Clapham College
Encyclopedia
Background
It opened in 1897 and closed in 1989. Its history falls into three phases: for half a century it was a private school, for three decades it was a publicly supported grammar school and for more than a decade it was a comprehensive school. For virtually the whole of its life Clapham College occupied a site between Nightingale Lane on the edge of Clapham CommonClapham Common
Clapham Common is an 89 hectare triangular area of grassland situated in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878.43 hectares of the common are within the...
and Malwood Road SW12 8EN. The site is now occupied by Saint Francis Xavier 6th Form College (SFX)..
Clapham College was also the name of the local further education college on South Side.
Foundation
Clapham College was founded by the Xaverian BrothersXaverian Brothers
The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier...
or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (CFX) a religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The order was dedicated to the Roman Catholic education of boys.
In the course of the nineteenth century the Catholic population of England grew rapidly, largely through Irish immigration. In 1850 a diocesan structure was restored—see Universalis Ecclesiae
Universalis Ecclesiae
Universalis Ecclesiae is the incipit of the papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given to the dioceses, as...
—and one of the most urgent concerns of the new hierarchy was to make provision for religious education. Religious orders played a vital part in meeting this need. The Xaverians were the first teaching brothers to make a permanent establishment in England in 1848 when they founded an elementary school in Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
near Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. In 1862 the Xaverians founded a secondary school in Manchester the Catholic Collegiate Institute, later renamed Xaverian College
Xaverian College
Xaverian Roman Catholic Sixth form College is a College in the city of Manchester.-Admissions:It lies in the inner city suburb of Rusholme close to Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road...
. A lttle later they founded a boarding school in in Mayfield
Mayfield and Five Ashes
Mayfield and Five Ashes is a civil parish in the High Weald of East Sussex, England. The two villages making up the principal part of the parish lie on the A267 road between Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne: Mayfield, the larger of the two villages is ten miles south of Tunbridge Wells; with Five...
in East Sussex, Mayfield College.. After Clapham College came a boarding school in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
(1909)--this was the school the actor Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
ran away from—and Bootle
Bootle
Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...
(1932).. Later in the twentieth century the number of brothers declined. In 1977 England was redefined as a region rather than a province of the Xaverian Brothers. In 2003 the Xaverian Brothers withdrew from their remaining English missions..
The founding of Clapham College in 1897 was part of a wave of Catholic school building in the second half of the nineteenth century. Other foundations in South London include St. Joseph’s
St. Joseph's College, London
St Joseph's College is a Secondary School for Boys in Upper Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a Mathematics and Computing Specialist School and a Cisco Academy. It is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 18 years...
founded by the De La Salle Brothers, Salesian College
Salesian College (London)
-History:Salesian College was a Roman Catholic, Voluntary Aided school for boys aged 11 to 16. It was founded in 1895 in Battersea, London by the religious order of the Salesians of Don Bosco, who arrived in Battersea in 1887 as part of Don Bosco's dream to establish a Salesian presence in Great...
founded by the Salesians of Don Bosco
Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
and Wimbledon College
Wimbledon College
Wimbledon College is a government-maintained voluntary-aided Jesuit Roman Catholic high school for boys aged 11 to 19. The school is based at Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London. It was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning to the greater glory of God and the common good"...
founded by the Jesuits.. Orders of nuns founded schools for girls. Notre Dame High School
Notre Dame High School (Southwark)
Notre Dame High School is an all-girls' Roman Catholic comprehensive school situated in Elephant and Castle, in south London in the UK. Girls attend the school from ages 11–16. The current headteacher is Sister Anne Marie Niblock, SND...
in Southwark was actually established before any of the boys' schools—in 1855.
Private School from 1897-1945
In 1896 the Xaverian Brothers bought Broadoak, a property in Nightingale Lane. The house had been built in 1875 for the widow of Sir Titus SaltTitus Salt
Sir Titus Salt, 1st Baronet , born in Morley, near Leeds, was a manufacturer, politician and philanthropist in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. His father Daniel Salt was a businessman and was sent Titus to Batley Grammar School...
.. Classrooms and dormitories were built—for some of the pupils would be boarders—and the school opened in September 1897 with 30 boys initially. The school's patron saint was St Joseph and its motto, Concordia res parvae crescunt ("In harmony, small things grow") The school increased in scale and scope. In 1905 a chemistry laboratory was built and the playing fields at Norbury acquired. In 1922 there were 276 boys on roll. In 1924 a preparatory department was opened in Hollywood, the next-door mansion in Nightingale Lane. In 1932 the school stopped taking boarders. In the 1930s the school had around 200 boys. At the beginning of the Second World there was a planned evacuation
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
of all schools from London and in 1939 Clapham College was evacuated to East Grinstead (East Grinstead County School
Imberhorne School
Imberhorne School is a comprehensive school with specialist Language College status situated in East Grinstead, West Sussex in England. The school caters for children between the ages of 11 and 18. The school roll totals 1650 including 300 in the Sixth Form, and the school is situated on two...
) and then to Taunton in 1944..
Voluntary-aided Grammar School from 1945-75
In April 1945 the school returned to Clapham and became a voluntary Grammar School under the 1944 Education ActEducation Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A...
. Instead of parents paying fees the school was funded by the local authority. The preparatory department was closed, pupils entered by passing the Eleven Plus, and the school had a two form entry. Although most pupils left at 15 - the new school-leaving age from 1945 - there was a gradual increase in the size of the Sixth Form. At this time the school had around 350 pupils (in 1950 there were 338 boys on roll). Like their predecessors before the war, many of the boys came from Irish and Italian stock but some now also came from Polish families. Although the school had been founded by a religious order and some of the teachers were brothers, most were laymen. Indeed until 1970, when Mr C. Pocock became Headmaster, the Head had always been a brother.
Comprehensive school from 1975-89
In 1975 Clapham College amalgamated with the nearby St. Gerards RC Comprehensive to become Clapham College RC Comprehensive. The headmaster of St. Gerard’s, Mr. M. Gleeson, became headmaster of the new school and Mr. Pocock deputy head. New buildings were erected at the back of the Nightingale Lane site and the old ones reconditioned. The combined school was then on one site with 1000 boys on the roll. Here it continued until 1985 when the site was designated as the site of the new Saint Francis Xavier 6th Form College.The last years of Clapham College were miserable ones. In July 1985 the school closed on the Clapham site to re-open in September on the site of the former Notre Dame Girls School, Battersea. The new St. Francis Xavier College opened in September. The relocated Clapham College took the years 2-5 pupils and some sixth-formers; other sixth-formers, like some of the teachers, stayed in Clapham at the SFX College. In 1986 the Notre Dame site was sold and the school moved again into the ILEA building in Raywood Street, Battersea. In July 1989 the school closed.
Sixth Form College in 1985
The St. Francis Xavier Sixth-Form CollegeSaint Francis Xavier College (England)
Saint Francis Xavier College is a Roman Catholic Sixth Form College. It is located on the borders of Clapham and Balham close to Clapham South tube station, London. It offers courses for 16-19 year olds, as well as Adult Education classes....
now occupies the Nightingale Lane site (though its entrance is on Malwood Road). It offers an education to those aged 16–19 and gives priority to students from the eight Catholic secondary schools in the Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth (Bishop Thomas Grant, John Paul II, La Retraite, Notre Dame, St Michael’s, St Thomas the Apostle, Sacred Heart, and Salesian).
Photographs
There are photos of the buildings (and of some old pupils) on the following websitesNotable alumni
- Michael Aldrich, inventor, innovator and entrepreneur and pioneer of online shopping (b 22 Aug 1941)
- Brian Baldock CBE, Chairman of MencapMencapThe Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the UK that works with people with a learning disability.-Profile:Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers...
, Group Managing Director of GuinnessDiageoDiageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
and Chairman of the Portman GroupPortman GroupThe Portman Group is a trade group composed of alcoholic beverage producers and brewers in the UK.-History:It was set up in 1989 as part of a campaign to raise awareness of alcohol-related issues, and its members account for the majority of alcohol products sold in the UK...
from 1989–96 (b 10 June 1934) - P. J. Barrington - British writer; author of The Selman-Troytt Papers
- Most Rev George Andrew BeckGeorge Andrew BeckGeorge Andrew Beck was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool from 29 January 1964 to 7 February 1976....
, RC Archbishop of LiverpoolArchbishop of LiverpoolThe Archbishop of Liverpool heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province.-History:...
from 1964–76 (b 28 May 1904, d 13 Sept 1978) - Prof Lionel Bellamy CBE, chemical and infraredInfrared spectroscopyInfrared spectroscopy is the spectroscopy that deals with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is light with a longer wavelength and lower frequency than visible light. It covers a range of techniques, mostly based on absorption spectroscopy. As with all spectroscopic...
spectroscopist, and Director from 1975-6 of the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor EstablishmentPropellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor EstablishmentPropellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment, usually known for brevity as PERME, operated at two sites:* Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, known from 1977 as PERME Waltham Abbey...
(PERME) at Waltham AbbeyWaltham Abbey, EssexWaltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey... - Charles Efford - British journalist; author of None of the Above
- John Gilhooly CB, Chief Executive from 2000-8 of the Office of the Parliamentary CounselOffice of the Parliamentary Counsel (United Kingdom)The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is responsible for drafting all government Bills that are introduced to Parliament. Established in 1869, the OPC has been part of various departments and is currently part of the Cabinet Office...
- Michael KnowlesMichael Knowles (politician)Michael Knowles was British Conservative Member of Parliament for Nottingham East from 1983 until he lost the seat at the 1992 general election to Labour's John Heppell....
, Conservative MP from 1983-92 for Nottingham EastNottingham East (UK Parliament constituency)Nottingham East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
(b 21 May 1942) - Fr (and Dr) Gerard Lorriman A practicing doctor of medicine and head of the Diplomatic Service medical service, he became a Jesuit at the age of 55 after the death of his wife in 1970. He served as a missionary in South Africa and was an active supporter of the anti-apartheid movement. He rose to fame when, leading a funeral for four black South Africans killed by the regime, he confronted armoured personnel carriers during their funeral procession. He is survived by a son and daughter (b 1 Feb 1915, d 21 Feb 2011).
- Patrick McDermott (MVORoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
), H.M. Diplomatic Service (retired); Member of the Royal Victorian Order; Freeman of the City of London; Deputy Procurator Ampleforth Abbey and College; short story writer. (b 8 Sept 1941) - Sir Nicholas ScottNicholas ScottThe Rt. Hon. Sir Nicholas Paul Scott, PC, JP , was a British Conservative Party politician.Scott was educated at Clapham College and was national chairman of the Young Conservatives in 1963...
, PCPrivy Council of the United KingdomHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, JPJustice of the PeaceA justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
- Conservative MP from 1974-97 for ChelseaChelsea (UK Parliament constituency)Chelsea was a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1867 for the 1868 general election, when it returned two Members of Parliament , elected by the bloc vote system of election.Under the...
and from 1966-74 for Paddington SouthPaddington South (UK Parliament constituency)Paddington South was a Parliamentary constituency in London which returned one Member of Parliament. It was a compact urban area, but predominantly wealthy, and was most famously represented by Lord Randolph Churchill during the latter part of his career....
(b 5 Aug 1933, d 6 Jan 2005) - Most Rev Peter Smith - the current Archbishop of SouthwarkArchbishop of SouthwarkThe Archbishop of Southwark is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Southwark....
since 2001 (b 21 Oct 1943) - Steve SteenSteve SteenSteve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
- actor and comedian (b 26 Dec 1954) - Group Captain Mike Stevens (DSO, DFC and 2 Bars). WW2 Fighter ace with No 3 Hurricane Squadron. An avid fisherman and noted raconteur, his two brothers flew with Bomber command (b 20 Oct 1919, d 23 Sept 2004).
- Jim Sweeney - actor and comedian(b 7 Feb 1955)
- Prof Michael T Turvey. Distinguished scholar and scientist in the field of psychology. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1967 and joined the University of Connecticut in the same year (b 14 Feb 1942)
- Lawrence Upton, poet/graphic artist. (b 1949)
- Phil Babb Phil BabbPhilip 'Phil' Andrew Babb is an English-born Irish former footballer who played as a central defender.Active in England and Portugal, he made over 300 professional career appearances, namely spending six Premier League seasons with Liverpool...
- Professional Footballer (Liverpool/Rep of Ireland) (b 30 Nov 1970)
Pupils' memories
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- Lawrence UptonLawrence UptonLawrence Upton is a poet, graphic artist and sound artist, currently directing Writers Forum. Upton is remarkable for the range of his genres and forms; and for the political savvy of his writing. He is a performer, continuing and expanding the performance tradition of, amongst others, Bob Cobbing...
, poet/graphic artist
- Lawrence Upton
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External links
- Clapham College Old Boys page
- Clapham Old Xaverians Association
- Clapham Old Xaverians football team
- claphamhighstreet.co.uk
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-14): Xaverian Brothers
- University of Notre Dame Archives, papers relating to Clapham College, CFXE B.3 Subseries: Clapham College 1895-1994.
- SFX Sixth Form