A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



the last act performed by the curious governing body of ' parish officers,' 

 which included every sort of public body in the town, from the ancient 

 customary churchwardens to the newest statute-created school board. 

 The new master was a man of energy, and by 1 874 had raised the school 

 to seventy boys, of whom about forty were boarders. For the first time 

 he introduced an outside body, the Cambridge Local Examination Syndi- 

 cate, to examine the school. 



Inspired by his success, the local authorities in Wellingborough and 

 all parties, political and religious, having, with quite stage unanimity, 

 drawn out a scheme in detail, the commissioners adopted it, and it was 

 with very little change approved by Queen Victoria in Council on 

 12 February, 1876. 



Moved, no doubt, by the prospect of an increasing education rate, 

 Wellingborough had determined to give up all further attempts to saddle 

 the general town expenses on the endowment, and the whole of the 

 town lands were by the scheme definitely appropriated once and for all 

 to educational purposes. A new governing body was constituted for the 

 administration of the school property and of three-eighths of the income 

 of Fisher's Charity. It was to consist of six representatives of the old 

 unwieldy body — viz., the vicar and churchwardens, the overseers, the Poor 

 Law guardians, the school board, the burial board, and the board of 

 health — together with one nominee of the trustees of Fisher's Charity 

 and five co-optative governors. One of the first co-optatives named in 

 the scheme was Mr. William Woolston, the present chairman of the 

 governors, whose family for more than a hundred years past are found 

 doing business for the school, and who has himself done great service to 

 it. When he was first elected a trustee in 1869 it was actually thought 

 necessary to ascertain from the Charity Commissioners whether he, being 

 a dissenter, was eligible. 



The new scheme eliminated all sectarian provisions as to the qualifi- 

 cation of the masters or the teaching of the boys, but, unfortunately, 

 retained the division of the endowment between two schools, the grammar 

 school being dubbed the second grade school, and the ' Lower Free 

 School,' or elementary school, the third grade school. The latter 

 never could be more than an elementary school, but the attempt to teach 

 French and Latin in it was calculated to encourage the idea that it was 

 of the same grade of school as the grammar school, only cheaper ; while 

 the title ' Second Grade School ' was calculated to impress a public not 

 given to nice discriminations of language with the notion that it was 

 second rate. 



The chief improvement which the scheme effected was in raising 

 the tuition fees to a minimum of £^ with a possible maximum of ^Tio a 

 year. An actual increase to ^y at once enabled the teaching to be 

 improved by the addition of another assistant master at a better salary. 

 The acquisition of a new site for the school was undertaken almost 

 immediately after the new scheme and completed by 26 February, 1877. 

 On 22 June, 1877, Mr. Plummer pressed on the governors the necessity 



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