| Description | Including governors and administration 1525-1971 with grants 1525-1550, governors' minutes 1875-1971, papers relating to Charity Commission scheme 1875-1899, Board of Education inspection reports 1906-1930; staff 1652-1965 with volume containing pupil admission register and memoranda on election of schoolmasters 1650-1871; correspondence relating to staff appointments 1904-1944; pupils and school activities 1626-1972 with published version of admission register 1626-1717, admission registers 1908-1958, school prospectus late 19th century-c.1945; 'The Pocklingtonian' school magazine 1898-1907, photographs and recollections by Old Boys collected on the 450th anniversary of the founding of the school early 20th century; financial 1812-1952 with account book 1936-1940; statements and annual accounts 1890-1949; school buildings and fabric 1876-1957.
Also with deeds and related documents relating to properties owned by the school with references to Acklam 1769-1905, HIgh Farm at Acklam , Barmby on the Moor and Pocklington 1712-1912; Boynton 1777-1782; Burton Fleming 1768; Dringhouses in York Enclosure Act 1822; Duggleby 1800-1860 with tracing of tithe plan and extracts from the award; Hertfordshire 1590; Pocklington and Allerthorpe 1716-1939 with extracts from Pocklington Enclosure Award of property allotted to school; Thrybergh (West Riding) 1698-1824; West Lutton 1793-1821; Wetwang 1803-1925; various places 1775-1877 with survey of lands belonging to school 1775; rent rolls of school property 1872-1878; papers relating to Chancery suits involving property 1638-1820.
Also containing George Welburn and Ernest Leckonby oral histories c.1970s and Major Stewart's lantern slide collection nd. [1903-1926] |
| AdminHistory | The origin of Pocklington School lay in a licence of Henry VIII to John Dowman, Doctor of Laws, prebend of Lichfield Cathedral and Archdeacon of Suffolk, dated 24 May 1514. This licence permitted him to found a 'Fraternity of Guild of the Name of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Nicholas' at Pocklington Parish Church, which was to contain a Grammar School. The Guild was endowed with lands in Pocklington, Millington and nearby villages. Early and lasting connections were established between the school and St John's College, Cambridge (founded 1511).
The abolition of Guilds in 1547-8 under Edward VI threatened the long term survival of the school, but a private Act of Parliament was obtained in 1551 by Thomas Dowman, re-founding the school as the Free Grammar School of Pocklington. The school was to be administered by a Master (appointed by St John's College) and an Usher (appointed by the schoolmaster and the churchwardens of the parish of Pocklington). Thomas Dowman also secured the school's landed property, and thereby its income. The collection therefore includes a large number of title deeds and related documents.
In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century a succession of poor leases severely affected the school's income, leading to a number of Chancery suits. The number of pupils dwindled (in the period 1843-46 there was just one pupil). The school's fortunes were revived under the headmastership of Rev F J Gruggen (1848-1872), and his successors. Buildings were rebuilt and extended, the administration reorganised, income and investments regulated, and the numbers of boarders and staff increased. The foundations were laid for the present strength and reputation of the school.
Since 1875 the school has been administered by a Board of governors supervised initially by the Charity Commission, and later by the Board of Education and its successor bodies. In 1911 the name was changed from Pocklington Grammar School to simply Pocklington School.
For full details see 'A History of Pocklington School East Yorkshire 1514-1950 by P C Sands M A and C M Haworth M A (London). |