Alfred James Carver (22 March 1826 – 25 July 1909) was a noted educationalist and cleric who was Master of

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

from 1858 to 1883.Ormiston, T. L., (1926), ''Dulwich College Register'',page 53, (J J Keliher & Co Ltd: London)

Early life

Carver was born the son of James Carver. He was educated at St Paul's School and went on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

where he was the Bell Scholar in 1845 and the winner of the Burney Prize Essay. He received a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied ...

and Senior Optime Maths in 1849. He received his MA in 1852. From 1850 to 1853 he was a Fellow of

Queens' College Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. He married Eliza Peek (daughter of William Peek of the tea merchants Peek, Winch & Co.) on 19 July 1853 with whom he had two sons and five daughters. Both his sons and two of his daughter's husbands went to Dulwich College.

Career

Having completed his education he went on to become Surmaster from 1852 to 1858 at St Paul's School (London). He was also the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

Examiner for the

between 1857 and 1858. He took up the post of Master of the

College of God's Gift The College of God's Gift, often referred to as the Old (Dulwich) College, was a historic charity founded in 1619 by the Elizabethan actor and businessman Edward Alleyn who endowed it with the ancient Manor of Dulwich in south London. In 1857 it ...

in Dulwich (at that time colloquially referred to as "Dulwich College") in 1858. What had been the 'College of God's Gift' became 'Alleyn's College of God's Gift' when, on 25 August 1857 the Dulwich College Act dissolved the existing cooperation and the charity was reconstituted with the new name. The first Master of the college in this new form was Alfred Carver, he was also the first Master not to share the name of the school's founder "Alleyn" (or latterly "Allen"). The educational college was split into an Upper and Lower school (based on syllabus differences, not age) both of which were under Carver's control. Under Carver, the formation of the school as one of the recognisable great Public Schools of

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 ...

began. The buildings which the school now occupies were built. The present school colours and school magazine were established in the 1860s and 1870s, as were school societies such as ''Debating'' and ''Natural Science''. By the time Canon Carver retired from the position of Master in 1882 Dulwich College was said to have expanded more rapidly in the previous 25 years than any other establishment and to be ''holding its own at universities'', to have ''won a large number of places of honour in the Indian and Home Civil Service'' and ''at the Royal Military College of Woolwich'' and to be well represented amongst ''the public schools medals of the

Royal Geographic Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and the prizes of the Art Schools of the Royal Academy''. In Carver's time, the college, despite a growing reputation, was the constant focus of pressure by the Charity Commissioners and other parties (including the Board of Governors and the outlying parishes named in Edward Alleyn's will) to reorganise it and divert much of its endowment to other schemes. Canon Carver resisted these pressures for many years finally winning an appeal in 1876 at the highest possible point (the Privy Council) where Lord Selbourne ruled in his favour. In 1882, the Charity Commissioners finally issued a scheme which Canon Carver found acceptable. This passed into law by Act of Parliament and resulted in the Upper and Lower schools being officially split into separate institutions. The Upper School became

(''officially'' for the first time) and the Lower became

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 co-educational, independent, Church of England, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation ...

. Both schools remained within the Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundation. Canon Carver retired at this point, being the first headmaster to be both appointed and retired by Act of Parliament. As a cleric, he had been ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1853 and a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1854. He was the curate of

St Olave, Old Jewry St Olave's Church, Old Jewry, sometimes known as ''Upwell Old Jewry'', was a church in the City of London located between the street called Old Jewry and Ironmonger Lane. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the church was rebuilt by t ...

from 1854 to 1857 and in 1861 received his

Doctorate of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

. In 1882 he was made the Honorary Canon of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. He also served as chairman of

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is an independent day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. It is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain - Godolphin School in Salisbury being the oldest, founde ...

, another of the foundation schools of which

is a part, and he was Vice President of the Royal Naval School, Eltham. Carver died at "Lynnhurst", his home in Streatham, on 25 July 1909. He is remembered at

by the organ in the Great Hall, a wing of the old school library and reredos of the chapel. A temporary boarding house was also named after him. He was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

where he has an elaborate memorial, near the former site of the episcopal chapel. A portrait of Carver by Samuel Melton Melton Fisher,R.A.,O.A., painted in 1882 is in the collection of

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest pub ...

., https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-reverend-alfred-james-carver-18261909-200048

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carver, Alfred James 1826 births 1909 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at St Paul's School, London English educational theorists Masters of Dulwich College Masters of the College of God's Gift Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge

Early life

Career

Further reading

References