A History of Giggleswick School Part 13

The Last Decade.

In January, 1904, the Governors of the School a.s.sembled to elect a new Headmaster. Their choice fell unanimously on Mr. William Wyamar Vaughan.

Mr. Vaughan had been educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1888. Since 1890 he had been an a.s.sistant Master at Clifton College, and had been in charge of seventy day boys there for four years. The appointment was in many respects a significant one. For the first time in the history of the School a permanent Headmaster had been appointed, who was not in Holy Orders. Since 1869 the statutory regulation on the subject had been changed, but this was the first occasion on which the Governors had exercised their freedom. In the second place, Giggleswick up till the last thirty years had educated a preponderating number of day boys, but lately this element had been so outnumbered by the boarders that there was considerable danger of a serious division arising between them. The election of a man who had been in charge of the day boys at one of the bigger Public Schools gave great hopes to those who had the unity of the School at heart, nor were these expectations unfulfilled. Thirdly, Mr. Vaughan was a pioneer in the enthusiasm which directed the path of learning towards a greater study of English subjects.

[Ill.u.s.tration: W. W. VAUGHAN, M.A.

_Russell & Sons_] [_17, Baker Street, W._ ]

The chief responsibility of the military side at Clifton had lain with him of late years, and at Giggleswick he lost little time in reorganizing the cla.s.sification of the School. A scheme was carried through by which every boy was cla.s.sed according to his attainments in English, and one hour a day was given to the study of the subject in its various branches of Scripture, History, Geography, Literature, and occasionally Grammar. The weekly theme or essay was retained. For all other subjects the boy was put into sets, which bore no relation to his Form, except in so far as the School was divided up for English into three parts--Upper, Lower and Junior, and for other subjects into A, B and C, Blocks. No boy was able to be in the B Block who was in the Junior School, or in the A Block, if he was in the Lower School. These big divisions were very rarely found to hinder the advance of a boy in any particular subject and when once he had obtained a position in the Upper School, want of capacity in English was of no impediment at all.

The great ideal at which Mr. Vaughan aimed was a sound education in a varied number of subjects but all of them must be based on the study of English. Boys were not encouraged to specialize until they had attained to a position in one of the two top Forms and in later years not until they had gained the Oxford and Cambridge Higher Certificate. The School was inspected by the Oxford and Cambridge Board in 1906 and the reports were most gratifying. In the same year the Higher Certificate Examination was taken by the Sixth and Upper Fifth, and in future became a regular feature of their work.

The School suffered a severe loss in 1904 by the resignation of Dr.

Watts. He had acted as the chief Master of Natural Science for thirty-two years and had superintended the building of the Science Block from its foundations. Mr. C. F. Mott a former Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Lecturer at Emmanuel College was appointed to succeed him and no choice could have been more happy. A Scientific Society was soon formed with the object of giving a lead to the informal study of Nature and to promote a closer interest in the collections of various kinds at the School Museum. In the following year 1905 Speech-Day was celebrated for the first time for twenty-five years and was marked by the presentation of the "Style" Mathematical Prizes, which had been founded from a fund to which former pupils of Mr. Style contributed as a mark of their appreciation of his Headmasters.h.i.+p. In 1906 the "Waugh" Prizes for English Literature were presented by Mr.

John Waugh, J.P., who had been at the School under Dr. b.u.t.terton and had retained a strong interest in education. These prizes were to be awarded on the result of two papers, one on a specially prepared subject in English Literature and one on a general knowledge of the whole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOINER'S SHOP.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ATHLETIC SHOP.]

Many smaller changes were made in the School-life in the next few years.

The four dormitories which had hitherto been known by letters A, B, C, D, were re-named in 1907 after four benefactors of the School--Paley, Nowell, Carr, and Shute, thus recalling to mind something of the traditions to which the boys were heirs. The Gate-house, which had been built by Mr. Morrison at the time of the building of the Chapel was further utilized as a Shop, where boys from the Hostel could at certain hours buy most kinds of food. Previously they had been able to buy what they required from a shop in the village but this had always been open to disadvantages and the opening of the Gate-house in 1906 under Mr. and Mrs. Parker, who had both been connected with the School for many years, obviated these disadvantages; it also secured a useful profit, which could be laid out by the School in what way they wished.

But one of the most important events of Mr. Vaughan's Headmasters.h.i.+p was the foundation in 1906 of the Giggleswick Boys' Club in Leeds. The great danger of Public School life is the difficulty of realizing that the unit of the School is a part of a larger whole and that one aim of education is the inculcation of an active interest in all spheres of life. The aim of the founders of the Giggleswick Boys' Club was to provide a house in one of the poorer districts, where boys might spend certain evenings in the week in warmth and comfort. An excellent man was fortunately found in Sergeant-Major Baker, who was willing to take the whole responsibility of the internal management. The Club was begun at 2, West Street, Leeds, and at the end of a year the average attendance was found to have been thirty. Every Summer as many boys as possible come down to Giggleswick for a day, and a cricket match is arranged.

There is a very noteworthy feeling of affection for the School springing up in the Club and its general success is a.s.sured.

Another departure from ordinary school routine was made in the same year. A Rifle Club was formed for the purpose of teaching boys to shoot.

Mr. J. G. Robinson, a Governor of the School, presented a Sub-Target Rifle Machine, which was placed in the Covered Playground and under the direction of Sergeant-Major Cansdale a considerable number of the School practised shooting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: G. B. MANNOCK.]

The year 1907 was a very important one in the history of the School. On November 12, just four hundred years before, the lease of the plot of ground, on which James Carr built his first School, had been signed. The occasion was one which was fittingly celebrated. A Thanksgiving Service was held in the Chapel and Mr. Style, the late Headmaster, attended it and was gladly welcomed. Mr. J. G. Robinson, took the opportunity of presenting the School with two new covered-in Fives Courts at the back of Brookside, and, closely adjoining it, he built and fitted up a metal workshop, where boys could indulge their taste for engineering.

In the same year another inspection of the School was invited by the Headmaster and the Board of Education sent down three examiners. The result was most encouraging for they had come down somewhat prejudiced about the usefulness of the education received there but they went away convinced that Giggleswick was performing its duty in a way that merited the highest commendation. The Carr Exhibitions at Christ's College, Cambridge, which were reserved for Giggleswick boys, were still given but, owing to the decrease in the value of land, were at this time limited to one in every three years. They nevertheless proved a most useful means of helping those boys, who were unable to go up to the University without aid.

A year later, on May 26, 1908, Mr. G. B. Mannock died suddenly. Since 1874 he had been a Master at the School. He had taught the First Form during the whole of the time and had also in earlier days taken over the charge of the Drawing and Music. In 1887 when it was decided to lease Bankwell as a house for those boys who were too young to go immediately into the Hostel, Mr. Mannock, who had been previously a Dormitory Master for the younger boys in the Hostel, was asked to undertake the responsibility of being the Master-in-charge. He continued to do so till his death. The influence that he had exerted was a very remarkable one.

No boy ever came away from Bankwell without feeling that for some time in his life at any rate he had lived under the protection of one of the most saintly of men. Friends.h.i.+p and sympathy were the very essence of his character and he taught every one with whom he came in touch, that gentleness and courtesy were weapons, stronger and more valuable than any others. A fund was raised to perpetuate his memory and it was decided to decorate the Cla.s.s Rooms with panelling and hang them with pictures. In the Sixth Form Room Honour Boards were also erected. It was felt that this improvement in the decoration of the School would be a fitting tribute to one, whose joy in beauty was so deep and sure.

The close of Mr. Vaughan's time at Giggleswick was marked by two schemes of the utmost importance. A contingent of the Officers Training Corps was established under the direction of the Rev. C. F. Pierce. Mr. Pierce had enjoyed no previous experience of military training, but he threw himself into the work with enthusiasm. The Summer Term in 1910 saw its beginning, and within a year there had been a consistent average of between fifty-five and sixty boys in the Corps. They have two field-days a term, and go to the Public Schools' Camp at Aldershot or Salisbury each August. In 1911 the Corps went to Windsor to be reviewed by the King, and were members of a Brigade which was widely noted in the newspapers for its appearance and marching.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS.]

The second scheme that was undertaken at this time was the improvement of the Cricket Ground. The ground rested on a foundation of peat, which acted like a sponge, and it was almost impossible in an average summer to get a fast wicket. It was proposed that a sum of six or seven hundred pounds should be collected, and some means should be found of draining the ground thoroughly. Mr. Edwin Gould, one of the a.s.sistant Masters, was chiefly instrumental in gaining acceptance for the scheme, and his appeal for funds was responded to well. The work was begun in the Autumn of 1910, and it was hoped that it would be finished before the Summer of 1911, but this was found impossible. The underlying foundation of peat was so deep that all hope of digging it up was abandoned. It was instead decided to heighten the general level of the ground by six feet, and to do so by filling in with earth and stone. The work was very laborious owing to the blasting operations that had to be carried out, but the ground has been enlarged in every direction, and in course of time should prove one of the best in England. While the work was in progress Cricket was played during the Summer of 1911 on the Football Field, and a remarkably fast wicket was obtained.

During Mr. Vaughan's time the Athletics of the School had not been maintained at the same high pitch as in previous years. The great success of the ninety's had not continued. It is difficult for a school to be successful both in work and games, and in the early years of the century the School was not so large in numbers as it had been in the best years of Mr. Style; the choice of players was therefore more limited. Nevertheless, throughout the School there was a general tendency to take up more than one branch of sport. Golf, Fives, Gymnastics, all received gifts of Challenge Cups, and considerable compet.i.tion resulted. In 1908 Captain Thompson, of Beck House, generously presented a Cup for a Cross Country Race. The Scar-Rigg Race, as it has been called, is three miles long, and starting near the top of the Scar Quarry, the compet.i.tors run along its top till they get to the summit of Buckhaw Brow, after which they run across the fields, over the High Rigg Road and down to the finish near the Chapel. It is a fine course and, though a hard one, does not try the strength of the runners unduly.

In April, 1910, the Headmaster received an unanimous invitation from the Governors of Wellington College to be the Master there. It was a great grief to Giggleswick that she should lose one, who, though she had known him only for six years, had even in that brief period stamped himself upon the imagination of them all.

During his Headmasters.h.i.+p everyone connected with the School seemed to gain a closer and more personal interest in its fortunes. He treated men as if they were themselves possessed of more than usual individuality.

No one was expected to be a mere automaton, useful but replaceable.

There was a special part of the School organization which each man was made to feel was precisely the part that he could play. Dormitory Masters were given greater independence, boys, especially the older boys, were made to realize that they also had a deep responsibility in the welfare of the School. The great features in Mr. Vaughan's character were his insight into the best qualities of all who surrounded him and the generous optimism of his judgment. It was a difficult task for any man to succeed to the work of Mr. Style, who had built up the School afresh through many arduous difficulties, but Mr. Vaughan realized that the pa.s.sing of the period of rapid enlargement laid upon him the responsibility of fostering the slow and unostentatious work of profiting by the past and of seeing that the reputation of the School was maintained and increased. He was essentially an idealist, a dreamer of dreams, a visionary, but he never lost sight of the practicable.

Organization was his handmaid.

Parents, Masters and Boys were quick to recognize the sincerity of the man. He was often impetuous but he was always candid. His decisions were firm, but he never s.h.i.+rked an argument. His sermons in Chapel were not steeped in oratory but the directness of his appeal, the persistent summons to the standard of Duty and the obvious depth of his emotion gave them power. Largeness of numbers never appealed to him, and he did not in any way strive to call the attention of the world to the School.

He wished for success in Scholars.h.i.+ps and in Athletics but he regarded the School as he regarded the individual. Distinction in work or games was no pa.s.sport to his favour, but he continually looked only for the right use of such capacity as each one possessed. Frequently he would take boys from the lower part of the School and himself give them private tuition. Character was more than intellect. The boys learned to know him as their friend and he would go into their studies in the evening and be gladly welcomed. The unity of the School was much increased, the Hostel had no special privileges and at the close of his Headmasters.h.i.+p the six years had witnessed a steady growth in the effectiveness of the School. No one ever forgot that he was Headmaster but at the same time he never failed to encourage others to act for themselves. He had a single-minded desire for the good of the School and he inspired others with it. His contempt for outworn conventions, his sincerity, his generosity of heart, even his impetuous nature impressed all alike with the feeling that they were dealing with one, who was essentially a man.

A successor to Mr. Vaughan was soon found in Mr. Robert Noel Douglas, who after having had a distinguished Academic and Athletic career at Selwyn College, Cambridge, had been appointed a.s.sistant Master at Uppingham in 1892. There he had acted as a House Master for some years previously to his appointment to Giggleswick.

[Ill.u.s.tration: R. N. DOUGLAS, M.A.]

Soon after the new Headmaster had been appointed, Mr. Philip Bearcroft retired from his work as Bursar. Since 1878 he had been a Master at the School and had acted as Form Master, Dormitory Master and later as Bursar. The older generation of Giggleswick boys look back with peculiar affection to the days when they were in his form--The Transitus--as it was then called. They remember his enthusiasm and his loyalty and his conscientious devotion to the School. Many had hoped that his retirement from active work would prelude some years of life released from anxiety, but death has claimed him with the hope unfulfilled. In May, 1912, he made his last visit to the School and two days later he died.

During the two years since 1910 the progress of the School has been very steady. Almost every term has seen the numbers increase, until they are at the present time just under one hundred-and-fifty. The Officers Training Corps has flourished, an Athletic shop has been opened, and in every respect the development of the School has continued. A great loss however was suffered when Sergeant-Major Cansdale retired in April, 1912, after completing twenty-five years of work. He had originally come to Giggleswick in 1887 as an Instructor in the Gymnasium, but when Mr.

Vaughan inst.i.tuted the practice of Swedish Drill, Sergeant-Major Cansdale gladly seconded the change, and the improvement in the general physique of the School bears tribute to his skill. The year 1912 also marks the four hundredth anniversary of the opening of the First School, which had been built under the guidance of the Founder, James Carr. The importance of the anniversary is being celebrated by the raising of a fund, from which entrance scholars.h.i.+ps of good monetary value may be established, and so a sound educational step forward will have been taken, and one true to the best traditions of the School. The four centuries that have pa.s.sed by have witnessed many changes in the world of education. New ideals have prevailed and have altered the bases of the past. But Giggleswick may look back upon its history with a consciousness that it has seldom failed to do its duty. It shall not fail to-day.

_Vera gloria radices agit et propagatur._

APPENDIX I.

LEASE BY PRIOR AND CONVENT OF DURHAM CATHEDRAL MONASTERY OF SCHOOL SITE AT GIGGLESWICK.

[_Leach._ _Early Yorks.h.i.+re Schools_, p. 232.]

[From the original, in possession of the Governors.]

A lease by the Prior of Duresme to Sir James Carr, preiste, for the grounde whereon the schoolhouse and schoolehouse yarde air now sett, Dated 12 Nov., 1507.

"This Indentur made the xii day of Novembr the yere of our lorde MDvii betwixt the Right Reverende ffader in G.o.de, Thomas, prior of Duresme, and convent of the same, on the one partie, and Jamys Karr, preste, on the other partie.

"Witnessyth that the forsaide prior and convent of one hole mynde and consent hath graunted, dimised and to ferme lettyn, and by these presentes graunttes and to ferme lattes, to the forsaid Jamys Karr his heires, executors and a.s.signes, half one acre of lande with the appertenance, laitle in the haldyng of Richarde lemyng lyeng neir the church garth of Gyllyswyke in Crawen within the countie of york, abowndyng and beyng betwix the lande laitlye in the haldyng of Robert Burton upon the est syde, and the parsons lande afforsaide on the sowth syde, contenyng s.p.a.ce and lenth of the saide Kyrkegarth, that is to say, frome the cloise laitlye in the haldyng of Richard Talyour and so lynyally to the lathe appertenyng unto the tenement of the parsonage nexst jonyng, unto the steple of the said church, And the tother hede shoryng and abb.u.t.tyng upon one cloise called thakwhait contenyng xv yerdes upon the north side.

"Also it is agreyd that the said Jamys shall encloise the said half acre and therupon beyld and uphold at hys awne propyr charges and costes, in which beildyng he shall kepe or cause to be kept one gramer Scole, with fre curse and recurse with all maner of caryage necessarye to the same, without any interrupcion of the tenante afforsaid or any that shall succede. And in lyke maner the said tenante and they that shall succede to have fre curse and recurse to ther tenement with all maner of caryage necessarie without any maner of interrupcion of the said Jamys or they that shall succede.

"To have holde and occupye to the said Jamys his heires and a.s.signes, beyng Scole masters of the said gramer scole, the said half acre of lande with the appurtenance frome the fest of the Invencion of the holy Croce next ensuyng unto the ende and terme of lxxix yeres then next followyng fully to be completyd and expired yevyng yerlye therfor unto the said prior and convent and ther successors or ther a.s.signes at the fest of Saynct laurence martyr xij_d._ of good and lawfull monye of England as parcell of the rente of the said tenement wherto the said halff acre afforsaid pertenyth and belongyth. The first pament begynyng in the fest of Saynct laurence afforsaid next ensuyng, and if it happyn or fortune the said ferme of xij_d._ to be behynd unpayd after the fest that it awght to be payd at by the s.p.a.ce of xxti days and no sufficient distres founde in the said grounde for the ferme so beyng behynd unpayd, That then it shalbe lawfull to the said Prior and convent and ther successors to reentre in the said halff acre of land with the appurtenaunce and it to rejoce unto such tyme they be fully content and payd of the said ferme and arrerage if ther be any.

"Provided allway that when soever the said Jamys Karr shall change his naturall lyfe, that then it shalbe lawfull, as ofte tymes as it shalbe nedfull, to the vicar of ye churche afforsaid for the tyme beyng and kyrkmasters of the same, heires executors and a.s.signes to the said Jamys jontle, to electe one person beyng within holye orders, to be scole master of the gramer scole afforsaid, whiche so electe, and abled by the Prior of Duresme, shall have occupye and rejoce the said halff acre of land and the hows therapon beildyd with the appurtenaunce, in lyk wyse as the said Jamys occupyed and usyd in hys tyme. Overthis and above, it is covnandyt and agreyd that when so ever it shall pleas the Scolemaster of the said scole for the tym beyng to renewe this leis and dimision at any tyme within the yeres above specyfied That then the said Prior and convent shall seall under ther common seall to the said scolemaster a newe Indentur maid in maner and forme afforsaid, no thyng except nor meneshyd, bot as largely as in this said Indentur is specyfied. The said scolemaster paying therfor as oft tymes it shalbe renewed vj_s._ viij_d._ for the said Seall.

In witness wheroff ather partie to other to thes Indentures enterchangeably hath put to ther sealls yevyn the yere and day above said."

APPENDIX II.

REPORT OF THE CHANTRY COMMISSIONERS OF HENRY VIII ON GIGGLESWICK SCHOOL, 1546.