King William's College (nicknamed KWC or King Bill's; gv, Colleish Ree Illiam) is an independent school for pupils aged 3 to 18, located near Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB ...

and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference organisations. The College operates at two sites in or near Castletown: a main senior school campus on the shore of Castletown Bay, and a

prep school Preparatory school or prep school may refer to: Schools *Preparatory school (United Kingdom), an independent school preparing children aged 8–13 for entry into fee-charging independent schools, usually public schools *College-preparatory school, ...

(called The Buchan School) in the Westhill part of Castletown, two miles from the main campus. The College was originally for boys only, but became co-educational in the 1980s. It has roughly five hundred pupils, many from beyond the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (O ...

. The UK Department for Education categorises it as an Overseas British school.

History

The establishment of the College was funded principally by the

Bishop Barrow Trust The Bishop Barrow Trust was founded in 1668 by Dr. Isaac Barrow, Bishop of Sodor & Mann (1663-1669). Barrow founded the trust with the idea of building a university on the Isle of Man. He was shocked at the state of knowledge of the Manx clergy ...

, originally set up in 1668 to provide education in the Isle of Man. When founded in 1833, the College opened its doors with only 46 boys. The shield in the centre of the College's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

is that of Bishop Isaac Barrow. The school was named after King William IV, who is said to have been asked for a financial contribution and to have offered the founders "my most valuable possession, my name". King William's College, Isle of Man (crop)

King William's College, Isle of Man (crop)

The school features, thinly disguised, in the Victorian schoolboy book '' Eric, or, Little by Little'' by

Dean Farrar Frederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 – Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a cleric of the Church of England (Anglican), schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of the Cambr ...

who had himself been a boy at the school. Though the school name was changed to Bishop’s College, it is the central location, too, in the book 'The Zone' by Graham Hamer who was educated at King William's College in the 1960s. The college is also famous for its annual open water half-mile swim in Derbyhaven Bay, which usually takes place in late June, depending on tides and weather conditions. Around thirty pupils and staff take part each year. It is compulsory for all other students to watch the swim.

General Knowledge Paper (GKP)

King William College near Castletown - geograph

Since 1904, the College has set an annual general knowledge test, known as the General Knowledge Paper (GKP). In the past pupils sat the test twice: once unseen on the day before the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

holidays, and again when they returned to school in the

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

, after spending the holiday researching the answers. The test is now voluntary. It is well known to be highly difficult, a common score for the unseen test is just two correct answers from the list (180 questions in 2018). The best scores are 40 to 50 for the unseen test and about 270 out of 360 for the second sitting. Traditionally, the best scorers were given a half day free from school, while anyone doing particularly badly was given a detention. The quiz is always introduced with the following

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

motto: ', which translates as: "To know where you can find anything is, after all, the greatest part of erudition." The quiz is popular with non-pupils. It appears on the school's website, and has been published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' since 1951. The current quizmaster is Dr Pat Cullen, a retired general practitioner, who has been setting the quiz since 1997. He reports that he now checks questions by typing them into

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and changing them if necessary to make sure the answers cannot be found immediately. Today the GKP is sent home to parents; there is a prize, presented at Founders' Day, for the winning family. There is great competition between the local Manx families over this test.

Houses

* Colbourne House – mixed boarding house * Dickson House – mixed day house * Walters House – mixed day house The original house system was replaced in 2003–2004 with form centres. Whilst the house system was kept by name only, the main social function of the house system was lost. Many OKWs still refer to the original house names. Colbourne house was the boys boarding house with School house being the girls boarding house. School house is situated in the main school, where the female boarders reside and are still referred to as the ''School house girls'', but are now a part of Colbourne house. Original houses * Hunt house – day boys' house (now occupied by the 5th Form Centre) * Raglan house – day boys' house (now occupied by the 6th Form Centre) * Barrow house – day girls' house * Wilson house – boarding boys' house * Colbourne house – Boarding boys' house * Dickson house – Boarding boys' house * School house – Boarding boys' house

Praepositors

praepositor Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

is an equivalent of a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

: a member of the Upper Sixth Form who has considerable responsibility within the school. The title Head of School is given to the most senior Praepositor. The Head of School can be either male or female. Depending on the gender of the Head of School, their subordinate colleague will be known as either the Head Boy or the Head Girl. The Head of School is a long-established post, with the first recorded appointment in 1846.

Combined Cadet Force

The King William's College Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a voluntary youth organisation sponsored by the UK Ministry of Defence. The College has a long and proud military history; its Officers' Training Corps (OTC) was the only contingent to see active service in the Great War, guarding prisoners of war at Douglas and provided the first recruits from the Island. 546 members of the College community served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

with 45 killed and 45 wounded from the OTC alone. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

696 served. Former cadets have won many honours in times of war, including 7

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

s, 2 Distinguished Service Crosses, 25 Military Crosses, 2 Croix de Guerre, 3 Military Medals and 3 Distinguished Conduct Medals. Established in 1911 by Lt K.A.R. Sugden the OTC comprised two platoons. After the First World War the OTC continued in its role of providing basic military training in the inter-war years. Notably it mounted a guard of honour for the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to the Isle of Man in July 1920. This OTC unit later evolved into the Junior Training Corps (JTC) about a year before the beginning of the

. Again in 1945 the JTC provided a guard of honour as the College welcomed King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the first Royal guests to the College. In 1948 Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery visited the school. In that same year, the CCF was established as the JTC was integrated with the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including ...

(ATC) and Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) at King William's College. Membership of the CCF was compulsory for all students in their 3rd, 4th and 5th years until 2005. From 2011 students from

Castle Rushen High School Castle Rushen High School is a co-educational secondary state school located in Castletown on the Isle of Man for pupils from the south of the island and from the nearby Parish the Calf of Man. Isle of Man school system The Isle of Man has six ...

have been invited to join the Force. To this day the CCF provides a guard of honour on Tynwald Day. Under the auspices of the CCF, King William's College joined the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme in 1966. Since 2007, however, the scheme has been run independently of the cadet force. The modern day CCF consists of three sections: Army, Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Force (RAF). Cadets in the Army Section learn basic military skills, such as marksmanship and fieldcraft, in addition to expedition skills. Senior cadets are responsible for the development of the training programme and the instruction of junior cadets. The training programme follows the Army Proficiency Certificate (APC) syllabus and a practical approach is adopted together with integrated scenarios. At the end of each academic year, the cadets have the chance to participate in a week-long camp at a military establishment. The RN Section provides cadets with the opportunity to experience different water-based activities, for example sailing and kayaking. The Naval Proficiency Certificate syllabus is followed to develop seamanship knowledge and skills, such as rope-work. The RAF Section follows the prescribed Air Cadet Proficiency (ACP) syllabus, including airmanship and navigation. Essential qualities, like self-discipline, teamwork and leadership, are developed through the conduction of practical leadership tasks and navigation activities. The Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation ( CVQO) has offered cadets the opportunity to receive internationally recognised

BTEC BTEC may refer to: * Begumgonj Textile Engineering College, a college in Bangladesh * Biomass Thermal Energy Council, a US advocacy organization * Business and Technology Education Council, a British body, now part of Edexcel, which awards vocationa ...

Diploma qualifications. All cadets over the age of 16 may register for any of the qualifications on offer.

Notable former pupils

Former pupils, staff, and governors of King William's College may place the letters OKW after their name. * Sir William Henry Bragg, OM,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

, FRS ( PRS 1935–40), Nobel Laureate in Physics 1915 * Sir James Gell

CVO CVO may refer to: Science and technology * Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington, US * Chief veterinary officer, the head of a veterinary authority * Circumventricular organs, positioned around the ventricular system of the brain * Co ...

, QC, First Deemster and the first Manxman to be appointed

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of the Isle of Man * T.E. Brown, poet and writer * David Cannan MHK, former Speaker of the House of Keys, Treasury Minister and former MHK for Michael * Alfred Cannan MHK, Treasury Minister *

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill DSO MC, notable

commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

commander in the

Andrew Corlett Andrew Thomas Kaneen Corlett is the current First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls of the Isle of Man who served as Second Deemster from 2011 to 2018,First Deemster of the Isle of Man *

Joseph George Cumming Joseph George Cumming, MA Cantab., (15 February 1812 – 21 December 1868) was an English geologist and archaeologist. His major works concerned the geology and history of the Isle of Man. Biography Born at Matlock in Derbyshire where his mot ...

, MA Cantab.,

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

and archaeologist *

Thomas Wortley Drury Thomas Wortley Drury (12 September 1847 – 12 February 1926) was a British Anglican bishop who served as Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge from 1920. Life to 1914 He was born on the Isle of Man the son of the Rev. William Drury, V ...

, DD, MA Cantab.,

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where t ...

1907–1911 *The Rev. John Ellerton, hymn writer and hymnologist. Wrote "The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended" *The Very Reverend Frederic William Farrar, DD

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, FRS, Dean of Canterbury 1895–1903 * Major-General

Francis John Fowler Major-General Francis John Fowler (31 July 1864 – 5 June 1939) was a British officer who served in the Indian Army from 1885 to 1921. He saw active service in a number of conflicts throughout the British Empire and was the recipient of the Dist ...

CB DSO, Commander of the Derajat Brigade 1914–16 *

Henry Higgins (bullfighter) Henry Higgins (1944 – 1978) was an English matador, the most senior level of bullfighter, who was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1944. He died as a result of a hang-gliding accident, while demonstrating it by jumping off a 200 ft high hill in ...

, also known as Canadas and El Ingles,

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

* Major Robert Johnston VC, recipient of the VC – South African War * George Robert Stephenson, pioneer English railway engineer *Sir

James Haldane Stewart Lockhart Sir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart, (25 May 1858 – 26 February 1937) was a British colonial official in Hong Kong and China for more than 40 years. He also served as Commissioner of British Weihaiwei from 1902 to 1921. Additionally, he was a ...

, KCMG, Registrar General and Colonial Secretary of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

* Lieutenant-General Sir Terence Douglas Herbert McMeekin KCB OBE * Brian Ivor Dennis McMeekin *

Sir John Mayhew MP, Conservative politician * Prof Alan Muir

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

(1925–1974) anatomist *

Pierre Novellie Pierre Novellie (born 31 January 1991) is a South African-born comedian. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Novellie grew up on the Isle of Man and attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he was a member and then Vice Presiden ...

– South African/Manx stand-up, television and radio comedian *Sir

Joseph Davidson Qualtrough Sir Joseph Davidson Qualtrough CBE JP SHK (11 June 1885 – 14 January 1960) was Speaker of the House of Keys from 1937 to 1960. He was born in Castletown, the son of Joseph Qualtrough MLC, Receiver General of the Isle of Man. He was educat ...

CBE SHK, former Speaker of the House of Keys *

William Henry Quilliam William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mo ...

also known as Abdullah Quilliam, Muslim convert, born in Liverpool of a wealthy

Manx Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man: * Manx people **Manx surnames * Isle of Man It may also refer to: Languages * Manx language, also known as Manx ...

family *Captain

William Henry Irvine Shakespear Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear (29 October 1878 – 24 January 1915), was a British civil servant and explorer who mapped uncharted areas of Northern Arabia and made the first official British contact with Ibn Sa'ud, future king of ...

, civil servant and explorer of Northern Arabia *

John C. Taylor John Clarence Taylor, (March 2, 1890 – March 25, 1983) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. He served for three terms from 1933 to 1939. Biography John Clarence was born in Honea ...

, inventor and Chairman of Strix Ltd. *

Donald Teare Robert Donald Teare, FRCP, FRCPath (1 July 1911 – 17 January 1979) was a senior British pathologist. Early life Teare was born 1 July 1911 on the Isle of Man, and educated at King William's College, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge ...

, British pathologist * William Arthur White, British diplomat in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

* James Wilson,

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

* George Neilson,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and antiquary

Victoria Cross holders

Three OKWs have won 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 ...

:Michael Hoy, (2006), ''A Blessing to this Island'' * Second Anglo-Afghan War ** George Stuart White, VC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO,

DCL DCL or may refer to: * 650 in Roman numerals, see 650 (disambiguation) Computers * Data Center Linux, see Open Source Development Labs * Data Control Language, a subset of SQL * Dialog Control Language, a language and interpreter within AutoC ...

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 Un ...

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, born 1835, died 1912, Commander-in-Chief, India 1893–1898, Governor of Gibraltar 1900–1905, hero of Ladysmith, he won the VC while holding the rank of Major. *

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

**Major Robert Johnston, VC (1872 to 1950). He was a Captain when he won the VC. *

**Major Robert Henry Cain VC (1909–1974).

References

External links

The College's websiteProfile
on the Independent Schools Council website
The International Baccalaureate's Website
*Jeffries, Stuart

interview with Dr Pat Cullen, quizmaster from 1997; ''The Guardian'', 23 December 2004.
2011–2012 Quiz in ''The Guardian''
quiz answers as of late January {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1833 * Schools in the Isle of Man Boarding schools in the United Kingdom Co-educational boarding schools Registered Buildings of the Isle of Man 1833 establishments in the British Empire Secondary schools on the Isle of Man