Douai School
Encyclopedia
-
- For the sixteenth-century seminary, see English College, DouaiEnglish College, DouaiThe English College, Douai was a Catholic seminary associated with the University of Douai . It was established in about 1561, and was suppressed in 1793...
.
- For the sixteenth-century seminary, see English College, Douai
Douai School was the public
Public School (UK)
A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
(independent
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
) school that was run by the Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of...
Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
community at Woolhampton
Woolhampton
Woolhampton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is situated on the London to Bath road between the towns of Reading and Newbury...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, until it closed in 1999.
History
The monastic community was founded in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1615 and moved to Douai
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
after the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The monastery provided educational opportunities from the beginning, but had no formal school in its first decades of existence.
The modern school was formed by the site's pre-existing St Mary's College merging with the school of the incoming Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
community that moved from Douai
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
in 1903 due to Waldeck-Rousseau
René Waldeck-Rousseau
this gy was coolPierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau was a French Republican statesman.-Early life:Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique...
's Law of Associations (1901). The merger produced a school of 109 boy boarders, which had fallen to only sixty three by 1911.
Its long history in France and its monastic influence meant that Douai, although an independent boarding school, had in large part escaped the influence of the public school ethos that had developed in 19th-century England. However, in 1920, Douai was admitted to membership of the Headmasters' Conference. In the 1930s David Matthew, later Apostolic Delegate for Africa, congratulated the headmaster, Ignatius Rice
Ignatius Rice
William Ignatius Rice , known in religion as Dom Ignatius Rice, O.S.B., was an English Benedictine monk of Douai Abbey, a headmaster of Douai School , and a first-class cricketer...
, on the fact that: "no Catholic school has been so free from the influence of Arnold of Rugby
Thomas Arnold
Dr Thomas Arnold was a British educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement...
as Douai has been."
Day boys were admitted from the early 1960s, and by 1984 there were 333 pupils. The school became co-educational in 1993.
Headmasters
The first headmaster was not appointed until 1909, replacing the older system of a Prefect of Studies and a Prefect of Discipline jointly managing the school under the oversight of the Abbot. A series of headmasters followed in quick succession, before stability was provided by Fr Ignatius Rice (headmaster 1915-1952).Ignatius Rice was a friend of G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
whose Father Brown
Father Brown
Father Brown is a fictional character created by English novelist G. K. Chesterton, who stars in 52 short stories, later compiled in five books. Chesterton based the character on Father John O'Connor , a parish priest in Bradford who was involved in Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922...
novels were based on Father O'Connor
Father John O'Connor
Father John O'Connor , a Roman Catholic parish priest in Bradford, Yorkshire, was the basis of G. K. Chesterton's fictional detective Father Brown. O'Connor was instrumental in Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1922...
, a mutual friend, and he was influential in Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1922. In his younger days he played cricket for Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
during the summer holidays and for some years enjoyed the distinction of being the only monk whose cricket performances were chronicled in Wisden.
In 2005, Edmund Power (headmaster 1993-97) was elected Abbot of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls , commonly known as St Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of four churches that are the great ancient major basilicas or papal basilicas of Rome: the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Peter's and Saint Paul Outside the Walls...
.
List of Headmasters
- Fr Adrian Coughlin OSB (1909–1911)
- Fr Laurence Powell OSB (1911–1915)
- Fr Antony Richardson OSB (1915)
- Fr Ignatius Rice OSB (1915–1952)
- Fr Alphonsus Tierney OSB (1952–1973)
- Fr Brian Murphy OSB (1973–1975)
- Fr Wilfrid Sollom OSB (1975–1987)
- Fr Geoffrey Scott OSB FSA FRHistS (1987–1993)
- Fr Edmund Power OSB (1993–1997)
- Dr Peter McLaughlin (1997–1999)
Buildings
In 1786 the Earl of FingallEarl of Fingall
Baron Killeen and Earl of Fingall were titles in the Peerage of Ireland. Baron Fingall was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...
, the squire of Woolhampton
Woolhampton
Woolhampton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is situated on the London to Bath road between the towns of Reading and Newbury...
sold his Woolhampton estate and moved to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. His family had been recusant
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
Catholics and had maintained a chapel and chaplain at Woolhampton House (now Elstree School
Elstree School
Elstree School is an English preparatory school based in Woolhampton, near Reading in Berkshire.-1848-1938 in Elstree, Herts:As its name suggests, the school was originally founded in 1848 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, at Hill House on Elstree Hill, an 18th-century Grade II Listed Building...
). On leaving the neighbourhood he left his chaplain to minister to the local Catholics and endowed him with some 7 acres (28,328 m²) of lands and some cottages. Three of these cottages stood on the site of the entrance tower, and in one of these, Woolhampton Lodge, the priest lived and had a chapel.
The oldest part of the current buildings date from around 1830. The main entrance and tower were constructed in 1888 in the Tudor Gothic style; the architect was Frederick Walters
Frederick Walters
Frederick Arthur Walters was a Scottish architect working in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, notable for his Roman Catholic churches.-Life:...
. In 1829 Fr Stephen Dambrine was appointed to Woolhampton. He embarked on a building programme which included a chapel in the Gothic style
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
opened in 1833 to replace the chapel in Woolhampton Lodge, and which itself was replaced by the present St Mary's in 1848.
The cricket pavilion was built in 1922 to honour the fifty three old boys who were killed in the First World War.
The Monastery was greatly expanded in the 1960s with the building of the new monastery designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd.
Haydock Hall, the study hall, was briefly converted into a film set for the shooting of the dormitory scenes in the 1990 film Three Men and a Little Lady. The former school buildings were also used as a location for the 2002 television film of Goodbye, Mr. Chips.
Since its closure, the school's buildings have been redeveloped as private housing.
Houses
In 1951, the school was finally divided into housesHouse system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
, each under a monastic housemaster: Samson House, named after Abbot Samson of medieval Bury St Edmunds; Faringdon House, named after the martyred last abbot of Reading Abbey Hugh Faringdon; Walmesley House, after Bishop Charles Walmesley
Charles Walmesley
Charles Walmesley Pastorino, O.S.B. was the Roman Catholic Titular Bishop of Rama and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England...
, the eighteenth-century member of the Community who had been a mathematician and astronomer. In 1970, a new house was created - from 1980 called Gifford House to commemorate Archbishop Gabriel Gifford
Gabriel Gifford
Gabriel Gifford , originally William Gifford was an English Roman Catholic churchman, a Benedictine who became Archbishop of Reims.-Life:...
. Faringdon ceased to exist in 1992, again leaving just three Houses.
Former pupils
Former pupils are known as Old Dowegians and are eligible to join the Douai Society, founded in 1868.Those educated at Douai School include:
- Lieutenant Colonel Charles Antelme DSO
- Michael BlowerMichael BlowerMichael Blower AAdipl FRIBA FRSA is a notable British architect, activist for the preservation and restoration of England’s cultural heritage and accomplished watercolourist and recorder of England’s townscapes...
, architect - A.M. BurrageA. M. BurrageAlfred McLelland Burrage was a British writer.He was noted in his time as an author of fiction for boys which he published under the pseudonym Frank Lelland, including a popular series called "Tufty"....
, author - Sir Edward William Dutton Colt, BtColt BaronetsThe Colt Baronetcy, of St James's-in-the-Fields in the Liberty of Westminster in the County of Middlesex, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 2 March 1694 for Henry Colt, Adjutant to Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Member of Parliament for Newport and Westminster...
- Simon Craven, 8th Earl of CravenEarl of CravenEarl of Craven, in the County of York, is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1664 in favour of the soldier William Craven, the eldest son of Sir William Craven, Lord...
- J. A. CuddonJ. A. CuddonJohn Anthony Bowden Cuddon , was an English author, dictionary writer, and school teacher. Known best for his Dictionary of Literary Terms , Cuddon also produced the large Dictionary of Sport and Games, as well as several novels, plays, travel books, and other published works.Cuddon also edited two...
, writer - Christopher DerrickChristopher DerrickThis article is about Christopher Derrick the author. If you are looking for Christopher Derrick the runner please see Chris DerrickChristopher Hugh Derrick was an author, reviewer, publisher's reader and lecturer...
, writer - Michael DerrickMichael DerrickJohn Michael Derrick was the son of the artist, illustrator and cartoonist Thomas Derrick, and older brother of the writer Christopher Derrick...
, journalist - Michael GeogheganMichael GeogheganMichael Geoghegan CBE is an English businessman, who served as HSBC Group's chief executive from 26 March 2006 to 2010. He joined HSBC in 1973 and has previously led the group's South American and European operations.-Early life:...
, Chief Executive of HSBCHSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine... - Sir Brandon GoughBrandon GoughSir Brandon Gough DL is a British businessman, and current Chancellor of the University of East Anglia.-Biography:He was educated at Douai School and Jesus College, Cambridge where he read Natural Sciences and Law...
DL, businessman - Lord Harvington (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris), Conservative politician
- Rev Professor Adrian HastingsAdrian HastingsAdrian Hastings was a church historian, controversial Catholic priest and author of "Wiriyamu massacre" mistification.-Early life:...
, historian - Paul JenningsPaul Jennings (UK author)Paul Francis Jennings was a British humourist. He mostly wrote short articles; his most famous collection is The Jenguin Pennings, published in 1963 by Penguin books ....
, journalist and humorist - P. J. KavanaghP. J. KavanaghPatrick J. Kavanagh is an English poet, lecturer, actor and broadcaster. His father was the ITMA scriptwriter, Ted Kavanagh.He fought in the Korean War, being evacuated as result of his injuries....
, poet - Frank Keating, journalist, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Colonel Chris KeebleChris KeebleColonel Christopher Patrick Benedict Keeble, DSO, MSc, FCMI is a retired officer in the British Army, most noted for his service in the Falklands War of 1982....
, DSO. Soldier. The Parachute Regiment. - Jonny KightJonny KightJonny Kight is Filmmaker based in London, UK. Kight was educated at the Douai School. He was a former model and actor. He has modeled for Diesel and was the face of the Diesel print campaign of 2003. Kight has appeared in numerous stage productions and music videos...
, Director - HRH Prince Ludwig of Bavaria
- Norbert LyntonNorbert LyntonNorbert Lynton was Professor of the History of Art at the University of Sussex.He has published on architecture and on modern artists including Paul Klee, Ben Nicholson, William Scott. With Erika Langmuir, he coauthored the 'Yale Dictionary of Modern Art'...
, art historian - Patrick MalahidePatrick MalahidePatrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
, actor - Most Rev Joseph MastersonJoseph MastersonJoseph Masterson was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church.He was born on 29 January 1899 in Manchester, England. He was ordained a priest on 27 July 1924. In 1947 he was appointed as Vicar General of the Diocese of Salford and a priest in parish of St. Mary’s of...
, Archbishop of Birmingham - Professor Henry Mayr-HartingHenry Mayr-HartingProfessor Henry Maria Robert Egmont Mayr-Harting was Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Oxford and Lay Canon of Christ Church, Oxford from 1997 until 2003....
, historian - Vice Admiral Sir Timothy McClementTimothy McClementVice-Admiral Sir Timothy Pentreath McClement KCB OBE is a former Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet.-Naval career:Educated at Douai School and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, McClement joined the Royal Navy in 1971...
KCB OBE - Squadron Leader Robin McNair DFC, pilot and businessman
- Anthony MilnerAnthony MilnerAnthony Milner was a British composer, teacher and conductor.Milner was born in Bristol, and educated at Douai School, Woolhampton, Berkshire. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied piano with Herbert Fryer and theory with R. O. Morris...
, composer - Professor D.P. O'BrienDenis Patrick O'BrienDenis Patrick O'Brien is an English economist who has worked in industrial economics and the history of economic thought.-Major publications:...
, economist - Kevin PoréeKevin PoréeKevin Porée is a British record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger and recording engineer who is best known for his work with Mark Hole, Paul Young, Los Pacaminos, Senser, Joy Tobing, Hiding in Public, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, Charlotte Gordon Cumming and for his associations with...
, composer and producer - Christopher RuddChristopher RuddChristopher Francis Baines Paul Rudd was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. Rudd had played in the Second XI Championship in 1982 and 1984, before starting his first-class county career.In 1985 and 1986 he played Minor Counties cricket for Devon...
, cricketer - Michael Sutty, sculptor
- Colonel 'Tod' SweeneyTod SweeneyColonel Henry John Sweeney MC , known as Tod Sweeney, was a platoon commander in the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops on D Day, 6 June 1944, tasked to seize two vital bridges before the main assault on the Normandy beaches...
, MC - Michael Tuffrey, Liberal Democrat politician
- Sir Stephen WallStephen WallSir Stephen Wall, GCMG, LVO is a retired British diplomat who served as Britain's ambassador to Portugal and Permanent Representative to the European Union.-Biography:...
GCMG LVO, diplomat - Louis WhartonLouis WhartonLouis Edgar Wharton, born at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 18 January 1896 and died there on 31 December 1957, played first-class cricket in 12 matches in English cricket in the period from 1920 to 1922...
, cricketer
The Douai Society tie is black with thin multiple stripes of yellow, red, yellow, navy, yellow.
See also :Category:Old Dowegians.
Sport
CricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
were both played at Douai from 1905, but from 1918-19 rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
replaced soccer as the main winter sport. In 1920, the Trinidadian Louis Wharton
Louis Wharton
Louis Edgar Wharton, born at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 18 January 1896 and died there on 31 December 1957, played first-class cricket in 12 matches in English cricket in the period from 1920 to 1922...
became Douai's first Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
cricketer, and went on to play for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
. An indoor swimming pool was built in 1937. A group of spectators (at Twickenham
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...
) associated with the school is credited with introducing the song Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as an English rugby union anthem.
Uniform
EtonEton 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"....
collars were worn until the 1920s together with a blue cap surmounted by the arms of St Edmund or a bowler hat
Bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
. For daily use, boys wore a morning suit. In the summer, the uniform consisted of an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
grey suit and a boater
Boater
Boater may refer to:*Boater, a type of hat*Boater, one of the first disposable diapers*Someone involved in boating...
. Uniform gradually became more casual and, after 1945, a variety of grey suits was recognised uniform, with blazers worn in the summer. In the early years, members of the Douai cricket XI would wear full ties around the waist and half ties from their collars.
Junior School
In 1948 a preparatory school (Douai Junior School) was opened at Ditcham Park, in the beautiful South Downs near Petersfield in Hampshire. The house was formerly a convalescent home requisitioned by the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during World War ll.
Boys joined the school at aged 8 and after taking the Common Entrance Examination, aged approximately 13, joined the 'Big School' in Woolhampton. The setting for 'Ditcham' was beautiful in lush forestry on three sides and with views to the south of Hayling Island and the English Channel on clear days. In 1976 the boys from the junior school moved to the Woolhampton site and a new Ditcham House was added to Samson, Walmesley and Faringdon Houses.
In 1976 a non-denominational school was opened at Ditcham Park.