Cecil Grant
Cecil Grant | |
|---|---|
| Founding Headmaster of St George's School, Harpenden | |
| In office 1 September 1907 – 1 August 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Dr. A. H. Watts[1] |
| Headmaster of Keswick School[2] | |
| In office 1 September 1898 – 1 August 1907 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Unknown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cecil Grant 1870 |
| Died | 1946 (76 Years) |
Cecil Grant (1870–1946) was an English cleric and schoolmaster, an advocate of co-education. He was the founder of St George's School, Harpenden.[3]
Early life
He was born on 18 August 1870 at Linton, Kent, the fifth son of John Grant, and was educated at Sutton Valence School. He matriculated at Wadham College, Oxford in 1889, graduating B.A. in 1893 with a third class in Greats, and M.A. in 1896.[4][5][2]
Grant was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1894, and priest in 1896, by Edward Bickersteth, Bishop of Exeter. He was chaplain and assistant master at Honiton Grammar School from 1893 to 1898.[2]
Headmaster
Money for High Schools in Keswick had been left in the will of Henry Hewetson (died 1895).[6] In line with a talk he had given at the 1903 North of England Education Conference, the Rev. Hardwicke Rawnsley, who became chairman of the governors, supported the idea of a single co-educational school. A building was designed by architects Paley & Austin.[7][8] There were 116 applicants for the post of headmaster of the new Keswick High School.[9] From Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall, where he was Second Master, Cecil was appointed in early 1898.[10]
From 1898 to 1906 Grant was at Keswick.[2] In 1906 Grant moved to Harpenden, to establish a school there; it opened in 1907. The premises were initially occupied by the United Services College, that had taken over St George's School where Robert Henry Wix was headmaster from 1887 to 1904.[11][12] He was headmaster of the new St George's School from 1907 to 1936.[5]
Aspects of progressive education
In 1909 Harwich County High School appointed as headmaster James Valentine of the Harpenden staff, a graduate of the University of St Andrews who had acted as assistant to John Burnet. They cited his scholarship, experience with co-education, and enthusiasm.[13] Other staff at St George's, Harpenden included Paul Roberts, later headmaster of Frensham Heights School, and J. Howard Whitehouse, founder in 1919 of Bembridge School.[14]
In 1913, at the prompting of Edmond Holmes, Cecil visited Maria Montessori's school, the Casa dei Bambini in Rome.[15] He became a proponent of Montessori education, but found that it was contentious in the United Kingdom, with Charlotte Mason, whose House of Education at Ambleside he had intended to visit, strongly opposed.[16]
Death
Cecil Grant died on 3 April 1946, and left a sum of £6,833.53 to form a trust for the school.[3]
Family
Grant married in 1898 Lucy Mary Thompson, youngest daughter of William Thompson of Haslemere, Ipswich, founder of Thompson & Morgan. His father's address was given as Belmont Grove, Lee, Kent.[17][18]
Works
- A School's Life, Addresses (1903)[19]
- The Case for Co-education (1913) with Norman Hodgson[20]
- English Education and Dr. Montessori (1913)[21]
References
- ^ "School History".
- ^ a b c d Crockford's Clerical Directory. 1929. p. 511.
- ^ a b "St George's V. A. School, Harpenden". stgeorges.herts.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ s:Page:Oxford men and their colleges.djvu/657
- ^ a b "Grant, Rev. Cecil". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Will of Mr. Henry Hewetson". Liverpool Mercury. 21 June 1895. p. 5.
- ^ "Should Boys and Girls be Educated Together". Manchester City News. 3 January 1903. p. 8.
- ^ Rawnsley, Eleanor Foster Simpson (1923). Canon Rawnsley: An Account of His Life. Glasgow: Maclehose, Jackson. p. 162.
- ^ "Appointment of Headmaster for the Keswick High School". English Lakes Visitor. 26 March 1898. p. 5.
- ^ The Church of England Pulpit, and Ecclesiastical Review. S.J. Wells. 1898. p. 180.
- ^ "Wix, Robert Henry (WKSQ865RH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Tapp, Harold Astley (1934). United Services College, 1874-1911: A Short Account of Rudyard Kipling's Old School at Westward Ho!. Gale & Polden, Ltd. p. 2.
- ^ "An Education Enthusiast". Woodford and District Advertiser. 2 October 1909. p. 3.
- ^ Stewart, William Alexander Campbell (1972). Progressives and Radicals in English Education, 1750-1970. London: A. M. Kelley. pp. 200 and 234. ISBN 978-0-678-07015-4.
- ^ Stewart, William Alexander Campbell (1972). Progressives and Radicals in English Education, 1750-1970. London: A. M. Kelley. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-678-07015-4.
- ^ Stewart, William Alexander Campbell (1972). Progressives and Radicals in English Education, 1750-1970. London: A. M. Kelley. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-678-07015-4.
- ^ "Grant : Thompson". Kentish Independent. 3 September 1898. p. 8.
- ^ "Suffolk Artists - Thompson, Lucy". suffolkartists.co.uk.
- ^ Grant, Cecil (1903). A School's Life, Addresses. Marshall Brothers.
- ^ Grant, Cecil; Hodgson, Norman (1913). The Case for Co-education. Grant Richards Limited.
- ^ Grant, Cecil (1913). English Education and Dr. Montessori. W. Gardner, Darton & Co.