Eltham College
This article is about the school in London, England. For the school in Research, Australia see Eltham College of Education.
Eltham College
| Motto |
Gloria Filiorum Patres ("The glory of sons is their fathers" – Proverbs 17: 6) |
| Established |
1842 (re-established 1852) |
| Type |
Independent day school |
| Headmaster |
P.J. Henderson |
| Location |
Mottingham
London
England |
| Local authority |
Bromley |
| Students |
c. 800 |
| Gender |
Boys (with coeducational sixth form) |
| Ages |
7–18 |
| Houses |
Carey
Chalmers
Livingstone
Moffat |
| Former Pupils |
Old Elthamians |
| Website |
www.eltham-college.org.uk |
Eltham College is an independent school situated in Mottingham in south-east London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name.
Early history
The school dates back to 1842 when it was founded as the London Missionary Society's School for the Sons and Orphans of Missionaries. A girls' school had been established in Walthamstow in 1837 and a boys' school was opened in the same place at the beginning of 1842. The boys' school later relocated to Mornington Crescent in 1852 and then to a purpose-built location in the centre of Blackheath in 1857[1] (the old school building became the headquarters of the Church Army and is now a private hospital). Missionary David Livingstone sent his sons to the school while it was in Blackheath[2].
Current site
The school moved to its present site of 15 hectares / 36 acres - centred around an 18th century mansion (Fairy Hall) in Mottingham - in 1912. The building had previously been used by the Royal Naval School from 1889 to the end of the summer term in 1910.
Eltham College began life as a small boarding school catering for children of missionaries serving overseas, mainly in India, China and Africa. Since the 1950s, the college has become primarily a day school for boys with a co-educational sixth form since 1981. Reflecting the origins of the school, each of the four houses is named after a prominent LMS or BMS missionary, namely Carey, Livingstone, Chalmers and Moffat; coloured blue, green, red and yellow respectively.
The school buildings have been progressively modernised and extended over the last few decades, with the addition of new sports facilities, science labs, theatre, a music school and Junior School facilities. A floodlit astroturf hockey pitch has also been recently opened, and the Dining Hall doubled in size.
Mandarin Chinese is now taught at Eltham College and links with China are growing.
Headmasters
Blackheath
The school's headmasters at Blackheath[3] were:
- 1852-1866: William George Lemon
- 1866-1868: James Scott
- 1869-1870: Charles Dugard Makepeace
- 1870-1875: Revd Edward J Chinnock
- 1875-1892: Revd Edward Waite
- 1893-1914: Walter Brainerd Hayward
Mottingham
- 1914-1926: George Robertson
- 1926-1930: Nevil Wood
- 1930-1959: Geoffrey Turberville
- 1959-1983: Christopher Porteous
- 1983-1990: Christopher Waller
- 1990-2000: Malcolm Green
- 2000–present: Paul Henderson
Redevelopment
Henderson has continued the school's programme of building and development started by Christopher Waller, including a major redevelopment to the front of the College, the Junior School and Music School.
Notable Old Elthamians
(in alphabetical order)
- Sir John Bailey CB, HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor from 1984-8, and Chief Adjudicator from 1989-2000 of ICSTIS
- Statistician Philip Bailey
- Historian Stuart Ball
- Mountaineer George Band
- Philosopher Piers Benn
- Criminologist Sir Anthony Bottoms
- Politician Fenner Brockway - one of the last pupils to attend the school when it was located in Blackheath[2]
- Sir Michael Buckley, Senior Civil Servant and Ombudsman
- Author and broadcaster Charlie Connelly
- Prof Bill Deakin, Professor of Psychiatry since 1990 at the University of Manchester
- Robert Dee, tennis player[4]
- Prof Stephen Dunnett, neuroscientist, and Professor of Biosciences since 2005 at Cardiff University
- Physicist Frank Farmer[5]
- Organist Stephen Farr
- Nick Ferrari, radio broadcaster[6]
- Alan Furness CMG, Ambassador to Senegal from 1993-7
- Sir Simon Gass KCMG CVO, Senior Diplomat, Ambassador to Iran 2009-11, and to Greece from 2004-9
- Artist Seth Guy (Brignell) [1]
- Jamie Harris, Newport Gwent Dragons rugby player
- Stephen Hockman, QC
- Anglican priest and hymn writer Christopher Idle
- Prof Martin Jones, George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science since 1990 at the University of Cambridge
- Jim Knight former Labour MP, Minister of State for Schools in the UK Government, MP from 2001-2010 for South Dorset
- Marcus James Stuart Knight, Army Officer, Foreign Office and Author.
- Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, after whom the sports hall is named
- Peter Luff (campaigner)
- Johan Malcolm, Leicestershire county cricket player
- Rear Adm Philip Marrack CB, commanded the Admiralty Reactor Test Establishment, Dounreay from 1967–70
- Prof Alan Martin, Professor of Theoretical Physics from 1978-2003 at the University of Durham
- Prof Bob Mash, Stellenbosch University
- Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive since 2002 of the Mental Health Foundation
- Jack Oliver - Great Britain Weightlifter
- Phil Packer, MBE - Former soldier turned fundraiser
- Gormenghast author Mervyn Peake, after whom the library is named
- Prof Robert Pounder, Professor of Medicine from 1992-2005 at the University College London Medical School
- Prof Geoffrey K. Pullum, Professor of General Linguistics since 2007 at the University of Edinburgh
- Caitlin Reiger, lawyer and author of "Prosecuting Heads of State"
- Organist David Sanger
- Anglican priest and hymn writer, Rev Canon Michael Saward
- Dr Andrew Sentance, Member, Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, 2006-11, and Chief Economist from 1998-2006 at British Airways
- Brian Southam, academic publisher and authority on Jane Austen
- Revolutionary human geneticist and genealogist Bryan Sykes, known for discovering the genes which bear the cause of diseases such as muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.
- Prof Geoffrey Waywell, Professor of Classical Archaeology from 1987-2004 at King's College London, and Director from 1996-2004 of the Institute of Classical Studies
- John Willis, Chief Executive since 2006 of MentornMedia, Director of Factual and Learning at the BBC from 2003-6
- K P Witney, C.V.O., M. A. Under Secretary in the Home Office, retiring in 1976. Distinguished historian of Kent in the Anglo-Saxon period. His books include "The Jutish Forest" and "The Kingdom of Kent". Chairman of the Federation of Amenities Societies in 1981. Born 1916, now deceased.
Notes and references
- ^ Rhind, N. (1993) Blackheath Village & Environs, 1790-1990, Vol.1 The Village and Blackheath Vale (Bookshop Blackheath, London), p.117.
- ^ a b Rhind, N. (1993) Blackheath Village & Environs, 1790-1990, Vol.1 The Village and Blackheath Vale (Bookshop Blackheath, London), p.118.
- ^ Rhind, N. (1993) Blackheath Village & Environs, 1790-1990, Vol.1 The Village and Blackheath Vale (Bookshop Blackheath, London), p.119.
- ^ Article from The Telegraph
- ^ Obituary from The Independent
- ^ [Evening Standard, 6 May 2010, "The brash voice of LBC"]