Greyfriars School

Greyfriars School is a fictional English school used as a setting in the long running series of stories by the writer Charles Hamilton using the pen-name Frank Richards. Although the stories are focused on the Remove, whose most famous pupil was Billy Bunter, other characters also appear on a regular basis. From 1908 to 1940 the stories appeared in The Magnet. After 1940, the stories continued to appear in book form until Hamilton's death in 1961 and in a television series that ran from 1951 - 1961 on the BBC.

Location

The school lies very near the village of Friardale and quite close to the market town of Courtfield. It is near the coast, Pegg Bay and the fishing village of Pegg being within a few miles. The nearby location of hop fields indicate that the author had a Kent location in mind. There are two nearby public schools, Cliff House (for girls) and the rather slack Highcliffe.

Organisation

The school consisted of seven forms, based on age group. Each form had its own master who took the majority of the lessons. Specialist masters were used for French, sports and mathematics. Boys spend most of the day in class, their spare time either in a common room, the sports fields or shared studies; they sleep in shared dormitories. Breakfast and lunch are taken communally, a modest tea is provided but boys prefer to make their own arrangements in their studies.

Ethos

While the masters naturally emphasise scholastic matters, for the pupils (and readership) physical activities lie at the heart of the school's ethos. Prowess at sport is the best route to popularity and respect, while over-attainment at study is something of lesser, if not negative, importance. Disputes are often settled by fights, with the invariable, if unrealistic, outcome that virtue triumphs over vice. Corporal punishment is widely used by the masters and even by Sixth Form prefects. The ultimate punishment, short of expulsion, is a savage birching administered by the saintly headmaster, Dr Locke.

Main Personnel

Sixth form

• Rev Dr Locke - Form master and school headmaster – scholarly and just.
• George Wingate - Head Prefect – well liked sporting hero, embodiment of decency.
• Gerald Loder – antithesis of Wingate – malicious bully.

Fifth form

• Mr Prout - Master – pompous and ineffectual.
• Horace Coker – clumsy, buffoon.

Shell (Lower Fifth)

• Mr Hacker - Master – petty tyrant.

Upper Fourth

• Hon Cecil Temple – Captain - effete dandy.

Remove (Lower Fourth)

• Mr Quelch - Master – firm but fair.
• Harry Wharton –Captain –strong willed, stubborn, natural leader.
• Frank Nugent – self effacing, loyal .
• Bob Cherry – cheerful, energetic and robust.
• Hurree Jamset Ram Singh – Indian Prince, fine cricketer, sharp mind, talks in a peculiar idiom.
• Johnny Bull – stubborn yet thoughtful, Yorkshire bred.
• Billy Bunter – foolish, greedy, deceitful, but essentially harmless.
• Herbert Vernon-Smith ('The Bounder')– nouveau riche, rash, rebellious.
• Tom Redwing – scholarship boy, friend of Vernon Smith.
• Fisher T. Fish – avaricious American.
• Peter Todd – tall, thin, budding lawyer. Shares a study with Bunter.
• Tom Dutton – hearing impaired, misunderstands everything. Shares a study with Bunter.
• Mark Linley – worthy scholarship boy, star pupil.
• Lord Mauleverer – languid, kindly aristocrat.
• Harold Skinner – cowardly and unwholesome. Smokes and gambles.
• Wun Lung – Chinese - talks in a peculiar idiom.

Third Form

• George Tubb - captain, chief fag.

Second Form

• Dicky Nugent – troublesome and impertinent brother of Frank
• Sammy Bunter – brother of Billy

Other characters

• Mrs Mimble – runs tuck shop – kindly old lady
• Gosling – porter, hates boys
• Sir Hilton Popper – Chairman of Board of Governers – crusty and insensitive local landowner
• Hon Cecil Ponsonby - Highcliffe pupil - scheming, vicious, snob
• Marjory Hazeldene - Cliff House pupil - angelic schoolgirl

In other fiction

Greyfriars and some of its (by now) former pupils appear in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier. In this story, the school had been a grooming ground for spies since the 1500s and stated that Big Brother was General Sir Harold Wharton. He married Bessie Bunter and enlisted in the army becoming a General in no time, got mixed up with communists. After the Second World War joined the Labour party, his nick name was Big Brother. A week after Harold died of a heart attack, Bessie Bunter killed herself, fearing that spies would kill her first. Industrialist John Knight father of Emma Peel was a Student at Greyfriars School too. Bob Cherry, real name Robert Kim Cherry changed his name after becumming a spy to Harry Lime and later becomes the James Bond character "M". The school motto was: "Conamur Tenues Grandia" (Though Slight, We Strive for Greatness), note by Billy Bunter.

References

• Beal, George (Editor) (1977). The Magnet Companion. London: Howard Baker.
• Cadogan, Mary (1988). Frank Richards - The Chap Behind The Chums. Middlesex: Viking.
• Fayne, Eric & Jenkins, Roger (1972). A History of The Magnet and The Gem. Kent: Museum Press.
• Hamilton Wright, Una & McCall, Peter (2006). The Far Side of Billy Bunter: the Biography of Charles Hamilton. London: Friars Library.
• Lofts, W.O. & Adley, D.J. (1975). The World of Frank Richards. London: Howard Baker.
• McCall, Peter (1982). The Greyfriars Guide. London: Howard Baker.
• Orwell, George (1940). Boys Weeklies. Horizon.
• Richards, Frank (1940). Frank Richards Replies to Orwell. Horizon.
• Richards, Frank (1962). The Autobiography of Frank Richards. London: Skilton.
• Richards, Jeffery (1991). Happiest Days: Public Schools in English Fiction. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• Turner, E.S. (1975). Boys will be Boys – 3rd edition. London: Penguin.

See also

• The Magnet
• The Gem
• Charles Hamilton
• Billy Bunter
• Bessie Bunter
• Tom Merry

External links

• Friardale Hamilton material
• Magnets
• Collecting Books and Magazines Detailed article
• Greyfriars, The Magnet & Billy Bunter Facts and Figures
• Greyfriars Index Detailed listing of Hamilton material
• The Friars Club Enthusiasts’ Club
• Friardale Detailed site about The Magnet
• Bunterzone Enthusiast’s site
• Index of Boys Weeklies
• Map of Greyfriars School
• Map of Location of Greyfriars School