LUDLOW. THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. FOUNDED 1552, A. D. THE free grammar-school of Ludlow was founded by King Edward VI.; the bailiffs, burgesses and commonalty, and their successors, being directed "always to find in the same town, at their own costs and charges, a free grammar-school, with a schoolmaster and an usher, for the erudition of youth in the Latin tongue." There are three Exhibitions of £50 each for three years, (established under the scheme of 1847, by which the school is now governed,) tenable at any college of Oxford, Cambridge, or Durham. These are for day-scholars exclusively, who must be sons (or living with persons in loco parentis) of persons residing in Ludlow, or within ten miles thereof, and a candidate must have been in the school two years before he can be elected to an exhibition. SOMERSETSHIRE. THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. FOUNDED 1533, A.D. THE hospital of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, with the lands and tenements thereto belonging, having by licence of Henry VIII. in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, been purchased by the executors of Robert Thorne, Esq. were conveyed to the mayor, burgesses, and commonalty of the city of Bristol, for erecting a free grammar-school in pursuance of the will of the testator. His sons also, Robert Thorne and Nicholas Thorne, were great benefactors of the school. Ordinances and rules were ordained for the management of the school by the governors, the mayor and aldermen of Bristol, with the advice of the common council of the same city. 1625. Mrs Anne Snigge, by her will, among other things devised £200 to the mayor, burgesses, and commonalty of the city of Bristol, that they should retain and keep the said £200 for their own use, upon condition that they should pay yearly for ever thereafter the sum of £12 to and amongst two poor Scholars, sons of the poor burgesses of the said city, who should be educated in the free grammar-school there, called "The Bartholomew's," to be paid unto them for their better maintenance in some one or both of the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, namely, to each scholar £6 per annum, remaining there, and demeaning himself well. for four years, 1628. John Whitson, alderman of the city of Bristol, by his will, bequeathed to the corporation of Bristol a certain portion of his property for various charitable uses, as by the good discretion of the mayor and aldermen should be thought fit and necessary. A declaration was made by the mayor and aldermen, of the charitable uses to which Mr Whitson's benefaction was to be applied; and among them, they declared that £20 yearly for ever should be employed towards the maintenance of two poor men's sons of the city in the University of Oxford or Cambridge that had first had their education and bringing up in the grammar-school of the city, called "The Bartholomew's," to each of them £10 per annum. In the year 1847 a new scheme was approved by the Court of Chancery for the management and administration of the estates and revenues, and for the future government of the free grammar-school of Bristol, and the trustees of the Bristol charities were appointed trustees of the grammar-school. It was ordered that the surplus should be employed, among other things, in increasing the amounts payable as exhibitions under the gifts of John Whitson, Anne Snigge, and George White, or such of them as may be payable to boys proceeding from the said school to the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, so as to make up the annual income of the said gifts equal to two Exhibitions of £60 each, to be payable to boys from the said school. Also after providing for these payments, any further surplus when it shall amount to £60 a year, shall be employed for a third, and after that for a fourth Exhibition. That the said trustees shall elect to such exhibitions only such boys as shall have been reported to be meritorious scholars, deserving of the same by the examiners, and that the said exhibition shall commence from the day of election thereto, and shall be continued during four years; but shall be determinable by the said trustees, if the exhibi tioner shall not continue to reside in the University. BRUTON. THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. FOUNDED 1519, a.d. THIS free school was founded by Richard Fitzjames, bishop of London, Sir John Fitzjames, chief justice of England, and John Edmondes, D.D. clerk, in the eleventh year of Henry VIII.; but on the suppression of charitable institutions in that reign, it came to the crown, and the school was re-founded by a charter in the fourth year of the reign of Edward VI. In the year 1809, with the advice of the bishop of Bath and Wells, certain statutes and ordinances were made by the warden and governors for the management of the school, one of which directs, that exhibitions may be granted by the governors out of the profits and revenues to assist in the maintenance of scholars from the school at Oxford or Cambridge. There are at present four Exhibitions granted, each of the value of £30 a year. One of these exhibitions is awarded regularly every year, if a fit and competent candidate come forward, and provided the funds of the school be found by the governors to be sufficient for the purpose. Two of the four exhibitions are confined to free boys, and two are open; but if there be no candidate from among the free boys for a vacant confined exhibition, the governors may in that case elect some other scholar. Candidates for an exhibition must have attended the school for the three previous years. The exhibitioners are elected at a public examination of all the boys in the school held annually. The election is purely an election of merit, the governors being bound by statute in every case to elect that candidate whom the examiner shall report to be the best scholar. CREWKERNE. THE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. THE grammar-school of Crewkerne was founded by John Combe, B.D. precentor of Exeter cathedral, a native of the town, and endowed by him and subsequent benefactors with lands and houses, which now produce about £300 per annum. By a recent order of the Court of Chancery the school is free to all sons of the inhabitants of Crewkerne, and within six miles of the town, for instruction in Latin, Greek, and the principles of the Established Church. 1847. Thomas Hoskins, Esq. the warden of the school, the late Lord Wynford, and the feoffees, founded from houses and funded property, three Exhibitions, each of the value of £25 per annum, and tenable for four years; the first two for students proceeding to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the last for the learned professions as well as the Universities. These exhibitions are open to all the scholars, and are awarded by the feoffees on the report of an examiner from one of the Universities. There are besides four Exhibitions, open to the free scholars from this school to Oxford. STAFFORDSHIRE. TAMWORTH. THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. THE free grammar-school at Tamworth was first established out of the Guild of St George in that town. Queen Elizabeth in 1588 restored the free grammar-school; and "granted an annuity of £10. 13s. 2d. for the fee and stipend of the schoolmaster, out of the treasury, by the hands of the general receiver in the counties of Warwick and Stafford, yearly to be paid to such use as formerly it was paid." In the charter granted by Charles II. to the borough of Tamworth, the corporation are directed to appoint an able schoolmaster. The corporation are the trustees, by whom regulations are made from time to time for the government of the school. 1527. John Bayley founded a Fellowship at St John's College, for a native of Tamworth. (See p. 307.) 1691. Rev. S. Frankland founded a Scholarship at St Catharine's Hall, Cambridge, for a student from this school. (See p. 280.) WALSALL. THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. FOUNDED 1554, A.D. THE free grammar-school at Walsall was founded by Queen Mary, and endowed with certain lands in the parishes of Walsall, Tipton, and Norton, in the county of Stafford, and formerly belonging to the dissolved chantries of Walsall, Bloxwich, and Lichfield. The management of the estates and revenues is vested in ten gover. nors, who must be respectable inhabitants of the town and parish of Walsall, and resident in the same. They are incorporated by charter, and have the power of making statutes respecting the school, with the advice and consent of the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. The present income arises from the original endowment, exclusive of some coal-mines under part of the estate. At the tercentenary commemoration of the foundation of the school in July, 1854, the Rev. J. B. Pugh, M. A. the head-master, opened a voluntary subscription for the purpose of founding an Exhibition to be open for scholars from Walsall school to either University. The sum contributed exceeds £600, which is to be allowed to accumulate till the annual proceeds are adequate to the object intended. COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. BURY ST EDMUNDS. THE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. THE town of Bury St Edmunds seems to have enjoyed the advantage of a free school at a very early period. For Abbot Sampson, in the year 1198, built a school-house here, and settled a stipend upon the master, directing that forty poor boys should be exempt from every demand from the master with respect to their learning. The present free grammar-school was founded by King Edward VI. and was the first of his numerous foundations. The governors are sixteen in number, and must be gentlemen resident in the town; and the bishop of Norwich is the visitor of the school. It is the main design of the school to provide a direct and complete preparation for all the higher competitions in the English Universities, especially in the neighbouring University of Cambridge. The number of scholars on the foundation (called royalists) is not limited, but is generally about 40, and a warrant signed by three governors, addressed to the head-master, is necessary for admission. There is no restriction as to the number of other scholars (oppidans) which the master may choose to receive into the school. The scholarships at this school are awarded solely according to merit, which is determined by a public examination, conducted by two examiners from Oxford or Cambridge, every year at Midsummer. 1558. Dr. Laurence Moptyd founded a Scholarship at Trinity Hall, for a student educated at Bury or Ipswich school. (See p. 247.) 1569. Edward Hewer, citizen of London, by his will, gave a benefaction in the eleventh year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to found four Exhibitions for students from this school proceeding to any college |