The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
in the English port city of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on Mount Street. The institute was first known as the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts. In 1832 the name was shortened to the Liverpool Mechanics' Institution. The façade of the
listed building
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 ...
, the entrance hall and modified school hall remain after substantial internal reconstruction was completed in the early 1990s.
School history in brief
Its initial primary purpose as a
mechanics' institute (one of many established about this time throughout the country) was to provide educational opportunities, mainly through evening classes, for working men. Lectures for the general public were also provided of wide interest covering topics ranging from
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
exploration to
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and philosophy. Luminaries like
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
,
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
and
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
delivered talks and readings in the main lecture hall (now the architecturally restructured Sir
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
Auditorium of
LIPA).
By 1840 the Institution offered evening classes, lectures, a library and a boys' lower and upper school. By the 1850s a formal art school was evolving from the evening classes and in 1856 this diversity was recognised by another name change – The Liverpool Institute and School of Arts.
A girls' school was founded and opened in 1844 under the name
Liverpool Institute High School for Girls
Liverpool Institute High School for Girls, Blackburne Place, Liverpool, England, was a girls' grammar school that was established in 1844 and closed in 1984. It was situated off Hope St to the north-east of Liverpool Cathedral in the area close ...
. It was housed in a merchant's mansion across the street from the boys' school in
Blackburne House
Blackburne House is an 18th-century Grade II listed building located on the east side of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It was built in 1788 and remodelled in from 1874 to 1876. Originally a private house, it became a girls' schoo ...
provided by the generosity of
George Holt and which was later (1872) donated to the school by his family in his memory. The school was one of the first which was open to the public in the country established exclusively for the
education of girls
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education ( primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
.
In 1905 the
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards.
The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...
took over the management of the secondary schools when the LI Board of Governors presented the school and assets to the City. From then until its closure in 1985, the school was formally known as ''The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys'' or more familiarly as ''The Institute'' or ''The Inny'' to its pupils.
It was an English
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
for boys ages 11 to 18 with an excellent academic reputation built up over more than a century. Its list of scholarships and places at
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 ...
and
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 bec ...
runs to some 300 names – in addition to distinctions gained at
the University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
and many other prominent British universities. The school was a true measure of Liverpool's intellectual capital, and its old boys could and can be found in later life in many fields of professional distinction including the law, the Church, armed forces, politics, academia, government and colonial administration as well as in trade and commerce.
[A History of the Liverpool Institute Schools, Herbert J Tiffen, 1825–1935.]
In the 1950s, future Beatles
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
were educated at the school.
[Vincent Perez Benitez, ''The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years'' (Praeger, 2010, ), pp. 1–2]
Closure of the school
The school was closed by the city council in 1985. The
Labour Party nationally opposed grammar schools – see
Anthony Crosland
Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book ''The ...
's Circular of September 1965 required that Local Authorities bring forward schemes for comprehensive secondary education. As grammar school pupils were selected by examination at age 11, there was a long-standing push towards '
comprehensive schools
A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
' (as non-selective schools were known) from that party when it took majority control of the City Council in 1983. Demand for secondary school places in the City had also dropped precipitously and there was a huge oversupply of school space as Liverpool's population contracted during the severe economic recession of the early 1980s.
The Deputy Leader of the Labour (Militant) Group on Council at the time was a former LI schoolboy
Derek Hatton
Derek Anthony Hatton (born 17 January 1948) is a British former politician, later a broadcaster, property developer and businessman. He gained national prominence as deputy leader of Liverpool City Council in the 1980s and was a member of the Tr ...
who had left without academic distinction in 1964 and with strong feelings of dislike towards the school. However the man who was Chair of the Educational Committee at the time of the decision to close the school was Dominic Brady, whose qualifications for his position amounted to being a former school caretaker.
After closure, the building stood empty and neglected, the roof leaking and the walls crumbling. In 1987 it was announced that the LI Trust (under control of Liverpool Council's Education Department) would grant use of the building and site to a new educational establishment.
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
had returned to his old school in 1979, when with the band
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
he had played a concert at the
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre located at 1 Roe Street in Liverpool, England. The current Royal Court Theatre was opened on 17 October 1938, after fire destroyed its predecessor. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style and soon became Liverpool's ...
. After the school's closure in 1985, McCartney returned one night to reminisce about his school days, while he was writing his '
Liverpool Oratorio
''Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio'' is a live album by Paul McCartney and Carl Davis, released in 1991. It is McCartney's first major foray into classical music. Composed in collaboration with Carl Davis to commemorate the Royal Liverpool ...
'. This visit is captured in 'Echoes'; a DVD which accompanies the ''Liverpool Oratoria'' box set. McCartney was determined to save the building somehow and during a conversation with
Sir George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Bea ...
, the idea of a 'fame school' emerged as Martin was helping
Mark Featherstone-Witty
Mark Featherstone-Witty OBE (born 2 June 1946 in London) is an educator and entrepreneur. He is the Founding Principal and Chief Executive of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) which he founded, with Paul McCartney, in the mid-1 ...
start a London secondary school with an innovative curriculum. McCartney and Featherstone-Witty joined forces to create the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...
(LIPA) opening in 1996. The new company took over the Liverpool Institute Trust which had its origins in 1905.
The building was rebuilt (entirely in parts) behind its old façade and re-opened in 1996 under LIPA's name. The new institute is affiliated with
Liverpool John Moores University
, mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold
, established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University
, type = Public
, endowment =
, coor ...
and is no longer a Liverpool secondary school.
Art school
![SUITCASE STATUARY IN FRONT OF THE LIVERPOOL ART INSTITUTE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/SUITCASE_STATUARY_IN_FRONT_OF_THE_LIVERPOOL_ART_INSTITUTE.jpg)
The city's Art College had its origins as part of the Liverpool Institute. In 1883 a new building housing the School of Art was opened around the corner on Hope Street, adjacent to the principal building housing the High School on Mount Street. The Art College by which it was later known, took in talented students often without formal academic credentials (e.g.
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
) and the college eventually became one of the four constituent parts of the Liverpool Polytechnic in 1970 and later in 1992
Liverpool John Moores University
, mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold
, established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University
, type = Public
, endowment =
, coor ...
(LJMU) with the School of Art and Design being housed in the
Art and Design Academy
The John Lennon Art and Design Building (formerly the Art and Design Academy) in Liverpool, England, houses Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design. The school was formerly located at the Grade II listed Liverpool College of ...
.
Liverpool Institute and music
Music and musical performances were a constant theme throughout the life of the school and the Mount St. building. Annual school Speech Day concerts (held in the fine acoustics of
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall in Hope Street, in Liverpool, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed ...
), choirs, the organ, piano, music classes and the singing of daily devotional hymns have echoed around its walls for 170 years and continue to do so at
LIPA:
*
Neil Aspinall
Neil Stanley Aspinall (13 October 1941 24 March 2008) was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps.
The Beatles employed Aspinall first as th ...
, 1954–1959: Beatles' road manager, managing director of Apple Corp
*
Les Chadwick
John Leslie Chadwick (11 May 1943 – 26 December 2019), was an English bassist, who was a founding member of Gerry and the Pacemakers. Chadwick was born in Aigburth, Liverpool, Lancashire (now Merseyside), England.
Career
His bass gui ...
, 1954–1959: member of
Gerry & The Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...
*
Albert Coates, 1894–1900: Anglo-Russian conductor and composer
*
Lauri de Frece
Lauri de Frece (3 March 1880 – 25 August 1921) was an English actor and singer who appeared in musical theatre and in films of the silent era. His original name was Maurice de Frece. He was the younger brother of Walter de Frece and the husban ...
, 1893–1898, singer in
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
and actor
*
Len Garry, 1954–1959: member of
The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quar ...
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
, 1954–1959: musician and one of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. Left without formal qualifications in July 1959 for a job as an assistant electrician at
Blacklers department store
[
* Stan Kelly-Bootle 1941–1947: mathematics scholar, folk singer and composer.]
*John McCabe John McCabe may refer to:
*John McCabe (composer) (1939–2015), British composer and classical pianist
*John McCabe (writer) (1920–2005), Shakespearean scholar and biographer
*Christopher John McCabe
Christopher John McCabe (born 20 Oc ...
, 1950 to 1957: prolific classical music composer
*Sir Paul McCartney
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, 1953–1960: musician. Having taken O and A levels, and deciding not to apply for teachers' training college, in July 1960 left school for the Beatles' first stay in Hamburg.[
*]Peter Sissons
Peter George Sissons (17 July 1942 – 1 October 2019) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He was a newscaster for ITN, providing bulletins on ITV and Channel 4, before becoming the presenter of the BBC's ''Question Time'' between 1989 ...
1953–1961, head boy. Presenter of the BBC Nine O'Clock News and BBC Ten O'Clock News between 1993 and 2003, and a newscaster for ITN, on ITV and Channel 4. He was also a former presenter of the BBC's ''Question Time
A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
'' programme, retiring from the BBC in 2009.
*Mike McCartney
Peter Michael McCartney (born 7 January 1944), known professionally as Mike McGear, is an English performing artist and photographer who was a member of the groups the Scaffold and Grimms. He is the younger brother of former Beatle Paul McCart ...
, 1955–1961: musician Mike McGear in The Scaffold
The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney, the brother of Paul McCartney), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. ...
* Sir Charles Santley, British baritone
*Ivan Vaughan
Ivan Vaughan (18 June 1942 – 16 August 1993) was a boyhood friend of John Lennon and later a schoolmate of Paul McCartney at the Liverpool Institute, both commencing school there in September 1953. He was born in Liverpool on the same day as ...
, a classics sixth former, 1953 to 1960, who introduced Paul McCartney to John Lennon.
*C.W. (Colin) Manley, 1953 to 1959 and D.M. (Don) Andrew, 1953 to 1959 both became part of The Remo Four
The Remo Four were a 1950s–1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein. Its members were Colin Manley (born Colin William Manley, 16 April 1942, in Old Swan, ...
, a group later managed by Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967.
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...
.
Notable former pupils
Headmasters
19th century
* Mr. Robert Landers (University of Edinburgh), 1828–31, Headmaster, 1835–36; died in May 1836.
* Mr. Alexander Sinclair MacIlveen Teacher, 1840–42, then Head of Commercial School (1842–1854), then Head of the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute.
* Dr. William Hunter, M.A., LL.D. (Glasgow)- Head of High School of the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute, 1842–45.
* Dr. William Ballantyne Hodgson
William Ballantyne Hodgson (6 October 1815 – 24 August 1880) was a Scottish educational reformer and political economist.
Life
The son of William Hodgson, a printer, he was born in Edinburgh on 6 October 1815. In 1820 the family were living ...
, L.L.D. (Glasgow) – Head master, 1845–47. Left for Chorlton High School, Manchester, 1847–48. Later Prof. Economic Science, University of Edinburgh, 1871–80.
* Mr. (Later Rev.) James England, M.A. (Dublin, Trinity College) – Headmaster, Liverpool Mechanics' Institute, 1847–49.
* Dr. William Ihne, PhD. (former Prof. Royal Protestant Gymnasium, Elberfeld, Rhenish Prussia) English, Classics – Headmaster, Liverpool Mechanics Institute, 1849–54.
* Mr. Alexander Sinclair MacIlveen, Teacher, 1840–42, then Head of Commercial School (1842–1854), then – Head of the reunited School, 1854 to death in October 1861.
* The Venerable Joshua Jones (later Hughes-Games), M.A., D.C.L. (Oxford, Lincoln College). Mathematics. – Head 1862 to 1865. (Born in 1831, died 1904.)
* Rev.John Sephton, M.A. (“Late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge”) ( 02.1866–1889 Headmaster. Born 1836; died in 1915. Reader in Icelandic, University of Liverpool, 1895–1910.
* Mr. Alfred Hughes, M.A., (Oxford, Corpus Christi College). Mathematics. Headmaster, 1890 to 1896. Later Registrar, University of Manchester (born in 1860, married Hester, daughter of Alfred Booth; died 1940.
* Mr. William Charles Fletcher M.A. (Cambridge, St. Johns College) CB (1896–1904) – Headmaster of the reunited school, President from 1939 to 1945 of the Mathematical Association
The Mathematical Association is a professional society concerned with mathematics education in the UK.
History
It was founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching and renamed to the Mathematical Association in ...
, died in 1959
20th century
* Henry Victor Weisse (name changed to Henry Victor Whitehouse in 1917), B.A. (Open Exhibitioner, Oxford, Christ Church) (1904–1923) – Headmaster. Died in July 1936.
* Frederick W. H. Groom, M.A. (Cambridge, St. Johns College, Jesus College?) (1894–1917) Vice-Principal (1917–1932 ret.) Acting Headmaster 1923–24. Died in Jan. 1956.
* Rev Henry Herbert Symonds, M.A. (Oxford, Oriel College) – Headmaster (1924–1935). Author of ''Walking in the Lake District'', 1933; ''Afforestation in the Lake District''. Born in 1885 – Died 28 December 1958.
* John Robert Edwards MA (Oxford, University College) Headmaster (1935–1961) born in 1897 at Rhyl
Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...
; died on 8 January 1992 at the age of 95.
* Malcolm Pasco Smith, M.A. (Cambridge, Trinity) Head master (1961–1965)
* Dennis Booth, B.A. (Liverpool) (1942–1972) Vice Principal (1957–1965); Head master (1965–1972 ret.).
* J. Gareth Rogers, M.A., B.Litt. (Oxford, Jesus College) (1950–1977; – Vice-Principal, 1965–1972; – Head master (1972 -1977 died).
* Bertram (Bert) L. Parker, BSc (Wales, Aberystwyth) (January 1948 – 1982; Head master, 1978–1982 ret.).
* Maurice Devereux, B.A. (Liverpool) (1953–1983; Head master, 1982–1983 ret.).
References
External links
Liobians.org
Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts
(LIPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liverpool Institute High School For Boys
Boys' schools in Merseyside
Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool
History of Liverpool
Educational institutions established in 1825
Defunct grammar schools in England
Grade II listed educational buildings
Educational institutions disestablished in 1985
1825 establishments in England
Defunct schools in Liverpool
1985 disestablishments in England
Holt family