\documentclass[oneside]{book}

\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\begin{document}

\thispagestyle{empty}

\bigskip\bigskip

\begin{center}

{\large A}

\bigskip

{\Large HISTORY}

\bigskip

{\large OF}

\bigskip

{\Large KIBWORTH BEAUCHAMP}

\bigskip

{\Large GRAMMAR SCHOOL}

\bigskip\bigskip

\textit{by Bernard Elliott}

\end{center}

\newpage

\thispagestyle{empty}\

\newpage

\thispagestyle{empty}

\begin{center}

\bigskip\bigskip

{\Large A History of\\
Kibworth Beauchamp\\
Grammar School}

\bigskip\bigskip

\includegraphics[width=3cm,height=3.5cm]{crest2.jpg}

\bigskip\bigskip

{\large\textit{by\\
BERNARD ELLIOTT, B.A.}}

\pagestyle{empty}

\end{center}

\newpage

\vspace*{25mm}

\noindent{\Huge\textbf{Foreword}}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Introduction}

\noindent
\textit{by the Headmaster.}

``Happy is the nation which has no history'', we are told:
and, in view of the wearisome chronicles of battles, murder and
sudden death which sometimes pass for history, we can sympathise
with the sentiment. But happy is the school whose traditions are
firmly rooted in past centuries. At Kibworth Beauchamp many
generations of pupils have been proud of our long history, and
now, thanks to Mr.\ Bernard Elliott, we can also boast of this short
History. It will be a great encouragement, as we strive to ensure
a worthy future for the School, to have this survey of the many
fluctuations in its fortunes, and of those who have served it well.

I have already had many happy days at Kibworth, but none
happier than the day when Mr.\ Elliott unlocked the great chest
which contains our documentary treasures, and thereby unlocked
for me the door into our fascinating past. His enthusiasm was
infectious, and, as together we pored over the records---many of
them three centuries and more old, and many containing names
still well-known in the village and the School---we felt that other
people would be glad to share our interest and pride.

In view of the high tribute that the author so rightly pays to
my predecessor, it has been suggested that I ought to point out
that Mr.\ Bernard Elliott is not related to Mr.\ John Elliot; their
sole connection lies in the fact that for some years they worked
happily as colleagues in the service of this school.

All friends of K.B.G.S.\ will join in thanking Mr.\ Elliott for
this work. For him it has been a labour of love, but it \textit{has} been
a labour, none the less, and we are grateful. We at the School
will try to deserve such devotion.
\begin{flushright}
L. T. DAW.
\end{flushright}
\begin{flushleft}
The Grammar School,\\
Kibworth Beauchamp.\\
April, 1957.
\end{flushleft}
\newpage

\ \bigskip\bigskip\bigskip\bigskip

\begin{center}
\textsf{\large{To}\\
\ \\
{\Large JOHN E. ELLIOT} \\
\ \\
{\large Headmaster, 1927--55.}}
\end{center}

\newpage

\vspace*{25mm}

\noindent{\Huge\textbf{Introduction}}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Introduction}

In a letter written in 1921 to the Director of Education for
Leicestershire, the then Headmaster of Kibworth Beauchamp
Grammar School, Mr.\ C.\ L.\ Ryley, stated, ``As far as I can find
out, the School appears to be one of the oldest in the Kingdom''.
Mr.\ Ryley's assertion is indeed true, for the origins of the School
date from the early years of the 15th century.   Kibworth
Beauchamp School was already in existence when Henry V won
the Battle of Agincourt. It has a past that reaches far back into
the pages of English history, and the fact that no full account of
it has hitherto been written is a sufficient justification for the
appearance of this book.   A History of the School was indeed
written in the nineteenth century by the Rev.\ J.\ B.\ Hildebrand,
Headmaster from 1836 to 1870. In 1865 he published his account,
a copy of which is still to be found in the archives of Kibworth
Church, but his narrative was very slight for the period before the
nineteenth century, was based solely on printed sources, such as
Nichol's work, and made no use of the vast mass of documents
stored in the school chest. For the nineteenth century, however,
the work is really valuable, as he had access to Governors'
Minutes, which are now lost. Thus my account of the School
in the last century is, to a great extent, based on Hildebrand's
History.

For the period before the nineteenth century, however, I have
relied mainly on the documents in the school chest. With their
aid, I have been able to write a fairly full account of the School's
history. They do indeed show the great age of the School, the
wide reputation it enjoyed in the seventeenth century, and its
splendid tradition.

A school possessing this fine tradition should not be allowed
to pass out of existence, and we hope that Kibworth Beauchamp
Grammar School will continue to serve the community in the
future as it has done for over five hundred years. At the moment,
however, that future is uncertain, and one reason for my writing
this book is to interest people in the School, so that its future may
be assured.

I have dedicated the book to Mr.\ John Elliot, who was
Headmaster from 1927 to 1955. He is the creator of the School
as we know it today, and I wish to thank him for allowing me to
dedicate mv work to him.

At the same time, I wish to thank his successor, Mr.\ L.\ T.\
Daw, not only for writing the Foreword, but for the constant
encouragement he has given me in preparing this book for the
press. To Mr.\ B.\ Simon, of Leicester University, I am indebted
for the names of the boys who left Kibworth for Oxford and
Cambridge in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.   I also
wish to thank my former colleagues at Kibworth, Miss N.
Waddington and Mr.\ H.\ St.\ G.\ Cramp, for reading the MS. and
for making numerous suggestions.   The School Secretary, Mrs.
James, very kindly---and skilfully---re-typed the work. Finally,
I have to thank many others who in various ways have helped me
in this task. Their aid has been invaluable, but naturally I take
full responsibility for everything mentioned in this work. I trust
that all who read it will come to the same conclusion as I have
done, that Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School has done so
much for education that it should definitely not be closed.
\begin{flushright}
BERNARD ELLIOTT.
\end{flushright}
\begin{flushleft}
6th April. 1957.
\end{flushleft}

\newpage

\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter

\pagestyle{plain}

\chapter{Origins and Early History.}

The founder of Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School was,
according to tradition, Warwick the King-Maker. The lords of
the manor of Kibworth Beauchamp in the later Middle Ages were
the Beauchamps, who were also the Earls of Warwick. Warwick
the King-Maker, however, was a member of the Beauchamp family
not by birth but by marriage. He actually belonged to another
great baronial house, the Nevilles, but married Anne, the heiress
of the Beauchamps, and then took to himself the title of Earl of
Warwick. He was a typical feudal baron of the fifteenth century,
and was far more interested in war than education. According
to J. R. Green, ``His genius was not so much military as diplomatic; 
what he excelled in was intrigue, treachery, the contrivance
of plots and sudden desertion.''   Such is the rather shady
character who is claimed as the founder of the School, for the
prospectus used to state, ``There are strong grounds for believing
that the School was founded by Warwick the King-Maker''.

There is usually an element of truth in a tradition, and we
should be unwise to dismiss this one as absolutely false. As I
hope to show later, however, there is evidence to prove that the
School was in existence before Warwick's time.   Thus, though
Warwick may not have been the actual founder, the tradition
connected with his name suggests that he did something for the
School of outstanding merit, so that later generations came to
regard him as the founder.

Long after the days of Warwick the King-Maker, in fact,
when England was once more in the throes of a Civil War, the
Governors drew up a long list of rules for the general conduct of
the School. One rule was that there should be for ever a strong
chest with three locks and keys for the use and safe keeping of
evidences, writings, orders, constitutions, furniture and other
things belonging to the School.   What happened to this first
chest and the three keys is not known, but there is now in the
School an iron chest with one very big key; and in that chest are
a large number of documents dealing with the history of the school
from its origins until 1877.

The earliest document in the chest, and one which is most
important for tracing the School's origins, is a charter dating from
1359. In it two men, Robert Chapman of Kibworth Harcourt and
Roger de Stanesby of Smeeton Westerby, joined together to hand
over to a body of trustees certain property in Smeeton which
brought in an annual rent.  The trustees to whom these lands
were conveyed were William Weston of Carlton Curlieu, William
Hayne and Roger the Clerk of Kibworth Harcourt, William Swan
and William Langton of Kibworth Beauchamp and Richard White
of Smeeton. No mention is made in the charter, however, either
of the person to whom, or of the purpose for which, the rent was
to be paid The main reason indeed for the charter is the naming
of the trustees who were to control the property.

This 1359 charter is the first of a series of land charters still
extant in the School chest. It is noticeable, however, that in the
succeeding charters reference is always made to the previous
trustees who had issued the charter.  Thus, in the next land
charter in the chest, dated 1417, the four trustees still surviving,
Robert Smyth and William Parker of Kibworth Harcourt, John
Russell of Kibworth Beauchamp and William Fox of Smeeton
referred to the trustees who had conferred the property on them---in 
this case Richard Chapman and William Goode.  The 1359
charter, however, makes no reference to previous trustees; so it
would seem to be the very first of the series.

We have already mentioned the next land charter extant in
the School chest---the one dated 1417. According to a seventeenth
century document, this 1417 charter has definitely to do with
Kibworth School lands.   The document in question runs as
follows:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad The plaintiff has many other deeds whereby the
    School lands have been from time to time granted by
    surviving feoffees [trustees] in all which deeds the lands
    are granted in general words, all relating to one another
    successively, as 4th. year of Henry 5th. Robert Smith
    and others grant to William Brown and others.
\end{quote}

The seventeenth century lawyer who wrote the above document 
clearly thought that the 1417 charter dealt with school lands.
The problem now arises, was there any connection between the
1417 charter and the original one of 1359? The 1417 feoffees
were enfeoffed by Richard Chapman and William Goode. These
two trustees, along with their fellow trustees, must have been 
enfeoffed about 1380, presumably by survivers of the original trust
of 1359. The ``1380'' charter, however, is missing, and, therefore, 
we can only presume a link between the two charters of 1359
and 1417. Since, however, the 1417 charter referred to a school,
there is a possibility that the 1359 deed was appointing trustees to
control school lands; but no actual mention is made of a school.

Another source of evidence for the early history of the School
is a seventeenth century lawsuit in which the School was involved.
At the time of the Great Civil War, Kibworth had its own minor
civil war, for the tenants of the school lands suddenly refused to
pay their rents on the ground that the property they rented was
not school land but their own property, held direct from the lord
of the manor. The Governors were obliged to bring the matter
to the notice of Chancery, and in 1650 three commissioners were
appointed to investigate the quarrel between the School Governors
and their tenants. The commissioners naturally wanted to know
the history of the school lands, so they sought to get local opinion
on the subject. They found a suitable rendezvous---the Crown
Inn, at Great Glen---and asked several people well versed in
Kibworth affairs to give their answers on oath to a number of
questions. One question was:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad What do you know concerning the foundation and
    beginning of the said Free School in Kibworth?
\end{quote}

One witness who went along to the Crown was Robert Raye.
He belonged to a family in Kibworth Harcourt which had a good
knowledge of school affairs, for members of the family are to be
found among the Governors of the School in the seventeenth
century. He was 65 years old, and so he could have talked with
men who had been alive at the Reformation. This is what Raye
swore on oath in answer to the above question:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad He has heard one Thomas Parker, one of the ancient
    feoffees, say that the Earl of Northumberland, then lord
    of Kibworth Beauchamp, made claim to certain lands in
    Kibworth Beauchamp and being informed they was
    employed to so good a use as the maintenance of a School,
    said God forbid I should have them. And further says
    he never heard that any of the lands called School lands
    was ever employed to superstitious use.
\end{quote}

Before we consider the light which this statement throws on
the early history of the School, it will be well to consider the
means by which many schools came into existence in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries.   At that time many schools arose in
connection with chantries. A chantry was an endowment, either
of money or property, left by a person for the upkeep of a priest
who had to say Masses for his benefactor's soul. Often, however,
the chantry priest (or stipendiary priest, as he is sometimes called)
added to his duties the task of running a school. Thus, in 1509,
Harold Staunton founded at Castle Donnington a chantry whose
priest had (1) to sing Divine Service in the Chapel of Our Lord
in the parish church and to pray for the founder's soul, (2) to
teach a Grammar School there for the erudition of poor scholars.
Such a chantry foundation was the origin of many Grammar
Schools in the later Middle Ages.

Raye's evidence is mainly useful for indicating what happened
to the School at the time of the Reformation, when the Earl of
Northumberland was lord of the manor of Kibworth Beauchamp.
As for its origins, he states that the School lands were never
employed for the upkeep of a chantry (``Superstitious uses'' is
the seventeenth-century expression for a chantry. What had in
the fifteenth century been an act of piety had become to the
Puritan a mere piece of superstition).

Another witness who travelled to the Crown to give his
answers was William Mitchell, a farm-labourer. He stated on
oath:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad He remembers the building of the Schoolhouse and
    before the building of it it was kept in the Church and
    other houses but never knew the scholars taught by any
    laymen and that all the said moneys which were given
    were for the maintenance of the scholars and not for any
    superstitious uses.
\end{quote}

Mitchell's evidence, then, agrees with Raye's in one important
particular. He, too, thought that the School did not originate in
a chantry foundation. Mitchell's evidence adds one more feature:
he says the scholars were not taught by laymen.   Hence, they
must have been taught by a priest, and it was a chantry priest who
usually taught boys in the period before the Reformation. Hence,
though the School was an independent foundation, it may well
have been kept by a chantry priest during the course of the
fifteenth century.

A third witness was Marie Taylor, who came from Wood
Newton in Northamptonshire to give evidence. She had evidently
spent most of her life in Kibworth, for she knew most of the
people concerned in the case. Her sworn evidence was:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad She has heard there has been some money formerly
    paid by the free-holders to superstitious uses ..... and
    she has known the School has since been kept in the
    Church and in several houses and that the money formerly
    given to superstitious uses was by the advice of Attorney
    Griffin employed for the maintenance of a school, as she
    has heard her father say.
\end{quote}

This evidence once more relates mainly to the Reformation
period and afterwards---the period within her own personal knowledge 
and that of her father.  It tells us little or nothing about
the origins of the School. It does, however, prove that a chantry
was founded at Kibworth in the later Middle Ages---``some money
formerly paid to superstitious uses''---but the rest of the evidence
refers to the Reformation period.

There is good evidence, indeed, that a stipendiary priest was
prominent in the affairs of the School in the period immediately
before the Reformation. A stipendiary priest was similar to a
chantry priest, but he drew his stipend from lands placed in the
hands of trustees. Dom Robert Mason is the first schoolmaster
of Kibworth about whom we have some details.   He flourished
in Kibworth from about 1520 to 1540, but he can hardly have set
a good example to his pupils because, from Bishop Langley's
Register of 1521, we learn that the Bishop had sent a commission
to Kibworth--
\begin{quote}
    \quad ad reconciliandum ecclesiam de Kybworth per
    emissionem seminis inter Robertum Mason stipendiarium
    ibidem et Isabellam Greene uxorem Johannis Greene de
    eadem pollutam.

    \quad [to allow the Church of Kibworth to be used again
    after adultery committed between Robert Mason stipendiary 
    priest in Kibworth and Isabella Green, John Green's
    wife, had defiled it].
\end{quote}

Again, when Wolsey sent his tax-collectors to Kibworth in
1526, they found two stipendiary priests there, and no doubt one
of them was Dom Robert. Several documents still extant in the
school chest were written by him.   A charter of 1540 has the
following note on the back:-- ``This charter was written by Sir
Robert the priest''. In the same year two Kibworth farmers, John
Dan and John Marriott, bought a piece of land for \pounds6 13s. 4d.,
and on the back of the deed recording the transaction there is this
note: ``Possession of this land was given in the presence of Dom
Robert Mason, stipendiary priest at Kibworth''. Evidently Dom
Robert was a man much sought after by the townsfolk of Kibworth
just before the Reformation.

The evidence from the land charters and the seventeenth-century 
witnesses gives us, then, some information upon which we
can base an account of the School's origins. The crucial question
is: Was the charter of 1359 the foundation deed of the School?
It was handing over property to the control of a body of feoffees
(or trustees) who in time were to pass on the property to another
set of trustees. Since, however, the charter makes no reference
to a school, it would be straining the evidence too much to claim
1359 as the year of the School's foundation. It may have begun
then; what we can claim with certainty is that the School was in
existence in 1417.  Thus, the exact date of the School's origins
remains doubtful, but it was definitely founded before Warwick
the King-Maker's time. Moreover, it owed its origins to one or
two local men, who gave their land and money for the express
purpose of founding a school. It did not start its career attached
to a chantry, although in the fifteenth century a chantry priest, no
doubt, acted as schoolmaster.

Both William Mitchell and Marie Taylor stated that the
School was kept in the church and private houses. This was in
accord with the usual custom of the Middle Ages, for most schools
then had no distinctive Schoolhouse, but were kept in the parish
church. At Wymondham, the Lady Chapel was used as the
schoolroom; and at Crediton, in Devon, the authorities had the
Lady Chapel walled off from the rest of the church so that it
could be used as a class-room.  In the same way, Kibworth
Beauchamp Grammar School started its long career in Kibworth
Church; and there it was to remain for many years.

The materials available for a study of mediaeval Grammar
Schools are scarce. We are left somewhat in the dark when we
wish to know what kind of an education a boy gained when the
School consisted of a handful of boys gathered together in the
Church under the supervision of the stipendiary priest. Naturally,
in a school of this type, everything depended upon the teacher,
and the talents of chantry priests differed considerably.  Some
were good scholars, who knew Latin well, but others were capable
of teaching only in the vernacular. In such circumstances it is
difficult to know precisely what did happen.  We know much
more about the School two centuries later, when the Constitutions
of the School were put down in writing, but how far conditions
in the mediavel School approximated to those in the seventeenth
century is a moot point.

One thing is certain: the curriculum consisted mainly of a
study of Latin. A knowledge of Latin, indeed, was the passport
to the church, the professions, politics and commerce. So the
mediaeval Grammar School concentrated on teaching Latin. The
method of teaching was mainly oral, as one might expect. Before
the days of printing, text-books were scarce: only the master
would possess one. Lessons, therefore, consisted of the master
dictating from his book material which the boys copied down in
their own books. Then thev memorised what they had written.
Translations of passages from Latin into English were also undertaken. 
The study of Latin Grammar was, then, the main
occupation of the mediaeval English schoolboy.

It is possible, however, that in such a school as Kibworth the
schoolmaster would have to give a certain amount of elementary
instruction, as well as teaching Latin. In fact, there is reference in a
seventeenth century document to the mediaeval School being known as the
English School. Indeed, it seems that a number of mediaeval Grammar
Schools undertook elementary teaching. Only by making such a supposition
as this can we account for the fairly large number of people who could
read in the fifteenth century, according to the letters written by
people of that period which have survived. The largest collection of
such letters is the Paston letters, to which a considerable number of
people contributed.   Moreover, in the closing years of the fifteenth
century, Caxton's printing press produced a fair number of works in
English--Chaucer's \textit{Canterbury Tales}, Lydgate's \textit{The
Troye Book}, Malory's \textit{Morte d'Arthur} and Aesop's
\textit{Fables}. It is a fair assumption,  then, that Kibworth Grammar
School was contributing to this growth of a reading public by teaching
its scholars how to read and write English, while at the same time it
was providing a more advanced education.

Although Kibworth Grammar School was small in numbers
in the Middle Ages and the nature of the education given there is
rather nebulous, we should not under-estimate its influence on the
neighbourhood which it served. The growth of Grammar Schools
in the fifteenth century, with the rise of an educated laity, was an
event fraught with tremendous consequences. The letters of the
Fastens, Celys and Stonors indicate the extent to which education
was reaching lay people, and the result was that the laity were
becoming increasingly critical of the clergy.  This criticism was
directed mainly at two features of clerical life, namely their
privileges and their low morals. Thus, the reform of the Church
became the increasing concern of eminent laymen such as Erasmus
and Sir Thomas More, as well as of Dean Colet, the founder of
St. Paul's School, London.  Such men hoped that the Church
would reform itself from within.   The influence of Kibworth
Grammar School in the early days of its existence was to provide
the community with a number of laymen able to express their
opinion on the subject uppermost in the minds of the laity--the
state of the Church.   Thus, the rise of Grammar Schools in
England is one of the factors which accounts for the ease with
which the Reformation was brought about in this country. When
the Church in England broke with the Pope, and Henry VIII made
himself its Supreme Head, very few voices were raised in protest.

\chapter{The School at the Time of the Reformation and in the Reign of
Queen Elizabeth.}

The great changes which took place in religion in the sixteenth
century naturally had their effect on education, especially since the
Protestant Reformers disbelieved in the efficacy of prayers, for
the dead. Their opinion found expression in Edward VI's reign,
when Parliament passed an Act abolishing chantries.   At the
same time the Act stipulated that lands which were used for the
upkeep of a chantry priest were, in future, to be used for the upkeep 
of a schoolmaster. Unfortunately for English education, the
last part of the Act was not carried out.   In most places the
chantries were abolished and the lands belonging to them passed
into the hand of the Crown or of private individuals.   But the
people of England realised the value of education, and almost
immediately they began to agitate for the continued existence of
their schools. In a number of places the townsfolk were allowed
to keep their school on condition they paid something to the Crown
for that privilege. Nevertheless, such schools lost their endowed
lands, for the Crown retained possession of them and paid a fixed
stipend to the schoolmaster. Thus, the Reformation in England
proved at first a severe blow to education, for some of the
mediaeval schools disappeared altogether, while others were refounded, 
but deprived of their endowments.   However, some
attempt to recover lost ground was made in the reign of Mary
Tudor and especially in the reign of Elizabeth I, when numerous
people founded schools. For example, Lawrence Sherriff founded
a school at Rugby, Robert Johnston, Archdeacon of Leicester, a
school at Uppingham, and Archbishop Sandys of York, a school
at Hawkshead, of which Wordsworth was, later, a pupil.

The Kibworth School was more fortunate than most Grammar
Schools in England during this period, for it continued its existence
without any break and managed to keep most of its endowments.
It owed its good fortune to the then lord of the manor of Kibworth
Beauchamp, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and later Duke of
Northumberland.   Dudley was Lady Jane Grey's father-in-law
and was leader of the plot to place her on the throne. He was a
greedy, grasping and ambitious character, but his sordid figure is
somewhat redeemed by his concern for education.   Many years
ago. Leach, the chief authority on the history of English Grammar
Schools, pointed out that some schools which did manage to survive 
the early days of the Reformation without suffering any
damage owed their escape to Northumberland. Leach ascertained
that Northumberland saved the Grammar Schools of Macclesfield,
Louth, Morpeth, Grantham and Birmingham (King Edward's).
We can now add Kibworth Grammar School to this list of schools
which owed their survival to him.

The proof of Northumberland's intervention is to be found in
a statement made by a witness in the seventeenth-century lawsuit
to which we have already referred.   Robert Raye, in giving
evidence about the origins of the School, stated:--
\begin{quote}
    He has heard Thomas Parker, one of the ancient
    feoffees of the School, say that the Earl of Northumberland, 
    then lord of the manor of Kibworth Beauchamp,
    made claim to certain lands in Kibworth and being
    informed they was employed to so good a use as the
    maintenance of a school said God forbid I should have
    them.
\end{quote}

Thus, Northumberland came to the succour of Kibworth
Grammar School and it was allowed to retain its endowed lands.
Even if Warwick the King-Maker did nothing for the School,
there was certainly one Earl of Warwick who came to the rescue
of the School in its hour of need.

Further proof that the School continued its career uninterrupted 
during the stormy years of the Reformation comes from
another witness in the seventeenth-century lawsuit. Marie Taylor,
who came from Wood Newton in Northamptonshire to give
evidence, stated:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad She has heard there has been some money formerly
    paid by the freeholders to superstitious uses [i.e for the
    upkeep of a chantry] but by whom she knows not \dots\dots
    and that she has also heard that the said money so given
    was afterwards employed for the maintenance of a school
    in Kibworth.
\end{quote}

There is a hint in a document contained in the school chest
that the School actually received an increase of property at this
time. This document is an abstract of the wills of three nuns who
belonged to a convent in Stamford. The first of these nuns, Mary
Harcourt, died in 1406 and left all her lands in the fields of
Kibworth Beauchamp for prayers for her soul to be said in the
Church of St. Mary in Arden, near Market Harborough.  The
other two nuns, Margaret Harcourt and Maud Pole, who died
later in the century, also gave land in Kibworth Beauchamp for
support of a chantry priest in the Church of St. Mary in Arden,
near Market Harborough.  When the Reformation came, this
chantry was abolished; and since the document is to be found in
the school chest, there is a possibility that the lands, formerly used
for the upkeep of the chantry priest at Arden, were transferred to
Kibworth Grammar School.

The history of the School in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
is almost a complete blank. The schoolmaster at her accession
was William Burughe, who wrote out the feoffment charter of
1559. His claim to fame is that he was the first master at Kibworth
to be definitely called the ``Schoolmaster''.   Apart from that,
however, we know nothing else about him.   Presumably, he
accepted the Elizabethan Settlement in regard to religion and did
not cause any trouble to the authorities, as some Grammar School
masters of this period did, by remaining Roman Catholic.
Whether he was still schoolmaster in the stirring days of the
Spanish Armada is unknown, but the schoolmaster at the end of
the reign was the Rev.\ John Orpin. We know of him through a
most interesting letter that he wrote in 1656, which is still extant
in the school chest and which is exceptionally well written,
considering his age:--
\begin{quote}
    \quad I, John Orpin, clerk, was schoolmaster of Kibworth ..
    fifty five years since wherein I continued for the space of
    ten years. One Kilpeck and others paid to me rent,
    without any question for School lands, which he and they
    held.\dots These premises I would have testified on oath.
    but being 81 years old and full of infirmities I am utterly
    unable to travel.
\end{quote}

This letter was written in answer to a request from the
Commissioners for him to attend the Crown at Great Glen to give
evidence in the lawsuit which was being contested between the
School Governors and their tenants over the question of School
lands.

The Governors of the School during Elizabeth's reign are also
known to us through the feoffment charters of 1559 and 1595.
The sole surviving feoffee of the 1559 charter was Thomas Fox,
and in 1595 he had a new charter drawn up, handing over control
of the School to eighteen new trustees.   They consisted of two
knights, four gentlemen, nine yeomen and three husbandmen.
The two knights belonged to the Hastings family. Sir Henry
Hastings of the Abbey of Leicester, and another Sir Henry
Hastings of Kirby.  Most members of this family had strong
Puritan leanings and took a real interest in education. It was
through the effort of one of their family. Sir Henry, the. third Earl
of Huntingdon (1535-1595) that Grammar School education in
Leicester was revived after the Reformation. The four gentlemen
were George Gage of Rushton, Robert Raye of Kibworth Harcourt,
William Worship? of Billesdon and Edward Hawes of Stoke
Albany, all of whom would belong to the ranks of the smaller
squirearchy. The yeomen were William Parker of Barrow-on-Soar,
Robert Carter of Islington, Thomas Fox and Richard Pole of
Kibworth Harcourt, John Iliffe of Kibworth Beauchamp, Zachary
Chapman, Arthur Cloudesley, Richard Bryan and James Wright
of Smeeton Westerby. They would be fairly well-to-do men, who
farmed their lands.   Last of all came the three farm-labourers,
William Frisby and William Smeeton of Kibworth Beauchamp and
William Goode of Smeeton Westerby. Two important conclusions
can be drawn from this list of feoffees: (1) Men from all ranks of
society were interested in education and were anxious for their
children to receive a good education. The presence of knights and
farm-labourers on the same body of trustees was a reminder that,
at this time, English education had not yet developed that class
distinction which has marked it ever since the eighteenth century.
Sons of squires and sons of farm-labourers attended the same
school, while their fathers acted as members of the same trust;
(2) The School was becoming well known, since men of rank from
outside the immediate neighbourhood were prepared to serve as
trustees.  All the strands of evidence, indeed, lead to the conclusion 
that the School was making steady progress at this time
and that the ground was being prepared for that solid development
which the School achieved in the next century, when, at one time,
Kibworth Grammar School was considered one of the outstanding
schools in the county.

The everyday life of the School differed very little at this
time from that of the period before the Reformation. Its scholars
still had their lessons in the Church, they still carried on their daily
grind at Latin Grammar, and the schoolmaster was still in Holy
Orders. He had, moreover, to secure a licence to teach from the
Bishop of the diocese, as his mediaeval predecessors had done.
There were, however, one or two slight changes from the previous
period.   Works of Renaissance scholars such as Erasmus were
now introduced into the schools, and children studied them as well
as the works of classical authors, such as Cicero and Livy. Moreover, 
the Grammar text-books of the previous period were now
supplanted by Lily's Latin Grammar.  Henry VIII by royal
proclamation, directed that all schoolboys were to learn their
Latin Grammar from this book. Thus, all Grammar Schools had
to possess a copy of this work, first published in 1515.  Latin was,
therefore, still the main subject in the Kibworth timetable, and it
was to be many years before modern languages or history gained
a footing in it.

The influence of Kibworth Grammar School was thus growing
during the Elizabethan period. Any attempt to assess its influence
on the community around it is bound to be, more or less, conjectual.
It may be, however, that voices were now being raised in Kibworth
in protest against the Church of England, protests which were to
become much louder in the next century, when Kibworth
developed into one of the strongest centres of Nonconformity in
the district. The Hastings family were strong Puritans, and one
has the feeling that that Puritan outlook was seeping from the
School into the village.

\chapter{The Period of the Early Stuarts (1603--1660).}

The seventeenth century was a period of prosperity for the
Grammar Schools of England, and Kibworth seems to have shared
in this progress. In the first place, most schools were now provided
with buildings specially erected for housing the scholars; and it
was in this period that Kibworth Grammar School left the Church
for a proper school house. This event occurred a few years before
the outbreak of the Civil War, and the events leading up to the
building of the first school house are as follows.

In 1601 Parliament had passed an Act, whereby commissions
of enquiry were to be set up to investigate the lands, goods and
moneys that had previously been given to charitable trusts.   In
1614 the commission of enquiry for Leicestershire was appointed,
and in 1615 four of its members came to Kibworth to see what
charitable trusts existed there. The commissioners found out that
one such charitable trust was the Free Grammar School in
Kibworth Beauchamp. They investigated its origins and came to
the conclusion that ``certain messuages, farms, closes, cottages and
lands'' had been given for the maintenance of a Free Grammar
School in Kibworth Beauchamp and for the maintenance of a
schoolmaster there before the memory of any man to the contrary
to certain persons, feoffees, in trust for the same.  They then
inquired into the rents paid by the tenants, and found out that they
were not paying their full amounts. They also reported that no
proper school house was yet in existence.

Finally, the commissioners made their recommendations.
They proposed that the rents should continue to be used for the
maintenance of a Free Grammar School in Kibworth, but added
that a school house had to be built in Kilpeck's close. They also
stipulated that the tenants were not only to pay up their arrears
of rent, but also to have their rents increased in future.   The
following table indicates the names of the School tenants in 1615,
the amount of land they possessed, the rent they had been paying
before 1615 and the new rents.
{\footnotesize
\begin{tabular}{lllllllrrrrrr}
\multicolumn{2}{c}{Parish}&\multicolumn{2}{c}{Tenant}
&\multicolumn{2}{c}{Extent of Land}&\multicolumn{3}{c}{Old Rent}
&\multicolumn{3}{c}{New Rent}\\
&&&&&&\pounds&s.&d.&&\pounds&s.&d.\\
Kibworth&Beau.&T.&Kilpeck&1$\frac{1}{2}$&yardlands&7&0&0&&18&0&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&T.&Vale
&\phantom{1}$\frac{1}{2}$&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&2&10&0&&3&10&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&R.&Ward
&1&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&5&0&0&&9&10&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&Har.&N.&Kind
&1&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&5&0&0&&10&0&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&J.&Foxon
&\phantom{1}$\frac{1}{4}$&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&2&4&6&&2&10&0\\
Smeeton&West.&R.&Bryan
&\phantom{1}$\frac{1}{4}$&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&3&3&0&&2&10&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&R.&Loddington
&\phantom{1}$\frac{1}{4}$&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&1&15&0&&2&5&0\\
\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&Z.&Chapman
&1&\multicolumn{1}{c}{''}&5&0&0&&9&0&0\\
\cline{5-5}\cline{7-9}\cline{11-13}\\
&&&\multicolumn{1}{r}{Total}&5$\frac{3}{4}$&&31&12&6&&58&5&0\\
\cline{5-5}\cline{7-9}\cline{11-13}\\
\end{tabular}
}

The increase in rents, which brought in the feoffees an extra
\pounds27, was no doubt fixed by the commissioners to assist them in
building the school house. The School had not as yet acquired
a definite school house, but was still kept in the Church and in
private houses. Possibly it had been kept in houses belonging to
the School for the last few years, for since 1595 the ecclesiastical
authorities had frowned on the practice of keeping schools in
churches. Therefore, the commissioners, as we have seen, ordered
the feoffees to build a proper school house for the boys of Kibworth
Grammar School, and they expressly ordered it to be built in
Kilpeck's close. They added that the money from the rents was
to be paid directly to the schoolmaster, who was to provide for
the upkeep of the School out of it.   Finally the Commissioners
provided for the continuation of the trust by ordering that, when
only three of the surviving feoffees remained, they were to enfeoff
seven others.

The decree of the commissioners was carried out, and the first
school house was built about 1630. It was placed not on the site
of the present School, but some fifty yards away, near the bottom
of the paddock, on a site where the railway now runs.

The schoolmaster at the time of the building of the new
school house was the Rev.\ Richard Kestyn, who had been
appointed in 1611 to succeed the Rev.\ John Orpin.  He was
schoolmaster at Kibworth for more than twenty years, being
succeeded in 1634 by the Rev.\ James Weston. Mr.\ Weston had
been educated at the Free Grammar School in Leicester and then
at the Grammar School which had recently been opened in Market
Harborough.   After studying at Christ's College, Cambridge, he
came in 1626 to Tur Langton as curate. A few years later, in
1634, he was appointed to be schoolmaster of Kibworth Grammar
School. Presumably, he found difficulty in combining the two
posts of curate and schoolmaster, for at the visitation of 1634 he
was presented for defect in canonical habit.   Clearly this
irregularity did not go against him, for in the next year he became
curate at Kibworth.   In 1639, however, the Archbishop of
Canterbury revoked his licence to teach, possibly because he was
teaching doctrine unsuitable to Laud. Kibworth at this time was
already leaning towards the Puritan side. So, in 1639, the Rev.\
James Wright succeeded Weston as schoolmaster, and it is under
him that we first hear of boys from the School gaining awards to
Oxford and Cambridge.   Indeed, throughout the rest of the
seventeenth century and in the early eighteenth century, boys from
Kibworth were going to the Universities, one sign of the high
standard of teaching and of the healthy condition of the School in
this period.

James Wright was Headmaster when two boys from Kibworth
gained places at the University. They were John Berridge and
Samuel Wood. John Berridge was the tenth son of the Rector of
Kibworth, Rev.\ John Berridge, and he was admitted to Jesus
College, Oxford, in 1642. Samuel Wood was the son of a yeoman
farmer of Saddington, and he won a place at St. John's College,
Cambridge, in 1646, when he was only fourteen.

It was about 1646 that the Rev.\ Jeremie Nelson became
schoolmaster, and during his period of office two very important
events occurred. The first was the drawing up of a code of rules
for the School and the second was the bitter strife which broke
out between the School Governors and their tenants.

The Kibworth School rules are based to a great extent on those
of Market Bosworth Grammar School. It was in 1630 that the
Governors of the latter School had had their constitutions drawn
up, and so it was only natural that, when in 1647 the Governors
of Kibworth decided to have their rules written down, they should
procure a copy of the Market Bosworth regulations, and use them
as a model. There is still, in fact, a copy of the Market Bosworth
Constitutions in the Kibworth chest, and attached to it is a paper
containing this note: ``Out of these articles there are selected
these that follow, out of which you will select so much as will do
for the School of Kibworth''. The Kibworth Governors, indeed,
went through the Bosworth Constitutions most carefully, for they
crossed out a number of clauses and inserted clauses of their own.
In fact, in the Kibworth copy are notes which appear to be
minutes compiled by one of the feoffees who attended the meeting
held to consider what alterations should be made to the Bosworth
Constitutions.  One note is as follows:-- ``I must prepare
speedily So much of the schedule as will fit this School and engross
them on parchment that they may be signed and sealed''.

The Kibworth Constitutions, drawn up in 1647, tell us a good
deal about a small Grammar School in the mid-seventeenth
century. The number of children attending the School would be
about thirty and they would all be boys, for no girls were admitted
into the School until 1907.  The staff consisted merely of the
schoolmaster himself, but an usher was to be appointed as soon
as numbers warranted it. An interesting comment on the number
of staff appears in the Kibworth copy of the Bosworth Constitutions. 
``The intent is to have a master and an usher; but not at
the first.  Until there shall be a competent number of scholars
able to be of the upper school there shall be only a master who
shall receive all the salary and teach all and then when need shall
be there be an usher able to teach Latin'' The main subject of
the curriculum was, in fact, Latin. The Kibworth Governors did
not prescribe the text-books to be studied, as did the Bosworth
Governors, but stated simply that the schoolmaster and usher
``shall teach none but authentical authors and because the School
standeth much upon poor men's children, whose parents are not
able to buy many books, that they read unto them few books and
them throughout, if conveniently they may''. This last clause is
a reminder that Kibworth was a free School, where the boys paid
no tuition fees. In fact the opening rule stated: ``The Schoolmaster, 
and as need shall require the usher, shall with all care
and diligence teach the children and youth (and that to be done
freely) of the said parish of Kibworth in learning''. The parish
of Kibworth consisted of Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth
Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby.

The feoffees insisted on a certain standard of attainment
before children were admitted into the School; they had to know
their letters and ``be somewhat well entered into the spelling
of words''.   No mention is made of the age at which boys
could enter the School, or for how long they could remain. Once
admitted, however, they had to make reasonable progress or to
suffer the consequences.   ``The Schoolmaster shall certify the
parents of such children as they shall find unapt for learning or
indoceble, to the end that said parents may prevent their loss of
time and expenses''.

The curriculum contained, in addition to Latin, Religious
Instruction. One of the main aims in setting up a school in the
Middle Ages and for a long while after was to promote the
spiritual welfare of the children by definite instruction in the
Christian faith.   Hence, at Kibworth, one hour every other
Saturday was to be spent in teaching the children their religion.
The younger children had to learn the ordinary catechism by heart,
while the elder were struggling with the Lord's Prayer, The Creed,
the Ten Commandments and the Sacraments according to the
orthodox tenets of the Church of England. The amount of time
spent on religious teaching seems small, but in addition the children
had to attend church on Sunday, when some of them were required
to take down notes of the sermons.

In the mid-seventeenth century, the feoffees undertook their
duties most conscientiously.  They did everything within their
power to see that the boys received a good education. With this
end in view, they took considerable care over the selection of the
Schoolmaster. He had to be well educated, an M.A. or a B.A.;
he had to be free from all infectious and contagious diseases,
honest, virtuous and learned. He had to devote the whole of his
time to looking after the School and to be a good example to the
boys. (A long list details the various vices from which he had to
abstain, such as night-walking and gaming). The feoffees made
arrangements for inspecting the children---they themselves,
together with the Rectors of Kibworth and Church Langton, were
``on the Thursday before Whit to examine the children, hear them
dispute and observe their proficiency''.  Strangely enough, the
Kibworth feoffees made no mention of the salary they were
prepared to pay the schoolmaster. The usual figure was \pounds20 p.a.
The Kibworth rules, however, did mention that hs was to be paid
twice a year, once at Lady Day and again at Michaelmas.

In order to reach a proficient standard of work, the children
had to spend long hours in school.  Hours in the seventeenth
century and later were practically the same in all schools. Morning
school began at six o'clock in Summer and seven o'clock in Winter,
and continued till eleven o'clock. Afternoon school began at one
o'clock and carried on till five.   No excuse for being late was
taken from the Kibworth children; but some indulgence was given
to those ``of out towns who were hindered by water or other
unseasonableness of weather''.

Children, then, spent far longer in school each day than do
their successors.   Moreover, their holidays were not so long as
those of today. By a curious oversight no mention is made of
holidays in the Kibworth rules, but from evidence of other
schools we know that the children broke up at Easter and
Christmas for about a fortnight for each holiday.

The long hours spent in school, the lack of books, and the
teaching of all the boys together in one room contributed to the
problem of discipline. The chief method the master employed in
keeping the children under control was corporal punishment. At
Kibworth, the Governors saw to it that the schoolmaster did not
overstep the mark, for he could not ``strike any scholars about the
head or face with his hands or fist or with a rod, book or any
such like thing.'' If, however, the schoolmaster did hit a boy, he
was to pay to the Common Box one shilling. Moreover, if he got
really angry and kicked a boy, he was to be fined five shillings.

The master sought the help of senior boys in running the
School.   These prefects, however, had no real part in keeping
discipline: their role was limited to informing the schoolmaster
of such boys as broke the school laws, such as misbehaving in
church or swearing.

From the school rules it appears that the seventeenth-century
schoolboy possessed two main vices, swearing and throwing
stones. At Kibworth monitors were to be appointed ``to observe
the scholars in the upper school and present them that swear or
use any unseemly talk''. Moreover, two monitors were appointed
whose sole task was to stop boys from breaking the school
windows.

The last clause of the 1647 Constitutions enables the feoffees
to continue the running of the School.   A feoffment of the
School lands was to be made to fifteen new feoffees when there
remained only four survivors of the previous feoffment.   The
feoffees, who were to be the most able and discreet men of the
parish, had to reside in it. Future schoolmasters were to sign the
rules to acknowledge their assent to them. These rules provided
the legal basis for the running of the School until the beginning
of the nineteenth century, when they were superseded by a new
set of rules.

Actually only four schoolmasters signed the Kibworth
Constitutions, and the inference is that, after a period of rapid
development, in the latter part of the seventeenth century and in
the beginning of the eighteenth century, the School began to
decline in the mid-eighteenth century till, in the latter part of that
century, the feoffees became so negligent that they did not trouble
to enforce the rules. Thus, for all practical purposes, the rules
were in operation only till about 1750.   The original copy now
occupies a place of honour in the School Library, and pupils of
today, who are no longer bound by its rules, often find interest
and amusement in it.

Most Grammar Schools have, at one time or another, become
involved in disputes over their lands, and such was the misfortune
of Kibworth in the mid-seventeenth century. Soon after the rules
had been drawn up, the school feoffees became involved in a
quarrel with their tenants---a quarrel which lasted for several
years. As we have seen, in order to build the new school house,
the feoffees had raised the rents of the tenants, especially that of
Thomas Kilpeck, whose rent was doubled. At first, the tenants
raised no objection to the increase in rents, but, about 1645, some
of them refused to pay, on the ground that the lands they held
were not school lands, but their own property.

The leader of the tenants in this matter was John Abbott.
Abbott was Kilpeck's son-in-law; it was in his close that the new
school house had been built, and it was through his yard that the
boys had to pass on their way to school. No doubt he felt it a
decided nuisance to have boys coming through his yard; so much
the better for his comfort if the School ceased to exist.   There
may also have been a deeper motive to account for the struggle
between the tenants and the feoffees---it may reflect the struggle
between the Church and the Puritans which at this time was
splitting the country at large. The feoffees were decidedly Church
of England, while there was a large body of dissent in Kibworth.

Whatever the main motive at work among the tenants, they
made a most determined effort to close the School. The feoffees
drew up a bill of complaint, in which they stated:--
\begin{quote}
    The tenants do threaten to pull down the Schoolhouse
    and have excluded the Schoolmaster out of the same,
    whereby he is constrained to take a house remote from
    the School. And John Abbott, being a very contentious
    and malicious person, he, his wife and children have used
    very often to annoy the School by laying of dunghills near
    the School, by throwing cow dung upon some of the
    feoffees and upon the doors and windows of the Schoolhouse 
    and upon the Schoolmaster and scholars there and
    so threatened and reviled them that they are in fear to
    come to the School and so that the Schoolmaster dare not
    glaze the School windows for that they continually break
    them down again, but is forced to lattice the windows
    which many times are cut in pieces by Abbott.
\end{quote}

In his reply, Abbott denied that he had broken the windows
of the school house or that he had ever attacked the school master
or his scholars; he did, however, admit that ``one of his daughters
did once throw a cow clod at one Mr.\ Richard Halford, one of the
feoffees, being thereunto provoked by the incivilities and threatening
speeches of Mr.\ Halford''.   Naturally, the feoffees could not
tolerate this situation for long, and in the end they decided to have
recourse to the law.   Unfortunately for the School, Abbott and
his friends had planned their attack well, for they had acquired
possession of all the counterparts of the leases and of other legal
evidence, such as charters, which the feoffees needed to prove that
the lands in question did actually belong to the School. Accordingly, 
the feoffees could not proceed in the ordinary law courts,
but had to bring their suit before the court of Chancery, which in
1650 appointed a Commission to hear the case.

The first move on the part of the commissioners was to get
local evidence which might throw light on the dispute. Accordingly, 
a number of witnesses were summoned to appear before
them on Thursday, 16th October, 1651, at nine o'clock ``at the
house of widow Chamberlain at the sign of the Crown in Great
Glen''. The depositions of these witnesses are still extant in the
school chest, and they throw light, not only on the contest between
feoffees and tenants, but also, as we have seen, on the early
history of the School.

Having heard the evidence, the commissioners issued their
findings in the form of a decree, dated 27th January, 1652. They
declared that the lands in question had been given for the upkeep
of a Free Grammar School for the parish of Kibworth and for a
schoolmaster thereof, that the school tenants,'including Abbott,
should within two months pay all arrears of rent, that the tenants
should in future pay to one of the feoffees their rents in full and
that the three feoffees who had taken the main share in fighting
Abbott and who had spent \pounds97 of their own money in doing so,
should reimburse themselves during the next twenty-one years
with money derived from school lands. They also decreed that
the feoffees should in future meet twice a year, once in March and
again in September, 11for the better ordering of affairs concerning
the School''. Finally, the commissioners adjudged Abbott to be
a very unfit tenant to hold any school lands, but no direct order
was given for Abbott's dismissal.

This decree, however, did not stop the litigation, for Abbott
contested the commissioners' decree, and the dispute was once more
brought into the courts. On May 20th, 1652, the commissioners
heard the case again, and issued a second decree. This time the
commissioners suggested that tenants ' unconformable' should be
removed, that they should deliver up to the feoffees copies of their
leases, and that Abbott should give some security, if he wished to
remain a tenant. Another point that the commissioners made was
that the schoolmaster should have a house near to the School for
dwelling in.

Soon after the second decree Abbott must have quitted his
farm next to the School and the feoffees evidently seized the
opportunity to use his dwelling as the Schoolmaster's house, for
in a lease of March 1653 we find that the feoffees have allowed
the Schoolmaster, the Rev.\ Jeremie Nelson, to rent the messuage,
once in the occupation of John Abbott. Thus, the tenants suffered
defeat, and the second determined effort to close Kibworth
Grammar School had failed.

Although the tenants had been defeated in their main aim,
it was only natural that Puritan influences should be felt in the
School during the Commonwealth period. That may account for
the termination of Nelson's appointment about 1656, and the
appointment of the Rev.\ George Robertson as Schoolmaster.
Little is known about him, but during his stay of two or three
years at Kibworth the Constitutions of 1647 were revised in 1657.
They are more or less a summary of the previous rules, but there
are one or two alterations, which do suggest that the School was
beginning to expand. In the first place, there was now definitely
an usher; in fact, a clause was inserted that the Minister of
Kibworth was to act as supply for him were he absent. Again, a
fresh clause was introduced in 1657 as follows: ``Whereas some
scholars from other places are admitted into the said School and
more may be afterwards admitted, the Schoolmaster shall take
care that the parish free scholars be not wronged by any that
come from other places''. The School clearly now enjoyed a
reputation sufficient to attract scholars from outside Kibworth. In
fact, when the Rev.\ Mr.\ Sheffield was ejected from the rectory of
Ibstock in 1662 because he refused to take the Oath of Uniformity,
he came to reside in Kibworth so that his children could have the
privilege of attending the Grammar School.

It was only to be expected that reference to the Church of
England should be deleted from the revised rules of 1657.
Cromwell did not extend liberty of worship either to High
Anglicans or to Catholics; so children at Kibworth were henceforth 
to be instructed in the true orthodox principles of the
Christian religion, as interpreted by the Puritans.

The last clause of the revised rules provided for the continued
running of the School. When only seven of the fifteen feoffees remained 
alive, they were to issue a new charter, within six months,
appointing a new body of trustees, fifteen in. number. The feoffees
who signed the revised rules were William Raie, Richard Halford,
William Watts, Richard Diffe, George Fox and Edward Iliffe.
There were, in addition, three feoffees who simply made their
mark, because they could not write. Robert Eastwood made an
R, Andrew Jordan a J, and Isaac Davenport an I.

On the back of the revised rules is the following note: ``I do
hereby resign all right and title that I have to the Free School of
Kibworth Beauchamp after Michaelmas next.\dots Witness my
hand and seal. Dated September 13th 1658. George Robertson''.
Thus, the Rev.\ George Robertson did not stay long at Kibworth.
We do not know the reason for his sudden departure; possibly he
did not like living in close proximity to the then minister of
Kibworth, the Rev.\ John Yaxley, who made life intensely miserable
for its inhabitants in the two or three years before the Restoration.

\chapter{From the Restoration to the End of the Seventeenth Century.}

The Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 meant the end of
the Puritan schoolmaster and a return to the orthodox tenets of
the Church of England. There must have been some confusion
at Kibworth during the changeover, for after Robertson's
departure in 1658 there is no mention of a schoolmaster till 1662,
when the Rev.\ Jasper Chapman, of Smeeton Westerby, received
the Bishop's licence to teach in the School. Chapman was educated
at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained his B.A. in
1648. He did not remain schoolmaster for long, for in 1663 the
feoffees appointed the Rev.\ Walter Abbott, of Merton College,
Oxford, to be the schoolmaster.  After Abbott's appointment,
Chapman continued his connection with the School, but in the
capacity of usher. Abbott himself did not have a lengthy tenure
of office; in 1665 he became the Rector of Shangton and resigned
his post at Kibworth. The following year, the feoffees appointed
as his successor the Rev.\ Nathaniel Weston, B.A., of St. John's
College, Oxford. Weston stayed only four years, to be followed
by the Rev.\ John Dand, of St. John's College, Cambridge, who
remained master at Kibworth for over thirty years.

John Dand belonged to the well-known Wigston family of
that name, and received his early education at Oakham School.
From there he proceeded to Cambridge, and he came to Kibworth
in 1670. A most important event during his period of office was
the visit, in 1686, of the Charity Commissioners to see that the
feoffees were running the trust satisfactorily. The commissioners
found, as previous investigators had done, that the tenants were
not paying their full amount of rent. So they ordered a new rental
roll to be drawn up, and it is interesting to note that in most cases
the rents were reduced. For example, the rent for the one and a
half yardlands leased to Kilpeck was fixed in 1615 at \pounds18; but in
1686 the same amount of land was leased to T. Kirke for
\pounds15 9s. 4d. The commissioners, moreover, ordered one of the
feoffees, John Parker, who had \pounds6 4s. Od. belonging to the School,
to pay it over to the schoolmaster within one month.   They
mentioned that the Schoolmaster was to continue to dwell in the
messuage near to the School which had formerly belonged to John
Abbott, for it had convenient orchards, gardens and backsides.
The Commissioners made one complaint against the master---the
long table running down the middle of the, schoolroom was unfit
for use, so Dand was to provide a table ''for the scholars to write
upon''.

It is clear, however, that Dand made his scholars work, for
under him a number of boys went to the Universities. In 1680,
Theophilus Judd, son of William Judd, a farmer of Burton Overy,
was admitted as a sizar to Dand's old college, St. John's
Cambridge. In 1682, John Richardson, son of William Richardson,
the rector of South Kilworth, was admitted to St. John's; and three
years later, his brother William followed him. In 1686, Richard
Halford, the son of Sir Thomas Halford, Bart., went also from
Kibworth to St. John's. There was clearly at this time a strong
connection between St. John's College, Cambridge, and Kibworth
Grammar School, for, in addition to those already named, Thomas
Parker, Edward Smart, John Bold, Samuel Elly, and William John
Dand left Kibworth for St. John's while the Rev.\ John Dand was
Head. Of these the two most important were Bold and Dand.
John Bold was curate of Stoney Stanton for nearly fifty years, from
1702 to 1751, and he refused all offers of promotion, for his main
concern was the welfare of his parishioners. William John Dand
was the son of the schoolmaster, and in 1706 he succeeded his
father at Kibworth.

It is evident that, in the later years of the seventeenth century,
Kibworth Grammar School was growing in numbers, reputation
and scholarship. This all-round increase is reflected in the larger
salary paid to the schoolmaster. Whereas in 1650 the salary was
\pounds20 a year, Dand was in 1700 drawing a salary of \pounds50.

\chapter{The Decline of the School in the Eighteenth Century.}

The Rev.\ William John Dand, the last of the schoolmasters
to sign the 1647 Constitutions, came to Kibworth in 1706. His
period of nearly twenty years as master was greatly troubled by
lawsuits in which the School was involved. During the eighteenth
century, Kibworth Grammar School, like most other educational
establishments in this country, suffered a decline. In the days of
the Commonwealth and the later Stuarts, the trustees were interested 
in the running of the local Grammar School; they were prepared
to come along to examine the scholars. In the eighteenth century,
however, a change came over their composition. At Kibworth the
trustees began to be taken more from the ranks of the nobility
than previously. The local farmer was no longer asked to serve
as a school governor; his place was taken by a richer person, but
one who had considerably less interest in the locality.  In the
feoffment charter of 1645, for example, the trustees consisted of
three gentlemen and twelve yeomen; but over a century later, in
1754, they consisted of four titled people, four gentlemen, two
rectors, but only two yeomen. The lack of interest taken by the
governing body in the School is to be accounted for by the decrease
in the number of local farmers serving as trustees.

During the opening years of the eighteenth century the affairs
of the Kibworth School must have provided much profit for the
lawyers, for the School was engaged in a lengthy lawsuit, which
lasted on and off from 1708 to 1724. The cause of all this strife
was one which may have been the root cause of the Abbott conflict---the 
rivalry between the Church of England and the Nonconformists. 
At Kibworth the dissenters were always strong, as is
proved by the fact that they started an academy of their own in
Kibworth Harcourt in 1715---an academy which was attended
by such eminent divines as Jennings and Doddridge, the celebrated
hymn-writer. The dissenters, certainly before 1715, seem to have
been anxious to continue their association with the Grammar
School, but this was strongly resisted by the Church party.

In 1675, a new feoffment charter had been drawn up, but by
1708 only four of the original feoffees survived, so, according to
the terms of the school constitution, they had to draw up another
charter, appointing fifteen new feoffees. Three of the four survivors 
were dissenters, and naturally these three---William Smith,
Richard Iliffe and Thomas Parsons---arranged that the new charter
should contain a large number of dissenters. They failed, however,
to maintain their strong position, for in 1710 the Charity 
Commissioners came to Kibworth and turned savagely on them. The
year 1710 witnessed the victory of the Church of England in
national politics, and likewise the Church of England emerged
triumphant in the same year at Kibworth.   The commissioners
declared that the feoff ment of 170,8 was illegal and that, in future,
only orthodox Church of England clergymen could be appointed
as Headmasters.   Moreover, they appointed a new body of
trustees, including Sir Richard Halford of Wistow.   A possible
outcome of the bitterness existing between Dand and some of the
dissenters is the fact that the three trustees mentioned above were
known to have \pounds21 in their keeping, which they had acquired from
the collection of rents, but which they had not turned over to the.
master. The Commissioners ordered them to pay this money over
to him at once.

The decree of the commissioners, however, did not settle
matters at Kibworth, for the dispute between the two factions
continued. Finally, to cut down legal expenses, the two parties
agreed to have recourse to arbitration. They chose two arbitrators,
Francis Edwards and Richard Buckby, and the leading men on each
side entered into a bond of \pounds100 each to agree to abide by the
arbitrators' verdict. Their award was made on December 24th,
1718, and was as follows. The previous feoffment of 1710 was
withdrawn in favour of a new feoffment, which included one or
two dissenters such as Thomas Parsons. The new feoffment also
included people who did not reside in the parish of Kibworth, such
as Sir Eustace Pelsant of Cadeby, Joseph Hill of Rothwell,
Northamptonshire, and John Hall of Arnesby, the father of the
well-known Nonconformist preacher, Robert Hall. Although the
arbitrators had included dissenters in the new feoffment, they
stated that in future, no dissenter was to be made a trustee. They
declared, moreover, that in future the master must be orthodox
Church of England. The award also stated that the feoffees were
to meet twice a year to inspect the repairs of the school house and
to examine the proficiency of the scholars. The arbitrators varied
the procedure, adopted in the revised rules of 1657, for appointing
the feoffees. The seven survivors, instead of appointing fifteen
new ones, were to co-opt eight others, and the fifteen thus formed
were to be the new body of feoffees.

The award clearly favoured the Church of England party, and
the dissenters therefore bided their time before making another
attempt to gain influence in the Grammar School. The opportunity
to do this came with the death of Dand in March 1724. The dissenting 
feoffees such as Thomas Parsons met the next month in
secret and proceeded to elect the Rev.\ John Cranor as schoolmaster. 
They took the precaution, however, of accepting the sum
of \pounds100 from Cranor in case his election, which was bound to be
disputed, should involve them in further legal expenses. The dissenting 
faction did not inform the other feoffees of their action,
and so on May 1.2th, 1724, a general meeting of the feoffees elected
the Rev.\ William Cox to be master of the School. Parsons and
his friends were present at this meeting, but they made no attempt
to prevent Cox's election; and Cox in due course received the
Bishop's licence to teach.

It is fairly clear that the methods by which Cranor and his
party hoped to secure their goal were dishonest. They did not
come out into the open and oppose Cox's election; instead they
trumped up some allegation against Cox in the hope that his
licence would be revoked. Their plan worked, for the Bishop
of Lincoln actually issued a mandate revoking Cox's licence.
Edwards was out of the district when this was happening, but, on
his return, he used his influence to have the mandate withdrawn.
This was finally achieved, and Cox was left in possession of his
licence to teach.

The strife which upset the School in the first quarter of the
eighteenth century was certainly the outcome of the rivalry existing
between the Church and Nonconformist parties in the village. The
dissenters were so strong that they wished to share the local
Grammar School with the Church of England; but the attempt
failed, and the administration of the School in the eighteenth
century was placed in the hands of the orthodox Church of England
clergy. No clergyman with Puritan tendencies would be tolerated.

We have seen how the division of the village into Church and
Nonconformist caused strife, with the result that many people no
longer took an interest in the Grammar School. Previously, the
School was the place to which ambitious parents sent their sons
to be educated; now many such parents were reluctant to do this,
because the School was now orthodox Church of England. The
Nonconformists had their own academy in Kibworth which lasted
for a number of years, and which provided a more suitable and
attractive education for the children of the district. The Grammar
School still provided, in the main, a classical education, but in the
Nonconformist academy such subjects as Mathematics, English
and History were taught.

The gentry of the villages around Kibworth had till the
eighteenth century been content to have their children educated in
the Grammar School there; but now class distinction became
accentuated, and the squires no longer wished their sons to sit
alongside those of the butcher and baker. They preferred to' send
them to boarding schools to be educated with sons of members of
their own class; and in the latter half of the century improvements
in transport enabled them to carry out their wishes. The general
lethargy of the period strife between Church of England and 
Nonconformist, class distinction, all contributed towards the decline
of the School at this time. We must not, however, paint too black
a picture. The trustees in the earlier part of the century did not
foresee the decline, for in 1725 they erected a new school house
in place of the old one, which was badly in need of repair. This
new building was some fifty yards away from the site of the
previous one and it still stands, being the oldest part of the School
in use. It is a typical eighteenth-century structure, substantial in
appearance, and its six long sash windows evenly proportioned.
The folding doors are still there through which boys entered into
the building by means of a flight of stone stairs. At the same time
the trustees built a house for the schoolmaster at the south end of
the building. The school house and the master's house were both
dignified buildings that gave no sign of the decline which was
already setting in for the School. The gracious dwelling-house is
still used by the Headmaster, although since 1956 Sixth Form
groups have made use of three of the rooms on the upper floors.
It is interesting to note that the man mainly responsible for the
building programme was one of the arbitrators, Francis Edwards.

Having regained the Bishop's licence, the Rev.\ William Cox
remained schoolmaster of Kibworth till his death in 1758. Though
appointed to the Headship of Kibworth School, he still remained
Vicar of Foxton. In this he violated one of the rules of the school
Constitutions of 1647, which stated that the schoolmaster had to
give the whole of his time to the School; he could not have a cure
of souls nor any other ecclesiastical employment.   In allowing
Cox to remain Vicar of Foxton, the trustees were neglecting their
duty; and this neglect was an important factor in the deterioration
of the School. Obviously, Cox could not devote the whole of his
attention to the School, even though he did reside in the new house
and not in Foxton. Much of the teaching in the School was, done
by the usher, whose wages in 1758 were fixed at a salary of \pounds20
a year. The usher would, no doubt, be unable to teach Latin,
and so one effect of the absentee schoolmaster was that the School
gradually declined till it was little better than an ordinary village
school. This unfortunate fact was readily accepted by the trustees.
On Cox's death, they appointed the Rev.\ Joseph Wilson of Arnesby
to the post of Headmaster, but at the same time they agreed to
appoint an usher to teach the children ``to read English, writing
and Arithmetic''. In 1647, the trustees had been anxious that the
scholars should have a properly qualified master, who could give
them a sound education based on a study of Latin; by 1758 the
trustees were content for the boys to learn the three R's. Such
was the measure of the School's decline in the eighteenth century.
Another sign of this decline is that only two boys are recorded
as having gone to the Universities from Kibworth after Band's
time. They were Thomas Willey from Willoughby Waterless, who
was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, as a Pensioner in
1727; and Thomas Hutchinson, who went to Christ's College,
Cambridge, in 1756.

The Headmaster of the School during the nadir of its fortunes
was the Rev.\ Joseph Wilson, but the actual teaching was done by
the usher. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the usher
was William Buzzard, who received \pounds50 a year for teaching the
three R's. So little interest did the feoffees take in the running of
the School that they did not trouble to draw up a new deed of
conveyance when only seven of the fifteen trustees remained alive.
In 1780, a deed appointing the fifteen new feoffees had been drawn
up, but by 1803 only five of these remained alive; yet they took
no steps to draw up a fresh deed. In fact, no new deed was made
till 1822.

\chapter{The Revival of the School in the Nineteenth Century.}

The history of Kibworth Grammar School reflects locally
what was happening in the country at large.   The eighteenth
century had been a period of decline in education; the nineteenth
century threw off the sloth of its predecessor and ushered in a
period of reform in all aspects of life, and especially in education.
The first stirrings of this reform were felt in the great Public
Schools, but gradually the reforms reached the small Grammar
Schools so that their standards were raised, though the State had
finally to step in, in order to bring them up to the required standard.

At Kibworth the recovery may be said to date from about
1820. The Rev.\ Joseph Wilson died, in 1803 and was succeeded
by the Rev.\ Jeremiah Goodman, but the change of Head made
little difference to the School, for William Buzzard continued as
usher to the few boys who attended what was, to all intents and
purposes, the village school. When Carlisle was collecting information 
for his history of the Grammar Schools of England, he
wrote a letter in 1816 to the Governors of Kibworth, but, as one
would expect, they were not sufficiently interested in the School
to return a reply to his letter.  Soon after this date, however,
things began to change for the better for the School, and the
trustee mainly responsible for this improvement was Mr.\ Joseph
Cradock.

Cradock was a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
and was interested in education. Having built Gumley Hall, he
collected there a fine library, and to Gumley came many 
eighteenth-century personalities, including David Garrick, who is 
reported to have played the Ghost at a private performance at Gumley 
Hall, while Cradock played Hamlet. Cradock had been appointed a
trustee of Kibworth School in 1780, and in 1820 was one of the
four survivors left. He naturally shared in the growing interest
in educational reform and, in an effort to start some improvement
at Kibworth, he decided to have new feoffees appointed. For this
purpose he called together a general meeting of the inhabitants in
the Village Hall, at which he received support for his plans.

When he sought to draw up a new conveyance, however,
Cradock experienced great difficulty, for the deeds of 1775 and
1780 were missing from the School chest.   The last deed in
existence was that of 1754; but the feoffees of this were long since
dead, and so it seemed that the trust could not be continued
because the absence of the 1780 deed deprived the four living
survivors of legal authority to make a new feoffment.  Thus,
Cradock had to refer the matter to Chancery, and finally in 1822
fifteen new feoffees were appointed, while at the same time
Chancery drew up a new list of rules for the School.

The most interesting of these dealt with the curriculum. The
master was to teach reading, writing, grammar and arithmetic to
the children of the parish, and Latin to those children whose parents 
required it. An attempt was made once more to have
trustees who would be interested in the School---those appointed
had to reside within fifteen miles of Kibworth School. Moreover,
the trustees were given the power of dismissing any master who
neglected to do his duty.

The trustees of the nineteenth century were certainly more
businesslike than their predecessors of the previous century. We
can see that from the minutes of the Governors' meetings, many of
which are quoted in the pamphlet on the history of the School
written in 1865 by the Headmaster, the Rev.\ J. B. Hildebrand.
At the first meeting of the newly-elected Governors held in 1822,
Mr.\ Cradock was publicly thanked for the services he had rendered
to the School. From this year throughout the rest of the century
the Governors did, indeed, take considerable interest in the School;
in fact. Governors who did not attend the half-yearly meeting were
liable to a fine of ten shillings. In 1828, they resolved that the
age of admission to the School should be seven, and they instructed
the Headmaster to inform parents that children must be regular
in their attendance at school. A few years after this, in 1836, the
Rev.\ J. Goodman died. He was the last of the Headmasters who
took little part in the actual teaching of the School. The time
was now coming when public opinion would demand that the
Headmaster should be really in control of the School. The Rev.\
Jeremiah Goodman is the best remembered of the early Headmasters 
of the School, because of the money which he bequeathed
to it. It was to be many years, however, before the School felt
the benefit of this bequest, and it will be best to deal later with
the history of the Goodman Scholarship Fund.

With the death of the old Headmaster in 1836, the Governors
decided to take steps to improve the standard of the School.
Originally, it had been a Grammar School with a syllabus similar
to that of the best schools in the land; now it had deteriorated
into an ordinary village school with instruction in the three R's,
The first step to make was to get out of the rut of the three R's;

the second was to persuade the upper and middle class men of the
district to send their children to it once more. With these aims in
view, the Governors decided to set up a fee-paying department.
These private pupils could be either day-boys or boarders, and
they were to have the old type of Grammar School education.
Moreover, the Governors agreed that they should be definitely
separated from the free scholars. For this purpose, the Schoolhouse 
was divided into two by a partition, which still exists---between 
Rooms 4 and 5---the larger room being reserved for the
free boys.

At the same time, the Governors took steps to put the schoolhouse 
and the rest of the premises into a good state of repair.
Consequently they decided to raise some \pounds750; \pounds500 of this was
to be borrowed and \pounds250 to be raised from the sale of school land
to the Union Canal Company.

Such was the plan adopted by the Governors in 1836 to effect
an improvement in the standard of education in the School. That
same year they appointed the Rev.\ J. B. Hildebrand to be
Goodman's successor. The new Headmaster had the assistance
of the old usher, William Buzzard, in discharging his duties.
Buzzard was already usher in 1803 and continued his duties till
1848. He must have been a very active man, for in addition to
his school work he was a land surveyor, land agent, farmer and
grazier, and in his spare time he acted as agent for the S.P.C.K.
When the Charity Commissioners visited Kibworth in 1837, they
reported that land surveying was one of the subjects Buzzard
taught in the lower School in addition to the three R's. Moreover
he had some forty free scholars to teach in his department. As
for the new plan of taking, in fee-paying scholars at \pounds12 a year,
Hildebrand had five pupils in his first year.

Before the new scheme had been in operation for many years
parents began to realise the advantages of the better type of
education which was given in the fee-paying or upper department
of the School. Thus, it was not long before a parent wrote to
the Governors, asking whether a free scholar could have access
to the upper department of the School. The Governors replied:

``The sons of the inhabitants of the three townships were entitled
to instruction in either department of the School free from expense,
but no boy shall enter the upper department under ten unless he s
shall satisfy the trustees upon an examination in Latin Grammar
to be of such proficiency as to profit by the studies of that
department''.   This examination in Latin would be a fairly
effective barrier against the admission of poor boys into the upper
department, for few local boys would know Latin. Whether any
free boys did ever enter the upper department is not recorded.

The scheme for the improvement of the School did result in
an increase in the number of scholars. In 1837 there were 45
scholars.   The death of Mr.\ Buzzard caused a set-back in the
numbers, for in October 1850 only 22 scholars were present.
Numbers increased again, however, in the fifties:-- 1853, 35;
1854, 42; 1855, 46; 1857, 50; 1858, 56; and in 1859, 68. How
many of these were free scholars and how many fee-paying is not
stated. Clearly the task of redeeming the School had been taken
in hand earnestly, for we now find pupils leaving to .train as
teachers. For example, in 1859 five boys left--three to work in
the fields, one to work in the knitting frames at the factory and
one to go on to train as a teacher.

An interesting picture of the everyday life of the School about
1860 is given by F. P. Woodford in his ``Personal Reminiscences
of Kibworth''. He mentions how some of the boys used to take
mice to school surreptitiously to be released, when full advantage
was taken of their being ``accidentally'' seen by the whole school.
The Midland line was built through Kibworth in 1857, and so most
boys on the way to school stopped to watch the trains or to climb
the bridge walls, or occasionally to throw a cap over in order to
see it blown up again by the snorting monster. Mr.\ Woodford
mentioned that on the other side of the railway, away from the
School, there was a small paddock with a large gravel pit, and
this was the school playground.  ``Here the best games were
played, and here the best runners, jumpers and wrestlers tested
their powers of endurance, and here many fierce fights have been
fought''.

The first definite evidence of the growth of the secondary
department is given in 1862, when there were 35 free scholars and
24 fee-paying pupils. The average age of the former was eleven,
and that of the others was twelve. An increase of Scholars was
again recorded the next year, when 40 free and 29 fee-paying boys
were on the roll. The Governors were pleased at the progress the
School had made since the beginning of Mr.\ Hildebrand's
headship. ``They regard the circumstances with satisfaction as
evidence of the value set upon the instruction given in the School''.

The Governors, however, were not satisfied that Mr.\
Hildebrand should teach the fee-paying pupils, while the free
scholars were left to the mercy of the under-master.   After
expressing their satisfaction with the progress made in the School,
the Governors added this rider: ``They desire to remind Mr.\
Hildebrand that the free scholars are entitled in the first place to
his attention''. Evidently, Mr.\ Hildebrand accepted the decision
of the Governors and took charge of the lower department.
Thereupon, the under master left, and the number of fee-paying
pupils dropped, for in 1864, while the number of free scholars had
risen to 49, only one fee-payer remained.

The virtual disappearance of the upper department meant
that the School reverted in status to an elementary school, in
which the three R's were the staple of instruction. The state of
the School is well illustrated in the report that was given of it in
1865. The previous year the Governors had decided that the
scholars should be examined each year by some competent person.
Accordingly, in 1865, the Rev.\ Mr.\ Romanis, of South Wigston,
inspected the School and made his report.

From this report we see that the main subjects taught in the
School were reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic. History of
England, geography and the study of the Bible.  In fact, the
examiner reported on the lack of suitable reading books. ``The
Bible is the chief reading book in the School''. He stated that
the writing was good, both that which the boys had already done
in their copy books and that which they did for him on their slates
and on paper without lines. The examiner also suggested that the
Headmaster should have the assistance of another teacher ``if he
were to do justice to the School''.

One result of the examiner's report was that the Governors
did some heart-searching amongst themselves, and at their next
meeting they commented on it at some length.  Their report is
indeed a most interesting document, for it shows how anxious they
were to do their best for the School. We have seen how, in previous
periods, the history of the Kibworth School reflects the history of
education in the country at large; so it was now in the 
eighteen-sixties. The Government, whether Conservative or Liberal, at this
time was anxious to promote the welfare of the poorer classes by
social legislation; similarly, the Governors of Kibworth were intent
on improving the education given in the School.

The first criticism the Governors made in their report was that
the School was not a real Grammar School. ``The instruction is no
more than might be expected from an ordinary parochial school,
and it is certainly very far below such as might be expected from
a liberal educational endowment.... The School ought to carry
on the work of instruction to a higher degree than can be shared
by those who look to no future but that of a life of bodily
industry''. They pointed out that parochial schools had recently
been built both in Kibworth and Smeeton, which schools might
have afforded ``preliminary instruction early on to the boys,
such would enable them later on to profit by admission to the
``Grammar School''. These parochial schools, however, had not
received support from the wealthy classes, and, as a small payment
was necessary to enter them, the poorer inhabitants sent their
children to the Grammar School, where they could claim free
admission at the age of seven. Thus ``the teaching power of the
School is now absorbed in teaching first rudiments''.

The Governors then mentioned how an attempt had been'
made to raise the standard of the School by admitting fee-paying
children who were to pursue a more liberal education. ``Up to
a recent period there was instruction of a higher character afforded
in the Grammar School''---but the School had deteriorated again.
In order to raise the standard once more the Governors made
certain suggestions: (1) an admission test; (2) the master to take
fee-paying scholars again; (3) instruction in the upper school should
be such as to enable boys to pursue a mercantile or professional
career.

Finally, the Governors stated, ``The recent appointment of
the Schools Enquiry Commission affords them new hope of
assistance in bringing Kibworth School to its proper use and
condition''. Throughout the country, the small Grammar Schools
were reforming themselves, but in the main the State was having
to intervene to bring them up to a really high standard.

\chapter{The Scheme of 1877.}

As the modern State has grown, so has the area of its
influence in the lives of the people. At first, the function of the
State was simply to protect the people and to collect taxes for
that purpose. But gradually there grew up the idea that the
Government should see to the general welfare of the people,
including their education, health, and the conditions in which they
worked. In the nineteenth century, therefore, Royal Commissions
were appointed to investigate the social conditions of the people
with a view to legislation to improve them. There were Factory
Commissions and there were also the Royal Commissions of Enquiry
into the Grammar Schools. In 1864, for example, Lord Taunton
was appointed Chairman of the Commission to report on conditions
in the Grammar Schools; and it was this Commission that the
Governors referred to in their report, mentioned at the end of the
last chapter.

Several years were to pass before the commissioners were
ready with their scheme for the management of the School; in
fact it was not until 1877 that it was put forward with all its
details.  Before entering into an account of the 1877 scheme, we
might pause to consider its importance. Before this date, the State
had occasionally taken notice of Kibworth School because it was
a charity. The Charity Commissioners had visited the School at
different  times to see that the funds were properly  administered.  
Now the State was intervening to see that the education
given in the charity was up to standard; and the main theme of
the School's history from this point onwards is the ever-growing
power of the State in its affairs. At this moment, however, it was
simply seeing that the Governors carried out efficiently their task
of administering the School.  The State was not yet ready to lend
financial support to the Grammar Schools. It was expected that
the endowments and fees would provide sufficient money for their
upkeep. But the State was already financing elementary schools,
and it was only a question of time before financial assistance
would be extended to the Grammar Schools.

Hitherto, the existing Governors had themselves chosen their
successors, but now the Commissioners stepped in to say what
people were to act as Governors of the School. They insisted that
one half of the governing body should, in future, consist of people
holding responsible posts in local government. One Governor
was to be the person who occupied the post of Chairman of the
Market Harborough magistrates. The Board of Guardians of the
Market Harborough Union were to choose two more Governors,
and so was the Board of the Billesdon Union.  These five 
representative Governors were to serve for a period of ficve years and, 
in addition to them, there were to be five co-optative Governors, who
were to be elected for eight years.

Having provided an organisation for the continued administration 
of the School, the Commissioners then turned to deal with
the old problem of raising the standard so it would provided a
more liberal education than mere instruction in the three R's.
First of all, they sought to make the School more attractive to the
middle classes by insisting that, in future, most boys attending the
School should pay fees.  Until the nineteenth century, the emphasis
had been o the free boys; not until 1836 had there been any fee-payers. 
For four hundred years, Kibworth was, as its founders
intended it to be, a Free Grammar School. But now in 1877,
fee-paying pupils were to be the rule rather than the exception,
though scholarship winners were to be admitted free. The
Commissioners suggested that there should also be an entrance fee
in addition to the tuition fees. They fixed the entrance fees at
anything up to \pounds2 per pupil and the tuition fees at a figure between
\pounds6 and \pounds10 per annum. The actual amount in each case was to
be fixed by the Governors. Borders were to pay a sum not more
than \pounds40 p.a., excluding tuition fees.

Although the State was not yet financing Grammar School
education, it was anxious nt to take away from poorer boys the
privilege of obtaining such an education.  Thus the Governors of
Kibworth were ordered to provide scholarships to the School to
the yearly value of \pounds60. They were, in the first place, to be
awarded to children who had spent at least two years in the
elementary schools at Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Harcourt
or Smeeton Westerby.  If not suitable candidates were forthcoming
from these schools, then the competition was thrown open to children
from outside. Scholarships were to be awarded on the results of
an examination in the subjects taught at the elementary schools,
but even if a boy passed the examination, he was not admitted to
the School unless the Headmaster of his school testified that he
was a boy of good character.

The object of the Scheme was, as had been stated, to raise
the standard of education in the School. Everything therefore
depended on the appointment of a suitable Headmaster; and
consequently the Scheme included many rules about the Headmaster, 
his qualifications, appointment, stipend, dismissal, etc. As
regards qualifications, he was to be a graduate of some University
of the British Empire. It was definitely stated that he need not be
a clergyman; nor was it necessary for a future Headmaster to
procure the Bishop's licence. On his appointment, each Head had
to sign the following declaration:-- ``I\dots\dots declare that I will
always to the best of my ability discharge the duties of Headmaster 
of Kibworth Grammar School during my tenure of office,
and that if I am removed by the Governors I will acquiesce in such
removal.''.

Moreover, a future Headmaster had to agree that he would
give his personal attention to the duties of the School. He could
not accept any benefice having the cure of souls, once he had been
appointed to the Headship. Clearly, the Commissioners did not
expect clerical Headmasters to disappear at once. Actually, the
first lay Head of Kibworth was not appointed till 1927.

The Commissioners also went into the question of the Headmaster's 
salary. He was to receive a fixed stipend of \pounds150, but in
addition he was to receive 'head' money, i.e. an extra allowance
for each boy attending the school. The actual figure of this
allowance was to be settled between the Governors and the Head,
but it was to be between \pounds4 and \pounds6. In any case, the Governors
had to agree to pay the Head a sums of not less that \pounds300 p.a.

To prevent any possible misunderstanding that might arise
between the Governors and the Head over their respective powers,
the Commissioners laid down as fully as possible the duties of the
Governors and those of the Head. The Governors were responsible 
for prescribing what subjects were to be taught in the School,
for arranging the school holidays, for fixing the actual fees of day
scholars, and for dtermining the actual number of assistant
masters, together with the power to fix their salaries. The Head's
duties were restricted to the internal running of the School. He
was to have the choice of books, to decide upon the methods of
teaching, to arrange the classes and to fix the hours of commencing
and finishing school.  The Head was also to have the right of
appointing his own staff.

Another method by which the Commissioners hoped to raise
the standard of education at Kibworth was by means of an entrance
examination. It was to be taken by all children intending to enter
the School, and was to consist of reading a passage from a book,
of writing small text-hand, of doing sums in the first four rules
and of ansering questions on the geography of England. The
Commissioners, moreover, stipulated that a boy could not attend
the School before he was eight years of age, and he was bound to
leave the term he attainted the age of seventeen; but no penalty
was fixed for a boy leaving before that age.

The Governors were given the power of deciding the subjects
to be taught, but the Commissioners themselves stated the subjects
for instruction--Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Mathematics,
Natural Science; English Grammar, Composition and Literature; at
least one foreign European language; Drawing and Vocal Music.
Greek was included in the curriculum, but at the cost of \pounds3.

The Commissioners ordered the Governors to appoint each
year an examiner, who was to make a report on the work of the
School. Moreover, the Headmaster was to make an annual
report in writing tot he Governors on the general condition of the
School.

The Scheme of 1877 was the first stage in the direct intervention 
of the State in the affairs of the School. The Governors
were still an independent body responsible to no higher authority
for the conduct of the School. This period came to an end in
1909, when the Scheme drawn up in that year gave the State a
still greater control over the School and made the Governors
responsible to Leicestershire County Council for its administration.

\chapter{The Period of the last three clerical Headmasters (1877--1906).}

Though the Scheme of 1877 had provided that, in future, the
Headmaster of Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School need not
be in Holy Orders, the fact remains that the next three Heads to
be appointed were clergymen. The first was the Rev.\ J. J. Barnard,
whose period of office lasted from 1877 to 1884; from 1885 to 1888
the Rev.\ F. W. Crick was Head, and then the Rev.\ A. P. Dawson,
the last of the clerical Heads, remained Headmaster of the School
for nearly twenty years, from 1889 to 1906.

The Scheme of 1877 had been drawn up with a view to raising
the standard of education in the School, but from the start the
Governors were faced with financial difficulties. As the Secretary
to the Governors, H. T. Grant, wrote in a letter to the Charity
Commissioners:-- 11Want of means has obliged the Governors to
refuse various proposals of the Headmaster for the advantage of
the School''. The State was not yet financing secondary education.
The Governors had to rely on tenants' rents and on fee-paying
pupils for the money with which to run the School, indeed, for
centuries, the School had relied on the prosperity of its tenants for
the necessary money for financing the School. The Scheme of
1877 was drawn up in the hope that this state of affairs would
continue; but in that very year English farmers suddenly found .
themselves faced with ruin, for an intense agricultural depression
descended upon the English countryside.   It was against this
sombre background of rural distress that the Governors had to
work out the Scheme of 1877. Catastrophe for the English farmer
involved the whole countryside, and the School was bound to
suffer.

The cause of the ruin which suddenly faced the English farmer
at this time was the competition of American wheat. A number
of factors combined to make it possible for American farmers to
undersell Englishmen in their home market.   New agricultural
machinery, such as the Locke-wire binder, enabled the Americans
to produce crops more cheaply; railway expansion made possible
cheap transport to the ports; and the introduction of better types
of engines in the trans-Atlantic steamships reduced the consumption 
of fuel, and therefore the freight charges.   Thus, unless
something was done to help the English farmers, they faced ruin.

The fact remains, however, that nothing was done for them.
Germany and France placed tariffs on imported wheat, and saved
their farmers, but the Conservative Government of Disraeli refused
to abandon the policy of Free Trade. Hence, as a recent historian
has said, ``British agriculture was thrown overboard in a storm
like an unwanted cargo''.

The effect of the decline of agriculture upon the School was
to place it in financial difficulties and thus to hamper its 
development. The decline in rents was inevitable; in 1885 rents brought
in \pounds342, by 1897 they had dropped to \pounds272, and by 1904 to 
\pounds236. Several tenants were forced to give up their farms, because 
they could not pay their rents, despite the fact that the Governors
were prepared to reduce them. In 1892, Webb left Bridge Farm.
In 1894, in an effort to keep their tenants, the Governors took 10\%
off all rents. The result was that in 1896 they found themselves
faced with a deficit of over \pounds100.  Accordingly, they issued an
appeal to parents and friends of the School for help in this critical
situation, and this appeal brought in \pounds83.

This financial stringency is the fundamental cause of many
of the troubles which beset the Governors during this period.
According to the terms of the 1877 Scheme, the Governors were
obliged to provide entrance scholarships to the total value of \pounds60
each year. At the start, however, the Governors felt themselves
unable to fulfil this requirement through lack of money. Accordingly, 
they did not carry out the requirements of the Scheme, and
as a result met with severe criticism at the hands of the Charity
Commissioners.

Between 1878 and 1882 the following entrance scholarships
were awarded:-- in 1878 to Loveday, Morris, Badcock, Woodcock
and Cook; in 1879 to Briggs and Brutnell; in 1880 to Cooper and
W. Stevenson of Kibworth National; in 1881 to H. Stevenson of
Smeeton and in 1882 to J. S. Coleman of Kibworth, The
Governors fixed the value of each scholarship at \pounds4. Thus, in 1878
they awarded scholarships to the value of \pounds20; in 1879, \pounds28; in
1880, \pounds32 and in 1881, \pounds30. This by no means reached the total
value of scholarship money (\pounds60) to be allocated each year.
Consequently, in 1883, the Charity Commissioners sent a sharp
note to the Governors, pointing out this deficiency in their 
application of the Scheme and stated bluntly:-- ``It is incumbent on the
Governors to apply in each year a sum of \pounds60 in scholarships''.
In his reply of March, 1884. H. T. Grant stated that the Governors
had offered the full value, but admitted that they had restricted
the awards to children attending the elementary schools of
Kibworth and Smeeton. The Charity Commissioners replied that,
if suitable candidates were lacking from the schools mentioned,
then the scholarships were to be competed for by boys between the
ages of ten and thirteen from any school. The important point
was that the Governors must carry out the conditions laid down
in the Scheme, namely award scholarships to the aggregate value
of \pounds60 a year.

The Governors, who were at that period particularly anxious
to curry favour with the Charity Commissioners, managed for
several years to carry out their obligations according to the Scheme.
Then the financial situation grew worse until, in 1896, the
Governors found themselves head over heels in debt. It must have
been a very solemn conclave of Governors which came together
at the School on 7th June, 1897, to compose the following letter,
which might well be termed the Groans of the Governors. ``In
consequence of the restriction of rents through agricultural
depression, loss of income from the Smeeton Brickyard since 1891,
outlay on farm buildings, the Governors find themselves faced with
a deficiency of \pounds104 18s. 10d.   There is in addition a sum of
\pounds127 6s. 3d. owing to the Goodman Scholarship Fund. Until the
finances of the School are in a better condition, the Governors wish
for scholarships to be reduced to \pounds30 per annum''. This letter
softened even the hard hearts of the Charity Commissioners, but
not to the extent the Governors would have liked. The Charity
Commissioners agreed to a reduction to \pounds40 per annum, and at
that figure it stayed until 1901, when it was increased to \pounds60 once
more. In the Scheme of 1909, when the Local Education Authority
took over control of the School, the figure of \pounds60 was retained for
scholarships.

The Governors also met with the Commissioners' displeasure
in the handling of the Goodman Scholarship Fund. The Rev.\
Jeremiah Goodman had died in 1836, and by his will he bequeathed
a sum of \pounds300 to a body of trustees who were to invest it and to
allow the income to accumulate so long as the law would allow.
Then the trustees were to apply the income plus interest towards
founding two scholarships at the New College to be built at Church
Langton by the trustees of the Hanbury charities.   The two
successful candidates were to be nominated by the Headmaster of
the School, and the scholarships were to be tenable for five years.
If the College at Langton were never established, then the scholarships 
were to be held at Merton College, Oxford. If no scholarships were 
held there, then the fund was to be used for the benefit
of the poor people of Kibworth Beauchamp.

The trustees carried out the financial provisions of the will,
and the \pounds300 Was invested and the income was left to accumulate
until January, 1866, when, on the advice of Counsel, the accumulation 
ceased. The fund had by that time reached \pounds713. But by
1880 the trustees had not yet founded the scholarships, and by
that time they had acquired a further \pounds300---interest on the \pounds713.
The annual interest from the whole fund was, in 1880, estimated
at \pounds27. That same year, the School Governors decided that it was
time the educational provisions of the will were, as far as possible,
put into operation. The true intent of the testator clearly could
not be carried out; Hanbury's Langton University never went
beyond the elementary school stage, and no Kibworth boy had gone
up to Merton. The Governors therefore had to seek an amended
Scheme before they could turn the fund to the advantage of the
School. So, in 1880, they proposed that the accumulated fund of
\pounds713 and the outstanding interest of \pounds300 should be invested
together and the income applied in establishing scholarships for
boys already at Kibworth Grammar School, and for boys
leaving that School for places of higher education.   The
Charity Commissioners thought that it was not Goodman's intention 
that the money should be used for boys already at the School.
So they agreed with the Governors that the available money should
be invested, but they decided to restrict its use to boys leaving
Kibworth for a ``place of higher education''. It was what constituted 
a place of higher education that caused disagreement
between the Governors and the Charity Commissioners.  The
Governors interpreted the phrase loosely, and were prepared to
award Goodman Scholarships to boys leaving for other Grammar
Schools. Thus, as soon as the first dividend of \pounds15 was available
for use in June, 1881, the Governors allowed Frank Woodcock a
Goodman Scholarship to the value of \pounds15 a year for three years
at Andover Grammar School. The Official Trustees had invested
the fund, now amounting to \pounds1,025 10s. 10d., in 3\% Consols. In
1882 the Governors awarded E. Badcock a Goodman Scholarship
on the same conditions at Lancaster Grammar School. In fact,
for the next three years, they awarded one Goodman Scholarship
a year to boys who left for Stamford, Wyggeston and Oakham.
Then no scholarship was awarded until 1888, when B. Syer was
granted one on the usual terms, to be held at Felstead Grammar
School.

When A. F. Leach inspected the School in 1889 on behalf of
the Charity Commissioners, he criticised the Governors for giving
Goodman Scholarships to boys who were going to other Grammar
Schools, for some of them did not afford a higher education than
that given at Kibworth. The Charity Commissioners followed up
Leach's criticism by informing the Governors:-- ``The intention
of the Scheme is not carried out by the Governors and, in future,
scholarships should only be tenable in some place of education or
technical training higher than Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar
School''. It was only natural that the Governors should return
a reply asking for information as to the way in which the Charity
Commissioners graded schools. Accordingly, the latter sent back
a long letter, indicating the three grades into which they divided
the old endowed Grammar Schools.                     ,
\begin{quote}
    \quad ``A school giving a complete classical or an advanced
    modern education with a minimum fee of \pounds10 p.a. and
    a leaving age of nineteen is considered a first grade school.

    \quad ``A school of second grade would be one in which
    the main object of teaching would not be so completely
    classical, in which the minimum fee is about \pounds5 and the
    leaving age is seventeen.

    \quad ``A school of third grade would be one in which
    little or no classics are taught, where the minimum fee is
    about \pounds3 p.a. and the leaving age is fifteen''.
\end{quote}

The main subject, so far as the Charity Commissioners were
concerned, was classics. This is interesting in view of the fact
that in the next year (1891) Kibworth School was to receive its
first public grant, but it was not to be for classics.  In 1889,
Parliament passed the Technical Instruction Act, whereby grants
were to be made available to schools to advance the teaching of
Science; and, as we shall see later, the Governors of the School
quickly took advantage of the Act.  For the moment, however,
classics still held sway and so the Charity Commissioners declared
that, of the schools mentioned by the Governors, Felstead and
Stamford were first-grade schools.  It seems, then, that the
Governors were right in awarding scholarships to boys going to
those schools, as they were places of higher education than
Kibworth, which was a second-grade school.

The Governors, despite the Commissioners' reply, awarded a
Goodman Scholarship to A. Jordan at Oakham School in 1902;
but when Ryland wished to enter Wellingborough Grammar School
with a Goodman Scholarship, A. F. Leach replied:-- ``The Board
of Education do not consider that Wellingborough Grammar School
is a place of higher education than Kibworth Grammar School''.
Finally, the Board of Education, which supplanted the Charity
Commissioners as the final arbiter of the destinies of the School,
summed up the matter by stating that the phrase ``a place of higher
education'' referred to a University and not to another Grammar
School.   The Governors accepted the Board's recommendation,
and so Goodman Scholarships have been given of late years to
Old Students proceeding to Universities or to Colleges of similar
standing.

The Charity Commissioners also criticised the Governors for
their financial mismanagement of the Goodman Scholarship Fund.
As we have seen, the Governors admitted to the Charity Commissioners 
that by 1897 they owed the fund \pounds127, ``which represents
the difference between the annual dividends received by the
Governors and the amounts from time to time applied for the
benefit of eligible scholars''.  It is rather strange that the
Governors, who kept such a tight control over the other finances of
the School, should have mismanaged the finances of the Goodman
Fund to such an extent.   Naturally, they received very little
sympathy from the Charity Commissioners, who stated ``The
yearly accounts of the Goodman Scholarship Fund will be strictly
examined in order that the Charity Commissioners may see what
progress the Governors are making towards the payment of the
instalments to the Official Trustees''. Under these circumstances,
the Governors were unable to award Goodman Scholarships for
a number of years, but by 1902 they had repaid the debt to the
fund, and in that year they awarded a Scholarship to A. Jordan.

Although the Governors mismanaged the Goodman Scholarship Fund, 
their conduct of the school finances in general was
most business-like. In fact, they made a determined effort to
balance the accounts. In 1880 they persuaded the Charity Commissioners 
to allow them to sell some school property; a cottage
was sold at Smeeton for \pounds200. They wrote to a number of London
booksellers asking for offers for certain books in the school library,
but the books were of no value. A scheme, however, which the
Governors undertook in the hope that it would bring in a good
amount each year was the Brickyard Scheme at Smeeton.

First notice of this scheme occurred in a letter written in
1881 by H. T. Grant to the Charity Commissioners.   In it he
revealed the sad plight of the School owing to the depression in
agriculture. He pointed out how the Governors proposed to erect
a Brickyard at Smeeton so that they could devote the royalties
from it for the upkeep of the School. The Charity Commissioners
were by no means sympathetic, and objected to the royalties being
so used. In his reply H. T. Grant emphasized the importance of
the project; its main object was to maintain the finances of the
School in the face of necessarily reduced rents and of a considerable 
outlay on the school estate essential in order to secure its
occupation in the present condition of agriculture. Grant also
pointed out the great difficulty which the Governors had in carrying
out the new Scheme in 1877. The Charity Commissioners still
refused permission; so Grant followed up with another letter
pointing out how, during 1881, rents from school farms had
decreased by \pounds58; how one farm of 45 acres could not be relet;
and how the expenditure of the School had been reduced so as to
provide a favourable balance at the Bank.   This letter was
successful, and the Charity Commissioners replied that the royalties 
of the first two years should be used for the School. This
would bring in \pounds120, but the Governors had to repay \pounds15 a year
to the Trustees of Charitable Funds to make good the loss in
revenue suffered by the Charity Commissioners.

The Brickyard Scheme worked well for a start, and the
Governors enjoyed a useful source of income from it. But .when
the tenant's lease ended in 1891, the Governors were unable to
find a successor, so they lost the royalties from the brickyard. In
fact, no further income from this Scheme was obtained. Fortunately 
for the Governors, the time was near at hand when the State
would step in to bolster up the school finances.

During the pre-Whitehall period, however, the School's
resources were so slender that, if the Governors found themselves
faced with extra expenditure, they found difficulty in balancing
their accounts. In 1892. for example, the water at the School was
considered unfit for drinking. A sample of the water was sent by
the Headmaster to a large firm of chemists at Birmingham who
reported: ``The water is not fit to use for drinking purposes; the
quantity of chlorides and nitrites is such as to indicate pollution
with sewage''. In consequence, a deep well had to be sunk near
the school house, and this cost the Governors \pounds70.

Financial troubles, however, were not the only difficulties that
faced the Governors. Their relations with both the Rev.\ J. J.
Barnard and the Rev.\ A. F. Crick were strained. In fact, when
Mr.\ Barnard left to take over the Headship of Stamford School,
he took away with him most of the school boarders. So incensed
were the Governors that they threatened to bring an action against
Barnard if he did not pay for damages caused to the Master's
house during his tenure. The Governors, however, fared no better
with Barnard's successor Mr.\ Crick.   Indeed, during the three
years that Crick was at Kibworth, a continuous feud seemed to
prevail between him and the Governors. In the end. Crick wrote:
``Some of the Governors are hostile to me and therefore it would
be useless for me to continue in office''. One cause of strife was
that the Governors considered the school premises so untidy. To
this Crick answered: ``The walls of the Schoolroom were, when
I came to Kibworth, defaced with countless names and other
writings and marks. I have always been most particular to stop
this. The only marks are impressions of the football which were
made last term by some of the boys contrary to my express orders.
This has not been repeated''. The Governors, moreover, complained 
that a number of boys had left because of Crick's mismanagement 
of the School. To this Crick replied: ``Berry of
Carlton went to the Wyggeston because the laboratories there were
full of excellent apparatus and much better than Kibworth''. A
third grievance was that Crick had reduced fees for a number of
boys without seeking the Governors' permission. Crick replied
that, since the new buildings had just been completed, he thought
it a good opportunity to reduce fees for a limited number of boys.
As a result three new boarders had arrived. Crick then went on
to point out the difficulties facing a small Grammar School such as
Kibworth. ``The enormous number of schools advertising nowadays 
makes the difficulty of obtaining boarders very great, and
particularly so while the number in the School is small. The large
schools attract the parents''. Another drawback for Kibworth was
that ``parents object to sending their children to a school where
boys of a lower class are received''.  In another letter to the
Governors Crick gave a resume of his period as Headmaster. ``I
have had during the past three years a most difficult struggle and
have made every effort to render the School attractive and successful. 
I have acted fairly and uprightly towards all the boys and
have endeavoured to work the School faithfully in accordance with
the Scheme, difficult though that may be. The great hindrance to
the obtaining of boarders is undoubtedly the presence of the Free
Scholars ..... Soon after my arrival, I was warned that the use of
bad language had been prevalent among some of the older boys.
I was very careful to teach the evil of such conduct and have every
reason to believe the habit is no longer prevalent''.

It is clear from Crick's statements that one important part of
the Governors' policy following the Scheme of 1877 was the
development of the boarding side of the School.   They felt, no
doubt, that there was not sufficient material in Kibworth and its
immediate neighbourhood for the School to develop a really
satisfactory standard of secondary school education. Therefore,
the catchment area had to be extended. Thus, the Governors
decided to build proper accommodation for the boarders.  By
February, 1884, there were eleven boarders with twenty-two day
scholars attending the School. The boarders were given accommodation 
in the Headmaster's house, but this was not a satisfactory
arrangement. Accordingly, the Governors sought permission of
the Charity Commissioners to build a dining room with offices
below and two bedrooms above at the cost of \pounds1,000. The
Commissioners agreed to the new building, but pointed out that the
Governors must secure a loan to pay for them. They succeeded
in raising a loan of the required amount from Messrs. Freer, Reeve,
Blunt and Rowley of Leicester, and agreed to pay back \pounds73 10s.
each year for twenty years. Thus, in 1888, the remainder of the
old block was built.

When the Scheme of 1877 was drawn up for the future conduct
of the School, no financial assistance was afforded the Governors
either from local or central funds, but by the end of this period
(1909) the School was in receipt of grants both from the Local
Education Authority and from the Board of Education. Since
1859, the State had been awarding grants to schools through the
Department of Science and Art at South Kensington. Then the
Local Government Act of 1888 had set up County Councils as the
administrative bodies of the various counties, and in 1889 the
Technical Instruction Act had made the County Councils the local
authorities for developing the technical side of education in the
schools. The development of such training in Germany was more
advanced than in England and so it was felt that public money
should be given to the old endowed Grammar Schools so as to
foster technical education. Thus, the first grant of public money
to the School came from the local authority in January 1892, when
the Technical Education Committee of the Leicestershire County
Council gave the School \pounds100 for the purpose of technical
education. Then every year from 1892 to 1904 the School received
\pounds100, which sum went to pay the Science Master and to provide
money for altering a cottage for Sloyd (i.e. Woodwork) classes.
In 1898, a further development took place, when the County
Council suggested that Art should be introduced into the curriculum; 
so the \pounds100 was now to be divided between the Science and
Art Masters, their shares being \pounds71 and \pounds29 respectively.

The first grant to the School from the Government, as against
the local authority, came from the Department of Science and Art
at South Kensington. The School, at the instance of the County
Council, had engaged an Art master; so in March, 1900, the
Governors applied for a grant from the central authority and
received a cheque for \pounds7 8s. from the Department of Science and
Art; in 1901 the Department paid the Governors \pounds7 7s. 9d. (1182
attendances at ld. each) and in 1902 \pounds5 16s. lOd. (701 attendances
at 2d. each).   In 1902, the Board of Education superseded the
Department of Science and Art as the central authority for
secondary education and consequently it was the Board who paid
the Governors nine guineas in 1903 for Art teaching.   A grant
from the Board brought with it the inevitable Inspector, and the
first H.M.I, to brighten the portals of Kibworth G.S. appeared in
1904, when he reported ``The teaching of art has been bright and
interesting and the boys have made good progress''. Perhaps the
appearance of the Inspector affected the Governors, for they never
applied for a local grant in 1905. The reason for this is, no doubt,
that in that year the future status of Kibworth was being decided,
and the Governors may have been uncertain whether to apply for
it or not.

The stages by which Kibworth Grammar School changed
from an independent school to one controlled by the State were,
as we have said, gradual. We have already noticed how a new
spirit animated the Charity Commissioners in the latter years of
the nineteenth century so that, even before the State took control,
the Governors were only semi-independent. Another stage was
reached when the Governors were prepared to receive grants from.
the local authority, the Leicestershire County Council, and from
the central authority, the Department of Science and Art, and, later,
the Board of Education. We have now to trace the final stages in
this process, whereby Kibworth Grammar School came fully under
the control of the Board of Education.

In the realm of education the acceptance of grants has usually
been followed by a measure of control. Thus, quickly on the heels
of the first grant in 1892 came this blunt notice from A. J. Baker,
Secretary to the Technical Education Committee of the Leicestershire 
County Council; ``The Technical Education Committee
propose to provide at an early date for the direct representation of
the County Council upon the governing body of every endowed
Grammar School''. Before the Governors had really had time to
consider the matter, another notice followed: ``The Technical
Education Committee of the Leicestershire County Council has
recommended the County Council to appoint Sir Henry Halford of
Wistow Hall, Col. James Baillie of Illston, Jonathan Glover of
Kilby Lodge and S. A. Marris of Knighton to represent the
Leicestershire County Council upon the governing body of your
School''. This second notice somewhat nettled the Governors,
for other schools in the county were having only three County
Council members imposed upon them. So they protested: ``The
School has been managed by Governors living in the neighbourhood 
who are more likely to know its requirements than Governors
chosen by the County Council. They feel some slight is cast upon
them by it being thought that they require more outside control
than other schools in the county''. Hence, the Kibworth Governors
proposed that three members from the County Council and not four
should be included on the governing body of the School; and the
Leicestershire County Council agreed to this proposal. No sooner
was this proposal adopted than the next County Council elections
followed, in 1895. As a result, the first three representatives of
the Council on the governing body of the School were the Rev.\
Mr.\ Deeming of Wigston Magna, J. G. Kendall of Thorpe Langton
and S. A. Marris of Knighton.

Some measure of outside control, therefore, had been forced
upon the Governors both in regard to the curriculum and in regard
to the general running of the School. Grants were paid for the
teaching of Science and Art and the County Council had three of
its representatives on the School governing body.   The logical
conclusion of this process was that the whole range of subjects in
the curriculum would eventually be financed by local and central
authorities and that the Leicestershire County Council would in
the end take over full control of the running of the School. This
situation came much nearer when Balfour's Education Act of 1902
placed responsibility for providing for the whole range of secondary
education in the countryside upon the County Councils.   In
Leicestershire, therefore, the Leicestershire County Council was
empowered to assist all forms of higher education provided that the
charge upon the rates did not exceed 2d. in the \pounds. The Council
were no longer to confine their attention to Science and Art, but
were to take note of all subjects and to give help where it was
deemed desirable.

The decision to bring the whole content of secondary education 
under the control of the County Council led naturally to the
disappearance of the Technical Education Committee in. favour
of a more general Education Committee; and it was upon this
Education Committee that fell the heavy task of working out the
details involved in the Act. The question at first was fundamentally 
financial---of giving more substantial grants than previously to
the needy schools.  It was some while before the Education
Committee had its plans ready, but on October 20th, 1905, it
published its scheme of grants to Grammar Schools.  The
Grammar Schools in the county were divided into two groups.
Group A consisted of those endowed Grammar Schools to which
the Committee already gave financial assistance and on the
governing bodies of which it was represented.   In this Group
were the two Ashby Grammar Schools, Barrow-on-Soar, Hinckley,
Loughborough Boys', Market Bosworth Boys' and Quom Mixed.
Group B consisted of Schools for whose upkeep the Education
Committee were to have full financial responsibility and in the
government of which it was to have a controlling voice.  Such
Schools were Lutterworth, Market Harborough, and those to be
established at Coalville and Melton Mowbray.

When this scheme of grants was drawn up the future of
Kibworth G.S. had not been decided upon.  Its future status,
however, was settled in the next year, when, following a meeting
between the Governors and the Director of Education, Kibworth
was placed in Group B. According to the 1905 Scheme, the grani
to the School would consist of \pounds100 each year plus capitation
allowances as follows: \pounds2 for children of 9 to 12; \pounds3 for children
of 12 to 16, and \pounds4 for children over 16. This meant a decided
increase in the money available to the Governors from the
Leicestershire County Council. Whereas they had only \pounds100 a
year previously, in 1906 they had \pounds150, in 1907 \pounds250, and in 1908
\pounds196.

There was still another financial source which the Governors
could tap to the advantage of the School; and that was a grant
from the Board of Education. The Board had already, as we
have seen, paid small sums to the School for the teaching of Art;
but after 1902 the Board was prepared to award much larger grants
to secondary schools. In order, however, to qualify for a grant
from the Board, a school had to be recognised as efficient. The
Kibworth Governors made their first application for a Government
grant in 1906, but this was turned down. In refusing recognition,
however, the Board stated, ``As an amending scheme is in the
course of preparation to provide for the admission of girls to the
School, it is anticipated that, when the Scheme has been established,
it will be possible to consider fresh application for recognition as
a secondary school''. Accordingly, the next year the Governors
again applied for recognition, and after much deliberation the
Board agreed to give temporary recognition to the School for four
years. At the same time, the Board issued a grave warning to
the Governors: ``The School at present falls far short of the
standard of efficiency anticipated by the regulations for Secondary
Schools. The ordinary leaving age of the scholars has been low
and the average length of the school life unduly short. In view
of the wide difference in age existing among the scholars, the three
groups in which the School is worked hardly secure adequate
classification .... Close attention will be given to the development
of the School and a very decided advance will be necessary if it
is to be recognised at the end of this period''.

For the time being, however, the School was to be placed
upon the list of secondary schools recognised for grant; and in
1908 the Governors received a grant of \pounds121 from the Board of
Education. Thus, while at the start of this period (1877) the School
received no public financial assistance, at the end (1909) it was
receiving \pounds196 from the Local Education Authority and \pounds121 from
the Board of Education. The financial worries of the Governors
were at an end; so also was their control over the School.

Control over the School passed into the hands of the Leicestershire 
County Council by the Scheme of 1909. As we have already
seen, the fact that, in 1906, Kibworth was placed in Group B for
grants to Grammar Schools meant that full control of the School
would eventually pass to the County Council. This happened in
1909, when the Board of Education had a new Scheme drawn up
for the School amending the original scheme of 1877.   Two
important provisions were contained in this new scheme.  One
was that, in future, the School Governors were to be appointed by
the Leicestershire County Council; the second was that girls were
now to be admitted into the School. Actually, girls had been
allowed to attend since 1907, in which year the Board had published 
its first draft copy of the amended scheme, the final version
of which was not settled until 1909.

The main interest of this period 1877--1909 centres around
the ever-increasing growth of State influence in the School, with
the result that the internal affairs of the School tend to be 
overshadowed; and it is to these that we now turn. For the major
part of this period, the Headmaster was the Rev.\ Ambrose Pudsey
Dawson. As with the Governors, the School finances caused him
many a headache. In one letter he informed the Governors: ``I
have spent not less than \pounds50 p.a. on the School in order to make
it as efficient as I can.\dots I have had also to advance all money
for salaries''. The Second Master at this time was John Price
Evans. In fact, when in 1906 Mr.\ Dawson resigned the Headship
in order to accept the living of Harston near Grantham, Evans
acted as Head for the two following terms. Then the Governors
wished to put aside the clause in the Scheme requiring a graduate
Headmaster, in favour of Evans who was a non-graduate; but the
Board insisted on a graduate Head, and so Mr.\ C. L. Ryley was
appointed in August, 1907. Other masters at this time were L.
C. Brooke, the Science master, whose salary was paid by the
Technical Education Committee, and T. C. Barfield, the Art
master. Sgt. Jones took drill at 5s. per lesson, and the Singing
master was A. Cooper. The whole of this staff---Evans, Brooke,
Jones and Cooper---resigned on July 31st, 1907, preparatory to the
Local Education Committee's taking over control of the School.

Some indication of the work being done in the School during
this period is given by the reports of the annual examiners. The
Scheme of 1877 had laid down that such an annual examination
should be held, and some of the reports of the examiners are still
extant. The subjects in which the boys were examined were Holy
Scripture, Latin, French, History, Geography, English Grammar,
Arithmetic, Algebra, Reading and Recitation, Writing and Spelling,
Book-keeping, Drawing, Science, Shorthand and Sloyd (i.e. Woodwork).  
It is clear from this list that Mr.\ Dawson and his staff
worked hard to provide the boys of Kibworth with a liberal
education.   The examiner for 1905 wrote: ``At Kibworth
Grammar School there is such a wide range of subjects from which
to choose that a boy may be prepared for any career in life; and
a parent may feel, in sending his son to the School, that boy will
be carefully and conscientiously trained for after-life''.  All
examiners, in fact, stressed the good tone of the School. In 1902,
the Rev.\ Mr.\ Atkins wrote: ``The School is in thoroughly good
order. Discipline and tone are in every way satisfactory''. The
same examiner wrote in 1903: ``Discipline and order are
excellent; a healthy tone throughout;''. The examiner in 1905, the
Rev.\ Walter Coombe, of Caius College, Cambridge, reported:
``The discipline and moral bearing of the School deserve high
commendation. I feel confident that the School is doing good,
and useful work''.

Such was the view of Mr.\ Coombe: but, unfortunately for the
School, his view was not endorsed by the Board of Education. To
the expert eyes of the Board's Inspectors the School was not up
to the standard of efficiency required, and it was to be several
years before the Inspectors were satisfied with the standard of
education given in the School.  A hard task awaited the new
Headmaster, C. L. Ryley, when he took over in 1907, for, according 
to the experts, the object of the 1877 Scheme---the increased
efficiency of the School---had not yet been achieved.

We may note, in passing, that the Rev.\ Mr.\ Dawson was a
keen cricketer. He started a School Cricket Club which every boy
could join on paying a subscription of two shillings, and he
persuaded the Governors to donate \pounds5 to provide the necessary
kit. He had the square roped off so that the cows in the School
field did not make the wicket a bowler's paradise. In a letter to
the Governors he wrote: ``I find that Bolton's cows are an 
insufferable nuisance on the cricket field''. This would indeed cause
him great concern, for he was very keen on the school games; he
is said never to have missed watching a match. He was a lively
teacher, and dispensed lavish hospitality to his boarders. His
youngest daughter tells us, in a letter full of happy reminiscences,
``He retired because girls were to be admitted to the School, and
his methods would never fit themselves to girls''.

Mr.\ Dawson's family cherish affectionate memories of
Kibworth, and call occasionally at School House.  They are
delighted to hear that Mrs. Grewcock, who used to keep the school
tuck-shop in School Lane, is still a neighbour, and that the Bolton
family is still so much to the fore in school affairs.

\chapter{The School during C.\ L.\ Ryley's Headship (1907--1927).}

The new Headmaster came from Bedford Modern School,
where he had been a housemaster.   Educated at St. Olave's
Grammar School, London, he had gone from there to Jesus College,
Oxford, as a classical Scholar. After taking his degree in 1896,
he had taught at Bedford Modern School, a public school of over
450 boys. He served there for eleven years, and was then appointed 
to Kibworth; and for the first time in its long history, Kibworth
Beauchamp Grammar School had a lay Headmaster.

There is no denying that, from the very start, Ryley found it
difficult to bridge the gap between the small rural school at
Kibworth and the famous public school from which he had come.
He himself wrote to a friend in 1912, ``It did not take me a week
to realise the hideous mistake I made in coming from a school
like Bedford to one of this type''. Despite his disappointment,
however, Ryley at first strove hard to improve the standard of
attainment in the School; and, under him, the School began to
increase in numbers. When he took up his appointment in 1907,
there were 40 children in attendance; by 1914 it had increased to
60; in 1918, to 75; and in 1920, to 80. This was the greatest
number of children in the School during Ryley's headship. After
that, the numbers began to decline seriously, and when Ryley left
in 1927 they had dropped to 37. Ryley was a man of forthright
speech, and his letters well indicate this aspect of his character.
Of one child he wrote, ``Her work here was never satisfactory,
not improbably from conceit due to spoiling at home''. Of another,
``We intend to see that she works, and, if she does not, the remedy
will be quick and effectual''.  In his reports to the Governors
Ryley always expressed himself most forcefully. He stated, for
example, that the children at Kibworth were happy, but added,
``The happiness of the children is not due to any disregard of the
essential discipline and instruction''. Occasionally, parents came
in for criticism: ``This parent is rather fussy (he gives me more
correspondence and interviews than all the rest put together) and
has a high sense of his own importance''. The Education Office,
too, received some caustic remarks from him: ``It would seem
that the Office neither can manage the School itself nor will leave
me to do it in my own way---in a word I am thoroughly sick of the
methods adopted in connection with the School and I fail to see
the necessity for a Head at all''. Sometimes, a streak of humour
is to be found in his letters. He wrote to the Director, asking the
latter to publish an advertisement for a post, and added: ``I
suppose the agency will send me troops of wild Welsh girls fresh
from their native hills''. Of the Board of Education he wrote:
``It is hard to take the Board seriously, except as a serious
nuisance''.

Reading through Ryley's correspondence, one feels that he
showed little sympathy towards the children under his care. He
was inclined to scold rather than to encourage. In 1912 he wrote,
``The Senior pupils are not much to boast about and though they
are distinctly dull, I believe they do their best''.   Later on he
wrote, ``Form 5 is very lethargic and sleepy with a general lack
of go''. Moreover, Ryley felt little sympathy towards Kibworth
itself. He suggested to the Director, for example, that a teacher
from outside should examine the Free Place candidates, for
``Knowing the village as I do, I have little doubt that tongues will
wag vigorously if anyone from the locality is chosen''. On another
occasion he asked the Director to distribute the prizes, adding, ``I
do want someone from outside the charmed circle of Kibworth,
for, as it is, we are in danger of forgetting there is an outside
world at all''.  His opinion about the neighbourhood's lack of
interest in education was summed up in a sentence, which is to be
found in a letter written late in his career: ``The district does not
seem to be one that values educational advantages''.

Soon after Ryley's arrival at Kibworth, the Scheme of 1909
was drawn up, which completed the transfer of power from the
old Governors to the Leicestershire County Council.  In future,
the Council was to appoint the Governors, to whom it delegated
its control over the School.  All property and funds, moreover,
belonging to the School were to be handed over to the County
Council. Continuity with the past, however, was to be provided
by appointing two former Governors on to the new governing
body---the Rev.\ Mr.\ Fletcher and Mr.\ Dickenson.

The Scheme had been in operation barely a year, when the
Board sent down two of its Inspectors to make a general inspection
of the School.  Their report, was, as one might expect, very
critical. The two main charges levelled at the School were the
low leaving age and the scholastic backwardness of the children.
They felt, therefore, that the ordinary Grammar School curriculum
was unsuitable, and that there was little prospect of the School
``establishing itself as a necessary part of the provision of
secondary education in the district''. In their opinion, the children
in the School who could profit by a proper secondary education
were few.  Despite this strong criticism, however, the Board
decided to grant the School recognition for a further four years.

The Board of Education clearly thought that there was no
future in store for Kibworth Grammar School, for in the very next
year it proposed to the Leicestershire County Council that the
School should be closed and that the children should be transferred
to Market Harborough Grammar School. The first intimation of
the proposed closure of the School was given on October 20th,
1911, when the Leicestershire Education Committee recommended
that the School should be closed as soon as possible.  This
naturally brought forth an immediate response from the Governors
who, on November 8th, met the then Director of Education, Mr.\
Brockington, to consider the matter. After a lengthy discussion,
the Governors passed a resolution asking the Leicestershire County
Council not to proceed with their intention of closing the School;
Following this resolution the Director wrote to the Board suggesting
that Kibworth Grammar School might be given a little longer lease
of life. He pointed out that numbers had slightly increased since
1909--from 38 to 43; that the Board had recently granted a further
recognition for four years; that the present Headmaster was doing
good work with unpromising material; and that an amalgamation
of Kibworth and Market Harborough Grammar Schools was, at
that moment, impolitic. In conclusion the Director wrote, ``I am
anxious that the School should have the advantage of the years
of grace accorded by the Board of Education''. Influenced by
the Director's appeal, the Secretary to the Board replied. ``I do not
wish to extinguish Kibworth Grammar School, but no doubt it will
have to be incorporated in a larger scheme for Market Harborough''. 
Therefore, when the Education Committee met again,
the resolution to close Kibworth was rescinded; and no further
effort to close the School was made until 1949.

In 1910, then, the Board gave the School a further period of
recognition, and Ryley made a determined effort to justify the
Board's decision. Thus, in July, 1912, he was able to report to
the Governors, ``The School as a whole is in a more hopeful and
satisfactory state than at any time in the last five years''. Numbers
now began to increase, partly through lowering the fees from six
guineas to four pounds per annum.  Thus, in 1913, the Director
was able to report to the Board that numbers had increased and
that better conditions were prevailing. In that year an attempt
was made to extend the school life of each child by insisting that
the parents of all children admitted into the School should sign an
undertaking, worded as follows: ``I undertake that the pupil shall
remain in regular attendance at a secondary school as a pupil for
at least three years after reaching the age of twelve unless, in the
meantime, the Governors consent in writing to his leaving at an
earlier age. If he leaves without consent, a fine of five pounds
will be levied''. The School had, indeed made such progress that
in 1914, the Governors asked the Board to increase their grant
from \pounds126 to \pounds250 p.a. Accordingly, two Inspectors visited the
School, and this time they were so satisfied with the School that
the Board agreed to the increased grant.  In 1914, also, four
children passed the Oxford Local Examination, and the Head was
able to report: ``There is a distinct improvement in the spirit of
the School. The general conduct of the School continues to be
excellent''.

The staff in 1914 consisted of the Head, two other permanent
teachers, Mr.\ Weaver-Jones and Miss Scruton, and two visiting
teachers, Mr.\ Copelin and Mr.\ Barfield. Ryley himself took the
English and History throughout the School, Weaver-Jones the
Science and Geography, and Miss Scruton the French. All three
teachers shared the Maths., Mr.\ Copelin took Woodwork, and Mr.\
Barfield Art. There was no Domestic Science for the girls till
1920. Latin had almost disappeared from the curriculum; it was
taken only by four boys, and then after school hours. Shorthand
was also taken after School.  Weaver-Jones took the boys for
Physical Training and Miss Scruton the girls. The whole School
was taken once a week for Singing.

The first World War did not interfere with the increase in
numbers, nor with the steady progress of the School.  In 1916
Ryley commented: ``I fear that the war will do us a good deal
of damage in the way of numbers, and I only wonder that they
have kept up as they have''.  The war, however, made things
more difficult at times. There was, for example, great difficulty
in getting chemical apparatus; the Midland Railway refused to
accept goods for transit owing to the congested state of the railways 
caused by troop movements; it was impossible to get books
replaced. Towards the end of the war Ryley thought that it was
having a marked effect on the work and conduct of the children.
In his opinion the school year 1918--1919 had a very bad character.

In February, 1920, there were eighty children in the School,
but seven years later only 37 children were on the school register.
Responsibility for the decline in numbers must be placed chiefly
on Ryley himself. After 1920, he became more and more aloof
from the people of the neighbourhood, with the result that the
School became almost boycotted by the community. Ryley lost
confidence in the children, and the neighbourhood lost confidence
in him.  In 1926, the Director wrote: ``Unless there is some
change very soon Kibworth Grammar School will die out''. In
October of that year, a sub-committee of the Education Committee,
including Sir Robert Martin, met the Governors at a special
meeting to discuss the whole situation. The general opinion was
unanimous: The School would not improve until a new Head was
appointed. Accordingly, Ryley was interviewed and informed of
the decision of the special meeting that, if he did not resign, his
engagement would be terminated.  So, a few days later, Ryley
formally resigned.

There were, indeed, other factors which helped to account for
the decline in the numbers attending Kibworth in the years
following the war. Unemployment was widespread in Kibworth
and Fleckney owing to the unsettled state of the hosiery industry.
Many parents could not afford to pay fees, nor to keep their
children at school after they had reached the age of fourteen. The
Leicestershire Education Committee made matters worse for the
School when they twice increased fees within the space of two
years; in 1920 from \pounds4 4s. Od. to \pounds6 13s. 4d., and in 1922 to \pounds10.
Moreover, the Governors insisted on fining those parents who
broke their undertakings. One reason for increased fees was the
rise in salaries of the teaching profession as a result of the first
Bumham Award.

In the period of 1920--27, several important decisions affecting
the School's future were made.   In the first place, Goodman
Exhibitions, hitherto awarded, to boys only, were in 1922 made
available for girls as well.   A previous attempt had been made
during the war to alter the existing arrangements so that girls could
benefit from these leaving scholarships, but the Board refused to
amend the scheme in war-time.   In 1921, however, there were
more girls attending the School than boys, so the Governors again
approached the Board, which agreed to the Governors' request.
The first two girls to be awarded Goodman Scholarships were E.
Nourish and E. Hulland.

The decision to introduce a school crest was taken during the
later part of Ryley's Headship.  With the approval of the
Governors, the Director approached Earl Beauchamp for permission 
to use his arms as the school badge, and the request was
granted. The Head then asked Mr.\ Burrows, the Art Master, to
design a shield bearing upon it the Beauchamp arms---two lions
passant.

It was on December 17th, 1926, that Ryley resigned, but he
carried on for two more terms, until Midsummer 1927. When the
Governors advertised for a new Head, 191 candidates sought the
vacancy.   Finally, a short list of ten was drawn up, and these
gentlemen were interviewed by the Governors.   After much
discussion, on the proposition of Mr.\ Robert Rowley, seconded by
Mr.\ Mattock, it was unanimously decided to offer the post to Mr.\
Elliot, of Ashby Grammar School, who forthwith accepted it.

\chapter{The Expansion of the School under Mr.\ Elliot (1927--1955).}

John Edmundson Elliot, who was to dominate the story of
Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School in the second quarter of
the twentieth century, came to Kibworth from Ashby Grammar
School, where he had been Second Master for ten years. During
that time he had seen the numbers at Ashby rise from 100 to 300,
and within a few years he had the satisfaction of seeing similar
progress at Kibworth. When Mr.\ Elliot came in September, 1927,
there were 35 children on the roll; by July, 1928, numbers had
increased to 62, by July, 1931, to 119, and by July, 1935, to 145.

This increase in numbers was only one sign among many of
the School's rapid development under Mr.\ Elliot. Thus, within a
short time of his coming to Kibworth, the Governors were able to
report to the Directors, ``The prospects of the School have improved 
considerably at once''. Mr.\ Elliot sought to develop the
potentialities of the children both in the classroom and on the
playing fields.   One of his first reforms was to make Latin a
regular subject of the curriculum.  Another important item to
which he quickly paid attention was the development of the School
Library. It was practically non-existent when he came, and he
set out at once to get a reasonably good one. In fact, throughout
his Headship, he recognised the fundamental importance of good
books, readily accessible, and towards the end of his career he had
the satisfaction of seeing the School in possession of a first class,
properly-equipped Library.

Games and Physical Education were always considered by
Mr.\ Elliot a particularly valuable part of School life.   Thus, the
Village Hall was hired for P.E. on wet days; the old tennis-courts
were repaired; inter-school games were arranged in Hockey, Football 
and Cricket; and in 1928 the first Sports Day for many years
was held.   That same summer arrangements were made for the
children to have swimming lessons.

Another important innovation introduced by Mr.\ Elliot was
the publication of a School Magazine. The first number of The
Beauchamp Magazine came out at the end of Mr.\ Elliot's first term 
at Kibworth in December, 1927. Until 1931, it was published
once a term, but since then it has appeared once a year.   Mr.\
Elliot also introduced the prefect system, the first prefects being
F. J. Goodwin, C. Bale, G. Harris, R. Johnson, P. Briggs, C.
Freeland and W. Holton.

No House system was in existence when Mr.\ Elliot arrived.
In his first term the House system was applied only to games, but
after that it was used in the classroom as well. Six houses were
established at first, but in 1931 the Picts and Scots were divided
among the Athenians, Romans, Spartans and Trojans.

Mr.\ Elliot had not been long at Kibworth before he decided
to reintroduce boarders into the School. At one time, especially
under the Rev.\ Mr.\ Dawson, Kibworth had possessed a fair quota
of boarders. Numbers had dropped since then, but Mr.\ Elliot was
anxious to revive this side of the School. In this project, as in
everything relating to the School, he was greatly helped by Mrs.
Elliot, who supervised the domestic side of the boarding 
establishment. Within a few years, the number of boarders had increased
to twelve. Later on, as day pupils from further afield attended
the School, Mrs. Elliot extended her catering arrangements to
include the provision of a hot mid-day meal for them as well.

These innovations, however, which Mr.\ Elliot introduced in
his first years at Kibworth, were only incidental to the main task
which confronted him, the raising of the general standard of
education in the School. From the start he steadily concentrated
on this object and thus, from the early days of his Headship,
Kibworth sent forward a steady stream of scholars to Training
Colleges and Universities. For example, in September, 1929, F.
J. Goodwin, P. Briggs, and C. Freeland entered St. Mark's Training
College; in September, 1930, G. Harris went to Nottingham
University College and J. S. Mattock to St. Paul's College,
Cheltenham.

The growth of the School, during Mr.\ Elliot's period as Head,
was phenomenal. He started in 1927 with 35 pupils; by 1940 the
number had reached 262, and when he retired in 1955 there were
over 500 children in the School. Several factors were responsible
for this remarkable development of the School within a quarter of
a century. First was the restoration of confidence in the ability
of the School to give a good standard of education. This was Mr.\
Elliot's great achievement: he won the confidence of parents in
the neighbourhood, so that they began to send their children to
Kibworth once more instead of looking further afield.  Indeed,
Mr.\ Elliot came to the School at a crucial moment in its history,
for, by 1933, he had improved the School to such effect that, when
the Leicestershire County Council sought to put into effect the
re-organisation of secondary education in the county, the Director
had sufficient confidence in Kibworth to choose it as the Grammar
School for the Wigston-Oadby area and neighbourhood. This
re-organisation followed the Hadow Report, the main proviso of
which was that a child's education should be divided into primary
and secondary stages.   Until 1926, it was the custom for most
children to have the whole of their schooling at the school to
which they went at the age of five. But the Hadow Report put
an end to the all-age school. In future, there was to be a break
at the age of eleven; at that age a child was to be transferred from
his primary school to that secondary school which best suited his
talents. Naturally, it took several years for the re-organisation to
get under way, but by 1931 the County Council was building new
Modern Schools and was preparing to award more scholarships to
the Grammar Schools. The Council decided to use the existing
Grammar Schools, rather than to build new ones, in the provision
of more school places. Thus, children from Wigston and Oadby
now began to be transported to Kibworth, so that between 1935
and 1940 the numbers at Kibworth were nearly doubled.

The third factor in the growth of Kibworth was the Education
Act of 1944. This Act completed the work of the Hadow Report
and abolished fee-paying at the School. Henceforth, children in
the neighbourhood---and that included a vast area stretching from
Billesdon to Wigston---who passed the Qualifying Examination,
were awarded a place at Kibworth. So, between 1944 and 1954,
the number on the School roll rose from 300 to over 500. Another
effect of the Act was to bring Kibworth back again to what its
founders intended---a Free Grammar School.

The tremendous growth of the School brought with it problems 
of accommodation. In 1936, new buildings were completed
at a cost of \pounds5,445. The following is a description of them:--
``The building consists of a hall, which can be used for assembly
and P.T.  It is provided with a stage for dramatic and other
purposes. The stage will serve also the purpose of a dining-room.
A large,, kitchen and larder is attached.  Changing rooms and
shower baths are also attached.   An Art Room, Lecture Room
and additional cloakrooms, together with Headmaster's room and
staff commonroom, are also included.''   Then comes a most
revealing detail: ``A large room in the old hall has been converted
into a Science Laborator''.  This is a reminder of the great
development on the Science side which took place at Kibworth
during Mr.\ Elliot's Headship.

These new buildings, however, were totally inadequate to deal
vith the numbers that flocked into the School after 1945. Classroom 
accommodation was sought in the village outside the precincts 
of the School. The Village Hall, the dining centre (now the
Beauchamp Buildings) and the Methodist Schoolrooms were
messed into service.  Finally, during the Summer term of 1949,
lew pre-fabricated buildings were erected; these included a biology
laboratory, geography, music and art rooms-and new cloakrooms.
[t is slightly ironical that these buildings were actually finished on
the very day that the Leicestershire County Council decided on
the School's ultimate closure.

The School's rapid development threw a great burden upon
the shoulders of the Headmaster, but his load was considerably
lightened by the constant support and encouragement he received
from the Governors and by the untiring efforts of his senior staff.
In his early days at Kibworth, he had as Chairman of Governors
the Rev.\ Canon Fletcher, who had already occupied that position
for the past twenty years. Canon Fletcher continued as Chairman
until his death in 1933. He was succeeded by Mr.\ Robert Rowley,
but the latter was Chairman for only two years. During the middle
period of Mr.\ Elliot's headship, he had another Rector of Kibworth
as his Chairman, the Rev.\ Canon Eacott, who continued in this
office from 1936 to 1943.  The next Chairman was Dr. J. S.
Macbeth, who occupied the post during the vital period when the
effects of the 1944 Act were being felt in the School. He continued
to serve until 1949, when he was succeeded by the present Chairman, 
Mr.\ A. G. Briggs.

In his first few years at Kibworth, Mr.\ Elliot received invaluable 
support from Mr.\ J. R. W. Shell, who was Senior Master
from his coming to Kibworth in 1928 until his sudden death on
June 8th, 1944. Since then, the Senior Master has been Mr.\ J. W.
Martin, who came to the School in 1930 and who has, therefore,
spent over a quarter of a century in the service of the School. The
Senior Mistress from 1935 to 1944 was Miss C. A. Williams, and,
on her departure, the post was taken up by Miss N. Waddington,
who is still Senior Mistress.

The 1944 Act had several effects upon the School. One, as
we have seen, was to abolish fee-paying, for clause 61 of the Act
laid down that ``no fees were to be charged in respect of admission
to any School maintained by a local education authority''.
Another effect was to close the Preparatory Department, for the
only means of entry to Kibworth after 1944 was by the award of
a place there, based mainly on the result of the ``eleven plus
examination.

Another important effect of the Act was to alter the constitution 
of the Governing body.   Under the terms of the 1909
Constitution, there were to be nine Representative Governors, five
of whom were to be appointed by the Leicestershire County
Council, while the Parish Councils of Kibworth Beauchamp,
Kibworth Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby and the Council of
Birmingham University were each to appoint one Governor. The
1944 Act stated that ``For every county school there shall be an
instrument providing for the constitution of the body of Governors
of the school''.   (Clause 17 (1)).  In 1946 the Instrument of
Government for Kibworth was approved by the Minister of
Education, and the core of the governing body in future was to be
the four Foundation Governors.   They need not necessarily be
County Councillors, but were to live in the vicinity of Kibworth,
for whose children the School was originally founded.' The
Instrument actually named the first four Foundation Governors,
together with their terms of office.   Dr. Macbeth, of Kibworth
Beauchamp, was to serve for five years; Mr.\ A. G. Briggs, of
Kibworth Harcourt, for four years; Mrs. Hilda Deacon, of Smeeton
Westerby, for three years; and Mr.\ Stops, of Kibworth Harcourt,
for two years. In addition to the Foundation Governors, there
were to be eight Representative Governors, appointed by the
Leicestershire County Council.   Of these eight, however, since
many children were now drawn from a much wider area than
Kibworth itself, the Rural District Councils of Market Harborough
and Billesdon, and the Urban District Councils of Oadby and
Wigston were each to nominate one Representative Governor.

The School's rapid growth did not prevent Mr.\ Elliot from
maintaining a strict watch over its educational development. The
early years of his rule saw a number of children leaving the School
for places of higher education, and this feature continued throughout 
the whole of his Headship. An Appendix contains a list of
some pupils who left Kibworth for Training Colleges and
Universities while Mr.\ Elliot was Head, but, at this juncture, two
honours should be specially noted.  They were the awards of
State Scholarships made in 1947 to D. A. Greenwood and C. B.
Cotterill. This fine performance did, indeed, set the seal on Mr.\
Elliot's work at Kibworth. The Governors could feel that, at long
last, the education in the School had reached a really high standard.

The success gained by the School in 1947 continued till the
end of Mr.\ Elliot's Headship. In 1948, D. A. Greenwood won
an Open Scholarship to Cambridge; in 1949, P. A. Sharpe gained
a State Scholarship; in 1951, E. J. Preston won an Open Scholarship 
to Peterhouse and in the same year gained a State Scholarship;
and in 1952 Ann Evans made history by being the first girl of
Kibworth Grammar School to win a State Scholarship. Thus, in
five years, the School gained five State Scholarships.

Mr.\ Elliot did not insist solely on work; he firmly believed in
the value of games in school life. As we have seen, he introduced
inter-school games in Football, Cricket, Hockey and Tennis; he
had new Tennis Courts made; he made provision for Swimming,
and a Sports Day became a regular feature during his Headship.
He was sufficiently broad minded to allow the girls to play Cricket
and to introduce Rugger into the School, but these two innovations
did not find favour and were soon dropped.

Another important innovation in Mr.\ Elliot's time was the
production of school plays. He believed in a balanced education,
and was prepared to encourage acting and music. It became the
custom to produce a School play or opera in alternate'years, and
the following are some of the recent productions: 1937, She Stoops
to Conquer; 1938, Twelfth Night; 1947, The Mikado; 1950, A
Midsummer Night's Dream; 1952, Merrie England; 1954, Quiet
Week-end. Moreover, since 1949, an Eisteddfod has been held in
alternate years; in this competitions on a house basis take place
in Music, Recitation, Art, Needlework and Folk-Dancing.

One good indication of the health of a school is the number
of after-school societies to be found flourishing there. Many such
societies have met at one time or another at Kibworth, but the
main after-school society has always been the School Society.
This first started in 1930, and is still flourishing today. It was in
the beginning mainly a debating society, and the first debate was
on the motion: ``It is better to travel by rail than road''. Of late
years the School Society has widened its scope so as to include
talks on a variety of subjects, visits to places of general interest,
and film-shows. In addition, there have appeared at various times
an Art Group, a Choral Speaking Group, a Chess Club, a Gramophone 
Club and a Cycling Club.

In all aspects of school life, then, Kibworth Beauchamp
Grammar School made rapid development while Mr.\ Elliot was
Head. He paid keen attention to the standard of education in the
School, he developed the Science side, he encouraged the more
cultural activities, such as drama and music, and he was ready to
promote out-of-school activities. It can truthfully be said that Mr.\
Elliot lived for Kibworth Grammar School, and, unfortunately, his
last years at the School were clouded by the knowledge that there
was talk once more of its possible closure.

\chapter{The Future.}

As we have already seen, attempts had been made before 1949
to close the School. As long ago as the middle of the seventeenth
century, Abbott and his fellow tenants had done a little mud-slinging 
in an effort to stop the School's activities.   Then, soon
after the Leicestershire County Council had begun to support the
School, the Board of Education had suggested its closure.' These
two attempts had failed, but now a third major assult has been
made on the School, and it looks this time as if it may indeed be
closed.

The Education Act of 1944 (clause II) ordered every L.E.A.
to prepare a Development Plan, showing how it proposed to cope
with the organisation of primary. and secondary schools in its area
in the years following the Act.   The Leicestershire Education
Committee at once set out to draw up its Plan, and in its first draft
proposed that Kibworth Grammar School should be closed and
its pupils 'divided between Market Harborough and the new
Wigston School, or, as the Committee preferred to put it,
``Kibworth School should be moved from its traditional site northwards 
to its new centre of gravity''.

When, however, the Leicestershire County Council came to
consider the Education Committee's draft plan, it did not like the
idea of closing an old-established school like Kibworth; so it
instructed the Education Committee to amend the original plan so
as to preserve Kibworth as a two-form entry school. The County
Council assumed that an intake of sixty pupils a year could be
secured if children from Oadby continued to attend in addition
to those from districts nearer Kibworth. Thus, when the Leicestershire 
County Council sent up its Development Plan to the Ministry
on 28th November, 1946, it provided for the continuance of
Kibworth Grammar School as a two-form entry school.

In order to appreciate the Minister's comments on the Plan,
a word or two on the Development Plan as a whole is necessary.
Its main architect was the Director himself. Sir William
Brockington, and he was greatly concerned about the provision
of technical education in Leicestershire.   On his advice, the
County Council decided to provide for technical education in its
grammar schools rather than to build separate technical schools.
Sir William argued that the grammar schools were already to a
certain extent bi-lateral, for they provided education for pupils
proceeding to executive posts in industry and commerce as well
as for those going on to Universities.   Only slight alterations
would be needed in the existing grammar schools to provide
sufficient accommodation for technical pupils.   Moreover, the
grammar schools held an established place in public esteem which
Secondary Technical Schools could not hope to attain for a very
long time. In short, the Leicestershire Development Plan envisaged 
not merely grammar schools, but grammar-technical schools.

For over two years the Ministry considered the Plan, and then
in February, 1949, the Minister published his comments.   He
thought that the grammar schools of South Leicestershire which
had a two-form entry, namely Kibworth, Market Harborough and
Lutterworth, were too small to provide a suitable variety of courses
of both grammar and technical types for boys and girls. ``He
appreciates the difficulties ..... nevertheless he would suggest that
the three smallest of them, Kibworth, Lutterworth and Market
Harborough are so small as to raise doubts whether really they
ought to be continued indefinitely''.

Immediately, the Education Committee appointed a special
sub-committee to consider the Minister's comments.   In a few
days, it put forward its proposals to the effect that Lutterworth
and Market Harborough should be retained. Lutterworth was the
only centre accessible to a wide rural district, and Market Harborough 
was a fairly large market town. As for the Kibworth
School, the sub-committee came to the conclusion that it should
be closed. To justify its decision, the sub-committee put forward
the following arguments.

\begin{enumerate}
\item The building of the new grammar-technical school at
Wigston would relieve the L.E.A. of the administrative
inconvenience and extra expense of conveying so many
children daily to Kibworth.

\item 60\% of the Kibworth Grammar School population came
from Wigston. Therefore, insufficient children would be
left for Kibworth to continue as a two-form entry school.

\item Oadby Urban District Council preferred Oadby children
to go to the new School at Wigston rather than to continue
to attend Kibworth. The sub-committee felt that there
was a chance for Kibworth to survive, if Oadby's population 
increased in such numbers that the children from
there could make good the losses suffered by the removal
of the Wigston children. But would Oadby parents prefer
Kibworth or the new Wigston School for their children?
To find out the answer to this question, the sub-committee
put the matter to the Oadby Urban District Council on
March 25th, 1949, and the latter unanimously favoured
the new school.

\item A suggestion had been made that Kibworth might continue
as a bi-lateral school, taking in ' secondary modern' as
well as ' grammar' children; but the sub-committee
argued that there were not sufficient children in the
neighbourhood of Kibworth to fill Church Langton
Secondary Modern School and the proposed ``modern''
department at Kibworth; and the committee was. not
prepared to close Church Langton.

\item Finally, the sub-committee stated: ``Children who would
attend Wigston School would be able to participate
freely after school hours in school clubs, societies, games
and other out of-school activities because they would be
within walking distance or would have at their disposal
an urban transport system''.
\end{enumerate}

The sub-committee, therefore, proposed that the original plan
to close Kibworth should be reverted to, and added: ``Your
committee reached its conclusion with the utmost reluctance. It
could contemplate the discontinuance of a school of Kibworth's
long tradition only with the most profound regret.....   The
inexorable fact is that if the Wigston Grammar-Technical School is
built it is impossible to find sufficient children suited for the
grammar school type of secondary education to keep Kibworth
Grammar School in existence''. The full Education Committee
naturally endorsed its sub-committee's recommendations, and
finally, on July 26th, 1949, the proposal was put to the 
Leicestershire County Council that Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School
should be closed.   The motion was proposed by Sir Robert
Martin, the Chairman of the Education Committee, and this time
the County Council felt it had no option but to accept the
Education Committee's proposal. Thus, Kibworth's doom was
apparently sealed and, sooner or later, the School may cease to
exist.

Despite the County Council's decision, Kibworth Beauchamp
Grammar School still flourishes seven years later, and as yet shows
no signs of an early decease. Although children from Oadby and
Wigston now attend the new Guthlaxton School at Wigston Magna
numbers at Kibworth have not fallen.   New building estates at
Thurnby and Scraptoft have provided their quotas of pupils, while
a rearrangement of the catchment area now enables children from
Enderby, Braunstone and Narborough to attend Kibworth instead
of Lutterworth.   We can hope that the Leicestershire County
Council will do everything in its power to continue the School.
There is indeed a growing hope that the School has a long future
ahead; and on that note of optimism we end the history of
Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School, wishing it success and
prosperity ``ad multos annos''.

\appendix
\addtocontents{toc}{\newpage\large\textbf{Appendices}}

\renewcommand{\thechapter}{\Roman{chapter}}

\chapter{The Headmasters of Kibworth Beauchamp Grammar School.}

The names of the 15th century Schoolmasters
are not known.

\begin{longtable}{ll}
Dom Robert Mason            &1520?-- 1540?\\
Rev.\ William Berridge      &1558 -- \phantom{15}?\phantom{8}\\
Rev.\ John Orpin            &1601 -- 1615\\
Rev.\ Richard Kestyn        &1605 -- 1634\\
Rev.\ James Weston          &1634 -- 1639\\
Rev.\ James Wright          &1639 -- 1644\\
Rev.\ Jeremie Nelson        &1644 -- 1658\\
Rev.\ George Robertson      &1658 -- 1659\\
Rev.\ Jasper Chapman        &1659 -- 1663\\
Rev.\ Walter Abbott         &1663 -- 1666\\
Rev.\ Nathaniel Weston      &1666 -- 1670\\
Rev.\ John Dand             &1670 -- 1706\\
Rev.\ William John Dand     &1706 -- 1724\\
Rev.\ William Cox           &1724 -- 1758\\
Rev.\ Joseph Wilson         &1758 -- 1803\\
Rev.\ Jeremiah Goodman      &1803 -- 1836\\
Rev.\ J. B. Hildebrand      &1836 -- 1870\\
Rev.\ John Green            &1870 -- 1877\\
Rev.\ J. Barnard            &1877 -- 1884\\
Rev.\ A. F. Crick           &1884 -- 1887\\
Rev.\ Ambrose Dawson        &1887 -- 1906\\
Cyril L. Ryley              &1907 -- 1927\\
John E. Elliot              &1927 -- 1955\\
Leslie T. Daw               &1955 -- \phantom{1955}\\
\end{longtable}

\chapter{Assistant Staff.} 

There seems to have been no usher at Kibworth until the
middle of the seventeenth century. The first was the Rev.\ Jasper
Chapman, who acted as Schoolmaster for a short period, and then
from 1663 to 1696 served as an assistant to several Masters. The
next usher we hear of is William Buzzard, who served the School
from 1800 to 1848.   From that date onwards the names of
Assistant Masters and Mistresses are as follows:--

\begin{longtable}{lccl}
R.C.Jackson          &\dots   &\dots    &1860--1877\\
A. Davis             &\dots   &\dots    &1882--1884\\
A. Tomlinson         &\dots   &\dots    &1882--1884\\
J. Price-Evans       &\dots   &\dots    &1822--1906\\
L. C. Cunliffe       &\dots   &\dots    &1901--1908\\
T. C. Barfield       &\dots   &\dots    &1901--1917\\
J. J. Pugh           &\dots   &\dots    &1903--1906\\
A. Burrows           &\dots   &\dots    &1907--1917\\
H. Webb              &\dots   &\dots    &1908--1911\\
Miss L. B. Twigg     &\dots   &\dots    &1908--1912\\
H. H. Baker          &\dots   &\dots    &1911--1913\\
W. W. Jones          &\dots   &\dots    &1911--1930\\
Miss M. L. Kerry     &\dots   &\dots    &1912--1917\\
H.E.Copelin,         &\dots   &\dots    &1913--1946\\
Miss V. B. Jessop    &\dots   &\dots    &1914--1916\\
Miss H. A. Scruton   &\dots   &\dots    &1917--1926\\
(Senior Mistress)\\
Miss L. Jones        &\dots   &\dots    &1918--1922\\
W. R. Burrows        &\dots   &\dots.   &1917--1922\\
L. P. Jenkins        &\dots   &\dots    &1922--1924\\
Miss G. Bailey       &\dots   &\dots    &1924--\\
(Senior Mistress)    &\dots   &\dots    &1927--1935\\
Miss N.M. Gale       &\dots   &\dots    &1925--1930\\
Miss Springthorpe    &\dots   &\dots    &1928--1930\\
J. R. W. Shell       &\dots   &\dots    &1929--1944\\
(Senior Master)\\
Miss E. K. Baron     &\dots   &\dots    &1929--1930\\
C. T. Evans          &\dots   &\dots    &1931--1935\\
Miss E. M. Hulland   &\dots   &\dots    &1932--1935\\
Miss P. E. Latham    &\dots   &\dots    &1930--1937\\
J. W. Martin         &\dots   &\dots    &1930 to present\\
(Senior Master since 1944)\\
T. L. L. Roberts     &\dots   &\dots    &1931--1946\\
Miss C. P. Harding   &\dots   &\dots    &1933\\
Miss C. Bennett      &\dots   &\dots    &1933\\
Miss M. E. M. Bolton &\dots   &\dots    &1933\\
Miss Q. V. Norrie    &\dots   &\dots    &1934--1935\\
Miss N. Weston       &\dots   &\dots    &1934--1936\\
H. S. Davies         &\dots   &\dots    &1936--1955\\
Miss J. A. Callender &\dots   &\dots    &1936--1938\\
Miss B. Cornish      &\dots   &\dots    &1936--1940\\
Miss C. A. Williams  &\dots   &\dots    &1936--1944\\
(Senior Mistress)\\
Miss M. Coates       &\dots   &\dots    &1937--1944\\
Miss F. S. Rudkin    &\dots   &\dots    &1938--1945\\
Miss W. B. Ball      &\dots   &\dots    &1939--1941\\
Miss M. T. Torrance  &\dots   &\dots    &1939\\
E. L. Blackburn      &\dots   &\dots    &1939--1940\\
Miss E. Liddle       &\dots   &\dots    &1940--1941\\
Miss F. M. E. Lewis  &\dots   &\dots    &1940\\
Mrs. E. Williams     &\dots   &\dots    &1941--1943\\
Miss D. E. Bailey    &\dots   &\dots    &1941--1942\\
Miss J. Rasling      &\dots   &\dots    &1941--1943\\
Miss M. Stenton-Jones&\dots   &\dots    &1941--1943\\
Miss M. H. Toull     &\dots   &\dots    &1941--1945\\
Miss M. E. Cunningham&\dots   &\dots    &1941--1943\\
Miss M. Ferguson     &\dots   &\dots    &1941--1943\\
Miss J. M. Wallace   &\dots   &\dots    &1942--1945\\
Miss M. L. Hearn     &\dots   &\dots    &1942--1945\\
Mrs. S. K. Major     &\dots   &\dots    &1942--1946\\
F. L. Turner         &\dots   &\dots    &1943 to present\\
Miss J. R. Gaden     &\dots   &\dots    &1943--1946\\
Miss D. M. Gray      &\dots   &\dots    &1943--1950\\
Miss G. L. Brown     &\dots   &\dots    &1943--1946\\
H. S. Percival       &\dots   &\dots    &1943--1949\\
R. Dunn              &\dots   &\dots    &1944--1946\\
Miss N. Waddington   &\dots   &\dots    &1944 to present\\
(Senior Mistress&)\\
Miss J. Barton       &\dots   &\dots    &1944-1948\\
Miss E. Griffith     &\dots   &\dots    &1944 to present\\
Miss M. A. Tyier     &\dots   &\dots    &1944--1949\\
Mrs. J. A. Shell     &\dots   &\dots    &1945--1947\\
B. Elliott           &\dots   &\dots    &1945--1949\\
Miss A. E. Wood      &\dots   &\dots    &1945--1952\\
J. M. Hyde           &\dots   &\dots    &1945--1946\\
H. St. G. Cramp      &\dots   &\dots    &1946 to present\\
F. T. Turner         &\dots   &\dots    &1946 to present\\
Miss E. B. Taylor    &\dots   &\dots    &1946--1949\\
Miss M. F. Spill     &\dots   &\dots    &1946--1948\\
C. A. Winyard        &\dots   &\dots    &1946--1950\\
A. S. Bolton         &\dots   &\dots    &1946 to present\\
Miss M. Griffiths    &\dots   &\dots    &1946--1949\\
Miss M. J. Haney     &\dots   &\dots    &1946--1947\\
E. J. Roberts        &\dots   &\dots    &1947 to present\\
Miss R. Morgan       &\dots   &\dots    &1947--1951\\
Miss B. H. Miell     &\dots   &\dots    &1948 to present\\
Miss E. H. M. Spill  &\dots   &\dots    &1948--1952\\
F. Smith             &\dots   &\dots    &1949\\
G. L. Arguile        &\dots   &\dots    &1949--1954\\
S. H. Boul           &\dots   &\dots    &1949--1952\\
A. C. Fountain       &\dots   &\dots    &1949--1957\\
Miss N. Cowsill      &\dots   &\dots    &1949--1950\\
Mrs. B. J. Eastwood  &\dots   &\dots    &1950 to present\\
W. B. Vesty          &\dots   &\dots    &1950--1952\\
J. H. Howard         &\dots   &\dots    &1950--1953\\
Miss J. M. Reast     &\dots   &\dots    &1950--1953\\
Miss E. B. Haworth   &\dots   &\dots    &1950--1953\\
Miss I. F. Snowden   &\dots   &\dots    &1951--1955\\
Mrs. S. E. Stokes    &\dots   &\dots    &1951--1955\\
J. T. Dwyer          &\dots   &\dots    &1952 to present\\
P. E. Peters         &\dots   &\dots    &1952 to present\\
Miss A. Tweed        &\dots   &\dots    &1952--1953\\
Miss F. M. Walsh     &\dots   &\dots    &1952--1955\\
P. R. Marshall       &\dots   &\dots    &1953--1956\\
J. T. Berry          &\dots   &\dots    &1953 to present\\
Miss J. Deacon       &\dots   &\dots    &1953 to present\\
Miss K. H. Calwood   &\dots   &\dots    &1953--1957\\
M. P. Kaye           &\dots   &\dots    &1954 to present\\
Miss E. Harrison     &\dots   &\dots    &1955 to present\\
Miss I. M. Mason     &\dots   &\dots    &1955--1957\\
Mrs. B. Reeder       &\dots   &\dots    &1955\\
E. Ridley Lewis      &\dots   &\dots    &1955 to present\\
M. G. Lubbock        &\dots   &\dots    &1955 to present\\
Mrs. V. Clarke       &\dots   &\dots    &1956 to present\\
Mrs. A. A. Legge     &\dots   &\dots    &1956\\
E. Swift             &\dots   &\dots    &1956 to present\\
Mrs. A. Berkeley     &\dots   &\dots    &1956 to present\\
D. Clow              &\dots   &\dots    &1956 to present\\
S. J. Surrey         &\dots   &\dots    &1957\\
Mrs. M. Tugwell      &\dots   &\dots    &1957\\
Miss F. J. Watthews  &\dots   &\dots    &1957\\
Miss P. V. Wallace   &\dots   &\dots    &1957\\
Mr.\ I. Stockley     &\dots   &\dots    &1957\\
\end{longtable}

\chapter{Names of Pupils at the School, 1886 onwards.}

The Constitution of 1647 (Clause 20) declared that ``the
Schoolmaster and usher are to keep a book and enter and record
the name and names of all and every Scholar and Scholars when
they be brought to them to be admitted. And set down the names
of the Parents and friends and from whence they are''.

The earliest admission registers are, unfortunately, missing,
and the first one still extant in the school records is comparatively
modern, dating from 1886. From then onwards the full roll is
as follows:--

1886: R. G. Watson, E. J. Bolton, T. A. Watson, F. Simons, A. Woodcock,
J. I. Davis.

1887: A. Atkinson, G. J. Cooper.

1888: W. E. Newman, J. Carnegie*, G. E. Watson, W. Goodman, F. M.
Brutnell, H. Lynn, H. Cramp, J. Bonser.

* Mr.\ Carnegie, who has spent most of his life in South Africa, visited
the School in 1956---his first return since he left, as Head Boy,
in 1892.

1889: E. G. Nuttall, R. E. Dilworth, W. Coleman, C. B. Ward, C. E.
Constable, A. E. Pears.

1890: W. Grant, A. Grant, W. H. Timms, R. H. Hayr, E. E. Batchelor,
G. H. Chase, H. Burgess, C. W. R. Smith, G. F. Hill, N, Spriggs,
C. A. Spriggs, C. Ryland, T. Burton, M. R. Lewin, C. H. Berry,
H. G. Heap, T. B.. Elliott, P. Elliott, J. Watts, C. R. Carnegie,
J. W. Collington.

1891: J. W. Marriott, W. G. Sanders, C. P. Costin, E. G. Knox, J. W.
S. Watts, W. Brutnell, E. 0. Church, F. Tibbits, J. Burgess, R.
Burgess, B. Evans, V, C. Watson, C. G. Watson, T. A. Gamble,
R. G. Holt.

1892: J. R. Smart, P. A. Hughes, E. W. Nourish, S. E. Ward, R. Timms,
A. W. Hull, T. G. Cooper, A. Carnegie, R. G. Chase, G. Staynes,
C. B. Mould, R. Risher, S. Hayr, T. B. Mould, F. R. Tolton.

1893: L. C. B. Hughes, R. Bingley, T. A. S. Ward, S. L. Ward, A.
Littledale, P. J. Biggs, J. B. G. Browne, W. M. Hill, H. A. Cookson.

1894; W. Marriott. F. Sanders, G. Duxbury, G. F. Lee, F. W. Lee, R.
B. Heygate, H. J. Hey gate, T. W. Dilworth, W. Harrison, A. M.
Dawson, G. E. Kendall, W. W. Pacey, A. Hayr, A. Hayr, F.
Howard, D. Peberdy, A. E. Grant, J. A. Hind.

1895: G. H. Biggs, W. M. Austin, A. Atkinson, W. S. Blount, W. Armston,
J. H. Macaulay, W. Wigginton, W. Ryland, C. W. Warren, F.
Whitworth, T. C. Poole.

1896: J. H. Thornton, F. J. Kendall, J. A. Jones, A. E. Palmer, F.
Norman, E. C. Laundon, A. H. Kendall, H. M. King, I. V. Laundon,
H. F. Austin, S. J. W. Wigg, G. Wigg.

1897: G. A. G. Williamson, W. R. Davis, H. P. Dawson, H. Cameron,
E. J. Pacey, A. H. Sanders, E. C. Cruttwell, H. H. Horton, W. A.
Cramp, E. Higgs, A. S. Holt, G. Lynn.

1898: V. H. Jessop, W. C. Callis, H. W. Bannister, C. W. Barrett, A. J.
Hurst, W. E. Peberdy, A. Gange, T. A. Greenhough, J. Grant, A.
W. Burton, A. Freer, H. Barrett, H. P. Williams.

1899: F. T. Taylor, C. E. Blunson, T. Jesson, H. G. Dean, R. E. Dean,
D. Garner, E. Deacon, G. H. W. Cruttwell, J. Fisher, H. H. Ryland,
J. W. Warren, B. R. Hayr, W. S. Simpson.

1900: T. H. Elliott, F. V. G. Simokin, R. H. Roe, F. J. Mason, R. S. Hunt,
J. H. Hackney, J. Hincks, P. D. Groocock, L. H. Hare, W. G.
Smith, F. C. Allsopp, F. Hanson, B. H. Gamble, G. Kendall, E.
S. Hulland, H. Pappin, F. P. Deacon, T. E. Hill, C. W. Coleman,
A. Warner.

1901: W. M. Taylor, R. Hartley, G. Simpson, A. J. Hill, C. B. Brooks,
A. G. Lewin, C. R. Weston, B. E. Weston, F. H. Lane, L. W. Taylor,
E. Smith, B. Chesterton.

1902: C. A. Pletcher, T. Webster, M. E. Wigg, T. Johnson. D. Iliffe, R.
W. Bolton, T. A. Hunt, H. A. Oddie, P. H. Whiting.

1903: D. S. Mawby, F. A. Cramp, H. W. Williamson.

1904: L. C. Cooper, L. H. Capell, G. S. Taylor, R. W. Hurst, G. W.
Sturgess, C. E. Warner, T. C. D. Jarvis, J. G. Elliott, D. R. Elliott,
J. T. Read, E. W. Brown, J. A. Ward, E. W. Allsopp, W. M.
Fletcher, 0. V. Judkins.

1905: S. Kendall, W. H. Jesson, C. A. H. Cunynghame, F. H. Cooke,
J. A. B. Wilson, R. S. Jarvis, F. Rudkin, E. B. Fletcher, D. H.
Cunynghame. J. W. Pendleton, W. T. Tumbull, R. W. Walpole,
J. E. Cramp, C. Garner, C. S. Deacon, T. J. G. Coleman, A. Adams,
R. G. Lewis.

1906: H. Simons, W. J. Frost, S. N. Frost, C. W. Mattock, A. W. C.
Charles, C. L. Gibbs, B. C. G. Pell, W. S. G. Kingdon, H. S. F.
Day, E. 0. Powdrill, P. C. .Bale, F. E. Crocker, G. Johnson, G. E.
York, J. S. Hulland, R. C. Hall, J. W. Hall, T. G. Hall.

1907: C. R. Daniel, 0. D. Horton, B. E. Adkinson, W. S. Alien, C. J.
Kendall, T. Elliott, A. R. Grewcock, Elsie Cox*. Edith Cox,
Dorothy M. Hulland, Marion S. Hulland, Mildred Hare, Lilian G.
Hare, R. Weston, C. L. Johnson.

* The first girl to enter Kibworth Grammar School.

1908; J. W. Lakin, G. W. L. Ward, Katharine Thorpe, H. A. York.
Kathleen Hubbard, A. Pattison, N. Pattison, Florence Hawley.

1909: L. Fenton, Mary Williams, J. H. Williams, Susan Williams, Mary
Waterfield, Doris Lewis, W. E. Coleman, Gladys Bowns, P. Searson,
Martha Holman, R. G. Fletcher, Daisy Timms, J. 0. Hulland, Elsie
Crowther, J. W. Sturgess, E. R. Leech, Iris Johnson, Florence York,
Florence Harrison, Lizzie Mills,

1910: J. W. Harris, R. L. Crisp, W. T. R. Bent, Elsie Brandrick, W. G.
Cramp, B. S. Garner, W. W. Garner, Edith Smith, Gertrude Cooper,
J. Lord, R. Norwood, C. H. Lewis, C. Harris, J. Cox.

1911: Clara Morris, E. W. Smith, R. W. Powdrill, Annie Walpole, A. R.
Hubbard, Dorothy Harrison, E. G. Beasley, R. C. Hill, Muriel
Cramp, G. L. Stretton.

1912: Dorothy Wadkin, J. W. E. Hawley, R. W. Iliffe, Edith Charles,
Gertrude Iliffe, S. H. Smith, L. E. Coleman, H. R. E. Cramp, Doris
Hare, T. C. Jesson, L. A. Peberdy, E. G. T. Adkinson, G. W.
Barlow, J. W. M. Fletcher, J. N. Hare, Amy Williams.

1913: Winifred Allsopp, D. N. Hancock, B. R. Mason, F. T. Wild,
Florence Henson, Doris Brutnell, Lilian Haycock, Ida Walpole,
Margaret Smith, Gladys Jacobs, J. Crother, E. 0. Norton, B.
Peberdy, F. Marlowe, Alice Clarke, J. T. Deans, H. Mattock, Mabel
Timms, A. H. Burdett.

1914: A. E. Smith, Ellen Holton, Winifred Holton, Marjorie Holton,
Lily Deacon, Winifred Bell, G. H. Timms, Eva Timms, Phyllis
Johnson, J. H. Roberts, Jessie Brandrick, F. C. Smith, Cicely
Arlidge, Annie Balls, E. M. Sidney, Annie Moore, D. W. Eason,
Rosa Gamble, A. E. Nourish, Annie Lord, J. H. Waterfield,
Gwendoline Lewis, L. E. G. Hancock.

1915: W. E. FIetcher, L. F. Smith, Doris Hart, V. E. Price, G. E. L.
Hensman, T. K. Brutnell, Eudora Harris, J. E. Grain, J. Lockwood,
Agnes Carter, Dorothy Wright, T. Wright, J. H. Roberts, W. C.
Gillson, M. E. J, Gillson.

1916: Eva Harrison, J. E. Burton, F. C. Campling, E. Haycock,. J. G.
Perkins, G. H. Bromley, J. W. Gee, Mary Timms, E. F. W.
Peberdy, J, W. Gamer, J. T. Holton, Lilian Allsoop, Grace Carter,
W. Hart, C. E. Hayward, Barbara Roberts, J. F. FIetcher, T. H.
H. Williams, E. R. Hulland, Eleanor Hulland, G. W. G. Timms.

1917; Constance Bailey; J. J. Timms, J. B. Holt, E. L. Geale, Sylvia
Gutsell, E. R. Gutsell, May Ames, Audrey Ames, E. C. Thomas,
R. W. Russell, S. F. Hurlbut, D. E. Stafford, Monica Bolton, C.
E. Cooke, R. D. Snutch, R. G. Tomley, Joyce Tomley, Eunice
Hancock, H. W. Goodge, J. H. Batchelor, Elizabeth Mawby, H.
Marriott, Ethel Walker, A. S. Wolfe, A. E. Mason, T. F. Edmison,
E. R. Edmison.

1918: W. S. Walpole, G. F. C. Mackmurdo, Alice Markham, Mabel
Targett, W. J. Davis, D. A. Nicholson, Muriel Barrait, Catherine
Barbour, Jessie Holman, A. R. Barlow, Lilla Gardner, J. Wilkie,
Isabel Nourish, Alice Castleman, F, C. Croft. Doris Haycock, J. A.
Hewlett, A. C. Callaghan, Dora Folwell, E. Hurst, Alma Mattock,
C. J. Mackintosh, Mabel Coleman, W. Holmes, A. L. Thomas, L.
J. Hewlett, Violet Hart, H. G. Tailby.

1919: Vera Bailey, Nellie French, R. Mogan, Dorothy Tunley, Marjorie
John, Ruby Gutsell, R. W. Hallam, G. T. Garlick, R. Sturgess,
Nellie Chapman, Grace Pickering, Agnes Mitson, E. Grain, R. L.
W. Garner, Doris Perkins, Marguerite Mattock, Ruth Newby,
Margery Smith, Grace Cooke, Beryl Sturgess, Gwyneth Evans, F.
S. Knight.

1920: A. L. Hancock, Norah Tarry, A. P. Mattock, Edith Richards, Janet
Barbour, Beatrice Bromley, Marion Bolton, Muriel Fisher, K. E.
Essam, R. H. Geall.

1921: H. R. Hancock, E. C. Gilbert, D. L. Hood, H. J. Roberts, Violet
Clulow, Dorothy Tyier, J. R. S. Timms, G. H. Iliffe, R. A. Palmer,
J. A. Essam, J. W. Lane, Madeline Welton, W. Brutnall, J. F. Cooke,
Audrey Aylott, Hilda Bird, Gladys Callaghan, Clara Skidmore,
Hilda Wright, W. H. Lee, Gwendolyn Norman, Grace Smith,
Madge Rammell, Mollie Rammell, W. Newcombe.

1922: Annie Preston, Catherine Harding, T. G. G. Harding, Katherine
Arundel, Edith Peberdy, R. W. Johnson, J. H. Garner, B. J.
Egglestone, Irene McNeice, J. W.- Clarke, Catherine Hart, J. J.
Barbour, E. J. D. Crisp, Vera Cramp, Muriel Peberdy.

1923: E. W. Coleman, C. E. Timms, Lilian North, F. J. Goodwin, Cissie
Bale, Winifred Holton, H. G. Chapman, T. G. C. Freeland, G. A.
Harris, G. L. Hulland, F. R. P. Hart, F. W. Williams, S. W.
Forryan, Evelyn Palmer, T. C. G. Palmer.

1924: N. W. Bolton, H. A. Ferguson, J. Harris, F. E. Staniforth, T. F.
Drury, A. G. E. Warner, J. S. A. Mattock, W. R. Peberdy, Beatrice
Powdrill, E. A. Carter, Elizabeth Sedgley, Monica Bentley.

1925: Janet Garlick, Norah Hart, E. M. Buxton, L. E. Deacon, Ethel
Hewlett, H. Martin, Duleie Lainchbury, Maisie Sturgess, G. R. Bale,
Kathleen Amor, Stella Sedgley, P. A. Briggs.

1926: C. T. Iliffe, Dora Anderson, A. M. Nibloe, A. J. Goodwin, L.
Spence, Nora Heath, W. C. Garner.

1927: G. A. R. Skinner, G. T. Blackburn, E. D. Alien, Phyllis Bale, L.
W. Betteridge, A. S. Bolton, Edith Boniface, Joyce Coleman, A.
Druce, W. G. Dunkley, R. W. Henson, Joan Hindley, C. W. Knapp,
Hilda Martin, Clarice Mattock, Phyllis Moore, P. L. Moore,
Dorothy Newcombe, R. J. Smith, Mary Sturgess, F. G. West, W.
L. Wyles, R. W. Cartwright, G. W. Garret.

1928: Margaret Pateman, A. Hind, E. R. G. Deacon, T. C. G. Palmer,
T. A. Grindley, Phyllis Law, C. K. Vickers, C. W. Gilbert, A. B.
Rammell, B. Adams, G. E. Arnold, E. T. Arundel, Elizabeth Brown,
C. L. G. Clarke, Mary Coulsen, Marjorie Davis, F. W. Dunkley,
C. J. Ferguson, P. R. Harris, W. F. Himan, Irene Holyoak, J. D.
Nourish, Sylvia Peberdy, Dorothy Peberdy, 0. Radford, J. A.
Tumman, D. B. Wesley, Rose Woodford.

1929: Sylvia Iliffe, E. H. Salmon, C. E. Timson, J. L. Vickers, C. J.
Allsopp, Ailsa Anderson, Flora Barbour, R. E. Freer, Megan
Gamble, W. E. Radford, Margaret Robinson, A. D. Timson,
Isaline Vickers, Kathleen Vickers, E. T. Bamford, N. .J. Brookes,
J. W. Brown, R. Dalton, Kathleen Gascoigne, Muriel Gilbert,
Audrey Hayr, Josephine Hayr, Joan Harper, A. D. Hewson, C. P.
Hewson, Margaret Hewson, J. N. H. Hindley, R. B. Holyoak,
Eileen Iliffe, Doreen Iliffe, H. Linley, Phyllis Markham, J. H.
Phipps, T. A. Pirnie, J. T. Short, H. W. Ward, Joyce Willett, B.
F. Wyles.

1930: Daphne Hayr, Diana Hayr, G. C. Anderton, R. Buck, P. H. Drake,
Thelma Simpson, Selina Bennett, Kathleen Billing, E. A. Clarke,
Iris Dunkley, R. J. Durran, D. M. Elliott, Doris Freer, Beryl Hall,
Joyce Harrison, Elizabeth Harris, D. Hart, Olive Hubbard, Lille
Jelley, P. E. G. Larkins, H. N. Mattock, F. Mawby, Ruth Mellors,
E. Patrick, Betty Sturgess, A. Warren, Maud Woolmer.

1931: K. W. D. Linley, C. K. Bromley, A. L. Goodge, J. C. Knight, P.
L. Martin, Grace Bennett, L. B. Coldman, D. R. Deacon, D. F.
Reynolds, Josephine Elliott, Stella Fowls, J. S. Garner, Olive
Greasley, Margaret Hands, Dorothy Holman, Alice Holyoak, Beryl
Lewis, A. R. Moore, B. A. Raby, J. K. Read, Amy Rudge, L. W.
Rudkin, Eiteen Sidwell, G. H. Tompkins, Muriel Toone, Margaret
Ward.

1932: Jean MacGregor, A. D. Silvester, Dorothy Dyer, J. S. Fisher, W.
H. Illson, Pamela Parker, N. F. Pettit, T. R. Badcock, J. W. Ashley,
Joan Atkin, F. W. Bodycote, F. C. Brown, Joan Debbage, W.
Drake, Duleie Fish, Isobel Grain, R. H. Green, Margaret Harding,
H. A. Harris, J. F. Hawkins, A. M. Hewson, Barbara Hill, J. F.
Hinksman, W. D. Lewis, Eileen Lockwood, Megan Mason, May
Newitt, Joan Shelton, R. P. Styles, Marjorie Walpole, Vera Alien,
S. G. Goodrich, C. A. Goodrich, Mary Goodrich, J. H. Newton.

1933: K. M. Law, J. B. Rowlands, A. Baillie, R. H. Bishop, Winifred
Bromley, Olive Dixon, N. T. Dyer, L. S. Gamble, G. Gilford, T.
F. Harrison, C. T. Holyoak, Joyce Holyoak, Ivy Hubbard, D. L.
A. Law, A. May, A. Moore, J. S. Morris, R. Oswin, J. W. Peberdy,
Olive Phipps, C. A. Punchard, Beatrice Read, Joan Skinnsr, Jean
Walker, Kathleen Ward, Elizabeth Freer.

1934: J. G. Burton, J. Toone, Joan Burton, G. H. N. Chamberlain, A. V.
Bromley, E. Broughton, Margaret Buckler, R. Cadwallader, Eunice
Callaghan, Nancy Clarke, Betty Clarke, G. A. Cole, H. J. Couling,
F. E. Johnson, Barbara Law, Phyllis Litchfield, Barbara MacGregor,
Hephzibah Moore, D. Oram, K. Powell, Dorothy Reeve, Beryl
Richards, L. Roberts, K. D. Rudkin, Gillian Short, Cynthia Stacey,
D. N. Wheeler, Mary Williams, J. C. Hobbs.

1935: P. K. A. Birkett, Margaret Edwards, N. G. Linley, G. R. Robinson,
Sheila Brown, E. R. Bumtiam, Marjorie Chapman, D. P. Clarke,
Marjorie Davenport, C. R. Deacon, Muriel Garner, K. L. Gillott,
N. W. J. Gillott, Jean Harris, Ruth Hearne, C. E. D. Henson, T.
V. Holyoak, J. Kilpatrick, A. G. Lewis, Nellie Lyon, E. Martin,
Anne McKay, Gertrude Rudkin, S. J. Saddington, Barbara
Sanderson, B. H. Sedgley, A. Skeffington, Vera Thompson, Mary
Tompkins, R. C. Tunnicliffe, K. H. Wagstaff, H. F. Witney, Monica
Wood.

1936: A. H. Briggs, M. T. Eady, Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Barbara Andrews,
A. E. Dyer, J. C. Heath, J. J. Muddimer, C. G. Nourish, E.
Bearcroft, Constance Behagg, A. Couling, Joyce Crabtree, D. L.
Crisp, R. H. Fisher, G. F. Hallam, D. A. Harrison, R. W. Hobbs,
G. E. Holman, Dorothy Mills, Phyllis Miller, R. C. Read, G. H.
Reeve, P. Sanderson, B. J. Sheldon, Peggy Simons, Alma Sturgess,
J. Timson, A. R. Timson, Cynthia Ward, Nora Watts, Gladys
Wiggington, Betty Williams, Dorothy Minors, Audrey Minors.

1937: A. P. Potts, Rosemary Read, J. H. Gilbert, Mary Marriott, Joy
Marriott, Heather Martin, Frances Badcock, R. Cadwallader, R.
G. Alien, L. W. Alien, J. H. Anderson, W. M. J. Belton, J. Brown,
Miriam Collins, M. G. Crittall, D. R. Deans, W. R. Edwards, H. J.
Miles, Jose Folwell, Barbara Gilbert, Maureen Gray, P. D.
Hargraves, H. B. Harper, J. E. D. Harris, June Holmes, F. 0. Kemp,
R. Mason, I. W. Monk, R. Moore, Cynthia Morris, Joyce Partridge,
Doreen Phipps, A. E. Ridgeway, J. H. Sedgley, F. D. Simons, D.
A. Smith, R. D. Smith, G. A. Snutch, L. Unsworth, Daisy Willey.

1938: J. F. Baillie, Bessie Fox, Dorothy Fox, R. W. May, A. Suffield,
Phyllis Fielding, Dorothy Fielding, Edna Harrison, J. S.. Reed,
Barbara Abbiss, R. C. Bishop, Winifred Boulter, J. A. Brooks,
P. W. Brunger, Mary Bunting, M. K. Cane, G. F. Coombes, C. W.
Cross, Dorothy Deacon, F. Dunlop, Margaret Grainger, Kathleen
Harris, D. W. Haskard, Joyce Jeffries, Annie Jones, W. T. W.
Kirkby, Hazel Lumley, A. L. Lee, R. E. C. Leonard, Nancy Maskell,
A. C. Mason, 0. C. H. Monk, F. M. O'Connell, H. L Pentelow,
D. A. Porter, C. M. Reedy, A. D. Robertson, Betty Saddington,
Mary Shillcock, Olive Smerdon, Elsie Starmer, Vivienne Symes,
Marion Tindall, E. E. Turner, F. E, 0. Walker, Audrey Walpole,
Ethel Ward, D. J. Wharmby, Amy Williams, Fanny Wilson, Ruth
Squires, R. E. Street.

1939: R. A. Bidyfield, R. D. Evans, J. E. Mack, Joan Thirlby, R. C.
Copeman, G. F. Hemming, F. P. Lole, D. W. Muddimer, P. C. P.
Webbe, Hazel Wyer, R. F. Glover, Margaret Blin-Stoyle, Moon
Briggs, Doreen Burrows, J. K. Cooper, M. Crittall, C. E. Doidge,
M. J. Dowries, J. W. Farndon, Irene Frith, Sylvia Garfield, E. B.
Greaves, H. Green, J. E. Hammond, Sheila Hanraban, Daphne
Harris, Joan Harrold, M. J. Hassell, K. D. Heeps, R. S. Hewes,
Anne Haugill, R. D. Jeffries, Kathleen Jordon, Pamela Kemp, M.
H. Kind, Gwenyth Laster, E. G. Leech, G. Levesley, Christine
MacGibbon, Marguerite MacGibbon, Iris Measures, Diana Mighall,
Sylvia Moore, June Nichols, Barbara Nutt, Edwina Pick, Rosemary
Pick, Joan Pook, C. A. Print, Phyllis Spence, R. D. Tomlin, W. A.
Toone, Betty Varney, Enid Walden, Ruth Walker, P. R. Wells, N.
J. M. Wilkens, J. D. Wright, Constance Abbiss, Rosalind Bennett,
F. Burgess, Hilda Burns, Edith Byrne, Rose Craggs, D. Dainty,
G. Datson, Patricia Dyson, Nita Eversden, Ivy Fleming, Kathleen
Hall, Barbara Hayr, G. H. H. Hellicar, R. A. Huzzard, Pauline
Meakin, P. G. Meakin, W. H. Messager, Lilian Morris, A. Oates,
N. Oates, Patricia Seton-Browne, M. Taylor, K. G. Thwaites, Rose
Sullivan.

1940: W. J. Alien, Pauline Brooks, Elizabeth Evans, Marion Peach, Joan
Potts, Janet Stops, N. Cook, M. J. Huzzard, K. H. Jack, N. W.
Perrett, C. A. E. Sherrif, C. C. Smith, C. Suffield, I. G. Williams,
J. F. A. Davell, A. N. Jordan, K. Powell, B. J. Reynolds, R. B.
Attenburrow, N. K. Bale, Patricia Barratt, Mary Boulter, M. B.
Baum, Jacqueline Berridge, A. F. Bircumshaw, J. F. Bradshaw,
Doreen Brown, Una Brunger, B. J. B. Burton, Audrey Burton,
Christine Castell, Eileen Cheney, C. G. dark, T. Coles, Sheila
Corton, C. B. Cotterill, Patricia Crittall, G. B. Davies, Elizabeth
Deacon, J. A. Dymock, C. G. J. Evans, M. G. Freestone, P. K.
Gardner, G. G. Gilbert, D. A. Hallam, Irene Hardy, Eileen Hardy,
B. Herrick, Mary Hill, Marjorie Honeywell, R. G. Hunt, Joyce
Jelley, Betty Jesson, F. W. Johnson, Leila Johnson, Joan Lamb,
June Laws, D. Leslie, Vivienne Lewis, Edwina McHugh, J. B.
Marriott, R. W. Miles, Dorothy Parker, Pamela Peake, Nancy
Phillips, E. R. Print, Alison Reynolds, K. D. Richmond, Hazel
Samson, Elaine Sharman, Valeric Simons, Honor Simons, J. A.
Simons, J. M. Sladden, H. P. Sladden, Theodora Slater, P. D.
Stanford, M. G. Stops, F. Thirlby, H. E. van Offen, G. R. Watkin,
K. N. Weston, W. F. G. Williams, Doreen Williamson, Constance
Wright, G. Appelboam, A. W. Edwards, D. E. Trehearn, Mary
Beater, Freda Brown, Cynthia Carter, Fiona MacGibbon, Hilda
Thompson.

1941: Mollie Batty, Valerie Baum, Sheila Dean, D. C. Draper, Rosemary
Geary, J. D. L. John, Hilda Rex, Elizabeth Slater, Margaret Toone,
B. L. Trehearn, T. B. Treheam, Dawn Hibbert, Irene Smith, Eileen
Bircumshaw, J. D. dark, R. M. Coleman, Jean Goulder, J. E.
Grace, D. R. Judson, M. J. Thompson, R. R. Wiseman, K. J.
Haldane, G. A. T. Barton, L. J. Lamley, P. A. Adcock, J. M.
Armstrong, B. M. Arnold, M. Avens, J. T. Baker, M. J. Ball, G.
E. Bardo, Joan Barradell, Pauline Bennett, Aileen Billing, K. Bilson,
K. Blackwell, Margaret Bromell, Jean Brooks, J. Bumham, Dorothy
Chapman, D. J. H. Cramp, M. J. Deacon, J. H. Deacon, June
Dealey, Jean Draper, Betty Dunlop, Barbara Dunn, Vivienne Ellson,
Sheila Farmer, D. Forster, Dorothy Freeman, Ellen Frisby,
Constance Gunn. Pamela Hales, P. G. Halford, E. C. Hallam, R.
W. Hamer, C. M. Hardwick, J. F. G. Harris, P. M. Hartopp,
Christine Huddleston, Beryl Iliffe, Gladys Inchley, Edith Johnson,
D. L. King, Jean Kirkland, Eileen Knight, J. V. Lamarque, Beryl
Lamley, C. Lee; Sheila Morris, R. M. Muddimer, D. W. Newsham,
M. H. Nippress, G. F. Noble, R. S. Oldfield, Sheila Richmond, P.
Sharpe, Aileen Simons, W. R. Smith, D. M. Smith, Jacqueline
Smith, Wendy Smith, C. H. N. Smith, Frances Solomon, D. Symes,
B. J. Tomblin, Dorothy Tomlin, K. E. Townsend, Dorothy Ward,
Marie Ware, Marjorie Watts, Iris Williamson, P. J. Rooke, E. R.
Lee, Catherine Evans, Patricia Ferguson, Veronica Broadbent.

1942: Marian Bond, D. K. Clarke, G. T. Greenwood, D. A. Greenwood,
Muriel Jackman, G. D. May, J. Parker, J. S. Pick, G. B. Thornton,
R. P. Williams, J. Snook, J. B. Andrews, Dinah Grant, B. J. E.
Hurst, I. Orringe, D. H. Peacock, Joan Thorne, Dorothy Wilson,
J. Bradford, Josephine Evans, Kathleen Hepburn, M. F. Gibson,
P. M. Cockcroft, Marion Alien, M. J. Bale, B. Bilson, Mary
Bradshaw, J. N. Bryan, Eileen Bunting, Muriel Burl, Cynthia
Butteriss, M. Cash, Yvonne Chaperon, T. H. Coles, P. A. Connah,
Valeen Cooper, Joyce Cooper, Pamela Crisp, Jean Cross, F. B.
Deans, Florence Didham, C. G. Doughty, W. R. Dunkley, P. R.
Elliott, Yvonne Fogg, Christine Ford, Eileen Ford, J. T. Giles,
Mavis Gould, D. R. Gowdridge, Constance Grant, M. B. Halliday,
P. M. Hanney, T. E. Harrold, Betty Hassall, B. S. Hewes, Nancy
Hill, M. J. Hitchinson, J. F. Hodgett, J. L. Holden, Joyce Hurd,
A. R. Keeble, Diana Kennedy, G. A. Kind, Linda Leech, Jris Lee,
Valerie Mason, Joy Meehan, Margaret Miller, G. G. Moore,
Patricia Moore, K. J. Norman, J. A. Olivant, Joan Payne, Angela
Purt, Patricia Robotham, L. Rose, J. 0. Russell, D. G. Sharpe,
Gertrude St. John Sharpe, R. E. Simons, T. R. Smerdon, Rose
Smith, Kathleen Smith, E. R. Smith, Margaret Stavey, D. R.
Stevenson, P. M. Sykes, Lilian Tanner, M. Rose Thornton, M. Ethel
Thornton, Christine Thorpe, Barbara Tomley, Dorothy Tomlin,
D. W. Townley, C. I. Tweed, B. Tividale, Jill Upton, Gillian
Waddington, R. B. Wass, D. Watkins, J. T. White, F. D. Williams,
T. C. Pearce, Jill Steadman, Beryl Ventris, Pamela Clarke.

1943: F. P. Knight, A. P. Fletcher, A. A. Burton, H. D. Dowell, Mary
Abbott, Sheila Allsop, Christabel Andrews, J. A. Austen, Pauline
Baker, K. N. Ball, Doreen Barry, B. D. Boulter, Mavis Boulter,
Mollie Briggs, G. Bromley, C. K. Burton, Margaret Carter, Mary
Carter, K. Chamberlain, R. E. Cox, Elizabeth Deacon, R. W.
Deacon, Doreen Eales, B. Edwards, Iris Farmer, D. H. Garratt,
A. R. Goodwin, D. C. Grocock, F. Haines, Mary Harris, T. H.
Harris, P. J. Harrison, P. B. Heeps, P. G. Holmes, Barbara Hopkins,
R. Iliffe, Dorothy Johnson, Mona Johnson, Pamela Johnson, Molly
Kernp, M. G. Langley, W. G. Lloyd, Jean Looms, Diana Mann,
Pamela Maunder, A. G. Mawby, Miriam Moody, J. A. Moorshead,
P. J. Morris, A. T. E. Neale, J. E. Newcombe, H. A. Parker, T.
W. Parker, C. A. Peach, Ann Richmond, W. W. Robson, R. N.
Rooke, D. A. W. Sansome, Ellen Shephard, Margaret Smith, J. D.
Smith, K. E. Softly, Beryl Stacey, Maisie Sturgess, B. L. Tebbutt,
R. A. Thacker, Gillian Thomas, Margaret Underwood, D. Upton,
Patricia Walton, Rachel Ward, Ann Weller, D. H. Wells, A. T.
Latham, Vera Gould, Margaret Percival, F. Percival.

1944: A. P. Hint, B. W. Marriott, D. J. Tilley, A. G. L. Jack, A. D.
Gandy, Dorothy Gilbert, M. Day, R. Alien, J. R. Allt, P. A.
Armson, E. D. Bale, M. E. Bartlett, P. G. Bassford, M. E. Bonsor,
M. N. Bown, A. A. Bradley, M. F. Branston, I. S. Burton, Doreen
Carter, Alison Clarke, Patricia Collins, R. Collins, Margaret Cooper,
Jennie Coxon, P. Crabtree, Susan Darlow, D. Davies, F. R. Dawson,
Susan Deacon, Winifred Didham, B. R. Doughty, W. A. Easton,
Beatrice Edgley, Joan Elliott, Pat Ellson, Iris Finn, Avril Fisher,
J. Fleetwood, Brenda Fletcher, M. B. Fogg, E. Fox, J. W. Gibbins,
J. B. Gill, June Goodman, Freda Green, D. C. L. Griffith, Pamela
Griffiths, P. W. Gurney, R. D. Handel, J. P. Hanney, M. J. Hardy,
Rosemary Harris, Aileen Hill, R. M. House, J. R. Hubbard, M.
B. Humphries, Sheila Hunt, C. G. Hustwayte, G. Insley, B. M.
Johnson, J. P. Johnson, Betty Johnson, J. H. Knight, R. W. Lee,
Patricia Lloyd, Thelma Lloyd, R. B. Macdonald, Betty Marjoram,
B. Markham, Brenda Maslen, Doreen Mee, R. D. Moore, Heather
Norman, D. R. Orton, Lily Peberdy, Cecilia Percival, Hazel
Pinnock, Vida Powell, June Preston, E. J. Preston, June Rainbow,
R. Ratcliffe, Vivian Richardson, Pamela Robinson, Margaret
Lockinghan, E. M. Sidney, C. I. Simpson, B. Simpson, J. K. Smith,
D. C. Spiers, D. B. Stephens, Jean Thomas, Edith Tranter, A.
H. Tucker, A. R. M. Twynham, A. F. Valentine, M. J. Vernum,
P. B. Verrall, Eileen Watkin, P. E. Watts, Margaret Wignall, J. R.
Wignall, Joyce Worrall, Theresa Eversden, D. Godden, Maureen
Stears, Evelyn Dawson, Audrey Roby, Edna Wright, K. D. Bunker,
M. H. Stears, Evelyn Smith, S. A. Brown, R. A. S. Pick, D. J.
Sutton, F. St. M. G. Fidoe, M. J. Freestone, Molly Johnson, Eiteen
Hurst, Constance Fidoe, B. St. A. G. Fidoe.

1945: D. J. Lubbock, J. Hughes, Nancy Brown, Janet Hill, D. E. Riches,
Doreen Tranter, Phyllis Lindsay, Jean Acton, Patricia Burman,
R. J. Carter, I. Clowes, P. Deacon, Sylvia Ellingworth, Ann Evans,
Brenda Ewen, Gillian Goddard, G. H. Higginson, Heather Lusher,
Margaret Marriott, T. Maurice, M. C. Moore, Ann Mould, Dorothy
Nethercott, T. A. Norman, Elizabeth Shinn, R. J. Smith, Kathleen
Stanley, N. Tailby, Mavis Terry, N. V. Thompson, J. A. Townsend,
F. E. Thompson, Dorothy Yorke, Mavis Brooksby, J. B. Carter,
J. T. Cave, J. M. Chamberlain, H. Cooper, Pamela Collett, Avice
Douglas, C. Haines, J. D. Heighten, Pamela Hurst, Margery King,
Sheila King, Audrey Lee, R. H. Lethbridge, Teresa McGrath,
Dorothy Moore, Iris Neal, Ann Peabody, R. D. Phillips, Joan
Richards, A. V. Roberts, Janet Sharpe, Mary Stinson, J. E. Tilley,
Gillian Wharmby, Jean Burrows, W. S. Coleman, Enid Cotton, K.
W. J. Earl, Emd Foster, E. L. Gamble, A. Greed, Barbara Arden,
Patricia Hammond, Joan Parker, Priscilla Robinson, D. J. Smith,
Rosemary Twigger, Ivy Ward, D. A. Kilbourn, Averil Playford.

1946: Deirdre Puddey, G. D. P. Carpenter, J. D. Cocks, Julia Levesley,
D. A. Barrett, Jean Holloway, Sheila Achurch, Eileen Bromley,
Ella Grecock, Janet Harris, Margaret Watts, Barbara Cockerill,
Patricia Davis, Christine Elliott, Heather Goodman, Margery
Holyoake, Mary Kind, Eileen Simmons, Doreen Ward, J. B. Brown,
B. Burton, J. Butcher, B. Cartwright, R. A. Dytham, C. G. Fisher,
K. Frisby, R. G. Handel, M. H. Harrison, D. G. Herringshaw, D.
Higgins, B. 0. Hilton, D. W. Humphries, D. E. Laken, J. I.
Lanspeary, T R. Mould, A. G. Nutt, R. D. Rogers, J. M. Smith,
P. Thornton, W. E. Trueman, B. Underwood, G. York, June
Andrews, Joyce Brown, Margaret Doughty, Enid Goodwin, Beryl
Harper, Betty Hughes, Josephine Johnson, Ann Kennet, Janet
Lloyd, Jocelyn Moore-Coltman, Janet Norman, Eileen Turrell,
Enid Wayne, J. D. Appleby, A. Clarke, G. E. Dainty, G. Green,
D. E. Harbidge, B. W. Hardy, B. T. Lee, G. T. Pearson, M. R.
Smith, E. J. Smithurst, C. J. Taylor, R. Winter, A. Broughton,
J. Etherington, Josephine Claxton, Thelma Dollow, Freda Knott,
Ruth Jarrison,  Aileen Partridge,  Monica Selley,   Margaret
Williamson, A. K. V. Deacon, R. W. Garrard, K. Jones, B. J.
Potterton, B. Upton, Stella Evans, P. R. Edmans, E. A. H. Mullins.

1947: Edith Hicks, Brenda Brown, Audrey Cunliffe, D. Gardner, Julie
Van Bergen, A. A. M. Brodie, T. Phillips, J> McCracken, Joy
Ellard, D. Thornton, V. M. Smith, Iris Apperley, Margaret
Cunliffe, Margaret Hipwell, Judith Hives, Mabel Moore, Mollie
Parker, Valeric Peake, Violet Pickard, Anne Sargeant, Jacqueline
Shortland, Ann Stewart, Rita Swann, Joan Thornton, Doreen
Towell, Joyce Vann, B. C. Birch. M. A. Blakesley, J. R. Boocock,
R. Boulter, D. W. Brewer, J. Clarke, P. E. Cooper, D. J. Gillyean,
B. Hall, D. W. Iliffe, J. O'Donnell, D. M. Rooke, B. W. Sherwin,
T. H. Smith, R. Tomley, J. M. Watts, B. W. Wheeler, Patricia
Adams, Beryl Andrews, Glenys Bodycote, Marina Brooks, Jean
Folwell, Jean Garner, Patricia Lowe, Jill Nourish, Enid Pearson,
Ruth Perry, Ann Philpott, B. F. Blackwell, D. D. Collins, R.
Crowder, M. J. Green, M. G. Jackson, A. J. Newman, R. P. Pearson,
H. Peach, G. B. Rhodes, J. H. Sharman, J. A. Thorpe, M. H.
Veasey, B. F. Walsh, Janet Barnes, Mavis Chadwick, Margaret
Charlesworth, Ann Cotterill, Jillian Crane, Patricia Handbury,
Winifred Norman, Gaynor Poole, Eileen Upton, Joyce Vesty,
Christine Wharmby, Jill Whitman, D. G. Allt, K. Bryan, V. K.
Buckby, D. Churehard, J. A. Clarke, E. W. Dane, K. R. Harding,
D. A. Lane, A. Lucas, F. M. Markham, J. Noble, T. E. Norman,
D. S. J. Pereira, A. Phi ops, R. Sampson, B. W. Smith, H- J. Ware,
J. D. Woods, R. A. Holt, R. H. Gandy, V. J. Gandy, 'M. H. H.
Haines.

1948: Daphne Bonning, Norma Bonning, Diana Stanton, T. F. Peake,
M. R. Bassford, J. Michalec, S. Michalec, R. H. Welborn, Judith
Cramp, Emily Mills, P. A. F. Barclay, B. W. G. Carter, J. A. H.
Grainger, D. A. Hill, R. J. Hill, R. E. D. Howard, R. Hughes, H.
A. L. King, D. G. Lowe, E. G. Murphy, J. S. Silverwood, J. R.
Tarrant, D. A. Thornton, D. N. Vesty, R. A. S. Warner, P. N.
Watkin, R. Woodford, Pauline Butlin, Jeanette Dodge, Mavis
Garner, Enid Fletcher, Dinah Hall, Dorothy Hextall, Judita Lee,
Gwyneth Phillips, Jennifer Smith, Patricia Smith, Sylvia Smith,
Valerie Steele, Jane Walker, Margaret Walkerdine, Janet Wignall,
A. R. Bennett, G. E. Clarke, J. E. Foster, S. Goddard, F. M.
Harper, B. J. Hubbard, I. H. Kennedy, B. J. Lewis, C. R. McCann,
A. Mee, D. J. Palmer, T. D. Pickford, M. E. Robinson, R. K.
Sansome, M. H. Shaw, D. E. Smith, J. Watkins, P. Williamson,
Ann Broadley, Sheila Cheater, Jacqueline Dollow, Janet Elliott,
Judith Ellson, Ann Green, Jean Griffiths, Mavis Hall, Jean Hibbert,
Janet Hincks, Doreen Smith, Patricia Staples, Daphne Taylor,
Elizabeth Voss, B. C. Bailey, G. T. Beecham, A. Broadwell, A. K.
Brown, J. A. dark, K. M. Davies, C. Heighten, P. G. Huckle, E.
A. Hurst, P. G. Moynan, E. Poole, L. H. Roach, P. Rushton, A.
P. Scott, A. E. Whiting, G. W.'Wray, A. Wright, Jean Adams,
Doreen Barrett, Audrey Bradshaw, Josephine Burbidge, Christine
Freer, Diane Griffiths, Susan Moody, Elaine Moore, Jessie Morley,
Iris Olivant, Betty Reeve, Janet Seaton, Heather Sturgess, Barbara
Summerscales, Sylvia Thorpe.

1949: Rita Pischer, G. Sanderson, Diane Perfect, Margaret Gipson,
Janette Mawer, P. W. Mawer, D. I. Watson, D. W. Garner,
Margaret Parker, D. W. Wragg, A. L. Baker, J. C. Boulter, T. E.
Bromley, P. J. Collins, W. R. Cox, W. A. Green, D. B. Grundy,
J. S. Humphries, M. 0. Jutson, B. Lee, D. J. Nobbs, P. T. Peach,
R. N. Smith, D. V. Thornton, J. K. Wright, Brenda Clarke, Anne
Cresswell, Lesley Dunn, Jane Horlock, Mary Iliffe, Patricia
Johnson, Janice Lee, Joyce Mardling, Joan Norwell, Janet Perry,
Glenys Simkin, Winifred Squires, Pamela Thorp, Janet White,
E. Bishop, D. S. Carter, P. Ellingworth, M. T. Fletcher, H. G.
Gough, D. R. Hanney, J. M. Jelley, P. R. Knight, R. E. Pallett,
P. J. Potter, B. H. Smith; K. J. Stanger, R. N. Sturgess, Margaret
Alien, Freda Barnes, Barbara Bird, Wendy Lee, Hazel Martin,
Sally Middleton, Dorothy Moore, Cynthia Mullins, Wendy Patrick,
Irene Pickard, Marlene Sansome, Josephine Siddown, Margaret
Wells, P. W. Andrews, J. I. Darlow, B. Dexter, J. A. Edwards, P.
D. Gamble, W. K Hassell, J. A. Huddleston, S. J. Hull, K. J.
Mattock, J. R. Pover, P. R. Thornton, R. M. Tomlin, Jean
Aitchison, Margaret Ames, Diana Atherton, Elisabeth Baermann,
Margaret Boulter, Marian Frith, Anne Gibbins, June Hart,
Jacqueline Keates, Rita Stretton, Janet Whitmore, Joan Wignall, P.
E. Goward, Cecilie Curtis, Ruth Geary.

1950: Patricia North, M. J. Copp, W. Allison, Julia Smith, Margaret
Moore, Sheila Guest, Valerie Preston, R. T. Fogg, M. W. Beattie,
W. M. Brown, R. E. Child, R. W. Garrett, J. D. Goodman, B.,
Hutton, D. J. Jarvis, M. Jones, E. A. Keeble, F. W. A. Ling,
M. Parker, B. R. Pask, R. G. Pearson, A. J. Siddown, A. T. Walsh,
Joan Brown, Judith Carrington, Nancy Chadwick, Jennifer Cox,
Lilian Freer, Joan Granger, Rachel Jeffcoate, Sheila Kirk, Jean
Kitchen, Patricia Law, Dorothy Moore, Sylvia Pickard, Jennifer
Southam, Ann Stephenson, Anne Taylor, Gwyneth Thomas, C.
Bailey, K. W. Brooker, H. S. Clarfield. R. M. Clarke, J. A. Dealey,
M. R. Dixon, E. A. Frisby, D. C. Hough, D. W. King, F. J. Linnett,
M. S. O'Brien, W. A. Percival, D. G. Popert, H. Riley, J. A. Riley,
D. A. Sansome, V. J. Wells, J. A. Whitfield, Mary Briggs, Gillian
Dixon, Patricia Feakin, Margaret Poote, Elizabeth Goodacre,
Gillian Sleath, Jennifer Smith, Anne Steele, Sylvia Taylor, Hazel
Walden, Patricia Wells, P. Bark, C. H. Butt, L. C. Butler, D. W.
Cox, M. K. Goddard, B. E. Hall, N. Higgins, M. Jebbett, J. A.
Kennedy, B. C. F. Knight, I. D. McCallum, J. A. Phillips, D. P.
Sewell, N. Smith, A. R. F. Twynham, Jean Bryan, Betty Burbidge,
Janet Folwell, Felicity Hardy, Ellen Hearth, Patricia Hibbins,
Barbara Perkins, Margaret Smith, Janet Taylor, Helen Whelan, K.
Dixon, A. E. Jesson, Jill Henson, C. D. Wells, Lucy Hewitt,
Margaret Sykes, Patricia Mullins, C. F. Keech, Marilyn Eames,
M. J. Wale, Patricia Goodwin.

1951: Ruth Baldwin, P. A. Lee, A. Sharpe, Pauline Sharpe, J. Batchelor,
L. N. Holmes, Gillian Rogers, D. L. Bent, R. A. Bromley, Joan
Brooks, Janice Buck, June St. Cloud, D. Alien, R. M. Boulter, A.
R. Carter, J. A. Chapman, A. J. Clarke, I. Dawson, L. Dunkley,
P. A. Guest, G. Hall, A. J. Lawson, P. M. Lee, J. B. Roberts,
B. F. Sawbridge, J. C. Smith, D. Thompson, J. W. H. Vennard, R.
M. Yates, Susan Casswell, Cynthia Freer, Mavis Harrison, Pamela
Hincks, Gillian Hollis, Margaret Jones, Cicely Moody, Ann Penney,
Rosemarie Phillips, Ann Pinnock, Madeline Pratt, Pamela Rivington,
Judith Skerritt. Gillian Symes, Georgina Thompson, Caroline Wills,
Valerie Wilson, D. F. Acton, R. C. Bliss, A. J. Bradshaw, C. P.
Buckley, T. M. Buckler, D. R. Bunting, R. (Russell) Callaghan, D. M.
Collington, H. R. Dalby, C. R. C. Evans, N. Fielder, W. E. Fielding,
P. R. Hubbard, M. J. Pochin, R. A. Preston, M. I. Rainbow, J.
N. Sharman, J. C. Whitman, Janet Argall, Jane Chapman, Jillian
Curtis, Sheila Frith, Vivienne Garner, Ann Heard, Marian Horlock,
Mary Kirkman, Diana Michael, Jacqueline Needham, Marion
Rumfitt, Jean Rumsby, Pamela Roe, Margaret Taylor, Anne
Willday, M. J. Bell, R. (Roger) Callaghan, D. E. Copson, J. K. Dye,
K. A. Essana, J. T. Freer, W. R. Gardiner, C. J. Gilliam, R. L.
Guillain, K. G. Gunby, M. J. T. Hind, A. A. Holmes, G. J.
Hubbard, E. H. Middlebrook, D. E. Norton, K. W. Smith, J. E.
Starmer, M. Wells, Margaret Allt, Elizabeth Austen, Madeline. Bird,
Janet Blanchard, Grace Deacon, Gillian Fragnoli, Janet Hincks,
Marjorie Holman, Maureen Hurst, Valeric Kirk, Judith Martin,
Margaret Millard, Pamela Rattan, Christobel Royall, Susan Walker,
Denise Wright, Jean Howden, Joan Roberts, Anne Whitbum, Susan
Langley.

1952: Alison Forrest, M. G. Greensmith, A. Pilling, C. H. Willett, B.
L. Hill, G. St. J. Scott, June Bentley, Marion Francis, J. M. Baker,
H. M. Batchelor, P. Blanchard, K. Callaghan, K. B. Dillon, P. E.
Ewen, L. Fielder, A. E. Fox, P. H. Griffith, E. Griffiths, R. M.
Hallam, C. J. Martin, N. P. Oldershaw, B. D. Roe, R. Savage,
A. R. Sturgess, M. W. Wheeler, J. A. Wilson, D. F. Worrall, Wendy
Austin, Nora Brown, Jill Charlesworth, Sandra Evans, Anne
Hughes, Pamela Jesson, Winifred Kendall, Jacqueline Porter,
Valerie Stanton, Vivien Wade, Sheila Whyte, Vivien Wilford,
Veronica Wilks,. Janet Williamson, W. Chapman, D. V. Dabb, J.
B. Fillingham, B. E. Fox, A. E. Goode, R. G. Hill, Jillian Wilson,
P. Holder, D. Keizer, D. Lawrence, J. F. Marchant, R. Meen, D.
A. Poole, J. Rhodes, P. Shephard, J. L. Smith, N. A. Wells, D.
J. Wright, Sandra Bates, Joy Belton, Dorothy Burnham, Mary
Fisher, Avrill Frederick, Jennifer Gough, Marjorie Meadows,
Adele Powell, Heather Seton, Maureen Shaw, Diane Taylor, Wendy
Upton, Jean Weare, Janice Wilkins, Margaret Wills, A. P. Ashley,
S. W. Baker, R. H. Bowers, J. P. Bowes, J. H. Burgess, A. R. Clarke,
J. E. Doughty, D. Geschke, R. M. Grundy, D. J. Johnson, G. F.
Mallalieu, J. Oakes, R. Percy, G. H. Smith, A. Stenfalt, R. W.
Whitfield, Rosemary Bass, Julia Bowes, Ann Brutnell, Janet Burton,
Carole Crompton, Janice Doughty, Jane Fidoe, Janice Patrick,
Mary Percival, Susan. Roberts, Ann Shipp, Jacqueline Smith,
Margaret Thurlow, Jennifer Townsend, Gillian Warham, I. A.
.Farrow, H. Peters, J. Newnham, Dorine Bowles, Margaret Peberdy,
Magdalen Peters.

1953: Juliette Whitney, Susan Goodall, J. Pratt, Sheila Fleming, A. G.
Barker, P. A. Watts, Sylvia Shorthouse, Marilyn Clarfield, Phyllis
Sarson, Janet Mee, Audrey Harrison, Dinah Southam, M. Wright,
D. G. B. Boocock. J. B. C. Clay, W. G. Dalbv, A. Ellis, P. J. K.
Ewen, A. T. Fielding, M. J. Garner, B. Higgins, D. Holder, J.
Mackenzie, N. Oliver, D. H. Orton, G. A. Phillips, D. J. Riddett,
R. E. Timms, Dorothy Dainty, Margery Deacon,. Valerie Elliott,
Frances Golden, Wendy Hextall, Jennifer Jarrett, Barbara Lyne,
Margaret Mattock, Roberta Moore, Ann Parker, Diane Phillips,
Diana Pick, Jane Ross, Angela Warren, J. W. Bailey, D. A. Freer,
P. S. C. Fudge, M. J. Gamble, A. Gilbert, M. D. Glasse, D.
Heathcote, J. Irons, R. T. Johnson, B. Lee, M. Leech, G. F. Leeson,
A. G. H. Lovell, R. A. Ogle, J. C. Parker, M. R. Snow, G. J.
Thomton, P. J. White, Sybil Brass, Marion Cox, Dorothy Cunliffe,
Davjda Harper, Elizabeth Havercroft, Marilyn Lee, Maureen
Loomes, Christine Mansfield, Diana Miles, Patricia Patrick, Stella
Peters, Rosalind Sleath, Elizabeth Williams, R. A. Croson, R. K.
Ellis, M. T. Hodson, R. E. Ilev, R. G. Jefferv, A. C. E. Latham,
G. Lee, J. A. Marvin, D. V. Phillips, A. F. Pople, D. Smithurst,
R. M. Snow, B. Spencer, R. S. Squire, M. Taylor, M. R. Throop,
K. S. Tyers. M. E. Watson, Audrey Barker, Joan Beardmore,
Patricia Butcher, Valerie Chamberlain, Mary Farrell, Jeanette Frith,
Rosemary Holman, Evelyn Millard, Judith Mowl, Sylvia Pole,
Elizabeth Shipp, Brenda Thurlow, Carol Burton, R. W. Craddick.

1954: D. A. Huggins, W. T. Powley, P. Goodacre, J. Goodacre, Ingrid
English, Christine Over, T. A. Sutton, G. Haneock, Diana Handley,
R. Barker, R. A. Cave, J. Dalby, A. Geschke, K. Button, S. W.
Iliffe, A. C. M. Irons, C. D. Kinton, R. J. Lawrence, D. Pinnock,
M. W. Reynolds, R. J. Ruskin, R. D. Smith, Jane Bell, Helen Dalby,
Susan Fisher, Judith Fowler, Marilyn Frederick, Hilary Gunnell,
Janice Hemingray, Jill Hindley, Suzanne Hulme, Patricia Jayes,
Margaret Jewsbury, Maureen Kent, Sandra Morris, Daphne
Prentice, Ann Rees, Elizabeth Seaton, Mary Silverwood, Christine
Wilkinson, Judith Whymant, J. C. Bent, T. R. Bevin, E. D. Boyes, J.
B. Boulter, S. A. Ferrow, C. J. E. Green, C. Hextall, C. M. Latham,
R. J. Mitchell, J. E. Ravenhill, I. G. Seton, I. Shatford, G. C. Smith,
L. A. Sturgess, P. W. Voss, Patricia Balderson, Kathleen Barratt,
Pamela Coulton, Valeric Green, Christine Holyoak, Ann Howard,
Barbara Hurst, Susan Johnson, Valeric Lane, Louise O'Brien,
Judith Pitteway, Susan Pook, Janet Preston, Margaret Wells,
Julia Wright, Carol Wyatt, R. W. Adamson, M. J. Black, J. M.
Bozzoni, R. K. Erett, A. P. Freer, R. A. Hull, B. Medhurst, G. A.'
Monk, R. M. Murdock, P. A. Nutting, D. B. O'Connor, J. A.
Pearson, D. S. Robinson, P. R. Robinson, D. A. Shaw, G. F.
Thompson, M. J. Walker, Bronwen Abram, Vicki Chesterton, Mary
Evans, Jane Evans, Kathryn Farnell, Janet Fritche, Vivienne
Grocock, Ruth, Hall, Dagmar Heinrichson, Mavis Holt, Maureen
Jebbett, Mary Lockwood, Diane Pridmore, Margaret Simons,
Arline Timms, Jill Underwood, Sally Willday, J. B. Oakley, J. M.
Hardy,

1955: Rosemrey Ward, Shirley Smith, Kathleen Meads, I. W. Hare, A.
M. K. Pearson, J. M. Hepworth, Mary Browett, Jane Whittington,
Carol Pickering, E. J. Ward, A. F. Hodkinson, Diana Thompson,
G. Whyche, Ann Peckham, Margaret Hutchinson, H. R. Freer, C.
C. Hammond, C. G. Hulme, P. F. Whiteley, Jean Morris, J. M.
W. Addison, R. L. Amett, C. C. Axford, M. J. B. Bailey, A. C.
Brown, R. C. Buckley, B. Callaghan, W. G. Freer, P. J. Galsworthy,
M. J. Harrison, M. E. Norris, D. E. Rattan, J. W. Richardson, M.
Sargeant, P. R. Simmonds, G. A. Smith, P. R. Stubley, P. A. Sykes,
Ann Beckley, Diane Chapman, Angela Clay, Susan Faulkner,
Rosemary Fowler, Valerie Hall, Carole Holyoak, Helen Ikin,
Wendy Jacques, Sheila Lampkin, Joan Mee, Margaret McCallum,
Ann Needham, Vivienne Peet, Gillian Peplow, Margaret Shaw,
Rosemary Watson, Angela Watts, Josephine West, A. J. Adams,
H. V. Bakewell, G. Benford, J. J. Burgess, S. F. Daw, P. J. Dudney,
M. J. Dunn, A. Fischer, C. A. Hale, B. R. Hargrave, J. Inwood,
R. J. Law, A. J. Phillips, C. S. Riley, P. J. Sharp, A. P. Shaw, A.
S. Webster, G. S. Weston, Patricia Anderson, Stella Bosworth,
Annette Brooks, Jennifer Burgess, Audrey Burton, Helen Clarke,
Ann Hercock, Carole Mansfield, Gay Martin, Carole Normanton,
Carole Parker, Rachel Robinson, Gillian Snow, Carolyn Stevens,
Marion Turner, Marilyn Walsom, Anne Woodfine, Lynette
Woodford, Erica Watson, J. 0. A. Archer, K. J. Beet, M. C. Bryan,
L. P. Burrows, J. Clow, N. Fairhurst, B. G. Finnemore, R. A.
Flood, A. Garner, A. C. Henson, M. J. Hurst, K. J. Millard, W.
J. Packer, H. H. Porten, A. C. Shropshire, S. J. Stedman, J. R.
Whitney, J. E. Williams, C. R. York, Carole Bowles, Pamela Brown,
Jacqueline Burdett, Penelope Butler, Ennis Cheesman, Bridget
Craythome, Wendy Dunkley, Sheila Folwel], Christine Fox, Janet
Hunt, Elizabeth Kirkman, Beryl Lane, Mary Levy, lone Rest,
Christine Rose, Marlene Smith, Elizabeth Wilson, Susan Young,
J. E. Neale, Jill Sheen.

1956: Patricia Oliver, B. Bestwick, Diana Coldwell, lacqueline Stevens,
J. R. Johnson, H. J. Adcock, D. J. Cawthorn, Margaret Higson,
: M. Dale, R. M. Baker, J. G. Bowers, J. R. J. Bradbury, M. S.
Clarfield, P. R. Hodson, D; A. Ireland, R. D. Phillips, D. L, Snow,
J. H. Wale, P. J. Wilby, Jean Alexander, Olwen Barnett, Jennifer
Brook, Jean Coleman, Elizabeth Cullen, Marie Elliott, Vivien
Hemingray, Diane Lockwood, June Marston, Penelope Norton,
Evelyn Ross, Angela Slipp, Marie Southam, Susan Stannard,
Christine Tilley, Linda Warren, M. Bradshaw, W. R. Chapman,
G. Cluley, M. J. Holyoak, M. W. MacDouall, J. D. Nibloe, J. W.
Oram, J. Parry, S. S. Sturgess, C. E. Taylor, D. J. Watkins, P. R.
Yardley, Margaret Almen, Marie Allsop, Denise Ashton, Celia
Burbidge, Diane Charles, Dorothy Freer, Mary Hawkins, Rae Jones,
Anne Ramsell, Janice Reed, Susan Ross, Lynn Smaggasdale, Diane
Smith, Ann Wheatley, C. W. Boyes, C. L. Coles, A. W. Evans, D.
Hutton, R. Mullen, B. G. Norris, J. M. Partridge, R. E. Towers.
K. L. Upton, M. J. Whyard, R. J. Wigfull, Gabrielle Bayliss-Favell,
Jill Carrier, Ann Coekin, Valerie Clarke, Suzanne Cotton, Valerie
Gordon, Rosemary Hall, Ruth Hodkinson, Susan Kirkman, Vera
McHugh, Susan Peberdy, Carole Rayne, Glennys Sanders, Peggy
Sharman, Christine Woods, Barrie Payne, M. Ridgway.

1957: Dinah Lawrence. Christine Illsley, Diana Clarke, R. J. Tyier,
Christine Gair, M. J. C. Surrey, T. M. McHugh, Ann Bramall,
Cynthia Musgrave, W. T. Peberdv, Patricia Lakin, W. H. Booth,
A. E. Goodger, A. Mitchell, Christine Pilor, Molly Hall, Joyce
Moon, M. Mitchell, J. Bromley. R. A. Moore, N. Austin, F. Clarke,
C. Harrison, D. Griffith, J. Macgregor, P. Mason, R. Turner, G.
Warrilow, D. Welton, A. Windybank, Veronica Airey, Carolyn
Brown, Miriam Crouch, Wendy Dillon, Jean Fowkes, Jacqueline
Grange, Sheila Haden, Mary Issitt, Cynthia Jayes, Helen Jordan,
Jacqueline Page, Pamela Woodward, V. F. Bailey, P. Bourne, C.
E. Bozzoni, G. Brown, H. P. Ginvert, R. 0. Kirkland, G. R. Lord,
C. Surrey, M. Surrey, G. Warwick, Janet Barradale, Jacqueline
Clarke, Susan Dunn, Christine Elliott, Eileen Granger, Doreen
Harby, Joy Holland, Jacqueline Mallaby, Valerie Newport, Pamela
Plater, Wendy Riley, Carol Smith, Patricia Walgate, D. Bentley,
M. A. Brown, K. Clayton, R. Corston, T. Gamble, R. Grocock,
B. J. Hubbard, G. Knight, M. Thorndyke, R. K. Wardle, Amy
Foster, Margaret Hereock, Pamela Hodson, Judith Jayes, Catherine
Jewsbury, Marilyn Juggins, Sandra Li'thgow, Susan Lowe, Maxine
Rammell, Barbara Stanfield, Margaret Stannage. Hazel Swift,
Sheila Wightman, Colin Brand, Marion Brand, Kathleen Veasey.

\chapter{The endowed Lands of the School.}

In the Middle Ages, Kibworth Grammar School held land and
property in Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Harcourt, Smeeton
Westerby and Carlton Curlieu. In the feoffment charter of 1559
Richard Bryan and William Parker stated that the school estate
consisted of:
\begin{quote}
    \quad ``all those messuages, lands, tenements,
    meadows and pastures lying in the town and
    fields of Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Harcourt, 
    Smeeton Westerby and Carlton Curlieu''.
\end{quote}

The actual extent and situation of the lands before the
seventeenth century cannot be discovered.   An inquisition of
1615 showed that the schools lands and property were as follows:

\begin{tabular}{lll}
    Kibworth Beauchamp &-- &3 yardlands, 3 closes of pasture,\\
                       &   &3 messuages and 2 cottages.\\

    Kibworth Harcourt  &-- &1$\frac{1}{4}$ yardlands, 2 closes, 2 messu-\\
                       &   &ages and 3 cottages.\\

    Smeeton Westerby   &-- &1$\frac{1}{2}$ yardlands, 2 closes and 2\\
                       &   &cottages.\\
\end{tabular}

No mention is made of any property in Carlton Curlieu.
Evidently, this was lost to the School some time in Elizabeth's
reign.

In the seventeenth century, therefore, the school lands mainly
consisted of a large number of strips scattered in the open fields
of the three villages. These amounted in all to 5 yardlands. A
yardland was roughly 30 acres, and so the School owned some 160
to 170 acres.

As with many English villages, the open fields of Kibworth
were enclosed in the eighteenth century.   It was in 1779 that
enclosure took place there, and then the School was allocated the
following blocks of land:

\begin{tabular}{lll}
    Kibworth Beauchamp &(1) &land around the School, 18\\
                       &    &acres.\\
\ \\
                       &(2) &Moss Farm, on the footpath\\
                       &    &leading from Kibworth to\\
                       &    &Fleckney, 54 acres.\\
\ \\
    \multicolumn{3}{l}{Kibworth Harcourt, Bridge Farm, down the Wistow Lane,}\\
    \multicolumn{3}{l}{48 acres.}\\
\ \\
    \multicolumn{3}{l}{Smeeton Westerby, Smeeton Hill Farm, beween Gumley}\\
    \multicolumn{3}{l}{and Smeeton, 43 acres.}\\
\end{tabular}

\bigskip

The School still owns the three farms mentioned above and
the area around the School, some 160 to 170 acres---practically the
same amount it held in the early seventeenth century.

Although the acreage of School property has remained much
the same, the money derived from the rents has varied, as we can
see from this table:--
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{lllllll}
    1615  &\dots  &\pounds31  &\qquad  &1905  &\dots  &\pounds271\\
    1686  &\dots  &\pounds36  &\qquad  &1907  &\dots  &\pounds256\\
    1726  &\dots  &\pounds51  &\qquad  &1914  &\dots  &\pounds246\\
    1841  &\dots  &\pounds252 &\qquad  &1930  &\dots  &\pounds195\\
    1884  &\dots  &\pounds335 &\qquad  &1936  &\dots  &\pounds180\\
    1885  &\dots  &\pounds342\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

Until 1877, the Governors had more or less complete control
over their own finances.   Then, under the Scheme of 1877, the
Official Trustee of Charitable Funds took charge of the School's
finances.  When the State took over the School in 1909, all
property and funds had to be handed over to the local education
authority. The County did not use the endowment fund to meet
expenses for the general running of the School.   It has always
been set aside as a reserve for the use of the Governors to meet
special needs. Thus, of late years, it has been used to pay for the
preparation of further playing fields for the School, and for the
construction of a concrete practice wicket.


\chapter{Some Pupils who have left the School for Places of 
Higher Education since 1929.}

\begin{longtable}{llll}
1929: &F. J. Goodwin       &--  &St Mark's Training College.\\
      &P. Briggs           &--  &St Mark's Training College.\\
      &G. C. Freeland      &--  &St Mark's Training College.\\
1930: &G. A. Harris        &--  &University College, Nottingham.\\
      &J. S. Mattock       &--  &St Paul's College, Cheltenham.\\
1931: &E. R. G. Deacon     &--  &St Paul's College, Cheltenham.\\
1932: &W.C. Gamer          &--  &Saltley Training College.\\
1934: &A. S. Bolton        &--  &Loughborough College.\\
1935: &M. M. Gilbert       &--  &Homerton College, Cambridge.\\
      &O. Radford          &--  &St Luke's Training College, Exeter.\\
      &J. D. Nourish       &--  &City of Leeds Training College.\\
      &J. T. Short         &--  &City of Leeds Training College.\\
1937: &E. A. Freer         &--  &Derby Traingn College.\\
      &J. W. Brown         &--  &University College, Nottingham.\\
1939: &M. Toone            &--  &City of Leeds Training College.\\
      &M. Mason            &--  &Domestic Science College, Leicester.\\
1941: &M. Buckler          &--  &University College, Nottingham.\\
1944: &P. Potts            &--  &Anstey College of Physical Education.\\
1945: &K. Evans            &--  &Goldsmith's College, London.\\
      &E. E. Turner        &--  &University College, London.\\
      &A. K. Walpole       &--  &Lincoln Training College.\\
1946: &M. Blin-Stoyle      &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
1947: &C. B. Cotterill     &--  &State Scholarship to Nottingham University.\\
      &D. A. Greenwood     &--  &State Scholarship.\\
      &N. J. M. Wilkins    &--  &Nottingham University.\\
1948: &D. A. Greenwood     &--  &Open Scholarship to King's College, Cambridge.\\
      &P. Sharpe           &--  &State Scholarship to Nottingham University.\\
1950: &P. W. A. Moore      &--  &London University.\\
      &J. E. Newcombe      &--  &Sheffiled University.\\
      &P. E. Goward        &--  &Liverpool University.\\
      &B. St. A. G. Fidoe  &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &J. Ellingworth      &--  &College of Technology, Leicester, thence to Leeds University.\\
      &E. R. Print         &--  &College of Technology, Leicester.\\
1951: &E. J. Preston       &--  &State Scholarship and Open Scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge.\\
      &D. A. W. Sansome    &--  &Sheffield University.\\
      &E. Bromley          &--  &Liverpool University.\\
      &P. R. Edmans        &--  &Nottingham University.\\
      &S. J. Van Bergen    &--  &Loughborough College of Art.\\
      &E. Hicks            &--  &City of Birmingham Training College.\\
      &F. B. Deans         &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
1952: &A. Evans            &--  &State Scholarship to University College, Cardiff.\\
      &A. H. Playford      &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &J. A. Mawer         &--  &Leicester College of Speech Therapy.\\
      &C. St. G. Fidoe     &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
1953: &M. J. Copp          &--  &Queen Mary College, London.\\
      &G. Goddard          &--  &Queen Mary College, London.\\
      &R. A. Dytham        &--  &Imperial College, London.\\
      &M. C. Moore         &--  &Durham University.\\
      &M. Holyoake         &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &J. D. Appleby       &--  &College of Technology, Leicester.\\
      &D. C. Stanton       &--  &Sheffield University.\\
      &D. Ward             &--  &Cheltenham Training College.\\
      &K. W. Frisby        &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &G. Sanderson        &--  &Ministry of Agriculture Scholarship to Nottingham University.\\
1954: &J. R. B. Boocock    &--  &Queen Mary College, London.\\
      &P. W. Mawer         &--  &Queen Mary College, London.\\
1955: &A. G. Barker        &--  &College of Technology, Leicester.\\
      &R. W. Craddick      &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &K. M. C. Davis      &--  &Nottingham University.\\
      &D. J. Gillyean      &--  &Nottingham University.\\
      &J. A. H. Grainger   &--  &Manchester University.\\
      &R. E. D. Howard     &--  &University College of North Staffordshire.\\
      &J. Smith            &--  &Central School of Speech and Drama.\\
1956: &L. Dunn             &--  &Leeds University.\\
      &W. F. Hassell       &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &P. G. Moynan        &--  &University College, Leicester.\\
      &P. North            &--  &University College, Aberystwyth.\\
      &J. Norwell          &--  &St.\ Andrew's School of Physiotherapy, Northampton.\\
      &J. K. Wright        &--  &Nottingham University.\\
1957: &E. Baermann         &--  &Open Scholarship to Durham University.\\
      &N. Chadwick         &--  &Birmingham University.\\
      &N. Higgins          &--  &Royal Academy of Music.\\
      &J. Kitchen.         &--  &Armstrong College, Durham University.\\
      &W. A. Percival      &--  &Sheffield University.\\
      &P. A. Watts         &--  &Nottingham University.\\
\end{longtable}

\chapter{Numbers of Pupils at the School.}

We do not know the actual number of children in attendance
at Kibworth until the nineteenth century. The first definite figure
we can give is for 1837, when the Commissioners of Inquiry into
Charities reported that 45 children attended Kibworth Grammar
School. Before that date, therefore, our figures are but conjectural.
from its inception until the period just before the Commonwealth
the number of children in attendance would be about twenty.
Interest in education increased vastly during the Commonwealth
period, and thus at Kibworth we might have found some fifty
children between 1650 and 1660.   This number was certainly
maintained for the next seventy years, for the later Stuart period
was the heyday of the small country Grammar School. Numbers
began to decline about 1730, and by 1780 there would be perhaps
twenty children in the School.   With the end of the Napoleonic
Wars, education, like most other things, took a turn for the better,
and so by 1837 we find 45 boys in the School. From that point,
figures are as follows:--

\begin{longtable}{rrrrrrrr}
1850  &22    &1884  &33    &1916  &51    &1931  &119\\
1853  &35    &1895  &39    &1917  &60    &1933  &135\\
1854  &42    &1896  &40    &1918  &75    &1934  &138\\
1855  &46    &1898  &39    &1919  &79    &1935  &145\\
1857  &50    &1901  &42    &1920  &80    &1941  &262\\
1858  &56    &1904  &40    &1921  &68    &1942  &298\\
1859  &68    &1905  &39    &1922  &71    &1943  &345\\
1860  &63    &1907  &40    &1923  &60    &1944  &372\\
1861  &58    &1908  &43    &1924  &58    &1945  &440\\
1862  &59    &1909  &38    &1926  &43    &1947  &444\\
1863  &69    &1911  &43    &1927  &37    &1955  &525\\
1864  &50    &1913  &47    &1928  &62    &1957  &520\\
1880  &23    &1914  &67    &1929  &85\\
1882  &29    &1915  &66    &1930  &106\\
\end{longtable}

\chapter{\ \ Statement of Accounts for 1905.}

I append the following statement relating to the time when
the School was relatively independent, in order to show how the
School gained its income and how the money was spent.
\newline
{\footnotesize
\begin{tabular}{lrrrlrrr}
 \pounds&s.&d.
&\pounds&s.&d.\\
INCOME.&&&&
EXPENSES.\\
 Rent from 169 1/2 acres\dots    &271 &15 & 6    
&Clerk's Salary\dots   \dots     &  5 & 0 & 0\\
 Fees \dots  \dots  \dots  \dots &230 &16 & 8
&Stationery    \dots   \dots     &    & 7 & 6\\
 Leicestershire C.C. Grant       &100 & 0 & 0    
&Advertisement \dots   \dots     &  2 & 4 & 6\\
 Midland Railway Rent            &  1 & 0 & 0
&Repairs       \dots   \dots     & 49 &14 & 3\\
 Grant from Science and          &    &   &   
&Repairs       \dots   \dots     & 55 &18 & 2\\
 \quad Art Department  \dots    &  9 & 9 & 0
&Instalment onn Loan  \dots      & 47 & 8 & 6\\
 Bank Interest    \dots  \dots   &    &11 & 1
&Salary of Headmaster            &150 & 0 & 0\\
 Income Tax returned    \dots    &    &16 & 7
&Salary   of   Assistant\\
&&&&\quad Master \dots   \dots   & 80 & 0 & 0\\
&&&&Salary of Science and\\
&&&&\quad Art Teachers   \dots   &107 &17 & 6\\
&&&&Capitation Fees      \dots   &131 & 6 & 8\\
&&&&Greek Fees    \dots   \dots  &  5 &10 & 0\\
&&&&Exhibitions   \dots   \dots  & 60 & 0 & 0\\
&&&&Examination Fees     \dots   &  3 & 0 & 0\\
&&&&Use of Cricket Ground        &  4 & 0 & 0\\
&&&&Prizes  \dots   \dots \dots  &  3 & 3 & 0\\

&\pounds614& 8 &10&&\pounds705&10&1
\end{tabular}
}

\chapter{\ \ \ Governors of the School.}

In 1909 Kibworth Grammar School came under the control of
the Leicestershire Education Committee. In 1908 the Governors
were:--

\begin{longtable}{ll}
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Rev.\ E. S. B. Fletcher (Chairman)}\\
\ \\
G. Murray Smith, Esq.        &Market Harborough\\
J. S. Dickinson, Esq.        &Bench of\\
Sir Cyril Marriott           &Magistrates.\\
\ \\
Rev.\ Mr.\ Rockley           &Billesdon Union.\\
A. Hull, Esq.                &\\
\ \\
J. Horton, Esq.              &Market Harborough\\
T. H. Grant, Esq.            &Union.\\
\ \\
J. Daykin Broughton, Esq.    &Leicestershire County\\
T, H. Halford, Esq.          Council.\\
J. G. Kendall, Esq.          &--
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{In 1910 the Governors were:--}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Rev.\ E. S. B. Fletcher (Chairman) and}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{J. S. Dickinson, Esq.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{(the two existing Governors who remained in office).}\\
\ \\
T. H. Halford, Esq.          &\\
H. T. Grant, Esq.            &Appointed by the\\
J. G. Kendall, Esq.          &Leicestershire\\
R. Rowley, Esq.              &County Council.\\
Mrs. Bosworth                &\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{W. Barnes, Esq., representing Kibworth Beauchamp.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{J. H. Parsons, Esq., representing Kibworth Harcourt.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Rev.\ G. W. Salt, representing Smeeton.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{T. Ashley, Esq., representing Birmingham University.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{When Mr.\ Elliott came in 1927 the School Governors were:}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Rev.\ E. S. B. Fletcher (Chairman)}\\
\ \\
Mrs. E. V. Phillips        &\\
T. H. Halford, Esq.        &\\
Miss Horton                &Appointed by the\\
G. C. Mattock. Esq.        &Leicestershire\\
R. Rowley, Esq.            &County Councll.\\
Capt. Clark                &\\
\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{W. Barnes, Esq., representing Kibworth Beauchamp.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{W. E. Briggs, Esq., representing Kibworth Harcourt.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Major Harding, representing Smeeton.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{L. R. M. Strachan, Esq., representing Birmingham University.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Thirty years later, in 1957, the School Governors are:--}
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{A. G. Briggs, Esq. (Chairman).}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Rev.\ D. A. J. Ireland (Vice-Chairman).}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{B. J. E. Briggs, Esq.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{H. A. Day, Esq., M.C.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Mrs.\ G. E. Frears}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{H. Davis Herbert, Esq.}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Mrs. H. B. Jeffrey}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Miss J. P. Meehan}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Mrs. E. W. B. Newton}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Miss M. F. C. Saunderson-Morrison}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Mrs. M. C. T. Thomas}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{J. Thompson, Esq.}\\
\end{longtable}
\newpage

\chapter{K.B.G.S. O.S.A.}

The beginnings of the Old Students' Association dates from
the first term of Mr.\ Elliot's Headship---in Autumn, 1927. It was
on November 30th of that year that Mr.\ Elliot invited a number
of old students to his house to discuss the formation of the
Association. This preliminary meeting elected two temporary
secretaries. Miss C. Harding and Miss M. Smith, and arranged an
inaugural Dance for January 25th, 1928, to be held in Kibworth
Village Hall.

Many Old Students attended this first function, and they were
enthusiastic about the proposal to form an Association.   It was
decided to inaugurate the Old Students' Association formally at a
General Meeting to be held in the School at a later date. This
meeting took place in the February, and the first officers of the
Association were elected, as follows:--

President:

\begin{longtable}{ll}
\multicolumn{2}{l}{J. E. Elliot, Esq.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Vice-Presidents:}\\
\ \\
Rev.\ Canon Fletcher.                 &W. Barnes, Esq.\\
W. E. Briggs, Esq.                    &Major G. Harding.\\
T. H. Halford, Esq., C.C.             &J. W. Mason, Esq.\\
G. C. Mattock, Esq., J.P., C.C.       &R. Rowley, Esq.\\
L. R. M. Strachan, Esq., M.A.         &Miss Horton\\
Mrs. E. V. Phillips.                  &R. G. Watson, Esq.\\
B. Atkinson, Esq.                     &E. Smith, Esq.\\
J. Hare, Esq.                         &C. H. Lewis, Esq.\\
J. Fletcher. Esq.                     &F. Loveday, Esq.\\
A. Smith, Esq.                        &Miss M. Smith.\\
Mrs. F. Loveday.                      &Miss S. Gutsell\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Secretaries:}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Miss C. Harding and Mr.\ J. Fletcher.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Treasurer:}\\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Mr.\ J. Fletcher.}\\
\ \\
\multicolumn{2}{l}{Magazine Editor: Miss A. Balls.}\\
\end{longtable}

A Committee of twelve members was also appointed. This
meeting also arranged for the holding of a Dinner and of another
Dance.

The O.S.A.\ did not limit its activities, however, to mere social
functions. A mixed Hockey Club was formed, which flourished
for several years, but in 1931 the girls decided to leave the boys
and start a side of their own. Thus, the Old Girls' Hockey Club
was born, with Miss E. M. Hulland as Captain and Miss G. Cooke
as Secretary.   This XI continued to have several successful
seasons, but in 1936 it went out of existence. In 1938, however,
Miss J. Willett managed to re-form the side, which carried on
playing in the early years of the War. Later on, however, it dis-,
banded and, although Miss G. Waddington (now Mrs. P. Payne)
made an effort in 1948 to start it again, she was not successful.
An Old Girls' Hockey XI does, however, still turn out on occasion
to play the School XI.

One of the most successful ventures of the O.S.A. was its
Dramatic Society. From 1931 to the outbreak of War, one play
a year was produced. The first major effort was in 1932 when
Mr.\ Elliot and Mrs. M. Bolton produced Eliza Comes to Stay.
Later productions were Tilly of Bloomsbury, The Middle Watch,
The Sport of Kings, The Cheerful Knave and Charley's Aunt.
The Second World War put an end to the activities of the Old
Students Dramatic Society and this is one enterprise which has
not been restarted.

The War certainly interfered with the activities of the O.S.A.
Membership, however, is once more on the increase, and the chief
social function of the Association now is the Annual Dinner-Dance
held in early April in the Bell Hotel, Leicester. Dances are also
held in the Church Hall, Oadby.   In fact, the Committee now
consists of a number of enthusiastic younger Old Students and,
under their guidance, the Association will continue to flourish in
the future.

When Mr.\ Elliot retired in 1955, the Association gave him a
television set and Mrs. Elliot a wrist watch. The Old Students
have always remembered with gratitude the part Mr.\ Elliot played
in launching their Association.   Thus, when the possibility of
dosing the School arose, the Association held a protest meeting
ind letters were written to the Minister of Education and the local
VLP.'s voicing in no uncertain tones the sentiments of the O.S.A.

\noindent
The officers of the Association at the moment are:--

\noindent
President: J. E. Elliot, Esq., M.A.\\
Vice-president: L. T. Daw, Esq., M.A., B.Sc.\\
Honorary Treasurer: A. E. Palmer, Esq.\\
Honorary Secretaries: Messrs. J. F. Hodgett and A. S. Bolton.\\
\begin{tabular}{ll}
General Committee: &Mrs.\ A. S. Bolton, Mrs.\ Ginvert, Mrs.\ \\
                   &Haddon, Mrs.\ R. James, Mrs.\ K. N.\\
                   &Weston, Miss M. Hipwell, Miss P.\\
                   &Johnson, Miss A. Sargeant, Miss B.\\
                   &Ward, Miss E. Wayne. Messrs. R.\\
                   &Dunn, C. Hallam, P. Holmes, J. R.\\
                   &Hubbard, J. Muddimer, R. Oldfield, E.\\
                   &R. Print, G. Stretton, F. Watts, K. N.\\
                   &Weston.\\
\end{tabular}

\chapter{Roll of Honour.}

\noindent1914--1918.

\noindent
A. A. Adams\\
W. S. Alien\\
E. Bolton\\
A. Carnegie\\
C. W. Coleman\\
J. H. Cox\\
A. R. Hubbard\\
T. C. Jesson\\
B. G. C. Pell\\
P. Searson-Mawby\\
E. Smith\\
J. W. Sturgess\\
A. Warner\\
H. Webb\\
\ \\
1939--1945\\
\ \\
F. C. Brown\\
J. W. Brown\\
H. J. Couling\\
C. W. Cross\\
A. B. Potts\\
\ \\
1950
\ \\
D. A. Smith\\
\ \\
1952\\
\ \\
D. Gardner

\newpage

\thispagestyle{empty}

\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Illustrations}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{1.  Mr J.\ E.\ Elliot}

\begin{center}
  \includegraphics{elliot.jpg}
\end{center}

\thispagestyle{empty}

\begin{center}
  \rotatebox{90}{\includegraphics{school_lands.jpg}}
\end{center}

\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{2.  Map of School Lands}

\newpage

\thispagestyle{empty}

\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{3.  ``The Old Building''}
\begin{center}
  \includegraphics{old_building.jpg}
\end{center}

\end{document}
