Eastman's Royal Naval Academy, originally in
Southsea
Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre.
Southsea began as a f ...
and later at
Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
, both in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, was a
preparatory school. Between 1855 and 1923 it was known primarily as a school that prepared boys for entry to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. Thereafter, it was renamed Eastman's Preparatory School and continued until the 1940s. According to
Jonathan Betts, it was "considered one of the top schools for boys intended for the Navy".
History
The introduction in 1838 of an entrance examination for the Royal Navy, although initially an undemanding test for most, encouraged the development of specialised educational establishments, of which Eastman's Royal Naval Academy was one. Despite its name, the Academy had no formal association with the Navy. It was founded by Thomas Eastman, a retired naval instructor, in 1851, and in 1854 had moved into a purpose-built building on South Parade, Southsea, England. There it catered primarily for
boarders but did take some day-boys.
When Eastman died in 1860 he was succeeded by one of the teaching staff, George E. Spickernell (-1901), who a year later married Eastman's widow, Sarah, and continued as headmaster until 1885.
The school was advertising itself in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication.
The journal publishes ...
'' in 1870, saying that it took boys from the age of nine, offered supervised bathing and boating, and had both a gymnasium and a
fives court. It claimed that over 900 pupils had gone on to careers in the armed services. There was a distinct nautical bent to the curriculum which, aside from teaching subjects such as
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Greek and
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
, included instruction in the tying of knots, carpentry and the rudiments of navigation. The proximity of the school to the sea was also exploited, especially when naval ships were present.
It had relocated to Winchester by 1898. It was among those that became accredited by the
Admiralty as examination centres for entrance to the Royal Navy, although the decision to single out a handful of schools in this way led to a successful protest from the Association of Preparatory School Headmasters in 1901. The Association considered the selection of a few was unfair to the remainder.
According to Hugh Owen, the school was known as Eastman's Preparatory School for Boys from 1911;
another source says that it was in 1923 that the then joint headmasters, Thomas Gilderdale and Donald Mercer, turned it into a general school known by that name.
[Eastman's Preparatory School, Southsea](_blank)
/ref> The school closed during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; between 1946-1954, prior to being demolished, the buildings at Southsea were used as a boarding house
A boarding house is a house (frequently a family home) in which lodging, lodgers renting, rent one or more rooms on a nightly basis and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, or years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and ...
for Portsmouth Grammar School.
Thomas Eastman's son, Thomas Eastman junior, had taught at the school in 1872, around the time that he was attending or due to attend the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and was on the staff from 1876. In 1881, he opened his own school at Wallington, Hampshire, also called Eastman's Royal Naval Academy. In 1886, this school was moved to Stubbington and in 1894 moved again to Northwood Park (former home of Philip Vanderbyl), near Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
. This coincided with a change of name to Northwood Park Naval College, which later became Eastman and Salter Private School before he closed it in 1913. The Northwood buildings were then sold to Clayesmore School.
Notable alumni
According to Owen
Among those alumni were:
* Captain Augustus Agar, VC, DSO
* Admiral Sir Robert Burnett, GBE, KCB, CStJ, DSO
* Major Cecil Cameron, CBE, DSO
* Sir C. Preston Colvin
* Charles Vandeleur Creagh, CMG
* Vice Admiral Sir William Rooke Creswell
* Sydney Dickens, naval officer and son of the novelist Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
* Vice-Admiral Sir Percy Douglas, KCB CMG FRGS FRAS AICE
* Admiral Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith, VC KCB KCMG
* Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Forbes, GCB, DSO
* Field Marshal John French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC
* Lieutenant Commander Rupert Gould
* Frederick Hervey, 4th Marquess of Bristol
* Commander Loftus William Jones VC
* Joseph Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi
* Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, GBE, KCB, KCMG, DSO
* Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, KCB
* Admiral of the Fleet Sir William May, GCB GCVO
* Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, GCB GCMG
* Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Royds, KBE CMG ADC FRGS
* Admiral Sir Percy Royds, CB CMG ADC
* Admiral Sir Percy Scott
* Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Hobart Seymour
* Robert Scot Skirving, surgeon
See also
* Stubbington House School
* Burney's Academy
References
Notes
Citations
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1851
Defunct schools in Hampshire
Preparatory schools in Hampshire
Preparatory schools associated with the Royal Navy
1851 establishments in England