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Thomas Rotherham College
The Thomas Rotherham College is situated on Moorgate, set well back from the road by the sweep of playing fields. Prior to 1967 it was the Grammar School for Boys, which was the direct descendant of the College of Jesus. The college complex consists of a number of buildings, some quite new, but the area you can see in the photograph is a listed building which I believe dates from 1876. The original building was erected as a training college for Congregational (Independent) Ministers and cost £26,000. The Congregational authorities decided to move the training college to Bradford and the building was sold to the Feoffees for £8000, and the Grammar School moved there in 1890.
Although I attended the College for a couple of years way back in its infancy I have to admit that when I came to write this page I had forgotten just about everything I knew about the place. I will find out more information I promise.
The College of Jesus
The College of Jesus was founded in 1481/2 by Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York. (More information about Thomas Rotherham can be found onsite under Rotherham Town & Borough >> Famous People from Rotherham >> Thomas Rotherham.) It occupied on a site in the centre of town on what is now Effingham Street. This is now covered by part of the Woolworth's store and what used to be the Old College Inn. The inn has gone the way of the college and there is a bakery, a mobile telephone shop and a shoe repairers where it used to be. I went by just the other day to have a look see. There are a couple of firms in the offices upstairs - at least their plaques are displayed on the door although I could not see any lights on (In 2004 now a solicitors'). The present building is covered with netting. I presume it is to keep off the pigeons but it might just as well be to stop crumbling bits of brick and mortar falling on unsuspecting shoppers below.
At some time after the Old College Inn closed part of it was a men's outfitters - would I could remember the name. One of the lads who worked there told me that there were still original fireplaces tucked away behind the modern plasterboard, and that the shopfitters had found a cache of old bottles during the refit. Not unnaturally these had quickly made their way to the nearest antiques dealer.
The College was dissolved in 1547 under the Act for Suppression of Chantries and Guilds, but the Grammar School was maintained by the Town. However by 1561 the Master, one Thomas Snell appealed for the payment of his unpaid stipend and the school was re-established by Elizabeth I. The school continued through the years although few records of it remain.
I am making the assumption the College of Jesus was more generally known as the Grammar School from this time onwards but I could be wrong.
Rotherham Grammar School
However the Exchequer managed to avoid paying the Grammar School Master's salary and the school was in great difficulties. Nothing was paid during the reign of Queen Mary but the Feoffees of Rotherham made up the salary for the time being. However in 1561 the Master, still Thomas Snell, after repeated appeals for the payment of his unpaid stipend got payment by the Exchequer reinstituted, although he didn't get his back pay. The school was re-established by Elizabeth I. The school continued through the years although few records of it remain. The Feoffees of Rotherham appear to have been governors and major supporters of the school through the years.
A famous pupil was Robert Sanderson who left in 1600 to attend Oxford University. Sanderson had a distinguished academic career, became Rector of Boothby Pagnall in Lincolnshire and later Chaplain to Charles I.
Through the influence of Sanderson, his kinsman Charles Hoole became headmaster of the Grammar School about 1633. Hoole was a prolific writer, especially on methods of teaching, and
amongst his books was "A New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School" written for "The use
and benefit of Rotherham School"
. The number of boys then attending the Grammar School amounted to thirty or forty, divided into nine forms some with only two or three scholars.
The syllabus studied was largely Latin authors with Greek introduced in the sixth form and the beginnings of Hebrew in the ninth. Hoole reformed the school, introduced a translation of
Lyly's "Latin Grammar", speechmaking and the earlier learning of Hebrew. Although there were no organised games school finished early on
Tuesdays and Thursdays for the boys to play. Hoole retired after Civil War broke out as his Royalist sympathies were out of tune with the Parliamentarian views of most of the town.
Tradition has it that during the Civil War a party of about thirty Grammar School boys including one Thomas Rose opposed the advance of the Royalist commander, the Earl of Newcastle, on 4 May 1643. A small artillery piece was set up at the entrance to Chantry Bridge and fired upon the Royalist army.
After this time the town and the school must have been fairly prosperous. The records of St John's College, Cambridge shows that between 1650 and 1715 twenty-three of the undergraduates can from Rotherham Grammar School. This is only one college at one University.
Although I have found a picture dated 1813 of the College buildings founded in 1483 it appears that these were no longer used as the Grammar School. I have found it stated that by the Nineteenth Century the Grammar School did not have its own building but was using rooms in the Town Hall. I don't have a date when the building called the College of Jesus ceased to be used for educational purposes. Anyhow in 1827 a new building was erected on the church side of Old College Square to provide accommodation for the Grammar School as well as a library, reading rooms and a dispensary.
This was followed in 1857 by the building by the Feoffees of a new school on Moorgate to house the Grammar School.
The Grammar School moved again in 1890 to the Congregational College further up Moorgate. By this time the boys who attended were either "Boys with the Foundation" (i.e. they held a Scholarship from the Feoffees) or fee paying scholars.
In 1906 the Feoffees ceased to be Governors of the School and a new Board of Governors was set up for which the Corporation of Rotherham had secured the right to nominate the majority of members.
New accommodation and more teachers were provided and the number of pupils attending quickly rose and the maximum number attending of 220 was reached just after the First World War. In 1919 a private residence called "Woodhirst" next to the School was acquired and turned into a junior school for the younger boys aged 8 - 11 so they did not have to be taught with the older pupils.
I'm not sure when the school ceased to take fee paying pupils but by the time I remember all the boys there had passed the 11 plus examination. In the 1960s when the 11 plus was abolished the Grammar School became just a tier in the comprehensive system.
Chris has reminded me that the Grammar School motto "Lest we should appear ungrateful," or "Ne ingrati videamur" if you prefer, was a recurrent theme for the headmaster's talks at assembly.
More Information about the Grammar School:-
Grammar School Recollections
Thomas Rotherham College
The Grammar School became the Thomas Rotherham College in September 1967 with its first input of pupils to the new Sixth Form College. The old Grammar School pupils continued to be taught on the same buildings and for the first year I think that there was a Grammar School Upper Sixth and four years of younger boys. A formal Inauguration Day Ceremony for the new college was held on 15 March 1968 followed by a Founders' Day Service at All Saints Church, and a good tea was had by all.
The College originally taught a wide variety of subjects at A level, S level and gave the opportunity to take or re-take O levels. It now provides a wide variety of courses to suit everybody.
Visit the present Thomas Rotherham College onsite under Rotherham Town & Borough >> Education >> Further Education to see what they are up to these days.