# Wellesley Haddon Dene School

Wellesley Haddon Dene School is a private day preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. Founded in 1866, it educates boys and girls aged 3 to 11. The merger of Haddon Dene School with Wellesley House School to form the newly named Wellesley Haddon Dene School in 2022, was associated with plans to expand. The school also includes a number of pupils with Special educational needs and disability (SEND).

## History

The history of Wellesley House School dates back to 1866 but the present main building was built in 1897 to 1898 in 6 acres (2.4 ha) of grounds. It was originally called Conyngham House and was located at Ramsgate. During World War II, the school was temporarily evacuated to Rannoch in Scotland while the buildings were used by the British Army. In 1969 it merged with St Peter's Court, another local prep school. St Peter's Court had had two sons of King George V as pupils. The King felt corporal punishment of Prince George, Duke of Kent when he swam too far out to sea at Joss Bay, despite being warned not to, was appropriate.$^{:198}$ Wellesley House School itself taught one of the Dukes of Gloucester in the 1950s and other prominent pupils included Mike d'Abo, Chris Cowdrey and William Fox-Pitt.$^{:245}$ Wellesley's House first headmaster was C.H. Rose followed by C.R. Taylor. Another early headmaster was Leonard Moon.$^{:245}$ Originally a typical boys-only boarding prep school, girls were admitted in 1977.
On 22 September 2022, Haddon Dene School merged with Wellesley House School to form the newly named Wellesley Haddon Dene School. Haddon Dene was a nearby private school without boarders at the time of the merger, and with smaller grounds, that had opened in 1929 by Miss Olive Vyseas as a boarding and day school for girls, with boys accepted from 1933.$^{:98}$ The Premises for the new school are as for Wellesley House School, at 114 Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs. It was planned that the merger could eventually lead to an expansion of pupil number to a maximum of 320 pupils.
The school has a number of pupils with Special educational needs and disability (SEND), which in 2023 stood at 23.

## Academics

As with prep schools that educate children up to age 11. Wellesley Haddon Dene prepares pupils for the Kent Test (11+) alongside potential pathways to Independent education .

## Former pupils

Former pupils are known as "Old Welleslians". This list includes former pupils from St Peter's Court, which closed in 1969 and merged with Wellesley House.
Armed Forces
* Peter de la Billière, former Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in the 1990 Gulf War
* Sir Henry Leach, former First Sea Lord at the time of the 1982 Falklands War who convinced Margaret Thatcher to re-take the islands
* John Ruggles-Brise, Honorary Colonel in the Territorial Army
The Arts
* Reginald Bosanquet, former ITN newscaster on ITV
* Sir Jeremy Child, actor
* Pandora Clifford, actress
* Michael Denison, actor
* Siobhan Hewlett, actress
* Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, photographer
* Oliver Preston, cartoonist
* Sir Jocelyn Stevens, Chairman of English Heritage
* Heathcote Williams, poet, playwright, actor and anarchist
Business
* Neil Sclater-Booth, former New York City financier
* John Cobbold
* Patrick Cobbold
* Robin Leigh-Pemberton, former Governor of the Bank of England
* Sir Adrian Swire, Hong Kong–based billionaire
Politics
* James Arbuthnot, Conservative MP
* Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Bt, former Conservative MP
* Henry Bellingham, Conservative MP
* Lord Jellicoe, former First Lord of the Admiralty
* Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP
* Nicholas Lyell, former Conservative MP
Royalty and nobility
* Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
* Prince George, Duke of Kent
* Prince William of Gloucester
* Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
* Henry Alan Walter Richard Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland
* Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland
Sportsmen and sportswomen
* Graham Cowdrey, former cricketer
* Chris Cowdrey, former cricketer
* Oliver Sherwood, National Hunt racing trainer
* William Fox-Pitt, Silver Medal-winning Olympic equestrian competitor
* Georgina Harland, Bronze Medal-winning Olympic athlete
* Alex Loudon, former cricketer
* George Mann, former cricketer
* Tony Nash, Gold Medal-winning Olympic bobsleigh competitor
* Sam Northeast, Hampshire cricketer and former Kent Captain
* Jordan Cox, Kent cricketer
* Ollie Robinson, Sussex cricketer
Writers
* Simon Astaire, author, agent and media advisor
* David Goodhart, political commentator and founder of Prospect
* Jonathon Porritt, environmental journalist
* Tom Stacey, novelist and former foreign correspondent
* Hew Strachan, military historian