CHAPTER XI

The Revival under Bullen : 1796 — 1809

IF there was a long gap between the decision to expel Evanson on

22 July 1794 and his resignation on 24 April 1795, there was a yet longer

one between the declaration of a vacancy and the election of his succes-sor on 24 March 1796. Towards the end of the time the Court did belatedlythink of making provision for paying "some attention to the youthfulinhabitants of Oundle", but nothing came of their consultations. Duringthese twenty months there was neither master nor boy in the School: thisis probably the longest break in its history. The routine appointments,however, were made normally. The election of Mr. Berkeley as overseertook place in May 1795, and vacancies in the almshouses were filled inDecember 1795 and March 1796: but the selection of a schoolmaster, whichhad been left by the Court of July 1795 to the Oundle Committee, wasdelayed. The committee consisted of the Master and two Wardens of 1795Qoseph Warner, Charles Pugh and Jacob Warner) and four past Masters,David Pugh (1786), Henry Nettleshipp (1787), William Hopkins (1793)and William Hill (1784): it met on 23 July, and hearing that Mr. AndrewJordaine, Master in 1794, was about to visit Oundle on his way to Bradford,requested him to confer with the overseers on the choice of a schoolmaster.As Oundle North Bridge, like those at Thrapston and Peterborough, hadbeen carried away by the ice of the previous February, Mr. Jordaine reachedOundle by way of Wansford, where either the southern arch had beenrebuilt—it still shows the date 1795—or enough survived to let him crosson horseback. On arrival he called on each of the four overseers, a necessaryprecaution, in view of "the jealousy aroused by Dr. Walcot's taking thelead in management and being very attentive to the welfare of the pooralmsmen". He saw Dr. Walcot and his son, and also Mr. Hunt, but not Mr.Berkeley. Dr. Walcot urged the raising of the almsmen's weekly pay

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because of the uncommon scarcity and the high cost of laundry: he advo-cated the digging of a new well to remove a cause of contention amongthe old men over the fetching of water from a pump outside to the sink inthe east end of the building; and pointed out other desirable repairs. As thekey of the Schoolhouse could not be found, which is hardly surprising,Mr. Jordaine did not see the inside, but he observed that the roof wasruinous and should be repaired during the summer weather. The school-master's house similarly needed pointing on the roof and its windowsunblocking: the interior was so filthily dirty that it would have to be en-tirely papered, painted and whitewashed to make it habitable: the slatingof the wash-house was as bad as that of the Schoolhouse. Having assuredthe Walcots, and Mr. Hunt later, of the desire of the committee to appointa suitable schoolmaster to make the School as useful as it could possibly be,consistent with the Orders, and <to supply an usher competent to teachEnglish, Writing and Arithmetic, he invited them to nominate a candidate.The answer was that there were several in the neighbourhood that wouldaccept the office for the sake of the salary, but none in whom they couldrepose a sufficient confidence. Leaving four guineas for distribution amongthe almsmen and their nurse, he proceeded on his journey, and wrote to thecommittee on 29" July a full account of his visit.

The committee directed the clerk to ask the overseers to prepare anestimate for the necessary repairs. Dr. Walcot's submission on 23 August ofestimates of ^134.11.0 for the Schoolhouse and of ^50.3.10 for theschoolmaster's house was followed on 25 August by the order to carry themout. By 3 o October Dr. Walcot reported that good progress had been made:money to pay the workmen was sent him on that day and the balanceon 4 November. The Court also approved of raising the almsmen's payfrom Michaelmas 1795 to 55. a week.

Meanwhile the committee seem to have felt that in a certain James Tate,who was in orders, they had found a proper person to be Master of OundleSchool: but he was not yet a Master of Arts. It was deemed necessary inOctober 1795 to consult Mr. Park on the question of his eligibility: therecan be no doubt as to Mr. Park's answer. On 16 February 1796, though

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applications and testimonials were considered, appointment was againdeferred: perhaps the problem of modernising the School within the termsof the Orders of 1575 had not yet been solved to their satisfaction. By9 March 1796, two candidates had appeared in addition to the Rev. JamesTate: they were the Rev. James Duncan, M.A., of King's College, Aber-deen, and the Rev. Thomas Henry Bullen, M.A., of Christ's College,Cambridge. The Court of 18 March put the election of the Master of OundleSchool on the agenda for that of 24 March. The choice lay between Dun-can, who was in Hampshire, and Bullen, who attended at Grocers' Hall.

A charge, or recommendation, had been prepared, "containing principlesfor a system of education more extensive than that enjoined or implied bythe statutes and more applicable to the uses and purposes of the inhabitantsof Oundle, though by no means contradictory of the spirit of those statutes".The document may provoke a smile, but it should be read as evidence ofthe educational ideas of 1796, at any rate as Mr. Bridgman realised them.This was read to Bullen in the presence of the whole Court.

A Grammar School appears to be converted to its best use, when the study ofthe Latin Language is made the vehicle of a more correct knowledge of our own:the Boarding Schools have long done this to the visible benefit of the scholars.Experience has shown that the attainment of the former is facilitated greatly bypursuing it in conjunction with the English tongue. The rudiments of both shouldbe taught together: our language is familiar, far more simple in its form and fullywithin the comprehension of boys who are of age to be sent to a Grammar school.

Many want the inclination or abilities or time to make a proficiency in the deadlanguages: but to understand their own with precision, and to write it with perspi-cuity, beauty and force is desirable in every station and is indispensable in all whoprofess to receive a liberal education.

The boys, then, in every class should be made to translate from the authors theyread a certain portion at least twice a week, and if the master will examine the per-formance of every boy in the presence of the class and point out to him the expres-sions that are incorrect or unusual and inelegant, their ambition to excel and theirdesire of praise will carry them rapidly into a degree of improvement often-timesbeyond what might be expected from their age.

The lower classes not sufficiently advanced to make translations would bematerially benefitted by transcribing often in the week suitable portions from a goodEnglish author; the boys would insensibly acquire by imitation proper modes ofexpression, and, which is of equal consequence, would easily learn to spell correctly,which they can never do by the sole aid of any spelling book.

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Strict attention to spelling ought to be preserved throughout the whole courseof education, and the best mode unquestionably is for the scholars to write from theirmaster's mouth a certain quantity of English to be inspected afterwards by him as tothe spelling and punctuation. These writings may be so contrived as to instill into thesuperior scholars in the most pleasing way much useful knowledge without the timeand the parade of systematical instruction. They may acquire in this manner a com-petent idea of the several manufactures and the metals from the rude material andthe mines to their last improvement, some skill in letter writing, some acquaintancewith admired passages from our poets and other authors.

There is no study so agreeable to the youthful mind as Geography and the utilityof it is obvious when it is carried on chiefly with a view to the commercial interests,enabling the learner to trace out the situation and extent of every country, the climateand the productions naturally springing from it, the state of the manufactures andtheir effect upon the internal happiness and wealth of the people, the foreign com-merce, strength, government and religion of each, et cetera.

Nothing is suggested here more than what is known to be done, and with allthese additions the instruction in the learned languages may be carried to a degreefully adequate.

No particular arrangement of the course of study is hereby fixed. The master, ofcourse, will wish to have his own plan adopted: and that he will be most likely tocarry into full effect. But in general three hours in the week may be allotted to theparsing, as it is called, by the rules of English Grammar a portion of some Englishauthor, and with this attention only the scholars soon acquire ability to discover andto correct immediately any ungrammatical expression that may occur.

It is especially required and enjoined that Writing and Arithmetic be taught inthe Company's School and therefore, as it is above said that the particular arrange-ment of the course of Study may with propriety be left for the master to have hisown plan adopted, so the division of time for these exercises may be left to his dis-cretion that Writing and Arithmetic may be properly pursued.

In writing from word of mouth boys may be exercised twice a week for anhour at a time: Geography may be taught two days in a week, and one hour each;and upon the whole the English education may engross about one fifth part of thetime.

Respecting scholars intended for the University a different proportion may bethought advisable,, as for the translations and transcriptions, they make a part ofevening exercises; and for obvious reasons it is insisted upon that they shall alwaysbe written with the utmost care.

Signed by Order of Court, Rd. Whalley Bridgman, Clerk.

It may be surmised that this wonderful document was practically thelast prepared for the Company by Mr. Bridgman, for his successor waselected in June 1796. Dictation has goneout of favour as amode of instillingmiscellaneous information. When asked by the Master if he would adopt

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these principles in the event of his appointment, B ullen' 'replied affirmatively,professing his most perfect approbation of the measure and pledging him-self to adopt it", and withdrew. He was elected, recalled and informed ofhis election: as the new scheme would involve more labour than the old,he was assured that he would receive additional remuneration from timeto time according to the judgment of the Court. A deed of appointmentnewly prepared by Mr. Bridgman was read and sealed. Bullen must alsohave received permission to take boarders in excess of the six permitted bythe Orders.

Thomas Henry Bullen was born at Kennett Hall, Cambridgeshire,where his father, the Rev. John Bullen, was rector 1758-72. He went fromDedham School to Christ's College, Cambridge, as a sizar, being admittedat the age of nineteen on 26 November 1784: he became a scholar of hiscollege and took his degree as B.A. in 1789. On 19 May that year he wasordained deacon at Ely, and became curate at Westley Waterless, Cam-bridgeshire: he took priest's orders on 21 November 1790, and becamecurate of Downham. His M.A. followed in 1792, but there is no evidenceto show that he had taught before his appointment to Oundle.

Bullen found the schoolmaster's house duly repaired, and took oversome household furniture left by Evanson, who was repaid by the Courtafter his inventory had been checked. On 17 May the Court voted Bullen;£ioo in view of his great expenses in moving and increasing his stock offurniture in preparation for the anticipated growth of the School. As,fortunately, Bullen also received the Register (one of the flyleaves of whichbears his stamp), his progress can be followed. He found no pupil in theSchool. On 13 June 1796 George Gregory arrived from Barn well as a day-boy: two more followed on 14 June: eight more came in July, includingFreeman Bradley, now thirteen years of age, and William and GeorgeKettle. By the end of the year there were twenty-three boys, eight of themboarders. George Denny did not return until 26 March 1797, and theyounger Fowler boys appeared in July 1797. Five in all of Evanson's boysreturned.

As fourteen more had entered in January 1797, Bullen was clearly264

T. H. BULLEN: 1796-1809

making a success of the School. The Court of 12 May directed the clerkto ask Dr. Walcot for a report on Bullen's progress. The report, signed bythe four "trustees", was read on 29 May and proved to be a glowing testi-monial. The numbers, it stated, had reached forty-five, of whom twenty-one were boarders, "the sons of gentlemen, clergymen and the mostrespectable and opulent tradesmen and farmers": "from the applicationslately made for admissions, Mr. Bullen has reason to believe that the numberof his boarders might be considerably increased, did the size of his houseenable him to accommodate them"—the first hint of a waiting-list. Onlyone parent is described in the Register as a gentleman, but there is an ex-Naval officer and an attorney; there are two clergymen, thirteen farmers,six innkeepers or wine merchants: the respectability and opulence of theremaining tradesmen must be accepted, although one appears to have beena tax-collector and another a horse-dealer. There was in the School a mer-chant's son from York, and another from Jamaica. In addition to Latin andGreek, says the report, the English Grammar, Reading, Writing, Arith-metic, Merchants' Accounts, Surveying, Geography and Drawing werebeing taught by Mr. Bullen and his very able assistant: nor were the cleanli-ness, health and morals of the young persons neglected. In approbation ofhis conduct the Company voted Bullen ^100 to encourage him: for whichhe expressed himself duly grateful.

Although new desks and forms had been provided for the Schoolroom,Bullen, having had the experience of one winter's cold, pleaded in theautumn of 1797 for the construction of a fireplace as necessary for his healthand that of his scholars, and offered to submit an estimate. The Wardens,empowered by the Court of 3 November, accepted the estimate: CharlesBraddock built the chimney and, no doubt, the Schoolroom was warmer thanit had ever been: mason's work cost £17-13 -° an^ tne fittings ̂ 5.0.9.

The Register shows that instead of the old practice of having oneholiday at Christmas the institution of terms had come in. The two half-years are now normal—Evanson had charged for breaking-up twice ayear—but boys enter at the quarters instead of arriving, as heretofore,whenever their parents choose to send them. Midsummer, probably late

H.O.S.—9* 265

A HISTORY OF THE OUNDLE SCHOOLS

July or early August, in 1798, saw fourteen enter, and another six came athalf-term, i.e. at Michaelmas. There is a reference to the "Christmasvacation" as affording an opportunity for repairs in 1804, and on 17 Janu-ary 1799 a boarder from Cambridge died at home: the new term did notbegin till late January or early February. This boy was Thomas BurleighJames: Bullen inserted in the Register a Latin obituary notice.

The overseers' report in May 1798 being satisfactory, the Court on20 July voted Bullen £60, thus bringing his salary for the year up to ^100.His boarders outnumbered his dayboys (the terms used in the Registerare Hospes in dome magistri and disdpulus quotidianus), and he had to findfurther accommodation for them. He placed twenty with his two assistantsin an adjoining cottage, which he knew he might have to give up at veryshort notice. The only dining-room for his family, assistants and fortyboarders measured 14 feet by just under 16 feet. The kitchen was the onlyplace in which the boys could wash: in consequence he lost the services ofseveral domestic servants, as not unnaturally their "comfort was muchbroken in upon" and "their employments in their different departmentsmuch deranged". In bad weather and during the winter evenings the boyshad nowhere to sit or play except the Schoolroom, thus disturbing thepeace of the almsmen below. In April 1799 Bullen petitioned the Governorsto build an addition to his house: he was supported by Dr. Walcot and hisson and Mr. Berkeley. He sent a plan and an estimate to the clerk, and withthem, to prove that since his appointment he had admitted ninety-sevenboys to the School, he forwarded to Grocers' Hall the Register, described,not unhappily, as "The Book of the School", with a marker, which stillsurvives, sewn in to show where his entries began. It is to be hoped that theRegister excited the interest it deserved: anyhow, after hearing Mr. "WilliamWalcot on the flourishing state of the School and the propriety of enlargingthe master's house, the Court of 2 May decided to build, inviting Mr.Walcot to recommend a local architect to draw a detailed plan. He sugges-ted Mr. William Daniel Legg, of Stamford, and was asked to bring himto Grocers' Hall. Dr. Walcot as lay rector offered a narrow strip of thechurchyard, if a faculty could be obtained, to enlarge the site to the north

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of the existing house, on which the addition was to be built. This made anew plan necessary. Accordingly, on 29 May Mr. Legg accompanied Mr.Walcot to the Court with three plans, which he explained. Plan B, whichincidentally was the most expensive at ,£519.10.11, was selected as thatwhich provided the most commodious dormitories: and Mr. Legg wasinstructed to make the contracts and supervise the work, on terms he shouldhave found satisfactory. He was also to attend to other internal alterationsin Bullen's house, the moving of larder-shelves and coppers, and the bring-ing of water from the pump in the yard into the dining-room.

Application was made for a faculty: the commission appointed on5 July consisted of Dr. Walcot and his son, the vicar and Mr. Thomas Hunt,the Rev. Edward Hunt, rector of Stoke Doyle, the Rev. the Hon. LyttletonPowys, rector of Achurch, and the Rev. John Hunt, rector of Benefield:it met on the site on 13 July. The first stone of the new building had beenlaid on 9 July. The faculty was granted on 16 July for building on a strip20 feet long by 3 feet 7 inches at one end and 2 feet 2 inches at the other:not the whole frontage of the new building was thus on newly acquiredland. There is a schoolboy's sketch—done doubtless under Mr. ThomasDix's direction—which shows the schoolmaster's house before the addition:it is dated 1798. There also exists another, by J. D. Bringhurst, with a slip ofpaper sewn on to show a proposed new building to the north of the old:but it is not the building that was actually erected, for it shows a bay win-dow, perhaps one of the rejected plans. The plan adopted provided a three-story building with a flat front on the east towards the churchyard, slightlyin advance of the line of the house erected in 1763, but, in spite of havingno cellar, taller than the older house. The New Building was entered fromthe churchyard at its southern end by a passage leading through to a porchconnected with the back premises: off the passage on the right was theboys' dining-room or common room, lighted by three windows to theeast, with a fireplace on the north: from this room a narrow staircase partlyover the passage led to the first floor, on which was a small room above thepassage on its eastern end for an assistant's bedroom, and a dormitory lightedby three windows to the east and two to the west: the stairway continued

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to the attic floor, which was occupied by another dormitory, lighted bythree dormer windows on each side, but very low. It is uncertain what thearrangements were for lavatories: at a somewhat later date the rooms overthe porch at the back were modified to provide space for a washroom anda closet. The building is to-day a mere shell containing two rooms, but ithas been possible from plans and photographs of the later uses of it to deduceits original plan (see Plates 16 and 34).

The ground floor on the west adjoining the small yard or playgroundhad, for obvious reasons, no windows: but the stretch of wall was spannedby an interesting series of inscriptions, which has suffered dislocation.When the symmetry has been restored, the significance of the pattern is atonce manifest: it is a permanent memorial of the solemn occasion of thelaying of the foundation stone by the Master, supported by the vicar andtrustees, the staff and the architect, the ladies, the curate and the doctor,with the whole school duly lined up, as for the modern equivalent, thephotograph. The difference is that a photograph shows what they lookedlike and not who they were, and the inscription who they were but notwhat they looked like.

On a lange slab, nearly three feet square, which is still in position, canbe read:

- THE REVD T H- SULLENMASTER

LAID THE FIRST STONEOF THIS NEW BUILDING

July 9 1799The Revd J. Loddington VicarW™ Walcot Sen' M.D.W1 WalcotJunrEsqr

Thos Hunt Esqr

Mr. Miles BerkeleyTrustees

Tho8Dix } ,,,T a T-.- r UshersJam8 Dix j

W. D. Legg Architect.

This was flanked towards its lower end by four stones, of varying lengthsbut all 7 J inches wide, which bore the names of Mrs. J. Bullen (the Master's

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T. H. BULLEN: 1796-1809

wife) and of Miss P. (or F.) Barrow (the matron) on the south side, and ofJ. Mould, surgeon, and of T. S. Bright, curate, on the north. Immediatelybelow the large slab is a smaller one, about eighteen inches by fifteen,which reads "Names of the Pupils 1799": on either side of this were threerows of names. The top row had only one name on each side, that of asmall boarder on the north and that of a small dayboy on the south: but thetwo other rows extended to the end of the wall on either side, on thesouth to the porch already mentioned, and on the north to the corner ofthe building. Each name was cut on a separate stone, of suitable length but3 J inches wide, and at one time was filled in with black paint. The nameswere professionally cut: that there were two masons employed is suggestedby a divergence of practice in three particulars, the placing of the stops afterinitials, the use of I and J, and the cutting of the small and the tall s in themiddle of names. As the boarders outnumbered the dayboys, the boarders'names seem originally to have filled the two lines north of the date-stoneand the upper line on the south: but, just as no photograph was ever exactlysymmetrical, there are exceptions.

Unfortunately the original arrangement has suffered in two ways(see Plate 15). The building of a fives court on the north involved thecontinuation of the north wall of the New Building to provide the sidewall, with the result that the new construction abutted on the first eight orten inches of the inscription: this is shown by a gap in the lower linebeyond I. D. Bringhurst and a broken name ... lien, in the upper row. Theloss is therefore one name and a half. But, still more disastrously, two win-dows were put in to give additional light to the ground-floor room (thena Physical Laboratory), exactly a century after erection; the damagehad already been done when the fives courts were turned into the existingJunior Physical and Chemical Laboratories, but not when the plans for thatbuilding of 1899 were drawn. This second disturbance has not only wreckedthe symmetry but also caused the loss of some stones and the damage ofothers. Mr. Bright's stone was cut almost in half, Miss Barrow's wasreplaced above Mrs. Bullen's (and even so lost a corner), but the boys'stones suffered more severely. Although photographs exist which show the

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original arrangement—theatrical or madrigal groups were photographedposed before the windowless wall—no record seems to have been madebefore the masons got to work. Indeed, it seems that no orders were givenat the start of the work to preserve the stones, but before the job was finishedsomeone suggested that the masons should hunt out what inscribed stonesthey could find and replace them in rows above the windows. It is possibleto assess the damage. Seventeen stones were reinserted above the windows,one gives only half the boy's name: of those left in position C. Bowen haslost en, but the fragment was placed higher up the wall; E. Compton haslost his last letter and so has I. Lambert. Ten names filled the gap caused bythe south window: six can now be read over the north window and threeover the south one; the remaining name can be read in a photograph,P. Ellis. Eleven names filled the gap made by cutting the north window:five are to be read over the south window and three over the north win-dow: of the three missing stones, one can be read in a photograph,I. Mewburne, and the position of the two other lost stones is known, but thenames cannot be recovered from the photograph: one of them must bethat of Chapman Marshall, Lord Mayor of London in 1839, if the reportis correct that his name was once legible.

There are now, legible in whole or in part, sixty-two names. The namesof forty-one boarders and nineteen dayboys can be found in the Register:there is present one Oundle name that does not appear in the Register,I. Balderston, although another member of the family entered jhe School in1804. The broken name, ... lien, is probably best explained in the same way,for, though there was no such name in the Register at the date, there is anAllen entered in 1801. These two bring the number of dayboys to twenty-one: five names are lost. Thus the inscription really records the growth ofthe School from none in March 1796 to sixty-seven in July 1799. It willbe remembered that it was in 1798 that Dr. Butler went to Shrewsburyand its three scholars.

But these sixty-seven were young. The oldest, apparently, was sixteenand the youngest only six and a half: the bulk were between ten and thirteenwith only nine, perhaps, above thirteen. Fourteen of the dayboys came from

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Oundle itself and seven from the near neighbourhood—the boy fromNorthampton probably lodged in the town. Of the boarders, ten camefrom Cambridge and ten from Peterborough: there are two Londonersand one little fellow of eight from Jamaica. Once again there are boys fromplaces with schools of their own, Uppingham and Stamford, as well asthose already mentioned.

Bullen, it will be noticed, had two Christian names: this is a sign of thetimes, and eight of the boys' stones (and the curate's would have done so)also show more than one initial. The Register shows that several more hadtwo Christian names: the second is often the mother's maiden name, as inthe case of I. D. Bringhurst, the name on the extreme northern end of thelower row (when he carved his own initials on the other side of the building,he put J. D. B.). He was killed at Waterloo as an acting major: his memorialin Woodston Church reads:

The Reva J. Bringhurst1

Rector of this ParishOut of paternal affection

to a beloved sonerects this monumentto record the death of

Major John Dorset Bringhurstof the King's Dragoon Guards

Who fell at the head of his troopin the ever memorable battle

of Waterloo in FlandersJune i8th 1815aged 30 years

A few other names may be mentioned. At the extreme southern end ofthe same row appears G. Gregory: George Gregory had been the first boyto come to Bullen. Benjamin Bellamy (now over the southern window)was later the Oundle surveyor after the Improvement Act of 1825: hisgravestone can be read in the churchyard. Matthew Squire has left a draw-ing of the School House, which is shown, along with one of J. D. Bring-hurst's, on Plate 16. H.James was a brother of the beloved pupil who died,

1 He was rector, 1780-1829.

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and also of Bullen's future successor as headmaster. But Wynn Ellis isbetter known than any: he was the second son of Thomas Ellis, the coach-master, and became a wealthy London silk-merchant, leaving three-quartersof a million sterling and bequeathing his collection of Old Masters to theNational Gallery. Although many were sold, quite a number are still hungwith his name attached: there is also there a marble bust of him by Chantrey.Robert Johnson, whose name has lost the son, was the youngest boy in theSchool in 1799: he received the Taylor Exhibition for six years, and showedhis gratitude by being one of the leading relators in the lawsuit of 1841-3.

The first boy in Bullen's time to have this exhibition paid to him by Dr.Walcot was the second boy to come to him in 1796, John Prentice, theeldest son of Thomas Prentice, an Oundle attorney (scriba), and he had it fortwo years. The next was Charles Braddock, the mason's son, whose nameis on a stone: after February 1800, Wynn Ellis received it for four years.There is no trace of any boy going to the University with either the Tayloror the Bellamy and Latham Exhibitions during Bullen's headmastership.

The New Building was begun in July 1799: a year later, on 16 July1800, the Court ordered the repayment of the money paid out by Mr. Leggand the payment of his fees: a total of ^641.7.0. The faculty cost an addi-tional ^9.9.6; a fireplace for the "scholars' dining room" an extra^7.2.0. With a "Christmas box for the workmen" the total reached^658.9.0. When Mr. Andrew Jordaine reported that on a recent visit toOundle the New Building seemed to him much to the credit of the archi-tect, and suggested that, as Mr. Bullen had been at considerable charge insupplying necessary fixtures, the Company should pay for them, the Courtapproved and also voted ^60 to the headmaster. It was on this occasionthat the clerk, now Henry Nettleshipp, was instructed to convey to Dr.Walcot and his son a vote of thanks from the Company: the letter he wroteis still preserved in Cobthorne. The fixtures amounted to ^88.7.3, theschedule being signed by W. D. Legg and the Walcots. Mr. WilliamWalcot moreover recommended that the oak dinner-tables provided byBullen should also be taken over as fixtures: the Court agreed, and a sum ofj£io .4 .o was paid for them, bringing the grand total for the building and

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its equipment to ^757.0.3, just over double the cost of the master's houseof 1763. The tables were later used as laboratory benches in Sanderson'searly improvisations, and, until recently, one was still in use as an interval-bun table.

There is an entry under 19 July 1798 in Dr. Walcot's accounts recordingthe payment of ^£4.10.3 to Denny the carpenter for a "Bookcase, hat-pinsand several repairs in the School". The hat-pins are the hat pegs for thebeaver hats then worn by better-class boarders out of school, such as canbe seen in the pictures already referred to, which show boys playing in thechurchyard with hoops and marbles. The bookcase shows a renewed in-terest in the School Library: when last heard of this had been a small chainedlibrary, but that had entirely disappeared. There was a catalogue made andprinted in a slim pamphlet (7^ inches by 4^ inches) in a mottled-papercover by R. Newcomb at Stamford, entitled A Catalogue of Oundle SchoolLibrary Anno Domini 1799: a copy survives at Grocers' Hall. There are 379items (each volume of a work in several volumes is separately numbered)in lists headed A, B, C and D, Pamphlets, and Plays. The most recent publi-cations appear side by side with older works, serious Mathematical booksalongside books for the very young. Twelve of the thirty-two pages areleft blank for the insertion of later acquisitions. It is certain that this repre-sents Bullen's own library made available for the School. For not only dothe Grocers' accounts reveal no expenditure on books at this date, but whenBullen has retired there is no trace of a library. But one book in this Cata-logue is now in the School Library, a copy of Colin Maclaurin's posthum-ous Treatise of Algebra, published in London in 1796. It bears T. H. Bullen'ssignature inside the front cover, and on the title-page it is repeated withthe addition of '98: on the fly-leaf in pencil is J. Bringhurst. This volumewas bought at Cambridge in 1923 by Mr. G. W. Brewster, not for itsassociation-value, of which he was unaware, but for the interest of its placein the history of post-Newtonian Mathematics.

One of the ushers whose names appear on the principal stone, ThomasDix, produced that very year, 1799, a book on Land Surveying, for the useof the pupils at Oundle and of schools in general, and dedicated it to the

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Grocers' Company. This was a good, practical book, which with variousadditions and alterations reached a sixth edition, revised by Samuel May-nard, in 1835. The School Library has a copy of the first edition and anotherof the sixth edition. The plate showing the final drawing of an area is thesame, except for the addition of colour: the area chosen comprises themeadows and enclosures along the Nene above the North Bridge. ThomasDix presented copies to the Master and the clerk of the Company: Mr.Walcot dispatched them with a covering letter stating that the treatise washaving a rapid sale and that he believed it to have merit. The Companyrewarded Dix with a gift often guineas. Exactly one hundred years later,Sanderson printed a Geometry for use in the School: both books at theirdates were so novel as to deserve to be called revolutionary. The mathe-matical trend with the practical application as seen in Dix's book will befound persisting in the School. The emphasis is on the practice, not thetheory. A second edition, enlarged and revised, was issued in 1802, whileDix was still in Oundle: but the third edition of 1808 shows that he had bythen become Master of the North Walsham Academy, probably a privateventure, for which in 1810 he produced a Treatise on the Construction andDrawing of Geographical Maps. He died at North Walsham, at the age offorty-three, on 31 May 1813, six days after his infant son.

There was published on 18 February 1802 by T. Dix, Oundle, andS. W. Fores, N° 50 Piccadilly, an engraving by T. Medland of a pictureby T. Dix of Bullen's home, with the legend "To The Revd Thomas HenryBullen, A.M., Master of the Grammar School, Oundle, Northampton-shire This View of Kennet Hall in the County of Cambridge, his NativeSpot is respectfully inscribed by his Faithful Friend and Obedient humbleServant, Thomas Dix". Verses from a poem by Mrs. Morgan are engravedon three sides. Though not a great work of art, the picture is not lackingin charm. A copy now hangs in the Laxton School, presented by a grand-daughter of a boy in the School at the time of its issue: he used to recallhow they were all compelled to buy a copy for half a crown, and resentedit. The departure of the faithful friend with his brother, James, may wellhave affected the fortunes of the School.

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The entries in the Register up to Lady Day 1800 are still in Latin: fromMidsummer 1800 onwards they are in English. Bullen's ninety-seventhentry, under Lady Day 1799, is: "David filius unicus Caroli Pugharmigeri de societate Aromatica de Rood via Londini annos natus novemet dimidium Hospes in domo magistri", i.e. "David, only son of CharlesPugh, Esquire, of the Grocers' Company, of Rood Lane, London, agednine and a half, boarder". Bullen's hundred and fortieth entry reads:"January 1801. David, son of William Hopkins, Warden to the Grocers'Company, London, aged 10 years, boarder": and at midsummer came hisbrother, Richard. This is evidence of the confidence felt in Bullen by theOundle Committee. Charles Pugh had been Warden in 1789 and 1795,and had been elected Master in 1796, but was excused serving: DavidPugh was Warden in 1820 but, when chosen again in 1827, he also wasexcused serving. William Hopkins was Warden in 1785 and 1792 andMaster in 1793: it was Charles Hopkins who was actually a Wardenin 1801.

In 1797 Bullen admitted forty-five boys, sixteen dayboys and twenty-nine boarders: thereafter until 1807 he admitted on an average twenty-fourboys a year: his admissions 1796-1809 number 296. But there is a sig-nificant change. The School came more and more to consist of the boarders,with a mere handful of dayboys. Thus, from 1801 to the date of his resig-nation he admitted just fifteen dayboys and 143 boarders and, when hissuccessor arrived, he found only boarders. It will be noticed that there is achange in nomenclature also. Bullen becomes Head Master, the place ofinstruction is the Schoolroom, his boarding-house is the School House:the School itself is known as Oundle School, without reference to SirWilliam Laxton or to the Grocers' Company. There seems one very simpleexplanation for all this. The process which changed the grammar schoolsinto what are known as public schools was taking place at Oundle belatedly:for the grammar schools had either decayed and gone under in theeighteenth century, as Oundle so nearly did, or had, by taking moreboarders, been able to pay their way, increasing their staff and main-taining a certain degree of efficiency. The old grammar schools laboured

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under two noteworthy burdens, the one the traditional statutes limitinginstruction to Latin and Greek (in 1805 Lord Eldon ruled, in the Leeds case,that this limitation was binding), and the other the fixed salaries laid downby their founders, even if their endowments had appreciated in value. Inthe case of Oundle the first problem was tackled as shown above, with theresult that the Classics were taught free and a small charge made forinstruction in the modern subjects then added to the curriculum: the secondwas not solved by the expedient of making occasional benevolences inaddition to the £40, which remained the official salary of the one school-master.

As the dormitories were full from the day of their completion, it maywell have been supposed at Grocers' Hall that, after this handsome additionto his premises, Bullen would be able considerably to augment his salaryby his boarders' fees. His letter of 6 June 1803 appealing for an increase ofsalary must have come as a surprise, especially as the hint conveyed at hisappointment of increased payment, at the discretion of the Court, in theevent of success had been made good in 1797, 1798 and 1800. The £40salary no longer paid rates and taxes, wrote Bullen, the times being hardand his expenses heavy in spite of rigid economy: his fees were as high asthe public would pay: his own small income and his wife's trifling pittancealone enabled him to keep up the appearance demanded of a parson and aschoolmaster. No classical assistant could be procured under ^100 a year,2

which added to the salary of his English assistants was more than his incomecould support. The cost of building a pew in the parish church for himselfand his boys had apparently proved the last straw. He wrote of having"gained nothing but a nervous and weakly constitution, which in a fewyears might incapacitate him from following his occupation with the zealhe then did, which rendered his school at that time the resort of the public".He may have included in his small income the emoluments, less the cost ofhis curate, drawn from his living as vicar of Ketton with Tixover, whichhe had received in 1798 and never seems to have visited. One family ofboys from Tixover came to the School in Bullen's time, however. He was

2 Was he paying this to Mr. Bright?

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acting as curate to the vicar of Oundle as early as October 1797, and preachedthe annual sermon at Ashton that year.

The Court of 7 July 1803 heard his letter; and that of 22 July, afterreference to the terms of his appointment, voted him a benevolence of;£ioo, but refused to raise the salary. This procedure was fully in keepingwith the policy pursued by the Court of keeping the regular annual com-mitments well covered by the endowment, yet of spending generously outof each year's income in such a way as not to bind future Courts. Bullen,grateful for the help given, apologised for having sought pecuniary assis-tance as the pressure of the times had compelled him to do.

Attention may be drawn to a figure in Bringhurst's sketch as indicatingthe sort of appearance Bullen kept up. It is certain that as headmaster ofthe School he counted in the local government of Oundle, which was atthat time conducted by the Parish Vestry and the officials elected by it.The Minutes of the Oundle Vestry show that Bullen attended the meetingsand sometimes signed important decisions. Thus, on 3 June 1798, alongwith others he signed the appointment of a new sexton: "One part of theduty of the sexton of this Parish is declared to be ringing the usual bell at8 o'clock in the evening and four in the morning from Michaelmas toLady Day." Bullen and his boys could hardly fail to hear this bell, but theymay have grown used to it. A week later the double gates at his end ofChurch Lane were ordered to be renewed and the small gate repaired.Bringhurst's sketch of 10 June 1798 does not show the gates, but MatthewSquire's of 1802 does. In May 1802, when the South or Barnwell Bridgewas repaired, Bullen was added to the committee supervising the operation:"itr being found that as much of the wall of the West side of the Bridgecalled Barnwell Bridge as is within the Parish of Oundle is in a ruinous state,resolved that the same be immediately repaired and widened so as to joinand run in a line with that part of the said bridge as has been lately repairedby the Parish of Barnwell; and that, as the Feoffees of this Parish haveoffered to give the sum of thirty guineas towards the carrying the same intoeffect, a levy or Highway Rate be raised to complete the same, etc."Parson Latham's endowment may have helped the parish of Barnwell.

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Users of the bridge know well the stone in the capping of the westernwall marked B/O, which shows the limit of either parish's responsibility,and the change in width.

In March 1804 Mr. William Walcot reported that the overseers, with-out consulting the Company, had during the Christmas vacation madealterations to the latrines shared by the almsmen and the schoolboys, whichhad fallen into a bad state and become a nuisance. Separate ways of approachhad been made and the latrines divided. The Company accepted the apologyand paid the bill: but the evil had not been cured. In 1806 it was thoughtpossible to buy a small piece of land to the west of the School door abouttwenty feet square, on which to build latrines for the use of the boys andso mitigate the nuisance caused by the combined latrine in the small yardbehind the Schoolroom, from which the buckets had to be carried throughthe house itself. The Grocers were willing, but the project came to nought.

In November 1804, Bullen reported that the floor of the Schoolroomwas now so worn out and dangerous that a new floor was needed: he alsothought an additional window desirable. The clerk was instructed to writeto Dr. Walcot asking him to inquire into the complaints and submitestimates for the repairs deemed necessary. But Dr. Walcot was growingold, and it was his son who replied. He, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Berkeley hadexamined the floor and found the skirting entirely decayed and the floorso patched that scarcely a single original board remained: a temporaryrepair could be made by cutting out the rotten parts until boards should besufficiently seasoned to be laid as a new floor on the top of the existing one,to deaden the sound from above for the benefit of sick almsmen below.Mr. Walcot estimated that the floor boards would cost about ^42 in inch-and-a-half battens of deal, or ^63 in oak. A new window was unneces-sary as the extra light could be secured by cutting the window jambssplaywise. This report was in the hands of the Oundle Committee by7 December: on 21 December the Court authorised Mr. Walcot to proceedin oak. But, as investigation showed that more extensive repairs wereneeded, Mr. Legg was called in to advise. After some delay Mr. Walcotleft at Grocers' Hall Mr. Legg's estimates on 3 July 1805, which the Court

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of 16 July passed—^122.5.11 for the new oak floor and ^82.11.8 for abrick wall and other repairs to "the men's wards". Seasoned oak not beingavailable, Mr. Legg recommended delaying until 1806 to allow for theseasoning of oak timber then purchased. He gave the necessary contracts,and died. Mr. Walcot, when the oak was ready for use in May 1806,suggested a Mr. White of Peterborough as surveyor. A year later the workwas done and bills of ^241.13 .2 were paid.

Meanwhile, on 18 July 1806, Dr. William Walcot had died at the ageof eighty-seven. He had, apparently, ceased to practise in 1783, the dateat which bills for attendance by apothecaries on ailing almsmen begin:but he had managed the finances of the almshouses, the repairs and pettycash of what he always called the hospital, in the inmates of which he tooka personal interest, keeping his immaculate accounts with his own hand,ever since 27 October 1764, when he received from Mr. John Hunt'sexecutors the ^7 left in his hands for the pensioners. He had managed theTaylor Exhibition fund since 27 November 1779, when Murthwaite putthe account book in his hands with the balance of 95. 6|d. He had been atrustee of the Bellamy charity. His account books are in the possession ofthe School, and show his last unfinished entry made a fortnight before hisdeath. It stops in the middle of a word: "Recd by my Son of Mr. Nettle-ship for half a year's stipend due to the Pensioners at Lady Day last—^52.0.0. Recd at the sa—"; his son, or rather his son's clerk, added"—me time for last year's extra allowance due at Lady Day 1806—^10."Unlike his father, Mr. William Walcot did not regularly keep the accountsin his own hand—indeed, the book is most untidily kept, although hepreserved his receipts—but it does show clearly that it was through himthat nearly all the heavy expenses on building and expansion were paid,even the master's salary on some occasions. As desired in his father's will,he erected on the inside wall between the windows on the south side of thechancel a monument to his parents, for his mother, Mary Creed, had died in1781. In lapidary Latin he refers to his father's repute as well as a skilledphysician as a skilful peacemaker, and to his growing old in honourableretirement in the place of his birth. Though the vacancy was not imme-

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diately filled, Mr. William Walcot inherited his father's primacy of placeamong the surviving overseers.

In 1807,47 George III, came "An Act for Inclosing Lands in Oundle andin the Hamlet of Ashton. . . ." The commissioners were Edward Hare ofCastor, Joseph Truslove of Cambridge and Henry Crofts of Elton: thesurvey of the 2600 acres to .be enclosed was made by Edward Arden ofStamford. The treasurer was John William Bramston of Lincoln's Inn.Mr. Edward Hare thirty years before had been a commissioner under theTansor Enclosure Act. In the award of 1811 an allotment of i rood 5 polesin Hill Field, to the west of the Stamford (i.e. Cotterstock) Road, somehundred yards from the George, "so set out to the said Master and Wardensis in our judgement a fair and just compensation and satisfaction for theirrights of common in and over the New Pasture appurtenant to their free-hold messuages or tenements in and over the lands and grounds in Oundleaforesaid". Charges laid on Bullen by the commissioners amounted to£1.4.6, and the cost of fencing the allotment amounted to ^8.10.0; theCompany, however, paid both bills. The appearance of the parish ofOundle changed greatly as the result of the enclosure.

But Bullen had resigned before it was complete. There can be little doubtthat his prophecy of his ill-health was fulfilled: he was a sick man and hadlost his grip. His last big intake of new boys was at Lady Day 1807: untilhis resignation was accepted on 13 April 1809 he admitted only nine more,but the Register is ill kept for his last few years. Indeed, his successor foundbut sixteen boys in the School, and four of them had not been entered inthe Register. All that can be traced are boarders—the oldest boy left behindwas aged fifteen; there were four little boys often and a half, one of whomhad been at the School since he was four. The conclusion is irresistible.He may not have secured assistants of the quality of Thomas Dix after thelatter's departure: indeed, it is not known what assistants, if any, he hadwhen he retired. Early in 1809 Bullen, "from indisposition induced to foregoany advantage he might expect from his future exertions in that situation",informed the overseers of his intention to resign at Midsummer, andrequested them to acquaint the Company with his decision. The Court

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declared a vacancy on 13 April and proceeded on 5 May to elect his suc-cessor. On 29 May, having recorded their opinion that Bullen "had filledthe mastership of Oundle School to their approbation" and "raised thereputation of that establishment agreeably to the wishes of the Court atthe time of his election", the Grocers voted him j£ioo and bought as afixture "an apparatus for cooking upon Count Rumford's plan" which hehad installed in his house. It is interesting to find this most up-to-date pieceof scientific apparatus, the invention of the American scientist BenjaminThompson (1753-1814), one of the founders of the Royal Institution in1799, in use in Oundle School. It was, however, "the large cooking appara-tus, the flues from which passed through the master's bedroom" that hadto be removed in 1820. At the early age of forty-four Bullen retired to hisbirthplace, and died there in 1813. The Kennett registers record the burialon 25 April 1813 of the "Revd Thos Henry Bullen, rector, age 47".

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