Shrewsbury House School, commonly referred to as SHS or Shrewsbury House, is an independent day preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13, in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

at the edge of Greater London close to the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

border, its historic county, in

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 ...

. Established in 1865 it is among the minority of extant Preparatory Schools founded before the year 1900. A proportion of pupils achieve results at

Common Entrance Examination Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the selective admissions process at age 13, though ten independent schools do select at 11 using different test papers. They are se ...

s to gain entry to schools such as

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s. The school has been an educational trust since 1979 administered by a

Board of Governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

some of whom are among its trustees. All of the

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, except two of the educationalists and the medical expert, are former parents.

History

Shrewsbury House School was founded in 1865 by Rev. Henry Wilson, a local clergyman, in the centre of Surbiton and derived its name from the Wilson family’s association with the town of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. In 1910 the School moved to ‘Haulkerton’ a large Victorian

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

mansion that dated from the mid-nineteenth century on Ditton Hill. The main house was soon renamed Shrewsbury House and the School has remained there ever since. For the next 70 years, the School was operated by a series of private owners, most notably Henry Hamilton-Miller, who gave the School his family coat of arms and the motto ‘Alta Peto’. In 1979, the School became a charitable trust, administered by a Board of Governors, known as the Shrewsbury House School Trust. In 2009, the school took over the pre-preparatory department of nearby Milbourne Lodge School, which was renamed Shrewsbury Lodge School and later Shrewsbury House Pre-Preparatory School, after The Rowans School, Wimbledon, joined the Shrewsbury House School Trust in 2017

Notable alumni

Anthony Gross Anthony Imre Alexander Gross (19 March 1905 – 8 September 1984) was a British printmaker, painter, war artist and film director of Hungarian-Jewish, Italian, and Anglo-Irish descent.Thomas, RonanWest End at War: Anthony Gross Retriev ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, RA (1905–1984), printmaker, painter, war artist & film director *

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Philip 'Pip' Roberts, (1906-1997), senior officer during 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Sir Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

OBE (1929-2020),

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing driver *

Donald Cammell Donald Seton Cammell (17 January 1934 – 24 April 1996) was a Scottish painter, screenwriter, and film director. He has a cult reputation largely due to his debut film ''Performance'', which he wrote the screenplay for and co-directed wi ...

(1934–1996), film director *

Ian MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth Ian Charter MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth (born 30 March 1937) is a British businessman, who has been chairman of Vodafone and chairman and chief executive of Tesco. He is a former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, a fo ...

(born 1937), former Chairman of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

and Chairman &

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Tesco *

Nigel Mitchell Nigel Mitchell is a British television and radio presenter and voice-over artist. Early life and education Nigel was born in Kingston Upon Thames. He attended Shrewsbury House School in Surbiton, from where he gained a scholarship to Reed's ...

(born 1978) TV and radio presenter *

Madison Hughes Madison John Hughes (born October 26, 1992) is a rugby union player who was the captain of the United States national rugby sevens team from 2014 until he stepped away from the team in late 2021. Hughes was named captain of the United States nati ...

(born 1992), Captain of the

United States national rugby sevens team The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014. The main competition the team ...

* Alastair Gray (born 1998), tennis player

Notes and references

;References ;Notes

External links

Shrewsbury House School website
{{authority control 1865 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1865 Independent boys' schools in London Independent schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames