St Peter's Court was a preparatory school for boys at

Broadstairs Broadstairs () is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 ...

in Kent, UK. In 1969, it merged with the nearby Wellesley House School and its site was redeveloped for housing.

History

The school was established during the 19th century and came to prominence in the early 20th century when it was chosen by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

(later King George V) for his younger sons. During the

Second World War 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 ...

it was evacuated to Shobrooke House, near

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, and its headmaster, F. G. Ridgeway, predicted that after the war many preparatory schools would not survive much longer. In the event, the move to Devon had one alarming result. At 4am on 23 January 1945, while occupied by some 70 St Peter's schoolboys and staff, Shobrooke House caught fire and was almost completely destroyed, with the death of two of the boys. After the end of the war, the school returned to Broadstairs and was able to continue for many more years. In 1954, it had two joint headmasters, the Rev. F. G. Ridgeway and C. C. Ridgeway, M.A., the number of boys was stated as 70 to 80, and there were ten teaching staff ("seven resident masters and three ladies"). In 1969, the school merged with Wellesley House. The school had its own Eton fives court, and many of its boys were prepared for

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. The writer

Simon Raven Simon Arthur Noël Raven (28 December 1927 – 12 May 2001) was an English author, playwright, essayist, television writer, and screenwriter. He is known for his louche lifestyle as much as for his literary output. Expelled from Charterhouse S ...

later recalled, "St Peter's Court was once a very smart private school, much patronised by the Royal family." In October 2019, Wellesley House celebrated the 50th anniversary of its amalgamation with St Peter's Court.

Former pupils

Those educated at St Peter's Court include: *

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was a member of the British royal family. He was the third son of King George V and Mary of Teck, Queen Mary, and was a younger brother of kings E ...

(1900–1974) *

Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and George ...

(1902–1942) *

George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, Baron Jellicoe of Southampton (4 April 1918 – 22 February 2007) was a British politician, diplomat and businessman. Lord Jellicoe was the only son but sixth and youngest child o ...

(1918–2007) *

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

Sir Henry Leach (1923–2011) *

Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (20 October 1926 – 31 August 2015) was a British aristocrat and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, best known for founding the National Motor Museum, B ...

(1926–2015) * Sir Anthony Royle, Baron Fanshawe of Richmond (Born 1927): Politician, businessman, and former member of the SAS. * Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown (1927–2013),

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

* Neil Sclater-Booth, 5th Baron Basing (1939–2007), financier * Sir Peter de la Billiere (born 1934), commander-in-chief of British forces in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Court Boarding schools in Kent Broadstairs Defunct schools in Kent