184-494: The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast , Northern Ireland . With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is Queen's University , the institution pioneered Belfast's first programme of collegiate education. Locally referred to as Inst , the modern school educates boys from ages 11 to 18. It
368-499: A secondary modern to form a new comprehensive school). In both cases, some of these schools kept "grammar school" in their names. More recently, a number of state grammar schools, still retaining their selective intake, gained academy status are thus independent of the local education authority (LEA). Some LEAs retain forms of the Tripartite System and a few grammar schools survive in otherwise comprehensive areas. Some of
552-1118: A 13th-century English Vulgate Bible; a 15th-century Flemish copy of Josephus 's works; four books of hours , two Flemish of the 15th century and early 16th century, Dutch of the late 15th century and French 15th century; a French missal dated 1482; Le Livre des Cordonniers de Caen , French 15th century; and Marino Grimani 's commentary of the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans, the work of Giulio Clovio . Other manuscripts include: Francesco di Giorgio 's mid-16th century Treatise of Architecture ; Nicholas Stone 's two account books covering 1631–42, and his son's (also Nicholas Stone) 1648 sketch book (France and Italy) and Henry Stone's 1638 sketch book; Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 's The Second Epistle; James Gibbs 's A few short cursory remarks on buildings in Rome ; Joshua Reynolds 's two sketch books from Rome; and Torquato Tasso 's early manuscript of Gerusalemme Liberata . Incunabula in
736-587: A Queen's College (now Queen's University ) opened in Belfast, the Collegiate Department closed. RBAI continued as a school for boys, with both day and boarding pupils. There was no standard course as such. Boys’ parents paid only for the subjects their sons took. Mathematics, English and writing were the most popular subjects, classics and French less so. The three hundred boys attending were largely, but not exclusively, Presbyterian in what remained
920-424: A complicated system of rotation "to preclude the possibility of the management falling into the hands of a few individuals". The proposal for the institution, nonetheless, received sufficient establishment support to secure a charter in 1810. William Stuart , Anglican primate archbishop of Ireland, enrolled as a first class subscriber, and George Chichester, 2nd Marquess of Donegall , the town's landlord, leased
1104-542: A consultation on proposals to allow existing grammar schools to expand and new ones to be set up. The Labour and Liberal Democrat parties remain opposed to any expansion. Attempts to move to a comprehensive system (as in the rest of the United Kingdom) have been delayed by shifts in the administration of Northern Ireland . As a result, Northern Ireland still maintains the grammar school system, with many pupils being entered for academic selection exams similar to
1288-606: A contingent of the Combined Cadet Force, Scouts and Explorer Scouts (74th) and a community service group. The school offers sports, with rugby union being the most dominant. RBAI have won the Ulster Schools Cup outright 33 times along with four shared titles, winning the cup most recently in 2024 for a back to back win against Ballymena Academy. Rugby and hockey are played in the winter; athletics, cricket (played at Osborne Park ) and lawn tennis occupy
1472-412: A council chamber, and smaller room next to it and a staircase leading to a kitchen and scullery in the basement. The building was demolished to make way for the current building. In October 1791 Soane was appointed Clerk of Works with responsibility for St James's Palace , Whitehall and The Palace of Westminster . Between 1795 and 1799 Soane was Deputy Surveyor of His Majesty's Woods and Forest, on
1656-590: A family by the name of Stuart he had met in Rome, he prepared plans for a new mansion for the family, but again the commission came to nothing. In early December 1780 Soane took lodgings at 10 Cavendish Street, London. To pay his way his friends from the Grand Tour, Thomas Pitt and Philip Yorke, gave him commissions for repairs and minor alterations. Anna, Lady Miller , considered building a temple in her garden at Batheaston to Soane's design and he hoped he might receive work from her circle of friends. But again this
1840-522: A fever hospital. In Belfast, typhus , a deadly companion of the hunger driving country people into the town, struck one in every five residents. RBAI continued to provide college education until Queens College Belfast opened in October 1849. When it was found that the new college had made no provision for anatomical and dissecting rooms, RBAI continued to provide the necessary accommodation in its old medical department until 1862. The Collegiate Department
2024-532: A few areas have kept a formal grammar school system along the lines of the Tripartite System. In these areas, the eleven plus exam is used solely to identify a subset of children (around 25%) considered suitable for grammar education. When a grammar school has too many qualified applicants, other criteria are used to allocate places, such as siblings, distance or faith. Such systems still exist in Buckinghamshire, Rugby and Stratford districts of Warwickshire,
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#17327932355372208-419: A few competitive scholarships) teaching broad curricula to boys or girls. In the late Victorian era there was a great emphasis on the importance of self-improvement , and many schools established at that time emulated the great public schools , copying their curriculum, ethos and ambitions, and some took or maintained the title "grammar school" for historical reasons. A girls' grammar school established in
2392-485: A full Royal Academician , his diploma work being a drawing of his design for a new House of Lords. There were only ever a maximum of forty Royal Academicians at any one time. Under the rules of the Academy Soane automatically became for one year a member of the council of the academy, this consisted of the president and eight other academicians. After Thomas Sandby died in 1798, George Dance, Soane's old teacher
2576-446: A grammar school as a school in which the learned languages are grammatically taught ; However, by this time demand for these languages had fallen greatly. A new commercial class required modern languages and commercial subjects. Most grammar schools founded in the 18th century also taught arithmetic and English. In Scotland, the burgh councils updated the curricula of their schools so that Scotland no longer has grammar schools in any of
2760-570: A house at 12 Lincoln's Inn Fields , London. Later purchasing 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, he used the house as his home and library, but also entertained potential clients in the drawing room. The houses along with 14 Lincoln's Inn Fields, is now Sir John Soane's Museum and is open to the public for free. Between 1794 and 1824 Soane remodelled and extended the house into two neighbouring properties – partly to experiment with architectural ideas, and partly to house his growing collection of antiquities and architectural salvage. As his practice prospered, Soane
2944-533: A largely Presbyterian town. Those taking the Anglican communion (in the established Church of Ireland ), had, from the seventeenth century, attended The Royal School, Armagh and Portora Royal School , and in Belfast favoured the older Belfast—now also "Royal"—Academy. From 1774 the Quakers had had Friends' School, Lisburn ; and from 1865 Wesleyans attended Methodist College Belfast . Co-educational "Methody"
3128-638: A museum, of 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields. The library covers a wide range of subjects: Greek and Roman classics, poetry, painting, sculpture, history, music, drama, philosophy, grammars, topographical works, encyclopaedias, runs of journals and contemporary novels. Naturally architectural books account for a large part of the library, and were very important when he came to write his lectures for the Royal Academy. The main architectural books include: several editions of Vitruvius 's De architectura , including Latin, English, French and Italian editions, including
3312-411: A new bakehouse in 1815; a new gardener's house 1816, a new guard-house and Secretary's Office with space for fifty staff 1818; a Smoking Room in 1829 and finally a garden shelter in 1834. Soane, who was a UGLE Freemason , was employed to extend Freemasons' Hall, London in 1821 by building a new gallery; later in 1826 he prepared various plans for a new hall, but it was only built in 1828–31, including
3496-549: A new entrance gate and lodges, followed by a new dairy and alterations to the house, and in London alterations and redecoration of 63 New Cavendish Street. Increasingly desperate for work Soane entered a competition in March 1782 to design a prison, but failed to win. Soane continued to get other minor design work in 1782. From the mid-1780s on Soane would receive a steady stream of commissions until his semi-retirement in 1832. It
3680-576: A performance at Teatro di San Carlo and climbed Mount Vesuvius . Visiting Paestum , Soane was deeply impressed by the Greek temples. Next he visited the Certosa di Padula , then went on to Eboli and Salerno and its cathedral. Later they visited Benevento and Herculaneum . The Earl and Soane left for Rome on 12 March 1779, travelling via Capua, Gaeta , the Pontine Marshes , Velletri ,
3864-411: A plurality, a third, had attended RBAI. The school clearly held "a proud place in Belfast society". In industrial Belfast, the path to civic prominence did necessarily lead through further education. In the 1860s two boys left the school, age 15, to begin apprenticeships in Belfast's engineering giant, Harland and Wolff . William Pirrie rose to become the shipbuilder's chairman, and Alexander Carlisle
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#17327932355374048-627: A salary of £200 per annum. James Wyatt 's death in 1813 led to Soane together with John Nash and Robert Smirke , being appointed official architect to the Office of Works in 1813, the appointment ended in 1832, at a salary of £500 per annum. As part of this position he was invited to advise the Parliamentary Commissioners on the building of new churches from 1818 onward. He was required to produce designs for churches to seat 2000 people for £12,000 or less though Soane thought
4232-667: A series of "Royal Schools" in Ulster, beginning with The Royal School, Armagh . In theory these schools were open to all and offered free tuition to those who could not pay fees; however, few poor children attended school, because their labour was economically valuable to their families. In the Scottish Reformation schools such as the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral (founded 1124) and the Grammar School of
4416-764: A series of measured drawings and ground plans of Roman buildings together. During the summer they visited Hadrian's Villa and the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli , whilst back in Rome they investigated the Colosseum . In August Soane was working on a design for a British Senate House to be submitted for the 1779 Royal Academy summer exhibition . In the autumn he met the Bishop of Derry , Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol , who had built several grand properties for himself. The Earl presented copies of I quattro libri dell'architettura and De architectura to Soane. In December
4600-708: A series of radical toasts: to the French and South American Revolutions , to Catholic Emancipation and a "Radical Reform of the Representation of the People in Parliament", and, perhaps most controversially, to "the exiles of Erin" under "the wing of the republican eagle" in the United States. Despite the resignation of all the board members present, the government seized upon the incident to attach conditions
4784-472: A sign of his growing confidence. A party, including Thomas Bowdler , Rowland Burdon , John Patteson, John Stuart and Henry Grewold Lewis, decided to visit Sicily and paid for Soane to accompany them as a draughtsman. The party headed for Naples on 11 April, where on 21 April they caught a Swedish ship to Palermo . Soane visited the Villa Palagonia , which made a deep impact on him. Influenced by
4968-694: A small number of schools are named "grammar schools" and follow the academic and cultural traditions established in the United Kingdom. Grammar schools were established only in Auckland and originally came under the authority of the Auckland Grammar Schools' Board. Auckland's grammar schools share a common line of descent from the British grammar school system, with a strong focus on academics and traditional British sports. Originally,
5152-600: A surveyor who worked with George Dance the Younger . Soane began his training as an architect age 15 under George Dance the Younger and joining the architect at his home and office in the City of London at the corner of Moorfields and Chiswell Street. Dance was a founding member of the Royal Academy and doubtless encouraged Soane to join the schools there on 25 October 1771 as they were free. There he would have attended
5336-507: A town with an older boys' grammar school would often be named a "high school". Under the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907 all grant-aided secondary schools were required to provide at least 25 percent of their places as free scholarships for students from public elementary schools. Grammar schools thus emerged as one part of the highly varied education system of England and Wales before 1944. The Education Act 1944 created
5520-803: A travelling scholarship in December 1777 and exhibited at the Royal Academy a design for a Mausoleum for his friend and fellow student James King, who had drowned in 1776 on a boating trip to Greenwich . Soane, a non-swimmer, was going to be with the party but decided to stay home and work on his design for a Triumphal Bridge . By 1777, Soane was living in his own accommodation in Hamilton Street. In 1778 he published his first book Designs in Architecture . He sought advice from Sir William Chambers on what to study: "Always see with your own eyes ... [you] must discover their true beauties, and
5704-633: A white marble bust of Soane. Soane acquired Sir Richard Westmacott 's plaster model for Nymph unclasping her Zone and the plaster model of John Flaxman's memorial sculpture of William Pitt the Younger. Of the ancient sculptures, a miniature copy of the famous sculpture of Diana of Ephesus is one of the most important in the collection. After the death of his teacher Henry Holland, Soane bought part of his collection of ancient marble fragments of architectural decoration. He also acquired Plastercasts of famous antique sculptures. Soane's paintings include four works by Canaletto and paintings by Hogarth :
Royal Belfast Academical Institution - Misplaced Pages Continue
5888-515: Is as low as 2%. These very highly selective schools also tend to dominate the top positions in performance tables. Further radical change was opposed by both Conservative and Labour governments until September 2016. Although many on the left argue that the existence of selective schools undermines the comprehensive structure, Labour governments have delegated decisions on grammar schools to local processes, which have not yet resulted in any changes. Moreover, government education policy appears to accept
6072-607: Is indebted to the Belfast Academy funded in 1786". What was to become "Inst" was not the first vision of William Drennan's to be opposed by Bruce, the principal of the Belfast Academy. In the 1790s, Drennan and his Society of United Irishmen had called for complete and immediate Catholic Emancipation and for a radical and democratic reform of the Irish Parliament . For Drennan, the new institution
6256-570: Is one of the eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference . The school occupies an 18-acre site in the centre of the city on which its first buildings were erected. In 1806, writing in the Belfast News Letter , William Bruce dismissed "visionary notions" of new "academical institution". The town, he reminded his readers, already had "an excellent plan of school education for which it
6440-419: Is the first female to hold the post. At the end of the nineteenth century, improving transport services into Belfast and, more importantly, the need to provide additional classroom space to accommodate the greatly increasing numbers of pupils seeking enrolment persuaded the governors to end boarding. Since 1902 the school has been for day pupils only. Between 1864 and 1898 RBAI had a small preparatory school on
6624-644: The Alban Hills and Lake Albano , and Castel Gandolfo . Back in Rome they visited the Palazzo Barberini and witnessed the celebrations of Holy Week . Shortly after, the Earl and his family departed for home, followed a few weeks later by Thomas Hardwick. It was then that Soane met Maria Hadfield (they became lifelong friends) and Thomas Banks . Soane was now fairly fluent in the Italian language,
6808-782: The Burney Cup ). In 2016 four Instonians played Olympic hockey, three for Ireland and one for Great Britain. RBAI is one of only four schools in Northern Ireland to participate in competitive rowing . In 2005 the first ever RBAI crew travelled to the Henley Royal Regatta in England. It participates in various regattas throughout Ireland and abroad. In 1952 the school sent a team to the British Schools Athletic Championship at
6992-765: The Campaign for State Education campaign against them. A University College London study has shown that UK grammar school pupils gain no significant social or emotional advantages by the age of 14 over similarly gifted pupils in non-selective schools. England has a long history of grammar schools. Curricula differ from school to school but generally includes English language, English literature, mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, art and design, music, drama, design and technology, history, philosophy, civics /citizenship, classical education, religious education, physical education, and several other foreign languages. Most English grammar schools follow
7176-531: The Church of Ireland prior to its disestablishment in 1871. Some schools remain, as private schools catering largely for Protestant students. These are often fee-paying and accommodate boarders, given the scattered nature of the Protestant population in much of Ireland. Such schools include Bandon Grammar School , Drogheda Grammar School , Dundalk Grammar School and Sligo Grammar School . Others are among
7360-670: The City of London , of the twentieth century". A growing sign of Soane's success was an invitation to become a member of the Architects' Club that was formed on 20 October 1791. Practically all the leading practitioners in London were members, and it combined a meeting to discuss professional matters, at 5:00 pm on the first Thursday of every month with a dinner. The four founders were Soane's former teachers George Dance and Henry Holland with James Wyatt and Samuel Pepys Cockerell . Other original members included: Sir William Chambers, Thomas Sandby, Robert Adam , Matthew Brettingham
7544-713: The Clarendon Commission , which led to the Public Schools Act 1868 which restructured the trusts of nine leading schools (including Eton College , Harrow School and Shrewsbury School ), the Taunton Commission was appointed to examine the remaining 782 endowed grammar schools. The commission reported that the distribution of schools did not match the current population, and that provision varied greatly in quality, with provision for girls being particularly limited. The commission proposed
Royal Belfast Academical Institution - Misplaced Pages Continue
7728-702: The Earl of Carlisle , unveiled a statue in front of the institution on College Square East of the popular Frederick Richard, Earl of Belfast, son of the Marquis of Donegall, patron of, among other causes in Belfast, the Working Class Association for the Promotion of General Improvement. After Henry Cooke died in 1868, significance was attached to his bronze likeness displacing that of the young liberal aristocrat, and that it should stand with its back to
7912-472: The Endowed Schools Act 1869 . Grammar schools were reinvented as academically oriented secondary schools following literary or scientific curricula, while often retaining classical subjects. The Grammar Schools Act 1840 made it lawful to apply the income of grammar schools to purposes other than the teaching of classical languages, but change still required the consent of the schoolmaster. At
8096-630: The Greek War of Independence . On return to Belfast they stood against one another in the 1832 election, Tennent the Whig losing to Emerson, the Tory , a result that marked the ebb-tide of political liberalism in Belfast. In mid century, General Certificates from the Collegiate Department were common to several Presbyterian ministers who, in the wake of the Great Famine , became passionately involved in
8280-584: The Lepari Islands . They were back in Naples by 2 July where Soane purchased books and prints, visiting Sorrento before returning to Rome. Shortly after, John Patterson returned to England via Vienna, from where he sent Soane the first six volumes of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman , delivered by Antonio Salieri . In Rome Soane's circle now included Henry Tresham , Thomas Jones and Nathaniel Marchant . Soane continued to study
8464-715: The Macclesfield Grammar School Act 1774 and the Bolton Grammar School Act 1788. Such a dispute between the trustees and master of Leeds Grammar School led to a celebrated case in the Court of Chancery . After 10 years, Lord Eldon , then Lord Chancellor , ruled in 1805, "There is no authority for thus changing the nature of the Charity, and filling a School intended for the purpose of teaching Greek and Latin with Scholars learning
8648-581: The Ministry of Education , they are regarded as any other secondary institutions. New Zealand did not establish a state education system until 1877. The absence of a national education system meant that the first sizable secondary-education providers were grammar schools and other private institutions. The first grammar school in New Zealand, Auckland Grammar School , was established in 1850 and formally recognised as an educational establishment in 1868 by
8832-564: The National Curriculum and follow the same broad national exams as other state schools. Under the Labour government's School Standards and Framework Act 1998 , grammar schools were for the first time to be designated by statutory instrument . The Act also defined a procedure by which local communities could petition for a ballot for an end to selection at schools. Petitions were launched in several areas, but only one received
9016-619: The Palace of Versailles on 29 March. They finally reached Rome on 2 May 1778. Soane wrote home, "my attention is entirely taken up in the seeing and examining the numerous and inestimable remains of Antiquity ...". His first dated drawing is 21 May of the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura (Saint Agnes Outside the Walls). His former classmate, the architect Thomas Hardwick , returned to Rome in June from Naples . Hardwick and Soane would produce
9200-508: The Speaker of the House of Commons house, and new library, committee rooms, clerks' rooms and stores, all would be destroyed in the fire of 1834. One of Soane's largest designs was for a new Royal Palace in London, a series of designs were produced c. 1820–30. The design was unusual in that the building was triangular, there were grand porticoes at each corner and in the middle of each side of
9384-650: The Villa Albani . That autumn he met Henry Bankes , Soane prepared plans for the Banke's house Kingston Lacy , but these came to nothing. Early in 1780 Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol wrote to Soane offering him various architectural commissions, Soane decided to return to England and began to organise his return journey. He left Rome on 19 April 1780, travelling with the Reverend George Holgate and his pupil Michael Pepper. They visited
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#17327932355379568-609: The Villa Farnese , then on to Siena . Then Florence where they visited the Palazzo Pitti , Uffizi , Santo Spirito , Giotto's Campanile and other sites. Performing at the Teatro della Pergola was Nancy Storace with whom Soane formed a lifelong friendship. Their journey continued on via Bologna, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Mantua where he sketched Palazzo del Te , Parma, Piacenza . Milan where he attended La Scala ,
9752-459: The landed gentry included: new rooms and remodelling of Wimpole Hall and garden buildings, (1790–94) for his friend Philip Yorke whom he met on his Grand Tour; remodelling of Baronscourt , County Tyrone, Ireland (1791); Tyringham Hall (1792–1820); and the remodelling of Aynhoe Park (1798). In 1804, he remodelled Ramsey Abbey (none of his work there now survives); the remodelling of the south front of Port Eliot and new interiors (1804–06);
9936-515: The parts of speech and Latin words in the first year, learned to construct Latin sentences in the second year, and began translating English–Latin and Latin–English passages in the third year. By the end of their studies at age 14, they would be quite familiar with the great Latin authors, and with Latin drama and rhetoric. Other skills, such as arithmetic and handwriting, were taught in odd moments or by travelling specialist teachers such as scriveners . In 1755 Samuel Johnson 's Dictionary defined
10120-536: The 11-plus. Since the "open enrolment" reform of 1989, these schools (unlike those in England) have been required to accept pupils up to their capacity, which has also increased. By 2006, the 69 grammar schools took 42% of transferring children, and only 7 of them took all of their intake from the top 30% of the cohort. The 11-plus has long been controversial, and Northern Ireland's political parties have taken opposing positions. Unionists tend to lean towards preserving
10304-415: The 1840s, the Indian Civil Service examination (administered in its last years by the Collegiate Department) opened the imperial service to Irish school graduates, both Catholic and Protestant. Service in India and in the broader British Empire was a common career path for Instonians over the coming century. Having applied to the Indian Civil Service at the end of this era in 1940, Noel Larmour (1934) had
10488-444: The 1920s, in the period of Geoffrey Garrod's principalship, the house system was founded, and a school uniform, including the ubiquitous yellow and black quartered cap, was worn for the first time. In the Second World War, 106 Old Instonians fell in the conflict. During the war, younger pupils attended branch schools at The Royal School, Dungannon , and at the house known as Fairy Hill in Osborne Gardens. Air-raid shelters were built on
10672-402: The Auckland Grammar School Appropriation Act. In 1888, Auckland Girls' Grammar School was established. In 1917 Auckland Grammar School's sister school was established, Epsom Girls' Grammar School . In 1922, Mount Albert Grammar School was established as part of Auckland Grammar School. Both schools have since become separate institutions. Takapuna Grammar School was established in 1927 and
10856-432: The Belfast-based Northern Herald , edited between 1834 and 1835 by the "Old Instonian" Thomas O'Hagan . O'Hagan would go on to become the first Catholic Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1868–1874 and 1880–1881). Drennan was adamant that the admission of scholars should be "perfectly unbiased by religious distinctions". Yet when O'Hagan was at RBAI in the 1820s, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography records him as being
11040-402: The Centre of Innovation in the technology department. RBAI currently has over one thousand pupils on the main site and over two hundred pupils in the preparatory department, Inchmarlo. About 150 new pupils enter every year. For the first three years, boys normally follow a common curriculum: in the fourth year the curriculum is still general but certain options are introduced, and at the end of
11224-407: The Church of Edinburgh (1128) passed from church control to burgh councils, and the burghs also founded new schools. With the increased emphasis on studying the scriptures after the Reformation, many schools added Greek and, in a few cases, Hebrew. The teaching of these languages was hampered by a shortage of non-Latin type and of teachers fluent in the languages. During the 16th and 17th centuries
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#173279323553711408-587: The Earl introduced Soane to Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford , an acquaintance which would lead eventually to architectural commissions. The Earl persuaded Soane to accompany him to Naples, setting off from Rome on 22 December 1778. On the way they visited Capua and the Palace of Caserta , arriving in Naples on 29 December. It was there that Soane met two future clients, John Patteson and Richard Bosanquet. From Naples Soane made several excursions including to Pozzuoli , Cumae and Pompeii , where he met yet another future client, Philip Yorke . Soane also attended
11592-474: The Earl was planning to build a new house. But immediately the Earl changed his mind and dispatched Soane to Downhill House , in County Londonderry , Ireland, where Soane arrived on 27 July 1780. The Earl had grandiose plans to rebuild the house, but Soane and the Earl disagreed over the design and parted company, Soane receiving only £30 for his efforts. He left via Belfast sailing to Glasgow . From Glasgow he travelled to Allanbank, Scottish Borders , home of
11776-444: The English grammar-school system insofar as they engage in academic selection by way of centralised examination, they do not charge tuition fees and they are recipients of a greater degree of public funding per pupil than is afforded to non-selective government schools. Grammar schools provided secondary education in Ontario until 1871. The first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada , John Graves Simcoe , advocated grammar schools for
11960-419: The German and French languages, mathematics, and anything except Greek and Latin." Although he offered a compromise by which some subjects might be added to a classical core, the ruling set a restrictive precedent for grammar schools across England; they seemed to be in terminal decline. However it should be borne in mind that the decline of the grammar schools in England and Wales was not uniform and that until
12144-460: The Gothic Library at Stowe House (1805–06); Moggerhanger House (1791–1809); for Marden Hill , Hertfordshire, Soane designed a new porch and entrance hall (1818); the remodelling of Wotton House after damage by fire (1820); a terrace of six houses above shops in Regent Street London (1820–21), demolished; and Pell Wall Hall (1822). Among Soane's most notable works are the dining rooms of both Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street (1824–26) for
12328-401: The Institution: James Simms, editor of the Northern Whig ; James MacNeight, editor of the Londonderry Standard and of the Belfast-based Banner of Ulster ; and Charles Gavan Duffy , of the Young Ireland paper, The Nation . Duffy, a Roman Catholic from Monaghan, enrolled in the collegiate school of logic, rhetoric and belles-lettres in the early 1840s. Duffy was also to contribute to
12512-407: The Netherlands in 2006. In January 2007 the team came runners-up in the Irish Schools Water Polo Championships. Football is played at Inst with three senior teams competing in league and cup competitions. Since 2010 the swimming team has won the Bath Cup three times, the Otter Medley Cup twice and the Otter Challenge Cup four times. Musical groups include the choir, the orchestra, the jazz band, and
12696-428: The Office of Works, Soane was asked to make alteration to the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster. He added a curving gothic arcade with an entrance leading to a courtyard, a new Royal Gallery, main staircase and Ante-Room, all the interiors were in a grand neo-classical style, completed by January 1824. Later four new committee rooms, a new library for the House of Lords and for the House of Commons alterations to
12880-494: The Post-Primary Transfer Consortium (mostly Catholic schools) and the Association for Quality Education. The Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education did accept continued selection at Catholic grammar schools as a temporary measure, anticipating them to end the practice by 2012. As of September 2019, the practice continues. Grammar schools were established in various British territories, and have developed in different ways since those territories became independent. In
13064-433: The Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively of Great Britain. In 1811, Soane was appointed as architect for Dulwich Picture Gallery, the first purpose-built public art gallery in Britain, to house the Dulwich collection, which had been held by art dealers Sir Francis Bourgeois and his partner Noel Desenfans. Bourgeois's will stipulated that the Gallery should be designed by his friend John Soane to house
13248-457: The Royal Academy (none of which was recovered). He continued his journey on to Freiburg im Breisgau , Cologne , Liège , Leuven and Brussels before embarking for England. He reached England in June 1780; thanks to his Grand Tour he was £120 in debt. After a brief stop in London, Soane headed for Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol's estate at Ickworth House in Suffolk, where
13432-703: The Salisbury district of Wiltshire and most of Lincolnshire, Kent, Reading and Medway. Of metropolitan areas, Trafford and most of Wirral are selective. In other areas, grammar schools survive mainly as very highly selective schools in an otherwise comprehensive county, for example in several of the outer boroughs of London. These schools are often heavily oversubscribed, and award places in rank order of performance in their entry tests. In some LEAs , as many as 10–15% of 11-year-olds may attend grammar schools (for example in Gloucestershire), but in other LEAs it
13616-502: The Tennent brothers, William who had been a state prisoner, and Robert , who as a ship's surgeon had been a sympathetic witness to the 1797 Table Bay naval mutiny; and the botanist John Templeton . They seconded Drennan as he persuaded a town meeting in 1807 "to facilitate and render less expensive the means of acquiring education; to give access to the works of literature to the middle and lower classes of society; to make provision for
13800-695: The Westin Hotel. However, when the Irish Parliament was abolished in 1800, the Bank abandoned the project and instead bought the former Parliament Buildings. In 1808 he started work on the design of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution , for which he refused to charge. Building work began on 3 July 1810 and was completed in 1814. The remodelling of the interior has left little of Soane's work. Country homes for
13984-676: The White City, London. German schools also participated. RBAI won the 4 x 110 yards relay. In swimming the school teams go to competitions within Ireland and abroad. In 2005, three of the team qualified for the Irish International Schools Squad. In the same year the senior team came 3rd in the Bath Cup competition held in London. Water polo teams have competed in various events and tours, the most recent to
14168-457: The Younger , Thomas Hardwick and Robert Mylne . Members who later joined included Sir Robert Smirke and Sir Jeffrey Wyattville . On 20 January 1807 Soane was made clerk of works of Royal Hospital Chelsea. He held the post until his death thirty years later; it paid a salary of £200 per annum. His designs were: built 1810 a new infirmary (destroyed in 1941 during The Blitz ), a new stable block and extended his own official residence in 1814;
14352-582: The account of the Villa in his copy of Patrick Brydone 's Tour through Sicily and Malta , Soane savoured the "Prince of Palagonia's Monsters ... nothing more than the most extravagant caricatures in stone", but more significantly seems to have been inspired by the Hall of Mirrors to introduce similar effects when he came to design the interiors of his own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Leaving Palermo from where
14536-485: The annual £1,500 it had granted, reluctantly, for the college's seminary. Inst historian, James Jamieson, is convinced that "what the government really wanted was to do away with the collegiate status of Inst and so prevent the establishment of a native seminary for the Presbyterian ministry where a culture opposed to passive acceptance of the ideas of privilege and class distinction might be imbibed". Tory critics of
14720-518: The architect and his friend Joseph Farington led a campaign against Soane, as a consequence the Royal Academy introduced a rule forbidding criticism of a living British artist in any lectures delivered there. Soane attempted to resist what he saw as interference and it was only under threat of dismissal that he finally amended his lecture and recommenced on 12 February 1813 the delivery of the first six lectures. The rift that all this caused between Soane and George Dance would only be healed in 1815 after
14904-406: The architecture lectures delivered by Thomas Sandby and the lectures on perspective delivered by Samuel Wale . Dance's growing family was probably the reason that in 1772 Soane continued his education by joining the household and office of Henry Holland . He recalled later that he was 'placed in the office of an eminent builder in extensive practice where I had every opportunity of surveying
15088-468: The board of masters. The first principal, Robert Dods, headmaster of modern languages, was appointed in 1898. Since then RBAI has had eight principals, R. M. Jones (1898–1925), G. Garrod (1925–1939), J. C. A. Brierley (1939–1940), J. H. Grummitt (1940–1959), S. V. Peskett (1959–1978), T. J. Garrett (1978–1990), R. M. Ridley (1990–2006). The current principal, J. A. Williamson was appointed in January 2007 and
15272-411: The bookcases in the library, Greek and Roman busts, heads from statues and fragments of sculpture and architectural decoration, examples of Roman glass . Medieval objects include: architectural fragments, tiles and stained glass . Soane acquired 18th century Chinese ceramics as well as Peruvian pottery . Soane also purchased four Indian ivory chairs and a table. Francis Leggatt Chantrey carved
15456-597: The building lines back several feet and redesign the building in a gothic style instead of the original classical design, Soane rarely designed gothic buildings. The building opened on 21 January 1825, and remained in use until the Royal Courts of Justice opened in 1882, after this the building was demolished in 1883 and the site left as lawn. All the court rooms displayed Soane's typically complex lighting arrangements, being top lit by roof lanterns often concealed from direct view. In 1822 as an official architect of
15640-642: The building now houses the Cabinet Office ; in a new departure for Soane he used the Italianate style for The New State Paper Office, (1829–30) demolished 1868 to make way for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building. His commissions in Ireland included: Dublin , Soane was commissioned by the Bank of Ireland to design a new headquarters for the triangular site on Westmoreland Street now occupied by
15824-438: The building, the centre of the building consisted of a low dome, with ranges of rooms leading to the entrances in each side of the building, creating three internal courtyards. As far as is known it is not related to an official commission and was merely a design exercise by Soane, indeed the various drawings he produced date over several years, he first produced a design for a Royal Palace while in Rome in 1779. The Royal Academy
16008-579: The buildings of Rome, including the Basilica of St. John Lateran . Soane and Rowland Burdon set out in August for Lombardy . Their journey included visits to Ancona , Rimini , Bologna , Parma and its Accademia, Milan , Verona , Vicenza and its buildings by Andrea Palladio , Padua , the Brenta (river) with its villas by Palladio, Venice . Then back to Bologna where Soane copied designs for completing
16192-598: The children of wealthier middle-class parents. The Tripartite System was largely abolished in England and Wales between 1965, with the issue of Circular 10/65 , and the Education Act 1976. Most maintained grammar schools were amalgamated with a number of other local schools, to form neighbourhood comprehensive schools , though a few were closed. This process proceeded quickly in Wales, with the closure of such schools as Cowbridge Grammar School . In England, implementation
16376-471: The collection are by Christopher Wren , there are 8,856 drawings by Robert Adam and James Adam , John Thorpes book of architecture, George Dance the Elder 's 293 and George Dance the younger's 1,303, housed in a specially designed cabinet, Sir William Chambers, James Playfair , Matthew Brettingham , Thomas Sandby, etc. There are a large number of Italian drawings. Of the 252 architectural models in
16560-544: The collection. Uniquely the building also incorporates a mausoleum containing the bodies of Francis Bourgeois, and Mr and Mrs Desenfans. The Dulwich Picture Gallery was completed in 1817. The five main galleries are lit by elongated roof lanterns . As an official architect of the Office of Works Soane was asked to design the New Law Courts at Westminster Hall , he began surveying the building on 12 July 1820. Soane
16744-549: The colony to save the wealthy from sending their sons to the United States to be educated, but he was unable to convince his superiors in London. He, however, made a grant enabling John Stuart to set up Kingston Grammar School in 1795. After several abortive attempts to raise funding, the District Schools Act of 1807 provided support for one grammar school teacher in each district, of which there were then eight, but they were then left to their own devices. Finding
16928-614: The commentary on the work by Daniele Barbaro . Julien-David Le Roy 's Les Ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce , Johann Joachim Winckelmann 's Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums , in its French translation bought in 1806 just before Soane was appointed to the professorship. Also Marc-Antoine Laugier 's Essai sur l'Architecture , and Jacques-François Blondel 's nine volumes of Cours d'architecture ou traité de la décoration, distribution et constructions des bâtiments contenant les leçons données en 1750, et les années suivantes . Soane also acquired several illuminated manuscripts :
17112-410: The competitive entrance exams for Oxford and Cambridge . According to Anthony Sampson , in his book Anatomy of Britain (1965), there were structural problems within the testing process that underpinned the eleven plus which meant it tended to result in secondary modern schools being overwhelmingly dominated by the children of poor and working-class parents, while grammar schools were dominated by
17296-647: The continuation of the grammar school system in the province as part of the St Andrews Agreement in October 2006. By contrast, Sinn Féin claims to have secured the abolition of the 11-plus and a veto over any system which might follow it. The last government-run 11-plus exam was held in 2008 (for 2009 entry), but the Northern Ireland Assembly has not been able to agree on a replacement system for secondary transfer. The grammar schools have organised groupings to run their own tests,
17480-619: The cost too low, of the three churches he designed for the Commission all were classical in style. The three churches were: St Peter's Church, Walworth (1823–24), for £18,348; Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone (1826–27), for £24,708; St John on Bethnal Green (1826–28), for £15,999. Soane designed several public buildings in London, including: National Debt Redemption Office (1817) demolished 1900; Insolvent Debtors Court (1823) demolished 1861; Privy Council and Board of Trade Offices, Whitehall (1823–24), remodelled by Sir Charles Barry ,
17664-641: The country was under British rule. They are generally not known as "grammar schools" but are similarly selective in their intake. Among the best known being the Penang Free School , the Victoria Institution (Kuala Lumpur), Malay College Kuala Kangsar , the English College (Johor Bahru) , King George V School (Seremban) and St George's Institution (Taiping). Mission schools set up by various Christian denominations paralleled
17848-720: The creation of a national system of secondary education by restructuring the endowments of these schools for modern purposes. The result was the Endowed Schools Act 1869 , which created the Endowed Schools Commission with extensive powers over endowments of individual schools. It was said that the commission "could turn a boys' school in Northumberland into a girls' school in Cornwall". Across England and Wales schools endowed to offer free classical instruction to boys were remodelled as fee-paying schools (with
18032-430: The death of Mrs Soane. The twelve lectures, they were treated as two separate courses of six lectures, were all extensively illustrated with over one thousand drawings and building plans, most of which were prepared by his pupils as part of their lessons. The lectures were: Soane over the course of his career built up an extensive library of 7,783 volumes, this is still housed in the library he designed in his home, now
18216-774: The disestablishment of the Church of Ireland (privileged in relation to Presbyterians but, in Cooke's view, a bulwark of the Protestant interest in Ireland). Cooke did not succeed in removing either of the principal objects of his ire: those he accused of anti-trinitarian " Arian " or " Socinian " heresy, Henry Montgomery, head of the English department, and the junior William Bruce (who had departed from his father's orthodoxy), Professor of Latin and Greek. The Board refused an inquisition into their religious orthodoxy. But while Inst may have won what Jamieson called its "wars of independence",
18400-486: The dispute contributed to the establishment in 1853 of Assembly College , a seminary under the direct control of the Presbyterian Synod , and to the government passing over the institution in establishing a Queens College (the later Queens University ). Inst had upheld its principles but at the cost of its collegiate status and the associated government grant. On 1 November 1855, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ,
18584-536: The eight canvases of the A Rake's Progress and the four canvases of the Humours of an Election . Soane acquired three works by his friend J. M. W. Turner . Thomas Lawrence painted a three quarter length portrait of Soane that hangs over the Dining Room fireplace. Soane acquired 15 drawings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi . A sketch of Soane's wife by Soane's friend John Flaxman is framed and displayed in
18768-462: The eleven-plus examination which divides pupils into placement in grammar or secondary modern school is known as the Kent Test . Today, grammar school commonly refers to one of the 163 remaining fully selective state-funded schools in England and the 69 remaining in Northern Ireland. The National Grammar Schools Association campaigns in favour of such schools, while Comprehensive Future and
18952-486: The establishment of grammar schools became a common act of charity by nobles, wealthy merchants and guilds ; for example The Crypt School , Gloucester, founded by John and Joan Cook in 1539, Sir Roger Manwood's School , founded in 1563 by Sandwich jurist Roger Manwood , and Spalding Grammar School , founded by John Gamlyn and John Blanche in 1588. Many of these are still commemorated in annual "Founder's Day" services and ceremonies at surviving schools. The usual pattern
19136-588: The exception of the non-denominational Sydney Grammar School (1857) and Queensland grammar schools, all the grammar schools established in the 19th century were attached to the Church of England (now the Anglican Church of Australia ). In Queensland, the Grammar Schools Act 1860 provided for the state-assisted foundation of non-denominational grammar schools. Beginning with Ipswich Grammar School (1863), ten schools were founded, of which
19320-520: The existence of some kind of hierarchy in secondary education, with specialist schools , academies and similar initiatives proposed as ways of raising standards. Many grammar schools have featured in these programmes, and a lower level of selection is permitted at specialist schools. In September 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May reversed the previous Conservative Party policy against expansion of grammar schools (except to cope with population expansion in wholly selective areas). The government opened
19504-487: The fifth, boys sit the examination for the Northern Ireland GCSE. Subjects studied at AS/A2 level in the sixth form include English, modern history, geography, economics, French, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin, physical education, business studies, technology, mathematics, further mathematics, physics, politics, chemistry, biology, music and art. Clubs and societies include a school orchestra, choir and band,
19688-541: The first nationwide system of state-funded secondary education in England and Wales, echoed by the Education (Northern Ireland) Act 1947. One of the three types of school forming the Tripartite System was called the grammar school, which sought to spread the academic ethos of the existing grammar schools. Grammar schools were intended to teach an academic curriculum to the most intellectually able 25 percent of
19872-689: The following eight still exist: In the 1920s grammar schools of other denominations were established, including members of the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria , and the trend has continued to the present day. Today, the term is defined only in Queensland legislation. Throughout the country, "grammar schools" are generally high-cost private schools. The nearest equivalents of contemporary English grammar schools are selective schools . The New South Wales public education system operates 19 selective public schools which resemble
20056-504: The following year, 1815, the collegiate department enrolled its first students, it became the first university college to be established in the British Isles since Trinity College Dublin was founded at the end of the sixteenth century. It soon ran into controversy. At a St. Patrick's Day dinner in 1816, chaired by Robert Tennent , board members did not disguise their broader political sympathies. They led one another, and staff, in
20240-425: The foundation of St Bees Clerical College , in 1817, and St David's College Lampeter , in 1828, specialist grammar schools in the north-west of England and South Wales were in effect providing tertiary education to men in their late teens and early twenties, which enabled them to be ordained as Anglican clergymen without going to university. The 19th century saw a series of reforms to grammar schools, culminating in
20424-483: The foundation of the trivium . Pupils were usually educated in grammar schools up to the age of 14, after which they would look to universities and the church for further study. Of the three first schools independent of the church – Winchester College (1382), Oswestry School (1407) and Eton College (1440) – Winchester and Eton were feeder schools to Oxford and Cambridge universities respectively. They were boarding schools , so they could educate pupils from anywhere in
20608-618: The freedom that would have been granted priests to enter schools and instruct their "own" students in religion. The concept of educating Catholics and Protestants together, while it had been endorsed by Crolly as bishop and archbishop, was dealt a further blow when in the 1840s his colleagues in the Catholic hierarchy objected to the "Godless" Queen's Colleges, loudly seconded—despite the pleas of Duffy's fellow Young Irelander , Thomas Davis that "the reasons for separate education are reasons for separate life"—by Daniel O'Connell . When in 1849
20792-637: The front lawn, but in the course of the Troubles not one day of school was lost. Since the 1980s, RBAI has benefited from a number of major infrastructure investments: the Jack McDowell Pavilion at Osborne Park, the purpose-built sixth form centre, a multi-function sports centre and fitness suite, the Christ Church Centre of Excellence, the new pavilion at Bladon Park, a water-based synthetic hockey pitch at Shaw's Bridge and
20976-545: The grammar schools as they are, with academic selection at the age of 11, whereas nationalist politicians lean towards scrapping the 11-plus, despite vehement protestations from the majority of Catholic Grammar Schools, most notably by the board of governors at Rathmore Grammar School in Finaghy, (a South Belfast suburb) and Lumen Christi (although co-educational) in Derry. The Democratic Unionist Party claimed to have ensured
21160-436: The grammar schools unsuitable as preparation for university, Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Colborne founded Upper Canada College as a superior grammar school. Legislation in 1839 allowed for more than one grammar school in a district, triggering a rapid but unstructured growth in numbers over the following two decades to 86 in 1861. The schools became more independent of the Church of England and began to admit girls However,
21344-612: The grant; King William IV bestowed upon the Institution the title "Royal". Yet further controversy followed. Conservative Presbyterian clergy, led by Henry Cooke , believed the teaching staff combined theological laxity—their refusal to subscribe to Westminster Confession of Faith with its reference to the Pope as the " Antichrist ", and affirmation of the Holy Trinity—with political error. Staff did not hide their support for
21528-624: The group travelled to the continent for the first time, to Kandersteg in Switzerland. 1995 saw a long record of consecutive summer camps come to an end. 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 school teaching Latin , but more recently an academically oriented selective secondary school . The original purpose of medieval grammar schools
21712-437: The group's first county commissioner. In 1947, three Sea Scout Patrols were formed. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme was started in the early 1960s. Ronnie Hiscocks led the group from 1965 to 1992. September 1970 saw the formation of the new venture unit for boys aged 16 and older. In 1987, the 100th Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award was presented to a member of 74th. The sea and land sections combined in 1971. That same year saw
21896-579: The guests were the Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool , and his wife; Robert Peel , Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , Samuel Taylor Coleridge , J. M. W. Turner , Sir Thomas Lawrence , Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough , Benjamin Haydon as well as many foreign dignitaries. He also bought Greek and Roman bronzes, cinerary urns , fragments of Roman mosaics , Greek vases many displayed above
22080-478: The influence of William Pitt, who was then the Prime Minister and his friend from the Grand Tour, Richard Bosanquet whose brother was Samuel Bosanquet , Director and later Governor of the Bank of England. His salary was set at 5% of the cost of any building works at the Bank, paid every six months. Soane would virtually rebuild the entire bank, and vastly extend it. The five main banking halls were based on
22264-630: The institution Cooke distrusted. Owing to the initiative of Dr. James MacDonnell ("the unchallenged doyen of Belfast medicine"). from 1835, the Collegiate Department had provided Ulster with its first medical school in Ulster. It had its own teaching hospital, the Royal Institution Hospital in Barrack Street, sometimes known as the College Hospital. In 1847 the school and college building themselves served as
22448-646: The institution could become a seminary for the training of ministers. As might have been anticipated, the Presbyterian Church, which had no such facility in Ireland (their candidates for ordination had to train in Glasgow ), alone took up the offer. Lord Castlereagh perceived "a deep laid scheme again to bring the Presbyterian Synod within the ranks of democracy". Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) concurred. The entire project
22632-463: The institution might also have been noted that in 1815 a list of books prepared for the literary department included works by the English radicals John Horne Tooke , William Godwin , Joseph Priestley and Thomas Belsham . But, perhaps convinced that in the face of the "Catholic democracy" conjured by the great "Emancipator" Daniel O'Connell the republican spirit of Ulster Presbyterianism was sufficiently cooled, by 1831 government had not only restored
22816-439: The instruction of both sexes... " The scheme was ambitious, comprising a school department for boys and a collegiate department in which both young men and women could receive lectures and instruction in the natural sciences, classics, modern languages, English literature and medicine. In 1808, it was further proposed that facilities should be provided for professors of divinity responsible to their respective denominations, so that
23000-400: The interior of Fonthill Splendens (later replaced by Fonthill Abbey ) for Thomas Beckford, adding a picture gallery lit by two domes and other work. On 16 October 1788 he succeeded Sir Robert Taylor as architect and surveyor to the Bank of England. He would work at the bank for the next 45 years, resigning in 1833. Given Soane's youth and relative inexperience, his appointment was down to
23184-515: The introduction of the less academic and less prestigious Certificate of Secondary Education (known as the CSE) in 1965. Until the implementation of the Robbins Report in the 1960's expanding higher education , pupils from public and grammar schools effectively monopolised access to universities. These schools were also the only ones that offered an extra term of school to prepare pupils for
23368-738: The land to the institution and, on 3 July 1810, laid its foundation stone. The eminent English architect John Soane , who designed the new Bank of England in 1788, prepared drawings free of charge. A total of £25,000 was raised: £5,000 in India under the patronage of the Governor-General , Earl of Moira, Francis Rawdon-Hastings , the balance largely from Belfast merchants and businessmen able to nominate in return one boy to receive free education. The funds, however, sufficed to erect only one, comparatively plain brown-brick, section of Soane's intended stucco and Doric-column quadrangle. The institution
23552-416: The language of the church – to future priests and monks. Other subjects required for religious work were occasionally added, including music and verse (for liturgy), astronomy and mathematics (for the church calendar) and law (for administration). With the foundation of the ancient universities from the late 12th century, grammar schools became the entry point to a liberal arts education, with Latin seen as
23736-569: The late colonial period, these schools expanded and also schooled descendants of the very few mixed English and Straits-Chinese families, and descendants of some rich Straits-born Chinese merchant class families, who were educated in Oxbridge or had London trade ties. Initially these schools were run exactly like their counterparts in England, and taught by the English. John Soane Sir John Soane RA FSA FRS ( / s oʊ n / ; né Soan ; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837)
23920-499: The library include: Cristoforo Landino 's Commentario sopra la Comedia di Dante , 1481; S. Brant Stultifera Navis , 1488; and Boethius 's De Philosophico Consolatu , 1501. Other early printed books include: J.W. von Cube, Ortus Saniatis , 1517, and Portiforium seu Breviarum ad Sarisbursis ecclesiae usum , 1555; and William Shakespeare 's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies of 1623, the First Folio . In 1792, Soane bought
24104-676: The main site in College Square, situated in the North Wing. In 1917, the board of governors opened a new preparatory school, with a small boarding department, Inchmarlo, in south Belfast, in Marlborough Park North. In 1935, Inchmarlo transferred from Marlborough Park to its present site at Mount Randal in Cranmore Park. The preparatory school is an integral part of The Royal Belfast Academical Institution. In
24288-567: The maintained system and expected to become independent schools or to close". Some of these schools retained the name "grammar" in their title but are no longer free of charge for all but a few pupils. These schools normally select their pupils by an entrance examination and sometimes by interview. By the end of the 1980s, all of the grammar schools in Wales and most of those in England had closed or converted to comprehensive schools. Selection also disappeared from state-funded schools in Scotland in
24472-529: The many former fee-paying schools absorbed into larger state-funded community schools founded since the introduction of universal secondary education in the Republic by minister Donogh O'Malley in September 1967. Examples include Cork Grammar School , replaced by Ashton School , a co-educational comprehensive, in 1972. Malaysia has a number of grammar schools, a majority of which were established when
24656-584: The mid-19th century, independent schools were established in the Australian colonies to spare the wealthy classes from sending their sons to schools in Britain. These schools took their inspiration from English public schools , and often called themselves "grammar schools". Early examples include Launceston Grammar School (1846), Pulteney Grammar School (1847), Geelong Grammar School (1855), Melbourne Grammar School (1858) and Hale School (1858). With
24840-500: The museum. There are over 30,000 architectural drawings in the collection. Of Soane's drawings of his own designs (many are by his assistants and pupils, most notably Joseph Gandy ), there are 601 covering the Bank of England, 6,266 of his other works and 1,080 prepared for the Royal Academy lectures. There are an additional 423 Soane drawings in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum . Other architects with drawings in
25024-483: The nation. An example of an early grammar school, founded by an early modern borough corporation unconnected with church, or university, is Bridgnorth Grammar School , founded in 1503 by Bridgnorth Borough Corporation. During the English Reformation in the 16th century, most cathedral schools were closed and replaced by new foundations funded from the dissolution of the monasteries . For example,
25208-504: The oldest extant schools in Wales – Christ College, Brecon (founded 1541) and the Friars School, Bangor (1557) – were established on the sites of former Dominican monasteries. King Edward VI made an important contribution to grammar schools, founding a series of schools during his reign (see King Edward's School ). A few grammar schools were also established in the name of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I. King James I founded
25392-400: The party split, Stuart and Bowdler going off together. The rest headed for Segesta , Trapani , Selinunte and Agrigento , exposing Soane to Ancient Greek architecture . From Agrigento the party headed for Licata , where they sailed for Malta and Valletta returning on 2 June, to Syracuse, Sicily . Moving on to Catania and Palazzo Biscari then Mount Etna , Taormina , Messina and
25576-485: The progress of building in all its different varieties, and of attaining the knowledge of measuring and valuing artificers' work'. During his studies at the Royal Academy, he was awarded the academy's silver medal on 10 December 1772 for a measured drawing of the façade of the Banqueting House, Whitehall , which was followed by the gold medal on 10 December 1776 for his design of a Triumphal Bridge . He received
25760-410: The rear quad and a barrage balloon was anchored to the middle of the front lawn. The serious civil disorder affecting Belfast in the 1970s and 1980s was a considerable challenge to RBAI as a city centre school. The Europa , close to the school, was reputedly "the most bombed hotel in the world", having been hit 36 times. RBAI had regular bomb alerts, causing the entire school to evacuate and assemble on
25944-485: The remaining grammar schools can trace their histories to before the 15th century . Although the term scolae grammaticales was not widely used until the 14th century, the earliest such schools appeared from the sixth century, e.g. the King's School, Canterbury (founded 597), the King's School, Rochester (604) and St Peter's School, York (627) The schools were attached to cathedrals and monasteries, teaching Latin –
26128-461: The rooms are as fire proof as possible. His work at the bank was: In 1807 Soane designed New Bank Buildings on Princes Street for the Bank, consisting of a terrace of five mercantile residences, which were then leased to prominent city firms. The Bank being Soane's most famous work, Sir Herbert Baker 's rebuilding of the Bank, demolishing most of Soane's earlier building was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest architectural crime, in
26312-488: The same basic layout, starting with the Bank Stock Office of 1791–96, consists of a rectangular room, the centre with a large lantern light supported by piers and pendentives , then the four corners of the rectangle have low vaulted spaces, and in the centre of each side compartments rising to the height of the arches supporting the central lantern, the room is vaulted in brick and windows are iron framed to ensure
26496-556: The same period. Although almost all former grammar schools ceased to be selective, there are comprehensive schools that chose to maintain the descriptor "grammar" in their nomenclature. Most of these schools do however operate some form of selection in their admission process, due to oversubscription. There is also a small group of formally partially selective schools which select a cohort of pupils based on academic ability. The tripartite system (reduced to grammar and secondary modern schools) does survive in certain areas, such as Kent, where
26680-449: The same time, many schools were reorganising themselves along the lines of Thomas Arnold 's reforms at Rugby School , and the spread of the railways led to new boarding schools teaching a broader curriculum, such as Marlborough College (1843). The first girls' schools targeted at university entrance were North London Collegiate School (1850) and Cheltenham Ladies' College (from the appointment of Dorothea Beale in 1858). Following
26864-598: The school population as selected by the 11-plus examination. Two types of grammar schools existed under the system: Grammar school pupils were given the best opportunities of any schoolchildren in the state system. Initially, they studied for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate , replaced in 1951 by General Certificate of Education examinations at O-level (Ordinary level) and A-level (Advanced level). In contrast, very few students at secondary modern schools took public examinations until
27048-462: The school's only Catholic pupil. In the 1830s Henry Cooke and other leading Protestant evangelicals had been instrumental in defeating the prospects for integrated education. When the Dublin Castle administration sought to provide Ireland, "in advance of anything available at that time in England", a system of grant-aided non-denominational National Schools . Cooke, at once scented danger in
27232-579: The schools into classical schools for only boys were unsuccessful. In recognition of the broad curricula offered, grammar schools were redesignated as secondary school by the Act to Improve the Common and Grammar Schools of the Province of Ontario of 1871. Schools that offered classical studies were given additional funding and operated as collegiate institutes . The secondary–school collegiate–institute system
27416-423: The schools used entry assessments and selected academic students from across New Zealand. The schools mentioned below all share the school motto: "Per Angusta Ad Augusta" (Through difficulties to honours). They also share the same icon/logo, the "Auckland Grammar Lion". Today, all grammar schools in New Zealand are non-selective state schools, but they use school donations to supplement their government funding. Within
27600-500: The schools were unsupervised, often underfunded and of varying standards. Some, like Tassie's School , in Galt , provided a traditional classical education, but many provided a basic education of poor quality. Chief Superintendent of Education Egerton Ryerson attempted to reform the schools in the 1850s and the 1860s by moving control of the schools from counties (the former districts) to city authorities, securing their funding and introducing inspectors. However, his efforts to convert
27784-439: The secrets by which they are produced." Using his travelling scholarship of £60 per annum for three years, plus an additional £30 travelling expenses for each leg of the journey, Soane set sail on his Grand Tour , his ultimate destination being Rome, at 5:00 am, 18 March 1778. His travelling companion was Robert Furze Brettingham ; they travelled via Paris, where they visited Jean-Rodolphe Perronet , and then went on to
27968-556: The selective state school albeit not with the same degree of selectivity. Notable mission schools include the La Sallian family of schools and those set up by the Marist Brothers and Methodist missionaries. Before the 1970s when Malay was made the medium of instruction, many such selective schools became known for providing excellent English-medium education and have produced many notable alumni, including former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Tun Razak ( St. John's Institution ) and all five of his predecessors. In New Zealand ,
28152-436: The senses discussed here, though some, such as Aberdeen Grammar School , retain the name. In England, urban middle-class pressure for a commercial curriculum was often supported by the school's trustees (who would charge the new students fees), but resisted by the schoolmaster, supported by the terms of the original endowment. Very few schools were able to obtain special acts of Parliament to change their statutes; examples are
28336-455: The signatures of 20% of eligible parents, the level needed to trigger a ballot. Thus the only ballot held to date was for Ripon Grammar School in 2000, when parents rejected change by a ratio of 2 to 1. These arrangements were condemned in 2004 by the Select Committee for Education and Skills as being ineffective and a waste of time and resources. There remain 163 grammar schools in England (out of some 3,000 state secondaries in total). Only
28520-443: The string group. The school sponsors 74th Belfast (RBAI) Scout Group which opened on 12 February 1926. The first Group Scoutmaster was William (Billy) Greer who led the group for 38 years. One of the first patrol leaders, Wilfred M Brennan, became Chief Commissioner for Northern Ireland. In 1929, the group was so large it contained three troops. War time saw a former assistant scoutmaster, John Haire, killed when his Hurricane fighter
28704-428: The summer months; badminton, fencing, rowing, squash and swimming (including water polo and life-saving) take place throughout the year. Teams representing the school take part not only in matches and activities within the province, but also in events open to all schools in the United Kingdom. The 1st XI has featured in the finals of all three competitions they enter (The Irish Schools Tournament, The McCullough Cup and
28888-434: The task, and beginning with Burma , of helping wind up the Empire in several of its territories. Over 700 old boys of the school served in the various theatres of the World War I . 132 of them died. Until the end of the nineteenth century, RBAI did not have a principal or a headmaster. The academic and administrative direction of the school had remained in the hands of a group of senior teachers (the headmasters) who sat on
29072-448: The tenants rights movement. Cooke denounced them for undermining, not only property, but also the Union by sharing platforms with Catholics intent on restoring a parliament in Dublin . His worst fears were realised in David Bell who, forced to resign his ministry and despairing of constitutional methods, was sworn into Irish Republican Brotherhood by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa . Several campaigning newspaper editors were also students of
29256-421: The theatre was a growing interest, Lake Como from where they began their crossing of the Alps via the Splügen Pass . They then passed on to Zürich , Reichenau , Wettingen , Schaffhausen , Basel on the way to which the bottom of Soane's trunk came loose on the coach and spilled the contents behind it, he thus lost many of his books, drawings, drawing instruments, clothes and his gold and silver medals from
29440-458: The three tiers of the Tripartite System of state-funded secondary education operating in England and Wales from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s, and continue as such in Northern Ireland. After most local education authorities moved to non-selective comprehensive schools in the 1960s and 1970s, some grammar schools became fully independent schools and charged fees, while most others were abolished or became comprehensive (or sometimes merged with
29624-414: The west front of San Petronio Basilica including ones by Palladio, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Baldassare Peruzzi . Then to Florence and the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of which he was later, in January 1780 elected a member; then returned to Rome. Soane continued his study of buildings, including Villa Lante , Palazzo Farnese , Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne , the Capitoline Museums and
29808-409: The yard manager. In 1889, they were joined by another Instonian, Thomas Andrews , who became head of the draughting department. All of them were involved in the design and construction of what in their day were the largest ships afloat, the Oceanic II in 1899, and Olympic in 1911 and its sister ship the Titanic , with which Andrews went down on its lll-fated maiden voyage in 1912. Beginning in
29992-476: Was "democratical"—pervaded by "the republican spirit of the Presbyterians". William Bruce and his friends mocked the proposed system of governance, comparing it to revolutionary French constitutions that had excited debate in Belfast in the 1790s. It was a "machine", they suggested, "so full of checks that it will not move". The sovereign body of the institution was as an annual general meeting of subscribers. They elected both boards of managers and visitors, but with
30176-446: Was a major influence on the planning of subsequent art galleries and museums. His main legacy is the eponymous museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields in his former home and office, designed to display the art works and architectural artefacts that he collected during his lifetime. The museum is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as "one of the most complex, intricate, and ingenious series of interiors ever conceived". Soane
30360-416: Was able to collect objects worthy of the British Museum , including the Sarcophagus of Seti I in 1824. After the Seti sarcophagus arrived at his house in March 1825, Soane held a three-day party, to which 890 people were invited, the basement where the sarcophagus was housed was lit by over one hundred lamps and candelabra, refreshments were laid on and the exterior of the house was hung with lamps. Among
30544-405: Was also emulated in several other provinces in Western Canada . Mainstream schools in Hong Kong reflect the post-war British grammar system, focusing on a traditional curriculum rather than vocational subjects. Education in the Republic of Ireland has traditionally been organised on denominational lines. Grammar schools along the lines of those in Great Britain were set up for members of
30728-518: Was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and an official architect to the Office of Works . He received a knighthood in 1831. Soane's best-known work was the Bank of England (his work there is largely destroyed), a building which had a widespread effect on commercial architecture. He also designed Dulwich Picture Gallery , which, with its top-lit galleries,
30912-406: Was an expression his resolve, in the wake of the 1798 rebellion , to "be content to get the substance of reform more slowly" and with "proper preparation of manners or principles"." He was joined by leading Belfast merchants and professional men. These included the former United Irishmen Robert Simms and Robert Caldwell, who had been among the proprietors of the United Irish paper, Northern Star ;
31096-762: Was appointed professor of architecture at the academy, but during his tenure of the post failed to deliver a single lecture. Naturally this caused dissatisfaction, and Soane began to manoeuver to obtain the post for himself. Eventual Soane succeeded in ousting Dance and became professor on 28 March 1806. Soane did not deliver his first lecture until 27 March 1809 and did not begin to deliver the full series of twelve lectures until January 1810. All went well until he reached his fourth lecture on 29 January 1810, in it he criticised several recent buildings in London, including George Dance's Royal College of Surgeons of England and his former pupil Robert Smirke's Covent Garden Theatre . Royal Academicians Robert Smirke (painter) father of
31280-407: Was at the very centre of Soane's architectural career, in the sixty four years from 1772 to 1836 there were only five years, 1778 and 1788–91, in which he did not exhibit any designs there. Soane had received part of his architectural education at the academy and it had paid for his Grand Tour. On 2 November 1795 Soane was elected an Associate Royal Academician and on 10 February 1802 Soane was elected
31464-540: Was born in Goring-on-Thames on 10 September 1753. He was the second surviving son of John Soan and his wife Martha. The 'e' was added to the surname by the architect in 1784 on his marriage. His father was a builder or bricklayer, and died when Soane was fourteen in April 1768. He was educated in nearby Reading in a private school run by William Baker. After his father's death Soane's family moved to nearby Chertsey to live with Soane's brother William, 12 years his elder. William Soan introduced his brother to James Peacock,
31648-463: Was dependent on domestic work, including: Piercefield House (1784), now a ruin; the remodelling of Chillington Hall (1785); The Manor, Cricket St Thomas (1786); Bentley Priory (1788); the extension of the Roman Catholic Chapel at New Wardour Castle (1788). An important commission was alterations to William Pitt the Younger 's Holwood House in 1786, Soane had befriended William Pitt's uncle Thomas on his grand tour. In 1787 Soane remodelled
31832-428: Was formally opened on 1 February 1814. In his address at the opening of the grammar school on 1 February 1814, Drennan promised that "the mysterious veil that makes one knowledge for the learned and another for the vulgar... would be torn down". Admission would be "perfectly unbiased by religious distinctions" (Drennan counted among his subscribers Fr. William Crolly , who as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh in 1831
32016-476: Was less even, with some counties and individual schools successfully resisting conversion or closure. The Direct Grant Grammar Schools (Cessation of Grant) Regulations 1975 required direct grant schools to decide whether to convert into comprehensives under local authority control or become private schools funded entirely by fees. Of the direct grant schools remaining at that time, 51 became comprehensive, 119 opted for independence, and five were "not accepted for
32200-459: Was not to be. To help him out, George Dance gave Soane a few measuring jobs, including one in May 1781 on his repairs to Newgate Prison of damage caused by the Gordon Riots . To give Soane some respite, Thomas Pitt invited him to stay in 1781 at his Thamesside villa of Petersham Lodge , which Soane was commissioned to redecorate and repair. Also in 1781 Philip Yorke gave Soane commissions: at his home, Hamels Park in Hertfordshire , he designed
32384-419: Was not until 1783 that Soane received his first commission for a new country house, Letton Hall in Norfolk. The house was a fairly modest villa but it was a sign that at last Soane's career was taking off and led to other work in East Anglia : Saxlingham Rectory in 1784, Shotesham Hall in 1785, Tendring Hall in 1784–86, and the remodelling of Ryston Hall in 1787. At this early stage in his career Soane
32568-437: Was shot down on 6 May 1940. His family donated an annual prize for scouting activity. By 1945, 205 out of 430 former members had served in the armed forces or in the merchant navy. A memorial cairn was built on Bessy Bell near Baronscourt in County Tyrone to commemorate the 18 old boys who were killed in the war. There is a memorial plaque in Baronscourt Parish Church. In 1940, JH Grummit became school principal and later became
32752-502: Was the first co-educational grammar school to be established in New Zealand. Singapore was established as a Crown Colony, and the term "grammar school" was used since 1819 among the English community. The English, and later, the Scottish, set up cathedrals, churches, and elite grammar schools for the upper class. Initially, this was a racially segregated colonial system. The British then opened up their schools to children from English mixed marriages, or to those with English descent. During
32936-569: Was the teaching of Latin . Over time the curriculum was broadened, first to include Ancient Greek , and later English and other European languages , natural sciences , mathematics , history , geography , art and other subjects. In the late Victorian era grammar schools were reorganised to provide secondary education throughout England and Wales ; Scotland had developed a different system. Grammar schools of these types were also established in British territories overseas, where they have evolved in different ways. Grammar schools became one of
33120-446: Was to create an endowment to pay the wages of a master to instruct local boys in Latin and sometimes Greek without charge. The school day typically ran from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a two-hour break for lunch; in winter, school started at 7 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. Most of the day was spent in the rote learning of Latin. To encourage fluency, some schoolmasters recommended punishing any pupil who spoke in English. The younger boys learned
33304-416: Was to emerge in the 20th century as RBAI's closest rival and competitor. The dramatist and novelist F. Frankfort Moore , attending RBAI in the 1860s, recalls "not half a dozen Roman Catholic boys". St Malachy's Catholic diocesan college had opened its doors in 1833. A study sample of 96 members of the Belfast's mid-nineteenth-century civic elite—leading figures in trade, industry and the professions—found
33488-411: Was to extend the law courts along the west front of Westminster Hall providing accommodation for five courts: The Court of Exchequer, Chancery, Equity, King's Bench and Common Pleas. The foundations were laid in October 1822 and the shell of the building completed by February 1824. Then Henry Bankes launched an attack on the design of the building, as a consequence Soane had to demolish the facade and set
33672-503: Was to leave the town an important enlightenment legacy in the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society . Formed by staff and scholars in 1821, the society is the origin of both the Botanical Gardens and what is now the Ulster Museum . Among the early graduates of the Institution was William Tennent's nephew, Robert Tennent , who in the 1820s was a member of John Stuart Mill 's London Debating Society. Together with his friend James Emerson (Belfast Academy), he joined Byron in
33856-560: Was to support the government's plans for non-denominational National Schools ). Fees would be held "as low as possible". More startling for the times, discipline would rely on "example" rather than on "manual correction of corporal punishment". This may have owed something to the example of an earlier Belfast schoolmaster whose portrait was to hang in the new institution, David Manson . As recounted by Drennan, in his Donegall Street school in 1760s Manson had banished "drudgery and fear" by teaching children on "the principle of amusement". When in
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