RGS scarf

Contents

RGS High Wycombe School Crest

Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe

Old School Photos and Memorabilia

LINKS AND SEARCH FACILITY


The inspiration for this website was the one set up by Tony Hare for the 1956 people: School Photo of 1956, which is now housed here as Tony has retired from webmastering. To Tony Hare goes the credit for dreaming up the idea of a website devoted to old school photos. Tony's site features a lot of other fascinating material devoted to the RGS in the late 1940s and 1950s (scans of old grey books, Gilbert & Sullivan opera programmes, etc). Back in 2003 I sent Tony an email saying how good I thought his site was - he sent one back saying "Why don't you do one for your era?". So I did.


Other websites with RGS High Wycombe content


 

Links to books and articles with content about the RGS


Links to sites relating to well-known OWs and ex-masters (n.b. inevitably links go out of date quite quickly as other websites shuffle material around or delete it - the following are reasonably up to date as at February 2021)


More general links relating to the High Wycombe Area


More School History Links and Information

Hospital of St John the Baptist (in Easton Street, High Wycombe - the buildings of this 12th century ecclesiastical foundation were taken over by the school in the mid-16th century) | Bucks County Council page on the hospital
The Early History and Antiquities of Wycombe by John Parker (himself an OW), published by Butler & Son, 1878. This book is available to browse online and contains various references to the RGS, including a list of headmasters and some notable OWs.
History and Antiquities of the county of Buckingham by George Lipscomb - in four volumes, readable and searchable online. Vol. 3, page 648 has a plan of the Hospital of St John The Baptist.
There is a very good section on the RGS in a book called The Victoria History of the County of Buckingham by William Page, which can be read online here (I've set the link to point to the first page on the RGS).
Old Wycombiensians - a list of notable OWs on Wikipedia.
ER Tucker (1902-1964) - Wikipedia biography of the RGS headmaster (1933-64)


List of RGS Headmasters
(from the Parker book mentioned above, plus school website and the CoE Clergy Database)

(More comprehensive information about headmasters and masters available here)

The Reverend [forename?] Wrothe, (appointed) 1548. 
William Wilkinson, M.A. [no dates given - no names for other masters of this era]
Gerard Dobson, B.A. (Oxford, 1611, ord. 1613), late Vicar of Wycombe, 1629, resigned 1646. Appointed 1614?
Henry Wyat, M.A., afterwards Rector of Bradenham, 1646, resigned 1661. 
Philip Humphrey, 17th July, 1661. 
William Lardner,* M.A. (Oxford, Corpus Christi), Rector of Bradenham (1662), 1671. (Rejected in 1660, afterwards conformed, took the Presentation in 1662 - acc. A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England by Nicholas Carlisle)

* Mr. Philip Humphrey, the late Master, having died very poor, his successor (Mr. Lardner) was bound, on his election by the Common Council, to pay to his Widow Katherine, ten pounds, in the course of the next two years, "provided she does not turne Quaker in the mean time, or otherwise become a Sectary, and not observe and obey the Liturgy of the Church of England." 

Joseph Howe, 1673/1686, died 1701. 
Joseph Loveday, B.A. (Oxford, Gloucester Hall, matric. 1698, BA 1702) (born c.1679), rector of Taplow (1723-42) and Hedsor (1715-42). 1701, resigned 1707. 
Samuel Guise, B.A. (Oxford, Gloucester Hall, ord. 1702), vicar of Wycombe (1711-53). Appointed 1707, died 1753. 
Thomas Heather, Jun. (M.A., Oxford, University College, matric. 1709/10, BA 1713, MA 1716). Born c.1694. Appointed 1754, resigned 1762. 
Rev. William Edwards, rector of Tenby, 1762, suspended 1771 
Alban Thomas, vicar of Hurley, 1771, died 1789. 
Daniel James, clerk, 1789, died 1793. 
Mr. William Sproston (1764?-1841), 1793, died 1841. 
Rev. Joshua Finlinson (1807-1876), 1841, resigned 1842. 
Edmund Fox (1801-1859), appt 1843, resigned 1852 [school history refers to him erroneously as Edwin Fox - info]
Rev. James Poulter, M.A. (1803-1885) appt.1852, resigned 1879
George Joseph Peachell (1842-1905), 1879-1905
George Wright Arnison (1875-1965), 1905-1933
Edmund Ronald Tucker (1902-1964), 1933-1964 | wiki | obit | obit | biographical details
Samuel Morgan (1906 - 1991), 1964-65 | obit |
Malcolm Pascoe Smith (1914-1998), 1965-1974
Rowland P Brown (1933 - 2010), 1975-1993 | obit | obit | obit |
David Levin, 1993-1999
Timothy Dingle, 1999-2006
Roy M Page, 2006 - summer 2015
Philip Wayne, from autumn 2015 (currently head of Chesham Grammar School, educ. University of Manchester, Royal Northern College of Music)


Contact the 'headmaster' of this website:

Search this website... (e.g. for the name of someone who might be listed here)