King Edward's School, Birmingham
Encyclopedia
King Edward's School is an independent
secondary school
in Birmingham
, England
, founded by King Edward VI
in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham
, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to various league tables. It was ranked 7th for A-Level results and 20th for GCSE results, out of all schools in England in 2004.
It is a boys' school, although it shares the site, and is twinned, with King Edward VI High School for Girls
(KEHS), also one of the most academically successful schools in the UK. Whilst the two schools are run completely separately, dramatic arts and music are often shared, as are occasional sixth form lessons in subjects such as Ancient Greek, Music and Theatre Studies.
The Foundation was created on 2 January 1552 by Royal Charter
of King Edward VI together with £20 per annum returned by The Crown
for educational purposes. Five years earlier in 1547 the Act of Suppression, part of the wider Dissolution of the Monasteries
, provided for the confiscation of all assets of religious guilds except an amount of land with an annual income of £21 (two thirds of the original lands) if the guild supported a school. The Guild of the Holy Cross
in Birmingham had no school, but persuaded the Earl of Northumberland
(also the lord of the manor of Birmingham) to release the land for the creation of a school. The charter of the free Grammer Schole of King Edward VI was issued on 2 January 1552, and the school came into being in the former guild
building on New Street
. By the 1680s there were neer 200 boys in the school and a Petty School (a feeder school
) had been established by the foundation.
The affairs of the school in the early part of the 18th Century were dominated by a quarrel between a governor and the headmaster, but this notwithstanding, a new Georgian
inspired building was built on the New Street site between 1731 and 1734. In the latter part of the 18th Century four separate elementary schools and a girls' school were set up by the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI
. The school remained relatively stagnant after this until Francis Jeune
was appointed Headmaster in 1835. He erected a new building on the same site, in the Gothic Style
of architecture. This was designed by Charles Barry
, who employed Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin for aspects of the interior design, generally held to be Big School and, less certainly, the decorative battlements. (Barry
, again employing Pugin, subsequently designed the present Palace of Westminster
). From within this new landmark building came several changes in the curriculum and ethos of the school. Sports became an important feature, through games afternoons, and the dominance of Classics
was lessened by the introduction of mathematics and science.
By 1936 the old building on New Street had become a fire risk, and plans were made by the Governors and the then Headmaster, Edwin Thirlwall England, to move to a new site at Edgbaston Park Road/Bristol Road, in Edgbaston
, along with the girls school
. Ironically, the temporary buildings erected on the new site in 1936 burnt down. The school was forced to move, if only for a short time, to the University of Birmingham
's Great Hall and surrounding buildings until new temporary buildings could be erected. The move was complicated by the outbreak of the Second World War, and the subsequent evacuation of the pupils to Repton School
for a short period. By 1940 enough of the new buildings designed by Holland W. Hobbiss
had been built for the school to begin lessons. In 1945 the schools became direct grant grammar school
s, which meant that the Governors had to relinquish some control over the running of the school. The schools were finally completed around 1948, although the 1950s saw a period of expansion under the Chief Master Ronald G. Lunt, appointed 1952, including the construction of a swimming pool and the building of a Chapel from a specially salvaged portion of the upper corridor of the New Street building. In 1976 the two schools became, once again, independent schools, due to the termination of the Direct Grant scheme by the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The school remains independent and is still on the Edgbaston site. In 2008 the school announced that it would offer the International Baccalaureate to members of the sixth form from September 2010 onwards. Also in 2008 the school announced a major building programme, to commence with a new performing arts centre, which will be built in 2009-10 by commissioning architects Haworth Tompkins.
The chapel, a Grade II* listed building, was originally part of the upper corridor of the 1838 New Street school (built by Charles Barry). It was moved brick by brick to Edgbaston (1938–1940) by Holland W Hobbis, and renovated and rebuilt in the 1950s.
The Chapel is used for services every Wednesday morning, when the Eucharist is celebrated by the school Chaplain.
, starring John Cleese
, supposedly as the University of East Anglia. The school featured briefly in the 2006 Ray Winstone Channel 4 TV film All in the Game. The school has also been used in several episodes of the BBC medical drama Doctors
. The school grounds were used in 2000 to film a feature on the Mazda MX-5
sports car for Clarkson's Car Years
, presented by Jeremy Clarkson
, against a background of boys in the Shells playing rugby on a rainy day.
The table below attempts to clarify the names of forms used for the different years:
King Edward's has a house system
, instigated in 1902 by the then Headmaster, Robert Cary Gilson. Originally, there were four houses, using the colours Blue, Green, Red and Yellow, but the houses were known simply by the name of the Housemaster at any one time ("Mr Soandso's House"), involving a change of name whenever the Housemaster changed. In 1951 the number of Houses was enlarged to eight, and it was decided that they should have permanent names. Six were called after former Headmasters, and two after assistant masters (Rawdon Levett and C. H. Heath).
The Houses compete against one another every year to win the Cock House Trophy. There are many events that boys take part in and get points for. These points are totalled up at the end of the year, and the House with the most points is declared the Cock House Champion. Each house has a distinctive set of 'colours', which are awarded to students for merit and commitment in representing the house in house matches. Each house also has its own 'house tie', the tie's pattern comprising stripes of the house colour on a black background. Some houses award it for subjective merit, while others use a points system to award the tie. Only boys in the Fourths and above may wear a house tie. The most successful house on record is Gifford, with 11 Cock House Trophy wins in 32 years, their most recent win being in 2009. The longest ever run of victories is 6 years in a row, achieved by Heath House 1998–2004. In reporting sport events the house names are often shortened to one or two letters, as indicated above.
In the first and second years (Shells and Removes), there are up to six fully coached rugby teams, but from the third year there are only three. Other boys practise hockey, basketball, fencing and swimming. On rare occasions, where boys are especially talented in several fields, they play those sports they excel in, as well as their chosen sport.
The rugby match against KES's main rival, Bromsgrove School
, is the highlight of the rugby season, has been played annually since 1875, and is the oldest annual schools fixture in England. KES is also a keen rival of Solihull School
and Warwick School
, both fixtures dating back a hundred or more years. The school runs a rugby tour to a major rugby-playing country every two years, the tour being open only to the 1st and 2nd teams of that year.
Water polo
is the most successful sport at King Edward's. The team has won the English Schools Under-19 Water Polo competition in 2002 and 2008, the latter win being accompanied by the Warwickshire Cup, making the most successful season in recent times. Numerous players have been called to the City of Birmingham Youth Squad and English Schools Water Polo teams.
The House system encourages participation in sport outside the weekly sports sessions. With autumn and winter competitions in rugby, hockey, tennis etc., pupils have the opportunity to participate in team competitions. In the summer, House activities such as the school's athletics competition, cross country races and House swimming allow further sporting pursuits. The School makes use of its extensive sporting facilities, which include a swimming pool, astroturf pitches (shared with KEHS), tennis courts, numerous rugby and cricket pitches (including additional training areas), an athletics track, a sports hall, squash courts and Eton Fives
courts. The school also competes in national competitions of a more intellectual nature including chess, general challenges and debating.
Although Association football is not played as a sport in the school, the astroturf pitches, school parade ground and chapel wall are used by boys at lunchtime for "Parade Ground Football" .
There is a separate building on site housing the Music Department, with facilities including a recital/rehearsal auditorium and a computer laboratory equipped with keyboard input. In addition, the school supports two full orchestras (in association with King Edward's High School for Girls), conducted by Peter Bridle, MBE, the more advanced of which has performed such works as Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"
. There are also two wind/brass ensembles in association with KEHS, and the senior members of both schools can join the Choral Society, a choir of 80-100 people which has sung such works as Carl Orff
's Carmina Burana
and Leonard Bernstein
's Chichester Psalms. KES also has its own Choir, which sings at the Founder's Day prizegiving, the Christmas Carol service held in St. Philip's Cathedral in the centre of Birmingham, and at the Christmas and Summer concerts. The school holds four concerts every year: two at the Adrian Boult Hall, one at the Town Hall and one at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham
. The Drama Society at KES performs a junior play, senior play or musical, and syndicate play (organised solely by pupils) and participates in the Shakespeare Schools Festival
(for pupils in the Fourths and Fifths). Most recently, in 2011, the senior production was Les Misérables
and the junior production Skellig
.
In the Shells boys take part in a three-day camping trip in Staffordshire
, cooking their own evening meals. In the Removes each form has a five-day youth hostel visit in the Lake District
or Snowdonia
. This is alongside individual department field trips, such as annual Geography, History and Biology field trips along with exchanges with foreign students.
The annual expeditions programme includes cycle tours, visits to Jordan
, Ardèche
adventure weeks in France
, ski and snow-shoeing trips, and visits to Normandy
and the Bay of Naples. The school has operated annual cycle tours since 1995. Past tours have included Sustrans
routes such as the Coast to Coast and Hull
to Felixstowe
. The school has toured on three occasions from Land's End to John O'Groats. Cycle tours abroad include the Kingfisher Trail in Ireland
, a tour in Normandy, the Golden Circle in the Netherlands
, and most recently from Dunkerque in France to IJmuiden in the Netherlands.
(CCF) since 1906 (originally Officers Training Corps
, then Junior Training Corps, 1940–48); it is a voluntary organisation. The CCF comprises three sections: the Royal Navy section, the Army section, and the Royal Air Force section. The CCF conduct their training on Friday afternoons, and expeditions take place throughout the year. The RN section is currently affiliated to HMS Daring
, along with several other organisations in the Midlands.
The contingent is part of 143 West Midlands Brigade, and the contingent are represented at the Brigade competitions by members of all three sections. In 2006 the contingent won all the matches at the CCF Skill at Arms competition, the Military Skills competition and various first aid titles. The CCF is closely linked with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
scheme within the school. In 2006 KES CCF celebrated its centenary Review; the Inspecting Officer was the then Second Sea Lord
, Vice Admiral
Adrian Johns
.
The school operates the Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. Expedition training away from school at Bronze level takes place during seven weekends so that as many boys as possible may participate. The Gold expedition in 2008 visited the French Pyrenees
.
One of the school's smaller and most unusual societies is the Living History Group. It is made up of some thirty boys and girls from the King Edward's Foundation, led by several members of staff. It is the only school-based re-enactment of its kind in the country . The Group focuses on presenting life around the years 1392 and 1552, the former being the date of the foundation of the Gild of the Holy Cross from which the school was founded in 1552. It presents aspects of civilian life as well as military skills. Archery is a core skill in the group but swordsmanship and drill are also practised. As a civilian group they represent an English woollen or spice merchant's household. A few years ago, the Group has designed a portable counterweight powered trebuchet, one of only two in the country. The group is well known throughout England's 'Re-enactor Network', and participates in many well established public events a year as well as numerous educational events in other schools, normally local to or in Birmingham. In addition, the group have traveled to Denmark in 2008 and 2010 to participate in the activities at the Danish Middle Ages Centre and plan to return again in the next few years.
song
s:
King Edward's School Song
Where the iron heart of England throbs beneath its sombre robe,
Stands a school whose sons have made her great and famous round the globe,
These have plucked the bays of battle, those have won the scholar's crown;
Old Edwardians, young Edwardians, forward for the School's renown.
Chorus
Forward where the knocks are hardest, some to failure, some to fame;
Never mind the cheers or hooting, keep your head and play the game.
Here's no place for fop or idler; they who made our city great
Feared no hardship, shirked no labour, smiled at death and conquered fate;
They who gave our School its laurels laid on us a sacred trust;
Forward therefore, live your hardest, die of service, not of rust.
Forward where the scrimmage thickens; never stop to rub your shin;
Cowards count the kicks and ha'pence, only care to save their skin.
Oftentimes defeat is splendid, victory may still be shame;
Luck is good, the prize is pleasant but the glory's in the game.
The following verse was dropped when the School moved from New Street to Edgbaston:
Here no classic grove secludes us, here abides no cloistered calm;
Not the titled, nor the stranger, wrestles here to gain the palm;
Round our smoke-encrusted precincts labour's turbid river runs;
Builders of this burly city temper here their strenuous sons.
David Rudkin
's TV film Penda's Fen
alludes frequently to aspects of school life in the early 1950s which will be instantly recognised by alumni from that period. Worth particular mention is an obsessive dwelling on the Chief Master’s rostrum “Sapientia” (see above) and, perhaps surprisingly, the direct use of some rare personal surnames of staff and pupils from that period. Scenes involving the Combined Cadet Force, a central theme in the film, realistically and convincingly recreate the atmosphere of the school at that time. Rudkin (OE c1947-1954) has published ambivalent views of his time at the school.
‘Penda’s Fen’ is coming to be considered something of a cult by some sections of the media industry.
Jonathan Coe
’s novel The Rotters' Club can be said to have an axis along the Bristol Road from the city out to Cofton Park via the Longbridge car factory of the 1970s. Again, specific references clearly identify King Edward’s, thinly disguised this time as ‘King William’s’. Coe (OE c1972-1979) has said that he has set out to geographically identify Birmingham as a specific place, something which he claims is never done in English literature for places other than London. An instance of this is his reference to the 62 bus to Rednal and a particular bus stop in Northfield.
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in 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...
, founded by King Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham
Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI
The Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates two independent schools, five voluntary aided selective state schools in Birmingham, England and one academy....
, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to various league tables. It was ranked 7th for A-Level results and 20th for GCSE results, out of all schools in England in 2004.
It is a boys' school, although it shares the site, and is twinned, with King Edward VI High School for Girls
King Edward VI High School for Girls
King Edward VI High School for Girls is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and occupies the same site as, and is twinned with, King Edward's School...
(KEHS), also one of the most academically successful schools in the UK. Whilst the two schools are run completely separately, dramatic arts and music are often shared, as are occasional sixth form lessons in subjects such as Ancient Greek, Music and Theatre Studies.
History
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
of King Edward VI together with £20 per annum returned by The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
for educational purposes. Five years earlier in 1547 the Act of Suppression, part of the wider Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, provided for the confiscation of all assets of religious guilds except an amount of land with an annual income of £21 (two thirds of the original lands) if the guild supported a school. The Guild of the Holy Cross
Guild of the Holy Cross
The Guild or Gild of the Holy Cross was a medieval religious guild in Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1392 by three burgesses of the town - John Coleshill, John Goldsmith and William atte Slowe - in place of an attempt to found a chantry in the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring,...
in Birmingham had no school, but persuaded the Earl of Northumberland
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland was created several times in the Peerages of England and Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders were the House of Percy , who were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages...
(also the lord of the manor of Birmingham) to release the land for the creation of a school. The charter of the free Grammer Schole of King Edward VI was issued on 2 January 1552, and the school came into being in the former guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
building on New Street
New Street, Birmingham
New Street is a street in central Birmingham, England . It is one of the city's principal thoroughfares and shopping streets. Named after it is Birmingham New Street Station, although that does not have an entrance on New Street except through the Pallasades Shopping Centre.-History:New Street is...
. By the 1680s there were neer 200 boys in the school and a Petty School (a feeder school
Feeder school
Feeder school is a name applied to schools, colleges, universities, or other educational institutions that provide a significant number of graduates who intend to continue their studies at specific schools, or even in specific fields....
) had been established by the foundation.
The affairs of the school in the early part of the 18th Century were dominated by a quarrel between a governor and the headmaster, but this notwithstanding, a new Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
inspired building was built on the New Street site between 1731 and 1734. In the latter part of the 18th Century four separate elementary schools and a girls' school were set up by the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI
Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI
The Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates two independent schools, five voluntary aided selective state schools in Birmingham, England and one academy....
. The school remained relatively stagnant after this until Francis Jeune
Francis Jeune
Francis Jeune or François Jeune was Dean of Jersey, 1838–1844, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford and Bishop of Peterborough, 1864-1868....
was appointed Headmaster in 1835. He erected a new building on the same site, in the Gothic Style
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
of architecture. This was designed by Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
, who employed Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin for aspects of the interior design, generally held to be Big School and, less certainly, the decorative battlements. (Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
, again employing Pugin, subsequently designed the present Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
). From within this new landmark building came several changes in the curriculum and ethos of the school. Sports became an important feature, through games afternoons, and the dominance of Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
was lessened by the introduction of mathematics and science.
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, along with the girls school
King Edward VI High School for Girls
King Edward VI High School for Girls is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and occupies the same site as, and is twinned with, King Edward's School...
. Ironically, the temporary buildings erected on the new site in 1936 burnt down. The school was forced to move, if only for a short time, to the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
's Great Hall and surrounding buildings until new temporary buildings could be erected. The move was complicated by the outbreak of the Second World War, and the subsequent evacuation of the pupils to Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
for a short period. By 1940 enough of the new buildings designed by Holland W. Hobbiss
Holland W. Hobbiss
Holland W. Hobbiss was an architect in the Birmingham area of England. He also traded under the name Holland W. Hobbiss and Partners, and Holland W. Hobbiss and M. A. H. Hobbiss...
had been built for the school to begin lessons. In 1945 the schools became direct grant grammar school
Direct grant grammar school
A direct grant grammar school was a selective secondary school in England and Wales between 1945 and 1976 funded partly by the state and partly through private fees....
s, which meant that the Governors had to relinquish some control over the running of the school. The schools were finally completed around 1948, although the 1950s saw a period of expansion under the Chief Master Ronald G. Lunt, appointed 1952, including the construction of a swimming pool and the building of a Chapel from a specially salvaged portion of the upper corridor of the New Street building. In 1976 the two schools became, once again, independent schools, due to the termination of the Direct Grant scheme by the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The school remains independent and is still on the Edgbaston site. In 2008 the school announced that it would offer the International Baccalaureate to members of the sixth form from September 2010 onwards. Also in 2008 the school announced a major building programme, to commence with a new performing arts centre, which will be built in 2009-10 by commissioning architects Haworth Tompkins.
The Chapel
The Chapel is used for services every Wednesday morning, when the Eucharist is celebrated by the school Chaplain.
"Sapientia"
"Another glory of the School, the great desk of the Headmaster, with 'Sapientia' inscribed over it" survives from Barry's New Street school , and is still in daily use in Big School. This too is generally thought to be the work of Pugin.Appearances
The school buildings have been used in several film and television productions. They were used in the 1986 film ClockwiseClockwise (film)
Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment...
, starring John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, supposedly as the University of East Anglia. The school featured briefly in the 2006 Ray Winstone Channel 4 TV film All in the Game. The school has also been used in several episodes of the BBC medical drama Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
. The school grounds were used in 2000 to film a feature on the Mazda MX-5
Mazda MX-5
The MX-5, also known as Miata in North America and Eunos Roadster in Japan, is a lightweight two-seater roadster, of front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan. The model was introduced in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show...
sports car for Clarkson's Car Years
Clarkson's Car Years
Clarkson's Car Years was a television series presented by Jeremy Clarkson and first shown during June and July 2000 on BBC Two. Over the series, Clarkson discusses six different topics relating to motoring, looking at the defining moments of each...
, presented by Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
, against a background of boys in the Shells playing rugby on a rainy day.
School structure
Unlike state secondary schools and in common with many independent schools, King Edward's does not use modern year group names habitually, e.g. Year 11, Year 12, etc.The table below attempts to clarify the names of forms used for the different years:
| Name of Form | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Shells | 7 | |
| Removes (Rems) | 8 | |
| Upper Middles (UMs) | 9 | |
| Fourths (IVs) | 10 | First year of GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills... study |
| Fifths (Vths) | 11 | Second year of GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills... study |
| Divisions (Divs) | 12 | First year of IB study |
| Sixths (VIs) | 13 | Final year of IB study |
The House System
| House | Abbreviation | Colour | Headmaster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cary Gilson | CG | Light Blue | Robert Cary Gilson |
| Evans | E | Green | Charles Evans |
| Gifford | G | Purple | Edwin Hamilton Gifford Edwin Hamilton Gifford Edwin Hamilton Gifford, DD was an eminent Anglican Priest and author in the second half of the 19th century.Edwin Gifford was educated at Shrewsbury and St John's College, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1845. He was Second Master at his old school then Head Master of King Edward's School,... |
| Heath | H | Yellow | C.H. Heath |
| Jeune | J | Red | Francis Jeune Francis Jeune Francis Jeune or François Jeune was Dean of Jersey, 1838–1844, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford and Bishop of Peterborough, 1864-1868.... |
| Levett | L | Grey | Rawdon Levett Levett Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of... |
| Prince Lee | PL | Pink | James Prince Lee James Prince Lee James Prince Lee, MA, DD was an English clergyman who became the first Bishop of Manchester.-Early life:... |
| Vardy | V | Dark Blue | Albert Vardy |
King Edward's has a house system
House 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...
, instigated in 1902 by the then Headmaster, Robert Cary Gilson. Originally, there were four houses, using the colours Blue, Green, Red and Yellow, but the houses were known simply by the name of the Housemaster at any one time ("Mr Soandso's House"), involving a change of name whenever the Housemaster changed. In 1951 the number of Houses was enlarged to eight, and it was decided that they should have permanent names. Six were called after former Headmasters, and two after assistant masters (Rawdon Levett and C. H. Heath).
The Houses compete against one another every year to win the Cock House Trophy. There are many events that boys take part in and get points for. These points are totalled up at the end of the year, and the House with the most points is declared the Cock House Champion. Each house has a distinctive set of 'colours', which are awarded to students for merit and commitment in representing the house in house matches. Each house also has its own 'house tie', the tie's pattern comprising stripes of the house colour on a black background. Some houses award it for subjective merit, while others use a points system to award the tie. Only boys in the Fourths and above may wear a house tie. The most successful house on record is Gifford, with 11 Cock House Trophy wins in 32 years, their most recent win being in 2009. The longest ever run of victories is 6 years in a row, achieved by Heath House 1998–2004. In reporting sport events the house names are often shortened to one or two letters, as indicated above.
Sport
There are two main sports at KES; rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer. Hockey is available as an option from first year (Shells) onwards.In the first and second years (Shells and Removes), there are up to six fully coached rugby teams, but from the third year there are only three. Other boys practise hockey, basketball, fencing and swimming. On rare occasions, where boys are especially talented in several fields, they play those sports they excel in, as well as their chosen sport.
The rugby match against KES's main rival, Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
, is the highlight of the rugby season, has been played annually since 1875, and is the oldest annual schools fixture in England. KES is also a keen rival of Solihull School
Solihull School
Solihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
and Warwick School
Warwick School
Warwick School is an independent school with boarding facilities for boys in Warwick, England, and is reputed to be the third-oldest surviving school in the country after King's School, Canterbury and St Peter's School, York; and the oldest boy's school in England...
, both fixtures dating back a hundred or more years. The school runs a rugby tour to a major rugby-playing country every two years, the tour being open only to the 1st and 2nd teams of that year.
Water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
is the most successful sport at King Edward's. The team has won the English Schools Under-19 Water Polo competition in 2002 and 2008, the latter win being accompanied by the Warwickshire Cup, making the most successful season in recent times. Numerous players have been called to the City of Birmingham Youth Squad and English Schools Water Polo teams.
The House system encourages participation in sport outside the weekly sports sessions. With autumn and winter competitions in rugby, hockey, tennis etc., pupils have the opportunity to participate in team competitions. In the summer, House activities such as the school's athletics competition, cross country races and House swimming allow further sporting pursuits. The School makes use of its extensive sporting facilities, which include a swimming pool, astroturf pitches (shared with KEHS), tennis courts, numerous rugby and cricket pitches (including additional training areas), an athletics track, a sports hall, squash courts and 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. The school also competes in national competitions of a more intellectual nature including chess, general challenges and debating.
Although Association football is not played as a sport in the school, the astroturf pitches, school parade ground and chapel wall are used by boys at lunchtime for "Parade Ground Football" .
Music and drama
Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
. There are also two wind/brass ensembles in association with KEHS, and the senior members of both schools can join the Choral Society, a choir of 80-100 people which has sung such works as Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's Chichester Psalms. KES also has its own Choir, which sings at the Founder's Day prizegiving, the Christmas Carol service held in St. Philip's Cathedral in the centre of Birmingham, and at the Christmas and Summer concerts. The school holds four concerts every year: two at the Adrian Boult Hall, one at the Town Hall and one at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue located inside the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by the Queen in June 1991, although had been opened on April 15, 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hosts around 270 events...
. The Drama Society at KES performs a junior play, senior play or musical, and syndicate play (organised solely by pupils) and participates in the Shakespeare Schools Festival
Shakespeare Schools Festival
The Shakespeare Schools Festival charity is the UK’s largest youth drama festival, enabling four schools a night to perform a half hour abridged versions of Shakespeare's plays in local, professional theatres all over the United Kingdom...
(for pupils in the Fourths and Fifths). Most recently, in 2011, the senior production was Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
and the junior production Skellig
Skellig
Skellig is a novel by David Almond, for which Almond was awarded the Carnegie Medal in 1998 and also the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award. The book won the 2000 Michael L. Printz Honor from YALSA in the United States...
.
Visits and expeditions
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, cooking their own evening meals. In the Removes each form has a five-day youth hostel visit in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
or Snowdonia
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
. This is alongside individual department field trips, such as annual Geography, History and Biology field trips along with exchanges with foreign students.
The annual expeditions programme includes cycle tours, visits to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Ardèche
Ardèche
Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...
adventure weeks in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, ski and snow-shoeing trips, and visits to Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and the Bay of Naples. The school has operated annual cycle tours since 1995. Past tours have included Sustrans
Sustrans
Sustrans is a British charity to promote sustainable transport. The charity is currently working on a number of practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport, to give people the choice of "travelling in ways that benefit their health and the environment"...
routes such as the Coast to Coast and Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
to Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...
. The school has toured on three occasions from Land's End to John O'Groats. Cycle tours abroad include the Kingfisher Trail in 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...
, a tour in Normandy, the Golden Circle in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and most recently from Dunkerque in France to IJmuiden in the Netherlands.
CCF and Duke of Edinburgh's Award
King Edward's School has had a 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,...
(CCF) since 1906 (originally Officers Training Corps
Officers Training Corps
The Officer Training Corps is a part of the British Army which provides military leadership training to students at UK universities...
, then Junior Training Corps, 1940–48); it is a voluntary organisation. The CCF comprises three sections: the Royal Navy section, the Army section, and the Royal Air Force section. The CCF conduct their training on Friday afternoons, and expeditions take place throughout the year. The RN section is currently affiliated to HMS Daring
HMS Daring (D32)
HMS Daring is the lead ship of the Type 45 or 'D' class of air defence destroyer in the Royal Navy and the seventh ship to hold that name.She was launched in 2006 on the Clyde and conducted contractor's sea trials during 2007 and 2008...
, along with several other organisations in the Midlands.
The contingent is part of 143 West Midlands Brigade, and the contingent are represented at the Brigade competitions by members of all three sections. In 2006 the contingent won all the matches at the CCF Skill at Arms competition, the Military Skills competition and various first aid titles. The CCF is closely linked with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award , is a programme of activities that can be undertaken by anyone aged 14 to 24, regardless of personal ability....
scheme within the school. In 2006 KES CCF celebrated its centenary Review; the Inspecting Officer was the then Second Sea Lord
Second Sea Lord
The Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command , commonly just known as the Second Sea Lord , is one of the most senior admirals of the British Royal Navy , and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establishments.-History:In 1805, for the first time, specific functions were...
, Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Adrian Johns
Adrian Johns
Vice Admiral Sir Adrian James Johns KCB, CBE, KStJ, ADC is the current Governor of Gibraltar and a former senior officer in the Royal Navy. His most senior naval posting was as Second Sea Lord from 2005 to 2008.-Career:...
.
The school operates the Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. Expedition training away from school at Bronze level takes place during seven weekends so that as many boys as possible may participate. The Gold expedition in 2008 visited the French Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
.
Clubs and Societies
There is a range of around 40 groups, clubs and societies at the school, including: The Agora Society (philosophy), The Parliamentary Society (politics), Greek Reading, The Graphic Universe (sci-fi appreciation), Warhammer Society, Living History Re-Enactment, Junior and Senior Debating Societies, Literary Society, Dramatic Society, Amnesty International Society, Classic Film Society, Classic Rock Society, Scientific Society, Book Club and Archery. There are also several school choirs and a string orchestra. The mentoring society, with the aim of helping students in their studies, runs weekly under the supervision of the Learning Support co-ordinator. Boys can also compete in the Schools Challenge competition. King Edward's has flourishing debating teams which participate in competitive tournaments at venues like the Oxford, Cambridge and Durham Unions. It was the first (and so far only) school to retain the Cambridge Union Schools' Debating title (2000 and 2001).Historical re-enactment
School songs
There are two schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s:
- King Edward's School Song
- Written by Alfred Hayes, O.E. (1857–1936); composed by A. Somervell and first sung by Jerome O'Neill in 1937.
- A rousing song, sung mainly at the end of term, usually with high-spirited boys placing particular emphasis on the line "some to failure, SOME TO FAME!".
- A fourth verse was dropped from the song when the School moved from the city centre to Edgbaston.
King Edward's School Song
Where the iron heart of England throbs beneath its sombre robe,
Stands a school whose sons have made her great and famous round the globe,
These have plucked the bays of battle, those have won the scholar's crown;
Old Edwardians, young Edwardians, forward for the School's renown.
Chorus
Forward where the knocks are hardest, some to failure, some to fame;
Never mind the cheers or hooting, keep your head and play the game.
Here's no place for fop or idler; they who made our city great
Feared no hardship, shirked no labour, smiled at death and conquered fate;
They who gave our School its laurels laid on us a sacred trust;
Forward therefore, live your hardest, die of service, not of rust.
Forward where the scrimmage thickens; never stop to rub your shin;
Cowards count the kicks and ha'pence, only care to save their skin.
Oftentimes defeat is splendid, victory may still be shame;
Luck is good, the prize is pleasant but the glory's in the game.
The following verse was dropped when the School moved from New Street to Edgbaston:
Here no classic grove secludes us, here abides no cloistered calm;
Not the titled, nor the stranger, wrestles here to gain the palm;
Round our smoke-encrusted precincts labour's turbid river runs;
Builders of this burly city temper here their strenuous sons.
- The Quatercentenary Song
- Written in Latin by Roger Dunt (1900–63), Senior Classics Master; composed by Dr. Willis GrantWillis GrantWillis Grant was an English cathedral organist, who served in St. Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham.-Background:Willis Grant was born on 1 May 1907 in Bolton, Lancashire. He was educated at Astley Bridge School...
(1907–81), Music Master - Sung at Founder's Day, the annual commemoration in October of King Edward's birthday, and at the school's Speech Day. It is also sung at various other awardAwardAn award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
ceremoniesCeremonyA ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin.-Ceremonial occasions:A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:* birth...
. An extra verse was written for the visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II on 3 November 1955 (replacing a visit planned for the Quatercentenary Year 1952 by his late majesty, King George VI).
- Written in Latin by Roger Dunt (1900–63), Senior Classics Master; composed by Dr. Willis Grant
King Edward’s in modern literature
In the mid-20th century the school, perhaps uniquely, produced two literati of international repute who used their time at school as the basis for autobiographical work. Both had close associations with north Worcestershire and the south-western areas of Birmingham, and these associations are reflected in their work.David Rudkin
David Rudkin
James David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford...
's TV film Penda's Fen
Penda's Fen
Penda's Fen is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was transmitted as part of the corporation's Play for Today series.-Plot summary:...
alludes frequently to aspects of school life in the early 1950s which will be instantly recognised by alumni from that period. Worth particular mention is an obsessive dwelling on the Chief Master’s rostrum “Sapientia” (see above) and, perhaps surprisingly, the direct use of some rare personal surnames of staff and pupils from that period. Scenes involving the Combined Cadet Force, a central theme in the film, realistically and convincingly recreate the atmosphere of the school at that time. Rudkin (OE c1947-1954) has published ambivalent views of his time at the school.
‘Penda’s Fen’ is coming to be considered something of a cult by some sections of the media industry.
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
’s novel The Rotters' Club can be said to have an axis along the Bristol Road from the city out to Cofton Park via the Longbridge car factory of the 1970s. Again, specific references clearly identify King Edward’s, thinly disguised this time as ‘King William’s’. Coe (OE c1972-1979) has said that he has set out to geographically identify Birmingham as a specific place, something which he claims is never done in English literature for places other than London. An instance of this is his reference to the 62 bus to Rednal and a particular bus stop in Northfield.
Notable Old Edwardians
See: People educated at King Edward's School, BirminghamAcademics
- Hugh AlexanderConel Hugh O'Donel AlexanderConel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, CMG, CBE was an Irish-born British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II, and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for over 20 years...
, chess player and codebreaker. - Harry BootHarry BootHenry Albert Howard "Harry" Boot was an English physicist who with Sir John Randall and James Sayers developed the cavity magnetron, which was one of the keys to the Allied victory in the Second World War.-Biography:...
, physicist, co-developer of the cavity magnetronCavity magnetronThe cavity magnetron is a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field. The 'resonant' cavity magnetron variant of the earlier magnetron tube was invented by John Randall and Harry Boot in 1940 at the University of...
. - Richard Ewen Borcherds, mathematician; winner of the 1998 Fields MedalFields MedalThe Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
for the proof of the Monstrous moonshineMonstrous moonshineIn mathematics, monstrous moonshine, or moonshine theory, is a term devised by John Horton Conway and Simon P. Norton in 1979, used to describe the connection between the monster group M and modular functions .- History :Specifically, Conway and Norton, following an initial observationby John...
conjecture. - Henry CaryHenry Francis CaryHenry Francis Cary was a British author and translator, best known for his blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy of Dante.-Biography:Henry Francis Cary was born in Gibraltar, on 6 December 1772...
, translator of DanteDANTEDelivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
. - John HawthorneJohn HawthorneJohn Hawthorne is the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Oxford University, though he continues to teach on a visiting basis at Princeton University...
, philosopher, Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Oxford University. - Alfred HazelAlfred HazelAlfred Ernest William Hazel CBE KC was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament and legal academic at the University of Oxford....
, Principal of Jesus College, OxfordJesus College, OxfordJesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
. - Alfred Edward Housman, classicist and poet. Author of A Shropshire LadA Shropshire LadA Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman . Some of the better-known poems in the book are "To an Athlete Dying Young", "Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now" and "When I Was One-and-Twenty".The collection was published in 1896...
and holder of Kennedy Professorship of Latin at Cambridge University. - Tony MilesTony MilesAnthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
, first British-born chess Grandmaster. - Alfred Radcliffe-BrownAlfred Radcliffe-BrownAlfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown was an English social anthropologist who developed the theory of Structural Functionalism.- Biography :...
, social anthropologist. - Julian RobertsJulian RobertsRichard Julian Roberts FSA was a British librarian, bibliographer, and scholar.Julian Roberts was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he started reading Classics, but switched to English in his first year.- Biography :In the early 1950s, Roberts began...
, librarian and bibliographer. - J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature; author of The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
and The HobbitThe HobbitThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
. - Sir John Vane, 1982 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
- Maurice WilkinsMaurice WilkinsMaurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was a New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate whose research contributed to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar...
, 1962 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
Ecclesiastics
- Ernest William BarnesErnest William BarnesErnest William Barnes FRS was an English mathematician and scientist who later became a theologian and bishop....
, mathematician; Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, Bishop of BirminghamBishop of BirminghamThe Bishop of Birmingham heads the Church of England diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The diocese covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire and has its see in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, where the seat of the diocese is located at the...
, 1924–1952 - Edward White BensonEdward White BensonEdward White Benson was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death.-Life:Edward White Benson was born in Highgate, Birmingham, the son of a Birmingham chemical manufacturer. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1852...
, theologian; Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, 1882–1896 - Ivor Colin DockerIvor Colin DockerIvan Colin Docker was the 2nd Anglican Bishop of Horsham from 1975 until 1991. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Birmingham University and St Catherine's Society, Oxford, he studied for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford before embarking on an ecclesiastical career with a Curacy in...
, 2nd Bishop of HorshamBishop of HorshamThe Bishop of Horsham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England...
, 1975–1991 - Joseph Barber LightfootJoseph Barber LightfootJoseph Barber Lightfoot was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham, usually known as J.B. Lightfoot....
, theologian; Bishop of Durham, 1879–1889 - Brooke Foss WestcottBrooke Foss WestcottBrooke Foss Westcott was a British bishop, Biblical scholar and theologian, serving as Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death.-Early life and education:...
, theologian; Bishop of Durham, 1890–1901
The Arts
- Rich BatsfordRich BatsfordRichard William Batsford is an English pianist, composer and singer-songwriter. He is a recording artist and a frequent performer in and around his home in Birmingham UK, presenting shows featuring a mix of meditative solo piano instrumentals and reflective songs.Batsford is also a co-creator of...
, musician - Lee ChildLee ChildJim Grant , better known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British thriller writer. His wife Jane is a New Yorker, and they currently live in New York state. His first novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel....
, novelist, author of the popular "Jack ReacherJack ReacherJack Reacher is a fictional character created by British author Jim Grant who writes under the pen name of Lee Child.-Biographical information:...
" series - Jonathan CoeJonathan CoeJonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
, novelist, (one novel, The Rotters' Club, was based on his time at KES) - Gavin LyallGavin LyallGavin Tudor Lyall was an English author of espionage thrillers.-Biography:Lyall was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, as the son of a local accountant, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham...
, author of espionage thrillers - H.V. Morton, journalist and travel writer
- James David RudkinDavid RudkinJames David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford...
, playwright - Kenneth TynanKenneth TynanKenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
, theatre critic and writer
Entertainment
- Max Carlish, documentarist; BAFTA WinnerBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
- Robin DuvalRobin DuvalRobin Duval was director of the British Board of Film Classification, , from 1999 to 2004. Duval was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham.- References :...
, film censor - Dave HaslamDave HaslamDave Haslam is an author and DJ. Originally from Moseley, Birmingham, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham. Having moved to Manchester in 1980, he DJ'd over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub, including Thursday's Temperance club night in the late 1980s...
, Hacienda DJ during the 'Madchester' years - Mr Hudson, musician
- David MunrowDavid MunrowDavid Munrow was a British musician and early music historian.- Biography and career :Munrow was born in Birmingham and was the son of Birmingham University dance teacher Hilda Norman Munrow and Albert Davis 'Dave' Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who...
, musician - Stanley MyersStanley MyersStanley Myers , was a prolific British film composer who scored over sixty films. Born in Birmingham, as a teenager Myers went to King Edward's School in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
, composer, most famous for the The Deer HunterThe Deer HunterThe Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
theme, and other film scores. - Bill OddieBill OddieWilliam "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies....
, OBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, television birdwatcher, former GoodieThe GoodiesThe Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs... - Richard WattisRichard WattisRichard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
, actor
Politics
- Peter BennettPeter Bennett, 1st Baron Bennett of EdgbastonPeter Frederick Blaker Bennett, 1st Baron Bennett of Edgbaston OBE, JP , known as Sir Peter Bennett between 1941 and 1953, was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Birmingham, Edgbaston, 1st Baron Bennett of Edgbaston - Sir Alfred BirdAlfred BirdAlfred Bird was a British food manufacturer and chemist. He was born in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England in 1811 was the inventor of a series of food products mostly now taken for granted...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Wolverhampton West, custard manufacturer - William John Gunnell MP (LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
) for Morley & Leeds South; Morley & Rothwell; conscientious objectorConscientious objectorA conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion.... - Sir Alan HaselhurstAlan HaselhurstSir Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst is a British Conservative politician who is the Member of Parliament for Saffron Walden and was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010.-Early life, education and career:...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Saffron Walden; Deputy Speaker - John HemmingJohn Hemming (politician)John Alexander Melvin Hemming is a British politician, the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley and Group Chair of the Liberal Democrats on the city council of Birmingham, England....
MP (Liberal DemocratLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
) for Birmingham Yardley - Sir Alfred HickmanSir Alfred Hickman, 1st BaronetSir Alfred Hickman was an industrialist and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1906....
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Wolverhampton West - Enoch PowellEnoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) and Ulster Unionist PartyUlster Unionist PartyThe Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland... - David WillettsDavid WillettsDavid Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Havant - Aidan BurleyAidan BurleyAidan Burley is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase in 2010.-Early life:...
MP (ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
) for Cannock Chase
Sport
- Vikram BanerjeeVikram BanerjeeVikram Banerjee is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler.Banerjee's first-class career started in 2004, playing the university varsity match for Cambridge University, with a second exactly a year later...
, First Class Cricket, (Cambridge University, Gloucestershire) - Miles BenjaminMiles BenjaminMiles Benjamin is a rugby union player who plays at Wing for Worcester Warriors in the English Aviva Premiership. He also played several other sports in his youth, representing the West Midlands at athletics and water polo, and Warwickshire at cricket...
, Professional rugby player for Worcester Warriors - John ClaughtonJohn ClaughtonJohn Alan Claughton is a former English cricketer. Claughton was a right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox.-First-class career:Claughton made his first-class debut for Oxford University against Gloucestershire in 1976...
, First Class Cricket, (Oxford University (Captain)), Warwickshire CCC) - Mick Cleary, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent, Daily Telegraph
- Anurag SinghAnurag SinghAnurag Singh is a cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off spin bowler....
, First Class Cricket, Cambridge University Captain (1997 and 1998), Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire - Alan SmithAlan Smith (cricketer)Alan Christopher Smith, known as A. C. Smith is an English former Test cricketer, who appeared in six Tests for England. Primarily a wicket-keeper, Smith was also a capable right-handed middle-order batsman and right-arm seam bowler...
, England Test cricketer (England, Warwickshire and Oxford University), first CEO of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) now known as the ECB. - Mark WaghMark WaghMark Anant Wagh was a cricketer for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham where he played alongside Anurag Singh, in the year group team two years above his own ....
, First Class Cricket — Oxford University Captain (1997), Warwickshire - Ossie WheatleyOssie WheatleyOswald Stephen "Ossie" Wheatley, born at Low Fell, Gateshead, County Durham on 28 May 1935, was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Warwickshire and Glamorgan...
, First Class Cricket (Cambridge University, Warwickshire and Glamorgan), Former Test Selecter and Chairman of the TCCB. - Niels de VosNiels de VosNiels de Vos is a British sports businessman and chief executive. He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham. De Vos came to prominence as the Chief Executive of Sale Sharks, a professional rugby union club. De Vos helped the club move to a larger stadium in 2003, leaving Heywood Road in favour...
, Chief Executive, UK Athletics
Other
- Charles Freer AndrewsCharles Freer AndrewsCharles Freer Andrews was an English priest of the Church of England. He was an educator and participant in the campaign for Indian independence, and became Mahatma Gandhi's closest friend and associate....
, disciple of, and advocate for, Mohandas Gandhi - Sir Edward Burne-JonesEdward Burne-JonesSir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
, Pre-Raphaelite painter - Herbert Tudor BucklandHerbert Tudor BucklandHerbert Tudor Buckland was a British architect, best known for his seminal Arts and Crafts houses , the Elan Valley model village, educational buildings such as the campus of the Royal Hospital School in Suffolk and St Hugh's College in Oxford.-Biography:Buckland was born in...
, Arts and Crafts architect, b.1869, d.1951 - J. A. ChatwinJ. A. ChatwinJ. A. Chatwin FRIBA, RBS, FSAScot , was a designer of buildings and the most prolific architect involved with the building and modification of churches in Birmingham, England, building or altering many of the parish churches in the city. He used both the Gothic and Classical styles...
, architect of many churches and buildings in Birmingham - Sir Colin FiguresColin FiguresSir Colin Frederick Figures KCMG, OBE was Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1981 to 1985. He was deputy secretary and Intelligence Co-ordinator of the Cabinet Office from 1985 to 1989....
, Head of MI6 - John Henry GodfreyJohn Henry GodfreyAdmiral John Henry Godfrey CB was an officer of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy, specializing in navigation....
, admiral - Robert Furneaux JordanRobert Furneaux JordanRobert Furneaux Jordan was an English architect, architectural critic and novelist. Jordan was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Birmingham School of Art, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. He married Eira Furneaux Jordan in 1965...
, architect and detective novelist - Edmund "Evoe" George Valpy Knox, Editor of PunchPunch (magazine)Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
- Percival Perry, 1st Baron PerryPercival Perry, 1st Baron PerryPercival Lea Dewhurst Perry, 1st Baron Perry KBE , English motor vehicle manufacturer, was chairman of Ford Motor Company Limited for 20 years from its incorporation in 1928 completing almost a lifetime's work with Henry Ford...
, first chairman of Ford of BritainFord of BritainFord of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex... - Ian PlenderleithIan PlenderleithIan Plenderleith was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 1997-May 2002.-References:...
, Deputy Governor of the South African Federal Reserve; member of Bank of EnglandBank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
's Monetary Policy CommitteeMonetary Policy CommitteeThe Monetary Policy Committee is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for two and a half days every month to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom . It is also responsible for directing other aspects of the government's monetary policy framework, such as quantitative...
. - Sir Peter SingerSir Peter SingerSir Jan Peter Singer is a former British High Court Judge.- Education :Singer was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, then at Selwyn College, Cambridge.-Career:...
, High Court judgeHigh Court of JusticeThe High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales... - William Slim, 1st Viscount SlimWilliam Slim, 1st Viscount SlimField Marshal William Joseph "Bill"'Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia....
, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Field MarshalField MarshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
, Commander of the successful Burma CampaignBurma CampaignThe Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
against the Japanese - Mark SteynMark SteynMark Steyn is a Canadian-born writer, conservative-leaning political commentator, and cultural critic. He has written five books, including America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, a New York Times bestseller...
, internationally syndicated columnist - John Augustus ConollyJohn Augustus ConollyLieutenant Colonel John Augustus Conolly VC , born in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:He was 25 years old,...
, Crimean WarCrimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant colonelLieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
, won the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
at Sevastopol, only winner of the VC from the school
Notable masters
- Francis JeuneFrancis JeuneFrancis Jeune or François Jeune was Dean of Jersey, 1838–1844, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford and Bishop of Peterborough, 1864-1868....
, Headmaster 1835-1838; Bishop of PeterboroughBishop of PeterboroughThe Bishop of Peterborough is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the counties of Northamptonshire, Rutland and the Soke of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire...
, 1864–1868 - James Prince LeeJames Prince LeeJames Prince Lee, MA, DD was an English clergyman who became the first Bishop of Manchester.-Early life:...
, Headmaster 1838-1848; Bishop of ManchesterBishop of ManchesterThe Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.The current bishop is the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, the 11th Lord Bishop of Manchester, who signs Nigel Manchester. The bishop's official residence is Bishopscourt, Bury New Road,...
, 1848–1869 - Charles Richard Morris, Headmaster 1941-1948; Vice-Chancellor, Leeds University, 1948–1963, Life peer
- Hugh WrightHugh WrightHugh Raymond Wright is an English schoolmaster and educationalist who was chairman of the Headmasters' Conference for 1995–1996.-Early life:The son of the Rev...
, Chief Master 1991-1998; Chairman of the Headmasters' Conference, 1995–1996