42-43 / 168
St Edward’s:
150 Years
44
45
Chapter 3 / Houses
was a major supporter of what under his guidance became the
House system, as he believed that it encouraged competition,
loyalty, fraternity, bonding and an overall sense of belonging.
At St Edward’s this fitted well into the life of the School:
as Malcolm Oxley (Sub-Warden, retired 1999) puts it, ‘The
House system was the key institution for effective disciplinary
and pastoral supervision. It made both housemastering and
prefecting possible and it fostered the sub-groups thought
essential for encouraging healthy boy competition with its
consequential advantages for character-building’. Kendall also
wanted to promote a School community whose core values
were based on House, games and the Chapel.
Kendall’s aspirations were boosted by a great slice of good
fortune, which coincided almost exactly with his arrival as
Warden in 1925. The Clapperton family who owned Apsley
Paddox, a large house with ten acres of grounds, put their
property up for sale and, though funds were tight, it was
promptly bought by the School. The Apsley Paddox estate was
just half a mile north of the School’s main site, lying between
the Woodstock and Banbury Roads, and its acquisition allowed
Kendall the opportunity not only to re-house a large part of his
growing school but also to introduce within the next few years
the Boarding House system we know today. Set E appointed a
brand new resident Housemaster, Gerry Segar (himself an OSE),
and moved
en masse
to these new premises under a ‘Titular
Housemaster’ (the Warden), taking for the House the first part of
the name of the estate, Apsley. The Revd J.W. Griffiths, who was
proposal first to parents at the Gaudy of 1893 and brought it into
practice the following term. The boys were placed in roughly
numerically equal groups, each under a particular teacher – a
Tutor. The Tutors were responsible for overseeing the progress
of the individuals in their care while at the School.
The original four Sets were under stalwart Common Room
members: Wilfrid Cowell (Set A, which he headed from
1893–1925), John Millington Sing (Set B), George Sayer (Set
C) and D.A. Wynne-Wilson (Set D), with the actual lettering
only coming into force in 1897, together with the Set colours.
Set E was added in 1898 under a future Warden, Revd William
Ferguson, but a further 22 years elapsed before Set F, under
Arthur Tilly, was introduced. The boys accepted the new
system with enthusiasm.
For the next 32 years the Set System served the School
well and bred loyalty and highlighted the competitive element
amongst pupils and Tutors alike. Tutors’ matches began to
receive much coverage in the
Chronicle
and served as a test
bed for emerging sporting talent for the School teams. General
knowledge tests were also contested between the Sets and the
results printed in the School magazine.
While it might be thought these Tutors were the equivalents
of the later Housemasters and Housemistresses their duties
were in fact very different. Up until Warden Kendall’s time,
starting in 1925, boys had slept wherever room could be
found for them, regardless of what Set they belonged to,
so that a Set’s members were often widely scattered throughout
the School premises. There was even a marquee on the north
side of the Chapel in use as a changing room, showing the
ramshackle nature of arrangements. A Tutor of pupils scattered
through the School’s buildings could never be the equivalent of
a resident Housemaster.
The Revd Henry Kendall pioneered the introduction of a
radical new way forward. His purpose was to utilise the Set
groupings so that the members of each Set not only worked
together but lived together under one roof. Warden Kendall
Left: The march past of the OTC after the opening ceremony for the War
Memorial Buildings (now Tilly’s House), 1925. Far right, Warden Simeon in a
bath chair withhiswife anddaughter. Behind the rose tree isWardenKendall.
Above: Two early Matrons: Miss Bishop (left),
c.
1895, and Miss Blencowe
(right), seen through the window of the first School Shop in 1897.
Below: Sports kit for girls’ Houses, 2013.
Below:ArthurTilly,firstHousemaster
of Tilly’s.
Right: Apsley Paddox,
c.
1930,
purchased by the School in 1925.
Field House moved here in 1931.
Above right: Gerry Segar, after whom Segar’s House was named.
Right: Segar’s gym display, 1962.