The Revenues of the said School have for sometime been betwixt three and four hundred pounds a year, but upon the Governors lately re-letting the several farms belonging the School, the Revenues will be advanced to about seven hundred pounds a year.The Governors have with the privity of the late Archbishop of York for a number of years employed a third Master to teach Writing, and Accompts. As the Revenues of the said School are now so much advanced, viz: from about £350 to £700 a year, the Governors of the sd School are desirous with the consent of the Archbishop of York to make some additional Statutes in pursuance of the sd Charter, authorizing them to engage more assistants at the sd School to teach different branches of literature.The Governors propose by the new Statutes to be made that the Head Master's stipend shall not be less than £200 a year and the Usher's stipend not less than £100 a year, and then to authorize the Governors to apply such part of the surplus of the Revenues, as they shall think expedient, in the hiring one or more assistant or assistants under such annual stipends as they shall think proper for teaching different branches of literature at the sd School; and the remainder of the money to be by them applied in Exhibitions to be given to any Scholar or Scholars of the sd School going to either of the Universities, as the Governors for the time being shall think best for the good of the sd School, or in any gratuitys to be given to anyScholar or Scholars to create emulation whilst at School.The Governors think it would be of great use ... if someAnnual Exhibitionwere established of 20 or £30 a year to two or more Scholars going to either of the Universities, who had resided three of the last years of his Education as a Scholar of Giggleswick School. Such Exhibitions to be held for four years, if residing at the University, but they have some doubt how far this can be done, or any gratuity given to any Scholar to create Emulation, whilst still at School, consistent with the Charter. Therefore they desire Mr Withers to give his opinion.. . . . .As the present vicar of Giggleswick the Rev. John Clapham was appointed in 1783 and in 1793 refused to act as Governor, has been a little obnoxious to the rest of the Governors, they wish a Statute may be prepared empowering any two of the Governors from time to time to call a meeting of the Governors respecting the sd School. And that any new elected Governor may be sworn before any two Governors at such meeting to be true and faithful towds the sd School.The whole of the Governors are perfectly unanimous in this business, except the Rev. John Clapham, the vicar, who has not attended lately the meetings of the Governors, tho' he has always had regular notice given him of every meeting that has been held, and he gives no reason why he does not attend the meetings and concur with the rest of the Governors in the Trust.
The Revenues of the said School have for sometime been betwixt three and four hundred pounds a year, but upon the Governors lately re-letting the several farms belonging the School, the Revenues will be advanced to about seven hundred pounds a year.
The Governors have with the privity of the late Archbishop of York for a number of years employed a third Master to teach Writing, and Accompts. As the Revenues of the said School are now so much advanced, viz: from about £350 to £700 a year, the Governors of the sd School are desirous with the consent of the Archbishop of York to make some additional Statutes in pursuance of the sd Charter, authorizing them to engage more assistants at the sd School to teach different branches of literature.
The Governors propose by the new Statutes to be made that the Head Master's stipend shall not be less than £200 a year and the Usher's stipend not less than £100 a year, and then to authorize the Governors to apply such part of the surplus of the Revenues, as they shall think expedient, in the hiring one or more assistant or assistants under such annual stipends as they shall think proper for teaching different branches of literature at the sd School; and the remainder of the money to be by them applied in Exhibitions to be given to any Scholar or Scholars of the sd School going to either of the Universities, as the Governors for the time being shall think best for the good of the sd School, or in any gratuitys to be given to anyScholar or Scholars to create emulation whilst at School.
The Governors think it would be of great use ... if someAnnual Exhibitionwere established of 20 or £30 a year to two or more Scholars going to either of the Universities, who had resided three of the last years of his Education as a Scholar of Giggleswick School. Such Exhibitions to be held for four years, if residing at the University, but they have some doubt how far this can be done, or any gratuity given to any Scholar to create Emulation, whilst still at School, consistent with the Charter. Therefore they desire Mr Withers to give his opinion.
. . . . .
As the present vicar of Giggleswick the Rev. John Clapham was appointed in 1783 and in 1793 refused to act as Governor, has been a little obnoxious to the rest of the Governors, they wish a Statute may be prepared empowering any two of the Governors from time to time to call a meeting of the Governors respecting the sd School. And that any new elected Governor may be sworn before any two Governors at such meeting to be true and faithful towds the sd School.
The whole of the Governors are perfectly unanimous in this business, except the Rev. John Clapham, the vicar, who has not attended lately the meetings of the Governors, tho' he has always had regular notice given him of every meeting that has been held, and he gives no reason why he does not attend the meetings and concur with the rest of the Governors in the Trust.
Bishop Watson, of Llandaff, was also consulted. He had already been connected with William Paley, the Headmaster's son, and had been his examiner for his degree, and suggested the insertion of the "non," when the Master of Christ's had been scandalizedby the subject on which Paley had intended to write his theme.—"Aeternitas pœnarum contradicit divinis attributis." In the matter of the new Statutes his friendly counsel had been sought by John Parker, of Marshfield, Settle, one of the Governing Body. The Bishop recommended that twelve leaving Exhibitions should be established of £30 for four years, and the remainder to be disposed of "at the discretion of the Governors, to such young men as had been distinguished by obtaining Academic or Collegiate Honours during their residence in the University." "Some appropriation of this kind," he added, "if you take care to get a good Master will make Giggleswick School one of the first in the North of England, and I for one prefer a School in the North and situated, as Giggleswick is, out of the way of much corruption, to either Eton or Westminster. As to French and Mathematics being taught at a great Classical School, I do not approve of it; the Writing Master should make the scholars quite perfect in common Arithmetic, and in vulgar and decimal fractions, and that knowledge will be a sufficient basis to build Mathematics upon. Greek and Latin require so much time and attention before they can be well understood, that I think there is no time at School for any other language."—Oct. 18, 1794.
Meanwhile the matter was developing. InJanuary, 1795, the Governors wrote direct to Mr. Withers, and stated that they desired "power to borrow money for building an additional School," or in the "improvement of the Estates." To this Mr. Withers replied that he considered that annual leaving Exhibitions came within the province of the Governing Body, but they could not borrow money without fresh legislation. He further advised them to repeal all the old Statutes.
The additional School buildings that they proposed were a house for the Master. In March, 1796, the Attorney-General gave his opinion that the power to call meetings could not be taken away from the Vicar, "if he remains a corporate" or member of the Body, that the granting of Exhibitions wasultra vires, and that he doubted whether the provision for the Master to teach Writing, Accounts, etc., "is consistent with the Institution itself, doubting whether the School founded is not a School forteaching Latin, etc.," but possibly it might, he added, be upheld, as a court would be hardly likely to censure the Governors for applying a reasonable sum to that purpose.
The Archbishop of York considered the application, and altered it in one respect only. He decided that it was too dangerous to pay the Master a minimum of £200 and the Usher a minimum of £100, for it would tend to makethem "independent of the Governors;" he therefore preferred "to leave it in the breasts of the Governors to reward them according to their merit," but he allowed a minimum to be inserted in each case, for the Master £100, for the Usher £50. A Writing Master was also to be appointed, and such other Assistants "when occasion shall in their judgment require to teach Writing, Accounts, Mathematics, and different branches of Literature in the said School." Their stipend was not fixed, and for this reason. Mr. Saul had been acting as Writing Master since 1784, at the salary of £20 a year. He left in 1790 and was succeeded by Mr. Stannicliffe, who was paid at the same rate. After six months he determined that the salary was not satisfactory and sent in his resignation. The Governors endeavoured to engage a successor, but "finding they could not get a proper person in his room for less than £30 for six months, they all agreed (except the Vicar) to give that sum, and a Master has been employed in the School upon these terms ever since."
In spite of their difficulty in getting a "proper" person, there was no lack of applicants, and one in particular is worthy of reproduction:
Littleboro', near Rochdale, Lancashire,3rd April, 1792.Revd. Sir,Having perused your Advertisement in Wright's Paper for a Writing-Master and Accountant for thefree Grammar School at Giggleswick in your neighbourhood, I take this Opportunity of offering myself as a Candidate for that Office....The Salary is but small but from the Tenor of your Advertisement, I am inclined to believe that from my assiduity and care, I should soon be able to increase it.I have studied the French and Italian Languages grammatically and have travelled thro' many Parts of Italy, France and Spain, after 4 years Residence in a Counting House at Leghorn—I will thank you, Revd. Sir, if you will candidly inform me pr Return of Post, whether these two Languages will be useful in your Part and how far Giggleswick is from Settle; also for a particular description of the Place.—For if it be populous, my Wife will carry on her Business, which is that of Mantua making.I have been twice at Settle, but it is a long time ago. I was private Pupil to the Rev. Mr Shuttleworth B.A., Curate of our Village, upwards of 12 years and from him and from the neighbouring Gentlemen and Clergy, I can obtain the needful; provided you think it wd answer for me to come over with my Family and settle.I should like a neat House, with a good garden to it and Accommodations for a few boarders.Most Elections, in different Departments of Life, are very unfair and partial and if you suppose this is likely to be the case on the present Occasion, your Candour will infinitely oblige me and be instrumental in preventing my further trouble.Your friendly reply as soon as possible will be deem'd a great favour conferr'd onrevd. Sir,Yr mo obedt Sert,John Woolfenden.
Littleboro', near Rochdale, Lancashire,
3rd April, 1792.
Revd. Sir,
Having perused your Advertisement in Wright's Paper for a Writing-Master and Accountant for thefree Grammar School at Giggleswick in your neighbourhood, I take this Opportunity of offering myself as a Candidate for that Office....
The Salary is but small but from the Tenor of your Advertisement, I am inclined to believe that from my assiduity and care, I should soon be able to increase it.
I have studied the French and Italian Languages grammatically and have travelled thro' many Parts of Italy, France and Spain, after 4 years Residence in a Counting House at Leghorn—I will thank you, Revd. Sir, if you will candidly inform me pr Return of Post, whether these two Languages will be useful in your Part and how far Giggleswick is from Settle; also for a particular description of the Place.—For if it be populous, my Wife will carry on her Business, which is that of Mantua making.
I have been twice at Settle, but it is a long time ago. I was private Pupil to the Rev. Mr Shuttleworth B.A., Curate of our Village, upwards of 12 years and from him and from the neighbouring Gentlemen and Clergy, I can obtain the needful; provided you think it wd answer for me to come over with my Family and settle.
I should like a neat House, with a good garden to it and Accommodations for a few boarders.
Most Elections, in different Departments of Life, are very unfair and partial and if you suppose this is likely to be the case on the present Occasion, your Candour will infinitely oblige me and be instrumental in preventing my further trouble.
Your friendly reply as soon as possible will be deem'd a great favour conferr'd on
revd. Sir,
Yr mo obedt Sert,
John Woolfenden.
He was not selected.
All candidates, or nearly all, sent with their letters of application beautifully written testimonials in different styles to shew their proficiency, one unfortunately made a bad blot. They were also put through an examination in Arithmetic, when they assembled on the day of election. One confessed to being a member "of ye old Established Church," another "hoped to continue so." Finally, Robert Kidd was chosen. His letter of application is particularly interesting, both because of its beauty and because he says: "I have a good circuit for half-a-year, and if attendance from January to middle of the year, or from Midsummer to January will suit at Giggleswick," he would be ready to come. From this he appears to have been one of the old type of Scrivener, who paid regular visits to different Schools, and for whom the Ancient Statutes of 1592 allowed a special vacation to the Scholars. He wrote on April 8, from Whalley Grammar School, and a special messenger was sent to fetch him at a cost of 5s.In the following year he wrote an elaborate address to the Governors, in which he said, "Permit me to say, I have been a faithful labourer and Disciplinarian in your School. You are truly sensible of the Inequality of the Attendance and Salaries. Now Gentlemen, if it be consistent with your Approbation, and the Institution of your Seminary, to make a small adjustment, the Favor shall be gratefully acknowledged." He was accordingly "put tothe trouble of Keeping Accounts, etc., for the Governors," and paid an additional two guineas a year.
Archbishop Markham agreed to the alteration of the Statutes with regard to the Governors themselves, and thenceforward a newly elected Governor was to protest and swear to be faithful etc., in the presence of any two Governors, instead of before the Vicar as formerly; and the privilege of summoning meetings was taken away from the Vicar and given to any two Governors. Further, any five, duly assembled, had the power to act and proceed with business, and "the determination of the major part of them shall be final and conclusive."
The Scholars moreover were at liberty to receive annual rewards and gratuities, in such manner as the Governors may deem "best calculated to excite a laudable emulation." Thus in 1798 three guineas were distributed among them in the presence of the Masters and Governors:
Any Scholar who had attended at the Schoolfor the last three years of his education could receive an Exhibition with which to attend any English University, provided that the Governors always reserved in their hands a sufficient sum for the necessary Repairs of the School, and also of a House for the habitation of the Master, if and when such a House should be built.
Mr. Smith, who had been acting as Usher but without a license from the Archbishop, resigned in 1792 and Nicholas Wood succeeded him. Possibly he had been educated at the School, for in 1796 a letter was sent to the Archbishop from the Governors saying that they had appointed Nicholas Wood, of Giggleswick, Clerk, to be Usher, and praying the Archbishop to give him a license "subject to the said Statutes and Ordinances," which had been agreed upon.
The new power to grant an increase of salary was soon exercised and in 1797 the Headmaster received £250, the Usher £100, "in case of Diligence and good Conduct" and the Assistant £60 provided that he assisted the Governors when necessary in "transacting the business of their Trust" and taught Writing and Arithmetic to the free School Scholars, "every boy who has been at the free School one month to be entitled." In the following year Robert Kidd was allowed £70 on condition that he "gives due attention on every day in the year, Saturdays, Sundays and one monthat Christmas only excepted and that, when any boy is initiated into the ffree School he will not take any pay in case such Boy or Boys should attend his School, altho' they may not have been a month at the ffree School."
The matter of prizes is also taken up and a certain sum, which is not named, was allotted to each of the three head classes and was to be expended on books, which should be given to the best Scholar of each class. No class was to compete which had less than nine boys and they were to be examined once every year in the presence of the Governors.
The Master was required to see that the boys in the higher department of the School had their conversation during School hours in Latin. This was evidently a throw-back to the Ancient Statutes of 1592, when they were at least given the alternative of Greek or Hebrew. Further they said "conceiding that a Boy may improve in writing as much by an exercise as a copy, they recommend that every boy be obliged to write his exercise in the high or Writing School, under the inspection of the Writing Assistant and each exercise to have his (i.e.the Assistant's) initials affixed to signify that such Boy wrote his best, not to signify whether a good or bad Exercise."
It will be remembered that in the house that James Carr built, the lower part was for advancedteaching, the higher for writing. The distinction had apparently continued and the upper portion alone had materials for writing. Certain it is that each portion was wholly distinct from the other, and Usher and Assistant were masters in their own domain. In June, 1797, the Governors decided that attention should be paid to Classics in the Writing Department and Nicholas Wood, the Usher, was asked to undertake the work but refused, whereupon Mr. Clayton an Assistant in the Classical Work was requested to do so and accepted the duty for an additional remuneration of £10.
These two men held an interesting position. Wood certainly had a freehold, and Clayton was difficult to remove, so that in 1798 the Governors decided that an Assistant should "be provided during the summer months to teach the Classical Scholars, unless Mr. Wood and Mr. Clayton in three days signifie that one of them will teach." Fortunately Mr. Wood at once agreed to do so. It referred, no doubt, to the Classical Scholars in the Writing Department, whom Wood had refused to instruct, but when Clayton undertook the work and received £10 for his trouble, Wood relented.
Two months later the Governors issued a pathetic appeal that the "Master's Assistant and Usher be requested to attend better at the School." It was July and only in the previousApril Robert Kidd's salary had been raised to £70 on stringent conditions of attendance.
The numbers of the School were growing apace, for twice in 1798 it was resolved to advertise for a Mathematical Assistant. At the same meeting 25s.was allowed to the Master's Assistant "for the purpose of providing fuel during the winter and no collection shall be made from the Scholars." The Staff seem to have been a little difficult. Nicholas Wood refused to sign a receipt in full for his wages when he was only being paid a part, and the Governors resolved to "withold the remainder of his salary."
Robert Kidd and Nicholas Wood left the School in April, 1799, and John Carr, of Beverley, took Kidd's place. Wood's post was filled by Clayton, who was made Usher at a salary of £100 a year, "provided he conducts himself to the satisfaction of the Governors or a majority of them," and agreed to teach five days a week.
Some difficulty arose, and on May 11 there is a minute saying that "Mr. Wood and Mr. Kidd had been settled with." Wood seems to have been dependent on his wife, who could not make up her mind whether she wished to stay or go.
For the post of Usher there were several applicants as well as Clayton, who got testimonials from Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he had behaved himself with "sobriety."One of the applicants went so far as to give an extract in Hebrew writing in order to shew his capacity. The study of Hebrew in the School had perhaps not lapsed. He further stated that he did not consider it necessary to learn Latin and Greek first, in order to get a good knowledge of Hebrew. A sound foundation in English was sufficient, though he hastened to declare that he was perfectly capable of teaching Latin and Greek "with quickness and accuracy."
An advertisement had before appeared with a view to electing a Mathematical Assistant, and was worded thus:
"Whereas the Revenue of the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth at Giggleswick is very much increased. The Governors for that Charity wishing to appropriate the same to be as useful to the Community at Large as possible, have resolved to appoint anAssistantto teach Mathematics in all its Branches, to commence the First Week of February, 1799, provided there be Three Young Men at that Time inclined to be instructed therein."Therefore,Noticeis hereby given,That Classics, Mathematics, Writing and Accompts, etc., will be taught free of any Expense to any Person in the Kingdom.Such Persons as wish to be instructed in Mathematics are desired to signify their Intention by Letter addressed to the Governors of Giggleswick School, on or before Michaelmas Day next, in order that an Assistant may be obtained.
"Whereas the Revenue of the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth at Giggleswick is very much increased. The Governors for that Charity wishing to appropriate the same to be as useful to the Community at Large as possible, have resolved to appoint anAssistantto teach Mathematics in all its Branches, to commence the First Week of February, 1799, provided there be Three Young Men at that Time inclined to be instructed therein."
Therefore,Noticeis hereby given,
That Classics, Mathematics, Writing and Accompts, etc., will be taught free of any Expense to any Person in the Kingdom.
Such Persons as wish to be instructed in Mathematics are desired to signify their Intention by Letter addressed to the Governors of Giggleswick School, on or before Michaelmas Day next, in order that an Assistant may be obtained.
Certain School holidays were fixed at the same meeting. They were to be the 12th and13th of March (Potation Day and its successor), Monday and Tuesday in Easter Week, Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun-week, two days at Laurence Mass (Lammas), one month at Christmas, and "one month to commence the first Monday after the 5th day of July annually."
But while the difficulties with the Usher and the Assistants were developing, the attitude of the Head Master was not altogether satisfactory. In December, 1798, "Mr. Preston reports that Rev. Mr. Paley refuses his resignation upon such terms as the Governors are inclined to receive ... therefore resolved that the Recorder be applyed to for every matter that the Governors are doubtful about." William Paley was a man of considerable age, and disinclined to believe that he was unfit for his work. The Governors had recognized the possibility that he would not be strong enough for his duties, when in 1797 they had agreed to give him a salary of £250 "for the time that School shall be taught by him or by a sufficient and diligent Assistant." Clayton probably acted as the Assistant. Yet in December, 1798, the Governors' patience was exhausted, for they had already questioned Miss Elizabeth Paley on the subject, and she appears to have given grounds for hoping that her father would resign, but on the twenty-ninth he definitely refused. They waited another ninemonths, and on September 28, 1799, they adjourned their meeting to October 5, "as the present Master is not considered to survive many days." On September 29 he lay dead.
For fifty-five years William Paley had presided over the destinies of the School and his work may fitly be compared with that of his great predecessor Christopher Shute. Both had taken up their work, when the fortunes of the School were at a low ebb. Shute had watched the careful saving of the School money, until they had been able to purchase "the school-house and yard in 1610 and a cart-road in the same yard and liberty for the schollers to resort to a certain spring to drink and wash themselves 1619, and likewise a garden for the use of the Masters and several other good things." Paley had become Head Master in 1744 when no accounts were kept, when the Master and Usher appropriated all the money from the rents and when the boys were few in number. Rapidly matters began to mend. His own son William left the School in 1759 already a scholar and destined to a lasting fame. Thomas Proctor was a boy at the School between 1760 and 1770, and became a great sculptor. His "Ixion" exhibited in 1785 is still recognized as a work of genius. William Carr, of the same family as James Carr, the founder of the School, won a Scholarship at University College, Oxfordin 1782, a Fellowship at Magdalen 1787, and settled down at Bolton Rectory in 1789. His literary tastes brought him the friendship of Wordsworth, and he became famous as the breeder of a heifer of remarkable proportions.
One of Paley's pupils—Thomas Kidd—probably a member of the same family as the Writing Assistant, a family who had lived in the neighbourhood certainly since 1587—wrote from Trinity College, Cambridge, to the Vicar, the Rev. John Clapham, in 1792:
Revd. Sir,I recd your Draught of £26 0s.0d.April 19, 92. Mr. Jas. Foster left the University in March. Iwasvery happy to congratulate him on his being elected Fellow of S. John's Col.by thatrespectableSocietyand Ihopethat he will be able to assert this honourlegallyx x x. I am sincerely sorry that the Governors are not pleased that I so long deferred to send a certificate of my residence, if it is anoffence, it isinvoluntary:—and for the future it shall be sent in due time andnearly, I expect in the sameformula. For what business have I in the country previous to "taking" my degree?There aren't any I remember in the country,some here, who affect to despise what they cannot understand; such enterprising critics and fastidiously hypercritics, men of truly philosophical penetration—of a truly classical taste spurn aside the coarse beverage to be found in Gr. mss. scholiasts and variouslections; butἀλλ' αἰδεσαι μεν ... ἐν λυγρῳγηρᾳ προλειπων ... μητερα... ἡμεπολλακιςθεῳἀραται ζωντα προς δομους μολειν.This appeals to the feelings: but we must attend to general consequences.Please to present my respects to my worthy master Mr. Paley—let him know that we have this year gone through Mechanics—Locke on the H.U., Duncan and Watts, etc. Logick—Dr. T. Clarke and Dr. Foster on the Attributes, Mr. Paley's Moral and P. Phil.—Spherical Trigonometry—and are going to lectures in Astronomy—That I have written a Gr. Ode in Sapphics—that it has been examined—that I am advised to hazard it in the Lottery.This year has been distinguished for remarkable events in the litterary world, wh our narrow limits will not permit us to mention.—The learned Dr. Parrbeganan edition of Horace—it willcome outa 4to onHuman Evidence—(a very interesting subject inJurisprudence)—caused by a political frate.—Porson will vacate the University Scholarship next October.I am your most obliged humble servant,T. Kidd.Trin. Coll., Camb., April 24—92.
Revd. Sir,
I recd your Draught of £26 0s.0d.April 19, 92. Mr. Jas. Foster left the University in March. Iwasvery happy to congratulate him on his being elected Fellow of S. John's Col.by thatrespectableSocietyand Ihopethat he will be able to assert this honourlegallyx x x. I am sincerely sorry that the Governors are not pleased that I so long deferred to send a certificate of my residence, if it is anoffence, it isinvoluntary:—and for the future it shall be sent in due time andnearly, I expect in the sameformula. For what business have I in the country previous to "taking" my degree?
There aren't any I remember in the country,some here, who affect to despise what they cannot understand; such enterprising critics and fastidiously hypercritics, men of truly philosophical penetration—of a truly classical taste spurn aside the coarse beverage to be found in Gr. mss. scholiasts and variouslections; but
ἀλλ' αἰδεσαι μεν ... ἐν λυγρῳγηρᾳ προλειπων ... μητερα... ἡμεπολλακιςθεῳἀραται ζωντα προς δομους μολειν.
ἀλλ' αἰδεσαι μεν ... ἐν λυγρῳγηρᾳ προλειπων ... μητερα... ἡμεπολλακιςθεῳἀραται ζωντα προς δομους μολειν.
This appeals to the feelings: but we must attend to general consequences.
Please to present my respects to my worthy master Mr. Paley—let him know that we have this year gone through Mechanics—Locke on the H.U., Duncan and Watts, etc. Logick—Dr. T. Clarke and Dr. Foster on the Attributes, Mr. Paley's Moral and P. Phil.—Spherical Trigonometry—and are going to lectures in Astronomy—That I have written a Gr. Ode in Sapphics—that it has been examined—that I am advised to hazard it in the Lottery.
This year has been distinguished for remarkable events in the litterary world, wh our narrow limits will not permit us to mention.—The learned Dr. Parrbeganan edition of Horace—it willcome outa 4to onHuman Evidence—(a very interesting subject inJurisprudence)—caused by a political frate.—Porson will vacate the University Scholarship next October.
I am your most obliged humble servant,
T. Kidd.
Trin. Coll., Camb., April 24—92.
The majority of those that went to Cambridge seem to have gone to Colleges other than Christ's, but of those who went there one, Adam Wall, son "pharmacopolae haud indocti" was Second Wrangler in 1746, and had a distinguished Academic career, his own son William was Senior Wrangler, John Preston gained the "wooden spoon" in 1778, but was afterwards elected a Fellow of his College, while Thomas Paley his great nephew, was Third Wrangler in 1798, and a Fellow of Magdalene. All three were Christ's men. This was a very good proportion of successes, seeing that only thirteen boys went there from Giggleswick in Paley's time.
Not only in the educational improvements, but also in the financial increase of the School property, these years were similar to the beginning of the 17th century. North Cave and Walling Fen were enclosed by Acts of Parliament, and land worth £140 in 1768 was valued at £750 in 1795. The Exhibition Fund had no balance in 1765, while nine years later there was £100 in the bank. A new School had been built, the teaching staff increased and new Statutes made. Surely a great and enviable Headmastership.
ON the death of William Paley the Governors at once began the task of finding a successor. They inserted in the newspapers an advertisement to the effect that a vacancy had occurred and that candidates would be examined by the Archbishop of York in Classics, Mathematics, "or any other Branch of Literature, his Grace may think proper." The salary was to be from £100—£300 but no house was provided.
There was a very strong field of applicants. A Fellow of Trinity, Cambridge, Thomas Carr, founder's kin—a Fellow of Hertford—a Fellow of Queen's, Oxford—a Fellow of Sidney Sussex, Cambridge—Headmasters of various Grammar Schools, were all candidates. One Isaac Cook—Headmaster of Ripon—explained as shewing the high value of his Classical attainments that when he was elected to Ripon he was examined "with another candidate in Terence, Cicero, Tacitus, the Greek Testament and Demosthenes, and wrote a Latin Dissertation."
The Archbishop declined the honour of examining the candidates, but later recommended that they should appoint to the Mastershiphis brother—John Sheepshanks—as one eminently suitable. The Headmaster of Eton was then asked to undertake the examination and was offered "such pecuniary or other compliment" as he might wish. As he did not even answer their letter, they wrote to the Rev. W. Stevens, Headmaster of Sedbergh, who undertook the duty.
REV. ROWLAND INGRAM, M.A.REV. ROWLAND INGRAM, M.A.
In the result the Rev. Rowland Ingram was elected. He had gained "one of the first Mathematical honours" and had only just failed to win the Bachelor of Arts Classical Medal. He was a B.D. and a late Fellow and Tutor of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He was turned thirty-two (his brother said he was thirty-four) and after being for some years a private Tutor at Eton had been appointed in Midsummer, 1798, Headmaster of Ipswich Grammar School, where he had made a considerable name. He was certainly the strongest candidate who applied and it speaks well for the Governors that they elected him, notwithstanding the fact that two old Giggleswick boys were standing—Thomas Carr and the Rev. Thomas Paley, the former of whom had a very distinguished academic career, and Paley had been third Wrangler. Ingram began with a salary of £300 a year and within six months premises were bought from Mr. Geo. Robinson, on which it was determined to build him a house.
Troubles arose on the staff almost immediately. John Carr who had succeeded Robert Kidd at£80 a year declared in June, 1800, that he would not continue to teach under £100. His request was not complied with, but the Governors made a compromise. They told him that he must give reasonable notice before he left the School, but that as his department consisted of a great number of boys and it was impossible for him to pay proper attention to them all, they had decided to hire an Assistant. At the same time they required that "teaching the English Grammar be encouraged."
The recent and rapid growth of the Writing Department is very significant. Its growth and the importance laid upon it increased step by step with the Industrial Revolution. It gave an elementary education and was confined to practical subjects—Arithmetic, Mensuration, Merchants' Accounts, etc. Some confusion existed in men's minds about the primary object of a Grammar School. Giggleswick had not been founded to give elementary instruction but its duty was to impart a sound knowledge of the Classics, in order to enable its pupils to go up to the University with a Scholarship and thence enter one of the learned professions and preferably become a Priest. The boys were welcomed from whatever homes they came, and though leaving Scholarships were given with a preference to the poorer boy, everyone received an education in the higher branches of literature. Not until 1768 wasthere any mention of the necessity of promoting the study of elementary subjects. It is true that the Statutes of 1592 had provided for a Scrivener to teach writing but he was only to come for three weeks in the year. In 1768 the Archbishop of York desired that a more permanent teacher should be chosen and the appointments of Saul, Stancliffe, Kidd, which have already been noticed, and of John Carr, of Beverley, were the result.
With the nineteenth century the School rapidly developed in importance. Kidd had in 1798 been paid £70 a year, Carr in the following March received £80 and clamoured for £100. In 1801 owing to the increase of numbers the son of Mrs. Mary Bradley acted as his Assistant for a few months and later in the year Carr engaged his own son, whom the Governors allowed to remain, until a permanent Assistant was appointed. The Governors passed and re-passed resolutions on the question of providing a permanent teacher and Mr. Clementson was appointed in 1805 and taught the boys in a house built by the Governors but lately used as a school by Mr. Holmes. The proper School was possibly growing too large and in 1804, the Archbishop had suggested that English should be taught in a distinct department. The teaching of English grammatically was an innovation and a natural response to the needs of the time. Earlier ages had thought that in order to get athorough grasp of English it was first necessary to pass through the portals of the Classics but the get-educated-quick had no time for such methods. Clementson was paid £50 and, when he demanded an increase, was graciously allowed an additional £20 "so long as his servitude shall be agreeable to the parties."
For a brief period of seven weeks in 1806 William Stackhouse worked under Carr at the rate of £30—Clementson having left—and Carr resigned in January, 1807. In that month he received a last payment of £5 5s., as a reward for examining candidates for the vacant post. One of them, John Lockwood, was elected but he was required to teach not only Writing and Arithmetic but also Mathematics. He rejected the offer and Stackhouse was appointed permanently at £100 a year. In 1809 he received £150 and continued at this salary till his death or resignation in 1830.
In his appointment English, as a teaching subject, was neglected, but later in the same year the Archbishop was approached on the propriety of establishing an English School and in 1809 a minute of the Governors declared that none were to be admitted into the Writing School, unless they were able to read and were under eighteen. This points to an entire cleavage between the Grammar and the Writing School. They werein different parts of the building and a member of the one was not of necessity a member of the other. They were both subsisting on the same foundation, but the Writing School was an off-shoot, a child and an illegitimate one. Not until the middle of the century did the old School shake it off and return to the primary objects of its foundation.
Obadiah Clayton, the Usher, began in June, 1800, to shew signs of insanity. The particular form that it took was the habit of producing pistols in School. He was put for a time in an asylum and a Mr. Tomlinson was to be written to as a successor, but as they did not hear from the Archbishop to whom they had applied for instructions, nothing was done. Later Clayton returned from the asylum but possibly for a time took no part in the School work. In 1802 the Governors went to the expense of 5s.4d.in order to get advice on the propriety of complying with his request that he should attend a private pupil during school hours and should be allowed to take the globes from the School. His request was negatived.
Two years later, matters reached a head, his conduct was not considered consistent and the Archbishop suggested that they should pay him the statutory minimum of £50 and hire an Assistant. The difficulty lay in the fact that he held a freehold and could onlywith great difficulty be made to resign. Meanwhile, Carr and Ingram were requested to report upon his conduct. Ingram declared that Clayton's conversation was of a wild and incoherent nature, but Carr was more minute. He reported that Clayton did not attend the School much for three weeks and that during that time he appeared to be in a deranged state of mind and made use of expressions such as that he had got a letter from his wife in heaven, or that the roads on which he walked were paved with fire. Although the immediate cause of his mental derangement was the death of his wife, he had never enjoyed good health. One of his testimonials from the Tutor of Magdalene College, Cambridge, had said that he had been compelled to leave Magdalene temporarily owing to ill health. He continued however to teach until 1805, when at his own suggestion he was allowed to absent himself for four years without giving up his license and he received £50 a year. This permission was characterized by the Archbishop as an act of humanity, but the legality of thus disposing of the Trust money was seriously questioned. A year later the Governors received a letter from him, saying that he had had many difficulties and had visited many parts of England but his "dernier resort" was at Bognor Barracks where he had enlisted as a private soldier and was anxious to be bought out. Some neighbouringclergy had interested themselves in his case and the Bishop of Chichester was willing to provide him with a curacy, provided that satisfactory answers came from the Governors of Giggleswick. Clayton begged them therefore to say that the cause of his leaving the School had been "ill-health." He was released from the Army but probably did not serve any curacy, for in May, 1808, he was acting as a Chaplain in the Royal Navy, after which nothing more is known of him though he continued to be paid his salary till 1810. His position as Usher was filled in that year by John Armstrong, who had been elected as a Classical Assistant in 1806; the Governors at that time had proposed to offer £50 as a fit salary, but as no candidate had appeared on the day of election, it was raised to £100.
Ingram was an energetic man at the beginning of his Headmastership and supported by an able Governing Body and a growing revenue, he had wished to enlarge the numbers of the School and to increase its efficiency. Advertisements had been put in the Leeds, London, and Liverpool papers "for the encouragement of the School," money had been annually distributed among the Scholars to create emulation, the English Department had been strengthened and it had been decided to teach English grammatically. Books had been bought more lavishly than ever before, and also globes celestial and terrestrial,as they were "considered to be of great use in every department of the School."
The numbers of the School increased sometimes to such an extent that four masters had to be engaged but this was never more than a temporary expedient. The Charity Commissioners issued a report in 1825 dealing with the School, in which they gave the numbers of the School as sixty-three, of whom twenty-three were taught by the Master and forty by the Usher. It gave no record of the number in the English Department. These boys had a feeling of distinct hostility against the Grammar School boys. They were of a less wealthy class, they lived in the neighbourhood and they were receiving the priceless boon of a practical and elementary education. The Grammar School boys on the other hand were not all natives of the place. About twenty-one came from the Parish, ten were members of families who had come to reside there, and the rest were wholly strangers. They were compelled to learn Writing and Mathematics, which they did not consider liberal sciences, and they had to use the same door of entrance and exit as their enemies. This hostility developed into open strife and partly accounts for the continual glazing bills that the Governors had to meet. From 1783-1792 they had been fairly constant amounting to about a pound a year, but in 1803 5s.reward was offered toanyone giving information about persons breaking School windows, and in 1834 the bill was over £7. It was a very difficult position. The Report of 1825 recommended that the elementary education should be continued but if possible in another building because it supplied a certain need and, if discontinued, would arouse an even greater hostility in the locality. At the same time it distinctly recognized that such endowment was probably illegal.
It has already been noticed that the revenues of the School were expanding. In 1802 the Governors received over £800 from the North Cave Estate, which five years later was valued at £1,287 but was not let at this valuation. At the time of the Report of 1825 the rental was considered to be about £1,140. The Exhibition Fund had also risen from £26 in 1801 to £37 15s.in 1821, and twice it reached £40. The money at this period was given as a rule to one person for four years and at the end of that period as re-assigned. There was no examination, the boy or his father applied to the Governors and the claimant could receive it, even if he had already been three years resident in the University. The increased income had been obtained by the purchase of Government Stock. Between 1810 and 1814 Navy five per cents. were bought to the extent of £1,190, and in addition to this the Governors had paid off the debt of£1,120, which had been incurred owing to the enclosure of Walling Fen. They were paying Ingram £510 a year, John Howson, M.A., who had been a former pupil of Paley and had become Usher on John Armstrong's death in 1814, received £205; and William Stackhouse £150. They had built a house for the Headmaster and had repaired one for the Usher.
All boys were admitted into the School for whom there was room, but they now had to bring a certificate of good character for the previous year. The boarders lodged with the Usher and with people in the neighbourhood, notably one John King and Mrs. Craggs. These boys paid boarding fees. When the Governors issued an advertisement for a Writing Master in 1792 they gave the salary as £30 but "as much more can be made by quarterage." Is it possible that quarterage can mean taking boarders? It is not certain whether Ingram took boarders, but he probably did. His house was built gradually. Although the land was bought in 1800, the mode of a building for Master, Usher and Assistant was still being discussed in 1802. In October of the same year John Nicholson was commissioned to erect it at a cost of £700. It was finished in 1804, and Nicholson undertook to repair a house for the accommodation of the Usher or Assistant at a cost of £250.
USHER'S HOUSE.USHER'S HOUSE.
CRAVEN BANK.CRAVEN BANK.
Carr, the Writing Master, was complaining bitterly of the "numberless inconveniences" he had suffered, and in January, 1805, was looking forward to living at last in a good house, though he was not quite sure whether he would "live to enjoy it." But by March he had not got into it and working himself up into a fit state of indignation delivered himself of the following letter to Thomas Paley, one of the Governors:
Sir,I am very poorly with a cold I have taken by lying in a damp bed, I thought last night I must have called somebody to my assistance, I have with difficulty got thro' the fatigues of the day.Surely when Nicholson undertook the house, he had not permission to defer the completing of itad libitum. It was first thought it would have been done six weeks before Christmas. Mr. N. has now converted the house into a workshop for the convenience of his people to carry on the repairs that are to be done to the dog-kennel: in order to make it habitable for some of Mr. Armistead's people: and the plasterer has also been absent for the last two days, I suppose, employed by Mr. N. at Astick. If I had any tolerable convenience it would be quite another thing; but I have never had a comfortable place to lie down in since I have been at Giggleswick, tho' I have been a slave to the business of the School, and stood much in need of undisturbed and comfortable rest. I am indeed sorry to trouble you so often, but not only my happiness, but my life is at stake: and I would rather leave Giggleswick immediately than go on so any longer.
Sir,
I am very poorly with a cold I have taken by lying in a damp bed, I thought last night I must have called somebody to my assistance, I have with difficulty got thro' the fatigues of the day.
Surely when Nicholson undertook the house, he had not permission to defer the completing of itad libitum. It was first thought it would have been done six weeks before Christmas. Mr. N. has now converted the house into a workshop for the convenience of his people to carry on the repairs that are to be done to the dog-kennel: in order to make it habitable for some of Mr. Armistead's people: and the plasterer has also been absent for the last two days, I suppose, employed by Mr. N. at Astick. If I had any tolerable convenience it would be quite another thing; but I have never had a comfortable place to lie down in since I have been at Giggleswick, tho' I have been a slave to the business of the School, and stood much in need of undisturbed and comfortable rest. I am indeed sorry to trouble you so often, but not only my happiness, but my life is at stake: and I would rather leave Giggleswick immediately than go on so any longer.
I remain, Sir,
Yours etc.,
J. Carr.
Monday,P.M.P.S.—Mr. Ingram could have done a little longer without a scullery, as well as I can do (if I ever go to it) without a garden wall and a necessary.
Monday,P.M.
P.S.—Mr. Ingram could have done a little longer without a scullery, as well as I can do (if I ever go to it) without a garden wall and a necessary.
He did not stay many years longer but resigned in 1807. Ingram's house was known as Craven Bank and in 1829 he added a stable at the cost of £60. Howson also was having money spent upon his house. In 1817 he had a new kitchen built at the cost of £100 and seven years later he received £120 to repair his house, while his salary had already been increased £5 yearly to meet the cost of alterations and repairs.
The closing years of Rowland Ingram's time were not bearing the fruit that the first decade had promised. But the School turned out at least one good Scholar—John Saul Howson—a son of the Usher. Born in 1816 he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1833, at the age of seventeen. He won a Scholarship there and also received money from the Tennant Exhibition Fund. He took some University prizes, and a first class in both Classics and Mathematics. As Head of Liverpool College for ten years he did a great educational work, by releasing it from debt and reforming its system. Later he was appointed Dean of Chester where eventually he died. As a Churchman he was a notable figure and as a Christian he will be remembered long.
On the whole the teaching in later years was not efficient. J. S. Howson relates how before he was eight years old he had said the Latin Grammar through four times without understanding a word of it. This was a remarkable achievement but not adequate evidence of supreme genius in the teacher. Education, like most other things, was everywhere at its nadir, and Giggleswick was no exception. In the whole of Ingram's time as Headmaster—43 years—he had three Ushers. One was mad, one died after four years, and one—John Howson—grew grey-headed with the work. He had during the same period three Writing Masters, of whom one was most cantankerous, another stayed twenty-four years, and the third—John Langhorne—was not wholly a success. He managed the School Accounts from 1839-1845, but they were found to be "so inaccurate and confused" that Mr. Robinson had to enter them in the book afresh.
The constancy of a staff which from 1814-1831 never varied, and of whom two were local men, contributed to the depression of the School. Another contributory cause lay in the constitution of the Governing Body. During the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first decade of the next the Governors showed themselves very diligent in the pursuit of the School's welfare. But as time went on, the increasingrevenues created an increasing thirst for more. The Accounts dealt less and less with things appertaining to the School, more and more with the management of the North Cave Estate. Between the years 1810 and 1843 there were not more than two meetings of the Governors, the minutes of which refer to the conduct of the School; instead they refer constantly to the growing balance in the Bank (in 1817 it was over £1,500) and they dissipated it by gratuities equivalent to half a year's salary to the several Masters and in profuse expenditure in building and repairs. There was but one man among them who had known the days when £350 was all they had a year, and only a tumbledown school to teach in. John Clapham must have looked back with mixed feelings as he regarded the energy, the efficiency, and the swelling numbers of that early part of the century and compared them with later years.
There was one more change of importance in this time. The Potation was still retained and the cost of the meetings on March 12 grew more and more. The Governors came to dine but they remained to sup. In 1784 fifteen sat down to a dinner, costing 1s.a head, they had eight bottles of Wine, 12s.6d.worth of Punch, and Ale 4s.6d.In 1802 ten had dinner at 2s.6d.a head, nine had supper. They drankfourteen bottles of Wine, on Rum and Brandy they spent 15s.6d., and on Ale 4s.6d.Similar meetings took place each year. There was also a change in the boys' share. They probably—there is not always a record—had Figs and Bread given them every year but, sometimes Ale was also provided. In 1802 they had 5s.6d.worth, and in 1807 they had some but it cannot be asserted that they always had it and between 1807 and 1825 the practice completely dropped and has never been revived.
Rowland Ingram—old Rowland, as the boys called him—was growing old, and in 1844 he retired on a pension. His friends and neighbours determined to give him some substantial recognition of the esteem with which they regarded him, and in January, 1845, a committee was formed to decide its nature. In the end a Portrait was painted, and the surplus was placed in the hands of the Governors, to be expended on the foundation of a library, to be attached to the School, or in any other substantial way, such as would seem to them more likely to be permanently beneficial to the School.