Jump to content

Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys was a grammar school in Leicester, England, in existence from 1876 to 1976.

It was succeeded by the present-day Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

History

[edit]

After William Wyggeston's death in 1536, his brother Thomas Wyggeston, as a trustee, used part of the money to establish a school for boys known as the Elizabethan Grammar School. This eventually became defunct in the 19th century, but was re-founded on the site of the old Wyggeston Hospital as the Wyggeston Hospital School, which took its first pupils on 30 April 1877.[1] This school passed its name to the later Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. In 1927, new buildings were built, designed by James Miller.

In 1970/1971, the school won the national Top of the Form radio quiz show, beating Harris Academy, Dundee, in the final on 2 January 1971.

After the reorganisation of local government, the system of education in the City of Leicester became comprehensive, and the school closed in 1976 to be replaced by other schools, including the Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

Wyggeston Grammar School for Girls, also known as Wyggeston Girls' Grammar School, was founded not long after the boys' school and also closed in 1976. Its site was re-used for the Wyggeston Collegiate Sixth Form College, known as Regent College, Leicester, between 1996 and 2018, when it was absorbed into Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

Former pupils

[edit]

Headmasters

[edit]
  • The Rev. James Went 1878-1920
  • Thomas Kingdom 1920-1947
  • J C Larkin 1947-1969
  • Dr G A Thompson 1969-1976 (but continued as head of the new Sixth Form college)

Notable masters

[edit]
  • Colin Dexter – Crime writer, Assistant Classics master from 1954 to 1957
  • Ted Wragg – Educationalist and academic, Head of German from 1964 to 1966

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Old Wyggestonians Association, College History". Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  2. ^ Andrew Bailey CV, https://www.bankofengland.co.uk, accessed 30 August 2022
  3. ^ Alan Hill
  4. ^ Terence Irwin at philosophy.ox.ac.uk
  5. ^ "Sir Patrick Lowry".
  6. ^ Ed McLachlan
  7. ^ Stephen Mason Obit
  8. ^ John Matthews
  9. ^ Kevin Myers, A Single Headstrong Heart – Review: A memoir of self-reproach, The Irish Times, 24 December 2016
  10. ^ John O'Connor
  11. ^ Geoffrey Woen
  12. ^ "The Right Reverend John Richards". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Charles Wynne". The Guardian. 12 November 1999. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021.