The Harrow History Prize or the Townsend Warner Preparatory Schools History Prize is an annual history competition for children at British preparatory schools. It currently attracts around 800 entrants each year.

History

The prize was established in 1885 by E. E. Bowen, a housemaster at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. He wanted to encourage a move away from purely classical education and offered a prize in history to pupils of

Elstree Preparatory School Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of th ...

. In 1895 the Dragon School also started to take part, and the competition had spread to thirteen other schools by 1905 with 39 entrants taking part that year. In 1905, George Townsend Warner head of history at Harrow (and father of

Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as ''Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and ''Kingdoms of Elfin''. Life Sylvia Townsend Warner wa ...

) took on the running of the competition until his death in 1916. Over many years the prize was repeatedly won by

St Cyprian's School St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usuall ...

whose Headmistress Mrs Vaughan Wilkes was a great believer in history teaching and in the prize itself. After 1916 administration was shared between Mr Henry of Harrow and Henry Marten, later Sir Henry Marten, of Eton and the prize was renamed after Townsend Warner. In 1940 the number of participating schools had risen to 40, by which time both Henry and Marten had withdrawn. There were difficulties during World War II because of the disruption this caused to prep schools, but the competition was kept running by Major C F Letts until 1956 when the

Independent Association of Preparatory Schools The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS, formerly Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) is a schools association, representing around 670 preparatory schools. The majority of IAPS' schools are in the UK, with other locations ...

(IAPS) took over. By this time there were 70 schools and over 500 entrants in the competition. The competition has continued to grow since then, and a special centenary competition was run in 1985.

Winners

Notable winners, both from St Cyprian's, included Dyneley Hussey (1905) and Cyril Connolly (1916), with his colleague Eric Blair (

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

) in second place. Orwell later wrote scathingly of the prize as a "piece of nonsense".Robert Pearce ''Orwell and the Harrow History Prize'' Notes and Queries 1990 37(4):442-443; Another runner up was the historian Arthur Bryant. Westminster Under School. British Conservative Party politician Kwasi Kwarteng is also a recipient of the prize as he won it in 1988 while studying at Colet Court.

Papers 1 and 2

There are two exams in this competition, Paper 1 consisting of testing of dates and battles, and 2 is made up of essays.

References

External links

* {{Official Website, www.townsend-warner-history.co.uk/Home.html Harrow School Educational awards in the United Kingdom 1885 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1885 Annual events in the United Kingdom Preparatory schools in the United Kingdom