Dover College
| Dover College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public school |
| Motto | Non recuso laborem (I refuse no work) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1871 |
| Founder | Dr. Astley |
| Chiarman of the Governors | Christopher Hare |
| Headmaster | Stephen Jones MSc MLitt FRSA |
| Staff | 50 (approx.) |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 4 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 340 (approx.) |
| Houses | 6 |
| Colour(s) | Black and white |
| Former pupils | Old Dovorians |
| Website | http://www.dovercollege.org.uk/ |
Dover College is a co-educational public school in Dover, Kent, England. It was founded in 1871, and takes both day pupils and boarders.
History
Foundation
In 1869 Robert Chignell, who had a private school at Westmount, in Folkestone Road, leased part of the Dover Priory buildings for a private school. He passed on his interest, however, to a group of leading citizens and local businessmen in Dover, led by the Mayor of Dover, Dr. Astley, who had formed the Dover College Company to promote the foundation of a public school for the town on what remained of the Priory site with the dual intention of providing a public school education for local boys and of using and thus preserving the Priory's remaining ancient buildings.
The College was founded and opened modestly as a boys' school on 15 September 1871. It acquired the large hall, or guest-house, in 1879 and converted it into a school chapel by enlarging the east end into an arse. In time, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners made over the whole property to the College Trustees. The refectory was restored, revealing an important but damaged fresco, as (in 1881, to mark a charitable act by Sir Richard Dickenson the then mayor of Dover) was the gatehouse. The Gatehouse is currently used as a studio for drama.
20th century
In August 1917, part of the school was damaged during an air raid and the decision was finally taken to evacuate the college from Dover to Leamington Spa in the Midlands, returning to Dover in 1919 with only 150 pupils. (During World War I, in common with many other schools, Old Dovorians became officers in the British Armed Forces and as a result suffered high casualty rates due to sniping — 177 former pupils died; one, Naval officer Arthur Leyland Harrison posthumously received the Victoria Cross for the Zeebrugge raid; another old boy, Gen Sir Reginald Dallas Brooks, was also on that raid and won a DSO before going on to become Governor of Victoria.)
In 1922 a trust set up by the old boys took ownership of the college and in 1923 it was reconstituted with a Royal Charter, which defined its aims:
- The object of the Corporation of Dover College shall be the conduct of a College for boys … in which they may receive a sound religious, classical, mathematical, scientific and general education and the doing of such things as are conducive to the attainment of this objective.
During the Second World War, Dover was on the front line, with only the Straits of Dover separating the town from Nazi-occupied France, and one of the most likely areas for a German invasion. As a result, the school was again evacuated, initially for a term to Blundell's School in Devon with which Dover College had a lomg standing frindeship, and thence to Poltimore House, also in Devon. It returned to Dover in 1945 with 168 boys. During the war 102 former pupils died; Col Terence Otway won a famous DSO for his action in capturing the Merville battery on D-Day.
In 1974, Dover College was one of the first English public schools to become co-educational, and in September 2001 it opened a junior department for pupils aged 4-11.
Old Dovorians
Notable alumni, in chronological order, include:
- Richard Arthur (1865–1932), Australian politician
- Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham (1866–1958); Lord Chancellor
- Tyrone Power, Sr. (1869–1931), Anglo-American actor
- Francis Newton Parsons (1875–1900); Victoria Cross recipient (Second Boer War)
- Robert John Tillyard (1881–1937), entomologist and geologist
- Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames (1875–1948); engineer
- Adrian Stoop (1883–1957); Rugby player after whom the Stoop Memorial ground is named
- Arthur Leyland Harrison (1886–1918); Victoria Cross recipient (Zeebrugge Raid.)
- Richard Aldington (1892–1962); writer and poet
- Wilfred Neville (1894–1916); led the East Surrey’s “Football Charge” at the Somme
- General Sir Dallas Brooks (1896–1966); DSO - Zeebrugge Raid; Governor of Victoria - 1949-1963
- Air Marshal Sir Hugh Walmsley KCB, KCIE, CBE, MC, DFC (1898-1985); Chief of the Air Staff (India)
- Sir Frederick Ashton (1904–1988); (CH 1970); choreographer of the Royal Ballet
- Edgar Christian (1908–1927); see Cold Burial published in 2002
- Col Terence Otway (1914–2006); CO of 9 Para on D-Day (Merville Battery)
- J. Lee Thompson (1914–2002); film director
- Sir Derek Palmar (1919–2006); Chairman of Bass
- Michael Welsh (b. 1942), Conservative politician
- George Lam (b. 1947); Hong Kong film star and singer
- Sir Peter Torry (b. 1948); British Ambassador to Germany
- Michael Kuhn (b. 1949); Polygram MD & Film Producer
- Guy East (b. 1951); Film Producer
- Simon Cowell (b.1959); TV personality
- Nicholas Phillips (b.1953); Shipping Solicitor
Notable Teaching Staff
- Alec Peterson, a former headmaster of the school
- Jeffrey Archer taught at the school in the 1960s
- Ralph Townsend taught at the school in the 1970s
Southern Railway Schools' Class
The School lent its name to the twelfth steam locomotive (Engine 911) in the Southern Railway's Class V of which there were 40.This Class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. 'Dover', as it was called, was built in 1933.The locomotive bearing the School's name was withdrawn in the early 1960s.