Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is an independent, 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.[1]

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School
Location
Wakefield
,
West Yorkshire
,
WF1 3QX

England
Coordinates53.68844°N 1.50135°W / 53.68844; -1.50135
Information
TypePublic school
MottoTurpe Nescire
(Latin: "It is a disgrace to be ignorant")
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1591 (1591)
FounderThomas Savile and others
Department for Education URN108306 Tables
Chairman of the GovernorsSimon Chamberlain
HeadmasterRichard Brookes
GenderBoys
Age4 to 18
Enrolment≈680
Colour(s)Black & gold   
Former pupilsOld Savilians
School song"Floreas, Wakefieldia"
Websitewgsf.org.uk

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,[2] 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.

The original Elizabethan school building on Brook Street

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.[3]

Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield
Notes
The arms have been in use since 1591, but it is unknown if or when they were granted.[4]
Crest
On a wreath Argent and Azure, an owl Argent.
Escutcheon
Per fess, in the upper half parted per pale, Gules a lion statant guardant Or, and Sable an owl Argent, the lower half Azure a Bible Argent with clasps Or.
Motto
'Turpe Nescire'

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".[3]

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
The current buildings on Northgate

In 1854 QEGS moved to its present site in Northgate, Wakefield, into premises designed by the architect Richard Lane[5] and formerly occupied by the West Riding Proprietary School.[6][7] 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
War memorial at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield

The school is often noted for its sporting ability,[8] 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.

  • 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.[9]

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[10]
  • 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)[11]
  • 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

Murderers

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

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

See also
  • Listed buildings in Wakefield

References
  1. History of Wakefield Cathedral 16th Century
  2. "QEGS Appoints New Head". Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. QEGS History
  4. "Queen Elizabeth Grammar School". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. Historic England. "Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (1258481)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  6. The Annals of Yorkshire from the Earliest Period to the Present Time By Henry Schroder, page 172. Published by George Crosby, 1852. 1852. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  7. Loudon's Architectural Magazine, And Journal of Improvement in Architecture (edited by John Claudius Loudon), page 142. Published by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown Green & Longman; and Weale Architectural Library, 1834. 1834. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  8. "RugbyWorld - QEGS Wakefield School of Month".
  9. Peacock, M. H., (1892) 'History of the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth at Wakefield', Wakefield, p.114
  10. "PULLAN (or PULLEYNE), Benjamin", in John Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part II 1752–1900, Vol. V Pace – Spyers (1953), p. 214
  11. Lapidge, M., (2002) 'Interpreters of Early Modern History', Oxford, p.197
  12. ""Crossbow cannibal" appears in court – Wakefield Express". Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  13. "QEGS Rugby" (PDF). Wakefield Grammar School Foundation. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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