Dover College
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Dover College is a co-educational public school in Dover, Kent, England. It was founded in 1871, and takes both day pupils and boarders.
History
The College was founded in 15 September 1871 by a group of local businessmen, led by the Mayor of Dover, Dr. Astley. It was originally a boys' school.
During the 1914 — 1918 Great War in common with many other schools, Old Dovorians became officer's in the British Armed Forces and as a result suffered high casualty rates due to sniping — 177 former pupils died; one, Naval officer Arthur Leyland Harrison posthumously received the Victoria Cross.
In August 1917, part of the school was damaged during an air raid and the decision was finally taken to evacuate the college from Dover to Leamington Spa in the Midlands, returning to Dover in 1919 with only 150 pupils.
In 1922 a trust set up by the old boys took ownership of the college and in 1923 it was reconstituted with a Royal Charter, which defined its aims:
- The object of the Corporation of Dover College shall be the conduct of a College for boys … in which they may receive a sound religious, classical, mathematical, scientific and general education and the doing of such things as are conducive to the attainment of this objective.
During the Second World War, Dover was on the front line, with only the Straits of Dover separating the town from Nazi-occupied France, and one of the most likely areas for a German invasion. As a result, the school was again evacuated, this time to Poltimore House in Devon. It returned to Dover in 1945 with 168 boys. During the war 102 former pupils died.
In 1974, Dover College was one of the first English public schools to become co-educational, and in September 2001 it opened a junior department for pupils aged 4-11.
Alumni
Notable Old Dovorians include:
- Arthur Leyland Harrison (died 1918, aged 32); Victoria Cross recipient. [1] (http://www.victoriacross.net/award.asp?vc=535)
- Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames (1875 — 1948) engineer
- Richard Aldington (1892 — 1962); writer and poet.
- J. Lee Thompson (1914 — 2002); film director. [2] (http://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Thompson.htm)
External links
- Dover College (http://www.dover-college.kent.sch.uk/)
- History page (http://www.dover-college.kent.sch.uk/history.htm)