Alderman Newton's Boys School was a school in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England. It was a

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

then became a comprehensive school. The original school was opened in 1784, thanks to money bequeathed by a former Mayor of Leicester,

Gabriel Newton Gabriel Newton (1683–1762) was a leading figure in the English city of Leicester.

. Land at

Greyfriars, Leicester Greyfriars, Leicester, was a friary of the Order of Friars Minor, commonly known as the Franciscans, established on the west side of Leicester by 1250, and Dissolution of the monasteries, dissolved in 1538. Following dissolution the friary wa ...

acquired by the school in 1863 later proved to be the site of the Greyfriars friary church which contained the site of the grave of

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. The school building has been converted to house the

King Richard III Visitor Centre King Richard III Visitor Centre is a museum in Leicester, England that showcases the life of King Richard III and the story of the discovery, exhumation, and reburial of his remains in 2012–2015. For a long time, the burial place of Richa ...

. Its pupils were known as Newtonians. They wore a uniform of green coats, which later became a Green Blazer with red piping around the cuffs and coat tails. The lower school, on the opposite side to the Cathedral and Greyfriars was where the 1st and 2nd year juniors were located. In the post war years well into the 1970s the lower school boys had to wear the green school blazer and the green cap with red cords. All boys had to wear the cap for fear of detention whilst walking between the lower and main school or the dinner block opposite the lower school. They also had to doff their caps to any "Masters" (teachers) whom they met along the street. The Masters mostly wore their black graduate gowns. On special occasions, such as the annual prize-giving held at the De Montfort Hall, the Masters would also wear their University stoles or colours which denoted their university of graduation. Some of these entailed quite elaborate faux fur collars. The school was closed in 1999 when it was merged by the local authority with two other local schools to form a single school. The road where the new school is located is named Greencoat Road in acknowledgement of the green coats worn by Alderman Newton's School pupils. There is an Old Newtonians Society for ex-pupils and an Old Newtonians Rugby Football club. Notable teachers at the school included Harry Hoff as physics master (who later wrote novels under the name William Cooper) and H. E. Howard, history master.

Notable former pupils

* A. Rupert Hall (1920–2009), historian of science * Sir Greg Knight (born 1949), conservative politician *

Neil McKendrick Neil McKendrick MA FRHistS (born 28 July 1935) was the 40th Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He is now a life fellow of the college. McKendrick was educated at Alderman Newton's School, Leicester, and Christ's College, Cambr ...

(born 1935), historian *

Harry Morley Harry Morley (5 April 1881 – 18 September 1943) was a British painter, etcher and engraver known for his classical and mythological compositions. Early life Morley was born in Leicester where he studied at the Alderman Newton's School and t ...

(1881–1943), artist and illustrator * Sir Edwin Nixon (1925–2008), IBM executive * Theodore Plucknett (1897–1965), academic and historian * Sir John Plumb (1911–2001), historian * Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow (1905–1980), academic and novelist * Philip Snow (1915–2012), cricketer and colonial administrator * Trevor Storer (1930–2013), baker, founder of

Pukka Pies Pukka Pies is a manufacturer of pies based in Syston, Leicestershire, England. Products The company's products include single-serve and sharing pies, sausage rolls, pasties, catering sausages, frozen puff pastry, and non-meat foods, with ...

* Eric Trapp (1910–1993), Anglican Bishop of Zululand and later of Bermuda *

Sir Alan Walters Sir Alan Arthur Walters (17 June 1926 – 3 January 2009) was a British economist who was best known as the Chief Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1981 to 1983 and (after his return from the United States) again for fi ...

(1926–2009), economist and advisor to Margaret Thatcher *

Henry Widdowson Henry George Widdowson (born 28 May 1935) is a British linguist and an authority in the field of applied linguistics and language teaching, specifically English language learning and teaching. Career Widdowson was educated at Alderman Newton's Sc ...

(born 1935), linguist, Emeritus Professor of Education,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

*Bernard Green (1931–1998) Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry

References

External links

Alderman Newton's Schools
at British History Online {{coord, 52.634, -1.138, region:GB, display=title Defunct schools in Leicester 1999 disestablishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1999