Bourne College
Encyclopedia
Bourne College was a Primitive Methodist college at Quinton
, near Birmingham
, England
.
in York
, Bourne College was established as a school for the sons of Primitive Methodists, beginning its life in 1876 in the redundant Roman Catholic St Chad’s Grammar School in Summer Hill, Birmingham, but soon outgrowing that accommodation and moving to 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) at Quinton.
, the first governor of Bourne College (a post in which he combined the duties of chaplain, bursar, caretaker and general handyman) for one prime reason - students would have plenty of fresh and pure water, and would be removed from the temptations of town life, which would form one of the greatest encouragements to their parents, who were naturally anxious that their sons should be preserved from corrupting associations.
Messrs D. Smith & Sons of Birmingham were appointed architects, E. Walton of Smethwick was awarded the building contract and on June 6 1881 the foundation stones for the Queen Anne style
building, its principal entrance in a 60 foot clocktower, were laid. Bourne College, which opened in Quinton in 1882, took its name from Hugh Bourne
(1772-1852) one of the founders of Primitive Methodism, who had visited the village on a number of occasions in the mid-nineteenth century.
The buildings themselves were extensive. A school room, dining room, class room, piano rooms, a large chemical laboratory, lavatory and cloak room are on the ground floor; the first floor being devoted to three large dormitories, bath rooms and lavatories. The servant’s department consists of a large kitchen with serving room and scullery attached, servants’ hall, various store rooms, pantries and dairy on the ground floor, and bedrooms occupying the first floor. Adjoining the College is the Governor’s house. Apartments are arranged for the sick and for the repairing of clothes. A spacious kitchen court contains the laundry, wash-house and engine house, and a large drying-ground and covered playground are provided. Water is obtained from a well and pumped into a tank in the roof over the bath room and the College is warmed by hot water apparatus.
to Warrington
; from Berwick-on-Tweed to Redruth
and from parts of the world as diverse as France, British Guinea, and that favourite preaching ground of Primitive Methodist missionaries, Fernando Po
, from where Rev Napoleon Barleycorn
sent his sons to Quinton to be educated. An elderly lady who as a girl had lived in Quinton commented, “We children used to go and stand at the gates of Bourne College because we had heard that there were overseas students there and we had never seen anyone foreign!”
, from chemistry
to carpentry
and from elocution
to electricity
. Here they exercised… Much interest is attached to games, with the conviction that proper physical culture is not only a source of pleasure and an auxiliary to health, but is a stimulus to the intellect … and ate… Care is taken to provide a good substantial diet. Boys may be supplied with ham or other meat for breakfast at a charge of 25/- per term and day pupils may have dinners at 9d each … and slept… in a light, lofty and well-ventilated dormitory
. A thorough system of baths and lavatories is also provided … and all, in the early days, for only twenty four guineas per term.
, numbers at Bourne College went into a sharp decline, as the increasing provision of state secondary education reduced the need for minor public schools. The College went into voluntary liquidation
, the contents of the building were auctioned in March 1929, by Edward Stevens & Champion, scholarships transferred to Elmfield and the buildings acquired by the Board of the Birmingham Guardians of the Poor, being subsequently refurbished as Quinton Hall, a home for aged men.
Quinton
Quinton may refer to:*Quinton Andrews, American football player*Anthony Quinton, a philosopher*A. R. Quinton, an English watercolour artist*Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, an American Mixed Martial Artist*René Quinton, a French naturalist...
, near Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, 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...
.
Establishment
Like its elder sister, Elmfield CollegeElmfield College
Elmfield College, York , originally called "Connexional College" or "Jubilee College" in honour of the Primitive Methodist Silver Jubilee in 1860, was a Primitive Methodist college on the outskirts of Heworth, York, England, near Monk Stray.-Primitive Methodism in York:The college was a national...
in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Bourne College was established as a school for the sons of Primitive Methodists, beginning its life in 1876 in the redundant Roman Catholic St Chad’s Grammar School in Summer Hill, Birmingham, but soon outgrowing that accommodation and moving to 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) at Quinton.
Location
This location was chosen, according to the inaugural speech of Rev George Middleton, FGSGeological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
, the first governor of Bourne College (a post in which he combined the duties of chaplain, bursar, caretaker and general handyman) for one prime reason - students would have plenty of fresh and pure water, and would be removed from the temptations of town life, which would form one of the greatest encouragements to their parents, who were naturally anxious that their sons should be preserved from corrupting associations.
Formation
A company was formed, with a capital of £25,000 in 5,000 shares of £5, its object to establish a college or school chiefly for the education under sound Protestant religious influences of young gentlemen.Messrs D. Smith & Sons of Birmingham were appointed architects, E. Walton of Smethwick was awarded the building contract and on June 6 1881 the foundation stones for the Queen Anne style
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
building, its principal entrance in a 60 foot clocktower, were laid. Bourne College, which opened in Quinton in 1882, took its name from Hugh Bourne
Hugh Bourne
Hugh Bourne was the joint founder of Primitive Methodism, the largest offshoot of Wesleyan Methodism and, in the mid nineteenth century, an influential Protestant Christian movement in its own right.- Early life :...
(1772-1852) one of the founders of Primitive Methodism, who had visited the village on a number of occasions in the mid-nineteenth century.
The buildings themselves were extensive. A school room, dining room, class room, piano rooms, a large chemical laboratory, lavatory and cloak room are on the ground floor; the first floor being devoted to three large dormitories, bath rooms and lavatories. The servant’s department consists of a large kitchen with serving room and scullery attached, servants’ hall, various store rooms, pantries and dairy on the ground floor, and bedrooms occupying the first floor. Adjoining the College is the Governor’s house. Apartments are arranged for the sick and for the repairing of clothes. A spacious kitchen court contains the laundry, wash-house and engine house, and a large drying-ground and covered playground are provided. Water is obtained from a well and pumped into a tank in the roof over the bath room and the College is warmed by hot water apparatus.
First Headmaster
R.G. Heys was appointed Bourne College’s first headmaster during its Summer Hill incarnation, and was replaced in 1883 by Thomas James Stewart Hooson, who had been an assistant master since 1878 and became headmaster of Bourne College when he was not quite twenty-one. After the retirement of Rev. George Middleton, he combined the roles of headmaster and governor until his retirement coincided with the closure of the college in 1928. Both George Middleton and Stewart Hooson are buried in Quinton churchyard and Hooson is commemorated in the mis-spelt Hoosen Close on the Bourne College site.Impact
The impact of Bourne College upon the insular community of Quinton’s farm labourers, shop keepers and small-time metal workers was enormous. As its arrival brought new talent and new blood into the village, there was a very real sense in which it also brought the world to Quinton. During the forty-seven years of its existence in Quinton, some 39 Quinton boys attended the College, in company with 1,159 boys not from Quinton. They came from WelshpoolWelshpool
Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...
to Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
; from Berwick-on-Tweed to Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
and from parts of the world as diverse as France, British Guinea, and that favourite preaching ground of Primitive Methodist missionaries, Fernando Po
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
, from where Rev Napoleon Barleycorn
Napoleon Barleycorn
Napolean Barleycorn, a Primitive Methodist missionary in Spanish Guinea, a Fernandino of Igbo descent, who sent his sons to be educated at Bourne College in Quinton, Scotland...
sent his sons to Quinton to be educated. An elderly lady who as a girl had lived in Quinton commented, “We children used to go and stand at the gates of Bourne College because we had heard that there were overseas students there and we had never seen anyone foreign!”
Academics
At Bourne College boys studied everything from book-keeping to botanyBotany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, from chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
to carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and from elocution
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...
to electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. Here they exercised… Much interest is attached to games, with the conviction that proper physical culture is not only a source of pleasure and an auxiliary to health, but is a stimulus to the intellect … and ate… Care is taken to provide a good substantial diet. Boys may be supplied with ham or other meat for breakfast at a charge of 25/- per term and day pupils may have dinners at 9d each … and slept… in a light, lofty and well-ventilated dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
. A thorough system of baths and lavatories is also provided … and all, in the early days, for only twenty four guineas per term.
Closing of School
In the years immediately following the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, numbers at Bourne College went into a sharp decline, as the increasing provision of state secondary education reduced the need for minor public schools. The College went into voluntary liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
, the contents of the building were auctioned in March 1929, by Edward Stevens & Champion, scholarships transferred to Elmfield and the buildings acquired by the Board of the Birmingham Guardians of the Poor, being subsequently refurbished as Quinton Hall, a home for aged men.
Further reading
- Bourne College Memorandum of Association