Hull Grammar School

Coordinates: 53°46′05″N 0°21′43″W / 53.768120°N 0.362070°W / 53.768120; -0.362070
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Hull Grammar School
Address
Map
Cottingham Road

, ,
HU5 2DL

England
Coordinates53°46′05″N 0°21′43″W / 53.768120°N 0.362070°W / 53.768120; -0.362070
Information
TypeComprehensive
MottoFloreat Nostra Schola
Establishedc. 1330
Closed2015
Local authorityHull
Staff100+
GenderBoys
Age11 to 16
Enrolment1200+
HousesWilberforce, Marvell, Alcock, and Gee (named for eminent Old Boys)
Colour(s)Red and Black

Hull Grammar School was a secondary school in Hull, England, founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 by the prelate John Alcock. In 1988, as part of a restructure by the Local Education Authority, the site was renamed William Gee School. Meanwhile, Hull Grammar School relocated to the old Marist College site on Cottingham Road, becoming a fee paying school in 1989, only to merge with Hull High School in 2005 to form the Hull Collegiate School (renamed in 2021 Tranby School).

History[edit]

Hull Grammar School was founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 as part of a chantry chapel by Bishop John Alcock (of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely), later Lord Chancellor and founder of Jesus College, Cambridge.[1] Originally conducted by a chaplain (priest) endowed to sing Masses for Bishop Alcock's soul, the School flourished till its revenues were seized at the Protestant Reformation under the Chantries Act 1547. The people of Hull objected and eventually re-established the school, which was appropriated by the Crown in 1586.

The following year, Queen Elizabeth I granted the school house and associated property to Luke Thurcross, the mayor, who in 1604 entrusted his interest in the school and gardens to four trustees, to act on behalf of the mayor and burgesses. The appointment of masters was placed in the hands of the Hull Corporation, and by charter of James I, the right of presentation was secured to them. An exhibition of £40 to Cambridge University was endowed in 1627 and augmented in 1630, with another scholarship of £60 a year to Clare College, Cambridge. The poet Marvell was a pupil in this era, and his father the Rev. Andrew Marvell a master.

In 1892 the endowments produced about £80 a year, for which the master taught the Classics free, but the scholars paid for other subjects under Town Council regulations.

The Education Act 1944 placed the school under a local education authority, as part of the government's 'secondary education for all' policy. In 1969 the school became comprehensive.[2] The local government reorganisation of 1974 saw education transferred from Hull City Council to the newly created Humberside County Council.

Location[edit]

In 1486 a schoolhouse was built for Bishop Alcock's chantry foundation in the Market Square of Kingston upon Hull, on South Church Side opposite Holy Trinity Church. This fine old brick pile now houses the interactive 'Hands-on History' Museum. Around 1578, the building having fallen into decay, Alderman William Gee (thrice Mayor of Hull) opened a subscription for the purpose of repairing it. This resulted in the erection of a new school, in which Alderman Gee was joined by the Corporation of Hull, who added a second storey, which was used as an exchange and assembly room. Alderman Gee not only contributed £80 and 20,000 bricks, but also left two houses in the 'Butchery' (now Queen Street) for the school's benefit. From inscriptions on three stones in the wall, the rebuild appears to have been completed in 1583 at a cost of £600. This building was purchased in 1875 by the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, who had it restored and converted into a mission room and choir school.

From 1875 to 1891 the grammar school rented temporary premises, but in the latter year a new and commodious building was erected on Leicester Street, officially opened by the Mayor of Hull on 27 January 1892. The new school was built in the Collegiate Gothic style, of red brick with stone dressings.

In the 20th century, the school moved onto Bishop Alcock Road in the Bricknell Avenue area of Hull. It remained there until 1988.

Notable former pupils[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Allison, K. J., ed. (1969). A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1: The City of Kingston upon Hull. Courtesy of British History Online. pp. 348–70.
  2. ^ Hull City Archives, Hull Grammar School Records, 1750–2002[dead link]

External links[edit]