IN 1834 the Governors felt some doubt respecting the legality of the last Statutes of 1795 and proposed to bring forward some Scheme to obtain sufficient power for the management of the School. Thereafter for six years the Minute-Books were completely silent on this matter, but in 1840 they noted that the number of boys in the High School learning Writing and Arithmetic under Langhorne was greater than one man could efficiently attend to. The Headmaster was therefore requested to propose regulations such as he might think expedient for making the High School more useful, as subsidiary to the Grammar School, either by insisting upon qualifications in the Scholars previous to admission, limiting the number to be admitted or otherwise, and to submit such regulations for the consideration of the Governors. Presumably some steps were taken, but the Governors were beginning to feel that all was not right, and in 1843 they became more definite. They decided first, "That from the change of Times and other causes, the Education afforded at the Giggleswick Grammar School is at thepresent time insufficient for general purposes, and more especially for the purposes of Trade and Mercantile Business."
REV. G. A. BUTTERTON, D.D.REV. G. A. BUTTERTON, D.D.
It will be as well to pause here and remark this very notable statement. Reformers had been at work before, but their effect had been very slight. They had succeeded in establishing a Writing Master, whose duty it was to give free elementary instruction. Now, forty years later, dissatisfaction was surging in the breasts of the Governors, because the elementary instruction was too elementary, and because its spirit did not pervade the whole School. Now for the first time was it laid down that the business of a School was to train its children so as to fit them in some obvious manner for the work of their life. Latin and Greek and Hebrew had become the touchstone of education, primarily because they were the "holy" languages, and after Religion had long ceased to be the mainspring of education, their intrinsic merits fell into the background. Utility became a more pungent argument. Secondly, the Governors decided that the Endowment and Statutes, together with the particulars of the income of the School, should be laid before a competent Chancery Barrister who should suggest a system of education upon a more extended scale.
The necessity for some alteration in the Statutes was established by the refusal of theGovernors in 1844 to accede to Mr. Ingram's desire for a new Assistant. They declared that such an arrangement was not contemplated by the Charter and Statutes and therefore could not be made. An impossible situation had arisen, and the Statutes must be revised. But there was one difficulty. A new Scheme could not be carried out except on the appointment of a new Headmaster or with his willing consent. Ingram was approached upon the subject and declared his readiness to retire on a pension of £300 a year, and with permission to continue to occupy his official residence, Craven Bank. He was seventy-eight years old, and in view of his long service to the School, his request could scarcely be denied. Four years later he died, and like his predecessor, William Paley, was buried in Giggleswick Church, amidst a great gathering of men who came to bear tribute to "his truly Christian character."
His resignation had paved the way for a new Scheme, in accordance with the Act passed in 1841, for "improving the condition and extending the benefits of Grammar Schools." The Scheme was drawn up by the Governors, commented on by Arthur Lynch, Master in Chancery, 1844, and in the next year confirmed by the Vice-Chancellor of England. It will be well to examine the Report in some detail. Inthe first place the Bishop of Ripon was in all cases substituted for the Archbishop of York, where the latter had jurisdiction. Secondly, the 1795 Statutes were wholly omitted and of the earlier Ordinances of 1592, only such were retained as were in tune with the spirit of the age.
New regulations were also added. The Headmaster must be a Clergyman of the Church of England, and a Master of Arts. He must be a good Classical Scholar and a Mathematician, thoroughly capable of teaching both subjects, and qualified to teach Logic, Rhetoric, English in all its branches, and Moral and Political Philosophy. The requirements in an Usher were less exceptional. He must be a member of the Church of England, but need not be in Orders. He should be capable of taking the higher Classical Forms occasionally, be skilled in English, and rather less advanced Mathematics, and have an elementary knowledge of Modern Science. He was to be appointed by the Governors.
The salary of the Headmaster was to be a minimum payment of £210 and a maximum of £360, with a house; the Usher was to receive a house and £150 and a capitation fee of £2, which was so limited that it was only possible to rise to £210. Each could receive ten boarders. Other Assistants might be employed, but their united salaries were not to exceed £230.The retiring age was fixed at sixty-five, when the Master and Usher would be granted a pension, but the Governors could extend the services of either beyond the age limit, if they so willed. The surplus funds were to be used in such a way as to make the Exhibition money from the Burton Rents, etc., up to £70 a year. The Bishop of Ripon was to appoint an Examiner every Christmas, and receive a Report from him. Holidays were fixed for a month in the Summer and at Christmas, three days each at Easter and Whitsuntide, in addition to the Saturday and Sunday and Good-Friday. Every Saturday and the day of riding the Parish boundaries were to be whole holidays.
Further, the arrangements by which one Master relieved another in case of illness or absence, the place where each Master should sit in School, the disposition of the School into Forms and Classes, the amount of time to be devoted to each branch of instruction—provided always that every boy should learn some Latin and Greek—all these questions of internal arrangement, which were essentially within the province of the Headmaster, were to be agreed upon by the Governors and reduced to writing.
It is almost inconceivable that such a scheme was ever put on paper, yet it lived for twenty years. The Headmaster was bound and shackled beyond belief. He could not appointor dismiss his Masters, he had no power to admit boys into the School, nor, unless they were "altogether negligent and incapable of learning," could he remove them. He was powerless. Ingram had retired in 1844, and the scheme then had gone forward and been completed before a new Headmaster was appointed. Thus the details of the management of the School were settled, quite irrespective of the point of view of the man who was to be responsible.
In August, 1845, the Governing Body—eight discreet men—met to appoint Ingram's successor. There was, as in 1800, a strong list of applicants, but the choice fell unanimously on the Rev. George Ash Butterton, D.D., late Fellow of S. John's College, Cambridge, and at the time Headmaster of Uppingham School. As a boy he had been fortunate enough to have been one of Kennedy's Sixth Form pupils at Shrewsbury School, and his subsequent success at Cambridge shewed that he was among the ablest Scholars of his year.
The first three years passed uneventfully. Small alterations were made in the School, and with the aid of £150 from the Governors, he added a wing to his house at Craven Bank. In 1849 he desired the Governors, in accordance with the scheme, to appoint a Master for teaching Modern Languages, but they were unwilling to do this "until such addition shall have beenmade to the School, as will afford suitable accommodation for such a Master and his class." This is the first intimation that the Governors were considering the question of building. Complaints had been made before that numbers were increasing and exceeding the limits of the room or the staff, but nothing had been done. Now, however, the question was actively taken up.
The immediate resolve was to build an addition of a Library and a Class-room for Modern Languages, and further to raise the School-rooms and give them better light and ventilation. Many Subscriptions were offered by the Masters, Old Pupils, and other friends of the School, towards a more ornamental style of building than the School funds could afford. The Architects' plans grew, and it was soon found that very little of the old structure would remain. Consequently in 1850 it was decided to build the School afresh from its foundations.
THE OLD SCHOOL.THE OLD SCHOOL.
Finance troubled the Governors much, for they did not feel justified in spending more Trust money than was essential for the upkeep of the School. The Library and the new Class-room were essential, and the Governors were prepared to find the money for them, but the rest they hoped to receive from outside help. They put forward a statement of the need, and the resultingsubscriptions were very satisfactory. Two Old Boys and sons of the Usher, the Rev. John Saul Howson and his brother George Howson, undertook the entire expense of the Ornamental Doorway. The relatives of the Rev. John Carr, Professor of Mathematics in the University of Durham, put in a long window immediately above the doorway. In this window is a representation of John Carr, the Headmaster up to 1744. Further, £50 remained over from the Ingram Testimonial Fund, and was now to be applied to the decorating of a window in the Library with stained glass.
The building was substantial and sound. The main part consisted of two long Class-rooms, one on the ground floor, one above. These both ran the whole length of the building, until the Library was reached which with the Modern Language Room formed a transverse addition. A stone staircase, winding and unexpectedly long, ascended from the main entrance, and at its top was the High or Writing School. In the Class-room below were two platforms, now disappeared, the one by the door for the Usher's desk, the one by the Library for the Master. The Modern Language Room opened into it. There were two doors, one the main entrance chiefly used by the boys, the other smaller and undistinguished for the Masters only. It led into the Library and into a Tower,where the School bell was. The Library was not very big but a long narrow room, and inset in the wall was a fire-proof safe, for the better preservation of the Charter and other documents. It alone has continued to serve its original purpose. It is not possible to judge accurately the difference in size between this building and its predecessor, but it was distinctly bigger. The poplars which are to be seen in the photograph of the Drawing of the 1790 School were felled for the new one and the School filled the space. In addition there was a cloister-like building at the back, where in hours of play refuge might be sought from the weather.
The total cost was over £2,000, or more than seven times as much as its predecessor. Much of the money came from subscriptions, some from the surplus income of the School, but the rest was obtained by selling out £645 7s.2d.New 3¼ per cent. Stock belonging to the Exhibition Fund. The Governors pledged themselves to pay 3½ per cent. to the Exhibition Fund, thus depleted, and to repay the principal out of surplus income at the rate of 10 per cent. per annum, or more, if convenient. It was represented that this would at once be an advantage to the Exhibition Fund and also an economical method of borrowing the necessary money. The money was repaid by 1855.
PORCH OF THE OLD SCHOOL.PORCH OF THE OLD SCHOOL.
The cost of the Ornamented Doorway, paid for by the Usher's two sons, was estimated at £48 13s., but this was exclusive of the Niche and the Statue of Edward VI which it contained. This Statue was an object of the frequent missile and was so often cast down that it was at last removed. On the outside of the Library Wall is a Coat of Arms belonging to the Nowell family and underneath is the extract from the Charter "Mediante Johanne Nowell." One relic of James Carr's School remained, the stone slab with its Hexameter inscription, and as it had found a place inset in the wall of the second building, so it did in 1850, but after a time it was removed owing to its decay.
The first Speech Day in the new School was celebrated in a fitting manner on March 12th, 1851. Three prize Odes were composed on the subject of re-building and were read by their respective authors. F. Howson recited some rapt verses, extolling Queen Victoria and telling her that the New School should stand as her memorial.
O Fairest star, with radiance divineGilding the honours of thy royal line!Too pure thy beauty realms of earth to cheerA brighter orbit gained in a far brighter sphere.But unextinguishable stillThy parting glow!As from Sol's latest smile of lightSteep Alpine summits of eternal snowA purpling lustre cast o'er the deep vales below.So beams thy virtue, after life has fled,In deeds reflected, which their blessings shedStill o'er thy people, and will ever beIllustrious tokens of thy piety.This spot an endless monumentOf thee shall stand,And still perpetuate thy praise:For here from age to age a youthful bandShall learn the fear of God, the love of Fatherland.
O Fairest star, with radiance divineGilding the honours of thy royal line!Too pure thy beauty realms of earth to cheerA brighter orbit gained in a far brighter sphere.But unextinguishable stillThy parting glow!As from Sol's latest smile of lightSteep Alpine summits of eternal snowA purpling lustre cast o'er the deep vales below.
So beams thy virtue, after life has fled,In deeds reflected, which their blessings shedStill o'er thy people, and will ever beIllustrious tokens of thy piety.This spot an endless monumentOf thee shall stand,And still perpetuate thy praise:For here from age to age a youthful bandShall learn the fear of God, the love of Fatherland.
J. Brackenridge gave a short description of the extent of his Classical Studies:—
See this the third! theme of mine ode,Adorned by sculptur'd art;Make it, O Learning, thy abode,Thy gems through it impart.There may the bards of tragic nameForever flourish, Graecia's fame—With Homer's deathless lay!Here Maro with heroic glow,And Naso's elegiac flowOutlive their mould'ring clay.
See this the third! theme of mine ode,Adorned by sculptur'd art;Make it, O Learning, thy abode,Thy gems through it impart.There may the bards of tragic nameForever flourish, Graecia's fame—With Homer's deathless lay!Here Maro with heroic glow,And Naso's elegiac flowOutlive their mould'ring clay.
Jackson Mason was the best of the three, though strongly suggestive of Gray. He describes the tale of a maiden "vanished down the gulph profound" and now
The ruffled water of the wellMov'd by bosom's fall and swellAlternate ebbs and flows.The tale is o'er; the old man gone.With tottering steps and slowHe pauses ever and anon,To view the vale below:And, leaning on his staff the while,Gazes with pleasure on the pile,Which crowns that landscape fair:Then as the grateful tear-drop falls,For blessings on those goodly wallsBreathes forth this fervent prayer.
The ruffled water of the wellMov'd by bosom's fall and swellAlternate ebbs and flows.
The tale is o'er; the old man gone.With tottering steps and slowHe pauses ever and anon,To view the vale below:And, leaning on his staff the while,Gazes with pleasure on the pile,Which crowns that landscape fair:Then as the grateful tear-drop falls,For blessings on those goodly wallsBreathes forth this fervent prayer.
Such was the poetical achievement of three boys in 1851.
The School might reasonably be expected to go forward quickly, with new buildings, a new Headmaster and strenuous Governors, and in 1850 they received a just recognition of the quality of the teaching. The Provost and Fellows of of Queen's College, Oxford, had a very large sum of money at their disposal, which was devised to them by Lady Elizabeth Hastings. She had intended the money to be divided annually among boys from schools in the North of England. The privilege of being one of the schools able to send boys in for the Exhibitions—which were very valuable—was offered to Giggleswick and gratefully accepted. The Exhibitions have frequently been won.
The first Examination under the new scheme was held in December, 1862. The Bishop of Ripon appointed the Rev. William Boyd, M.A., Examiner. He found the School in "an efficient working condition," in both the higher and lower departments. The first class, which in those days consisted of the senior boys,passed a good Examination in Greek Testament, a play of Aeschylus, Homer, Thucydides, Horace, and Vergil, Geography and Ancient History. The Latin Prose Composition of two or three was very good.
The Second Class were examined in Homer, Xenophon, Ovid, and Cæsar. Books were given as prizes to the value of £13 4s.Both in this Examination and in the two succeeding years the proficiency of the first form was very marked, and the general efficiency of the teaching was commented on. The most general excellence lay in Divinity, but as the subject was a limited onee.g.Life of Abraham, and the work for it began six months before, perhaps too much stress should not be laid on it. There were seven classes, all of them doing Latin, with the fourth class doing Eutropius, and they were also examined in Modern Geography, the History of England, and the Catechism.
In 1844, four old boys, William Garforth, John Saul Howson, John Birkbeck, and William Robinson agreed together to contribute to a fund for the provision of two prizes each half year. They were to be called, "The Giggleswick Pupils' Prizes," and were to consist of Books, stamped with the School Seal. One was to be given to the boys of the Upper part of the School for the best English or Latin Essay,and the other to the Lower boys for General Merit.
In 1853, the Howson Prizes were given by the Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge, and other friends, in memory of George Howson, a son of the Usher, and himself a Fellow of his College. It was a striking testimony to the character of the man that his associates should thus wish to "perpetuate the name of our highly gifted and lamented friend." They wished in some small degree to advance "the interests of an institution, which was, we know, most dear to him, from early associations, and also from his worthy father's long and honourable association with it." They asked that two prizes should be given annually to the boys of the Lower School, one for General Proficiency, regard being had to conduct, and one for the best examination in a defined portion of Scripture History; the subject was to be announced at least six months before.
The School had been re-built chiefly in order to provide room for a Teacher of Modern Languages, and in 1855 the Governors proposed to appoint such an one. They laid down the following regulations: He should attend five days a week—all classes except the highest and lowest should learn French, and the highest might, if they wished. Italian, German and Hebrew were to be optional with all. Lastly,all classes except the highest must attend the English Master. The salary of the Modern Language Master was to be £130 a year.
The Masters were requested to draw up a scheme of work. The hours of School had been altered in 1844 and were now from 8-0 a.m. till noon, and from 2-0 p.m. till 5-0 p.m. (in the Winter till 4-30 p.m.). All the Masters and Assistants were compelled to teach every hour of every school day. The scheme is as follows:
THE HIGHER DIVISION.
1. Classics & Mathematics.
2 & 3. French.
1, 2, 3. Classics.
1, 2, 3. Classics.
1. Classics & Mathematics.
2, 3. French.
1, 2, 3. Classics.
1. Classics & Mathematics.
2, 3. Classics & Arithmetic.
1. Classics & Mathematics.
2, 3. Arithmetic.
1. Mathematics.
2, 3. Arithmetic.
1. Classics & Mathematics.
2, 3. Classics & Arithmetic.
1. Mathematics.
2, 3. Arithmetic.
THE LOWER DIVISION.
4, 5. Classics & Scripture.
6, 7. Arithmetic & Scripture.
4, 7. Classics & History.
6. Arithmetic.
5. French.
5, 6. Classics & Geography.
7. Arithmetic.
4. French.
4, 5. Classics.
6, 7. Arithmetic.
4, 5. Classics & Geography.
7. Arithmetic.
6. French
5, 6. Classics.
7. Arithmetic.
4. French.
4, 5. Classics.
7. Arithmetic.
6. French.
6, 7. Classics.
4, 5. Arithmetic.
6, 7. Classics.
4. Arithmetic.
5. French.
6, 7. Classics.
4, 5. Arithmetic.
6, 7. One hour in the morning for Latin Grammar, Exercise, etc.
7. One hour in the morning for Grammar, Exercise, etc.
6, 7. One hour in the morning for Geography Exercise, etc.
6, 7. One hour in the morning for Exercise, Grammar or History.
THE MODERN LANGUAGE MASTER.
N.B. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, mark the different classes
The stragglers, not classified, are included under number 7.
Every class did Classics for at least two hours every day, very often four. English had no place in the Schedule for the first three forms; yet by the scheme the second and third had to attend the English Master. Arithmetic was the only subject of a mathematical type. It was only a scheme for the General Course of Instruction and doubtless under the name of Classics or of Mathematics, they may have found some scope for English or Scripture. Scripture was certainly done by the first and second but possibly only in the Greek Testament.
The Examiner appointed by the Bishop of Ripon in 1855 paid many tributes to the excellence of the first class, and added "all of whom bid fair to do honour to the School by high University distinction." It is the nature of some men to exude praise, but words such as these certainly seem to point to a very fair level of scholarship in the class taken by Dr. Butterton and to considerable powers of teaching on his part.
Dr. Butterton was destined to rule the School for two more years, but they were filled with such bitter fruit that it is difficult to describe them. It will be remembered that the Governors according to the new scheme held themselves responsible for the election of boys who wished to enter the School. At the beginning of every term the Headmaster wouldsupply them with a list of boys, with the district from which they came and, if there was room for them, there seems to have been no hesitation about admitting them. There was not even, as far as appears, a question of a certificate of character for those boys who wished to be Boarders, though perhaps it was so customary since Ingram's early years that it passes without comment. Only once, in 1854, does the number of applicants appear to have exceeded the number of vacancies. Acting on the presumption that such a selection or election was almost a matter of form Dr. Butterton admitted certain boys into the School on his own authority in 1856. He had clearly put himself in the wrong and he was admonished by the Governors.
There was also at the same time a dispute between him and the Governors, relative to the appointment of the Modern Language Master. There had been several applicants and one had been chosen, but the Headmaster did not consider the choice wholly an impartial one and he was unwise enough to say so. The Governors pointed out to him that the appointment of the Masters was vested wholly in the Governors and that it was most improper for him to interfere. The Governors were acting perfectly within their rights and in accordance with the scheme. But the scheme was totally unsound for the proper managementof a School. Again when Dr. Butterton wished the Whitsuntide holidays to be added to the month in the Summer, he was informed that according to the scheme there must be holidays at Whitsuntide and not more than a month in the Summer, and so nothing could be done.
Perhaps as a man he was too impetuous and slightly intolerant, and, though it would have been difficult for the most godly of men to keep a school alive and progressing under such conditions, it was quite impossible for him to hope to succeed, unless he kept the staff upon his side. But he quarrelled with John Howson, the Usher, on two distinct occasions, one on a question of discipline and one with regard to a French Class that he caused to be held during School hours in his own house, by a man of his own choice. On both occasions the immediate cause of disagreement was but the final spark of a smouldering and mutual discontent, and it is impossible to distribute the blame.
The Modern Language Master was placed upstairs in the High School and a space was partitioned off for him from the main part of the room, where Mr. Langhorne was giving Elementary Instruction. Such an arrangement was not entirely suitable and the French Classes were afterwards taken in the room which had been especially built for them next to the Library.
The next months saw the gradual development of a situation that caused Dr. Butterton's retirement. The Rev. John Howson also showed signs of so serious an illness that he expressed his readiness to retire, should some suitable arrangement be made. The Governors agreed to give him a pension of £120 a year.
Dr. Butterton's Headmastership cannot be dismissed without a reference to certain customs that were prevalent in his time. Down the centre of the pathway that runs alongside the School palings on to the main road there is a black stone fixed in the ground. This was a familiar place of torture. Every new boy was taken thither and made to sit down heavily on its top. It was a custom that continued for some years, until the removal of the School buildings to their present position took away the temptation. The distribution of Figs and Bread on March 12 still continued but cock-fighting had gradually died out. It had long been the custom to use the Figs as missiles and the objects of attack were Masters, Governors, spectators and even Ladies. It is very difficult to say whether March 12, was ever a day on which the Masters used to collect money gifts from the boys. Potation Day was the customary day for such offerings in many schools, but at Giggleswick the practice of receiving money from the Scholarswas particularly forbidden in the case of the Writing Master in 1799, and at other times. And it may be that money was taken in a more official way. Three guineas frequently appears in the Minute-Book as the "contribution of the Scholars" towards the firing and heating of the School, and in 1852 blinds were provided for the School windows, but the Minute-Book expressly said that they were to be kept in repair by the Boys.
There has already been occasion to notice the very heavy glazier bills that the Governors had to meet, and there is a fitting commentary upon them in an extract from a letter to the Governors written by the Rev. Dr. Butterton:
"I take the opportunity of mentioning a circumstance, which requires the interference of the magistrates or at any rate of the police. Every evening all the rabble of Giggleswick and Settle assemble in the Schoolyard and conduct themselves in such a riotous manner, that no schoolboy dare enter the yard and no lady dare pass through it. They play at ball against the library wall to the imminent danger of the windows, and frequently climb up to the top of the building to the serious injury of the roof. As the nuisance seems to increase every evening, it appears to me that strong measures must be taken to put it down."
"I take the opportunity of mentioning a circumstance, which requires the interference of the magistrates or at any rate of the police. Every evening all the rabble of Giggleswick and Settle assemble in the Schoolyard and conduct themselves in such a riotous manner, that no schoolboy dare enter the yard and no lady dare pass through it. They play at ball against the library wall to the imminent danger of the windows, and frequently climb up to the top of the building to the serious injury of the roof. As the nuisance seems to increase every evening, it appears to me that strong measures must be taken to put it down."
This chapter cannot close without a brief and inadequate account of the Rev. John Howson. He was born at Giggleswick in 1787 and was a pupil at the School during the later years ofWilliam Paley's Headmastership; in 1798 his name was in the list of pupils who received a prize. He graduated B.A. and M.A. at Dublin, and in March, 1814, he came back to his old School as Second Master on John Armstrong's death. He was ordained Priest and married a daughter of Mr. J. Saul, who had been at one time Writing Master at the School. He remained at Giggleswick till his death. He was of a type of schoolmaster, now extinct, hot tempered, but kindly natured; one of his pupils is said to have returned from the Colonies bent on one thing, determined to have his revenge on Howson for some act of supposed injustice done to him as a boy. His portrait reveals a geniality that marked him always, though at times he was inclined to distrust new ideas and new men. He preferred the well-trodden path.
REV. JOHN HOWSON, M.A.REV. JOHN HOWSON, M.A.
SIR JAMES KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.SIR JAMES KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH.
The year before Dr. Butterton had been appointed Headmaster had been marked by the first appearance of a School Magazine, of which record remains. The Giggleswick School Olio ran to three numbers under the motto of Vade, Vale, Cave. Its contributions are ambitious and graceful, poetry haunts its pages, and is of a kind that reflects considerable Classical reading.
Two boys under Dr. Butterton deserve some mention. Jackson Mason, the son, grandson, and father of Giggleswick boys, recited a poem in honour of the re-building of theSchool in 1851, and after being a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, became later Vicar of Settle. Though an invalid, he made his mark as a translator of many hymns from the old Latin, and his work remains in the Ancient and Modern Hymn-Book. J. H. Lupton was a Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, and afterwards Fifth Classic and Surmaster of S. Paul's School. These are not isolated examples of the academic success that attended Dr. Butterton's Headmastership. The Speech Day of 1855 recorded not a few. It was notable for being the first year a Giggleswick boy—Bramley—had ever won the Lady Elizabeth Hastings' Exhibition at Queen's College, Oxford, and was marked by high distinctions gained at Cambridge by three other former boys, Lupton, Mason, and Leeming.
Under Dr. Butterton there is probably little doubt that, with the exception of his last year, the School had increased greatly in efficiency. Its numbers averaged eighty-three and once reached ninety-one. It had re-built itself and had attracted the generosity of old boys and friends in the endowment of prizes. The subjects of instruction had been increased. The discipline, had improved. Fresh blood had been wanted, and a fresh scheme. They were both obtained. But perhaps the scheme did not represent the summit of human wisdom, perhaps the fresh blood was too rich.
THE resignation of Dr. Butterton did not in any way modify the determination of the Governors to hold by the existing Scheme. A printed notice of the qualifications required by the new Master and Usher was sent out. The Master had to excel in all branches of learning, the higher branches of Greek and Latin Literature, advanced Mathematics, Logic, Rhetoric, English of all kinds and Moral and Political Philosophy. The qualifications of the Usher were less exacting. Salaries at a minimum of £210 and £150 were offered, and for every additional boy in the School after the first thirty and up to sixty, the Master received £5, the Usher £2 as a capitation fee. Each was given a house and garden, rent free, and could take boarders.
More than forty applications for the mastership were received and the Rev. John Richard Blakiston was appointed. Born in 1829 he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained a Scholarship. In 1853 he was Second Classic and took Mathematical Honours. A Fellowship Examination was to be held in October, 1854, and Mr. Blakiston was studyingfor it, when Thring, who had been recently appointed to Uppingham, offered him a post there as a House-Master. After three-and-a-half years he accepted the Headmastership of Preston Corporation School and a year later—December, 1858—was appointed to Giggleswick. At the same meeting of the Governors the Rev. Matthew Wood was appointed Usher. Born in 1831 he was a Scholar of S. Catherine's College, Cambridge, and later an Assistant Master at Durham School.
John Langhorne was the only survivor of the days of Butterton and almost immediately he resigned and was succeeded by Mr. Arthur Brewin, who had been trained as a teacher in the Chelsea Training College and had served under Blakiston at Preston. His salary was to be £130 a year. A Modern Language Master was also chosen.
The following December the usual examination took place and the Bishop of Ripon appointed the Rev. Frederic William Farrar, who at that time was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Master at Harrow. This first report is important, because of the great contrast it presents when compared with later years. The School in 1859 was staffed by very able, young and ambitious men, indeed Mr. Blakiston's intellectual capacity and ability as a teacher were quite exceptional, and the report speaks in terms of commendationof the work of the School, especially of the boys under Blakiston and Brewin.
REV. J. R. BLAKISTON.REV. J. R. BLAKISTON.
In the next year 1860, the examiner appointed was the Rev. J. T. B. Landon, sometime Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford; the progress that he reported was by no means so satisfactory as in the previous year. He praised the efficiency of the staff, but he pointed out that the pupils were not so advanced as to be able to profit sufficiently from the teaching. Similarly in 1861 there were no boys whose knowledge corresponded with that of an average sixth form in one of the greater Public Schools.
The causes were twofold. The number of boys had steadily decreased from ninety-six in Dr. Butterton's time, to fifty-six in 1860, and thereafter to an even greater extent. The consequence was that the competition became considerably less acute, and the proportion of boys from the neighbourhood considerably greater. Such boys would clearly in the main be less likely to profit by the efficiency of the teaching than boys from a greater distance. But there was a second and a contributory cause. The anomalous position of the Master and Usher, each of whom had a freehold in his office, had led to awkward incidents under the late Headmaster. But they were now accentuated by the fact that both Master and Usher were young men and were appointed at the same time. Thesubordination of the Usher to the Master was regulated by the Statutes of 1592, but in so vague a manner that they allowed room for all manner of evasion. It would be an unprofitable task to discuss these differences in detail; let it be sufficient to say that matters reached such a pitch that the Master was summoned before the Settle Bench of Magistrates on a charge of excessive vigour in applying punishment, and that the Usher was expected (though he did not do so) to appear as a witness for the Prosecution. The summons was dismissed, and the Master exonerated from all blame, but such a procedure was not calculated to enhance the prestige of the School, or modify the mutual difficulties of the Headmaster and Usher.
One of the chief of the minor causes of complaint was the position of the boarders. The advertisement issued for the purpose of encouraging applicants for the posts of Master and Usher had signified that both men could take boarders and so increase their salary. But Craven Bank, which was the Master's residence, was quite unsuited for the housing of boys. Butterton had only the attics to put them in, and Blakiston found it impossible to take any boys, except by allowing them to live entirely with his own family, and inhabit the same rooms, and for this he asked a higher fee of £75 a year. The Usher onthe other hand was given a smaller house, but in April, 1859, the Governing Body spent £700 in enlarging it, and building what is now the Sanatorium. By this means he was able to take ten or twelve boys, keep them quite separate from his own family, and board them on lower terms than the Master at £56. As the numbers declined, the necessity for both men to have boarders disappeared, and in consequence the lower fees and the more comfortable internal arrangements of the Usher's house caused it to be more desirable in the eyes of the parents, and in January, 1863, the Usher had ten boarders, the Master one.
These were the more trivial causes of complaint, but Mr. Blakiston had too big a mind to suffer himself to be obsessed by the accidentals. He was fighting, and consciously fighting, a much bigger battle. Dr. Arnold had fought and won it at Rugby some years before, but the path at Giggleswick was not therefore the easier. The real point at issue was the 1844 Scheme for the Management of the School. It had driven away Dr. Butterton, it was harassing his successor. Mr. Blakiston on one occasion had to receive permission from the Governing Body to have the floor raised on his dais in the School, in order that he might have a better view of the boys as a whole. He could not arrange holidays without permission, he couldnot admit the boys without authority, he could not insist on a change in the pronunciation of Latin without rousing the interference of the Governors. The pronunciation, that is to-day called "new," was introduced by Mr. Blakiston in 1860, as well as a novel method of pronouncing Greek; he tried in vain to induce other Headmasters to follow his example.
These restrictions were particularly harassing to an ambitious and enthusiastic man, and in March, 1862, he applied to the Charity Commissioners for an amendment of the Scheme. They were unwilling to take any hand in it on the mere motion of the Master, and their refusal led to much recrimination. Men, anonymous and otherwise, wrote to the Newspapers commenting on the decadence of the School in efficiency and numbers, and the subject became well-worn. In the midst of it Mr. Blakiston received generous and unexpected support. Mr James Foster, a City of London Merchant, who had been educated at Giggleswick and had property in the neighbourhood, heard of the dissension that was going on, and read the published pamphlets of Mr. Blakiston. He accordingly asked his nephew and partner—Mr. James Knowles—to wait upon Mr. Blakiston with the offer of £500 wherewith he might be enabled to continue his efforts. James Knowles also wrote independently to the CharityCommissioners, as a member of the public anxious for the welfare of a School in whose neighbourhood he owned property. He called attention to the differences which had arisen between the Master and the Usher and the consequent depression of the School, and desired that they should open an investigation themselves in the interests of the Public.
Meanwhile the Governors had at last bestirred themselves and in September, 1862, had caused a letter to be written to the Commissioners, asking for an amendment to the Scheme. They suggested that, in accordance with Mr. Blakiston's suggestion, the area, from which members of their body could be chosen, should be slightly extended and their numbers raised from the statutory eight to fifteen. They put forward the names of seven additional members, but on two declining the honour, they reduced the number to five. The great danger of the previous number of eight drawn from the small area of the Parish of Giggleswick had lain in the tendency to choose men, who were closely allied one to another by ties of relationship and so possibly of prejudice. In 1864 the Scheme was so amended and the new Governors were chosen. They included three men, who soon shewed a very real, active and enlightened interest in the prosperity of the School—Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, Mr.C. S. Roundell, and Mr. Walter Morrison. One object had now been attained and the way lay open for a more thorough amendment of the position of the Master.
But first it will not be amiss to mention other features of the School life. Potation Day was celebrated to the usual accompaniment of Figs until the year 1860, when the Charity Commissioners objected to it and to the Governors' dinners as a waste of trust funds. The Governors declined to entertain the objection, but limited the expenditure on the dinner given by the Governors to themselves and the Masters to £12, and any further expense was to be borne by the whole body of Governors present. The following year the dinner was again held and paid for as formerly, but in 1862 the differences between the Master and Usher and the death of one of the Governors gave them an opportunity of omitting the dinner in a dignified manner. Since that date the dinner has never been held. Fig-day, as far as the boys were concerned, was also celebrated this year but for the last time. In 1863 it was resolved that the customary payment of three guineas by the Scholars for School fires and cleaning should be discontinued and the money which had been collected in the winter of 1859-60 was to be applied to the purchase by Mr. Blakiston of books for the School Library. This is the first recorded intimationof the buying of books for the Library, which had been built by Dr. Butterton.