A History of Giggleswick School from its Foundation, 1499 to 1912

by Edward Allen Bell

Chapter X.

A New Era.

ON the resignation of Mr. Blakiston, in March, 1866, the Rev. Thomas Bramley, an Assistant Master, was appointed temporary Headmaster. The Charity Commissioners had been asked for their advice, and had expressly stipulated that the temporary office should not carry with it any freehold. After holding this position for eighteen months, Mr. Bramley sent in his resignation in October, 1867. The Governors held a meeting to consider the position, and a letter was read voicing the opinion of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood that a permanent Headmaster should be appointed. They shewed that the numbers of the School proved that the education received had value in the eyes of the locality, and they suggested that a permanent Headmaster would be more likely to take a close interest in the boys. The Governors replied that they could not see their way to making a permanent appointment, until the Boarding-house had been completed and the regulations drawn up for boys who wished to reside with strangers in the neighbourhood.

THE HOSTEL, 1869.

The Plans for a Boarding-house had been going forward rapidly, and in May, 1867, the Charity Commissioners had sanctioned the expenditure by the Governors of £6,400. The income of the Trust had for some years shewn a surplus of revenue over expenditure, and this surplus then amounted to over £1,200; the further £5,000 was obtained from the proceeds of the sale of the Rise Estate, in 1863. The Boarding-house was to be built by Mr. Paley, a grandson of the Archdeacon, and was to contain Dormitories for forty-nine boys and studies for eighteen.

In December, 1867, Mr. Michael Forster was appointed provisional Headmaster for a single year. It was particularly pointed out to him that the position would not carry with it any claim to be appointed to the permanent post, when it was determined that such should be filled up. Mr. Forster had taken a First Class in Classical Moderations, and a Second in the Final School, and in addition had won a Winchester Scholarship in Mathematics at New College, and had "read Mathematics as high as Plane Trigonometry."

The numbers of the School steadily increased, and in the Easter Term of 1868 there were sixty-six boys, and in the following Michaelmas Term sixty-seven, of whom four boarded in the Master's House, and eleven in Lodging Houses. The rest were day-boys living at home. The majority were very young: twenty-two boys were under twelve, and forty-one between the ages of twelve and sixteen.

In May, 1869, the Governors proceeded to the appointment of a permanent Headmaster. Mr. Michael Forster had been continued in his provisional post for a few months, and had witnessed a further increase in the numbers of the School, which at that period stood at seventy-three. The regulations for the conduct of the School had been drawn up, and the Headmaster was to receive a House rent-free and an assured income of £250, with a further additional sum for each boy, not exceeding fifty in number, who should board for a year in the Hostel or in the Master's House. The maximum would then amount to £750, but a further sum of £250 was possible, if the Governors deemed it expedient to build a second Hostel to accommodate another fifty boys.

For the first time in the history of the School it was not necessary for applicants to be in Holy Orders, but the master must be a member of the Church of England, and a graduate of one of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin. Under the new Scheme of Management the appointment of Assistant Masters, but not their salaries, and the control of the internal discipline and conduct of the School were to be in his sole charge. But the regulations for the admission of boys and for the subjects of instruction were to be made by the Governing Body.