The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-24 00:00:00

ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES AT THE
GRAMMAR SCHOOL. -

The annual distribution of prizes took place at the
Grammar School in this town on Wednesday morning
last, in the presence of a large number of the parents
and friends of the boys.
Colonel Fletcher, J.P., presided.
There were also present the Revds. J. J. Welch, H.
Downing, and D. Maginnis ; Major Walker; Messrs. R.
L. Freer, J. Collis, H. Hughes, E. Terry, arc.
The Chairman said, having been requested as
Chairman of the Governors to preside on this occa
&on, I shall have the honour, and I may add, the
pleasure of addressing a:few words tl you. In the
first place I have, on behalf of the Govenors, to ex-,
press their pleasure at the presence of so numerous
I and respectable an assembly as testifying the in-
terest felt in the town and neighbourhood in this
ancient institution. The ordinary annals of a
GI a nmar School afford few salient points for ob-
servation and comment, and the history of this
foundation may be explained in a very few words.
The earliest notice of a Freefilchool in Stourbridge
0 curs% in the sth year of Henry VIII., 1514, nearly
40 years before the foundation of, our present
school, when a stipendiary priest was appointed to
say mass in a chapel at Stourbridge, which we
kuow was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and stood
on the site of the ancient Grammar School. He,:
was also to keep a school in Stourbridge and teach.,
poor children freely. In thelniddle ages learning
was chiefly confined to the monasteries and clergy.
B.,lted knights and bold barons sealed their
charters and used the sign of the cross on account
of their inability to write, and the mere ability to
read conferred the title of clerk, raising the pre-
sumption that the person so gitt2d was in orders.
In order to provide a remedy for the want of edu-
cation, our royal founder King Edward VI., in the
sixth year of his reign, founded this Grammar
SAlool with many others, and endowed it with rent
charges at Suckley and Martley in this county,
formerly belonging to the dissolved college of
Fotheringay, in Northamptonshire, a place after-
wards notable for the execution of the ill-fated
Queen Mary of Scotian 1, pasture lands and houses
in the parishee of St. Laurence, Evesham, and St.
Helen, Worcester, which were vested in the crown,
on the dissolution of monasteries, as given for
supersticious usee, as endowments of charities
founded for masses for the soul* of deceased per-
sons. These are still in the hands of the Govenors.
At this time Stourbridge and Oldewinford con-
tained only about 150 families or 600 inhabitants.
In the year 1590 Richard Allchurch, schoolmaster,
was prosecuted by Mr. Lyttelton as a conjuror,
and turned out of office by the Chancellor of the
Diocese of Worcester. He was no doubt a learned
man, perhaps almost clever enough to be a con-k
juror, but as the statutes against witchcraft were
then in foree, and as I can trace tie analogy be-
tween the professions of schoolmaster and con-
juror. I should, if chronology would have allowed
the suposition, have been tempted to have sug-
gested a mistake or mispriat, and read nonjuror as
the more probable offence. This, however, is im-
practicable, as the nonjuror did not exist until
nearly a century later. Time would fail me were
I to attempt to follow the history of the school at
greater length. We know that the learned Dr.
Samuel Johnson was a pupil here in 1725. The
last year was an eventful one in the annals of our
school as the period in which the new scheme of
the Public School Commissioners, prefixed with
the consent of the Government, came into opera-
tion. Among other changes an addition was made
to the governing body, which has relieved it from
any charge of I. elng self-elected and given it some-
what of alrepresentative character. By this scheme
the county magistratas of the Stourbridge division
elect one governor. The chairman of the Stour-
bridge Commissioners becomes a governor ex-officio.
The Town Commissioners and the parents of day
boys arc each empowered to elect two govenors,
called representative governors. The original gov-
ernors still remain under a now title, that of co-op-
tative governors. lam not at this nicauent aware
of the exact meaning placed on this term by the
Public Schools Commissioners. It's root is of
course the Latin word opto, to chose. In this sense.
it appears inappropriate as the origine governors '
are neither electors nor elected. It ' should over
be remembered that it is to the exertions of the
original governors we owe the building in which
we are assembled, and to their judgment we are
indebted for the selection of the excellent masters
to whom the discipline of the school has been so
properly entrusted. I may, perhaps, be permitted
to quote the opinion of one whose name ought
never to be mentioned in this town or neighbour-
hood without respect, and whose loss w • all so
deeply deplore. I speak of our late noble neigh-
bour, Lord Lytteltou, who, _Sig one of the Public
Schools Commissiimers, had investigated the con-
dition of the school. His Lordship, in one of our
last conversations, observed to me" Your task at
Stourbridge is a very easy one. The school is full
and in good working order; the masters are excel-
lent, and the new govenors have only to follow in
the steps of their predecessors." In conclusion
I would, as having passed through the ordeal of
school And college, say a few words to our young
friends, the pupils of this school. What I would
nage upon them is earnestness of purpose. n the
cricket field or at play I would wish them to seek
as much enjoyment as possible, and in the school-
room to give their entire attention to their work
and strive for improvement ; never idling or wag-
ing valuable time, as the opporttinit for improve-
ment will soon puss away. It I might quote a
p es,age from Holy Writ, it would be this
Whatsoever thy hand !indent to do, do it with
all thy might."
Thcct niaa then re.t.l th.. rep rt if the examiner:
1.• it v. iV. It. Bolton, of K.t.Y!r, It which th.• to
u ii. 4 CUI

Ex adiNLICH Itxpoux.

I has, examined the bop of th • •Stourbridg.
G. an, nisi- School in l.4titJ U ret k, I I oly Script sr..
...sighs!, hi, t.,r, ge,,crap iy aod g.llllllllir, rim ati,on ttie .
tint Fr. nen ; a Ist witi.•ll. tmo.y ver. by no meai..
rums the range cif sut.j cts in *hien the boys hav
in•tructe 1. The ex .inination had cooducte
iu means of w.itten pip re ; and in the chi...neat sub
jects. in addition to their wr tteit wnrk. the b .ys haw
I• en CY mAitivd by me lien In Ia in the pi. c
•• t for tia..slathiii f.omm I, MU aUiliOr wo.e d ine ver
eell thrnuilinut the scdool. fh•- tran..a.ion us
_en, r..liy v ry AC. 11,:atr, sic
I the le upp .
C ass,. showt.d e freedom aiel ap rit
ituder:tig the Latin into English, without tin 'uly dis
.egardiug the Latin constiuctioa. I was tithe)) p'e tee
..ith this portion of their work. The grammatical qu
tit.)). were nut answered SO well; and, while some f w
did v. ry well, the majority were deficient in thou)
knoaLdge if the irregular Latin declensions and con-
jugstiona'lwo boas in the first dais were absent whet
the Latin psi er was set ; and the:r pace jim
the list is of ce,urse it.jurionely affected by their abaenc
I may make the same remarks about the examination
in Greek as I have done about the Latin. Tile transla-
tion was done very well ; the answers t) the grammatical
questions were inferior to the tranalations., In Holy
Scripture, the work-done by the Upper School, was-very
good, one half of the boys obtaining more than
hell of the marks, while only two failed to
°Asia a third. In the Middle School the work
was not so sell done, only 5 out of 48 ithtsf._
lag More than a third a as. ...isms. In the Lower
)febtof tt w of the best boys did very well. In the
English suLj, its the questions in geography were
answered wall throughout the school ; much better
than the qusstions in English h story. The ques,i ens
in English grammar were at swered fairly well, with the
exception of the " analysis" by the boys in the Upper
School. The arithmetic. paper Was answered on the
whole very well. Several boys obtained full marks for
it, while only a few failed conspicuously. In algebra
about half a dozen Paper* were done fairly well, the
peat were worth. 'WI.. I was disappointed will the
remit of the work in euclid, though two boys, Ghettos
and Terry, acquitted theme -Ives excellently in this sub-
ject. In French again the trau.letions were showed
considerable skid in changing French idioms into
English. The translation from English into Fregeh
was rattier poor. Tke knowledge of French grammar
appeared to be creditable. In conclusion, I have great
pleasure in expressing my satisfaction with the general
result of the examination. While the more prominent
boss have evidently had great care bestowed upon them,
this has not been done at the expense of the others.
The work ef the great majority, by which the real
character of a school is most surely tested, is quite up to
the average; and the number of those boys, who either
through incapacity or through indolence have failed in
their work, is unusually small.
The Chairman also _read, the following report Isit the
head master, the Rev. W. J, J. Welch :---
,
MASTRit'll REPORT,
I have the honour ta lay before you my report of this
school for the year wading Midsummer, 1g76. During
this time the school had been tinier the operation of
the new scheme, but as the requirements of this scheme
had been alYeady anticipated to a very considerable
extent, the changes which have been introduced have
been but few in number. The fact that there is now but
one fee for all subjects will, I consider, prove of very
material advantage in the working of the school.
odit tuheocuegshsi
tyth ilse
dartroan gae mree.natrradnugrin g the p
eme
uiot
theyeart
form sh,ais
delieve it will ultimately tend to prove the discipline' of
the school. Of course, during this transition period;
the boys have been in some respects at a little disadvan-
tage ; but during the coming year our organisation will
be more complete. I believe that the curriculum now
adopted fully meets the educational wants of the town
and neighbourhood ; inasmuch as, on the one hand, we
are able to prepare boys to go direct from the school to
the Uciversity ; and, on the otlier band, we undertth
11 -teach all the subjects required for a sound cosa-