Wellington College, Berkshire
Encyclopedia
Former pupils
Notable former pupils include historian P. J. MarshallP. J. Marshall
Peter James Marshall CBE, FBA is a British historian known for his work on the British empire, particularly the activities of British East India Company servants in 18th-century Bengal, and also the history of British involvement in North America during the same period.-Early life and education:He...
, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw
Nicholas Grimshaw
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including London's Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall...
, impressionist Rory Bremner
Rory Bremner
Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner, FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire...
, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, GCB, GCVO, CMG , born Prince Adolphus of Teck and later The Duke of Teck , was a member of the British Royal Family and a younger brother of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V...
, author Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Faulks
-Early life:Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 in Donnington, Berkshire to Peter Faulks and Pamela . Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks, is his older brother. He was educated at Elstree School, Reading and went on to Wellington College, Berkshire...
, language school pioneer John Haycraft
John Haycraft
John Stacpoole Haycraft CBE was the son of a British officer in the colonial Indian army. Born in India with his brother Colin, their father died when they were still young, killed by one of his soldiers...
, political journalist Robin Oakley
Robin Oakley
Robert Francis Leigh Oakley OBE is a British journalist who is the European Political Editor at CNN International. He was formerly Political Editor at the BBC....
, actor Sir Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, writer George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, author Rupert Croft-Cooke
Rupert Croft-Cooke
Rupert Croft-Cooke was an English biographer and author of fiction and non-fiction.He also published detective stories under the pseudonym of Leo Bruce.-Life:...
, poet Gavin Ewart
Gavin Ewart
Gavin Buchanan Ewart was a British poet best known for contributing to Geoffrey Grigson's New Verse at the age of seventeen.-Life:...
, composer John Gardner
John Gardner (composer)
John Linton Gardner, CBE is an English composer of classical music.-Biography:Gardner was born in Manchester, England and brought up in Ilfracombe, North Devon. His father Alfred Linton Gardner was a local GP and amateur composer who was killed in action in the last months of the First World War....
, world champion motor racing driver James Hunt
James Hunt
James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...
, Leader of the House of Lords
Leader of the House of Lords
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council,...
Lord Strathclyde, journalist and television presenter Peter Snow
Peter Snow
Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...
, the UK Pop Idol
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
winner Will Young
Will Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
, and BRIT Award-nominated singer Nerina Pallot
Nerina Pallot
Nerina Pallot is a platinum selling, BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award nominated British singer and songwriter. Although born in London, Pallot was brought up in Jersey to a half-French father and mother from Allahabad, India.-Early life:Pallot played piano as a child and wrote her first song...
, and the 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...
players James Haskell
James Haskell
James Haskell is an English professional Rugby Union player who currently plays for the Top League team Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and internationally for England.-Career:...
and the brothers Max
Max Evans (rugby player)
Max Brian Evans is a Scottish internationalist rugby union rugby player. He plays in the centre and plays club rugby for Castres.-Background:...
and Thom Evans
Thom Evans
Thom Evans is a former Scottish international rugby union player. He last played on the wingfor Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League. His rugby career ended aged 24 on his 10th appearance for Scotland when he incurred a serious neck injury.-Career:Evans was educated at Wellington College,...
.
Sport
Wellington College was one of the 21 founding members of the Rugby Football UnionRugby 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...
, and historically, pupils at the school have excelled at 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...
. In 2008, the College became the first school to win the Daily Mail Cup
Daily Mail Cup
The Daily Mail RBS Cup is the annual English schools' rugby union cup competition. The semi-finals are now held at Broadstreet Rugby Club. The final is held at Twickenham Stadium. Competitions are held at the U18 and U15 age group levels...
at both U15 and U18 level in the same year, beating Millfield School and St Benedict's School, Ealing
St Benedict's School
St Benedict's School is a co-educational independent Roman Catholic school situated in Ealing, West London. The school is part of Ealing Abbey and is governed by the Abbot and monks of Ealing. As the only day school of the English Houses of the English Benedictine Congregation, the school does not...
in their respective finals 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...
on 2 April 2008. In 2009 the 1st VII claimed the Rosslyn Park National Schoolboy 7s title for the ninth time. The school has one of only around 20 racquets
Racquets (sport)
Rackets or Racquets is an indoor racket sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada...
courts in the UK, and until recently three Eton Fives
Eton Fives
Eton Fives, one derivative of the British game of Fives, is a hand-ball game, similar to Rugby Fives, played as doubles in a three-sided court. The object is to force the other team to fail to hit the ball 'up' off the front wall, using any variety of wall or ledge combinations as long as the ball...
courts, now a café bar as part of the sports club.
Combined Cadet Force
The Wellington College Combined Cadet ForceCombined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
, or CCF, has existed in its various forms since 1880. Commissioned members of the teaching staff who serve as CCF officers are attached to The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division.In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he did in and around the city of Gloucester. As was the custom in those days...
. The college also traditionally has two teams of field gun
Field gun competition
The Royal Navy's field gun competition is a contest between teams from various Royal Navy commands, in which teams of sailors compete to transport a field gun and its equipment over and through a series of obstacles in the shortest time. The competition evolved during the first 6 years of the 20th...
runners, and two runs are made annually at the college speech day.
Press
Like many of the major public schools, Wellington College is no stranger to press attention. The school has in the past been the subject of reports on bullying, although media attention has become mostly positive since the arrival of Anthony SeldonAnthony Seldon
Dr. Anthony F. Seldon MA, PhD, FRSA, MBA, FRHistS is a political commentator best known as Tony Blair's biographer and the Master of Wellington College...
as Master. In April 2006, the college attracted widespread publicity when it became the first school in the UK to introduce 'happiness lessons' to the curriculum, in conjunction with a team at Cambridge University. The move continued a long tradition of pastoral care at Wellington, including religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...
and PSHE
Personal, Social and Health Education
Personal, social, health and economic education has in various forms been part of the national curriculum for schools in England since 2000. Some aspects, but not all, have been compulsory...
programmes.
In 2003 Paul Doran-Jones
Paul Doran-Jones
Paul Doran-Jones is a rugby union footballer, currently playing in the Aviva Premiership for Northampton Saints. He plays as a prop.-Club career:...
, James Haskell
James Haskell
James Haskell is an English professional Rugby Union player who currently plays for the Top League team Ricoh Black Rams in Japan and internationally for England.-Career:...
and a female student were suspended from Wellington College after a camera was set up to secretly record Doran-Jones and his girlfriend having sex in a boys' dormitory, breaking the no sex rule.
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared. However, Mrs Jean Scott, the head of the Independent Schools Council, said that independent schools had always been exempt from anti-cartel rules applied to business, were following a long-established procedure in sharing the information with each other, and that they were unaware of the change to the law (on which they had not been consulted). She wrote to John Vickers, the OFT director-general, saying, "They are not a group of businessmen meeting behind closed doors to fix the price of their products to the disadvantage of the consumer. They are schools that have quite openly continued to follow a long-established practice because they were unaware that the law had changed."
Houses
There are 17 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...
at Wellington. Most contain boarders and a small number of day pupils, although two, Wellesley and Raglan, accept only day pupils. Each house is either an 'in-house' or an 'out-house'. In-houses are located within the main school buildings and quads, whilst out-houses are located elsewhere on the grounds. Each house has aspects which distinguish it from other houses, such as its own colours and emblem, as well as different locations around the college.
| House | Colours | Emblem | Gender | Boarding/Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglesey | Maroon/Blue | Star | F | Boarding |
| Apsley | Blue/Black | Pineapple | F | Sixth Form Boarding |
| Benson | Pale Blue/Silver | Rose | M | Boarding |
| Beresford | Light Blue/Black | Horseshoe | M | Boarding |
| Blücher | Black/White | Feathers | M | Boarding |
| Combermere | Gold/Brown | Lion | F | Boarding |
| Hardinge | Green/Brown | Anchor | M | Sixth Form Boarding |
| Hill | Purple/Silver | Skull and Crossbone | M | Boarding |
| Hopetoun | Yellow/Blue | Moon and Star | F | Boarding |
| Lynedoch | Navy Blue/Black | Iron cross | M | Boarding |
| Murray | Purple/Black | Moon | M | Boarding |
| Orange | Orange/Black | Double-headed dragon | F | Boarding |
| Picton | Pink/Brown | Eagle | M | Boarding |
| Raglan | Red/Silver | Panther | M | Day |
| Stanley | Red/Blue | Unicorn | M | Boarding |
| Talbot | Maroon/White | Iron Cross | M | Boarding |
| Wellesley | Pink/White | Pelican | F | Day |
The Orange, Combermere, Hopetoun and Anglesey were previously boys' houses, but have changed to girls' houses in between 2005-11.
The Old Wellingtonian Society
The Old Wellingtonian Society is the alumniAlumnus
An alumnus , according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is "a graduate of a school, college, or university." An alumnus can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student. In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college,...
society for the college and was founded in 1890. The Old Wellingtonian Society was set up to further the interests of the college and its past and present members, and to keep former pupils in touch with each other and with the school.
The Old Wellingtonian Society maintains a register of names of all who have passed through the college since the school's opening in 1859 and the addresses of all living alumni.