co-education
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. It was founded in 1604 under the will of
Peter Blundell
Peter Blundell (c. 1520–1601) was a prosperous clothier, trading between Tiverton and London. He died in April 1601, never having married and with no known issue. On his death, he left over £32,000 cash to fellow clothiers and their famil ...
, one of the richest men in England at the time, and moved to its present site on the outskirts of the town in 1882.
While the full boarding fees are £38,985 per year, the school offers several scholarships and bursaries, and provides flexi-boarding. The school has 360 boys and 225 girls, including 117 boys and 85 girls in the Sixth Form, and is a member of the
Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Unite ...
.
The ''
Good Schools Guide
''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent.
Overview
The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...
'' calls Blundell's a "distinguished rural school of ancient lineage".
History
Peter Blundell
Peter Blundell (c. 1520–1601) was a prosperous clothier, trading between Tiverton and London. He died in April 1601, never having married and with no known issue. On his death, he left over £32,000 cash to fellow clothiers and their famil ...
, one of the wealthiest merchants of Elizabethan England, died in 1601, having made his fortune principally in the cloth industry. His will set aside considerable money and land to establish a school in his home town "to maintain sound learning and true religion". Blundell asked his friend John Popham,
Lord Chief Justice
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
of England, to carry out his wishes, and appointed a number of local merchants and gentry as his first trustees (known as
feoffee
Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use ...
s). The position of feoffee is no longer hereditary, but a number of notable local families have held the position for a considerable period: the first ancestor of the current chairman of the governors to hold that position was elected more than 250 years ago, and the
Heathcoat-Amory Heathcoat-Amory is a double-barrelled English surname. Notable people with this surname include the following:
*David Heathcoat-Amory (born 1949), English politician
* Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory (1899–1981), English politician
* ...
family have a long tradition of service on the Governing Body, since Sir John Heathcoat-Amory was appointed in 1865.
The Old Blundell's School was built to be much larger and grander than any other in the West Country, with room for 150 scholars and accommodation for a master and an usher. The
Grade 1 listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
building is now in the care of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
and the forecourt is usually open to visitors. One ex-Blundell's boy was the writer R. D. Blackmore, who in the novel ''
Lorna Doone
''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...
'' set the stage for a fight between John Ridd and Robin Snell on the Blundell's triangular lawn.
Peter Blundell's executors established links with Balliol College, Oxford, and with Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and large sums were settled to provide for scholarships for pupils of the school to attend those colleges. The first Sidney Sussex scholar was nominated in 1610 and the first Blundell's Balliol scholar in 1615. The links with these colleges continue today, although without the closed scholarships.
In 1645
Thomas Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...
used the school for his headquarters during the siege of
Tiverton Castle
Tiverton Castle is the remains of a medieval castle dismantled after the Civil War and thereafter converted in the 17th century into a country house. It occupies a defensive position above the banks of the River Exe at Tiverton in Devon.
Desc ...
.
In 1882, the school moved to the present Horsdon site, one mile from the original location. The new buildings were designed by Hayward & Son of Exeter, and built in red Halberton stone, the foundation stone was laid by the
William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon
William Reginald Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon PC (14 April 1807 – 18 November 1888), styled Lord Courtenay between 1835 and 1859, was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1866 to 1867 and as Presid ...
, chairman of the governors, in 1880.
Reginald Blomfield
Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period.
Early life and career
Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...
, the architect and garden designer, was responsible for the additions to the school, which were completed in 1901.
The School's war memorial was carved by the school's sculpture teacher, Estcourt J. Clack and is a replica of the Celtic cross in Eyam churchyard, but with the missing part intact.
The clock tower contains a statue by
Alain John
Alain Jordan Clement John (20 June 1920 – 23 December 1943) was an aspiring sculptor of Armenian descent who joined the RAF as a navigator, and was killed during the Second World War. John is known for his statue of ''Christ in Blessing'', whi ...
, a pupil of the School and aspiring sculptor, who joined the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
as a navigator and was killed in the Second World War. The statue was subsequently re-cast at the commission of Neville Gorton, then
Bishop of Coventry
The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield.
The presen ...
, and stands in the ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the war.
In 1989, Ondaatje Hall was opened, following a donation by OB
Christopher Ondaatje
Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL (; born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Mic ...
for its construction. Among its many facilities is a 150-seat professional theatre, which as well as putting on in-house productions is also used for public performances.
Girls were admitted from the age of 13 in 1993, to make the school fully co-educational. To make room for them, the boys' boarding house North Close was changed into a girls' house. In 1997, School House became a junior house for pupils aged 11–13.
The prep school St Aubyn's was moved to the Blundell's campus in 2000, taking over the day-boy house Milestones and the Sanatorium, and was renamed Blundell's Prep School. It has about 250 pupils aged from three years to eleven. The headmaster is Andy Southgate.
A change to the way the UVI boarders are housed took place when the old Westlake was sold off and a new Westlake built on the site of the CCF parade ground. Opened in 2004, the new Westlake houses all boys and girls who are in their final year.
The two latest developments to be completed are an extension to the Music School, and the building of the Popham Academic Centre, which houses the new Psychology, Economics and Business Studies departments, as well as the new server for the school intranet and a dedicated IT teaching area.
Sport
Rugby
Rugby is the main sport played at Blundell's in the Autumn and Spring terms. The earliest mention of "football" in the Blundellian was in 1861 and the first recorded "rugger" match played by boys at Blundell's was in 1868 against
Tiverton Rugby Club
Tiverton Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Tiverton, Devon, England. The club plays at Coronation Field, and as of the 2014–15 season competes in the level seven Tribute Western Counties West league and the Devon Intermediat ...
, making the school one of the oldest anywhere formally to play the game. The Blundell's crest still hangs in the main room at Twickenham in recognition of this.
The first OB to gain International Honours was R. S. Kindersley for England in 1884 and on 1 January 1908 Thomas Kelly captained
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to a 19–0 victory over
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
The strongest years for Blundell's were the two decades after World War 2, when
Clem Thomas
Richard Clement Charles "Clem" Thomas (28 January 1929 – 5 September 1996) was a international rugby union player. A flanker, he represented Cambridge University R.U.F.C. in the Varsity Match in 1949 and played for Brynamman, Swansea, Lo ...
gained 26 caps for Wales in 1949–59 (in 1958–59 as captain), Richard Sharp won 14 caps for England 1960-67 (Captain 1963 and 1967) and David Shepherd won five caps for Australia in 1964–66. Both Thomas and Sharp played in two tests for Britain in South Africa.
Also of note was Charles Kent, who played for Rosslyn Park and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, including one as captain in 1974.
Blundell's won the Rosslyn Park National Sevens title in 1981 and won the second ever Open Final 28–0 against Dulwich College, in 1940. The Blundell's XVs continue to compete among the public schools of the South West, with Bryanston, Millfield, Cheltenham College and Clifton College among their regular opponents.
OBs Dave Lewis
Gloucester Rugby
Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The club was formed in ...
,
Matt Kvesic
Matthew Boris "Matt" Kvesic (born 14 April 1992) is an English professional rugby union player for Coventry. Born in Germany to English parents, he represented England at international level and played for several youth representative sides be ...
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...
Jack Maunder
Jack Maunder (born 5 April 1997) is an English rugby union player who plays Scrum-half for Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership.
Club career
In October 2016, Maunder made his club debut for the Exeter Chiefs against ASM Clermont Auvergne ...
is an English rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership.
Sam Maunder
Sam Maunder (born 22 March 2000) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club bas ...
, brother of Jack Maunder, plays for England U18 squad.
The Russell
One annual tradition is the school's cross-country run known as the Russell, named after OB Jack Russell, a vicar and dog-breeder. It was first run in 1887, and 2009 saw the 129th run. The Russell course crosses both public and private land with the permission of local landowners. As such, the route has undergone numerous changes throughout its history. The current senior course is 4.85 miles and includes a notorious’Heartbreak Hill’. Although the junior race and a ‘fun run’ follow shorter routes, all participants encounter the muddiest sections. Parents, staff and OB’s may participate in the ‘Open’ which follows the senior route.
Cricket at the 1900 Olympics
Four Old Blundellians played in the gold medal-winning Great Britain cricket team at the 1900 Summer Olympics, the only time cricket featured in the Olympics. Britain was represented by an unofficial touring club team, the Devon & Somerset Wanderers Cricket Club (formed by William Donne in 1894 and made up of Old Blundellians and members of Castle Cary Cricket Club).
Southern Railway Schools Class
The School lent its name to the thirty-third steam locomotive ( Engine 932) in the Southern Railway'sClass V of which there were 40. This class was also known as the Schools Class because all 40 of the class were named after prominent English public schools. ''Blundell's'', as it was called, was built in 1934. The locomotive bearing the school's name was withdrawn from service in January 1961. In 2009 Hornby produced a model of this particular Schools class locomotive. As the product photograph shows, while the name of this locomotive has been variously quoted as ''Blundells'' or ''Blundell's'', the apostrophe does actually appear on the nameplate.
Old Blundellians
The first known society of former pupils, known as Old Blundellians (OBs), was established as early as 1725.
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...
engraved the letterhead for the invitation to a dinner for former pupils of the School in 1725 and the Ticket for Tiverton School Feast in 1740, image of print courtesy of Antiqueprints.com .
Notable former pupils include:
A–D
*
Robert Arundell
Brigadier Sir Robert Duncan Harris Arundell (22 July 1904 – 24 March 1989) was a British diplomat who became Governor and Commander in Chief of the Windward Islands and later Governor of Barbados and acting Governor-General of the West Indies. ...
, Governor of the Windward Islands and Barbados
*
Vernon Bartlett
Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE (30 April 1894 – 18 January 1983) was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular Fro ...
, journalist and politician
* Edward Bellew, drainage inspector and winner of the
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
Lorna Doone
''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...
''
*
Richard Bowring
Richard John Bowring (born 6 February 1947) is an English academic serving as Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow of Downing College. In 2013, Bowring was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Cla ...
, Master of
Selwyn College, Cambridge
Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...
*
William Buckland
William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist.
Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...
, geologist
*
William Edward Buckley
William Edward Buckley (1817 – 18 March 1892) was a Church of England clergyman, an academic who taught both classical languages and Old English, and also a journalist. He was Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford fro ...
, professor of Anglo-SaxonFrederic Boase, ''Modern English Biography'', vol. 4 (Netherton and Worth, 1906), p. 2,007
*
George Bull
George Bull (25 March 1634 – 17 February 1710) was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's.
Life
He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's ...
, theologian and bishop
*
Giles Bullard
Sir Giles Bullard (24 August 1926 – 11 November 1992), was a British diplomat. His appointments included British Ambassador to Bulgaria and High Commissioner to the West Indies at the time of the American invasion of Grenada.
Early life
G ...
, High Commissioner to the West Indies
* Charles Campion, food critic
*
Bampfylde Moore Carew
Bampfylde Moore Carew (1690-1758) was an English rogue, vagabond and impostor, who claimed to be King of the Beggars.
Life
Baptized at Bickleigh, Devon, on 23 September 1690, Bampfylde Moore Carew was the son of Reverend Theodore Carew, rect ...
, rogue and imposter
*
Aelred Carlyle
Aelred Carlyle OSB (7 February 1874 - 14 October 1955) founded, around 1895, the first regularised Anglican Benedictine community of monks.
Early life and monastic profession
Born Benjamin Fearnley Carlyle, he was educated at Blundell's S ...
, missionary and monk
* Frederick William Cuming, 1900 Olympic gold medal winner as part of the UK cricket team
*
Charles Cornwallis Chesney
Charles Cornwallis Chesney (29 September 1826 – 19 March 1876) was a British soldier and military writer.
Family background and education
Chesney was born in County Down, Ireland, the third son of Charles Cornwallis Chesney, captain on the retir ...
, soldier and military writer
*
George Tomkyns Chesney
Sir George Tomkyns Chesney (30 April 1830 – 31 March 1895) was a British Army general, politician, and writer of fiction. He is remembered as the author of the novella ''The Battle of Dorking'' (1871), a founding work in the genre of invasion ...
, soldier and novelist
* Ben Collins, Formula 3 racing driver and the infamous Stig
*
John Conybeare
John Conybeare (31 January 1692 – 13 July 1755) was Bishop of Bristol and one of the most notable theologians of the 18th century.
Conybeare was born at Pinhoe, where his father was vicar, and educated at Exeter Free School, Blundell's School ...
,
Bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
and notable 18th-century theologian
* John Davis, Welsh cricketer
* Edward Dayman, hymn writer
Tristan Evans
The Vamps are a British pop band consisting of Brad Simpson, James Brittain-McVey, Connor Ball and Tristan Evans. They formed in 2012 and signed to Mercury Records (now Virgin EMI Records) in the November of the same year.
In 2017, they had t ...
Douglas Gracey
General Sir Douglas David Gracey & Bar (3 September 1894 – 5 June 1964) was a British Indian Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars. He also fought in French Indochina and was the second Commander-in-Chief of the P ...
, Commander in Chief Pakistan Army 1948-51
* Charles Harper, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of St. Helena 1925–1932
* C. Brian Haselgrove mathematician best known for disproving the
Pólya conjecture
In number theory, the Pólya conjecture (or Pólya's conjecture) stated that "most" (i.e., 50% or more) of the natural numbers less than any given number have an ''odd'' number of prime factors. The conjecture was set forth by the Hungarian mathe ...
in 1958
*
Thomas Hayter
Thomas Hayter (1702 – 9 January 1762) was an English whig divine, who served as a Church of England bishop for 13 years, and was a royal chaplain. As a party advocate of the Pelhamites and a friend of the Duke of Newcastle, he was at the height ...
, bishop of Norwich 1749–61, bishop of London 1761–62
* Abraham Hayward, man of letters
*
Archibald Hill
Archibald Vivian Hill (26 September 1886 – 3 June 1977), known as A. V. Hill, was a British physiologist, one of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations research. He shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or ...
, Nobel Prize winner
*
David Gordon Hines
David Gordon Hines (8 February 1915 – 14 March 2000) was a chartered accountant who as a British colonial administrator developed farming co-operatives in Tanganyika and later in Uganda. This radically improved the living standards of farm ...
, developer of co-operatives in Tanganyika and Uganda
* Peter Gordon Hines (Civil Engineer) in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Sumatra, UK, Nigeria, Australia, Romania
*
Walter Hook
Walter Farquhar Hook (13 March 1798 – 20 October 1875), known to his contemporaries as Dr Hook, was an eminent Victorian churchman.
He was the Vicar of Leeds responsible for the construction of the current Leeds Minster and for many ecc ...
,
Tractarian
The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
vicar of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
*
Ella Hunt
Ella Hunt (born 29 April 1998) is an English actress and singer. She was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA for her performance in the film '' Anna and the Apocalypse'' (2017). On television, she is known for her roles as Ellie Marsden in the ITV c ...
James Jeremie
James Amiraux Jérémie (12 April 1802, Saint Peter Port, Guernsey – 11 June 1872, Lincoln, England) was Professor of Classical Literature at The East India Company College 1830–50, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge ...
, academic and churchman
*
John Jeremie
Sir John Jeremie (19 August 1795 – 23 April 1841) was a British judge and diplomat, Chief Justice of Saint Lucia and Governor of Sierra Leone. He was given an award in 1836 for advancing "negro freedom" after accusing the judges in Maurit ...
, governor of
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
* Geoffrey Lampe, theologian and winner of the Military Cross
*
Wilfrid Le Gros Clark
Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark (5 June 1895 – 28 June 1971) was a British anatomist, surgeon, primatologist and palaeoanthropologist, today best remembered for his contribution to the study of human evolution. He was Dr Lee's Professor of ...
, surgeon, primatologist and paleoanthropologist who disproved
Piltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although there were doubts about its authenticity virtually from the beginning, the remains ...
*
Robin Lloyd-Jones
Robin Lloyd-Jones (born 1934) is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction who grew up in India before being educated at Blundell's School in Devon and Cambridge University where he gained an MA in Social Anthropology. He then moved to Scotland to ...
Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton (1620–1677) was an English Puritan clergyman. He was a clerk to the Westminster Assembly and a chaplain to Oliver Cromwell.
Early life
Thomas Manton was baptised 31 March 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote sou ...
, Puritan clergyman
*
John Margetson
Sir John William Denys Margetson (9 October 1927 – 17 October 2020) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands.
Early life
Margetson was the younger son of the Very Rev. William Marget ...
, former British Ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands.
* Vic Marks, Somerset and England cricketer
* Professor John Marrack, DSO, MC, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology in the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
*John Marrack, (10 February 1921 – 7 November 2009) naval officer, Queen's Harbourmaster 1962.
*
Claire Marshall
Claire Victoria Marshall (born 1975) is an English journalist who works for BBC News.
After leaving Chew Valley Comprehensive and then Blundell's School, Devon in 1993, she read for a law degree at Balliol College, Oxford. After graduating fro ...
, journalist
*
Michael Mates
Michael John Mates (born 9 June 1934) is a Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of East Hampshire from 1974 to 2010. He was a minister at the Northern Ireland Office from 1992 to 1993, resignin ...
East Hampshire
East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Petersfield. Other towns are Alton and Bordon.
The district was originally to be known as the District Council of Petersfield. It comprised 42 sea ...
)
* Hugh Morris, England cricketer and current Managing Director of the
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
''
*
Christopher Ondaatje
Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL (; born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Mic ...
William Pillar
Admiral Sir William Thomas Pillar, (24 February 1924 – 18 March 1999) was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as Chief of Naval Support and a member of the Admiralty.
Naval career
Educated at Blundell's School and latterly at the Royal N ...
Peter Schidlof
Peter Schidlof (born Hans Schidlof; 9 July 1922 – 16 August 1987) was an Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the Amadeus Quartet.
Life and career
Born in Göllersdorf near Vienna, Schidlof fled Austria for England following the Nazi ...
, Austrian-British violist and co-founder of the Amadeus Quartet
*
Edward Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset
Brigadier-General Edward Hamilton Seymour, 16th Duke of Somerset, KBE, CB, CMG (12 May 1860 – 5 May 1931) was the son of Reverend Francis Payne Seymour and Jane Margaret Dallas. His father was the great-grandson of Lord Francis Seymour. H ...
Richard Shore
Richard Arnold Shore (born August 18, 1946) is a professor of mathematics at Cornell University who works in recursion theory. He is particularly known for his work on \mathcal, the partial order of the Turing degrees.
* Shore settled the Roger ...
, cricketer
*
Frederick Spring
Brigadier-General Frederick Gordon Spring, (25 July 1878 – 24 September 1963) was a senior British Army officer.
Early life
Spring was born in 1878 in Bombay, India, the son of Colonel Frederick William Spring, a Royal Artillery officer. ...
, senior army officer
* Trevor Spring, army officer
*
J. C. Squire
Sir John Collings Squire (2 April 1884 – 20 December 1958) was a British writer, most notable as editor of the ''London Mercury'', a major literary magazine in the interwar period. He antagonised several eminent authors, but attracted a coterie ...
, poet, writer, historian, and influential literary editor
* Donald Stokes, industrialist and peer
*
Jon Swain
Jon (John) Anketell Brewer Swain (born 1948) is a British journalist and writer.
Swain's book ''River of Time: A Memoir of Vietnam '' chronicles his experiences from 1970 to 1975 during the war in Indochina, including the fall of Cambodia.
Ea ...
, award-winning writer, whose memoirs were portrayed in the film ''
The Killing Fields
A killing field is a concept in military science.
Killing field may also refer to:
* Killing Fields, a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of ...
''
*
Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple (30 November 1821 – 23 December 1902) was an English academic, teacher and churchman, who served as Bishop of Exeter (1869–1885), Bishop of London (1885–1896) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1896–1902).
Early life ...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
*
Clem Thomas
Richard Clement Charles "Clem" Thomas (28 January 1929 – 5 September 1996) was a international rugby union player. A flanker, he represented Cambridge University R.U.F.C. in the Varsity Match in 1949 and played for Brynamman, Swansea, Lo ...
Henry Hawkins Tremayne
The Reverend Henry Hawkins Tremayne (1741–1829) was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey, with significant interests in the Cornish tin mining industry. He is credited a ...
, creator of the
Lost Gardens of Heligan
The Lost Gardens of Heligan ( kw, Lowarth Helygen, meaning "willow tree garden") are located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England and are considered to be amongst the most popular in the UK. The gardens are typical of the 19th century ...
*
John Van der Kiste
John Van der Kiste (born 15 September 1954 in Wendover, Buckinghamshire) is a British author, son of Wing Commander Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fe ...
, author
* Walter Walker, controversial soldier and writer
*
Arthur Graeme West
Arthur Graeme West (September, 1891 – 3 April 1917) was a British writer and war poet. West was born in Eaton, Norfolk,John Whiteley, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1949–53
* Cyril Wilkinson, Great Britain hockey player and Olympic Gold Medallist
*
Geoffrey Willans
Herbert Geoffrey Willans, RNVR, (4 February 1911 – 6 August 1958), an English writer and journalist, is best known as the creator of Nigel Molesworth, the "goriller of 3B" and "curse of St. Custard's", as in the four books with illustrations ...
, humorist and co-author of
Nigel Molesworth
Nigel Molesworth is a fictional character, the supposed author of a series of books about life in an English prep school named St Custard's. The books were written by Geoffrey Willans, with cartoon illustrations by Ronald Searle.
The Moleswo ...
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...
, author whose work included ''
The Day of the Triffids
''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...
''
Headteachers
Notable former masters
Former masters of Blundell's have included:
* Terry Barwell, cricketer
*Estcourt J Clack (Jim Clack), woodwork teacher and sculptor of the Diana Fountain in London's Green Park
*
Manning Clark
Charles Manning Hope Clark, (3 March 1915 – 23 May 1991) was an Australian historian and the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume ''A History of Australia'', published between 1962 and 1987. He has been descri ...
Malcolm Moss
Malcolm Douglas Moss (born 6 March 1943) is a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Cambridgeshire from 1987 until his retirement at the 2010 general election.
Early life
Born ...
, politician
*
Grahame Parker
Grahame Wilshaw Parker (11 February 1912 – 11 November 1995) was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and represented the England national rugby union team.
Parker, who ...
, sportsman
*
C. Northcote Parkinson
Cyril Northcote Parkinson (30 July 1909 – 9 March 1993) was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller ''Parkinson's Law'' (1957), in which Parkinson advanced Parkinson's law, stating t ...
Lawrence Sail
Lawrence Sail (born 29 October 1942) is a contemporary British poet and writer.
Biography
Sail was born in London and brought up in Exeter. He studied French and German at Oxford University and subsequently taught for some years in Kenya, before ...
, poet
*
Willi Soukop
Willi Soukop (5 January 1907 – 8 February 1995) was a sculptor, member of the Royal Academy and early teacher of Elisabeth Frink. Soukop's work is prominently on display at Hull University
, mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learn ...
, sculptor
*
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...
, poet and essayist
*
Mervyn Stockwood
Arthur Mervyn Stockwood (27 May 1913 – 13 January 1995) was a Church of England bishop who served as vicar of St Matthew's Church, Moorfields, then of Great St Mary's, Cambridge, and finally as Bishop of Southwark, retiring in 1980.
Early l ...
Samuel Wesley (the Younger)
Samuel Wesley the Younger (10 February 1690 or 1691 – 6 November 1739) was a poet, teacher and an Anglican cleric. He was the eldest of the Wesley brothers—with younger brothers John and Charles—but did not play a notable role in the early ...