THE CLARENDON SCHOOLS: THE ORIGINAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS DEFINED BY THE CLARENDON COMMISSION (AKA THE GREAT NINE)

In 1861, a Royal Commission, under the chairmanship of the 4^th Earl of Clarendon, was established and tasked with investigating the governance and finance of Britain’s public schools (effectively private schools) and sought to define and stipulate what constitutes a public school and how such schools are managed, specifically, with respect to their endowments and how those endowments were disbursed. Ultimately, and controversially, the Commission’s report would ring-fence a select group of elite schools (the Great Nine / Clarendon Schools) which would be subject to the provisions of the Public Schools Act 1868 and which, forever thereafter, would enjoy a higher degree of status and reputation than their peers.

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ABOUT

Public schools have existed in the United Kingdom for many centuries although had remained poorly defined. The concept of a public school was understood but few comprehensive definitions existed with many of the more famous schools being endowed grammar schools, charitable schools for orphans, schools operated by religious orders or commercial guilds and so forth. Indeed, historically, many of England’s finest schools were historically attached to cathedrals and abbeys and had been established for the purposes of educating young men for admission into the clergy.

Education, otherwise, often remained inaccessible to the public at large. Many of these faith-based schools sought to increase their endowments and standing by admitting the sons of wealthy aristocrats and, eventually, the merchant classes.

Such schools, heavily focussed on a classics-based education, were not fulfilling the needs of a growing and expanding empire and the inevitable civil service structure required to administer it. As such, a number of new schools began to emerge over the course of several hundred years which were operated by lay persons, often beneficiaries of large charitable endowments and who were to provide instruction to capable boys for the purposes of admission, ultimately, to the great universities, military ranks or the civil service.

Initially, the majority of such schools were founded on a charitable basis with their endowment to be applied to the admittance of poorer boys for the purposes of instructing them in a classical education. That being said, it was typical that the headmaster of such schools would be allowed to admit a certain number of fee-paying pupils (typically the sons of wealthy gentlemen who might not be in line for inheritance) in order to provide a stipend to the headmaster and whose fees might go some way towards the operation of the school.

Many of these schools had specific admissions criteria, some were open to boys from a defined locality (with a quota allowance for pupils from outside that geographic area); some were for the children of a specific merchant guild or occupation and so forth. Some did not have specific admissions criteria along these lines and were open, fully, to the public from wherever they might come and from whatever background they might possess (i.e. faith, familial occupation etc).

Whilst a large swathe of these schools were not in receipt of funds from the government, the government became increasingly concerned about how the schools operated and how their immense endowment funds were being applied. Most had long-since deviated from the terms of their charitable endowments and were heavily engaged in the admission of boys from wealthy backgrounds rather than the education of poorer pupils. Furthermore, most had developed a close relationship with Oxbridge Colleges (who typically may have been endowed by the same benefactors), and were occupied with preparing boys for entry into university.

Against a backdrop of a burgeoning middle class and an emergent Victorian belief in establishing a more equitable and universal system of education, it was well-known that successive governments were under pressure to revise the model of education. As such, The Royal Commission on the Public Schools (to be known as the Clarendon Commission) was established to explore and report on the management of public schools.

The initial enquiries of the Clarendon Commission identified a number of schools to be explored as potentially defining what a public school is. The panel sought advices from a number of educators and visited many schools as part of their work, however, the Commission’s members could not escape accusations of bias and a favourable disposition towards a select group of schools – schools which many members had themselves attended and who were very aggressively lobbying the Commission members to protect and defend their rights and interests.

During the Commission’s proceedings, a number of schools were examined, including Cheltenham College (with the Commission satisfying themselves that this was indeed a proprietary school and therefore excluded). Determining that a public school is fee-paying and open to the public, regardless of religious affiliation; geographical location; or parental profession (thus excluding day schools at which pupils from further afield would not be able to attend; schools linked to any church or cathedral; local endowed grammar schools required to admit pupils from defined shires; many guild schools and so forth).

Ultimately, the Commission settled on a group of nine, nationally (if not internationally) renowned, ancient schools that were considered to be the top tier of endowed schools in the country at that time and who would be further investigated for the purposes of defining a public school, which would later result in the Public Schools Act 1868. The so-called “Great Nine” schools included: Charterhouse; Eton; Harrow; Merchant Taylors’; Rugby; St Paul’s; Shrewsbury; Westminster; and Winchester.

Subsequently, as primarily day schools, Merchant Taylors’ and St Paul’s would successfully argued that their constitutions meant that they too were private schools (proprietary schools) and so were, ultimately, excluded from the Public Schools Act 1868 that put the Commission’s findings onto a legislative footing.

The Public Schools Act 1868 therefore removed only seven schools from the remit of the Crown (making them fully independent) conferring a privileged status on these schools and introducing the first definition as to what constitutes a Public School.

These proceedings were controversial and a number of other great schools, considered to be peers of the Great Nine or that were more recently established were extremely concerned about their future and the limited scope of the legislative protection, ultimately resulting in the establishment of the Headmasters’ Conference, of which all of the Great Nine Clarendon Schools are members (in addition to the Eton Group and Rugby Group associations whose members are considered to be the peers of the Clarendon Schools). The later Taunton Commission further investigated the role and management of these schools and endowed grammar schools more widely and sought to build on the work of the Clarendon Commission.

The term: “The Great Nine” is controversial and deeply unpopular amongst some rival schools, many of which share a similar history and prestige but were not considered by the Commission. Certainly, schools like Uppingham and Sherborne have a strong case for being considered on a similar footing as do a number of other ancient schools in the Public School tradition.

Do you agree with the Clarendon Commission’s findings? Perhaps you attended or are thinking about choosing one of these schools? Maybe you went to another school that was wilfully overlooked? If so we would be keen to hear your thoughts or comments on them below.

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