ST. MARK’S COLLEGE.
Stanley House, as it was formerly called, became the residence of the Principal of St. Mark’s College, which was established by the National Society, in the year 1841, as a Training Institution for Schoolmasters, in connexion with the Church of England. To the Rev. Derwent Coleridge, M.A., the first Principal of the College, must be attributed the eminent position it has attained among the educational institutions of the country. He was the Principal of the College for a period of twenty-three years, and greatly beloved by the Students, popular among his Colleagues and Assistants, and enjoyed the respect and confidence of the Council, who had the pleasant task of co-operating with him. In January, 1864, he was presented by the late Bishop of London to the Rectory of Hanwell, which occasioned his resignation.
Many candidates of great eminence were desirous to become the Rev. Mr. Coleridge’s successor, and from among them the Rev. John G. Cromwell, M.A., Hon. Canon of Durham, and formerly Scholar of Brasenose College, Oxford, was selected, his testimonials being of the very highest order, and his successful administration of the Training College at Durham, during 12 years, appeared to the Council a sufficient guarantee for his success at St. Mark’s. This expectation has now been happily fully realized.
The Vice-Principal is the Rev. C. F. Eastburn, M.A., Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and the Rev. C. S. Dawe, B.A., is the Normal Master in the College, and Head Master of the School, and, from the testimony of those who are well-qualified to form an impartial opinion, they most efficiently discharge their respective arduous duties, and this just acknowledgment equally applies to the Tutors, Mr. W. Lawson, F.R.G.S., and Mr. O. Breden.
On the west side of the house the National Society added a quadrangle, built in the Italian style, and in the grounds, near the chapel, an octagon building as a Practising School, for teaching children who reside in the locality. The grounds of the College consist of eleven acres of garden and grass land.
The Upper School gives a superior education to 160 boys, who are instructed in all the usual branches of an English education, and also in Latin and French.
The Middle School gives a similar education, with the exception of Latin and French, to 180 boys.
The Lower School is intended for the sons of the humbler classes, and gives sound instruction in elementary subjects to 200 boys.
There is accommodation in the College for 100 Students, who are being trained here for Schoolmasters.
The Chapel stands close to the Fulham Road, and is open to the public twice every day, at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. On Sundays the Services begin at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The seats are free, and the expenses are defrayed by voluntary contributions. There is no endowment of any kind. The exterior of the building is unpretending. The interior has a distinctive character given to it by the windows of stained glass, which produce an impression of warmth and beauty. There is an excellent organ and a full choir, composed of the Students and a certain number of boys from the schools. The Services are all choral, and on Sundays are usually well attended. On the anniversary of the College foundation, St. Mark’s Day, April 25, a sermon is preached and a collection made on behalf of the Chapel Funds, and the surrounding gentry and clergy, together with the former Students, are invited to a banquet. At the last Anniversary Festival the sermon was preached by the Dean of St. Paul’s, the text being selected from Luke iv. 16. In the evening, in the Lecture Hall of the College, selections from an Oratorio and other pieces were admirably rendered by the Students, under the direction of the Rev. T. Helmore, precentor, and John Hullah, Esq., to a crowded and most fashionable audience, and many of the old Students of the College. We must also mention E. C. May, Esq., to whom much of the proficiency of the choir may be justly attributed.
We will pass by Mr. Veitch’s Royal Exotic Nursery, and the extensive Show Establishment belonging to Messrs. Weeks & Co., both of which will probably be noticed in a subsequent part of this work, when a more general notice will be taken of the entire King’s Road, and merely observe that a great number of villas, and many superior dwelling houses, have been erected within the last few years in this immediate locality. As examples of such instances it is only necessary to mention the splendid house built by John Weeks, Esq., in Edith Grove, and those in Gunter Grove, Maude Grove, &c., in addition to which many more well-built houses are now being erected in the neighbourhood.