The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-16 00:00:00

SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION.

The twelfth volume, containing the reports of the-assist
ant commissioners, has been issued. It comprises the
South Midland division, which contains the extra-metropo-
litan part of Middlesex and seven other counties—Hertford-
shire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire,
Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire. It
has three towns above 20,000 population, 15 towns from
20,000 to 5,000, and 37 towns below s,ooo—in all 55 towns.
The urban population is 331,250, the remaining rural
populations is 959,895, making a total for town and
country of 1,291,145. There are 24 towns having a total
population of 103,572, with no endowments for secondary
education. The number of places in the division having
grammar-school endowments is 65, not including Eton
and Harrow : namely, 30 towns, and 35 places not
counted as towns. The gross income of these founda-
tions, some of which embrace other objects than the support
of the schools, has been computed at £34,857 per annum.
The net annual income of the grammar schools, after pay.
ment of all charges on account of repairs, rates, taxes, and
insurance in connection with the property and school-
buildings, is estimated at £17,647, besides £1,104 ior exhi-
bitions. This amount is distributed among the several
counties as follows :—Middlesex (extra-metropolitan),
£1,653 ; Hertford, £5,313 ; Buckingham, £B5O ; Oxford,
£1,288 ; Northampton, £2,347 ; Huntingdon, £460 ; Bed-
ford, £5,328; Cambridge, £1,422. Sir William Harpur's
Charity, at Bedford, forms the subject of special recom-
mendations by the commissioners, and attention has
also been called by them to the largely-increased
revenues of Aldenham School, which now amount to
about £4,600 per annum gross. Besides Bedford School,
which has three departments for secondary instruction
of boys, three other schools--Aylesbury, Henley,
and Wellingborough—have two departments each. If we
count these as separate schools, there are in this division
18 classical schools, with 1,263 scholars ; 19 semi-classical,
with 831 scholars ; 19 non-classical, with 1,282 scholars ;
and 12 elementary. The income of one is paid over to a
national school, and three are in abeyance. The sum of
£11,013 belongs to the 18 schools which profess to be
classical ; but of these only 13 are in the first grade, and
they have 1,043 scholars. The total number of scho'ars
of all grades in all the schools, excluding the elementary,
is 3,376. The net annual income of Eton and Harrow
schools, which were reported on by the Nine Schools Com-
missioners, including exhibitions, is about £19,000 a year.
In this estimate no account is taken of the value of
the scholarships at King's College, Cambridge. For the
secondary instruction of girls the value of endowments in
the division appears to be about £936 per annum. Hence
the aggregate net income of the endowments for secondary
education in this division may be set down at nearly
£39,000 per annum. Of the endowments connected with
the primary instruction of the poor, the richest are in the
counties of Oxford and Northamptonshire, namely, in
Oxfordshire,2B36
atoring Heath Charity (£1,068) ;
Barnwell (2719) ; King's Cliffe
iarme 's Hospital, Oundle (2594). The
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schools at Bedford are supported from the revenues of Sir
William Harpur's Charity. The aggregate gross income
of these foundations amounts to about £16,709 per annum,
and the net annual sum applicable to educational purposes
may be computed at £11,757. The total net income of
the trusts for educational purposes in this division may
therefore be set down at upwards of £50,000 per annum.