Stonyhurst College
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| Stonyhurst College | |
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| Quant je puis (French: "As much as I can") |
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| Established | 1593 (France); 1794 (UK) |
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| School type | Independent, Catholic |
| Headmaster | Mr. Andrew Johnson |
| Location | Clitheroe, Lancashire, England |
| Sports | Most noted for Rugby Union |
| Website | www.stonyhurst.ac.uk |
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic English Jesuit independent boarding school near Clitheroe, Lancashire, England. It provides boarding and day education to boys and girls aged 13-18. A preparatory school on an adjacent site, St. Mary's Hall, offers education to children aged 3-13.
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[edit] History
The story of Stonyhurst starts at St. Omer in France in 1593, where a college was founded by Father Robert Parsons SJ for English boys, unable to receive a Catholic education in Elizabethan England. As such it is one of a number of expatriate English schools operating on the European mainland during the centuries when Catholicism was proscribed in England. In 1762, when the French Parliament turned against the Jesuits, the school was forced to move. During subsequent decades, when the Jesuit Order was suppressed in most countries, Stonyhurst was one of the institutions through which it managed to maintain a continuous existence. After St. Omer (still known in Stonyhurst parlance by its old English name of St. Omers, the college settled in Bruges where it continued until 1773 when it was again forced to move, reassembling at Liège. In 1794 yet another move was forced upon the school, and a new home was found at Stonyhurst Hall in Lancashire, given to the school by Thomas Weld, a member of a prominent Roman Catholic family several of whose members had been associated with the school. [1]
Its alumni include three Saints, twelve Beati i.e. candidates for canonisation as saints who so far count only as 'Blessed' and seven recipients of the Victoria Cross.
An observatory was added in 1838, and during the 19th century the school prided itself on producing 'gentlemen philosophers'. 'Philosophers' were in fact students pursuing a course of education above high school level at a time when Catholics were forbidden both by English law and also by a Papal prohibition from attending Oxford and Cambridge.
During the 19th century, Stonyhurst was a leading Jesuit cultural centre and also notable for its scientific activities, including the meteorological records of the Observatory which finally closed in the early 1960s. Gas lighting was another early technological innovation at the school. In the late 19th century it became the 'Catholic Eton' but during the 20th century it had to share its pre-eminence with other Catholic public schools, particularly Ampleforth and Downside, and its relative remoteness from London was also a disadvantage.
From the 1960s onwards, the school went through a number of changes, partly reflecting those in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, but also attributable in part to the growing secular tone of British society. The number of Jesuit instructors fell steadily, reflecting the changed priorities of Catholic religious orders and the dwindling numbers of the English Jesuit province. Because of these changes, in 1966, another Jesuit boys' public school, Beaumont College, was unable to continue, and thus amalgamated with Stonyhurst.
Since the early 90s the number of Jesuits at the school has slowly diminished, but the school keeps a very strong connection with the order through its history, retreats and religious life. Stonyhurst also attends the annual Catholic Association Pilgrimage to Lourdes and runs an Easter Retreat.
In 1993 the school celebrated 400 years since its foundation at St Omer and in 1994 it celebrated 200 yeas since its foundation at Stonyhurst Hall.
The school has continued to flourish, and in the past ten years has seen many new developments which have helped it survive into the new century. One recent change was in 1997, when Stonyhurst started its run up to becoming fully co-educational, by introducing girls to the prep school St Marys Hall.
Academic standards are high, though in some years the school has declined to reveal some of its examination results because it doesnt feel that the tables are statistically correct.
[edit] Motto
It is a longstanding practice that students at the school write A.M.D.G. in the top left hand corner of any piece of work they do. It stands for the Latin phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which means For the Greater Glory of God. At the end of a piece of work they write L.D.S. in the centre of the page. It stands for Laus Deo Semper which means Praise to God Always. These are both traditional Jesuit mottos.
[edit] School Organisation
Unlike most English public schools, Stonyhurst is organised horizontally by year groups (known as playrooms) rather than vertically by houses. Each playroom has an assigned playroom master, with each cohort moving through the playrooms, having a sequence of playroom masters (rather than being allocated into a house with housemaster for their whole time in the school, as happens in other schools).
All of the accommodation for boarders is contained within the college, under a single roof, with separate areas for each playroom.
[edit] Year Names
Currently, Stonyhurst has the following year names (with approximate ages):
[edit] Preparatory School: St Mary's Hall
- Preparatory ('Prep', 8-9)
- Elements (9-10)
- Lower Figures (10-11)
- Figures (11-12)
- Rudiments ('Ruds', 12-13)
[edit] Stonyhurst College
- Lower Grammar ('LG' 13-14)
- Grammar (14-15)
- Syntax (15-16, GCSE Year)
- Poetry (16-17)
- Rhetoric (17-18)
[edit] Lines
Rather than houses, Stonyhurst categorises pupils into Lines. The Lines and colours are as follows:
- Campion (Red) (after St Edmund Campion)
- St Omers (Yellow) (after St Omer, the town the school was founded in)
- Shireburn (Green) (after the Shireburn family that built Stonyhurst)
- Weld (Blue) (after the Weld family that donated Stonyhurst)
[edit] Cadet Corps
The Cadet Corps has the following Platoons, seven of which are named after the School's VC winners:
[edit] Junior Company
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[edit] Senior Company
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[edit] Stonyhurst Association
The Association was formed in 1879 but there are reports of its existence even 60 years before that. The list of Presidents is however complete from 1879. The Association’s primary objective is to foster a strong spirit of union amongst past pupils and friends of Stonyhurst College. This has been fostered in a variety of ways reflecting the spirit of succeeding generations. Recently, this has been evidence by a strong charitable emphasis, embedded with similar developments within the College. This was formalised in 1985, when the Association was granted charitable status by the Charity Commission, after adopting the following objectives, namely: "To unite and associate, past and present pupils and friends of Stonyhurst in the carrying on of any of the following charitable purposes (whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere)"
It also supports a number of charities connected to the school including Eagle Aid.
[edit] Alumni
A sampling of some notable Stonyhurst alumni are as follows:
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, mystery writer who created Sherlock Holmes
- Macdonald Hastings, journalist and war correspondent
- Paul Johnson, journalist and historian
- Charles Laughton, actor
- Eduardo López de Romaña, businessman and Peruvian politician, former President of Peru (1899-1903)
- Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (Westminster Cardinal Archbishop Primate)
- Charles Waterton, naturalist
More recently, Old Stonyhurst in the public eye include
- Chris Morris, satirist
- Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC
- Bishop Crispian Hollis, Portsmouth Diocese
[edit] Stonyhurst Rugby Union
Stonyhurst has been the alma mater for twelve international rugby players from England (4), Ireland (6), USA (1) and Italy (1). Most recently they include: Iain Balshaw and Kyran Bracken who both played for England when they won the World Cup. Will Greenwood was also on the team and although he did not attend Stonyhurst he did attend the prep-school.
[edit] List of Rectors and Headmasters
Until 1961 the duties of headmaster fell to the rector. The following lists show the rectors from the start of the 20th century and the headmasters from the separation of the two positions. [2]
[edit] Rector and Headmaster
- Pedro Gordon (1906 - 1907)
- William Bodkin SJ (1907 - 1916)
- Edward O'Connor SJ (1916 - 1924)
- Walter Weld SJ (1924 - 1929)
- Richard Worsley SJ (1929 - 1932)
- Edward O'Connor SJ (1932 - 1938)
- Leo Belton SJ (1938 - 1945)
- Bernard Swindells SJ (1945 - 1952)
- Francis Vavasour SJ (1952 - 1958)
- Desmond Boyle SJ(1958 - 1961)
[edit] Headmaster
- Frederick J. Turner SJ (1961 - 1963)
- George Earle SJ (1963 - 1971)
- Michael Bossy SJ (1971 - 1985)
- Giles Mercer (1985 - 1996)
- Adrian Aylward (1996 - 2006)
- Andrew Johnson (2006 - )
[edit] Stonyhurst Chorus
Originally composed in 1894 to celebrate a century of happy settlement for the College in idyllic rural Lancashire.
- Old Alma Mater, here's to thee!
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- Long life and all prosperity!
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- While generations come and go,
- While boyhood doth to manhood grow,
- Be aye the same we used to know,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- More bright be every coming year!
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- More proud each step of thy career!
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- And may thy sons that are to be
- More worthy service bring to thee,
- But not more loyal hearts than we,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- Thy sons in every land are known,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- In all they prove them for thine own,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- And borne across each distant main,
- From every continent our strain
- Shall come in echoes back again,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- Old college of the eagle towers,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst:
- Thy honour shall through life be ours,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
- Fresh triumphs give us year by year
- Of study and of play to hear,
- And back to thee return the cheer,
- Stonyhurst! Old Stonyhurst!
L.D.S
(Sung to the German melody; 'O Tannenbaum')
The Stonyhurst Chorus is traditionally recited each year following the Head of the Line's address at Rhetoric ball.
[edit] References
- ^ Francis Irwin (Catholic Encyclopaedia 1912) (2003). Stonyhurst College. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.
- ^ Maurice Whitehead (16 January 2006). Rectors, presidents and headmasters of the English Jesuit college of St Omers, Bruges, Liège and Stonyhurst since 1593. Retrieved on 2006-03-11.
[edit] Bibliography
- Chadwick, Hubert, S.J. (1962). "St Omers to Stonyhurst", Burns & Oats. No ISBN
- Walsh, R.R. (1989) "Stonyhurst War Record"
- Muir, T.E. (1992). "Stonyhurst College 1593-1993", James & James (Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-907383-32-7
- Kirby, Henry L. and Walsh, R.Raymond (1987). "The Seven V.C.s of Stonyhurst College", T.H.C.L. Books. ISBN 0-948494-04-2
[edit] External links
- Map and aerial photo of Stonyhurst College from Multimap.com
- Other map and aerial photo sources
- Official school website
- St Mary's Hall website (Stonyhurst Prep School)
- Unofficial Bulletin Board for Alumni
- Stonyhurst's entry in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopaedia
- Stonyhurst was featured in the movie Three Men and a Little Lady
Categories: Articles that include images for deletion | Boarding schools in the United Kingdom | Jesuit secondary schools in England | Public schools in Lancashire | Schools with Combined Cadet Forces | 1593 establishments | Educational institutions established in the 1590s | Members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
