Elstree School

Independent school in Reading, Berkshire, England

Websitewww.elstreeschool.org.uk

Elstree School is an English preparatory school for children aged 3–13 at Woolhampton House in Woolhampton, near Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. The school is co-educational.

History

1848–1938 in Elstree, Hertfordshire

The school was founded in 1848 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, at Hill House on Elstree Hill,^[1] an 18th-century Grade II* listed building.^[2] Today, the building is a Bupa care centre.^[3]

Since 1938 in Woolhampton, Berkshire

In 1938 or 1939 at the start of the Second World War (sources differ),^[4] staff and 70 boys moved to Woolhampton House in Berkshire which, at the war's end, became Elstree's permanent home, owned and run by the Sanderson family until 1961 when Elstree School was incorporated. Ian Sanderson remained headmaster until 1969 when Terrence McMullen became headmaster.

The building

Elstree School House engraving before 1893

Woolhampton House is a 17th-century Grade II* listed building.^[5]

Notable former pupils

Sir Alexander Robert Badcock (1844–1907), army officer^[6]
James Blunt, singer-songwriter^[7]
Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall (1923-2019), field marshal^{[citation needed]}
John R. Buckmaster (1915–1983), actor^[8]
Sandy Wilson (1924–2014), songwriter-lyricist
Christopher Bonham-Carter (1907–1975), naval officer^{[citation needed]}
Felix Cassel (1869–1953), lawyer^[9]
Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), poet, writer and traveller^[10]
Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton (1845–1940), engineer^[11]
Sebastian Faulks (b. 1953), novelist^[12]
Walter George Headlam (1866–1908), classical scholar and poet^[13]
J. Bruce Ismay (1862–1937), managing director of the White Star Line and survivor of the RMS Titanic^[14]
Sir Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté (1887–1965), Royal Air Force Commander^[15]
Archibald Campbell [Archie] MacLaren (1871–1944), cricketer^[16]
George Monbiot (b. 1963), environmental activist and writer^[17]
Richard Tice (b. 1964), politician^{[citation needed]}
John Whitehead (1860–1899), ornithologist and explorer^[18]
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848–1934), Anglican priest^{[citation needed]}

Notable teachers

William Bather (1861-1939), first-class cricketer, was assistant master at the school 1884-1894^[19]
Danyl Johnson, singer on series 9 of The X-Factor, dance teacher
Frederic Meyrick-Jones (1867–1950), taught at the school from 1894 to 1896^{[citation needed]}
Edgar Stogdon (1870–1951), athlete and cricketer, was headmaster from 1900 to 1903^[20]

Sports

During the autumn term, soccer is the main sport, along with hockey and tennis. During the Lent term, rugby takes over from soccer, and hockey and cross country running continue. During the summer term, cricket is the main school sport, with swimming, athletics and tennis also popular throughout the term. The school's sports day is the focus of a pupil's summer term.

References

^ Donald P. Leinster-Mackay (1984). The rise of the English prep school. Falmer Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-905273-74-7. (See note 32)
^ Historic England. "Hill House, Elstree Hill South (Grade II) (1263366)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^ "Hill House". Bupa. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^ "Elstree School, Berkshire". Independent, Special, Boarding and International schools. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- "History". Elstree School. 11 November 2023. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
^ Historic England. "Elstree School, Woolhampton House (Grade II*) (1117267)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
^ Anon., revised by James Falkner (2004). "Badcock, Sir Alexander Robert (1844–1907". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
^ "Danyl Johnson Update". Elstree School. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
^ Herbert Buckmaster (1933). Buck's Book : Ventures – Adventures and Misadventures (hardcover). London: Grayson & Grayson. p. 236.
^ G. R. Rubin (2004). "Cassel, Sir Felix Maximilian Schoenbrunn, first baronet (1869–1953)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
^ David George Hogarth (1928). The life of Charles M. Doughty. Oxford University Press. p. 2.
^ W. L. Randell, rev. Anita McConnell (2004). "Crompton, Rookes Evelyn Bell (1845–1940)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
^ Gethin Chamberlain (31 May 2008). "James Bond: Sebastian Faulks' schoolboy fantasy inspires 007 novel". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
^ N. G. Wilson (2004). "Headlam, Walter George (1866–1908)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Pres. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
^ J. Gordon Read (2004). "Ismay, Joseph Bruce (1862–1937)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Pres. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
^ Edward Chilton, rev. Christina J. M. Goulter (2004). "Joubert de la Ferté, Sir Philip Bennet (1887–1965)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
^ Michael Down (2004). "MacLaren, Archibald Campbell (1871–1944)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
^ George Monbiot (7 November 2019). "Boarding schools warp our political class – I know because I went to one". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
^ B. B. Woodward, rev. V. M. Quirke (2004). "Whitehead, John (1860–1899)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
^ C.H. Mate, ed. (1907). Shropshire, Historical, Descriptive, Biographical. Vol. II, Biographical. p. 76.
^ J. A. Venn (1954). "Edgar Stogdon". Alumni Cantabrigienses. Vol. Part II: 6. Cambridge University Press. p. 49. Retrieved 5 June 2017 – via Internet Archive.

Bibliography

Hugo Vickers, Elstree 175: Celebrating 175 years of Elstree School (London: Unicorn, 6 July 2023) ISBN 978-1911397380
I. C. M. Sanderson, A history of Elstree School and three generations of the Sanderson family, Publ. Elstree School, 1978 (Privately Published)
John Eddison, A History of Elstree School, 1979 (mentioned in: Frances Wilson, How to Survive the Titanic Or The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay, Chapter 3, Note 10)