Bootham School
Bootham School
|
| Motto |
Membra sumus corporis magni
(We are members of a great body) |
| Established |
1823 |
| Type |
Independent School |
| Religion |
Quaker |
| Headmaster |
Mr Jonathan Taylor |
| Deputy Head |
Graham Ralph |
| Founder |
Religious Society of Friends |
| Location |
York
North Yorkshire
YO30 7BU
England |
| Students |
circa 510 |
| Gender |
Coeducational |
| Ages |
3–18 |
| Houses |
Swarthmore
Pendle
Brigflatts
Firbank |
| Publication |
Bootham Magazine |
| Boarding Houses |
Rowntree
Fox
Evelyn |
| Former Pupils |
Bootham Old Scholars Association |
| Website |
www.boothamschool.com |
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school in the city of York in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1823. It is close to York Minster. The current headmaster is Jonathan Taylor. The school's motto Membra Sumus Corporis Magni means "We are members of a great body", quoting Seneca the Younger (Epistle 95, 52). Well known former pupils include the 19th-century parliamentary leader John Bright, mathematician Lewis Fry Richardson ("father of fractals"), the Nobel peace prize winner of 1959 Philip John Noel-Baker, and Stuart Rose, Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer.
History
William Tuke (1732–1822) first raised the idea in 1818 of establishing a boys' school in York for the sons of Friends (Quakers) who were not eligible for Ackworth School, near Pontefract. In 1822, premises on Lawrence Street were leased from the Retreat, (the Hospital run by the Quaker committee), and the school opened in early 1823. It was run as a private concern until January 1829, when John Ford took over as "Superintendent of the Establishment" and a Quarterly Meeting committee was appointed to run the school. It then became known as Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting Boys' School, and this was its official name until 1915. It moved to new premises at 20 Bootham in 1846. Further buildings and land were gradually acquired in the following years. Boys whose parents were not members of the Society of Friends were admitted for the first time in 1891. In 1899 the school suffered a serious fire, caused by the inattention of a pupil to some snails he was heating for a science experiment, and rebuilding of the premises used for teaching was necessary; the official reopening took place in 1902, and one of the new buildings was the Library named after John Bright, who had been one of the first scholars at Lawrence Street.
Bootham did not set out to cultivate a progressive image but offered a 'whole school' approach distinctly in advance of the education offered by more prestigious nineteenth century public schools, where there had been a transition from 'godliness and classical learning' to 'manliness and games'. Quaker teachers were often trained at the Flounders Institute at Ackworth and sometimes took a London external degree while teaching. Many had a keen interest in natural history which was enthusiastically shared by the pupils and led to a serious interest in science at the school which went on to produce a number of distinguished scientists in many areas.
This scientific interest was in keeping with the intellectual developments in the city of York which in 1822 had formed the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS). In 1853 Bootham became one of the first schools to have its own observatory, equipped with a refracting telescope manufactured by the notable York instrument maker Thomas Cooke.
Quakers stressed the importance of a constructive use of leisure time. Many boys produced impressive essays and classified collections. Some, such as Silvanus P. Thompson (Bootham 1858-67) became eminent in their field – he was a professor of science and worked with Michael Faraday on electromagnetism. In the late nineteenth century many of the Rowntree family sons were educated at Bootham, one of them, Arthur Rowntree, becoming Headmaster (1899–1927).
Current
Although the school has fewer Quaker pupils than non-Quakers, it adheres to Quaker principles.
The school is known for natural and physical sciences, but less so for its sporting achievements,[says who?] although recently the basketball teams have gained trophies. Its minor sports teams, including the fencing team, have been successful in the recent past. The school's Classics Department offers Greek, Latin, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History to its own pupils, and Latin to students from local comprehensive schools. It has the oldest school natural history society in the country.
According to UK League Tables, Bootham is ranked 179th in the Independent and Grammar schools in England for A-level results. At September 2009 the school was ranked 238th for GCSE results in the Independent and Grammar schools league tables.
Notable Old Scholars
Former pupils and teachers of Bootham School are known as Old Scholars.
- John Bright (1811–1889), Rochdale mill owner, Anti-Corn Law League leader, President of the Board of Trade, 1868–1870, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1873–1874, 1880–1882
- John Crosfield (1832–1901), chemical manufacturer
- Frederic Seebohm (1833–1912), banker and historian
- Joseph Rowntree (1836–1925), chocolate manufacturer
- John Wigham Richardson (1837–1908), shipbuilder
- Joshua Rowntree (1844–1915), politician and social reformer
- William Dent Priestman (1847–1936), mechanical engineer
- Silvanus P. Thompson (1851–1916), Professor of Physics, University College, Bristol, 1878–1885, and Principal and Professor of Electrical Engineering, Finsbury Technical College, 1885–1916
- John Theodore Cash (1854–1936), physician, pharmacologist, Regius Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen, 1886–1919
- Edward Grubb (1854–1939), pacifist and social reformer
- Francis Oliver (1864–1951), palaeobotanist, Quain Professor of Botany, University College, London, 1890–1929, and Professor of Botany, University of Cairo, 1929–1935
- John Wilhelm Rowntree (1868–1905), chocolate manufacturer and Quaker activist
- Sir George Newman (1870–1948), Chief Medical Officer to the Board of Education, 1907–1919, and Chief Medical Officer to the Ministry of Health, 1919–1935
- Sir Alan Pim (1871–1958), administrator in India and adviser to the Colonial Office
- James Watson Corder (1868–1953). A historian best remembered for documenting family history in Sunderland.
- Seebohm Rowntree (1871–1954), chocolate manufacturer and sociologist
- Charles Hesterman Merz (1874–1940), electrical engineer
- Egbert Morland (1874–1955), physician, medical writer, and tuberculosis specialist
- Hilary Pepler (1878–1951), printer, puppeteer and social reformer
- Lewis Fry Richardson (1881–1953), mathematician, physicist, psychologist, and pacifist
- Sir George Pepler (1882–1959), town planner
- Alfred Joseph Clark (1885–1941), physician, and Professor of Pharmacology, University of Cape Town, 1918–1920, Professor of Pharmacology, University College, London, 1920–1926, and Professor of Materia Medica, University of Edinburgh, 1926–1941
- Horace Alexander (1889–1989), Quaker envoy and mediator
- Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker (1889–1982), Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, 1947–1950, Minister of Fuel and Power, 1950–1951, and Nobel Peace Laureate
- Eric Holttum (1895–1990), Director, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1925–1949, and Professor of Botany, University of Singapore, 1949–1954
- Richard Bevan Braithwaite (1900–1990), Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Cambridge, 1953–1967
- Sir Joseph Burtt Hutchinson (1902–1988), Geneticist, Empire Cotton Growing Corporation, 1937–1957, and Draper's Professor of Agriculture, University of Cambridge, 1957–1969
- Thomas Maxwell Harris (1903–1983), palaeobotanist, and Professor of Botany, University of Reading, 1934–1968
- Sir Ashley Miles (1904–1988), Professor of Bacteriology, University College Hospital, London, 1937–1952, Deputy Director, National Institute for Medical Research, 1946–1952, Director, Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, 1952–1971, and Professor of Experimental Pathology, University of London, 1952–1988
- A. J. P. Taylor (1906–1990), historian and left-wing campaigner
- Geoffrey Nuttall (1907–2007), British Congregational minister and church historian.
- Geoffrey Barraclough (1908–1984), Professor of Medieval History, University of Liverpool, 1945–1956, Stevenson Research Professor, University of London, 1956–1962, Chichele Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford, 1970–1972, and Professor of History, Brandeis University, 1968–1970, 1972–1981
- Sir Alec Clegg (1909–1986), Chief Education Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1945–1974
- Frank Thistlethwaite (1915-2003), Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (1961–1980)
- Geoffrey Appleyard (1916–1943), engineer, skier, oarsman, soldier
- Christopher Dow (1916–1998), economist, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Economist, OECD, 1963–1973, and Executive Director (Economics), Bank of England, 1973–1981
- George Mosse (1918–1999), historian
- David Waller (1920–1997), actor
- Brian Rix, Baron Rix (born 1924), actor and charity worker
- Mark Lancaster (artist) (born 1938), artist and set designer
- Michael Ruse (born 1940), historian and philosopher of science
- Peter Murray-Rust (born 1941), chemist
- Richard Fell (born 1948), British High Commissioner to New Zealand, and the colonial Governor of the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, 2001 - 2006
- Stuart Rose (born 1949), Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer
- Jamie McKendrick (born 1955), poet
- Sir Michael Barber, Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit responsible for implementation of priority programmes in health, education, transport, policing, etc. (2001–2005)
- Robert Goodwill (born 1956) Conservative member of Parliament for Scarborough and Whitby, 2005–
- Jeremy Heywood (born 1961) (1972-1979), Permanent Secretary at Downing Street (1998-Present)
- Benjamin Francis Leftwich (born 1989), Popular Musician
See also
Further reading
- Bootham School Register. Compiled under the direction of a committee of O.Y.S.A., 1914, with revised eds. 1935, 1971.
- JS Rowntree, Friends' Boys' School, York a Sketch of its History 1829–1878 (1879)
- FE Pollard Bootham School 1823–1923 (JM Dent and Sons, 1926)
- SK Brown Bootham School York 1823–1973 (author, 1973)
External links