SCHOOLS 



scholars were to be notified to the schoolmaster 

 and the chief constable of Bungay. 



By deed of 1 6 January, 1592, Thomas 

 Popeson, M.A., granted to the master and 

 fellows of Emmanuel a yearly rent of £4. (after 

 decease of himself and his wife), the feoffees 

 of the townlands granting also £6 a year, in 

 consideration of which the college undertook 

 to pay a weekly allowance of \d. to each of 

 Sir Walter Mildmay's 10 scholars. 



By a further deed of 20 May, 1592, Thomas 

 Popeson conveyed to Emmanuel College all 

 messuages, &c, aforementioned on the decease 

 of himself and his wife, and the college under- 

 took to pay £2 6f. 8d. yearly to the schoolmas- 

 ter, and to give him his house rent free and in 

 repair. 1 



In 1593 the school received its next endow- 

 ment from Thomas Wingfield, who left £i , jq 2 

 to be laid out for a rent of j£io, part of which 

 was to keep two poor scholars at Cambridge. 

 From this time onwards we find a steady suc- 

 cession of boys matriculating at Cambridge 

 Colleges from Bungay Grammar School. 



From the registers of these colleges we gather 

 the names of some of the masters : — Mr. Ward 

 was at the grammar school in 1604, and was 

 followed by Mr. Smith, who taught there until 

 1 63 1 ; in 1643 3 we find the name of Mr. Creed; 

 between 1658-60 that of Mr. Gill; Mr. St. 

 George came next, 166 1 -2, Mr. Denton in 

 1663, Mr. Browne, 1683-5. 4 



In 1688 the work of the school was inter- 

 rupted by a fire which probably gutted the 

 building, and Mr. Stiff, 5 the master at that 

 date, may be responsible for the inscription over 

 the new entrance : — 



Exurgit laetum tumulo subtriste cadaver 

 Sic schola nostra redit clarior usta rogo. 6 



The next benefactor was Henry Williams, who 

 gave the perpetual advowson of St. Andrews, 

 Ilketshall, for the presentation of the school- 

 master of Bungay as its vicar/ This contra- 

 vened the ordinance that the master was to 

 undertake no extra duties, but as Popeson's 

 bequest had been amalgamated with the town 

 funds, and was in consequence partly lost to 

 the school, perhaps the irregularity was ignored. 

 It is not surprising, however, to learn that, in 

 this year, the school ' was entirely neglected and 

 in a manner lost.' The feoffees and Emmanuel 

 College reorganized it as much as possible, 

 arranging for two exhibitions tenable by Bungay 



1 Char. Com. Rep. xxii, 234. 



•Will, 31 Jan. 1593. 



J In 1634 Henry Barnby was licensed to teach 

 grammar in St. Andrew's Church, Ilketshall, which 

 was later, in 1728, in the patronage of Bungay 

 Grammar School. 



4 Venn, Reg. of Gonville and Caius Coll. 5 Ibid. 



« Trans. Stiff. Arch. Soc. iv, 76. 



'Char. Com. Re/>. xxii, 236. 



schoolboys at that college. 8 Later on in the same 

 year Robert Scales left land in St. Lawrence, 

 Ilketshall, in trust to provide ' clear profits ' for a 

 schoolmaster who must (1) be a minister of the 

 Church of England, (2) read service on Wed- 

 nesdays and Fridays in the parish church of 

 St. Mary, (3) teach not more than 10 poor boys 

 of the town. 9 Warned by experience the trustees 

 kept Scales's bequest distinct from the town 

 funds. 



During these evil days, naturally enough the 

 school left few traces on college registers, but 

 by the middle of the eighteenth century we 

 occasionally recover the name of a master. 

 The Charity Commissioners declare that since 

 1754 they find 'no trace of the charity being 

 administered in any respect as to the purpose or 

 objects of the will,' 10 especially as regards the 

 supporting of university students, yet Bungay 

 figures on the list of entries at Caius College 

 until the early nineteenth century. Some of 

 the masters in this period were as follows : — 



Mr. Smee, 1742-52; Mr. Cutting, 1758-67; 

 Mr. Reeve, 1777-95 circa; the Rev. R. 

 Houghton, 11 1 795-1803 ; Mr. Page, 1 804-6. 1! 

 The advertisement of the vacant mastership in 

 1805 13 states that the salary is £130, exclusive 

 of pupils' fees. The Rev. Richard Burnet 

 obtained the post and began work in 1 806. 

 The system of deputy masters which was in 

 vogue about this date is confusing. The Rev. 

 John Gilbert was the last master appointed 

 by Emmanuel College, 14 and Mr. Bewick was in 

 1820 his deputy, 15 and was followed in that 

 capacity by Mr. Barkewav in 1829. The evi- 

 dence before the Commissioners shows that both 

 as regards demand and supply, grammar teaching 

 had declined. The Schools Inquiry Commis- 

 sion found the education ' highly satisfactory,' 

 and describes Mr. Hart, the master, as 'a man of 

 great energy, and very successful in teaching.' 

 In 1880 the school was closed for a time, but 

 reopened under the Rev. G. W. Jones next 

 year. The Rev. O. H. Gardner was appointed 

 head master in 1906, and had under him the 

 Rev. H. S. Gardner, B.A., J. T. Gardner, 

 B.A., B.Sc, and Mr. W. Minns, art master, with 

 31 boys paying tuition fees of £6 a year. 



WOODBRIDGE SCHOOL 



In 1577 Thomas Arnott or Annot of Lowes- 

 toft (the founder of Lowestoft School) bequeathed 

 land in Gisleham for a free school in \Y T ood- 

 bridge. For a century after its foundation the 



8 Deed, 29 Sept. 1728. 



9 Char. Com. Rep. xxii, 237. 

 " Bury Post, June, 179;. 



" Venn, Reg. of Gonville and Caius Coll. 

 "Bury Post, June, 1 805. 

 " Carlisle, Endowed Gram. Sih. ii. 

 5 Venn, Reg. of Gonville and Caius Coll. 



" Ibid. 



345 



44 



