John Day Collis was a British headmaster and educational writer.

Collis, son of the Rev. Robert Fitzgerald Collis, prebendary of Kilconnell, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, by Maria, daughter of Edward Bourke of Nun's Island, Galway, was born 24 Feb. 1816, and, after being educated at Rugby

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:...

 1832–4 under Dr. Arnold, entered Merton College, Oxford, as a postmaster in the latter year. In 1835 he became Eaton scholar of Worcester College, proceeding B.A. 1836, M.A. 1841, and B.D. and D.D. 1860. He was elected to a fellowship at his college, and gained the Kennicott, and Pusey and Ellerton Hebrew scholarships, 1839–41.

Having been nominated to the head-mastership of Bromsgrove in December 1842, that school, through his indomitable energy, grew to be one of the best educational establishments in England. The tercentenary of the grammar school was celebrated on 31 March 1853. In 1856, through his exertions, the chapel was built at a cost of 1,500 Pounds, and new school rooms were erected and the old buildings enlarged and improved at a cost of 5,000 Pounds.

He was nominated an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral in 1854, and in 1856 was offered, but declined, the colonial bishopric of Grafton and Armidale. From 1863 to 1865 he held the Grinfield lectureship on the Septuagint at Oxford. His connection with Bromsgrove was severed in 1867 by his appointment to the vicarage of Stratford-on-Avon. During his incumbency Stratford church was restored and improved, and he completed the formation of the water terrace in the churchyard. He was the founder and first warden of Trinity College school at Stratford, 27 Jan. 1872.

He married first, 18 June 1846, Josephine Martha, eldest daughter of John Chatfield Tyler of Kingswood, Gloucestershire, who died 16 Oct. 1868; and secondly, 11 Oct. 1871, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Castleman of Chettle, Dorsetshire, and widow of Rear-admiral Douglas Curry of Shottery Hall, Stratford-on-Avon.

Collis died at Shottery Hall 1 April 1879, and was buried in the Bromsgrove cemetery on 4 April.

Publications

1. The Chief Rules of Greek Accentuation 1849
2. Exercises and Examination Papers 1851
3. The Chief Tenses of Latin Irregular Verbs 1854, thirty-four editions
4. Ordination and other Sermons 1854 and 1869
5. The Chief Tenses of Greek Irregular Verbs 1855, thirty-four editions
6. Praxis Græca three parts, 1855–6, many editions
7. Praxis Latina 1856
8. Praxis Iambica 1857, seven editions
9. Tirocinium Gallicum 1857, four editions
10. Historical Notes on the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Bromsgrove 1859
11. Pontes Classici No. I. A Stepping-stone from the beginning of Latin Grammar to Cæsar, 1860; and No. II. A Stepping-stone from the beginning of Greek Grammar to Xenophon, 1860
12. Ponticulus Latinus, the History of Rome to the Destruction of Carthage 1860
13. Ponticulus Græcus, Exercises from the Greek Testament, Æsop, and Xenophon 1860
14. Praxis Gallica 1864
15. Praxis Latina Primaria 1867
16. German Card of Irregular Verbs 1875
17. Pontes Latini eleventh edition, 1878
18. Pontes Græci 1879
19. The History of Bromsgrove School