also received volumes from the library of
Sir Richard Turton, 1592.
The most famous Tudor scholar was John Bradford, the
martyr. Members of the Bradford family are mentioned
in connection with the administration of the affairs of the
county palatine. In 1437 William Bradford was appointed
Prothonotary or Clerk of the Common Pleas. Other members
of this family held similar posts towards the end of that
century, when the name began to occur in connection with
the collegiate church in Manchester. Unfortunately the
references are too obscure for complete identification, but
they help to justify the claim made by Fox that he was of
gentle family. He was closely related through his mother,
Ann Bestwick, to Hugh Oldham, the founder of the School.
1 A. F. Leach, Victoria County History of Lincoln, vol. ii. p. 441.
488 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The following description of him occurs in Foxe's ' Book
of Martyrs ' :
' JOHN BRADFORD, 1510-1555. — The most pious, as Ridley
was the most learned and Cranmer the most renowned of
the martyrs.
' His parents did bring him up in learning till he attained
such knowledge in the Latin tongue and skill in writing,
that he was able to gain his own living in some honest con-
dition. Then he became servant to Sir John Harrington,
knight, who, in the great affairs of King Henry VIII. and
King Edward VI., which he had in hand when he was
Treasurer of the King's Camps and Buildings at divers times
at Boulogne, had such experience of Bradford's activity in
writing, his expertness in the art of auditors, as also of his
faithful trustiness, that not only in these affairs but also in
many others of his private business, he trusted John Bradford
in such sort, that above all other he used his faithful service.
Thus continued Bradford certain years in a right honest and
good trade of life after the course of this world, like to come
forward (as they say) if his mind could have so liked or had
been given to the world as many others be. But the Lord
. . . called him His chosen child to the understanding and
partaking of the same Gospel of life. In which call he was
so truly taught, that forthwith his effectual call was per-
ceived by the fruits. He departed from the Temple at
London, where the temporal law is studied, and went to the
University of Cambridge to learn by God's law how to
further the beginning of God's Temple. In Cambridge his
diligence in study, his profitting in knowledge and godly
conversation so pleased all men that within one whole year
after he had been there the University did give him the
degree of Master of Arts. Immediately after, the Master and
fellows of Pembroke Hall gave him a fellowship in their
college, yea, that man of God, Martin Bucer, so liked him
that he had him not only most dear unto him, but also
oftentimes exhorted him to bestow his talent in preaching.
Unto which Bradford answered always that he was unable
to serve in that office through want of learning. To which
Bucer was wont to reply, saying, If thou have not fine
manchet bread, yet give the poor people barley bread, or
whatever else the Lord hath committed unto thee.'
John Bradford soon attracted the notice of Bishop
Ridley, and was made Prebendary of St. Paul's, where his
preaching attracted so much notice that he was sent down
to Lancashire to influence the general people in the teach-
APPENDIX 8 489
ing of the Reformation. In Queen Mary's reign numerous
attempts were made to convert him to the Romish faith,
and he was visited while in prison by several of the Marian
bishops.1 When his removal by death was decided upon,
his enemies wished the execution to take place in Lancashire,
in order to overawe the people, but further knowledge of
the strength of local feeling caused this idea to be abandoned.
In the virulent persecution of the Protestants neither
Warden Collier, who died 1557, nor his successor, Laurence
Vaux, had any share or sympathy. Collier indeed visited
and argued with Bradford while in prison, but the interview
was as painful to one as to the other.
Another famous scholar was LAURENCE VAUX. He was
born about 1520, near Blackrod. He is believed to have
received his education at the Manchester School and Queen's
College, Oxford, whence he removed to Corpus Christi,
already noted for its attention to the study of Greek. Vaux
deserves notice both for his steadfast adherence to the older,
form of religious belief, and for the moderation with which
he dealt with his opponents when they were within his
power. He had been ordained in 1540, and took an active
part in instructing youths in the Catholic faith, and against
the reformed doctrines. He was first a ' priest curate,' or
Fellow of the College of Manchester, with an income of
£12 19^. Qd., and i no other living,' and was appointed
Warden by Queen Mary about 1557. The spirit of the new
learning was within him, for while remaining a member of the
Catholic Church he joined with Cardinal Allen in endeavour-
ing to meet scholarship with scholarship, and took active
part in the counter-reformation set up by the Catholic
reformers, which resulted in the establishment of the Jesuit
College of Douay, France, which was largely frequented, if
not actually founded and supported, by Lancashire Catholics.
On his refusal to take the oath of supremacy to Queen
Elizabeth, Vaux was deprived of his position and retired
to his native place, where he acted as private chaplain to
the Standish family, to whose custody he left the collegiate
plate, ' till the restoration of Catholicism.' He made
frequent journeys to the Continent, and established a school
for Catholics at Lou vain, compiling a catechism for the use
of the scholars. He was reported by enemies ' to behave
himself very seditiously and, contrary to his recognisance,
to lurk in Lancashire, and thought to be maintained there
1 See Foxe's Book of Martyrs and Letters and Writings of John Bradford,
Parker Society.
490 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
by earls and gentlemen of the county.' He was ' laborious
in good work, learned, conscientious, and much respected
in Manchester.' *
EDWARD PENDLETON, son of Thomas Pendleton, of Man-
chester, merchant, Bachelor of Grammar, Oxford, 1547,
was probably educated at this School. He became gymna-
siarch, or high master of the School about 1547. He is
described by Anthony a Wood as the ' famous schoolmaster
of Manchester,' but unfortunately his title to fame does not
rest on the excellence of his teaching, nor the flourishing
state of the School, but upon the pliability with which his
conscience so adapted itself to the changing times that
he gained or retained ecclesiastical preferment under
Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth
alike. He is one of three whose claim to the dignity of
being the original hero of the Vicar of Bray is an unsettled
literary problem. He was Fellow of the Collegiate Church,
Manchester, and Vicar of Eccles, 1559. There is some
difficulty in distinguishing his several appointments from
those of his uncle, Henry Pendleton, of Brasenose College,
Oxford, who probably shared his pliancy of conscience. He
was of a singularly coarse habit of body, and owing to the
plausibility of his utterances he was employed in Marian
times to endeavour to counteract the work which John
Bradford had so successfully accomplished.
WILLIAM BIRCH was the second son of George Birch and
of Marion, daughter of Thomas Beck. He was the younger
brother of John Birch, elected trustee, and his mother was a
relative of the founder. After being educated at Manchester
School, he went to St. John's College, Cambridge, as pen-
sioner in 1544, which was then ' a very hot-bed of heresy/
and became an ardent reformer. He became B.A. 1547-8,
and was next elected Fellow of Corpus Christi College. In
1551 he was ordained by Bishop Ridley, and appointed in
1552 a Royal Preacher in Edward VI.'s time. He went
abroad during Mary's reign, and, returning on the accession
of Queen Elizabeth, succeeded Laurence Vaux, a fellow
schoolboy, in the wardenship of the Collegiate Church. This
he resigned in 1565, and was succeeded by Herle. In 1567
he was deprived of his canonry of Durham for nonconformity,
but retained the rectory of Stanhope. He died in 1575,
leaving £10 apiece to twenty poor scholars in Latin in
Manchester School.1
1 See Biography by T. G. Law ; also Raines' Wardens of Manchester.
1 Cf. Cooper's Athen. Cantab.
APPENDIX 9 491
RICHARD HALL was a younger son of Thomas Hall of
Salford, and brother of another Thomas Hall, a priest and
friend of John Bradford. He was probably educated at
the Grammar School, and, if so, must have been a school-
fellow of Warden Birch. He had been ordained deacon by
John Bird, Bishop of Chester, 1542, and appointed Fellow
of the Manchester College, 1559. He took charge of the
Middleton School for a time, and must have received boarders,
for in the probate of his will it is mentioned that Katherine
Pendleton owed him 405. for her son's table and 205. lent
money. The abuse heaped upon him by his fellow clergyman,
Daniel, should perhaps be taken as illustrating the tale-
bearing and false testimony too common in times of suspicion,
rather than as affording any trustworthy description. Daniel
says : ' He was of unsound religion, favoured papistry and
heresy privately, and never favoured the preachers of the
Gospel ' ; that he ' was a frequenter of alehouses and a
drunkard, and would hear no sermons. . . .' Perhaps illus-
trative of the custom of the time of combining medicine and
theology is the statement : ' He doth minister a dormatory in
physicke to dyvers which all do dye after the same, and
also he doth let bloode or cut veins of dyvers, who after
the same be done, do dye, and when he should serve God
he runneth about after his physicke and surgery, and is
altogether unlearned.'
9. THE FEOFFEES AND THEIR INFLUENCE IN THE SCHOOL.
Considerable light upon the life of the School is afforded
by the consideration of the public opinions, public activities,
and social status of the twelve feoffees who from time to
time were appointed to take charge of the School interests.
Although their legal responsibility was limited to the care
of the School property, and particularly to watching over
the monopoly of the Mills, which provided funds to pay the
salaries of the masters and University exhibitions for the
advanced scholars, yet their influence was far wider than
their legal responsibility. Owing to the growth and accu-
mulation of School funds, they had indirect disciplinary
power, for though they could not dismiss the high master,
yet they could reduce his salary to a pittance of £10, and,
in fact, twice so used their power for neglect. There were
times, too, when they neglected their own duties, and there
were other times when they acted with energy and public
spirit. At first then* attitude to learning was feudal, as
492 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
indicated in the clause of the foundation deed requiring the
scholars to pray in church for the delivery of the souls of
their benefactors from purgatory. As learning achieved
independence, the feoffees sent members of their own families
and encouraged others to attend the School, often as boarders
or tablers with the high master, in order to benefit by the
School training. There is evidence to show that their in-
terest in the boys continued after they had left the School
and needed advancement in life. The twelve feoffees who
were nominated in the foundation deed of 1524 were :
Sir LEWIS POLLARD (1465-1540), ' a man of great honour
and integrity,' of Wray, Devon, Justice of the King's Bench,
1515.
Sir ANTHONY FITZ-HERBERT (1407-1538), of Norbury,
Derbyshire. Educated at Oxford and Inns of Court ; Justice
of the King's Bench ; author of ' Abridgment of Common
Law,' Book of ' Husbandry,' &c., &c.
Sir WILLIAM COURTNEY (d. 1548), of II ton, Devon.
Sir THOMAS DENYS (1480-1560), of Holcomb Burnet,
near Exeter, member of Privy Council to Henry VIII.,
Sheriff of Devon, resigned trusteeship in 1556 in consequence
of old age and distance from Manchester.
Sir ALEXANDER RADCLIFFE (1476-1548), of Newcroft
Hall, Ordsall, Manchester, Sheriff of Lancashire 1546-1547,
head of one of the most powerful families in Lancashire.1
Sir JOHN BYRON (1487-1567), of Clayton and Newstead
Priory, Nottinghamshire, steward of Manchester and Roch-
dale. A strong Catholic ; built private chapel at Blackley
before 1545 ; will dated 1558.2
EDMUND TRAFFORD (1475-1533), of Trafford, near Man-
chester ; head of the family to which Hugh Oldham was
related, and who sold the lands on which the School was
built, and for whose soul ' De Profundis ' was to be sung by
the Grammar School boys when attending the collegiate
Parish Church.
RICHARD ASSHETON (1480-1549), of Middleton, near
Manchester, also related to Hugh Oldham. He raised a
body of troops for Henry VIII., fought on Flodden Field,
1513 ; rebuilt Middleton Church, where his tomb still exists.
' De Profundis ' for his soul was also to be sung by the boys.
THURSTON TYLDESLEY (d. 1553), of Wardley Hall,
Worsley, Eccles, where he endowed a chapelry ; M.P. for
1 Brass palimpsest figured in Palatine Note Book, vol. iv. p. 77.
1 Printed in Chetham Society, vol. xxviii. p. 133 ; Manchester Court
Leet Records, vol. i. p. 113.
APPENDIX 9 493
Lancashire, 1547, and as such probably interceded to secure
the property of the School from confiscation under the
second Chantries Act of Edward VI., which dissolved chan-
tries, though a commission received authority to grant
pensions.1
ROBERT LANGLEY, of Agecroft, son-in-law of Sir Edmund
Trafford and brother of the Rev. Thomas Langley, rector of
Prestwich, one of the three supervisors of the School in 1515.
RICHARD HOLLAND, of Denton, built Denton Chapel,
1532, resigned 1556, on the re-organisation of the School
under Queen Mary.
JOHN REDDISH, of Reddish, also resigned 1556.
On October 3, 1556, as part of the general ecclesiastical
settlement which took place after the Catholic Restoration,
fresh names were added to take the place of those who had
resigned or were deceased :
Sir EDMUND TRAFFORD (1509-1564), took part in the
siege of Boulogne, 1549, knighted by the Earl of Hertford,
Sheriff of Chester 1557. He had been appointed a Com-
missioner to collect the property of the Lancashire chantries
dissolved in 1542. Son-in-law of Sir Alexander Radcliffe
of Ordsall.
Sir WILLIAM RADCLIFFE (1502-1568), of Ordsall, captain
at the siege of Leighton and during the rebellion of the
North ; notable warrior, for his heart was deposited in an
urn at Sandbach Church. His tomb formerly in Manchester
Church.
EDWARD HOLLAND (d. 1570), of Denton, sheriff of county
1568, son-in-law of Sir Edmund Trafford.
ALEXANDER BARLOW (resigned 1581) of Barlow; M.P. for
Wigan 1547-1551, supposed to be related to Bishop William
Barlow; died in prison; entrusted with the college plate by
Laurence Vaux on his dismissal from the college.
JOHN BYRON (d. 1608), of Clayton and Newstead, Sheriff
of Lancashire 1572 ; knighted 1579 ; resigned 1581.
OTTO REDDISH (died 1558, during the lifetime of his
father).
EDMUND PRESTWICH (d. 1578), of Hulme, son-in-law of
Sir Robert Langley of Agecroft.
ROBERT CLAYTON (d. 1559), of Clayton Hall.8
1 Duchy Records, Division 25, 3rd portion, pro. 45, also ' Will and In-
ventory of Goods, dated 1547, confirmed 1553,' Chetham Society, O.S.,
vol. xxxiii. p. 97.
* Cf . Victoria County History of Lancashire, vol. v. p. 240 ; and Court
Leet Records, i. 53.
494 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
THOMAS BIRCH (d. 1595), of Hindley, Birch, resigned
1581 ; elder brother of William Birch, the first Puritan warden
of Manchester. He left five nobles a year during the four
years following his decease to his co-feoffees at the Grammar
School.1
JOHN CHETHAM (d. 1573), of Nuthurst, Moston, brother-
in-law of Thomas Birch.8
WILLIAM HYDE, of Den ton ; with the Holland family
built Den ton Chapel 1532.
RALPH CULCHETH (d. 1564), of Newton.*
The influence exerted by this body of men on the School
was probably limited to compelling the inhabitants of the
town to observe their duty of grinding their corn at the
School mills. During the reign of Queen Mary they were
probably instigated to do so by Laurence Vaux, and during
the reign of Queen Elizabeth perhaps by his successors. The
majority of these early feoffees remained content with the
old religion. Some of the younger ones had listened to the
stirring appeals of their fellow- townsman, John Bradford,
the famous Puritan preacher, and though the virulence of
the Marian persecutions prevented their open avowal of the
reformed doctrines, subsequent events show how deeply
many Lancashire families were being stirred to more serious
views of life. During the first half of Queen Elizabeth's
reign till 1581, though trade was prosperous and general in-
telligence increasing, it is doubtful if the School made much
headway. There is little evidence of activity when there
were only three feoffees left. Two of these resigned, and the
following were appointed to take office :
Sir EDMUND TRAFFORD (1526-1590), who had inherited
the family estates, 1567 ; name occurs on the Muster Roll
of 1579.' He subscribed towards the defence of the country
at the time of the Spanish Armada ; a strong Protestant.
Mention in his will of the furniture of a schoolmaster's
chamber.6
Sir JOHN RADCLIFFE (1535-1589), of OrdsaU, called a
* dangerous temporiser.' His house at Peel Fold was used
as a prison for recusant Catholics ; he served as one of the
N.S
Chetham Society, vol. xli. p. 192.
Will dated 1557, and inventory of goods printed.— Chetham Society,
vol. iii. p. 57.
Manchester Court Leet Records.
Baines' History of Lancashire.
Chetham Society, N.S , vol. xli.
APPENDIX 9 495
ecclesiastical commissioners appointed to recover alienated
property of the collegiate body ; subscribed £100 to defence
of the realm, 1588. Left careful instructions for the bringing
up of his younger sons ' in virtue and learning,' till fourteen
years, when they were to be sent to Oxford or Cambridge
till one of them was willing and able to go to the Inns of
Court and proceed in the Civil Law, ' either in England or
beyond the seas.' x
RICHARD HOLLAND (d. 1612), of Denton. On Muster
Roll 1574. ' The Puritan ' ; subscribed to defence of the
realm, and was specially thanked by Queen Elizabeth for
his zeal against the recusants ; High Sheriff of the county.
JOHN BYRON (d. 1624), of Newstead, served on the eccle-
siastical commission for suppressing recusant Catholics, but
joined in a petition against the excessive severity of the per-
secution. Knighted 1603.
ALEXANDER BARLOW (d. 1628), of Barlow, established
Chorlton Chapelry. On Muster Roll 1574.
ALEXANDER REDDISH, of Reddish.
EDMUND PRESTWICH, buried Manchester, January 15,
1598. Confidential adviser of Henry, Earl of Derby, who
had joined with Dr. Chadderton in suppressing the Catholics ;
keeper of Alport Park and tenant of the Lodge ; on Muster
Roll 1574 ; placed in charge of the education of the children
of Ralph Sorocold, merchant, 1591 ; sends both his sons to
the Grammar School and to Gray's Inn.2
GEORGE BIRCH (d. 1602), of Birch, brother of William
Birch, Warden of the College, and, like him, probably educated
at the School ; founded Birch Chapel ; Muster Roll 1574.
ROBERT HYDE, of Denton, his son probably educated at
the Grammar School, 1581 ; admitted Brasenose College,
Oxford; Muster Roll 1574.
EDMUND CHADDERTON (d. 1589), of Little Nuthurst Hall,
nephew of the Bishop of Chester.
JAMES CHETHAM (1561-1615), of Nuthurst. Named in
Muster Roll 1578.3
WILLIAM CULCHETH, of Newton, son of Ralph Culcheth.
There is no existing record of any appointment of feoffees
between 1581 and 1648, though it is probable * that vacancies
were filled up on the appointment of Edmund Chetham as
1 Will and Inventory, Chetham Society, O.S., vol. xli.
* Cf. Peck's ' Desiderata Curiosa,' and Will, printed in Chetham Society,
O.S., vol. liv. p. 103.
* Will, Chetham Society, N.S., vol. iii. p. 156.
* Cf . Records of Duchy Court of Lancaster.
496 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
head master about 1595, or of Clayton in 1604. Among them
would be Sir JOHN BYRON, of Newstead Abbey, M.P. for
Nottinghamshire 1623-1625, who was knighted 1625 at York
by James I., created Baron of Rochdale 1643, and com-
manded reserves at the Battle of Edgehill ; Field Marshal at
the Battle of Worcester, fled to France, and d ed 1652 without
issue. Also EDMUND TRAFFORD (1531-1620), who suc-
ceeded to his father's estate in 1690. The affairs of the
School were not neglected, for the stream of scholars to the
Universities was maintained.
The new names were added April 14, 1628 :
Sir ALEXANDER RADCLIFFE, knighted at the Coronation
of Charles I. ; served in the Irish campaign, and assisted the
Earl of Derby in the siege of Manchester.1
Sir CECIL TRAFFORD (d. November 29, 1672), became a
Catholic in 1632, and offered his services and those of his
retainers to Charles I. at Shrewsbury ; was declared a recu-
sant ; displaced 1647, but replaced 1660.
[ROBERT] HYDE, of Denton.
[RICHARD] RADCLIFFE (d. 1657), son of William Radcliffe,
of Pool Hall Fold, Manchester ; Presbyterian, Major of
Parliamentary troops ; elected M.P. 1656 ; one of the trustees
of the new library 1663.
[RICHARD] TIPPING, of Tipping Gates, Manchester, prob-
ably admitted Brasenose College, 1606 ; Nowell Scholar
1609 ; B.A. 1610. Settled as a merchant in Manchester.
EDWARD STANLEY, Broughton Hall, natural son of
Henry, Earl of Derby.
HUMPHREY BOOTH, of Salford, founder of Trinity Chapel
and of Booth's Charity.
Richard Radcliffe, Richard Holland, Edward Stanley,
Robert Hyde, ranged themselves on the side of the Parlia-
ment. Richard Tipping and Humphrey Booth of Salford,
being merchants, were not placed at the head of retainers
or troops, and it is doubtful whether they sided strongly
with either party, though it is known they contributed funds
to the defence of the town. During the Commonwealth,
ecclesiastical and educational affairs throughout the country
came under consideration. Sir Cecil Trafford was deprived
of his place and a new body of feoffees was appointed by Orders
in Council March 6, 1647. It comprised prominent towns-
men as well as members of the local county families. Four
of the old trustees were retained — viz. Sir Alexander Radcliffe,
Biciiard Holland, Richard Radcliffe of Pool Fold, and Robert
1 House of Commons Journal, vol. ii. p. 845.
APPENDIX 9 497
Hyde. To these were added two landowners, Thomas Birch
of Birch Hall, Rusholme, Colonel and Governor and M.P.
for Liverpool, 1649-1650, a strong Independent and Crom-
wellian, and six merchants or professional men in the town,
a step which was not without its influence in the prosperity
of the school at this time.
RICHARD HOWARTH (d. 1671), of Thurncroft, Councillor
at Law ; admitted Gray's Inn, 1614 ; subsequently Recorder
of Chester.
JOHN LIGHTBOWNE (d. Dec. 23, 1667), of Buile Hill,
Salford; admitted Gray's Inn, 1630; intimate friend and
correspondent of Humphrey Chetham.
HUMPHREY BOOTH (1607-1648), of Blackley, merchant ;
Borough-reeve.
EDWARD JOHNSON; of Manchester, merchant; Borough-
reeve 1638, donor of books to the old Town Library of 1640.
RICHARD Fox (d. 1654), of Rhodes, merchant, special
direction in his will for the education and upbringing of his
children.1
RICHARD LOMAS, of Bury. Subscribed towards defence
of Marches against the Earl of Derby.
On December 1, 1654, some further names were added :
JOHN RADCLIFFE, of Ordsall (d. 1657), sold Ordsall Estates,
1663, to Captain Samuel Birch.
ALEXANDER BARLOW (1608-1655), of Barlow; unlike his
father, he was a Parliamentarian, and served on the Com-
mittee of Sequestration 1643, and on the Committee for Relief
of Plundered Ministers 1650 ; trustee under the will of
Humphrey Chetham ; Sheriff of County 1652.
GEORGE CHETHAM (1594-1664), of Clayton, merchant,
nephew and executor of Humphrey Chetham.1
EDWARD HOLBROOK, of Brasenose College, Oxford, 1638,
merchant.
ROBERT BOOTH (d. 1663), of Gray's Inn, became Lord Chief
Justice of Ireland.
THOMAS MINSHULL, apothecary, bought Chorlton Hall.
The conflict of political parties at the restoration of the
Stuarts is also indicated. The first list submitted to Sir
Edward Nicholas, Principal Secretary of State, was agreed to
on November 16, 1660.* It consisted of six representatives
of each party :
1 Piccope, « Wills,' Chetham Society, vol. iii. pp. 113-15.
2 MS. Account Book, 1637-9, in Chetham Library.
3 British Museum MSS., fol. 283, E92537.
KK
498 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Sir RALPH ASSHETON, of Middleton, created Baronet 1661,
son of the Parliamentary General, but who had gone over to
the Royalist side on the rise of the Independents to power ;
M.P. for Clitheroe 1661-62.
WILLIAM BUTTER WORTH (1600-1669), of Belfield, third
son of Alexander Butterworth ; admitted Gray's Inn 1654.
EDWARD CHETHAM (1612-1684), son of James Chetham, of
Smedley; admitted Gray's Inn 1659.
GEORGE CHETHAM (1623-1674), son of Ralph, of Clayton.
ROBERT HOLT (d. 1674), of Stubley, Castleton, near
Rochdale.
RICHARD MASSEY (1620-1667), trustee of Humphrey
Chetham's estate ; son and heir of James Massey, of Sale ;
captain in the Royalist forces.
RICHARD HOLLAND, of Denton.
THEOPHILUS HOWARTH (1614-1671), of Howarth, Doctor
of Medicine, practising in Manchester; * inventory gives £40
value of furniture, books, &c., in Library.
RICHARD HOWARTH, son of Lawrence Howarth, of Turn-
croft.
ROBERT HYDE, of Denton.
JOHN LIGHTBOWNE, Councillor at Law, Gray's Inn 1630 ;
practising in Manchester.
THOMAS MINSHTTLL (d. 1698), apothecary, third son of
Richard Minshull, of Wistaston.
Richard Holland died about this time, and influence was
brought to bear, October 1660, by Sir Cecil Trafford, to regain
power. On his nomination a new body was appointed by
Order of Council, February 26, 1661, excluding the towns-
men— that is, the last five — and substituting for them and for
Sir Richard Holland :
Sir CECIL TR AFFORD.
Sir GEORGE BOOTH (1604-1684), of Dunham Massey; the
leader of the Presbyterians in the Counties of Lancashire
and Cheshire, who had organised the rising in favour of
Charles II. in 1659 ; and at the Restoration was still in prison.
Sir EDWARD MOSLEY (1630-1665), of Hough End; M.P.
for Mychell, Cornwall ; a loyalist of loose habits.
EDMUND ASHTON (1628-1663), of Chadderton ; Sheriff of the
County 1627; fought on the King's side in the Civil War;
surrendered at Oxford 1646; compounded for his estates.
EDMUND TRAFFORD (1625-1693), brother of Sir Cecil
Trafford.
RALPH BRIDEOAK, the former high master, who had made
1 Will printed Chetham Society, N.S., vol. xxviii. p. 109.
APPENDIX 9 499
his peace with the new Government and was now Canon of
Windsor and busy seeking for still higher appointments.
It is believed that by the use of bribery he secured the interest
of the Duchess of Portsmouth, one of the mistresses of the
King, and was made Bishop of Chichester. The following is
a translation of the inscription on his monument in St. George's
Ghapel, Windsor :
Ripe for God
The Reverend Father in Christ RALPH BBIDEOAK
put off mortality.
A man bravely upright, great but humble,
A mighty storehouse of Attic, and of all Eloquence.
During the exile of Charles II. deprived of his possessions.
On his return appointed a Canon of this Chapel.
Dean of Salisbury, and afterwards Bishop of Chichester.
Kind to strangers, a lover of good men,
A Father, so to speak, of his diocese,
Who, consulting the welfare of others, while visiting his flock
Being seized with a raging fever
died during the tenure of his episcopal office
at the age of 64.
This monument to her husband was placed by his virtuous wife
Mary Brideoak 1678.
On July 29, 1676, on the appointment of Mr. Barrow as
high master, when the number of feoffees had fallen to four,
new feoffees were appointed, perhaps at the instigation of
Nicholas Stratford. That some new influence was at work
in the management of the School is shown, not only by the
securing for it the opportunity of sharing in the Somerset
scholarships, but the fact that shortly afterwards regular
accounts were kept of the names of scholars to whom Univer-
sity exhibitions were granted from the School funds. The
new feoffees elected July 29, 1676, were :
Sir HENRY BOOTH (1641-1695), Lord Delamere, the hus-
band of the talented Lady Mary Langham, who was niece
of Sarah Alston, Duchess of Somerset, the donor of the
Somerset exhibitions at Oxford and Cambridge. Lord
Delamere was the leader of the Whig party in the North
of England.
Sir RALPH ASSHETON (1657-1716), of MiddJeton, and
inheritor in 1697 of the estates of his maternal uncle, Sir
John Assheton, of Whalley ; elected M.P. for Liverpool 1678,
but unseated on petition; M.P. for County of Lancashire 1690
and 1695.
500 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Sir JOHN ARDEN (1630-1701), of Harden, Stockport ; High
Sheriff of Cheshire 1660; strong Presbyterian and friend of
Henry Newcome; knighted at Whitehall 1660.
WILLIAM HULTON (1625-1694), of Hulton, near Bolton;
of Gray's Inn 1650; J.P. 1688.
WILLIAM HULME (1636-1691), of Davyhulme ; J.P. ; founder
of the Hulme Trust.
HENRY DICKINSON, linen draper; founder of Dickinson's
Charity 1682; appointed but did not serve.
On August 9, 1676, RICHARD Fox was substituted for
Henry Dickinson. In August 1686, soon after Richard
Wroe had been appointed Warden of the College and therefore
Visitor of the School, others were added :
EDWARD TRAFFORD (1643-1692), of Trafford; J.P.
RICHARD LEGH (1631-1705), of Lyme; of Brasenose
College, Oxford; Sheriff of Cheshire.
EDMUND ASHTON (1643-1696), of Shuttleworth, Lancashire.
JAMES HOLT (1647-1712), of Castleton; Brasenose College,
Oxford, and J.P. ; memorial inscription in Rochdale Church.
THOMAS LEGH, of Lyme ; Brasenose College, Oxford ;
M.P. for Newton 1705-10.
JAMES LIGHTBOWNE (1647-1696), of Moston; of St.
Edmund's HaU, Oxford, and of Gray's Inn 1688.
JAMES CHETHAM (1646-1692), of Smedley ; of St. Edmund's
HaU 1660, and Gray's Inn.
In 1696:
Right Hon. GEORGE EARL OF WARRINGTON (1675-1750),
who took little interest in public affairs.
JOSHUA HORTON (1658-1708), of Chadderton, son of
Joshua, of Sowerby, Yorkshire ; educated Brasenose College,
Oxford.
WILLIAM HULME, nephew and heir of William Hulme of
Davyhulme.
HENRY HULTON (1665-1737), High Sheriff of Lancashire
1701 ; said to be of eccentric and parsimonious habits
(Halley).
JAMES CHETHAM (1641-1697), of Chetham.
JOHN ARDEN (1660-1701).
In 1706 :
PETER LEGH, of Lyme ; eldest son of Richard Legh.
SAMUEL CHETHAM (1675-1744), educated at Manchester
Grammar School; J.P. and Sheriff of Lancashire 1738.
APPENDIX 9 501
PETER EGERTON (1642-1699), of Shaw, near Flixton;
Sheriff of Lancashire 1703.
JOHN ATHERTON (1678-1707), of Bewsey.
In 1716 :
RICHARD ARDEN (1676-1752), of Stockport ; of Brasenose
College, Oxford ; B.A. 1698; M.A. 1702; a very regular atten-
dant at meetings of feoffees.
WILLIAM ASHTON (1650-1731), rector of Prestwich; edu-
cated Manchester Grammar School and St. John's, Cam-
bridge ; administrator of Hulme Benefaction ; sold the old
family hall of Chadderton to Joshua Horton, of Sowerby,
Yorks.
ALEXANDER RADCLIFFE, of Foxdenton; admitted Gray's
Inn.
JOHN WARREN (1679-1700), eldest son of Edward Warren
of Stockport.
All of these were members of well-to-do and influential
Whig county families. Many of them had studied at English
Universities and at the Inns of Court, London, after having
been educated at the local Grammar School. Many also
served as Governors of Chetham's Charity and took active
interest in the selection of books for purchase ; many served
as Justices of the Peace.
%
On August 8, 1726, the Rt. Hon. JAMES BARRY (1667-
1747), fourth Earl of Barrymore, who had served as a Major-
General in the French wars and had been taken prisoner
by the Spaniards ; elected M.P. of Stockport 1710-1713, and
for Wigan 1724 ; a strong Jacobite and Non- Juror.1
Sir JOHN BLAND, of Kippax, son of Lady Ann Bland,
the heiress of the Mosley family, who died 1734; M.P. for
Lancashire 1713 and 1722.
Sir RALPH ASSHETON, (1692-1765), last of the male line
of the house of Assheton, as his only son died whilst a boy
at the Grammar School.
Sir HOLLAND EGERTON, (1696-1730), eldest son of Sir
John Egerton ; he had inherited the extensive Heaton Estates
through his grandmother, the daughter of the last of the
old Puritan Holland family. He had been educated at
the school and at Brasenose College, Oxford ; elected feoffee
of the Grammar School and of Chetham's Hospital in 1726.
The conscientious way in which he carried out his public
1 Of. York's Journal of Parliamentary History, vol. xiii. p. 680 ;
Tyndall'i History, vol. ix. p. 27 ; and Stanhope's History, vol. iii. p. 161.
502 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
duties is shown in the regularity of his attendances at the
meetings of both institutions. He is described as ' a gentle-
man of fine accomplishments, well versed in literature, parti-
cularly heraldry and antiquities, of free, open and communi-
cative disposition, exceedingly well-beloved by the country.'
Many works of Heraldry were purchased for the Chetham
Library about this time.
PETER LEGH (d. 1758), of Lyme; M.P. for Newton,
1743-1747 and 1754.
SAMUEL CHETHAM (1675-1744), of Turton and Castleton,
son of George Chetham, of Manchester ; educated at the
School; satirised as Sir Minos the Justice in a famous
parody by Tim Bobbin; a strong Whig and a violent
partisan supporter of Warden Peploe.1
In May 1733 the following names were added :
JAMES CHETHAM (1683-1752), of Smedley ; son of George
Chetham, of Manchester, and of Wadham College, Oxford,
1700, and of Inner Temple ; High Sheriff 1730.
ROBERT RADCLIFFE (died 1749), of Foxdenton; Sheriff
of Lancashire 1744.
ROBERT BOOTH, of Salford, feoffee of Chetham Hospital.
JAMES BANKS (1703-1743) ; admitted Brasenose College
1723 ; Rector of Bury ; son of William Banks of Winstanley
and of Frances, only daughter of Peter Legh, one of the
awarders of the Hulme Exhibition.
On June 2, 1743, the feoffees elected the Rt. Hon. JAMES
LORD STRANGE (1717-1771). He had been educated at the
Westminster School and at Leyden University, but, dying
before his father, did not succeed to the Derby estates. He
began the famous Derby natural history collections and
probably influenced the purchase of natural history books for
the Chetham Library, of which he was a Trustee.
Sir EDWARD EGERTON, fifth but eldest surviving son
of Sir Holland Egerton, succeeded to the Heaton Estates
in 1730, and died 1744 within a few months of being elected.
JOHN PARKER (d. 1795), of Brightmet HaU, near Bury ;
Rector of Bury ; perpetual curate of Chelf ord, Cheshire, where
he founded a free school.
On July 29, 1749, the surviving feoffees elected :
JOHN ARDEN (1709-1786), of Harden; High Sheriff of
Cheshire 1760 ; brother of Dr. James Arden. His two sons
were both educated at the School ; one became Lord Alvanley .
1 Cf. ByronCs Journal.
APPENDIX 9 503
ROBERT GWYLLIM (1725-1783), who, by right of his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Atherton, succeeded to the
Atherton estates in 1747, when he assumed the name of
Robert Vernon Atherton; M.P. for Newton 1783.
MYLES LONSDALE (d. 1783), of Field House, Bury, bar-
rister, who inherited considerable estates, which he increased
by a marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of James Greenhalgh.
It is related that he was so incensed at the marriage of one
of his daughters with a son of John Kay, the inventor of the
shuttle, in 1738, that he expelled her from his home and would
only allow her a bare pittance.1
EDWARD GREAVES (d. 1783), of Culcheth Hall, Newton,
son of John and grandson of Matthew Greaves, wealthy
apothecaries in Manchester. He was related to the Gwyilim
family of Culcheth Hall, Newton, through his mother, and he
married the wealthy daughter of Darcy Lever, of Alkington.
On August 8, 1751 : Sir THOMAS GRAY EGERTON (d. 1757) ;
succeeded his brother Sir Edward Egerton ; M.P. for Newton
1747-48, and like the rest of his family took active part in
public affairs. He also served on the Chetham Trust.
PETER LEGH, of Lyme (d. 1792), M.P. for Newton 1743-
1768.
About 1770 there were elected :
Sir THOMAS EGERTON, the only surviving son of Sir
Thomas Gray Egerton. He had entered the school March 10,
1757, and was a favourite pupil of Charles Lawson, for whom
he retained throughout the whole of his public life the highest
regard and affection. Of Christ Church, Oxford, 1767 ; M.P.
for Lancashire 1772-1784, when he was created Baron Gray de
Wilton. He was very active in raising troops for the Govern-
ment, and served as Hon. Colonel of the Lancashire Volun-
teers 1794, of Heaton Company Voluntary Artillery 1803.
He was created Viscount and Earl of Wilton 1801.
SAMUEL EGERTON (1711-1780), of Tatton; M.P. for co.
Chester, 1754, 1761, 1768, 1774. A very active politician.
ROBERT RADCLIFFE, of Foxdenton.
(The articles of agreement for the rebuilding of the School
were signed on behalf of the body of feoffees January 26, 1776,
by Sir Thomas Egerton, of Heaton, Edward Greaves, of
Culcheth, the friend and executor of William Purnell, and
Robert Radcliffe, of Foxdenton.)
JOHN PARKER.
JOHN HOUGHTON (1711-1794), of Baguley, who had been
educated at the School, and, like his father, entered at Trinity
1 liainea MSS,, vol. x*.
604 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
College, Cambridge. His mother was Mary Byrom, sister
of Dr. John Byrom, F.R.S., the correspondent and critic of
William Purnell. He is described as genial, refined, and of
literary accomplishments, and a favourite associate of the
clergy of the Collegiate Church ; J.P. for Lancashire and
Cheshire ; attended the anniversary School dinner in 1783 ;
died 1794.
On October 2, 1781, there were elected :
WILLIAM BANKS, of Winstanley (d. February 13, 1800) ;
admitted to the School 1760; attended anniversary dinners
1782, 1783, 1785, 1786, 1789, 1792 ; High Sheriff of Lancashire,
1784.
WILLIAM EGERTON (1749-1802), of Tatton Park. He had
entered the School as William Tatton of Withenshaw, but
assumed his mother's name upon entering into possession of
the Tatton estates of the Egerton family in 1780, previously
held by his uncle, Samuel Egerton. Created M.A. of Brasenose
College, Oxford ; High Sheriff of Cheshire ; acted with Sir
Thomas Egerton as steward at the anniversary dinner 1782;
M.P. for Chester 1800.
JOHN ARDEN (1742-1823), junior, of Harden and Ashley,
near Stockport; entered School January 1752, with his
brother, Richard Pepper Arden, the judge, who became Lord
Alvanley. Appointed feoffee of Chetham ; attended anni-
versary School dinners 1789, 1790, 1792, 1794, 1795, 1799,
1800 ; High Sheriff of Cheshire 1790 ; resigned the Trust ;
died at Pepper Hall, Northallerton, Yorks, 1823.
CHARLES FORD (1720-1789), of Eaton in Astbury, Cheshire.
Manufacturer of checks and African goods. Probably, like
John Houghton, entered the School when the register was
carelessly kept, as his name does not appear, though it is
known he was a scholar. Served as churchwarden 1761, senior
constable 1761, borough-reeve 1767, feoffee of Chetham
1774.
In 1785, vacancies caused by several deaths and resig-
nations were filled up by the election of :
JOSEPH PICKFORD (1744-1819), of Alt Hill, Royton, eldest
son of Joseph Pickford. Feoffee of Chetham 1783 ; educated
at the School, and attended anniversary dinners 1785, 1788,
1790, 1791, and in 1800 as Joseph Radcliffe, having in 1795
assumed his mother's name on succeeding to the estates
formerly enjoyed by his maternal uncle, William Radcliffe of
Mimes Bridge, Yorks. He was an active county magistrate
of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derby, and West Riding.
APPENDIX 9 505
THOMAS AYNSCOUGH (17 19-1 793), Fellow of the Collegiate
Church, and the most prominent clergyman of the town. He
had entered the School under Henry Brooke, and had held a
School exhibition, 1735-39, at Brasenose College, Oxford.
Graduated B.A. 1738, M.A. 1743. Held Hulme Exhibition,
and finally took ad eundem degree, St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, 1757. In 1786 he reorganised the Collegiate Charity
School. He was the patron and friend of the celebrated
Joshua Brooks, a poor boy, who was the son of a shoemaker,
assisted him to Brasenose College, Oxford, and entrusted
him with making a catalogue of his books at his death, and,
after allowing William Allen, of Trinity College, Cambridge,
to choose what he wished, to retain the remainder for himself ;
although reckoned a good preacher, he ordered that all his
sermons and manuscripts were to be destroyed, otherwise we
might have gained some further insight into the point of view
of a high-minded, clear-sighted, and benevolent clergyman
faced with almost revolutionary changes around.
SAMUEL CLOWES (1750-1799), of Chorlton Hall, Broughton ;
entered the School October 3, 1758, and Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, 1768. He served as borough-reeve 1770, 1771, feoffee
of the Chetham Trust 1773, sheriff of the county 1777 ;
took part in organising the town militia 1778 ; regularly at-
tended anniversary dinners 1781-1798. He was an active
member of the society for preserving constitutional order,
liberty, and property against the various efforts of levellers
and republicans 1792.
WILLIAM HULTON (1762-1800), of Hulton; colliery pro-
prietor, and sheriff of county 1789.1
Rev. THOMAS FOXLEY (1752-1838) ; entered the School
March 1758, Brasenose College, Oxford, and presented by
his old schoolfellow, Sir Thomas Egerton, to the rectory of
Radcliffe 1784. Fellow of Manchester College ; rector of St.
Mary's, feoffee of Chetham, and attended anniversary School
dinners for many years.
In October 1794:
Sir ROBERT HOLT LEIGH (1762-1843) ; left the School for
Christ's Church, Oxford, but left without graduating. M.P.
for Wigan 1802-1820. High Tory and Churchman, and
finally took his degree at Oxford in 1837 in order to secure
a vote for Convocation. Classical scholar and trustee of
Wigan Grammar School.
JOHN ENTWISTLE (1741-1 802), of Foxholes, who had entered
the School January 1753 as John Markland. In 1787, on suc-
ceeding to the estates of his maternal uncle, Robert Entwistle,
1 See Baines' Lancashire, Hi. p. 20.
506 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
he assumed the name of Entwistle. He was a magistrate
and Deputy- Lieutenant of Lancaster; feoffee of Chetham's
1794. He attended anniversary dinners 1789-1800, and served
as Colonel of Rochdale Volunteers.
Rev. THOMAS CROXTON JOHNSON (1761-1814), son of
George Johnson, of Manchester and Timperley Hall, Cheshire.
He entered the School 1772. and passed to St. John's, Cam-
bridge, where he graduated LL.B. in 1789 ; appointed rector
of Wilmslow in 1787, and elected Fellow of Collegiate
Church ; feoffee of Chetham's 1803 ; attended anniversary
School dinners 1783-99.
In October 1804 :
SAMUEL CLOWES (died 1811), of Broughton Hall.
THOMAS PARKER (1766-1840), of Astle ; entered School
July 1774, but did not proceed to Oxford, as he inherited his
father's estate 1795. Served as Colonel of Volunteers. Ap-
pointed steward of dinners 1787-1792. Resigned 1834,
owing to distance and inability to attend.
JOHN FORD (1768-1839), of Abbey Field; entered School
July 1781 ; took part in School speeches 1785 ; entered
Balliol College, Oxford; President of Manchester Pitt
Club.
Rev. GEORGE HERON (d. 1833), of Daresbury.
To these was entrusted the duty of reconstructing the old
School at which so many of them had been educated, and whose
traditions they regarded with so much affection. The growing
intensity of the struggle with France made things increasingly
difficult, and after the cessation of hostilities a new order of
things had come about with the social upheavals described
in the body of the work.
The feoffees who were administering the affairs of the School
under Lawson, and still remained when Dr. Smith became
high master, were :
Sir THOMAS EGERTON (above).
Lord GREY DE WILTON (died 1814).
JOHN ARDEN, appointed 1781, resigned January 8, 1820,
died 1823.
Sir JOSEPH PICKFORD, of Royton, Lanes, and Milnsbridge,
Yorks, born 1744. He was created baronet for his conduct
during the riots 1812; died 1819 (above).
Rev. CROXTON JOHNSON (died 1814) (above).
Rev. THOMAS FOXLEY (1752-1838) (above).
Sir ROBERT HOLT LEIGH, of Wigan, elected 1794 (above).
THOMAS PARKER (above).
Rev. GEORGE HERON, of Daresbury (above).
APPENDIX 9 607
JOHN ENTWISTLE, banker, son of John Entwistle, of Fox-
holes, elected 1804, died 1837.
JOHN FORD, son of Charles Ford, of Abbey Field, Sandbach,
elected October 2, 1804, died 1839 (above).
In October 1811 : Rev. JOHN CLOWES (1777-September
28, 1846) was appointed. He was elected Fellow of the
Manchester College.
In October 1812: WILLIAM Fox (1751-1833), who had
practised as attorney in Manchester and subsequently became
a banker. He served as borough-reeve 1805.
In October 1816 :
THOMAS WILLIAM TATTON (died 1827), of Withenshaw.
WILBRAHAM EoERTON (1781-1856), of Tatton.
In October 1819 :
WILLIAM HULTON (1787-1864), High Sheriff of the
county 1809. Chiefly offensive to the Radical reformers
for his conduct at Peterloo (1819). Was invited March 1820
to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of
the county, which in the event of a vacancy he promised
to do. He drew up an address to the Prince Regent
signed by 1400 magistrates, clergy, bankers, merchants,
and tradesmen, expressing approval of the acts of the
magistracy in using civil force and military power. The
Earl of Grosvenor on the other hand headed a subscrip-
tion list for the relief of the sufferers and the prosecution of
the military, and an action was brought against Hugh Hornby
Birley and four others of the Manchester Yeomanry for
assault, April 1822.
PETER HERON (1770-1848), admitted to School January
1781. Entered army and became colonel in 1800, residing
at Moore Hall, Warrington ; M.P. for Newton 1806-1809;
attended some of the earlier anniversary dinners.
In October 1823: THOMAS GROSVENOR (late Egerton),
born 1797, educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxon.
Succeeded to the Heaton estate, in place of his father. He
travelled about a good deal, and served as Plenipotentiary
to the Bang of Saxony. He resigned September 25, 1838.
In October 1827:
GEORGE HENRY GREY, 1765, Earl of Stamford and
Warrington, grandson and heir of Mary, daughter of George
Booth, Earl of Warrington, who had served as Lord
Lieutenant of Cheshire 1819.
WILLIAM LEGH CLOWES (1781-1862), of Broughton, who
had served as colonel of Light Dragoons in the Peninsular War.
On October 7, 1834:
WILLIAM TATTON EGERTON.
Lord FRANCIS EGERTON LEVESON GOWER (born 1800),
608 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Viscount Brackley and Earl of Ellesmere, younger son of George
Granville Leveson Gower, 2nd Marquis of Stafford and Duke
of Sutherland, educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford ;
assumed the name of Egerton under the will of his uncle,
Francis Henry Egerton. Appointed October 3, 1837, re-
signed 1848. He bought the Old Quay Carrying Company
for £400,000. A Liberal Conservative and follower of Canning,
spoke eloquently in favour of Free Trade twenty years before
Sir Robert Peel adopted the policy. He warmly supported
the project of the London University. Presided at a great
public meeting with Sir Benjamin Heywood and Mark
Philips to open public parks. Entered Parliament as M.P. for
Bletchingley 1822 ; became M.P. for Sutherlandshire 1825,
and South Lancashire 1835, 1837, and 1841 to 1846. Lord
of Treasury 1827. Chief Sec. to Marquis of Anglesey, who
was Lord Lieut, of Ireland, 1828-30. President of the British
Association meeting in Manchester 1848. Died in London,
February 18, 1857.
JOHN WILSON PATTEN, (born 1802), appointed April 20,
1893, of Bank Hall, Warrington, and Winmarleigh, P.C. and
D.L. (son of Thomas Wilson, late Patten, of Bank Hall, and
Elizabeth Hyde, of Ardwick) ; died 1892. Entered Parliament
1830 as M.P. for North Lanes, voted for second reading of
Reform Bill, but retired from that constituency in favour of
Sir Benjamin Heywood, the wealthy banker and philanthropist
of Manchester. Was appointed M.P. for South Lanes with
his friend, Edward Stanley. He was a strong conservative,
independent of party, and an advocate of industrial and
labour reform. He opposed Lord Ashley's bill to limit hours,
but secured the appointment of the famous Royal Com-
mission of Enquiry into Factories, which resulted in more
enlightened legislation. He became Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster in 1866, and was created Lord Winmarleigh by
Disraeli in 1874.
September 25, 1838, JOHN FREDERICK FOSTER (1795-1858),
stipendiary magistrate of Salford, 1825-38 ; appointed
Recorder April 11, 1839, but resigned May 1839 for con-
scientious reasons. Connected with many public charities
and educational institutions. Opened Salford Mechanics'
Institute. Served as Trustee of Owens College.
October 1, 1839, HUGH HORNBY BIRLEY, of Manchester
(died July 31, 1845).
10. LIST OF RELATORS.
The merchants who related a case in Chancery, allowed by
Lord Henley, against the scheme of the feoffees were :
APPENDIX 10 509
MARK PHILIPS, born 1800 ; died December 23, 1873.
Merchant and manufacturer. Educated at Manchester
College, York, and Glasgow University ; M.P. for Manchester,
1832-47. Chairman at the monster public soiree held in
Manchester, October 28, 1837, to support the efforts of the
Central Educational Society in London to secure a national
system of education for England similar to that of Prussia
and France.
JOSEPH BROTHERTON, born 1783; died January 7, 1857.
Overseer of Salford, 1811, and as such inquired into the
appropriation of the public charities of the borough. Became
associated with Rev. William Cowherd and assisted in the
establishment of the New Salford Grammar School and
Academy of Science. Retired from his business of cotton-
spinner in 1820 and took up matters of public reform. Elected
M.P. for Salford, 1832, and continued its representation
till his death. Active advocate for factory legislation, for
Parliamentary Reform, and for Free Trade. Bust in Man-
chester Town Hall ; bronze statue in Peel Park.
' A man whose support every Government must be proud
of, and whose support would never be given unless he be-
lieved it to be honestly due, a man who by his personal and
public conduct has acquired for himself the esteem and respect,
and I may say the affection, of all the members of that
House of which he is so distinguished a member — a man who
has not an enemy in the world.' (Lord Palmerston.)
THOMAS POTTER, born April 5, 1774; died March 20, 1845,
brother of Richard and William, and third son of John Potter
of Tadcaster, Yorkshire. Began life as a farmer, then entered
business with his brothers in 1803. Political reformer, who
largely brought about the union of other reformers, parlia-
mentary and municipal. He was one of the founders of the
Manchester Guardian, 1821. Established a day school at
Irlams o' th' Height. Leader in the movement to obtain a
Town Council and local control of the town by the Corpora-
tion Act, 1832. First Mayor of Manchester, 1839-41.
Knighted 1840.
JOSEPH CHEESEBOROTJGH DYER, born in Connecticut 1780 ;
died May 3, 1871. Inventor and printer, scientist and
political reformer. Founded the North American Eeview ;
accompanied Mark Philips and Alexander Kay to Paris to
congratulate the French Government in 1830 ; active sup-
porter of the Bill for voting by ballot. Editor of Manchester
Chronicle ; one of the original promoters of the Manchester
Guardian.
THOMAS HARBOTTLE, born 1783 ; died November 1853.
510 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Manufacturer, Pollard Street, Ancoats. Chairman of com-
mittee for establishing the Blackburn Independent Academy,
1816, which subsequently became the Lancashire Independent
College. In Feb. 1823, together with Edward Baxter, George
Hadfield, and about a dozen other citizens, he signed a petition
requesting the borough-reeve to summon a town's meeting of
ratepayers to oppose the erection of an expensive and un-
necessary building for provide hospitality to the judges on
circuit. At this time there was marked antipathy between
the Judges and the Justices of the Peace on one side and the
merchants who paid the taxes but were excluded from
administration on the other.
When the riots of the handloom weavers against the intro-
duction of power-looms into the manufactories took place
in May 1829, Mr. Harbottle's factory in Ancoats was one
of the places signalled out for attack, and it was actually
destroyed by the mob. He presided over a town's meeting
held August 23, 1830, to petition for parliamentary repre-
sentation for Manchester, and in 1831 at another meeting to
consider means to indemnify Rev. George Philips, D.D.,
Superintendent of the London Missionary Society, who had
been condemned by the Legislature of the Cape of Good
Hope to pay a fine of £200 and costs of £900 for publicly
quoting the official figures of the Society concerning the slave
trade hi South Africa. Knowing the English law, the
prosecutors avoided proceedings against the Society in
London, but proceeded against their agent abroad. On
March 5, 1834, he presided over a meeting held in Exchange
Buildings, Manchester, for the ventilation and formulation
of the political grievances under which the Nonconformists
were suffering. They were (i.) the necessity of attending
for solemnisation of matrimony in a building consecrated to
the teaching of a form of Christianity of which they dis-
approved ; (ii.) of the interment of their dead in church-
yards, and according to rites, similarly consecrated, and
(iii.) the limitation of official registration of births, and con-
sequently the proofs of succession to property, to the public
baptism in Anglican churches. Besides these civil grievances,
there was also their virtual exclusion from the national Univer-
sities—a grievance which had already expressed itself in the
support given to the foundation of the London University.
On April 17, 1834, George William Woodham placed on the
books of the House of Commons a notice of his intention to
move for leave to bring in a Bill to grant to his Majesty's
subjects generally the right of admission to the English Univer-
sities and of equal eligibility to degrees therein, notwith-
APPENDIX 10 511
standing the differences of religious opinion — degrees in
Divinity alone excepted. In May 1834 a further meeting
of Dissenters was held in London, and Thomas Har bottle,
who attended from Manchester, was one of the deputation
appointed to wait on Lord Althorpe.
Mr. Harbottle's associations with Manchester Non-
conformists were as follows. He joined Mr. Roby's Church
in 1810. Soon after the death of Rev. William Roby in 1830,
Thomas Harbottle resigned his position of deacon, and left
the Grosvenor Street Church and settled with Dr. MacCall at
Mosley Street Chapel. This church he, together with a
group of forty others, left in 1842 to found the Union Street
Chapel as liberal Baptists. They met in the building they
erected in Oxford Road. When the Anti-Corn Law League
was actively supported by philanthropists and Nonconfor-
mist ministers he took an active interest in its work, but
as his health began to fail he left Manchester in 1847 and
settled in Exmouth, Devon, where he died November 1853,
aged seventy.
CHARLES JAMES STANLEY WALKER, of Longford Hall,
Stretford, born 1788 ; died October 12, 1875. Son of Thomas
Walker, borough-reeve and reformer, one of the first to
join Richard Cobden in agitation for the self-government
of the town. Elected town councillor and alderman, 1838.
Member of Manchester Board of Guardians, 1841 ; chairman,
1843-1855. J.P. for Lancashire and for Manchester.
Louis BARTHOLOMY DELANY, son of the Marquis de
Launey who was Governor of the Bastille and 'massacred
July 14, 1789. He was naturalised in England during
1821. His father started the first turkey-red dyeworks
in England at Blackley, near Manchester. His first public
appearance was at a meeting held February 25, 1830, to
consider the general depression of trade and the need to
readjust taxes. He died June 21, 1865, aged seventy-eight.1
JOHN BROOKS, born 1786 ; died October 27, 1849. Calico
printer ; active supporter of the incorporation of the town ;
borough-reeve 1839-40, and alderman. He was a promi-
nent and active Churchman, who generously supported the
Church schools, though he also attended a public meeting,
1848, to oppose the placing of the teaching of the factory
children entirely in the hands of the clergy. He provided
several places of worship at his works for Churchmen,
Independents, Methodists, and Roman Catholics.2
1 Cf. Notes and Queries, December 21, 1889, and Manchester Weekly
Times, October 5, 1889.
8 Manchester Examiner and Times, November 3, 1849.
512 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
EDWARD BAXTER, born 1791 ; died July 26, 1870. Entered
business in 1813 as a gingham and shirting manufacturer,
acting as agent for his father, William Baxter, of Dundee.
Signed the celebrated protest against the vote of thanks
to the magistrates who had ordered the charge of the military
at Peterloo, August 1819. In 1823 E. Baxter and J. E.
Taylor, Thomas Harbottle, Thomas Potter, and others signed
a requisition for meeting of townsmen for improving Market
Street and building a new bridge into Salford. Took the
chair at public meeting, August 1826, to consider the distress
of the working people. One of the active workers who
established the Manchester Guardian 1821. Presided at
a public meeting to adopt congratulatory address to be sent
to Queen Charlotte on her victory in the House of Peers.
Signed the parliamentary nomination form for Mark Philips,
1833 ; actively supported the agitation for incorporation.
One of the seven founders of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law
League proposed by A. Prentice on Monday, September
24, 1838, at York Hotel. It is interesting to note that,
of the seven, six were members of the Presbyterian
Church in Lloyd Street, to which Dr. McKerrow had been
appointed in 1827. It has been sometimes urged that the
Anti-Corn Law League was founded by wealthy manu-
facturers to enable them to obtain cheap labour, but its
primary object was that of social amelioration, to relieve
the poorer classes from the pressure of the heavy taxes on
the necessaries of life. The agitation was as much religious
as political, for an Anti-Corn Law conference which was
convened in 1841 was attended by 648 ministers from all
parts of the kingdom. In 1867 Mr. Baxter gave £2000 as a
supplementary grant to poor scholars in Dundee.
11. TRUSTEES AND GOVERNORS AFTER 1849.
The new trustees appointed by the Court of Chancery
in 1849 were Manchester merchants of position and public
experience, six being chosen to represent the Church and
six to represent Nonconformity.
Sir ELKANAH ARMITAGE (born September 6, 1794, resigned
September 26, 1876, died December 2, 1876). Merchant and
borough-reeve of Salford 1837. President of the Manchester
Athenaeum. Councillor of Manchester 1838, Alderman
1841, 1846-47, and 1847-48. Knighted 1848 for his services
in preserving the peace during a time of rioting. Trustee
of the Royal Infirmary, J.P. for Manchester, and J.P. and
Deputy Lieut, for Lanes. High Sheriff 1866. Chairman of
Trustees of Grammar School 1849 till his resignation. A
APPENDIX 11 513
man of exceptional administrative ability and integrity
of purpose, benevolent and far-sighted.
JOHN MAYSON, of Newmarket Buildings, Manchester,
cotton merchant, born 1800, died April 15, 1857, active
worker among the Wesleyan community, especially educa-
tional, and took active interest in development of Sunday
Schools, Salford. Member of Committee, Royal Schools for
the Deaf, Old Trafford, 1837 ; elected Councillor for All
Saints Ward, Manchester ; alderman 1844-1850, and invited
to be Mayor in 1851, but declined (Wesleyan Methodist
Magazine, 1858, p. 91). Supported the Church of England
Local Education Bill. Memorial tablet in Oxford Road Old
Wesleyan Chapel.
E. R. LANGWORTHY (born in London 1797, died 1874).
Travelled in South America and Mexico ; came to Manchester
1832; alderman of Salford 1844. The establishment of Peel
Park Museum and Library carried through by his energy
and munificence, by contributing £6000. Chairman of
Parks and Library Committee till 1858. Mayor of Salford
1848, 1849. Generous subscriber to Salford Hospital,
Salford Mechanics' Institute, and Owens College. Gave
£10,000 to building fund and left money to endow twenty
Langworthy Scholarships. Vice-chairman of trustees till death.
R. N. PHILIPS, resigned August 7, 1868, died January
17, 1885.
ROBERT BARBOUR (1797-January 17, 1885). Member of
the Scotch Presbyterian Church but generous contributor
to the Church of England Building Society. Merchant and
bank director; donor of £12,000 to endow a professorship
at Presbyterian College.
THOMAS HUNTER, of Whalley Range, resigned 1864.
Partner with J. C. Harter, as Thomas Hunter & Co.
Supported the Manchester School of Design 1838, and the
Commercial Schools 1845. Either he or his son continued
to subscribe to Royal Schools for Deaf 1853-1854.
W. B. WATKINS, drysalter, of Legh House, Ardwick.
Mayor of Manchester 1845, and as such one of the original
trustees of John Owens' will. Educated for medicine, and
continued his interests in classical authors. He was elected
Councillor for Ardwick 1838 ; Alderman 1844. A Liberal
in politics, and a member of the Anti-Corn Law League.
Died June 24, 1864, aged 75.
OLIVER HEYWOOD (1825-March 17, 1892), son of Sir
Benjamin Heywood, banker, founded the Mechanics' In-
stitute and Athenaeum. Educated at Eton. At the School
he served as vice-chairman and treasurer, 1849-1876 ;
LL
514 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
chairman 1876-1892. Vice-president Mechanics' Institute
1850. Assisted in the formation of the Working-men's
College 1858. President of Athenaeum. First honorary
freeman of Manchester. ' His attachment to the interests
of learning, culture, and social elevation and refinement was
invincible, and to them he gave a loyal and lifelong support ;
such indeed was the family tradition : the quiet constant
labours of philanthropy, the management of the hospital,
the regulation of provident effort, the promotion of sanitary
reform, the extension of knowledge and intellectual resources
among the poor, and the salutary influences of healthful and
innocent recreation — these have been for more than a genera-
tion the noble aims, the worthy ambitions of the Hey wood
family.' *
C. H. RICHARDS (born Salford 1812, died July 8, 1876),
son of a cottonspinner ; educated at the School 1820. City
and county magistrate, trustee of Henshaw's Blind Asylum,
member of the Board of Guardians and Chairman 1855 and
1859. Steward of Old Boys' Dinner 1849, and frequently
attended subsequently. Chairman of Board of Governors.
Recipient in 1869 of a presentation plate and purse con-
taining £1365 from his colleagues on the Board of Guardians.
He devoted the sum to foundation of a scholarship in Classics
at the School. The most active and farseeing of the trustees
who carried the reform in 1864-66. Buried at Sandbach
Parish Church.1
THOMAS ARMSTRONG, of Adelphi Street, Broughton, and
Broom Hill, Bury New Road, engineer, died 1867. Trustee
of the Royal Infirmary and member of committee 1837;
auditor 1848, deputy treasurer 1844-1867. Vice-president
1851 and sub-treasurer of the Manchester School for Deaf
and Dumb 1839-1867. Generous subscriber to Manchester
Diocesan Church Building Society and other charities. (Re-
signed December 15, 1864.)
JOHN PEEL, fifth and youngest son of Thomas Peel, calico
printer, Manchester, and of Peel Fold, Blackburn ; admitted
to the School Augusts, 1817 ; lived at Swinton and Middleton
Hall, Tamworth ; generous subscriber and vice-president
Diocesan Church Building Society ; elected M.P. for Tam-
worth 1863 and 1870. Died April 27, 1872.
J. C. HARTER (born 1788; resigned October 11, 1861 ; died
March 2, 1862). Fourteen years treasurer of the Royal In-
firmary; treasurer Church of England Education Society;
vice-president Diocesan Church of England Society, and con-
1 Manchester Guardian, March 18, 1892.
2 Obituary uotice, Ulula.
APPENDIX 11 515
nected with most of the Manchester charities. He presented
MSS. of the prayers and meditations of John Bradford, the
martyr, to Chetham's Library. He was succeeded by his son,
also James Collier Harter, who resigned October 11, 1865.
The agitation on behalf of public elementary education,
conducted by opposing parties under the Public Schools
Association and the National Education Society, combined
with the inertia of Nicholas Germon, the high master,
prevented the new body of trustees or governors, as they
were now called, who were equally representative of both
sides, accomplishing any great change in the policy of the
School. They had repeated conferences with the President of
Corpus Christi College and with the Visitor of the School, but it
was not till the resignation of Mr. Germon that they gained
their long-sought-for opportunity. Mr. F. W. Walker soon
found the practical solution of their financial difficulties by
indicating how a current income adequate to provide salaries
for the masters could be secured by admitting capitation
or fee-paying boys rather than boarders, and combining
English and Grammar Schools into one. They had already
expressed their willingness to find fresh capital for building.
They had to face a very bitter struggle with blind prejudice,
party feeling, and misunderstanding in securing the ratifica-
tion of their scheme in Chancery. Thomas Hunter resigned,
and four new governors were appointed to fill up vacancies
October 1864 :
WILLIAM ROMAINE CALLENDER (1794-May 24, 1872), of
The Elms, Didsbury. Merchant and cotton spinner. Alder-
man Manchester City Council. Took active part in the
incorporation of Manchester 1839. Member of Manchester
Reform Association, but resigned on the adoption of John
Wright's candidature. Not to be confused with his son
William Romaine Callender, M.P. for Manchester.
JAMES CHAD WICK, deputy chairman of governors. Sub-
scribed £500 to refound the Library. Died April 13, 1892.
MURRAY GLADSTONE (died August 23, 1875). Civil engineer
and merchant. Trustee of Royal Infirmary, and treasurer
1861-64 ; governor of Owens College 1868 ; chairman of
Royal Exchange. Speaker at Speech Day 1870. His home
in Higher Broughton subsequently became Bishop's Court.
RICHARD JOHNSON (1809-February 16, 1881), of Fallow-
field. Metal merchant; member of Manchester Chamber of
Commerce, 1866-1878; vice-president 1871-1874; president
1 Obituary notice, Ulula.
616 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
1875 ; deputy chairman of governors of School 1875.
Active supporter of the Owens College. Friend of John
Ruskin.
In 1866 JOHN MORLEY (died 1873), merchant.
In 1868 THOMAS ASHTON, of Ford Bank, Didsbury. Born
in Bury and educated at Heidelberg. Ac tive worker during the
cotton famine, and from the first associated with the founda-
tion of the Owens College. One of the leaders in the City
Art Treasures Exhibition 1857. Intimate friend of Cobden
and Bright. Organised and maintained day schools for
children of his employees, with scholarships for specially
deserving children to Technical School, School of Art, and
the Owens College. One of the governors of the reformed
Hulme Trust, who organised the Hulme Schools at Man-
chester and Oldham, and subsidised Manchester Grammar
School and the Owens College, &c. High Sheriff of Lancashire
1888 and subsequently deputy -lieu tenant. Elected honorary
freeman of Manchester October 26, 1892. Died Jan. 21, 1898.
In 1872 W. H. HOULDSWORTH, M.P. for Manchester
1885. Created baronet. Died May 1917.
In 1872 ABRAHAM HAWORTH (1830-March 11, 1902),
treasurer 1892. Born in Bolton. Came to Manchester 1840,
entering the firm of Dillworth & Sons. Took active part in
philanthropic work in Manchester during the cotton famine.
Treasurer of the Grammar School in succession to Oliver
Heywood from 1876. Chairman of Estates and Building
Committee which raised the funds and planned the gymnasium
and laboratory extensions of 1881. One of the most indefatig-
able workers of the School.
In 1873 EDWARD HARDCASTLE, M.P. for Salford 1874.
Died November 4, 1905. Feoffee of Chetham Hospital.
Trustee of the Owens College. Founder of the Reformatory
School, Blackley.
In 1873 HENRY LEE (1817-December 27, 1904). Treasurer
and deputy chairman. Organiser and supporter of the
School Library. M.P. for Southampton 1880.
In 1873 PETER MACLAREN, resigned 1890.
In 1875 BENJAMIN ARMITAGE, of Chomlea, Pendleton.
Visited Paris in 1860 and 1870 concerning a commercial
treaty ; thrice president of Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
With his brothers founded scholarships in Political Economy
at the School, 1877-1910, in memory of their father, Sir E.
Armitage, M.P. for Salford 1880 and 1885. President of
Manchester Reform Club. Supporter of the Owens College.
Died December 4, 1890.
In 1875 CHARLES FREDERICK BEYER (died 1876).
APPENDIX 11 517
Generous bequests to the Owens College and the Grammar
School.
Before the resignation of Mr. Walker the governors had
already decided on such extension of buildings as would
provide school accommodation for 1000 boys. They an-
nounced their intention of pulling down the old Grammar
School buildings, which had been standing since 1776, and
which, since 1871, had been used for the Chemical Laboratory
and Lecture Room ; of covering the River Irk ; of erecting
new buildings, consisting of a large Gymnasium with which
would be grouped a new Chemical Laboratory more than
twice the size of the existing one, a large Lecture Theatre,
a new Library, and many new class-rooms. The plans were
drawn up by Messrs. Mills & Murgatroyd. Funds were soon
forthcoming, and a brass tablet commemorates the energy
of the governors and the generosity of the public.
Under the Endowed Schools Act of 1868 all Educational
Charities had to present their scheme of management for
approval by the Charity Commissioners. In order to secure
continuity of policy and maintenance of high scholarship, as
well as to keep constantly in touch with local movements,
the scheme proposed by the Manchester Board of Governors
included, ex officio, representative and co-optative governors.
The influence so long and so beneficially exerted by
the successive Presidents of Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
and the Wardens or Deans of Manchester, was retained.
Indeed, the University interest, like that of the town, was
increased. By the inclusion of representative governors
adequate steps were taken to secure the freedom of entry of
poorer boys who showed their ability to profit by the School
curriculum, while those unable to benefit were excluded by
entrance examination. The older traditions were secured by
the retention of the old governors as co-optative members.
The new Governing Body consisted of :
Four Ex-officio Governors :
The President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford — Dr.
Thomas Fowler. Died November 20, 1904.1
Dean of Manchester — Dr. John Oakley. Died August 1890.
Mayor of Manchester — Philip Goldschmidt.
Mayor of Salford — C. Makinson. Died June 1895.
Eight Representative Governors from :
The University of Oxford— Right Rev. Lord Bishop of
Manchester— Dr. James Fraser, 1870-1886.
1 Obituary notice, Ulula.
618 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The University of Cambridge— H. J. Roby. Died Jan-
uary 1, 1915.
The Justices of the Peace of Manchester— Francis J.
Headlam.
The Justices of the Peace of Salford — James Worrall.
Died 1890.
The City Council of Manchester — Alderman Grundy.
The Town Council of Salford — Alderman J. B.
McKerrow.
The Manchester School Board— Herbert Birley. Died 1890.
The Salford School Board— Richard Radford. Died
January 21, 1897.
Twelve Co-optative Governors, being the old governors
with power to fill vacancies when the number had fallen
below nine.
With the enlargement of the governing body and the
raising of funds for the gymnastic extension the work of the
governors has been corporate rather than individual. New
problems concerning the maintenance of the stream of
boyhood, of modifying the curriculum of the teaching in view
of changing opportunities and of furthering the careers of
promising scholars have constantly arisen. The way in
which they have been dealt with by the governing body and
the high master is indicated in the continued progress of the
school. Mr. Oliver Heywood1 continued to hold the chair-
manship in succession to Sir Elkanah Armitage, till his death
in 1892, when Mr. H. J. Roby2 became chairman. During
his tenure of office, the national aspects of public secondary
education were discussed, and a Secondary Schools Com-
mission appointed in 1894, before which Mr. Roby and other
Manchester educationalists gave evidence. Mr. Roby resigned
January 1906, and was succeeded by Rev. Edward Craig
Maclure, D.D.,3 who had been educated at the School 1844-50,
and, after holding other important posts, had been appointed
Dean of Manchester 1890, when he became an ex-officio
member of the governing body, and chairman of the School
Committee in 1896. He became chairman of the School
Board 1891. He served as a member of the Royal Commis-
sion on Secondary Education 1894, and was elected member
of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education
1 Obituary notice, Ulula, 1892.
1 Obituary notice, Ulula, Feb. 1915, and Manchester Guardian, by
Archdeacon Wilson.
1 Obituary notice, Ulula, May 1906.
APPENDIX 12 519
May 8, 1906. Mr. E. J. Broadfield had been the repre-
sentative of the School Board on the Grammar School govern-
ing body from 1890, having served on the School Board
from 1873, and had been its chairman for many years. He
filled the position of chairman at the Grammar School till
his death in 1913.1
12. NOTES OF AN EARLY SPEECH DAY.
The following names of speakers occur in a MS. book
of verses delivered by present and past scholars at the School
celebration in 1640. The book belonged to one of the feoffees
of the School, who was himself probably an old pupil, viz. :
JOHN LIGHTBOWNE, of Buile Hill, Salford. He was the
son of James Lightbowne, merchant, and admitted Gray's
Inn, London, 1630 ; an intimate friend and correspondent,
and subsequently one of 24 supervisors of Will of Humphrey
Chetham, appointed feoffee of the Manchester School, 1647,
and died December 23, 1667.
The book next passed into the possession of GEORGE
CHETHAM, a nephew of Humphrey Chetham. It was lost
sight of for nearly 150 years, when it was picked up from a
bookstall by Thomas Barratt, the antiquary.
The names of the speakers :
JOHN HOP WOOD, either John Hopwood of Hopwood, or
a son of Edmund Hopwood, Chaplain of the College under
the Charter of 1635, and supervisor of the Will of Humphrey
Chetham. Admitted King's College, Cambridge, and then
Clare, 1641.
JOHN BOWKER, son of Robert Bowker, baptised at Man-
chester 1624 ; admitted Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1642;
Fellow of All Souls' 1647, and Master of Standish Grammar
School.
JOHN BRIDEOAK, baptised 1621, son of Richard Brideoak
and brother of the high master ; admitted St. John's 1653.
OSWALD MOSLEY, grandson of Anthony Mosley, clothier,
who bought Ancoats Hall from Sir John Byron, and who
left legacy for poor scholars at Manchester, Middleton, and
Rochdale Schools.
MICHAEL DICCONSON, of Moss Side, Rusholme.
1 Ulula, 1913.
520 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
RICHARD ASHWOETH, admitted Magdalene College,
Cambridge, 1612.
RICHARD ASSHETON, son of Ralph Assheton, of Little
Lever, admitted Sidney Sussex, Cambridge, 1640.
SAMUEL MOSLEY, son of Oswald Mosley, of Ancoats;
baptised May 11,1628 ; lived in Ireland, but buried at Collegiate
Church, Manchester, 1673.
PETER DEVENER, son of Peter of Knutsford ; born 1622 ;
admitted Brasenose, Oxon, 1638 ; licensed to practise
surgery, 1646.
EDMUND BYROM, fourth son of Adam Byrom of Salf ord ;
baptised Collegiate Church, Manchester, August 8, 1623; died,
unmarried, 1668.
STEPHEN HALL, son of Stephen Hall ; baptised Collegiate
Church 1623.
THOMAS WORSLEY, son of Thomas Worsley, of the Inner
Temple ; buried at Eccles 1649. A ' recusant ' in 1642.1
THOMAS SMITH, son of John Smith, of Hey worth ; admitted
Christ's College, Cambridge, 1648 ; B.A. 1652, M.A. 1656.
Appeared before the Wirksworth Classis, Derbyshire, 1656,
and after examination ordained minister. Ejected 1662.2
JAMES JOLLIE, son of Major James Jollie ; admitted Trinity
CoUege, Cambridge, 1645 ; B.A. 1648, M.A. 1652. A strong
Independent, yet joined the union to promote co-operation
between the Presbyterians and the Independents.
THOMAS BROWNS WORD.
WILLIAM BROWNSWORD, son of John, of Manchester;
admitted Brasenose, Oxon, 1642 ; M.A. Oxon, 1645, Em-
manuel, Cambridge, 1645. Became vicar of Kendal.3
JOHN ASHTON, son of Ralph Assheton, of Little Lever ;
admitted Magdalene College, Cambridge, 1645.
WILLIAM GARNER, probably son of William Garner of
Kendal and late rector of Little Linford.
ROBERT WAUGH cannot be traced.
THOMAS PRESTWICH and EDMUND PRESTWICH, sons of
Edward Prestwich, who farmed the School mills, but was
turned out in 1645 by order of the sequestrators.
13. INVENTORY OF GOODS BELONGING TO THE SCHOOL
MILLS, 1649.
The following copy of an inventory of the goods belonging
to the mills appears in a series of articles on the Grammar
1 See Historical MSS. Commission, Eleventh Report, App. ij. p. vii.
2 Of. Palmer, Nonconformist Register.
8 See Nicholson and Axon, Nonconformity in Kendal.
APPENDIX 13 521
School contributed by John Harland to the Manchester
Guardian, December 1849-May 1850.
£ *. d.
Imprimis, two mill horses and a boat, three loads
of hay 12 14 0
Item:
In nearer mill :
2 two-arkes ...... 50
A coffer (a box), a small tub ... 64
A bedstead, a flock bed, a bolster, 2 blankets
& coverlet, 2 feather pillows, a pair of
sheets ...... 15 0
An ironcrow, a chisel, & 14 picks & a mill
hammer . . . . . .140
2 great ropes to draw up millstones . . 10 0
New mill step of brass ....
2 great wiskets and 2 mill sieves . 30
A new hoop and new pick ... 10
A garth of iron for trendle head . . 8
2 trendle heads, 2 bushes ... 26
A tallow box ...... 6
3 loose boards & an old piece of wood . 1 0
A fleake to lay corn on . . . . 10
At the further mill :
A bedstead, a flock bed, a bolster, 2 blankets,
a pillow & a pair of sheets, new . . 15 0
A tridearke & a tub .... 40
A mill crow-chisel, & 12 picks . . 16 10
A mill hammer & a level . . . 3 10
A tallow coffer and an old form . 10
A measure, a pick, a sieve ... 20
Two mill sheets, ropes and 2 eye ropes to
draw up stones . . . . .163
New iron piggin 34 Ibs. weight . . 9 10
A shover, some 35 ring staves & about 180
caps & 6 ladle stocks .... 14
Some loose pieces of timber ... 16
An old millstone, an iron crow at the Walker
mills 20 Ibs. weight .... 5 10
Sum of aU prised is 20 16 7
Priced by Wm. Cooke X his mark.
John Chadderton X his mark.
John I. P. Percival X his mark.
522 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
14. THE SCHOOL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
The real civic and intellectual value of school training
depends upon the opportunity which boys get to cultivate
their natural interests and powers. This is quite as dependent
upon the spontaneous play of their budding powers during
their leisure as it is upon the formal instruction and training
they receive in the class-room. Indeed, it is probable that
the greater the innate capacity, the more independent of
organised curricula the boy becomes, the more dependent he is
upon the provision of opportunity for the free and voluntary
exercise of his talents. It follows that every school should
be provided with libraries, museums, workshops, &c., in
which freedom is encouraged, though guidance is offered,
but not insisted upon. The school curriculum should never
absorb all a boy's energies. It is noticeable that the
immediate cause of these new opportunities being provided
is generally benevolence and interest which realises the
limitations of the school life, and this constitutes another
reason for the school being kept in close association with
the civic life around. Among these provisions libraries
are the oldest and most necessary. If the few books which
remain in the Grammar School library are to be regarded as
typical of their lost companions, there can be no doubt that
a wise humanism has generally prevailed in the School, and
that as soon as it has been in danger of losing touch with the
common life outside, influences to break down its limitations
have begun to operate. The earliest indications of a school
library are associated with the books from the town library
of 1680. It received great additions soon after Richard Wroe
had become warden of the local collegiate body and conse-
quently visitor of the School, i.e. about 1680. Richard Thomp-
son, who became assistant master in 1690, was credited with
an extensive knowledge of botany. He was also one of four
trustees appointed to supervise the distribution of property of
George Ogden, a famous local collector of Roman antiquities,
intaglios, coins and urns. The extant list of subscribers to
the School holiday library of 1725-40 shows how much the
School interests were regarded by the townsmen. A perusal
of the books subsequently added during Charles Lawson's time,
and still in the School library, show that the same liberality
of thought and width of outlook was maintained. It was
probably pleasant early reminiscences that induced William
Arnold, the distinguished alumnus who became senior wrangler
in 1761, and tutor to the two elder sons of George III., to leave
in his will, dated 1802, £50 for the purchase of books for the
APPENDIX 14 523
School library.1 That the books were read is shown by the
impression De Quincey records of the conversations of his
fellow pupils when he joined the School in 1800. The first
evening was spent in the discussion of Grotius' ' Evidences of
Christianity,' and subsequent discussions on other matters
showed the ability and knowledge which were expected of
those who were subsequently destined to take high places
in intellectual life. During the high mastership of Rev.
Jeremiah Smith (1808-1837), while there was a great increase
in efficiency of formal classical teaching, there was probably
a distinct narrowing in outlook, a condition of affairs that
was even more marked at Oxford, and which caused two of its
most distinguished alumni, Sir William Hamilton2 and Sir
Charles Lyell,3 to comment upon it adversely. It is true that
extracts from French and English as well as from classical
authors were recited by boys on speech days 1825-26, but the
subsequent publications of his scholars, which Dr. Smith so
diligently collected, and the books which remain of those added
to the School library at this time, show the limitations of out-
look. For it can hardly be claimed that Harrison Ainsworth
was a typical product of the School, for his success was due
to a rebellion against its formalism. It is also probable that
the decision to include in the scheme of extension which the
School feoffees put before the Court of Chancery in 1833, plans
for the annual expenditure of £50 upon the School library,
and plans for teaching Natural Philosophy and Mathematics,
German and English Literature, originated from the laymen
rather than from the high master or from the representatives of
the English Universities. Indeed, the specific appeals of Rev.
Robert Elsdale and Rev. John William Richards, who suc-
ceeded Dr. Smith, in their speeches at the anniversary meetings
of 1838 and 1840, to redeem that function from partisanship,
indicate that the danger was expressed as well as recognised.
The new liberalising spirit became evident in a register of books
borrowed from the School library dated 1845 onwards. The
entries indicate that small payments were made for the use of
the library at the time, which was opened once a week.
During the years 1845-47 French plays were got up by
the boys themselves and performed on speech days. The
School library made rapid strides under the care of Richard
Thompson (1811-62).4 He had been admitted to the School
1 Cf. Manchester School Registers, vol. i. pp. 76-8.
1 Sir William Hamilton, Discussions on Philosophy and Literature,
Education and University Reform. Chiefly from the Edinburgh Review, 1853.
3 Sir Charles Lyell, Travels in North America, 1845, chap. xiii.
4 Obituary notice, Courier, Feb. 1, 1862, and Ulula, 1876.
624 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
in 1819, and had entered Brasenose 1830. He passed with
first-class honours in Classics 1834, and was awarded a Hulme
exhibition, but being disappointed of a fellowship had re-
turned to his old School, first as assistant, then as second
master. Owing to the virtual stoppage of boarders, he
was compelled to augment his income by acting as private
tutor.
Many valuable books were given to the School about 1850
by friends and visitors, such as Richard Whately, Archbishop
of Dublin, who gave a complete set of his writings. So
rapidly did the library grow that a catalogue was printed in
1855. John Harland, a well-known antiquary and biblio-
grapher, contributed a long article to the Manchester Guardian,
August 1856, in which he described in detail a number of the
valuable old books in the library. The humanising influence
which was at first associated with the English School was
increased when John Deas Mackenzie, whose portrait still
hangs over the mantelpiece of the Boardroom, came to the
School in 1854. It is unfortunate that so little is known about
him. So highly was Richard Thompson respected, and
even beloved, that after his death a sum of money was col-
lected by his pupils and invested to secure an annual income
for the Thompson History Prize. Perhaps it was the gift
of volumes for the library by his sister in 1876 that caused
Henry Lee to persuade his fellow-governors to set apart a
large room in the 1881 buildings for the School library,
and Mr. James Chadwick, deputy chairman, to give £500 to
increase the further purchase of books.
Another humanising influence came into the School life
with the introduction of the South Kensington Science and
Art examinations. It has been said that the teachers were
often overpaid for their work, but they were certainly under-
paid in other directions. Private collections, geological,
natural history, &c., began to appear in the School. A School
Philosophical Society was founded and a Natural History
Society. Old boys, like Dr. C. H. Hurst, spent much spare
time there with the boys. Masters like Mr. Willis and Mr.
Bruton widely extended the interest which was being aroused
and held the botany and nature-study classes. Not a few
cultivated an early interest in natural history and used this
to good effect later. Cases of birds were presented by the
Manchester Museum, Palaeolithic implements by Mr. Sutcliffe
of Littleborough, geological specimens by Dr. Lazarus.
The recent remarkable extension of the museum under Mr.
Bruton hardly comes within the space of history ; it is rather
the promising beginning of a new department of school life.
APPENDIX 15 525
15. AN ACCOUNT OF THE BOOKS BOUGHT WITH THE
MONEY ON THE OTHER SIDE AND OF ALL
THE BOOKS SUCH AS BELONG TO YE SCHOOL
LIBRARY.
(The date, of publication is added for reference.)
£ «. d.
1729. Waller's Poems, presented by Rev. William
Goole, H.M. Witney School, Oxon.
1713. Basil Kennet's Antiquities of Rome, pre-
sented by Rev. William Goole, H.M.
Witney School, Oxon
1729. Spectator, 8 vols 18 0
1672. Cowley's Works, folio .... 70
1713. The Guardian, R. Steele, 2 vols. . 56
1727. Stanyan's Greek History, 2 vols. . 56
1733. Don Quixote, 4 vols 10 6
1721. Dryden's Fables 33
1701. Savage's Letters of Civil Politics and
Morality 36
1713. Henry Felton, ' A Dissertation on Reading
the Classics and forming a just style ' . 26
1683. Fontenelle's ' Dialogues of the Dead ' 26
1725. Fenelon, Telemachus, English translation . 5 6
1727. John Gay, Fables 56
1727. Vertot's Roman Revolutions, 2 vols. . 10 6
1727. Gulliver's Travels, 2 vols. ... 90
1722. Sir Richard Steele's Plays ... 30
1692. L'Estrange's Aesop's Fables, 2 vols. . 9 0
1728. Pope and Swift's Miscell., 3 vols. . . 15 0
1720. Pope's Homer, 6 vols 19 0
1723. Blackball ' On ye Sacred Classicks ' . . 20
1728. The Art of Logic and Rhetorick (given by
Mr. Christopher Byron).
1717. Ovid, 2 vols. (English translation by Garth) 5 0
1723. Philipps, A Compendious way of Teaching
Ancient and Modern Languages . 26
Plutarch's Lives, 5 vols. ... 12 0
1721. Matthew Prior's Poems, 2 vols. . 56
1719. Robinson Crusoe ..... 56
1725. Herrera's History of America, 6 vols.
translated by John Stevens . . 1 14 0
1731. Peter Kolben's History of the Cape of Good
Hope, translated by Guy Medley . 50
626 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
t s. d.
1699. Sir Samuel Garth's Dispensary 1 6
1712. Michael Mattaire's English Grammar.
(Master at Westminster School) . 30
1719. Ward's Algebra . . 50
John Sheffield, the Duke of Buckingham,
1649-1721, Works . . . . 11 0
For binding a Greek lexicon quarto. . 1 3
1718. Lucan, 2 vols. (English) ... 28
1697. November 27. Paid for binding Mark
Antony ...... 7
1721. Camden's History of England (English) . 3 6
1701-3. Addison's Travels .... 30
Milton's Paradise Lost .... 46
1721. MUSSB Anglicanse, 2 vols. ... 56
1721. Musse Anglicanse, 3rd vol. ... 26
1721. Addison's Works, 3 vols. (12mo). . 12 6
1731. Thomas Stackhouse on Language. H.M. of
Hexham Grammar School. Reflections
on language in general and the advan-
tages, defects, and manner of lisping
the English tongue, edited by Richard
Rawlinson ....... 30
1718. Abelard to Heloise 16
Bennet's Hebrew Grammar ... 26
English Histories by Question and Answer
(three copies) ..... 76
1708. Patrick Gordon, Geography Anatomised . 6 0
Ward's Algebra (2nd copy) ... 36
1725-6. Pope's Odysseus, 5 vols. ... 15 0
H. Gore's Algebra 36
1713. Fenelon, Telemachus, in French . 56
1668. Sir John Denham's Poems and Travels . 2 0
1699. Boyer's French Grammar ... 26
1717. Ovid's Epistles (Eng. by several hands,
Dryden and others) .... 30
1698. Thomas a Kempis, by George Stanhope . 8 0
Littleton's Dictionary and Hedericus'
Lexicon (bought by ye feoffees).
Four BlackwalPs On ye Classicks
Charles Rollin's Method of Belles Lettres .
Felton's On ye Classicks (six copies)
1724. Aesop's Fables in English, Lond. 1740 .
Homer, 2 vols. (Greek and Latin) .
30 2 0
APPENDIX 17 527
16. SOME SCHOLARS OF JOHN CLAYTON.
Robert Johnson, son of William, of Mitton, Yorks (born
1736) ; admitted St. John's, Cambridge, 1755.
Roger, son of Robert Sedgwick (born 1723); admitted
St. John's, Cambridge, 1742. M.B. 1748.
Richard Assheton, son of Richard Assheton, of Salford ;
Brasenose College, Oxon, B.A. 1748 ; Chaplain 1760, Fellow of
Manchester College 1791 ; died 1796. Feoffee of Chetham's
Hospital and Manchester Grammar School ; Warden 1783.
Richard Hough ton, son of Richard, of Win wick, admitted
St. John's, Cambridge, 1756.
James Dawson, son of William Dawson, druggist and
apothecary; admitted St. John's, Cambridge, 1737; captain
in 1745 Rebellion; tried July 3, 1746, and executed at Ken-
nington Common. ' He was so hearty in the cause that he
beat up volunteers himself and took abundance of pains
to prevail on the young fellows at Manchester to enlist.'
Sam Adderton, of Preston (born 1738) ; admitted
St. John's 1756.
Edward Byrom, of Kersal (1724-1760), son of Dr. John
Byrom; feoffee of Chetham's Hospital 1757; borough-reeve
of Manchester 1738. His sister Mary married John Hough ton
of Baguley.
Sir J. Darcy Lever, of Alkrington ; feoffee of Chetham's
Hospital, and began the natural history collection expanded
by his son, Ash ton Lever, in to the famous Leverian Museum ;
died 1742.
17. ESTIMATES AND SUMMARIES OF FIGURES COLLECTED TO
ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF BOYS IN THE SCHOOL, AS WELL
AS THE NUMBER PROCEEDING THENCE TO THE ENGLISH
UNIVERSITIES DURING SUCCESSIVE PERIODS OF THE
SCHOOL'S HISTORY.
I. The first series of quinquennial figures deals with the
years 1515-1680. It is based on an analysis of lists of scholars
who are known to have passed from Manchester or its
immediate neighbourhood to one or other English University.
It is necessarily incomplete, but even as a conjecture, affords
some indication of the work of the School. It includes many
628 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
who were not educated at the School, and excludes others
who were. It takes no account of those going to Edinburgh
or the Dutch Universities ; these were not few. The School
probably consisted of fifty to one hundred scholars.
8.
•
„•
•o
9
•g
%§
"B
T?
Year.
"M
•d
.a
rt
Year.
I
Year.
1
1
O
I
0
•
0
I
O
o
0
1516-1520
_
_
1571-1575
1
3
1626-1630
2
3
1521-1525
—
—
1576-1580
4
2
1631-1635
7
3
1526-1530
—
1
1581-1585
2
1
1636-1640
7
2
1531-1535
—
—
1586-1590
1
5
1641-1645
1
8
1536-1540
2
1
1591-1595
2
—
1646-1650
7
18
1541-1545
2
—
1596-1600
5
1
1651-1655
2
16
1546-1550
3
—
1601-1605
5
, —
1656-1660
—
13
1551-1555
2
—
1606-1610
1
1
1661-1665
4
6
1556-1560
4
1
1611-1615
2
1
1666-1670
7
19
1561-1565
1
—
1616-1620
2
1
1671-1675
6
16
1566-1570
5
•—
1621-1625
6
2
1676-1680
5
5
II. A second series of quinquennial figures (1680-1735), less
conjectural, but certainly incomplete, being based on lists of
those who were awarded exhibitions from the School funds
for their University training, or concerning whom there is
other evidence that they were trained at the Manchester
School. As the petit or junior school was established in 1686
it is probable that the total number of scholars was between
150 and 200.
*
1
i
t
1
Yeer.
^
i
Year.
£
s
Year.
£
o
g
0
i
o
i
o
°
o
1681-1685
1
9
1701-1705
7
4
1721-1725
5 i 2
1686-1690
6
3
1706-1710
4
5
1726-1730
11 I
1691-1695
9
3
1711-1715
8
1
1731-1735
9
1
1696-1700
11
5
1716-1720
6
3
III. A third series of quinquennial figures (1735-1835),
based on the details in the School registers edited by Finch
Smith, and published by the Chetham Society.
A few additions and alterations have been made, and
APPENDIX 18
529
the registers are known to be very incomplete for certain
years. Hence these figures are minimal. The new buildings
were opened in 1776, but the School soon reached its
eighteenth -century maximum.
.£
i
1 1
.
.g
,
1
n
1
Tears.
d
1
iK
t
Years.
0
*§
1
1
1
|
v-J
o
o
|
o
1
o
«
o
EH
63
HH
o
H
1
1
EH
EH
1736-1740
133
107
26
14
5
1786-1790
168
103
65
30
11
1741-1745
105
83
22
11
4
1791-1795
126
94
32
25
11
1746-1750
87
60
27
17
7
1796-1800
136
107
29
11
2
1751-1755
151
96
45
11
6
1801-1805
109
93
16
11
1
1756-1760
217
136
81
14
7
1806-1810
226
172
54
12
5
1761-1765
209
135
74
12
8
1811-1815
214
139
75
20
10
1766-1770
200
134
66
12
8
1816-1820
220
170
52
17
9
1771-1775
271
161
110
20
10
1821-1825
210
142
68
25
17
1776-1780
296
173
123
33
12
1826-1830
298
213
85
21
15
1781-1785
274
170
104
22
12
1831-1835
298
235
63
15
9
18. THE SOCIAL STATUS AND FUTURE OCCUPATIONS
OF THE BOYS.
The following analysis of the occupations of parents as given
inthe School registers shows the extent to which the Grammar
School was used by the different classes. The registers do
not indicate which boys were boarders with the masters, so
it is assumed that boys coming from a distance were boarders
and necessarily of a more favoured social position, while boys
from the town itself were less selected and generally of a less
favoured social position. Another table shows how wealth
and social position gained an increasing share of University
training, and ultimately succeeded in virtually monopolising
it, till the attempts at the beginning of the twentieth century
did something to restore the balance.
In comparing the social status of the scholars during Mr.
PurnelTs high -mastership (1749-1764) with that during Dr.
Jeremiah Smith's (1808-1837), we notice a decreased use of the
school by the country gentry, yeoman and farmer classes,
and still more by the shopkeeping and artisan class, all of
whom, during the later period, sent a smaller proportion to
the English Universities. Indeed, owing to the growth in the
530 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
number of the boarders, the lower middle classes tended to
be crowded out. There was a greatly increased number of
the sons of the professional and official classes and of the
wealthier merchant class, who formed the large bulk of the
Years.
1
£5
Clergy and
Liberal
Professions.
5
3
1
gjj
S!
Manufacturers
and Merchants.
Shopkeepers
and Tradesmen.
o
£ «3
Ml
lai
Artisans and
Handicraftsmen .
1740-1745
6
3
2
8
8
28
8
11
1745-1750
10
9
3
7
11
41
12
14
1750-1755
18
16
5
4
8
54
14
16
1755-1760
17
30
8
10
6
56
13
2
1760-1765
16
24
4
6
5
58
19
28
1765-1770
21
26
5
7
22
61
10
30
1770-1775
29
43
5
13
29
56
23
38
1775-1780
39
37
8
12
30
66
12
25
1780-1785
42
37
7
13
48
60
14
28
1785-1790
16
23
5
17
40
25
9
18
1790-1795
11
17
12
7
32
31
12
12
1795-1800
9
15
9
3
29
26
9
13
1800-1805
4
12
6
3
20
24
8
12
1805-1810
13
29
13
4
46
31
13
9
1810-1815
19
43
13
6
89
28
16
5
1815-1820
13
43
13
7
67
28
10
1
1820-1825
23
45
10
14
76
27
29
4
1825-1830
25
22
24
6
48
38
17
4
1830-1835
20
42
11
6
46
51
10
15
boarders and the great majority of those proceeding to the
Universities.
IV. A fourth series (1836-1869), partly quinquennial and,
after 1860, annual, based on lists compiled from newspaper
reports of annual meetings, and from class lists which were
Five Years.
To
Oxford.
To
Cambdge.
One Year.
Boys on
School Lists.
To
Oxford.
To
Cambdge.
1836-1840 .
17
9
1861
232
2
_
1841-1845 .
16
8
1862
249
1
4
1846-1850 .
15
2
1863
306
4
1
1851-1855 .
12
6
1864
286
6
2
1856-1860 .
6
5
1865
240
1
2
—
—
1866
258
5
4
—
—
—
1867
245
9
1
—
—
—
1868
288
6
1
—
—
—
1869
365
5
—
APPENDIX 18
531
first printed in 1860, give the number of boys actually in
the School, not the number of entries. The marked influence
of Mr. Walker in inducing many day scholars of poorer middle
classes to pass from the School to Oxford and Cambridge
Universities, when the well-to-do boarders of the previous
series had ceased to attend the School, is shown below,
and also the effect of the strenuous exertions put forth by
the boys as a result of Mr. Walker's stimulus.
QUINQUENNIAL PERIODS.
At Oxford — Honours.
Years.
Total at Oxford.
First Class.
Second Class.
Third Class.
Not Glassed
1811-15
20
6
4
' _
10
1816-20
17
—
3
2
12
1821-25
25
1
2
5
17
1826-30
21
4
—
6
11
1831-35
15
1
1
3
10
1836-40
17
1
—
1
15
1841-45
15
2
2
3
8
1846-50
15
—
3
2
10
1851-55
12
5
4
1
2
1856-60
9
5
4
1
1861-65
14
7
4
—
3
1866-70
33
16
2
3
5
1871-75
35
17
17
1
1876-80
41
17
12
4
At Oxford and Cambridge.
Years.
Fellow-
ships.
Univ.
Scholars.
First
Class.
Second
Class.
Third
Class.
Open
Scholar-
ships.
Closed
Scholar-
ships.
1881-1885
1
_
24
31
17
61
32
1886-1890
3
4
23
34
53
31
22
1891-1895
3
10
53
43
16
53
19
1896-1900
4
11
45
31
12
42
19
1901-1905
3
7
37
41
11
51
16
1906-1910
5
25
43
32
13
50
16
1911-1915
4
17
30
32
7
47
11
V. A fifth series, annual figures, beginning with the
opening of the extension built to accommodate the extra
fee- pay ing Capitation boys, who now mingled with the free
foundationers or scholars. The Owens College had been
632
THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
1
4-> 0>
0
SI.S.
o? a
.
f I
£ fc
•3
o Ji -2 ° § o-H^H'o"
I
•g
Total
T3
1
^&
.20
ll-
Ig
««
lllil Iflif
1
•<
a
Year.
in
8
js
flj?
P So
•* & «>
M §
'»- •§ ^ ce S* S 3 5 03 b
.9
I
School
§
1
Matriculati<
Universi
"SioS
r
Isil!
1|plS
Certificate*
Certifica
1881 . 899
7
5
8
26
_
1882 . 915
8
4
11
25
—
—
917
356
1883 .
953
9
4
14
17
—
—
839
412
1884 .
860
12
4
11
20
—
—
841
335
1885 .
874
13
3
7
26
—
—
—
1107
533
1886 .
827
8
6
16
20
—
—
—
740
570
1887 .
788
10
5
7
13
—
—
—
968
371
1888 .
831
7
6
16
21
—
—
964
870
1889 .
751
6
9
12
23
—
—
—
997
608
1890 .
860
11
6
1
20
—
—
715
627
1891 .
814
9
4
9
23
—
—
—
508
472
1892 .
806
13
8
4
18
—
—
723
525
1893 .
788
6
5
10
25
—
0
3
474
359
1894 .
746
9
5
10
27
—
3
1
394
433
1895 .
755
5
7
6
31
—
3
3
430
468
1896 .
725
12
3
10
25
6
2
2
285
562
1897 .
720
9
4
13
23
6
2
4
312
567
1898 .
765
7
3
7
22
1
1
1
286
610
1899 .
770
10
6
6
21
12
3
1
256
688
1900 .
731
10
3
10
22
7
5
5
274
307
1901 .
753
12
5
7
25
6
5
6
71
152
1902 .
757
14
1
3
21
8
8
3
100
118
1903 .
737
6
4
4
23
1
4
8
(a)
(b)
1904 .
840
5
6
7
38
9
7
6
2
1905 .
853
8
5
3
40
4
4
7
3
1906 .
870
5
10
13
40
8
35
23
9
2
1907 .
894
8
3
3
51
15
23
22
5
3
1908 .
892
11
4
6
55
9
24
36
3
5
1909 .
881
8
6
2
62
14
31
29
2
11
1910 .
866
8
5
—
63
15
36
26
1
4
1911 .
847
10
5
2
43
13
34
24
0
3
1912 .
847
12
8
2
36
7
33
23
5
1913 .
1016
10
—
2
39
12
36
21
,
2
1914 .
1025
8
—
26
36
24
3
1915 .
1010
—
~~
—
16
—
—
4
(a) Entering Municipal Day Training Colleges after leaving School.
(6) Entering University Day Training College after leaving School.
APPENDIX 18
533
ANALYSIS OF FACULTIES ENTERED AT THE OWENS COLLEGE,
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL COL-
LEGE BY BOYS FROM THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL.1
Year.
Arts.
Science.
Tech-
nology.
Law.
Medi-
cine.
Unclas-
sified.
Total.
1873
2
2
1
6
8
19
1874
4
—
—
—
—
6
10
1875
1
2
—
—
6
9
18
1876
1
1
—
—
5
5
12
1877
1
—
4
7
12
1878
2
1
1
—
2
6
12
1879
2
—
3
4
13
22
1880
1
3
1
4
3
5
17
1881
7
2
—
7
10
26
1882
6
3
—
3
11
9
32
1883
3
4
—
1
6
7
21
1884
6
4
—
3
7
6
26
1885
4
6
1
—
10
5
26
1886
1
4
2
2
8
9
26
1887
2
6
2
1
4
—
15
1888
3
3
—
1
12
7
26
1889
3
4
1
—
9
8
25
1890
4
3
2
2
7
6
24
1891
2
6
1
3
9
4
25
1892
5
6
5
2
9
1
28
1893
4
4
2
12
8
30
1894
3
6
1
2
14
6
32
1895
4
6
2
2
24
7
45
1896
2
6
12
2
11
5
38
1897
4
9
8
2
11
2
36
1898
4
8
3
—
15
4
34
1899
1
5
12
4
7
6
35
1900
4
3
9
4
9
1
30
1901
4
8
9
3
8
9
41
1902 . .
2
7
9
5
7
8
38
1903
2
6
2
3
9
8
30
1904
7
3
10
3
8
8
39
1905
4
5
5
3
11
12
40
1906
3
7
11
4
7
8
40
1907
6
12
19
2
4
8
51
1908
7
8
13
1
10
16
55
1909
7
9
15
2
4
15
52
1910
12
9
16
1
6
20
64
1911
4
4
15
1
3
16
43
1912
4
4
10
—
6
13
37
1913
3
2
15
1
7
11
39
1914
—
—
—
25
1915
~~
—
• —
—
—
—
16
1 The list is somewhat imperfect. It is compiled from the entrance register of the
Owens College (now Manchester University), which does not always describe the pre-
vious centre of education where the scholar was trained. It is sufficiently accurate to be
descriptive and suggestive.
534 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
opened in Quay Street in 1858, and had little effect on the
Grammar School until its new buildings in Oxford Road
were opened in 1873 for the teaching of science and medicine
as well as mathematics, art, &c.
I ^
Entered
IB 1
Tear.
Totals in
School.
To
Oxford.
To
Cambridge.
ill
the
Owens
College.
If J
1870
444
8
5
7
7
_
1871
488
4
2
10
11
—
1872
539
7
2
1
7
—
1873
538
5
3
9
19
—
1874
570
8
2
5
10
—
1875
700
12
5
8
20
—
1876
760
5
2
5
12
—
1877
799
10
5
5
12
27
1878
789
10
4
7
12
28
1879
780
12
6
6
22
19
1880
884
4
—
10
17
32
Analysis of Number of Pupils proceeding to Oxford and
Cambridge during several Quinquennial Periods.
—
Oxford.
Cambridge.
Total.
1801-5
11
1
12
1806-10
12
5
17
1811-15
20
10
30
1816-20
17
9
26
1821-25
25
17
42
1826-30
21
15
36
1831-35
15
9
24
1836-40
17
9
26
1841-15
16
8
24
1846-50
15
2
17
1851-55
12
6
18
1856-60
9
5
14
APPENDIX 19
535
19. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
AND THE MANCHESTER HIGHER-GRADE SCHOOLS IN
FURTHERING THE EDUCATION OF THE LOWER MlDDLE
CLASSES is ILLUSTRATED BY THE FOLLOWING FIGURES,
TAKEN FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON
SECONDARY EDUCATION APPOINTED 1894.
-
No. of Pupils.
Standard
VII.
Extra
Standard.
Scholarships.
Subjects Studied.
Manchester Cen-
tral Higher
Grade School,
1892
330
310
27 Science
and Arts
7 Lancaster
Prepared for London
Matriculation, Victoria
University, Natural
Science Association,
and Royal College of
Preceptors
Manchester
Waterloo Road
Higher Grade
none
100
as above
as above
In 1893 there were six such schools in Manchester with
7,104 scholars. Their defect was their early specialisation
in science teaching and the exclusion of foreign language
teaching from the curriculum, hence the failure of the ex-
Higher Grade scholars, when they came to compete for
entrance scholarships to the Grammar School with boys
from Secondary Schools possessing less knowledge of
science, but having had better training in the humanities and
general outlook.
' We find that a boy leaving one of our Higher Grade
Schools will, in the subject in which he has been taught, be
on a level with any boy in such schools as the Manchester
Grammar School, but in Latin or Greek he will be nowhere.
I would so organise the Higher Grade School that this might
be obviated. But this organisation needs freedom from the
present rules affected.' x
' I cannot conceive why many persons with a scientific
and mathematical tendency should not go to a first-grade
modern school instead of to a classical school.' 2
1 Evidence of C. H. Wyatt, July 18, 1894.
* Evidence of H. J. Roby, January 22, 1895.
536 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Further evidence was given by Mr. Roby to show that, of
the boys selected originally by merit from Public Elementary
Schools, it was only a very few who, from one cause or another,
carried on their education to the higher forms. Of those who
reached the sixth forms in the School, 12 per cent, were scholars
who had been awarded entrance scholarships restricted to boys
from the elementary schools, and of these 8 per cent, passed
by means of such a ladder to the Universities ; 28 per cent,
were scholars who had been awarded open entrance scholar-
ships, and of these 16 per cent, passed by means of such a
ladder to the Universities.1
20. PECUNIARY AND OTHER ASSISTANCE OFFERED TO BOYS
DESIROUS OF BEING EDUCATED AT THE MANCHESTER
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
Entrance. — Fifteen per cent, of the entrances must be
awarded to boys from elementary schools, who receive their
education free of cost, and are called Free Placers. They
are chosen after an examination held at the School, though
a certain number of them, up to 5 per cent, of the total
number, may have had a scholarship or exhibition awarded
to them by one or other of the educational authorities
mentioned below, as a result of a special examination held
either at the School or elsewhere. Under these circum-
stances the School accepts the results of such examination.
The following are the most important of such external
exhibitions and scholarships, which are tenable at the Man-
chester Grammar, or at some other Secondary School :
Mynshull Scholarships.
Lancasterian Scholarship, M.E.C.
Junior Secondary Scholarships, M.E.C. , £75 during five
years.
Junior Secondary Scholarships, Salford, E.G.
Lancashire Education Committee, Junior Exhibition,
£10 a year.
Cheshire Education Committee, Junior Exhibition, £10
a year.
Denison Naylor.
Ann Hinde.
Dean Exhibition, Earlestown district, £25.
Winwick Exhibition, £15.
J. W. Clegg Scholarship, Rochdale.
Hardman Scholarship, Rochdale.
McKerrow Exhibition.
1 H. J. Roby, Question 16,759.
APPENDIX 21
537
21. SCHOLARSHIPS, EXHIBITIONS, PRIZES, &c., AVAILABLE FOR
BOYS AT OR LEAVING MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
Date.
No.
Name.
Annual Value.
Where held.
£ s.
1874
20
Langworthy Scholarships
20
Tenable at the
school.
1876
2
Walker Scholarships
20
1907
5
Charles Oldhain Scholar-
15
M
ships
1865
3
Shakespeare C Two
20
M
Scholarships I One
14
ff
1897
2
Cart wright Charity Exhi-
17 10
,,
bitions
1909
1
Ellis A. Franklin Scholar-
15
M
ship (for Jewish boys)
1914
1
Stanley Houghton
10
tt
Scholarship
1916
1
Arthur Powell Bursary x
10
,,
1847
Larson Medal (Classics)
17
»
and sum of money
1847
Lawson Medal (Classics)
2 10
ft
and sum of money
1874
Bishop Lee Greek Testa-
10
,,
ment Prize
1867
Richard Thompson His-
4
M
tory Prize
1878
Perkesian Latin Prize
4
»
1881
Francis Kelly Science
4
Prize
1885
Pritchard Art Prize
3
•»
1888
Early English Text
Books
Society, English Prize
1888
1
Caine Hebrew Prizes
2 10
>}
1890
2
Caine Greek Testament
3
M
Prizes
1890
2
Proctor History
3
1
»»
»»
8
Proctor Reading
2 10«. to 105.
»»
4
Proctor French and
3 to 15s.
»
German
1
Organ Playing
0 15
Jf
A. J. Ashton, Greek Prose
3 3
,,
E. G. Wilkinson, English
3
M
Essay Prize
2
Harold E. J. Cory, •>
/ 3
?>
Mathematical /
I 2
M
i
1 Several War Memorial Bursaries have been founded recently, or
promises to that effect received.
538 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Date.
No.
Name.
Annual Value.
Where held.
1686
2
Somerset Scholarship
£
50 to 60
At Brasenose,
Oxford.
1686
2
Somerset Exhibitions
50
St. John's, Camb.
1861
3
The Owena College
25
Manchester Uni-
Exhibitions
versity.
1869
1
Rickard Classical Scholar-
50
Oxford or Camb.
ship
1870
1872
}«
Brackenbury
50 f
Any College in
Oxford.
1874
2
Philip Wright Exhi-
50
At Wadham,
bitions
Oxford.
1878
Armitage Scholarships
(Lapsed 1910.)
1882
1
James Seaton Scholar-
30
At either Uni-
ship for Physical Science
versity.
teaching
1887
1
Richmond Scholarship
30
At Oxford or
for Classics, Mathe-
Cambridge.
matics, or Physics
1892
1
Bradford Scholarship for
45
At Oxford or
Classics, Mathematics,
Cambridge.
or Physical Science
1893
1
Derby Scholarship for
40
At Oxford or
Classics, Mathematics,
Cambridge.
or Physical Science
1906
3
Alexander Mills Scholar-
40
ship
Technical and Commercial Scholarships of the Manchester
City Council.
University Scholarships are awarded by the
Manchester City Council.
Salford Town Council.
Lancashire County Council.
Cheshire County Council.
Open Scholarships at Oxford, Cambridge, and Manchester.
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME
' From the first to the last all wanted to win, not in order to dominate
but to be free.' — MARSHAL FOCH (Mansion House, July 30, 1919).
The School during war time — Modification of plans for commemorating
the 400th anniversary on the outbreak of war — Special difficulties
associated with the increased number of boys in School and changes of
the teaching staff — The Scouts initiate war service by assisting in the
recruiting for the Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers
— Others catch the spirit of service — Increased earnestness among
the scholars shown in the examination results — Increased restlessness
also present — Outlet for this found in the multiplication of outdoor
and physical activities, during holidays by greatly extending the camp
system, for which the School was already famous, and during term
time by organising various forms of service at home — Methods
adopted to maintain health in spite of food economy and control —
Home and combatant services rendered by Old Mancunians — Work
of the School O.T.C. — Military honours awarded to old boys — The
coming of peace — The war memorial fund — The real Commemorative
Service and the * Last Post.'
So closely had the life of the School become woven into the
life of the city and the nation by the events of the last twelve
years that the shock and strain of the great European War
affected every form of its activity, and left, for good or ill,
many traces, concerning the significance and permanence of
which we can as yet form little opinion. In justice to those
who planned and carried out the adaptation of the School
to war conditions, and led a whole generation of schoolboys
to serve their country without abandoning their studies,
some account of the incidents should be given while they are
still fresh in our memories. Moreover, in a commemorative
volume like the present, this may appropriately be combined
with some account of the services rendered by the several
thousand old boys who had been gathering round the School
since the formation of the Old Mancunians' Association, who
were cultivating similar traditions in home, school, or univer-
539
540 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
sity, and \vhose influence and example were helping to inspire
the oncoming generation.
In 1913 a Fourth Centenary Committee had been
appointed, consisting of representatives of the governors,
masters, and members of the Old Mancunians' Association.
Its duties were to make arrangements to celebrate the 400th
anniversary in the summer of 1915. It had been decided to
invite the Archbishop of York to give the annual address,
to hold an historical pageant, and to collect a sum of money,
for the following objects :
1. To acquire new playing-fields on the south side of the
city.
2. To pay off an outstanding debt on the new physical
laboratories.
3. To increase the remuneration of the teaching staff.
4. To publish a history of the School.
The outbreak of war suspended the operation of the
scheme. No public appeal for funds was made, but some
£8,000 was collected privately. With this a playing-field of
eight acres adjoining the Athletic Ground, Fallowfield, was
purchased, and a substantial sum was placed in the hands
of the School Treasurer towards paying off the debt. The
Archbishop of York, who had promised his support and
presence at the Celebrations, distributed the prizes in July
1915.
The general disturbance associated with the outbreak of
war led many middle-class parents to realise more thoroughly
than before the need to secure a high general education for
their children, and the Manchester Grammar School, like
many others, became fuller than ever. For the first time in
its history, the register contained over 1,000 names. This
soon rose to 1,100, and even to 1,199. Fortunately the class-
rooms, though at times overcrowded, were just able to provide
accommodation. They were the scene of double shifts of
work, for the School offered the use of its buildings, after
ordinary school hours, to the Manchester Education Com-
mittee, whose Evening School of Commerce had been rendered
houseless, the buildings in Whitworth Street having been
commandeered for military purposes.
The strain imposed on the teaching staff was very heavy.
Several of its most active and energetic members, including
Mr. C. W. Merryweather, Mr. C. E. Fry, Mr. N. V. Holden,
and Mr. M. Warriner Brown at once volunteered for active
service. All four laid down their lives. Mr. C. Potts was
summoned for work at the Intelligence Department of the
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 541
War Office. This depletion was soon further increased by
the death of Mr. J. H. Worthington in March 1915, of Mr. R. C.
Corbold in August 1915, and of Mr. J. T. Jackson in May
1916. A number of new men were appointed in their stead,
but, under the Derby Scheme of October 1915, all males of
military age, i.e. between eighteen and forty, were urged to
register, and many who did so were subsequently called up.
The first Compulsory Military Service Act became law on
February 12, 1916, and the second in May 1916. The con-
stant disturbance of the teaching staff which resulted was
saved from becoming a disorganisation, and even disaster,
by the fact that several older teachers who were unfit for
military service, and a number of old boys, who had recently
left the University and were in the lower categories of physical
fitness, came back to the School as assistant masters, while
Mr. Earl, who had retired from the teaching staff some years
previously, also returned to give a helping hand.
The Boy Scouts were ready. In April 1914 the Chief
Scout, Sir Robert Baden Powell, had presided at a Scouts'
Conference held at the Manchester Grammar School and
had reviewed a great rally, some 2,000 strong, at Fallowfield,
where 200 Grammar School Scouts had been responsible
for the Old English Fair. The Boy Scouts mobilised for
home service as soon as the men began to mobilise for war.
They were everywhere. They hunted up reservists. They
helped at recruiting offices. They posted notices on lamp-
posts. They distributed literature for the Government.
They ran innumerable messages for the civic authorities
or for those who were organising the Red Cross Hospitals.
They were handy men and willing helpers everywhere, and
won golden opinions from all. Not only did they work
strenuously and eagerly themselves, but they fired others
with ideas. In consequence of the practical character of
their training, the effect was first noted in the workshop,
where the boys began to make furniture for the homes which
had been opened in Manchester for the Belgian refugees.
When the need for this had been met, they manufactured
bed-tables, splints, leg-rests, book-holders, and other con-
veniences for the patients in the Red Cross Hospitals. In
1915 Mr. Von Bockel, a refugee and master metal-worker
from Brussels, gave the boys a practical demonstration of
the national wrought -iron art industry, for which his country
is so famous.
Early in 1915, after consultation with Mr. Dempster
Smith of the Technological College, the metal workshop
which had recently been fitted with electrically driven drills,
642 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
grindstone, lathe, shaping machine, &c., was organised as a
training school for boys willing to qualify for the industrial
reserve. The work was continued till January 1917, when
the lathes were offered to the Ministry of Munitions, and
accepted. Subsequently the Air Board loaned to the School
a Curtis 90 horse-power engine for instructional purposes.
At a general meeting of the School, the boys decided to
devote the money usually expended in prizes to various Red
Cross funds, to the Y.M.C.A. and to other institutions for
the relief of suffering. In this, the boys of the Preparatory
Schools joined. The prefects of the School were left to assign
the money to particular societies.
As regards the general class- work, an increased serious-
ness was noticeable among the more intellectual boys, and,
in spite of the depletion and changes in the staff, this was
shown in the results of the external examinations.
1914. 1915. 1916. 1917. 1918. 1919.
Open Scholarships at Oxford and
Cambridge .... 6 7 10 12 11 11
Northern Universities Senior or
Higher School Certificate or
Matriculation Examination . 75 74 90 72 88 110
At the same time, a greater restlessness was noticeable
among the older and less purposeful boys. There had grown
up, especially during the last twelve years, a multitude and
variety of activities which permitted practically every boy
to find some opportunity for the expression of his half -formed
and still growing instincts. The continued conferences, and
the co-operation between masters and parents, had enabled
traditions of public service to be established, so that the
energy associated with these was being largely directed into
socially helpful channels. But, under war conditions, home
life became preoccupied and disturbed by anxiety and be-
reavement ; home discipline became relaxed ; and there was
all the greater call for the School to put forth new efforts.
It responded to the demand. There was little difficulty
with boys whose social instincts, or whose desire for personal
excellence in knowledge, predominated, but in those whose
dislike of any restriction, or whose desire for individual
freedom or self-will, was strong, the matter often presented
difficulties. Truancy among senior boys, hitherto quite
unknown, began to occur. Many boys under combatant age
left the School, with or without the consent of their parents,
to join the Navy or the Army. Others left to help at home.
All the activities of school life, whether indoor or outdoor,
increased. Mr. Carney, in charge of the swimming-bath,
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 543
reported, in the summer of 1915, that 80 per cent, of the
boys had passed the swimming test. Life-saving (swimming)
classes became better attended. The O.T.C., of which
further anon, became crowded.
Changes began to appear in the spirit as well as in the
routine of the School holiday camps. The Scouts' camps
had always been planned for useful service : now the camps
attended by the older boys began to follow suit. For the
Llangynog and the Grasmere Whitsuntide Camps, handbooks
to encourage observation in surveying and archaeology had
been prepared by Mr. Bruton. These handbooks were used
to good purpose. It was decided that the 1915 summer
camps should cease to be purely recreational, and some should
be organised for agricultural work. Arrangements were
made to hold a plum-picking camp at Charlton, Worcester-
shire. As the volunteers were very numerous, the boys were
grouped in two relays, sixty working from July 20 to
August 18, and sixty from August 19 to September 7. WThen
it was realised that many of the boys had had no experience
of farm work, special instructions were issued to leaders, and
regulations drawn up about the management of baskets, use
of ladders, &c. An element of emulation was introduced
into the plum-picking by the periodic announcement of the
number of hampers filled by different gangs. Six of the
assistant masters, together with Mr. Cox and Mr. Etchells,
supervised the camps and shared the work of the boys.
During Whitsuntide 1916, arrangements were made for
holding six separate camps, exclusive of the Combined Schools
O.T.C. Camp at Ilkley. During the summer holidays follow-
ing, all the School camps were definitely organised for war
service. The camp at Charlton was again held, this time
worked mainly by Scouts. A fresh camp for older boys
was started at Pershore, near Stratford-on-Avon, another
at Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire, another for Scouts at
Cheltenham. In some, trekking was combined with farm
work ; others were arranged only for plum-picking. In
all this work, the masters and office staff took a generous
share.
During the Christmas rush at the Post Office many boys
gave part of their holidays to assist, and, as labour grew
scarce, several worked during the greater part of the Christmas
vacation in the engineering department of Newton-in-
Makerfield U.D.C. and helped to save a very threatening
situation of the gas supply of the town.
The Scouts also took the initiative in encouraging public
spirit by asking boys to help them to collect waste paper &c.,
644 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
also lead and tin foil, which were needed for making artificial
limbs, splints, &c. This was sent from time to time to the
Ministry of Munitions. Enough paper, &c., to realise over
£200 was rapidly collected, and the sum was handed over
to war funds.
Soon after the establishment of the National War Savings
Committee, a School War Savings Association was formed,
and a practical scheme produced which at once received
general support. On the closing of the books hi May 1919,
it was found that 688 boys had joined, and £1,040 had been
collected, mostly in sixpences. The strenuous and widely
scattered efforts which the boys were making to assist in
safeguarding the food supply of the nation by their work
in holiday camps, and during term time in school allotments,
caused them to follow with interest and intelligence the
public appeals for economy, which began with the issue of
food regulation orders in November 1916. Consequently
the notice of the appointment of a Food Controller in
December 1916 and the appeals of Lord Devonport and
Lord Rhondda did not fall on deaf ears. Lectures were given
to boys both of the Upper and Lower School in April 1917,
on the necessity for avoidance of waste and the maintenance
of health on a restricted diet. To save unnecessary expendi-
ture of bodily energy, particularly as the spring was cold,
the opening of the swimming-bath was postponed for a few
weeks, and the items of the School sports were curtailed
by the omission of the steeplechase and other more strenuous
events : school games were limited to boys below fourteen,
as the older boys were fully occupied on war work. The
life-saving class in swimming was, however, continued, and
its value was illustrated in the summer of 1917, when three
Old Boys saved lives from drowning, and at Alderley Camp
one present boy saved another life.
Although the School had for two years been using its
leisure and recreation time for war work, on the formation
of the Ministry of National Service, in March 1917, it was
decided to organise the numerous activities even more
thoroughly, and to mobilise a still larger number of boys.
A School National Service Committee of masters and boys
met on March 1, and issued a special school registration
schedule, which every boy, after consultation with his parents,
might fill up, indicating the way in which he was prepared
to devote his leisure to public needs.
The list of National Service work included :
(1) Planting and subsequently lifting potatoes and other
crops on waste land, and work on special allotments at Kersal,
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 545
Levenshulme, Fallowfield, Sale, Higher Broughton, and
Gatley. Gardens were cultivated at Whalley Range, Victoria
Park, and Dickenson Road.
(2) Ordinary labourer's work— e.g. emptying trucks &c.,
at the L. & Y. Railway Works, Newton Heath.
(3) Post Office work, assistance during the Christmas
rush by delivery of parcels.
(4) Addressing envelopes, &c., for sugar and food ration
cards.
(5) Trolly work on trams by junior boys.
School matches among the older boys had long fallen
into abeyance ; now any time allowed for games during
school hours was definitely devoted to agricultural work.
' Hours of work ' at week-ends were arranged from Easter
half-term till the end of June, and special encouragement
was given to Jewish boys to use their Sunday holiday.
Different masters volunteered to take charge of particular
working parties. Practical lectures on soil and cultivation
were given to the whole School. This was specially useful
to those concerned with work on the allotments.
In an article on ' School Work in War Time,' which ap-
peared in the Daily Telegraph, May 19, 1917, the following
passage occurs :
' The spirit of the High Master is initiative, consequently
the note of the boys is initiative, and just now initiative
is war work. Every week the Manchester Grammar School
boys unload railway trucks to the extent of 150 tons. The
School has taken up several acres of ground on the outskirts
of Manchester, and every Saturday and Sunday as many
boys as implements can be found for are hard at work.
The Parks Superintendent came to give them tips. . . . He
found them keen. To encourage the boys he offered three
prizes for the best essays on the lectures he had given. Essays
have poured upon his desk, and he says the task is going to be
difficult because all the points of the lecture seem to have
been caught by the whole body of essayists. . . . There
are over 1,100 boys in the School, and perhaps 700 are helping
in war work in one way or another. It is a golden page in
the School record.' — Daily Telegraph, May 19, 1917.
If the financial results and the food income exhibited by
the balance-sheets of the allotments were not always entirely
commensurate with the efforts put forth, a whole generation
of schoolboys was materially improved in physique by new
forms of physical activity, and was learning valuable practical
lessons in public service.
546 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
During the summer holidays of 1917, in addition to a
number of senior boys engaged in Y.M.C.A. work, harvest
camps were again arranged at Pershore, Worcester (fruit-
picking) ; Holbeach, Lincolnshire (potato-lifting) ; North-
wich (pear-gathering) ; Stoke Rochford (tree-felling) ;
O.T.C. camp at Thoresby. Altogether between 300 and
400 boys were engaged in the holiday working camps, and
between 700 and 800 employed their leisure during term
time.
When the boys ceased working at the railway works,
the following letter was received :
' LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY,
' NEWTON HEATH,
' Feb. 20, 1919.
4 DEAR MR. PATON, — The demobilisation of your war
workers is from many aspects a source of keen regret to all
those at the Lancashire & Yorkshire Carriage and Wagon
Works, Newton Heath, who have had the pleasure of coming
in contact with such an excellent body of willing helpers.
4 If the work done here is taken alone amongst your
varied activities during the war, it is an effort to serve a
great national industry of which you, the masters, and all
the boys, may be very proud, for there is no doubt that
history will record that the railways were one of the brightest
spots in efficiency and services rendered to the State in a
period of great anxiety and strenuous deeds, and you have
done your share in achieving this.
* Since the commencement of your work here on March 10,
1917, to February 1, 1919, the Grammar School workers
have moved nearly 10,000 tons of material and unloaded
about 1,200 wagons, in addition to which the excavations
for our Timber Drying Kiln now in regular use, amounting
to 1,330 cubic yards, were entirely carried out by the gangs
you provided, and the benefit of which will be specially felt
for some time to come whilst timber continues to be scarce.
These are indeed great results.
' I want to thank you all very much for the splendid
work accomplished, and especially that you and Messrs.
Lodge and Ashby have been workers amongst the boys on
so many occasions ; it will take a well-earned place in the
War history of these Works, and we shall all remember your
visits with much satisfaction.
' Believe me, always,
' Yours faithfully,
' F. E. GOBEY.'
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 547
The cup presented by Mr. Nathan Laski, J.P., for public
spirit in connection with cricket, was now awarded for public
spirit in National Service work.
It should be noted that, though this work and the attend-
ance at the O.T.C. parades, &c., took the place of School games
for the older boys and the Whitsuntide athletic sports were
entirely given up, yet, thanks to the maintenance of scouting,
the younger boys were as keen as ever to qualify for badges
in swimming, ambulance, signalling, prospecting, natural
history, and astronomy, when not engaged on special service.
The whiter of 1917-18 and the following spring constituted
the darkest and most serious period in the whole time of the
war, for it was not till July 1918 that the German offensive
was completely crushed and the tide of arrogant oppression
thrown back.
The Royal Proclamations on the need for economy of
food first issued in May 1917 had been followed by restrictions
in August. The provision of school dinners became difficult.
A meatless meal was adopted in September 1917, and the
Christmas conversazione was again abandoned.
It was at this time that the strain was heaviest, and it
became necessary to watch closely for ill-effects ; yet, thanks
to the efficiency of the public food control and distribution,
the general health of the boys even then did not show material
signs of failure, though the severity of the influenza epidemics
of November 1918 and Spring 1919 was perhaps due to the
effect of strain upon the boys. After deliberation it was
decided that the Whitsuntide camps of 1918 should again
be held as working camps ; flax-stripping was undertaken at
Bridport and Lydiate, and other camps were arranged for
the summer, especially in Lincolnshire, for, owing to the
failure in the fruit harvest, plum-picking had to be abandoned.
A camp was arranged at Holbeach, for four weeks, for potato-
lifting and general harvest work : this was one of the first to
receive Government help in the provision of tents, blankets,
and other equipment. Another was held at Stoke Rochford,
for five weeks, for harvest work and timber ; two, mostly
for Scout troops, at Fleet and Surfleet for flax- stripping, and
other Scout camps at Poynton and Acton Bridge. A camp
for general agriculture was held at Leadenhall, and another
for two weeks at Lydiate for weeding &c. A report of
the work of the agricultural camps appeared in Ulula
in October 1918. Boys spending the whole or part of their
holidays at home were invited to undertake week-end work
at the railway sidings, Newton Heath.
The spirit of service was equally manifest among the
548 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
old boys, who had been gathering around the School since
the formation of the Old Mancunians' Association. Those
whose age, business pre-occupation, or health, precluded
their undertaking military service enrolled in No. 94 company,
Manchester Special Police Reserve, composed of Old Man-
cunians and their friends ; acted as night orderlies, or per-
formed other work, in connection with the Red Cross Hospitals ;
or served on the various Comforts Committees. The Hugh
Oldham Working Lads' Club, whose relations with the School
had deepened, passed through a severe crisis. Its working
staff and 800 of its older members had volunteered for
war service. The senior sections were emptied, the holiday
camps abandoned. The junior sections were crowded with
lads who were missing their boyhood. Closure was only
averted by personal help from masters and scholars . Fourteen
members gained commissions ; many decorations were won ;
and sixty-three members lost their lives.
The most costly, as well as many of the noblest, services
rendered by the old boys of the School to the combatant
forces, in so far as they can be put into words, are to be
gathered into an Album of Remembrance of those who have
given their lives. This is to be published by the School
War Memorial Committee. Here we can only describe the
way in which these and other services were rendered, add-
ing the record of public recognition of some of the deeds
accomplished.
The recruiting at the School of ex-public schoolboys for
the Public Schools Battalion, in response to Lord Kitchener's
appeal in September 1914, was followed by a steady stream
of enlistment of many old boys. From September to
December 1914, 788 enlisted ; from December 1914 to
July 1915, 563 ; and, under Lord Derby's scheme, opened
from October to December 1915, a further 245, making a
total of 1,545, mostly members of Kitchener's army, in a
period of fifteen months. The names of those who had been
trained at the Grammar School, in so far as they could
be obtained, were published in contemporary numbers of
Ulula. The democratic spirit and love of comradeship
and service were shown in the large number who thus entered
directly into the ranks without waiting for or even desiring
commissions. Practically all the boys who had recently
left the Classical VI form enlisted in the ranks of the Sixth
Manchester s, for the military authorities had not then
realised that boys from the public day schools were among
the best for providing officers for the new armies. The
contribution of the School Officers' Training Corps to the
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 549
fighting forces was considerable. As the corps had only
been formed in 1910, and as fifteen years was the liminal
age, the oldest ex-cadet would not be more than twenty-six
at the cessation of hostilities — few ex-cadets attained high
military rank. Of the members of the corps, 468 attained
military age during the war ; of these 262 are known to
have been given commissions, while 108 served in the ranks,
50 were rejected by Medical Boards, the other 48 were un-
accounted for. Twenty-five decorations were earned, and
54 ex-cadets lost their lives.
The adaptations which enabled the O.T.C. to be carried
on so successfully, in association with the rest of the work
of the School, are worthy of record. Lieut. Geo. Waterhouse
had been appointed O.C. of the Officers' Training Corps
when Captain Potts was attached to the Intelligence Depart-
ment of the War Office ; W. S. Dann and W. Saddler also
came forward to assist.
At the first formation of the corps, it had been taken
for granted that boys fit to play games were fit to join the
School corps ; but as the work became more exacting the
relation between military training among the older boys and
the other physical activities of the School, which had become
organised into a curriculum,1 soon began to receive closer
consideration. Discussions took place between games
masters and scout masters and the officers of the corps, and
a working arrangement was agreed to.
Field manoeuvres were at first carried out on a piece of
ground at Pendleton, lent by the Salford Corporation, and
subsequently on Holcombe Moor above Ramsbottom. At
one of them the Scouts were invited to co-operate. In
July 1915 Lieuts. Waterhouse and Saddler left, and Lieut.
Dann was appointed to succeed. He was helped by Lieuts.
Griffiths and Stafford. With the passing of the Compulsory
Military Service Act in December 1916, and the rapid growth
of the fighting forces, the need to select officers from the
more highly trained intellectual members of the community
became fully recognised ; but to meet the case of boys whose
work for scholarships would be permanently interfered with
if they were called up at eighteen, six months' grace was
allowed if they spent ten hours a week on military training.
The corps became crowded with boys approaching military
age, and the mental and physical training of the O.T.C.
became very strenuous. It was only by the devotion of the
1 ' The Organisation of Physical Activities at the Manchester Grammar
School,' School Hygiene, 19U.
550 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
successive company sergeant-majors, and the prevailing grit
among the boys, that the work was satisfactorily carried on.
At one time nearly 200 boys were enrolled, and there were
70 boys on the waiting list. The difficulty of overwork,
which was also experienced at other seats of learning, was
finally satisfactorily dealt with, by the consent of the Board
of Education to a remission of school work and by a more
rigid medical examination of candidates, which excluded all
but the toughest of the boys from the O.T.C.
The following letter has been received from the War Office :
« grj^ — I am commanded by the Army Council to express
their appreciation of the great work carried out by Con-
tingents of the Officers' Training Corps during the recent
war.
4 In the early months of the war the number of vacancies
filled in the commissioned ranks of the Army by ex-cadets
of the Officers' Training Corps fully justified the formation
of the Corps in 1908, and afforded an able testimony of the
standard of training and powers of leadership which had
been inculcated.
4 The Council have had before them the records of many
schools. The lists of those who have fallen, and of those
who have been mentioned in despatches and decorated,
show how grandly the Officers' Training Corps ex-cadets have
fought for King and Country, and form a record of which
the Schools may justly be proud.
' I am to ask you to convey the appreciation of the Army
Council in this matter to all present officers and members
of your Contingent, and I am to express the hope that this
letter may be published in the School Journal, so that those
who have left and their relatives may be informed of the
appreciation by the Army Council of the work of the Officers'
Training Corps.
4 1 am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
4 B. B. CUBITT.'
The total number of old boys in the School Roll of
Honour is 3,500, of whom 1,500 held commission rank. More
than half enlisted before military service became compulsory.
Most of the remainder enlisted when they attained military
age.
The recognition of the military services rendered is evident
from the number and characters of the distinction conferred :
No. of boys awarded the D.S.O. and bar ... 1
D.S.0 20
O.B.E. 10
THE SCHOOL DURING WAR TIME 551
No. of boys awarded the M.C. and 2 bars . . 2
M.C. and 1 bar . . .10
M.C 150
D.F.C 2
D.S.C 3
D.C.M 8
M.M. and bar ... 2
M.M 30
D.S.M 6
M.S.M 2
mentioned in Despatches . . . .100
awarded the French Legion of Honour . 2
,, Croix de Guerre ... 20
,, Chevali r Order of Leopold . 2
,, Italian Medal for Valour . 1
,, Italian Croix de Guerre . 2
White Eagle of Serbia . 2
,, Commander of Portuguese
Order of Aviz ... 1
As the end of the war came in sight, a War Memorial
Committee was formed. It was decided to make a public
appeal for a sum of £25,000 as a memorial for those who had
served and suffered :
1 . To enable widows of those old boys who had fallen to
obtain adequate means for the upbringing of their children.
2. To place a permanent Memorial hi the School.
3. To provide two new laboratories for the study of
chemistry.
4. To publish a Book of Remembrance of those who had
fallen.
The cessation of War work at the School first showed
itself where it had begun, viz. in the workshop. The boys
began to make furniture for Ancoats Play School and the
Greengate School for Cripple Children. Next, the railway
workers were demobilised. Eight of the masters on military
duty were set free to return to their school duties. Athletic
sports were again held. School games were revived. Senior
football was resumed. At this time, the three Preparatory
Schools were incorporated with the Grammar School, and in
consequence agreed to provide 15 per cent, free places to
boys from elementary schools. In April 4, 1919, an ' Annual '
School dance was inaugurated. Letters from Oxford and
Cambridge reappeared in Ulula and replaced letters from
the seat of war. School concerts commenced. The Music
552 THE MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Study Circle was revived. The War Savings Association
dropped the first part of its title. Perhaps symbolic of a
fresh orientation of School activities, the School Astronomical
Society was launched in Mr. Bru ton's room in January 1919.
The dead were not forgotten. To render a last tribute
to valour and to re-dedicate the lives of those who remained
to the cause in which that valour had been spent, parents and
friends were asked to join with boys in the School in a Memorial
Service at the Manchester Cathedral, on July 16. Four
hundred and eighty Grammar School boys had given their
lives for their country : the high master read the names.
An Old Mancunian, Principal Selbie of Mansfield College,
Oxford, gave the address.
' They died for our country ! ' he said. ' It is for us to live
for our country. They gave themselves freely and willingly
for noble ends ; we remain to live for those ideals and to
see those ends accomplished. . . . The boys who died for
England wanted England to be great, and their mantle
has fallen on us.'
INDEX
ABBOT, John, of Savannah, 221
Academies, private, 138, 140, 166,
171, 176, 245, 247 ; residential
Nonconformist, 171, 176-7, 244,
246 ; Arts and Science, 250
Academy of Hellenists, 5
Act of Parliament : to abolish the
school monopoly, 183 ; to appoint
commissioners for cleansing and
lighting the streets, 184 ; Town's
Improvement, 184 ; concerning
Justices of the Peace, 187
' Agreement of the People,' 69
Agriculture and trade, 179-180
Aikin, Dr. John, 191, 240
Ainsworth : Jeremiah, 193, 197 ;
Dr. Ralph, 250 ; Harrison, 257,
347
Aldis, P. A., 331
Alison, Archibald, 286
Almshouses, Long Millgate, 104
Ambulance lectures, M.G.S., 434
America, trade with, 136, 155
American War, 208
Anatomy, 122, 249, 252
Ancoats Dispensary, 213
Angell, John, 336-7, 346
Anglicans, 22, 64-5, 291, 304
Ann's, St., Church, 126
Anson, Sir William, 405
Apothecary, rise of, 53
Apprenticeship system, effects of
its decay, 362, 391
Ardenn, James, 189
Ardern, Sir John, 103
Arminians, 37, 39, 65, 73 246
Armitage: Sir Elkanah, 308-10
342, 345, 363, 512; Benjamin,
516
Armstrong, Thomas, 344, 514
Arnold: Dr. Thomas, 278, 292-3
Matthew, 325
Art and handicraft in relation to
matriculation examinations, 451
Art Gallery, Manchester, origin of,
396
Artisan, status of, 179
Ashley, Lord Shaftesbury, 83
Ashton: Richard, 150; Thomas,
316, 517
Ashworth, Richard, 48
Assembly, County, 60, 65
Assheton : Nicholas, 45 ; Sir Ralph,
103 ; Warden Richard, 212
Astrology, 21, 22, 33
Astronomy, 50
Athenaeum, Manchester, 285
Athletic sports, M.G.S., 434, 547
Augustus Optatus, 126
Aurelian Society, 221
Aynscough: Radley, 129, 150;
Rev. Robert, 215; Thomas,
197, 212
BACON : Lord, 41 ; John, sculptor,
241
Bailey Prison, Manchester, 188
Bailey, Sir William, 416, 440
Baines, E., 300
Balmer, E. L., 331
Bamford, Samuel, at M.G.S., 237
Bancroft : Bishop, 40 : Joseph,
184, 186
553
N N2
554
INDEX
Banks: John, 189 ; Sir Joseph, 220
Banne, Nathaniel, 91
Barbour, Robert, 268, 309, 320-321,
333, 342, 513
Barnham, Richard, 8
Barratt, William, 80
Barrow, William, 103-4, 128, 499
Bates, Joah, 217
Bateson, James, 25
Baxter, Edward, 512
Beard, Rev. J. Relly, A Friend
of Popular Education, 270
Beaufort, Lady Margaret, 3
Belfield, Col., 338
Bentham, Jeremy, 229, 323
Bettingsley, Lord Mayor of London,
33
Betts, Edward, 152, 388
Bewsher, J., 352, 379
Beyer, C. F., 350, 364, 516
Bible Christian Society, 247
Bigg, Rev. Canon Charles, 312
Birch: William, 14, 26, 490;
Capt. Samuel, 69 ; Col. Thomas,
69 ; Peter and Andrew, 85 ;
Rev. John, 87 ; Robert, 92 ;
Samuel, Usher at M.G.S., 101
Birkbeck, Dr., 336
Birley, Herbert, 373, 375
Bland, Lady Ann, 126
Board of Health, Manchester, 213
Boarders at M.G.S., 198, 200
Bodington, Professor, 405
Bolton: Robert, 42; Samuel,
D.D. (1606-54), 49
Bonner, Edmund, Bishop, 18
Booker, John (1603-67), 50
' Book of Sports,' 45
Booth : Humphrey, 46 ; Robert,
Lord Chief Justice, 49 ; Sir
George, 93, 101, 103, 498 ; Henry,
Lord Delamere, 106, 115, 499
Botany, 38, 130, 155-6, 178, 250
Bourne : William, 45 ; C. F., 338,
432
Bowers, Rev. G. H., 283, 309, 319
Bradford, John, 18, 487-8
Bradshaw, John, 181
Brideoak, Ralph, 56, 498-9
British Association for Advance-
ment of Science, 285
Broadfield, E. J., 430, 519
Broadhurst : George, 394 ; J. R.,
351, 371, 394, 400
Brooke: Henry, 142, 149, 151,
161-2, 164; Joshua in The
Manchester Man, 197
Brooks, John, 511
Brotherton, Joseph, M.P., 247, 509
Brougham, Lord, 300
Brown, Ford Madox, 396
Broxup, Seth, 104, 143-4
Bruton, F. A., 369, 432, 543
Buchheim, Professor, 366
Budworth, Joseph, 211
Burke, Edmund, 227
Burnet, Bishop, 97
Burrow, Thomas, of Manchester,
172
Bursaries. See Scholarships
Bury, Henry, 25, 51
Butterworth, William, 99
Byrom : Major John, 86 ; John,
148, 154, 161
Byron : Sir John of Newstead, 74 ;
Christopher, 154
CADET CORPS (M.G.S.), 440, 549
Caley, George, botanist, 220
Callender, W. R., 344-5, 515
Calvinist philosophy of life, 21, 33,
37, 216, 246-7
Cambridge University. See Uni-
versity
Camden, William, 29
Camps, holiday, 432, 543
Capitation boys and Free Placers,
427
Careers. See Scholars
Carter, Oliver, 24
Catholics. See Roman Catholips
Cattell, Thomas, 150, 160
Caxton, William, 9
Chadderton, Dr. William, 27-9
Chadwick : Thomas, 162 ; Edwin,
298, 323, 351 ; James, 345, 371,
515
Chambers, Rev. John, 398
Chancery : Dowdeswell's Report in,
286 ; Lord Lyndhurst's state-
ment, 280 ; order in, 345
INDEX
555
Chantry School and Grammar
School, 13, 17
Chapelries, local, 27, 68
Charitable Trusts Committee, 343
Chemistry, 38, 218, 247, 250,
252-3, 265, 297, 337
Chetham: Edward, 34; Hum-
phrey, 52, 66, 71 ; Library (see
Library); James, 103; Hospital,
173 ; trustees miss educational
opportunity, 362 ; School and
M.G.S., separation between, 448
Chorlton, Jane, 126
Church and King Club, 255
Church movement, Broad, 304
Churton, R., 203
Civil war in Manchester, 66
Clarendon and Nonconformists, 83
Clarke, Dr. Henry (1743-1818), 194
Classics, 84, 91, 139, 168, 175,
192, 233, 238, 244, 270, 274,
323, 389
Clayton : Edward, 53 ; John,
160-1, 174, 176; John of
Virginia, 122, 178 ; Rev. John,
Friendly Advice to the Poor,
185, 187
Clergy : Elizabethan parochial, 23 ;
training of, 140
Clinical instruction at Manchester
Infirmary, 186
Clough, James Henry, botanist, 220
Clowes, John, 174
Cobden, Richard, 268, 285
Cogan, Thomas, 30-32
Colet : Dean John, 5, 9 ; Dr.
Richard, 9
Collier, George, 18
Combe, George and Andrew, 336, 389
Comenius, Amos, 57
Commercial intercourse and educa-
tion. See Education
Commissions Ecclesiastical (Queen
Elizabeth) : 1st, 23 ; 2nd, 28
' Concordat, The Manchester,' 416
Cooke, Dr. John, 256
Cooper : Thomas, 230 ; David, 315
Coplestone, Dr. Edward, 244, 305
Coppock, Thomas, 161-2
Corporation Act, no force in Man-
chester, 92
Corpus Christi College, president
of, 17, 308, 312, 321, 365, 517
Cottam, Samuel, 343
Cottenham, Lord, decree in 1839,
276
Cotton, Thomas, and M.G.S., 85
Cotton, used for clothing, 179
Cowherd, Rev. William, 247
Cowie, Dean, 332
Crabb, Edward, 348
Crabtree, William (1603-44), 50,
70, 81
Craft, School, 362, 448, 541
Craftsman and artist, defective
provision for, 387
Cricket field, M.G.S., 354, 540
Crompton, Richard, 26
Croston, James, 357
Cudworth, Ralph, 62
Cullen, Mr., 274
Cummin, Patrick, 342
Cunningham, P., 316
Cyprian, St., 125
DALTON, John, 246
Dana, Obadiah, at Douay, 91
Darbishire, James, 230
Darby, John, 199
Darwin : Charles, 324 ; Dr. G. H.,
393
Dawkins, Professor Boyd, 369
Dawson and Yates, 148
Dawson, James, 162
Deacon, Dr. Thomas, 159-60, 161
Deane, J. C., 316
Dee : Dr. John, 33-34 ; Rowland,
34 ; Arthur, 35
Delamere, Lord, Henry Booth,
106-7
Delany, L. B., 511
Delphin Edition of Classics, 91
Dennis, Mr., 424
Derby, Earl of (d. 1593), 29
Devine, Alexander, 370
Dickens, Charles, at Manchester, 285
Dickinson, Henry, 103
Dill, Dr. S., 365, 367, 378, 385
Dillenius, John James, 156, 178
Discipline : Puritan, 65 ; school,
453, 542
556
INDEX
Disraeli, Benjamin, at Manchester,
285
Dixon, Thomas, 176
' Donatus Redivivus,' 126
Dort or Dordrecht, Council of,
37
Douay, 29
Downham, William, Bishop of
Chester, 24
Drinkwater, Colonel John, 211
Dudley, Edmund, 8
Dury, John, 57
Dutch settlers in England, 38
Dutch University, increasing num-
bers of English scholars in, 89.
See also University
Dyer, Joseph C., 268, 509
EATON, Samuel, 68
Edgeworth, Richard and Maria,
essay on Professional Education,
244
Edinburgh University. See Uni-
versity
Education : 5, 22, 254 ; educational
incentives, 77, 387, 408 ; of
girls, 105, 140 ; religious, 57,
92, 126, 138, 299, 301 ; soirees
in connection with, 284-5 ;
public, 298, 402, 460 ; conference
on, 372 ; technical, 389-90,
403-5
Edwards, Edward, 311
Egerton : Thomas (1540-1617), 41 ;
Sir Edward, 162; Sir Thomas,
of Tatton, 207, 503; William,
207 ; Wilbraham (1781-1856),
263, 507 ; Sir Holland, 501
Ellis, John, F.R.S., 155 ; William,
336
Elsdale, Rev. Dr. Robinson, 275,
277
Empsom, Richard, 8
Entwistle : Mr. (of Brasenose),
131 ; Col. John, 228, 505-7
Erasmus, 3, 463
Evans, J., first Art Master M.G.S.,
327
Examinations, 323, 331, 348, 395,
542
FAIRS AIRN, Thomas, 316
Farmers and textile workers, 179
Fawcett, Henry Whiteoake, 171
Fearon, Mr., 356
Feoffees, 54, 74, 78, 143, 150, 287-8,
304
Ferguson, Mr., 189
Fisher, Dr. John, 3
Fitzherbert, Sir Anthony, 492
Fletcher, Sir Lazarus, 349, 432
Florian, A. R., and school music,
394
Forde, John, 228
Forster, W. E., 325
Foster, John Frederick, 508
Fox : Richard, Bishop, 3, 9 ;
George, Quaker, 68 ; Richard,
103 ; C. J., Rt. Hon. and M.P.,
224-5
Fowler, Dr., 365
Foxley, Rev. Thomas, 505
Franchise, effect of limitation, 214
Francillon, John, 221
Frankland, Mrs., 110
Fraser, Dr. James, 304, 346, 363
French, 139, 159, 166, 282, 283
Fuller, Mr., 424
GALEN, 21, 31
Gee, Edward, of Eccleston, 78
Geology, 128, 157
Georgian Society, 221
Germon, Rev. N., 296, 305-6, 309,
321
Gladstone, Murray, 345, 515
Glazebrook, Michael, 391, 393,
402
Goadsby, Alderman, 343
Goodwin, Richard, 93
Grammar Schools. See Schools
Gray, Bennet, 141
Greek, 5, 30, 62, 84, 91, 139, 168,
175-6, 238, 252, 333
Greenwood, Professor, 334, 364
Griffiths, Rev. Maurice, 212
Gronovius, John Frederick, 178
Grotius, Hugo, The Eights of
Peace and War, 37
Gymnasium, 354, 364, 365. See
also Physical Training
INDEX
557
HALL : Dr. Joseph, 371, 384 ;
Rev. Richard, 491
Halle, Sir Charles, 395
Hammersley, J. A., F.S.A., 315
Hampton Court Conference, 41
Harbottle, Thomas, 246, 268, 509-10
Hardcastle, E. M. P., 516
Hare, Mr. (Charity Commissioner),
342
Harland, John, 306
Harrison : Thomas, 54 ; William,
156; Edwin, 333; Frederick,
393
Harrold, Edmund (wig-maker),
diary, 131
Harter: J. C.," 293, 514; J. C.,
jun., 344
Hartingdon, Lord, 391
Hartley, John, 74
Hartlieb, Samuel, 57
Hawarth : John, 48 ; Richard,
48, 90 ; Theophilus, 48
Hawarth : Dr. (see Howarth)
Abraham, 363, 383, 516
Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 314
Haygarth, Dr. (of Chester), 191
Helmont, Van (of Brabant), 38
Henn, Rev. John, 291
Henry, Philip, 84
Herbert, Rev. Dean, 278, 334
Herford: W. H., 270; Edward,
314
Herle, Thomas, 24
Heron, Sir Joseph, 357, 364
Heyrick, Warden Richard, 47, 67,
86
Heywood : Oliver, Puritan minister,
116; James (1687-1776), 129,
132 ; James, M.P., 285, 312,
314 ; Oliver, 308, 342, 363, 371,
513
Hickman, Henry, 97
High masters. See also separate
headings. Early high masters,
486; William Pleasington, 486;
William Hinde, 486; James
Plumtree, 486 ; Richard Brad-
shaw, 486; Thomas Wrench,
486; William Jackson, 486;
Edward Pendleton, 18, 490 ;
William Terrill, 490; James
Bateson, 25-30 ; Richard Rayn-
ton, 25 ; Thomas Cogan, 30-2 ;
Edward Chetham, 34; Edward
Clayton, 53 ; John Rowlands, 54 ;
Thomas Harrison, 54 ; Robert
Symonds, 55; Ralph Brideoak,
56 ; Nehemiah Paynter, 74 ; John
Wickens, 74, 99-102 ; Daniel Hill,
102-3, William Barrow, 103-4,
128 ; Thomas Colburn, 140 ; John
Richards, 140, 146; Henry
Brooke, 149, 162; William
Purnell, 142, 149, 167, 191 ;
Charles Lawson, 167, 192, 237,
292 ; Jeremiah Smith, 256 ;
Robinson Elsdale, 275 ; John
W. Richards, 276; Nicholas
Germon, 305, 321 ; F. W. Walker,
325-8, 357; S. Dill, 365, 385;
M. G. Glazebrook, 390-4 ; John
E. King, 402, 417 ; J. L. Paton,
429
Hill, Daniel, 102-3
Hippocrates, 21
History, 73, 77, 80, 166, 205, 238,
328
Hobson, Joseph, 145
Hodgson, Dr. W. B., 424
Holbrook, Richard, 75, 92
Hollinworth, Richard, 48, 78
Holme, A. E., 337, 393, 399
Hooper, Francis, 159
Hope Collection, 155, 221, 249
Hornby, Hugh, 285
Horrocks, E. W., 395
Houldsworth, Sir W. H., M.P., 516
Howard, John, 187
Howarth, Dr., 102
Hoy, Sir James, 405, 415
Hughes, Alfred, 393^=
Hulme : Ralph and Stephen, 17 ;
William (of Davyhulme), 103 ;
William (of Kersley), 116;
Bannister, 116 ; Alexander, 311 ;
Hulme Trust, 383
Hulton: William (b. 1625), 103;
Edward, 141 ; William (b. 1787),
264
Hunter: John, 249; Thomas,
309-10, 513
Huxley, T. H., 391, 403
558
INDEX
• IGNORANT,' Puritan use of the
termi 66
Independents, 39, 64, 69, 80, 246
Infirmary, Manchester, 186, 190.
See also Medicine
International trade and Technical
Training, 402
Isaacs, E. M., 395
JACKSON : John, D.D., 56 ; Samuel,
230 ; Rev. E. D., 274
Jacobites, 161, 205
Jerrold, Douglas, at Manchester
Athenaeum, 285
Johnson : Richard, Fellow of
Manchester College, 46, 71, 88 ;
Edward, 90; Henry, 315;
Richard, Manchester merchant,
335, 345, 351-2, 355, 363-5,
383, 515
Jones, Francis, 337. See also
Chemistry
Jonson, Ben, 56
Joseland, H. L., 399
KAY : John, 154 ; Samuel, M.D.,
157, 190; Richard, 190; Dr.
Philip (Kay-Shuttleworth), 213,
351 ; Alexander, 268, 383
Kenyon : Roger, 131 ; MSS., 145 ;
Robert, 178 ; Lord Kenyon, 200
King, J. E., 402, 407, 412, 417
Kitchener, F. E., 415
LANCASHIRE Public Schools Asso-
ciation, 300
Lancelot, J. B., 393
Landowning classes, deficiencies
and virtues, 109
Langley, William, 45
Langworthy, E. R., 342, 345, 347,
352, 513
Latin : general use in trade, 21 ;
colloquial use, 38 ; disuse (in
commerce, 83
Laud, William, 43, 47, 66
Law, 7, 22, 44, 52, 89, 167, 187,
216, 238, 304
Law-courts, increased use of, 22
Law Society, formation of, 324
Law, William, Call to the Uncon-
verted, 159
Lawson, Charles, 167-8, 192, 216,
237-9, 241
Learning, 2-3, 10, 21-3, 36, 38,
40-1, 57, 83, 89, 91, 106, 139,
162, 205, 260, 408
Lee, Henry, 516
Leech, John, M.D., 157
Lees, Edmund, 72
Leicester, Rev. James, 126
Leigh : Charles, M.D., 91 ; Sir
Robert Holt Leigh, 264
Leland, John, 17, 217
Lever, Sir Darcy, of Alkrington,
155-6
Leyden University. See University
Library : Charles Lawson's, 216,
238 ; Chetham's or Scholars',
72-3, 90, 98, 159, 189, 252 ;
Prestwich or Church, 71-2, 85 ;
Town, 51-2, 72 ; School (see
Manchester Grammar School) ;
subscription, 167
Lightbourne, John, 90, 498
Linacre, 9
Liverpool, effect of trade with
America, 136
Lloyd : William, Bishop of Bangor,
98 ; George, M.B., F.R.S., 157 ;
George, barrister, 230
Locke, John, 169
London University. See University
Louvain University. See University
Lowe : Robert, 150 ; John, at
Manchester Athenaeum, 285
MACFARLANB, John, Enquiries Con-
cerning the Poor, 223
Mackenzie, John Deas, 307
Maclaren : Alexander (of Oxford),
355 ; Peter, 516
Maclure, Dean E. C., 430, 432, 518
Magnus, Sir Philip, 402
Mahon, Viscount, at Manchester
Athenaeum, 286
Malebranche, 159-60
Malyn, Rev. Massey, 126
INDEX
559
Manchester : and Nonconformity
92, 110; Civil War, 67, 69-70;
description and trade, 6-7, 82,
153, 179,203 ; educational trusts,
356, 361 ; government, 167, 184 ;
* Manchester Concordat,' 416 ;
medical school, 371 ; music and
art in, 152, 191, 314, 388, 395-6 ;
Regiment, 208 ; riots, 181-2 ;
societies, learned, and academies,
219, 244, 249-50, 253-4, 284-5,
314, 448 ; societies, political,
229 ; University (see University)
Manchester College : foundation,
chapels, carving, 7 ; relation to
the School, 17 ; neglect, 24 ;
local chapelries, 27 ; refounda-
tion and reorganisation, 25,
47, 71, 188; growth in the
eighteenth century, 211
Manchester College of Music, 395
Manchester Exchange, 152
Manchester Grammar School :
indentures, 9, 17 ; early scholars,
13 ; succeeded Chantry School,
relation to Manchester College
and threatened spoliation, 17 ;
chequered early history, 19 ; an
early Speech Day, 56 ; Somerset
scholarships, 112, 150 ; holders
of exhibitions from 1684, 128 ;
barring out, 130 ; Holiday
Library, 142 ; Christmas
festivities, 143 ; School mills,
147, 182 ; high master takes
boarders, 148, 198, 200 ; Hulme
exhibitions, 150 ; closure in
1739^44, 151 ; school register,
163, 213 ; boys use Chetham
Library, 189 ; rise of numbers
under Lawson's high mastership,
193, 198, 200 ; Shrove Tuesday
feasts, 200 ; decline in prosperity,
206 ; anniversary dinners, 206 ;
Library, 129, 142, 216, 252, 282,
370-1, 394 ; Magazines : The
New Microcosm, The Miscellany,
Ulula, 277, 354 ; Speech Days
restarted, 277 ; plays performed
by scholars, 283 ; school life,
311 ; class lists, 334 ; intro-
duction of drawing and Ruskin's
visit, 335, 396 ; Science and Art
departments founded, 338-9 ;
imperfection of English School,
342 ; scholars oppose reforms,
343 ; opening of new buildings,
346 ; Dr. Jowett on M.G.S., 347 ;
gymnasium, cricket and playing
field, 354, 364, 416; public
appeal for funds, 364 ; Hugh
Oldham Lads' Club, 369 ; Form
masters, 392 ; customs and
curricula, 392, 429 ; parents and
the School, 392, 436, 440, 454 ;
Harriers, 393 ; Orchestral
Society, 395 ; manual work,
398-9 ; physics, &c., 399 ; rela-
tion to elementary schools, 407 ;
J. L. Paton, high master, 429 ;
camps, 432 ; Natural History
Society, 433 ; Old Mancunians'
Association, 433 ; pictures, 434 ;
music study, 434 ; swimming
and life-saving, 434 ; abolition
of prizes at sports, 454 ; appoint-
ment of medical officer, 438 ;
School Corps, 441 ; Scouts, 441 ;
School judgments and School
failures, 452, 458, 460
Manchester University. See Uni-
versity
Manners, Lord John, 285
Manual training, 399, 541
Manutius, Aldus, 5
Marler, James, merchant, 90
Marsden, Rev. Thomas, preaches
first Founder's Day Sermon,
(1872), 334
Massey : William (of Sale), 27 ;
James, 186, 218
Masters and boys, 455
Masters, Rev. J. S., 272
Mathematics, 38, 138-9, 193, 223;
329
Mather, Sir William, 400
Maurice, Rev. F. D., on National
Education, 298
Mayson, John, 513
Meade, Dr. Joseph, 159
Mede, Joseph, 57, 62
Medicine, 21, 30, 32, 38, 49, 90,
560
INDEX
93, 129, 166, 186, 190-1, 213,
238, 249
Medical Acts, effects of, 324
Meek, William, 75
Merchants and trade, 2, 20-23,
36, 38, 40, 137-8, 162, 166, 180,
223
Mersey, navigation of, 136
Merz, Dr., and Chorlton High
School, 424
Methodist idealism in Manchester,
125, 246
Military authorities, disadvantage
of physical training under, 439
Mordacque, Mr., 274, 282
More, Sir Thomas, 3 ; Henry, 62
Morell, J. D., 317
Morewood, George, 198
Morich, Mr., 400
Morley, John, Manchester merchant,
345, 516
Mosley, Nicholas (1611-77), 49, 86
Mottershead, Rev. Joseph (1688-
1771), 162, 188
Mugleston, Mr. (text-books), 331
Miiller, Professor Max, at Man-
chester, 332
Mundella, Mr., in Manchester, 373-4
Murray, Warden Richard, 46, 66
Museums, 166, 249
Music, 152, 389, 394
Mynshall, Thomas, 50, 90, 100
NATUEAL History, 155, 178, 221,
338, 434
Natural Philosophy, 140, 156-7,
177, 189, 238, 432
Neoplatonists, 62
Newcome, Henry, 79-80, 87, 93, 100
Nicholas, John, 99
Nicholson, Sydney, 434
Nickerson, Capt. H. S., R.A.M.C.,
V.C., 432
Nield, Alfred, and Lancasterian
schools, 300
Nonconformists, 83, 92, 244
Non-jurors, 205
Norris, Dr., 308, 321, 326
Nowell, Alexander, Dean of St.
Paul's, 24, 42
OFFICERS' Training Corps, 440, 549
Ogden : Samuel (Woodward
lecturer), 157 ; George, 128 ;
Samuel (Sec. Man. Athen.), 286
Oldham, Hugh, 7-14, 69
Oldham, Hugh, Lads' Club, 370,
393, 433
Organ, 152, 394
Owen, Rev. Charles, 126
Owens, John, 291, 316
Owens College, 310-11, 316, 347-8,
361, 368, 371-2, 404, 406, 411,
414
Oxford University. See University
Oxford Local Examinations, 325,
331-2, 340
PAGET, Nathan, 49
Paine, Tom, 227
Paracelsus, 38
Parker : Matthew, Archbishop of
Canterbury, 24 ; Rev. John, 162
Parks, Rev. R. M., 394
Parkinson, Rev. Canon, 281
Paton, J. L., 419, 429, 431-2, 433,
436, 440, 545-6, 552
Patronage, 135
Patten, John Wilson, 265-6, 508
Paynter, Nehemiah, 74
Pearson, John, Bishop of Chester,
98
Peel : Robert (of Bury), M.P., 224 ;
John, M.P., 309-10, 321, 514
Pendleton, Edward, 14, 18-19, 490
Peploe : Samuel, Bishop, 133-4,
150-1, 155; Samuel (jun.),
D.D., 161, 212
Percival, Dr. Thomas, 191, 213, 218
Periodicals and general intelligence,
139
Perkins, George, 332
Philips : Sir George, M.P., 230 ;
Rev. George, of New Windsor
Chapel, 246; Richard, F.R.S.
and F.L.S., 250; John, 251;
Mark, M.P., 267, 285, 509;
R. N., 333, 342
Physical training, gymnasium, &c.
354, 439-40
Pitt Club, Manchester, 255
INDEX
561
Plague in Manchester, 53, 67
Playfair, Dr. Lyon, 389
Pleasington, William, 486
Plumtre, James, 486
Pollard, A. T., 393
Popple, Miles, 193
Preparatory schools, 424
Presbyterians, 41, 64, 69, 83
Prestwich, John, 71-2
Prestwich Library. See Library
Priestley, Joseph, Plan for a Liberal
Education, 177, 229
Printing, effect of discovery, 5
Pritchard, Zachariah, 335, 346, 396
Proctor, Daniel, trustees of, 393
Psalmanazar, George, 127
Public preachers, 24, 30
Puritans, 39^0, 42, 57, 59, 61, 67,
83-4
Purnell, William, 142, 148-9, 167,
169, 192
Potter : Richard, M.P., 265 ;
Thomas, 268, 509
Potts, C., 440, 549
Poverty and civic action, 153, 186
QUAKERS, 248
Quarterly Review, 244
Quincey, Thomas de, 233
RADCLIFFE : Sir Alexander, 74 ;
John, 178 ; Richard, 374
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 33
Rastall, Sir William, 52
Ray, John, 73
Regius professorships, 139
Relators in Chancery, 269, 303
Religious education. See Education
Reynolds : Dr., 41 ; J. H., 403,
405, 407, 415
Richards : John, 140, 146-7 ;
J. W., 276-7
Richardson, Edward, 92
Richson, Rev. Charles, 293, 295,
298, 302, 334
Rickards, C. H., 309, 321, 335,
351, 514
Rilston, Edward, 26
Robinson, J. H., 221
Roby : Rev. William, 245 ; H. J.,
325, 345, 363, 383, 407, 416, 518
Roman Catholics, 23-4, 28-9, 84,
106-110
Romney, George, 217
Roscoe, Sir Henry, 373, 403, 407
Rotheram, Caleb, 157, 177
Rowley, Charles, 434
Runciman, Walter, 436
Ruskin, John, 335, 396, 434
Ryder, Thomas, 141
SAGE, John, 125
' Scandalous,' a Puritan phrase, 66
Scholars : early, 13 ; careers, 20,
22, 40, 47, 69, 156, 261 ; at
Leyden, 36 ; at Edinburgh, 57 ;
attainments, 378, 407
Scholarships, bursaries, &c. : 194,
352, 376, 379, 380, 382, 421 ;
Somerset, 110, 130, 150; exhibi-
tions to Owens College, 347 ;
Whitworth, 348 ; Rickards, 351 ;
Brackenbury, 351 ; Langworthy,
352, 382 ; Early English Text
Society, 352 ; National (Science),
404 ; regulations, 391, 459 ;
free placers compared with capi-
tation boys, 427
Scholes, Elizabeth (Charity), 212
School Library. See Library
Schools : boarding, 138 ; Burton
Wood, 172; Central, 374;
Chetham's, 448 ; Chorlton High,
424 ; commercial, 293, 384 ;
conference of School Boards,
416 ; Enquiry Commission, 325,
331, 340, 415; Girls', 110;
Grammar, 41, 43, 61, 109;
Higher Grade, 374; Hulme
Grammar, 361 ; infant, 284 ;
Lancasterian, 246-8, 300, 317 ;
Middleton, 25; National, 247;
Oldham, 361 ; Peter St., 247 ;
Private, 166, 246 ; Salford
Grammar School, 174 ; Secon-
dary, 415 ; St. Paul's, 4 ; Sunday
schools, 213-6
Scotson, James, 247
Scouts, 541
562
INDEX
Secondary schools. See Schools
Seddon : Rev. John, 177 ; Thomas,
186, 188, 199
Sequestration Committee, 60
Shadwell's decree in Chancery, 287
Sheldon, Archbishop, 87
Sherrard, James, 156
Slade, Rev. George, 282
Slater, William, 307
Slight, Rev. J. G., 296
Sloane, Sir Hans, 157
Smith : John, President of Magdalen
College, Cambridge, 26, 55 ;
Adam, 177; Rev. Jeremiah, 207,
256-7, 261, 273 ; Finch, 213, 347
Sneyd, William, 217
Society (Royal), Fellowship of, 457
Solemn League and Covenant, 59, 69
Somerset : Duchess of, 110, 112 ;
R. B., 353
Sorocold, Thomas, The Supplica-
tion of Saints, 32
Spear, Robert, 245
' Sports, Book of,' 45
Standardisation by examination,
450-2
Stanley : Rt. Hon. James, 190 ;
Col. Thomas, 224
Start, Mr., 338
Stott, Joseph, 185
Stratford, Nicholas, 88, 499
Stukeley, Dr. W., 125
Subscription Library. See Library
Sunday schools. See "Schools
Sutcliffe, Luke, 80
Sutton : Robert, 41 ; A. J., 352
Sylvius, Francis, 38
Symonds, Robert, 55
TALFOTTRD, Thomas Noon, 285
Taylor : Timothy, 68 ; J. W., 283 ;
R. L., 379 ; Rev. A., 399
Teachers' Guild, Manchester Branch
393, 406
Technical Education. See Educa-
tion
Technical School and College,
Manchester, 403, 413, 541
Temple, Rev. Frederick, D.D., 325
Theatre, first Manchester, 191
Theology (Anglican) : adapted to
needs of merchant classes, 23,
39 ; practice of religion, 180
Thompson: Richard (1675-1721),
128, 156; Richard (1811-1862),
282, 306, 328, 371
Thyer, Robert, 160
Tildesley, Thurston, of Wardle
Hall, 18, 492
Town Library. See Library
Trade. See Merchants
Trafford : Sir Edmund, 18 ; Ellen,
31 ; Sir Cecil, 74
Training of pupil teachers, 406, 421
Trustees of M.G.S. See Feoffees
Turner, Dr. Thomas, 249
Twyford, Josiah, 258
UNIVERSITY: Cambridge, 61, 84,
104, 193; Edinburgh, 36, 57,
166; Leyden, 36, 38, 89, 166;
London, 248, 284, 347 ; Louvain,
33 ; Manchester, 57, 251, 361,
371, 406; Oxford, 61, 84, 92,
104, 193, 205
Urwick, G., 393
Ussher, James, 57
Utopia, 4
VAUX, Lawrence, 14, 24, 489
WADHAM, Mr., 321
Waite, Clarence, 315
Walker : James, F.R.S., 190 ;
Thomas, 229, 231 ; F. W., 321,
326, 336, 343, 348, 350, 353, 367 ;
C. J. S., 511
Wall, John, 141
Wallis, George, 314-5
War burton, W. D., 329, 335
Ward, Professor A. W., 373, 415
Warhurst, Rev. Caleb, 188
Warrington,Henry (Lord Delamere),
181
Watkins, W. B. Alderman, 320, 345,
513
Watson, H. A., 393
Watts: Dr. Marshall, 337, 346;
Dr. John, 344, 364
INDEX
563
Wesley, John, 181, 216
Westminster Assembly, 60, 67
Weston, Thomas, 87
Whately, Dr. Richard, 285, 304
Whatton, Thomas, 251
Whig party, 205, 223, 226
Whitaker, William, 42
White, Charles, M.D., 186
White field, George, 216
Whittaker, Henry, 173
Whitworth Trustees, 403
Wickens, John, 74-6, 79, 87, 99, 101
Wilkins, Professor, 407
Wilkinson, Ernest G., 400
Willett, Thomas, 31
Williamson, Professor W. C., 311
Willis, H. G., 369, 432
Wilson, John Mathias, 313, 326
Winfield, Rev. Benjamin, 297
Withers, H. L., 393
Wolstenholme, James, 172
Wood, Joseph, 333
Woodward, John, M.D. (1665-
1728), 157
Workers' Educational Union, 420
Workhouses, 139, 153, 185
Worsley, Major-General, 70
Worthington : Thomas, 29 ; John,
62-3, 78, 87
Wray, Rev. C. D., 294
Wright : Edward, M.B., 127 ;
Col. J., R.A., D.S.O., 432
Wrigley, Thomas, 365
Writing-masters, 52, 138
Wroe, Warden Richard, 89-90,
115, 128, 133
Wyatt, C. H., 416
YATES and Dawson, 149
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Colchester, London & Eton, England
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