Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is a public school (day school, no boarding) for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1591 at the request of leading citizens in Wakefield (headed by Thomas Savile and his two sons) 75 in total and some of whom formed the first governing body.

The school is part of a foundation, with both QEGS Senior and Junior schools joined together, along with the nearby Wakefield Girls' High School and its Junior School, and Mulberry House, which is a nursery and pre-prep department.

As of September 2021, the headmaster of the school is Dr Richard Brookes, who was previously senior deputy head at City of London School.

QEGS is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

History

Founding

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School dates back to 19 November 1591 when a charter was granted to fourteen men to act as governors of the new school. In 1598, it moved into a purpose-built building, now the Elizabethan Gallery.

The charter read:

Of our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we do, will grant and ordain for us, our heirs and successors, that hereafter there be and shall be one Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth at Wakefield, for the teaching, instructing and bringing up of children and youth in grammar, and other good learning, to continue to that use forever.

Five of the fourteen men designated to be governors bore the name Saville. Generations of the Saville family have played important roles in the school's history and hence the reason why the Old Boys' Association is called the Old Savilians' Club.

Coat of arms

The school arms came into existence soon after the school was founded and features a lion, an owl and a Bible. The golden lion on a red field refers to the royal foundation; the silver owl on black is taken from the arms of the Savile family (one of the founding families) and the Bible indicates the religious side of education. The school motto, "Turpe Nescire", means "It is a disgrace to be ignorant".

School song

Around 1900, H. G. Abel, then the senior classics master, composed "Floreas, Wakefieldia" and Matthew Peacock, headmaster and honorary choirmaster at the cathedral, set the words to music. It was seen as fitting that the song should be written in Latin, thereby evoking echoes of traditional scholasticism. The song is still sung today – at Founders' Day, Speech Day and at all Old Savilian Club dinners.

Facilities

In 1854 QEGS moved to its present site in Northgate, Wakefield, into premises designed by the architect Richard Lane and formerly occupied by the West Riding Proprietary School. The attached Junior school for boys aged 7 to 11 was founded in 1910.

A new building (Savile Building) was opened in 2005 by Ted Wragg, the famous educationalist, who taught at the school in the early 1960s. The new building provides a new 6th form centre, English department, state-of-the-art theatre and Learning Resources Centre for the pupils of QEGS.

Sport

The school is often noted for its sporting ability, having achieved frequent success in a number of sports. Over 83% of the school's boys represent QEGS in one sporting event or another. The most popular sport is rugby union, followed by hockey, cricket, athletics, and basketball. Hockey in particular has experienced substantial growth in the school throughout the last decade, and is now close to matching rugby union's dominance internally. In 2006, 2013, 2014 and 2015 the under-15s Rugby side reached the Daily Mail Cup final, winning the 2015 competition in a tight 15-6 win over three time final rivals Warwick. In 2009 every age group won the hockey 'Yorkshire Cup' for the first time in the school's history with the under 16s going on to reach the national semi-finals, only to lose to Whitgift School. As well as plenty of sporting opportunities, the school also gives pupils the opportunity to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

In popular culture

• David Storey's Booker Prize winning novel Saville (1976) includes an account of the experiences of a working class boy at a Yorkshire grammar school in the 1940s. Storey, like the protagonist of Saville a miner's son, is an old boy of QEGS.
• The school is mentioned in the novel Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace.

Headmasters

Headmasters of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield from 1591 to the present time.

Notable Old Savilians

Academia

• T.D. Barnes, Professor of Classics in the University of Toronto 1976–2007
• John Barron, classicist and Master of St Peter's College, Oxford
• Stuart Jones, British historian, Professor of Intellectual History at the University of Manchester
• Professor Sir Hans Leo Kornberg, British biochemist and master of Christ's College, Cambridge (1982–1995)
• David May, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, former lead architect of the transputer and Chief Technology Officer and founder of XMOS.
• Joseph Moxon, Mathematician and Hydrographer to King Charles II.
• Benjamin Pulleyne (died 1861), mathematician, Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and headmaster of Gresham's School
• Charles Ross (historian) (1924-1986), Professor of Medieval History, Bristol University, and author
• Professor Alan M. Taylor, economist, Columbia University
• John Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden, Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading, and chair of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, which in 1957 published the Wolfenden Report that recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
• Hector Munro Chadwick, English philologist and historian, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge (1912–41)
• John Hopkins, Cambridge University academic
• Roger Clifford Carrington, English classical scholar, archaeologist and teacher (1906-1971)
• Anand Menon, European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King's College London

Arts

Art

• Thomas Hartley Cromek, English artist (1809-1873)

Literature

• Richard Bentley, theologian, classical scholar and critic (1662–1742)
• David Storey, playwright and novelist, winner of the Booker Prize in 1976 for Saville.
• Thomas Armstrong, novelist (1899 – 1978)
• Robert Munford III, American playwright (1737-1783)
• Dusty Hughes, English playwright and director

Music

• Andrew Cocup, aka Andy Cato from the band Groove Armada.
• Noel Gay, composer of popular music
• Kenneth Leighton, classical and Anglican church music composer.
• John Scott, choirmaster and organist.
• Lukas Wooller, keyboardist with the band Maxïmo Park.

Murderers

• Stephen Griffiths, a serial killer, from Dewsbury, known as the "Crossbow Cannibal".
• John George Haigh, serial killer in England in the 1940s, known as the "Acid Bath Murderer"

Miscellaneous

• George Allan, English antiquary and lawyer. Co-writer of History and Antiquities of the Country Palatine of Durham.
• Edmund Cartwright, Inventor of the Power Loom (1743–1823).".
• David Hepworth, journalist and magazine publisher
• Joseph Hirst Lupton, English schoolmaster, cleric and writer (1836–1905)
• Christopher Saxton, English cartographer (c.1540-c.1610)
• Francis Smith, Puisne judge (1847–1912)
• Sidney Hayward, British barrister and legal writer
• Charles Hoole, English cleric and educational writer (1610–1667)
• Thomas Zouch, clergyman and antiquary (1737–1815)
• Sir Frank Standish, 3rd Baronet (1746-1812)
• William Alfred Ismay, librarian, writer and collector (1910-2001)

Politics

• Jonathan Baume, trade unionist
• Tony Greaves Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords
• William J. Howard, American-born politician and Free Trade activist
• Richard Henry Lee, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and US Senator
• Sir Francis Molyneux, 7th Baronet, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod (1765–1812)
• Edward Thompson, Member of Parliament for York and later the Commissioner of the Admiralty
• Bertram Lamb Pearson, senior British civil servant (1893–1984)
• Frank Marshall, Baron Marshall of Leeds, British lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords (1915–1990)
• Henry Zouch, English antiquary and social reformer (c. 1725–1795)
• Samuel Gledhill, lieutenant-governor of Placentia, Newfoundland from 1719-c.1730

Religion

• Joseph Bingham, English scholar and divine (1668–1723)
• Hugh Paulinus de Cressy, English Benedictine monk (c.1605–1674)
• Rt Rev Jack Cunningham, inaugural Anglican Bishop of Central Zambia
• Robert Maynard Hardy, Anglican Bishop
• The Rt Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Hope of Thornes, former archbishop of York.
• John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (1674–1747)
• Rt Rev Arnold Lomas Wylde, Bishop of Bathurst during the mid 20th century
• Barnabas Oley, English churchman and academic (1602–1686)
• Daniel Cresswell, English divine and mathematician (1776–1844)
• John Disney, Unitarian Minister (1746–1816)
• Jeremiah Whitaker, English Puritan clergyman (1599–1654)
• John Ashton, Anglican Bishop of Grafton (1866–1964)
• Thomas Doughty, Canon of Windsor (1636-1701)
• The Ven. John Duncan, Archdeacon of Birmingham
• James Bardsley, English cleric and honorary canon of Manchester Cathedral (1805–1886)

Science and medicine

• John Radcliffe, British physician (1652–1714)
• Robert Smith, Assistant Colonial Surgeon of Sierra Leone (1840–1885)
• Andy Harter, British computer scientist
• Herbert Haslegrave, British engineer (1902–1999)
• Julian Norton, British surgeon, author and TV personality
• William Sharp, English surgeon and physician (1805–1896)

Sport

• Reg Bolton, rugby union footballer who played in the 1930s for England, Yorkshire, Wakefield and Harlequins
• William Guest, rugby union footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s for Yorkshire, South Elmsall and Wakefield
• Mike Harrison, former captain England national rugby union team.
• Phillip Hodson, cricketer and former president of the Marylebone Cricket Club
• Alister MacKenzie, British golf course designer known for designing Augusta National Golf Club (1870–1934).
• Roger Pearman, rugby union, and rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s for Sandal, Headingley, Loughborough University, Wakefield Trinity and Canterbury-Bankstown, and coached in the 1960s for Canterbury-Bankstown
• Adam Pearson, current Hull City chairman, former commercial director of Leeds United football club and former chairman of Derby County
• Ronald Rylance, World Cup winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, for England, Yorkshire, Wakefield Trinity, Dewsbury and Huddersfield
• Mike Smith, England and Gloucestershire cricketer
• Mike Tindall, Rugby Union World Cup winning rugby union player, ex-England captain.
• Greg Wood, former England U19 cricket captain
• Ben Woods, flanker for Newcastle Falcons and England Saxons rugby union.
• Andy Forsyth, rugby union player who currently plays for Coventry R.F.C. in the RFU Championship.
• Gordon Bonner, British and Irish Lions rugby union footballer who toured New Zealand and Australia in 1930.
• Martin Dyson, English cricketer and schoolmaster who played first-class cricket for Oxford University from 1958 to 1960
• Jonathan Lowe, cricketer
• Matt Crooks, English footballer currently playing for Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship.

See also

• Listed buildings in Wakefield

References

External links

• Queen Elizabeth Grammar School website
• The Schools Duke of Edinburghs Award Website