SCHOOLS 



ford.' Fortunately the endowment was not 

 entrusted to the Corporation. So it was not 

 converted into a rent charge, but retained 

 in specie till about 6 acres of it were sold in 

 1867 for £2,700. 



Arthur Onslow, speaker for 33 years, 1725- 

 61, whose mighty monument is in Trinity 

 Church, was one of Graile's pupils. 



In the middle of the eighteenth century, 

 in the hands of John Pearsall, or Pershall, 

 appointed in 1757, the school fell on evil days. 

 On 13 February 1765, the Corporation 

 minutes of a ' Guild-merchant ' held that 

 day show ' that there is not one scholar 

 taught in the said school, nor has been nearly 

 a twelvemonth past, so that the places of 

 master and usher are reduced to sinecures 

 . . . owing to the intolerable negligence and 

 misbehaviour of the master.' The usher, 

 David Morgan, was not proceeded against, 

 but the payment of the master's salary was 

 ' suspended till further orders.' This was a 

 weak course to adopt. If the Governors had 

 removed Pearsall under the statutes, they 

 would probably have succeeded, but the 

 withholding of salary could not be justified, 

 and in legal proceedings Pearsall was suc- 

 cessful.' His negligence may no doubt be 

 attributed to his being a pluralist, holding also 

 the living of Warehorne, in Kent, and claiming 

 the baronetcy of PeshaU. In 1769 he was 

 succeeded by Samuel Cole, who, on 24 

 November 1777, received a present of ;fioo 

 from the Corporation ' for his diligence, care 

 and industry in raising the ' school ' to up- 

 wards of 60 scholars, and at his own expense 

 hitherto for the space of eight years last past, 

 providing proper ushers and assistants.' ;C20 

 a year was also to be paid for the future 

 ' during pleasure.' So that he enjoyed the 

 magnificent salary of £^ a year, out of which 

 to pay assistant masters. He eked out his 

 salary by being rector of Merrow. In 1804 

 he was succeeded by his son William Hodgson 

 Cole, who in 1819 ' was vicar of Wonersh. 

 A natural consequence of the inadequacy of 

 the endowment was that the number of free 

 boys had been reduced to ten, and the 

 headmaster had to depend on boarders for 

 his livelihood. W. H. Cole had between 

 30 and 40. On I July 18 19, the Corporation 

 further reduced the free boys to six on the 

 appointment of the Rev. John Stedman, who 

 combined the mastership with the curacy of 

 Trinity Church. In 1822 Henry Ayling was 

 appointed, and he was rector of Trinity as 

 well. In 1835 new statutes were made, 



' Surrey Arch. Sue. ix. 32 b, x. izo. 

 * Carlisle's Endowed Schools, ii. 572. 



which provided that after Ayling's time 

 the free boys should be raised to ten. The 

 entrance fees were slightly raised, to 5/. for 

 the town ; 10/. for outsiders ; and 3^. a year 

 being ^d. a quarter for brooms and rods ; 

 and IX. for wax candles ; while the school 

 hours, which were to be seven, were left to the 

 headmaster to settle, as also ' two vacations 

 of reasonable time.' The stipends had, it is 

 stated, been advanced for some time to 

 £,^2 1 3 J. \d. for the master, and £,zo for the 

 usher. With such stipends, and no fees 

 imposed on day-boys, which would have been 

 contrary to the charter, the school could only 

 be carried on as a boarding school. The free 

 boys were not allowed to mix with the 

 boarders in playtime, for the grounds belonged 

 to the master and usher, and the master 

 combined both offices, and if he chose to let 

 the boarders enjoy the play-grounds, that 

 was a privilege which he was not bound to 

 concede to those who paid nothing for it. 



As a boarding school the school was at its 

 zenith in the days of Henry Gordon Merri- 

 man, D.D., a scholar of Winchester, 1839, 

 then scholar and fellow of New College. 

 After being for two years an assistant master 

 at Winchester College and then tutor of 

 New College in 1850, he became headmaster 

 of Bridgenorth Grammar School in 1851, 

 and in 1859 became headmaster of Guildford. 

 In 1867, when the school was visited by Mr. 

 H. A. Giffard, as assistant commissioner for the 

 Endowed Schools Enquiry Commission,^ 

 there were 114 boys in the school, of whom 

 only 19 were day-boys, including 10 free 

 boys or foundationers. It was stated by 

 Mr. Giffard to have been an exclusively 

 ' classical ' school, Latin and Greek being tho- 

 roughly well taught, while mathematics were 

 also good. ' English history is by no means 

 neglected.' The upper boys had ' a facility 

 in English composition amounting in one or 

 two cases to excellence.' This is a somewhat 

 exceptional feature for that time. French 

 was weak and natural science * almost en- 

 tirely neglected.' From an account given 

 by Mr. Arthur Cardew, a Senior Examiner 

 in the Board of Education, it would appear 

 that the last statements must be taken rela- 

 tively. He says that French was rather a 

 strong point. The school was largely used 

 as a preparatory school for Winchester, and 

 he himself was sent there for that purpose. 

 When he went to Winchester he found himself 

 decidedly better prepared in French than his 

 contemporaries from other schools. While 

 natural science was not taught in school, 



3 Schools Inquiry Commission Report, ii. 171. 



171 



