How Marlborough College has changed over five generations

Daisy G (Sh)

Marlborough College was originally set up in August 1843 by a group of Church of England Clergymen, as a boarding school with the sole purpose of educating the sons of clergy. Initially, there were 199 boys, and the fees were 30 guineas a year.

Nowadays, whilst Marlborough has maintained an Anglican heritage, it has an inclusive ethos, welcoming pupils of all faith and none. Furthermore, despite Marlborough being a fee-paying school, these days Marlborough has an ambitious bursary fundraising campaign which aims to create a more diverse community.

My first ancestor, Henry Wilson, entered the College in 1877, so thirty years after it was originally formed. A huge amount has changed in these 150 years of my family’s presence. Even by this stage, you did not need to be a son of a member of the clergy, anyone willing to pay the fees could attend.

The College had encountered a tricky first 30 years with a rebellion taking place due to very harsh living conditions for the pupils, and it had run heavily into debt. However, by the 1870s, things were looking up for the College financially, and my great great great grandfather was enrolled for 5 years. Life would have been extremely tough though and boarding conditions were not as they are now.

In those days, all the College building were around the main Court, and the College was famous for its avenue of lime trees. The interesting thing about this Henry Wilson is that he became a Field Marshal and Head of the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, he was one of the first victims of the Irish struggles to become independent and he was assassinated on his doorstep, brandishing his sword, in London, by Irish terrorists in 1922. He was given a state funeral and 100 years on, a plaque to him has recently been unveiled in the Houses of Parliament. He has his name engraved in the Marlborough Chapel which you can still see today.

About the same time as Henry, his future brother-in-law also attended Marlborough. Major General Price-Davis, otherwise known as ‘Mary’ and also remembered in the Chapel, won a Victoria Cross in the Boer War.

By the late 1880’s, the College’s reputation was well established and over the next 100 years the College was seen as a school which provided a reliable stream of able young men to the professions e.g., lawyers and accountants, armed forces, the church and all walks of public life. Nowadays, Old Marlburians continue to thrive but in a much wider breadth of roles from the singer Chris de Burgh to the comedian Jack Whitehall, which reflects modern society which the Field Marshall and Major General would not even have dreamt of!

In 1918, when my great grandfather, Gordon Wilson, arrived in Cotton House, there was no still Memorial Hall. This was built a little later in honour of the 749 masters, pupils and staff who died in the First World War. Gordon did not enjoy his time at Marlborough as the food was terrible and there was a huge number of beatings. Plus, most of the masters were extremely old as the majority of the young masters had not returned from the war. There was definitely no child safeguarding and I understand that it was quite brutal at times!

I’m pleased to say things have changed a huge amount in this respect. Currently, Marlborough prides itself on the quality of relationships throughout our community. Young people at Marlborough thrive through their interaction with adults and peers in ways that go far beyond the traditional formal relationship in the classroom. Our houses provide us with supportive pastoral care. They are like a second home, where we can form friendships and develop our social leadership skills needed for our future.

My grandfather, another Henry Wilson, arrived here in 1960 which was another period of change for the school. He remembers studying a lot of art. To start with the Art School was on the top floor of the Bradleian Hall.

However, when the Norwood Hall opened in 1961/62, the space between the Hall and A House became the Art School which he recounts was a huge improvement. Art obviously wasn’t as good in those days - well, my grandfather only got E Grade at A level!

The current Art School replaced this in 2005. The College continues to evolve and now offers an outstanding range of academic and cocurricular activities, for example, I recently had to choose up to 2 activities from a list of over 60 from robotics to mixed martial arts.

It was just after my Grandfather’s time here, in 1968, that the Master, John Dancy, started introducing girls into the school. Marlborough College became the first single sex boarding school to admit girls into the Sixth Form.

My uncle Patrick Wilson arrived in Preshute in 1985 and during his time here the College finally became completely co-ed (in 1989), completing what the previous Master, John Dancy, had started in the 60’s. It was quite revolutionary to the public school system and was one of several changes that eventually helped transform the whole independent senior school sector.

Aside from this, Marlborough College has developed in size massively and architecturally.

Though my father and uncle witnessed the great Memorial and Norwood Halls, there has been a great deal of new buildings since, for example Dancy House, Heywood Block and Mill Mead to name just a few. Today, we have 16 boarding houses, and it is the UK’s largest co- educational full boarding school. For example, my house, Elmhurst used to have only 20 boy boarders in my grandfather’s time, but now has 60 girls! The College even has a school in Malaysia which adds a global aspect.

So, my cousin, Woody (current Senior Prefect), my sister Tilly and I are proud to be the fifth generation of our family to attend the College and, as such, we and our ancestors feel extremely privileged to have both witnessed and been part of the long and distinguished history of the College.

Who knows what the future will bring, but it is certainly very exciting!