Blackheath Proprietary School
Encyclopedia
The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830 that was noted in the contemporary press as an extremely successful school in terms of its education but is perhaps most notable for its profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes. In 1863, the school became one of the founders of the Football Association
.
. He was head from 1849 to 1864 and remarkably in his last three years when there were more than 200 boys in the school, every boy in the upper sixth won an open scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge. The school also boasted a cadet corps. In 1880 a sister school was opened, Blackheath High School
for girls, on Wemyss Road in order to provide a high standard of education, comparable to that in the flourishing Blackheath Proprietary School for boys, for the young women of Blackheath. The school was built at the initiative of local residents, but was run by the Girls Public Day School Company.
Although the Proprietary School flourished for much of the nineteenth century, it was threatened by a number of elements including the diminishing lease on its site, the popularity of boarding schools and the growing availability of day schools nearby. The school closed in 1907.
". The school's buildings were at the very top of the current Lee Road on its west side. The site was redeveloped in 1937 as Selwyn Court (this building caused much controversy in Blackheath and was a catalyst in the foundation of the Blackheath Society, which continues to vigorously campaign for the preservation of the character and quality of the area).
had yet been formalised. The style of football that had become increasingly popular since its inception at Rugby School
was played by the Proprietary School, as well as the style tending towards the dribbling game, represented to an extent by Eton
's code and which would be set down formally in Cambridge rules in 1848. However, even the apparent acceptance of these rule sets for these two variations in the game did not avert controversy over the rules by which teams should play. With the exception of a rationalised and uniform football culture that was emerging in Sheffield
in the 1850s, across the United Kingdom
from club to club and school to school there was little agreement over the elements of a football game, be that the time it should take to play, the number of players in a side, or indeed whether running with the ball was illegal or not. Teams had to agree on rules before a match, or had to agree to play the code of each team for one half of the match each.
In order to allow matches to take place without such constraints and problems, a number of captains and representatives from various London clubs met at Freemasons' Tavern in Lincoln's Inn Fields
on 26 October 1863. Blackheath Proprietary School was one of the twelve teams represented (through the person of Mr. W. Gordon), and thus became a founder member of the Football Association. In that same meeting was represented Blackheath Football Club, a separate institution to the school but intrinsically linked to it for Blackheath FC was at its inception in 1858 the Old Blackheathens Club, where old boys of the school continued to play football together.
The club in its early days quickly realised that the school was not big enough to support the inflow needed to maintain a team of any quality, especially with so many alumni leaving for work with the Civil Service abroad, and in 1862 changed its name to Blackheath Football Club and in so doing became the first club with open membership. This club was soon populated with men from other schools, notably Old Rugbeians who were now living and working in London. This club had the distinction of being both a founder member of the Football Association and the Rugby Football Union
(RFU). Very soon after the FA had been established, rules for the football of the association were debated and formalised. A rift appeared between the advocates of the dribbling game and those of the handling game. When the revised Cambridge rules were adopted on 8 December 1863, which effectively prohibited "hacking" and "carrying", Blackheath FC immediately left the FA and were the driving force behind the setting up of the RFU in 1871.
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
.
History
The Blackheath Proprietary School was established in 1830 to give sound liberal education similar to the public schools of England. From its inception, it worked towards ensuring it had an educational reputation that would be the equivalent of its public school contemporaries and the school granted an exhibition of £50 per annum every two years to pupils proceeding to Oxford University, Cambridge University or Dublin University Blackheath's population had expanded rapidly in the 1820s, hence the timing of the establishment of the school. The school was founded on joint stock principles and there were originally 100 shares priced at £20 each; proprietorship of a share entitled its owner to send or nominate a boy to the school. From 1831 when it opened it was successful particularly under Reverend Edward Selwyn, an alumnus of Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. He was head from 1849 to 1864 and remarkably in his last three years when there were more than 200 boys in the school, every boy in the upper sixth won an open scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge. The school also boasted a cadet corps. In 1880 a sister school was opened, Blackheath High School
Blackheath High School
Blackheath High School is situated near Blackheath Village in southeast London, England. It was founded in 1880 as part of the Girls' Day School Trust. The Senior Department is located in Vanbrugh Park after moving from Blackheath in 1993/4. The school in Blackheath village then became the Junior...
for girls, on Wemyss Road in order to provide a high standard of education, comparable to that in the flourishing Blackheath Proprietary School for boys, for the young women of Blackheath. The school was built at the initiative of local residents, but was run by the Girls Public Day School Company.
Although the Proprietary School flourished for much of the nineteenth century, it was threatened by a number of elements including the diminishing lease on its site, the popularity of boarding schools and the growing availability of day schools nearby. The school closed in 1907.
Buildings
The school buildings were situated near Blackheath Park and in Lee Park and were described as "a handsome building after the model of the Propylaeum in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
". The school's buildings were at the very top of the current Lee Road on its west side. The site was redeveloped in 1937 as Selwyn Court (this building caused much controversy in Blackheath and was a catalyst in the foundation of the Blackheath Society, which continues to vigorously campaign for the preservation of the character and quality of the area).
Sport
The school was also famed for its enthusiastic participation in football, which at the time of the school's inception in 1830, had yet to find a uniform code of play, and neither Association or Rugby footballRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
had yet been formalised. The style of football that had become increasingly popular since its inception at Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
was played by the Proprietary School, as well as the style tending towards the dribbling game, represented to an extent by Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
's code and which would be set down formally in Cambridge rules in 1848. However, even the apparent acceptance of these rule sets for these two variations in the game did not avert controversy over the rules by which teams should play. With the exception of a rationalised and uniform football culture that was emerging in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in the 1850s, across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from club to club and school to school there was little agreement over the elements of a football game, be that the time it should take to play, the number of players in a side, or indeed whether running with the ball was illegal or not. Teams had to agree on rules before a match, or had to agree to play the code of each team for one half of the match each.
In order to allow matches to take place without such constraints and problems, a number of captains and representatives from various London clubs met at Freemasons' Tavern in Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, UK. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in developing London", as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner observes...
on 26 October 1863. Blackheath Proprietary School was one of the twelve teams represented (through the person of Mr. W. Gordon), and thus became a founder member of the Football Association. In that same meeting was represented Blackheath Football Club, a separate institution to the school but intrinsically linked to it for Blackheath FC was at its inception in 1858 the Old Blackheathens Club, where old boys of the school continued to play football together.
The club in its early days quickly realised that the school was not big enough to support the inflow needed to maintain a team of any quality, especially with so many alumni leaving for work with the Civil Service abroad, and in 1862 changed its name to Blackheath Football Club and in so doing became the first club with open membership. This club was soon populated with men from other schools, notably Old Rugbeians who were now living and working in London. This club had the distinction of being both a founder member of the Football Association and the Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
(RFU). Very soon after the FA had been established, rules for the football of the association were debated and formalised. A rift appeared between the advocates of the dribbling game and those of the handling game. When the revised Cambridge rules were adopted on 8 December 1863, which effectively prohibited "hacking" and "carrying", Blackheath FC immediately left the FA and were the driving force behind the setting up of the RFU in 1871.
Notable former pupils
- Alfred William AlcockAlfred William AlcockAlfred William Alcock was a British physician naturalist and carcinologist.Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath...
(1859–1933), British physician naturalist and carcinologist. - Edward Ernest Bowen (1836–1901), educationalist.
- Charles Edward BeevorCharles Edward BeevorCharles Edward Beevor was an English neurologist and anatomist who described Beevor's sign, the Jaw jerk reflex, and the area of the brain supplied by the anterior choroidal artery...
(1854–1908), neurologist - Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (1850–1924), prominent diplomat and civil servant of colonial British India.
- George Joachim Goschen, First Viscount Goschen (1831–1907)
- Marshall HallMarshall Hall (musician)George William Louis Marshall-Hall was an English-born musician, composer, conductor, poet and controversialist who lived and worked in Australia from 1891 till his death in 1915...
(1862–1915), English-born musician, conductor and poet - Campbell Richard HoneCampbell Richard HoneThe Rt Rev Campbell Richard Hone was an eminent Anglican Bishop in the second quarter of the 20th century.He was born into an ecclesiastical family, educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and Wadham College, Oxford and ordained in 1898...
(1873 - 1967, Bishop of WakefieldBishop of WakefieldThe Bishop of Wakefield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Wakefield in the Province of York.The diocese based in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, covers Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale...
in the first half of the 20th Century - Sir Stuart KnillKnill BaronetsThe Knill Baronetcy, of The Grove in Blackheath in the County of Kent, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 August 1893 for Stuart Knill. He was head of John Knill and Co, wharfingers, and served as Lord Mayor of London from 1892 to 1893...
(1824–1898), Lord Mayor of London. - Gerald Lightfoot (1877–1966), public servant and secretary of the Council for Scientific and Industrial ResearchCouncil for Scientific and Industrial ResearchThe Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the city of Pretoria...
. - Donald McGillDonald McGillDonald Fraser Gould McGill, was an English graphic artist whose name has become synonymous with a whole genre of saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns...
(1875–1962), English graphic artist. - Alexander William PearsonAlexander William PearsonAlexander "Alec" William Pearson was a rugby union international who represented England from 1875 to 1878. He was described as late as 1925 as "about as fíne a full back as ever played", and was the first Australian born rugby union international.-Early life and family:Alexander William Pearson...
(born 1854), rugby union international for England from 1875-1878 - Major Gen Sir Ernest Swinton, (1868–1951), Inventor of the tank.
- George Wrottesley (1827–1909), military Historian and second of son of John Wrottesley, 2nd Baron WrottesleyJohn Wrottesley, 2nd Baron WrottesleyJohn Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley FRS FRAS was an English astronomer.Wrottesley was the son of John Wrottesley, 1st Baron Wrottesley, and his first wife Lady Caroline Bennet, daughter of Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville. He succeeded his father in the barony on March 16, 1841...
. - Francis Maule CampbellFrancis Maule CampbellFrancis Maule Campbell was born in Blackheath, London. The son of Dawson Campbell, a wine merchant, who died around 1860 while Campbell was in his teens. Campbell attended the Blackheath Proprietary School and left in 1859 aged 15. A year later he was playing for the School’s old boys team,...
, footballer, present at the founding of both the Football Association and the Rugby Football UnionRugby Football UnionThe Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
and pivotal in the latter's creation.
Further reading
- The history of the Blackheath Proprietary School - J. W. Kirby. (Blackheath Press), 1933.