A HISTORY OF SURREY 



teaching staff could be paid and the buildings 

 kept in repair, the transaction was rather like 

 taking money out of Mr. Jephson's right- 

 hand pocket, as tenant, to transfer it to his 

 left-hand pocket as master. It is not there- 

 fore surprising that the school was practically 

 left in the sole management of the master, 

 subject to the admission of twelve free 

 scholars. From 1803 to 181 1 there was no 

 meeting of the Governors at all. On 8 May 

 181 1 the Minute Book records, in the form 

 used since 1734, a Governors' meeting, and 

 that on ' examination into the conduct of the 

 boys of the said school it was found regular 

 and conformable to the rules.' It was then 

 agreed that the Governors should regularly 

 meet on 8 May. But in 181 3 there was no 

 quorum, and from 1814 to 1817 there was no 

 meeting. In 1 818 the Commissioners on 

 the Education of the Poor enquired into this 

 with other Grammar Schools. There were 

 then' in the school twenty-five to thirty 

 boarders at 40 guineas a year, besides the 

 twelve free scholars. 



In consequence of the Commissioners' 

 Report, when the question of renewing the 

 lease of the school property to the master 

 came up, the renewal was, on 14 February 

 1820, refused, and notice to quit v\as given 

 to him. It was also resolved that Mr. 

 Jephson had not been duly elected master. 

 On what grounds this resolution was based is 

 not stated. It was clearly wrong, and was 

 rescinded at the next meeting a fortnight 

 afterwards, not before it had produced an 

 interesting claim to the mastership by one 

 Henry Wilson, as being founder's kin. Mr. 

 Jephson was continued as tenant from year 

 to year, but the house adjoining was let at an 

 increased rent, while a part of the land was 

 sold to the parish to enlarge the churchyard. 

 The Governors adopted various expedients to 

 meet the difficulty arising from counsel's 

 opinion, that the school being a Grammar 

 School, the master was only bound to teach 

 Latin and Greek free. Eventually, 12 

 February 1824, the master agreed to teach 

 twelve free boys all subjects, another twelve 

 boys being admitted at £1 is. 6d. a quarter. 

 At an examination on 12 August 1829 there 

 were twelve free scholars and twenty-nine 

 others, ' and the Governors present were 

 highly pleased with the state of the school 

 and the proficiency of the boys.' As they 

 attained to Homer and Plutarch in Greek, 

 and Virgil and Terence in Latin, there being 

 none higher than the fourth form, no fault 

 could be found as to their progress. In 1830 



the number had risen to thirty-nine, besides 

 the twelve free scholars. 



In 1 841 an information was laid by the 

 Attorney-General against the Governors. A 

 decree in 1845 directed the Headmaster to 

 be retired on a pension of ^^38 a year, the 

 buildings to be pulled down and the land 

 let in building lots. Mr. Jephson died in 

 1848. But the churchwardens into whose 

 hands the management fell proved inefficient. 

 It was not till twenty years later, July i860,' 

 that the land was let at all, and then was let 

 for ;C220 a year for seventy-nine years, a 

 price at which it was estimated that the 

 lessee made ;C6oo to ;C700 a year out of it, 

 while a large portion of the savings accruing 

 from the accumulation of the income of the 

 foundation was dissipated in legal charges for 

 its collection. There were no Governors till, 

 on 10 April 1866, the Charity Commissioners 

 appointed seven members of the Camberwell 

 Vestry. 



It was not till 26 February 1880 that a 

 scheme was made by the Charity Commis- 

 sioners, to whom the powers of the Com- 

 missioners under the Endowed Schools Acts, 

 had been transferred, and approved by the 

 Queen in Council. This scheme constituted 

 a governing body consisting of the vicar and 

 three churchwardens of Camberwell, two 

 ratepayers of Camberwell appointed by the 

 members of the London School Board for 

 the Lambeth division, and eight co-optatives. 

 Under it the school is called Wilson's Grammar 

 School, and is to be of the ordinary type, 

 teaching classics, mathematics, modern lan- 

 guages and natural science. The tuition fees 

 are to be from £/[ to ;CiO a year, while 

 the old free scholars are recognised by the 

 establishment of eighteen free scholarships to 

 be awarded by competition, twelve of which 

 are confined to boys from Public Elementary 

 Schools. 



After the scheme was passed, new buildings 

 for 200 boys, at a cost of ;£5,6oo, provided 

 out of accumulations of income during 

 the forty years' idleness, were erected on 

 part of the old school land. The school was 

 re-opened in May 1883, under the head- 

 mastership of the Rev. Frederick McDowell 

 of Merton College, Oxford. He had already 

 given evidence of his power to command 

 success, first as Assistant Master and then 

 Second Master of King Edward VI's Middle 

 School, Norwich (a second grade secondary 

 school for 300 boys) for thirteen years, 1863- 

 1876; afterwards as the first Headmaster of 

 the newly founded Kendrick Middle School, 



Carlisle's Endowed QrammaT Schools, ii. 562. 



216 



Schools Inquiry Report, vii. 470. 



