St John's School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St John's School, is a Public Boarding and Day School in the Town of Leatherhead, Surrey, England
Contents |
[edit] Main Article
St. John's School, Leatherhead
[edit] History of St John's School
St John's School was founded in 1851. Its founder was a clergyman, Ashby Haslewood, who was vicar of St Mark's, Hamilton Terrace in St John's Wood, north London. He had a dual purpose in founding the school - to offer free education for the sons of poor clergymen and to provide a choir for his large church.
The school was a success but the dual purpose imposed restrictions. So in 1854 the school moved outside the parish boundaries of St Mark's into neighbouring Kilburn. This was the first of three moves before the school moved to Leatherhead in 1872.
Despite much progress, it remained essentially a charity school until the significant headmastership of Arthur Rutty (HM 1883 - 1909) when the school developed all the characteristics of a public school.
The school began to attract fee-paying parents while remaining loyal to the sons of poor clergymen. The school expanded throughout the twentieth century despite the problems faced by all independent schools due to the Depression. After the Second World War, St John's was fortunate to attract the interest of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, himself the son of a clergyman, who was chairman of the governing body from 1951 to 1966. Monty's contribution to the development of the school was enormous - he promoted it, raised money for it and gave generously of his own time and wealth.
[edit] Modern Day
Since the 1970s St John's, while maintaining a substantial boarding community, has taken in an increasing number of day pupils and in 1989 the first Sixth Form girls entered the school.
It is currently a community of 450 pupils, two thirds of whom are day pupils and 53 are Sixth Form girls. It continues to remain loyal to the principles of its foundation and offers subsidised education to the sons and daughters of clergymen.
[edit] Former Pupils
Distinguished old boys of the school include:
- The eminent contemporary architect Lord Richard Rogers.
- Legendary dance band leader, Victor Sylvester.
- Richard Parfitt, son of Rick Parfett - guitarist Status Quo.
- Gavin Hewitt, Special Correspondent for BBC News in 2000. Since then he has reported on many major stories both at home and abroad including the 9/11 terror attacks, the Bali bombing and the Iraq crisis.
- Sir Anthony Hope, He was born in 1863 and was a lawyer who wrote novels in his spare time, notably The Prisoner of Zenda (1894)
- Father Vivian Redlich, He was a missionary in Papua New Guinea when the Japanese invaded in 1942. The decision to remain at his post led to his beheading in August that year. Our Chapel is dedicated to the martyr who attended St John's from 1916 to 1917. The island's Martyr's Memorial School was founded in 1948 as a memorial.
In a new development on September 2, 2006, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that it is now believed that Vivian, instead of dying at the hands of the Japanese, may have been murdered by the tribal people he had sought refuge with.[1]
