Clapham College
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Clapham College school for boys, also known as the Lambeth Inner London Roman Catholic boys grammar, has developed from a small beginning made in the early sixties by St Francis Xavier (SFX), into a leading sixth form college with an influential position among English Catholic colleges.
A centre for the Oxford local examinations, it adjoins Clapham Common in South London. A former Grammar School, it retains its name as a fully encompassing comprehensive school and sixth form college.
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[edit] Background
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (CFX) are a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The order is dedicated to Roman Catholic education in the United States.
On returning to Europe in 1837, Ryken had developed a different vision. He wanted to found a missionary institute rather than a congregation that would address the needs of a specific region - through schooling. By 1841, the community had grown beyond the space available in the little house on Ezelstraat, and Ryken, with financial help from a sympathetic banker, purchased a large estate in a neighboring section of Bruges called "Het Walletje ". The Xaverian brothers began to attract candidates from Germany, Holland, Belgium, England, Ireland and France.
In 1848, a colony of brothers went to England to open schools in parishes in Bury near Manchester; and eventually they opened Clapham College.
[edit] Past history
Charles Bradley's fourth son was George Granville Bradley, afterwards Dean of Westminster, who was educated at a school kept by a Mr. Elwell on Clapham Common and was afterwards under Pritchard (see below) at Stockwell School and Clapham Grammar School. In 1834, Charles Pritchard, the astronomer, became head master of the Clapham Grammar School, which was founded to give him a free hand in his educational experiments when difficulties with the governing body at Stockwell had caused him to resign his headship of that school. He carried on the Clapham school with a success which is marked by the fact that Sir John Frederick William Herschel, Sir George Biddell Airy, Sir William Hamilton and Charles Darwin, among others, sent their sons to be educated there. While head master he used to lend his schoolroom for the once celebrated meetings of the Clapham Athenaeum.
During World War II, the puils were evacuated from London, with the boys evacuated to a girls school - both sets of pupils shared the facilities for six days a week, and had one day off[1].
Clapham College was a Grammar School until 1977 when it amalgamated with the nearby St Gerards RC comprehensive, effectively absorbing it into one site at Malwood Road, Clapham South as Clapham College RC Comprehensive. Here it continued until 1985/86 when the Malwood Road site was designated as the site for the newly created Saint Francis Xaviers 6th Form College.
The remaining Clapham College years 2-5 pupils, were moved to the now empty site that had been Notre Dame Battersea, along with the unfortunate Upper 6th who were ineligible for the new SFX and unceremoniously dumped and effectively left to fend for themselves in the company of incompetent and resentful teachers who hadn't met the grade for the newly created SFX.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Charles Efford - journalist, writer of None of the Above
- P. J. Barrington - writer and author of The Selman-Troytt Papers.
- His Eminence Mario Francesco, Cardinal Pompedda
- Bernard Gentry - Leader of the Conservative Group on Lambeth Council. Raised concerns over the renaming of Christmas Lights to Winter Lights in 2005[2]
- Sir George Grove - Writer on music
- C. P. Scott - Journalist, publisher and politician
- Sir Nicholas Scott PC, JP
- The Most Revd Peter Smith - The current Archbishop of Cardiff[3][4]
- Jim Sweeney - actor and comedian[5]
- Gerry Lambe - rock musician with The Skunks , 1977 - 1982.
[edit] Pupils' memories
| “ | I went to Clapham College Grammar School, a bit of a dump with the appearance of quality, where I learned a great deal but very little that helps one pass exams. I did quite well in the first two years, ok in the next 2, passing English and Maths in the 4th year, and terribly thereafter, once I discovered that the main thing was to be registered in the morning and afternoon and then one was largely free... but then, to invert a line, which I believe comes from Ursula Le Guin, the teachers didn't know what I was studying. - Lawrence Upton, poet and graphic artist | ” |
[edit] References
- Parishes: Clapham - A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 36-41. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43028. Date accessed: 30 October 2006
