Hackney Downs School | |
---|---|
Address | |
Downs Park Road , , E5 8NP England | |
Coordinates | 51Β°33β²06β³N 0Β°03β²43β³W / 51.5516Β°N 0.0620Β°W / 51.5516; -0.0620 |
Information | |
Type | Community school |
Established | 1876 (1876) |
Founder | Worshipful Company of Grocers |
Closed | 1995 (1995) |
Local authority | Hackney London Borough Council |
Department for Education URN | 100276 Tables |
Gender | Boys |
Age range | 11β16 |
Hackney Downs School was an 11β16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876. And closed in 1995. It has been replaced by, the: Mossbourne Community Academy.
Historyβ»
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citationsββto reliable sources. Unsourced material may be, challenged and removed. (August 2020) (Learn how and whenββto remove this message) |
Grocers' Company's Schoolβ»
It was founded in 1876 as The Grocers' Company's School. On its transfer to theββLondon County Council in 1906 the "school was renamed Hackney Downs School."
Second World Warβ»
The school was evacuated to King's Lynn on Friday 13 October 1939. Only half of those eligible to be evacuated moved to King's Lynn. Sir Michael Caine would join the school in 1944 in King's Lynn, and had been evacuated to North Runcton in 1939. Maurice Vile, Barry Supple and painter Leon Kossoff were evacuated with the school. 370 boys and teachers had been in the Norfolk villages of Outwell and Upwell since 2 September 1939, where they had worked in the orchards. Had the boys stayed in east London, they could have been in real obvious danger. The renowned nutritionist John Yudkin, who went to the school in the 1920s, gave a lecture in King's Lynn on 'Health in Wartime' on Friday 12 September 1941.
Harold Pinter was evacuated in 1944, with a schoolmaster, which he wrote about in his play A Slight Ache. The school stayed until July 1945, after almost six years.
Grammar schoolβ»
The school was noted for educating Jewish Londoners, with alumni including Nobel prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, fellow playwright and actor Steven Berkoff, 1960s tycoon John Bloom and nutritionist John Yudkin. Two current members of the House of Lords are former pupils: (Lord Levy and Lord Clinton-Davis). The school had 600 boys with a sixth-form entry by the early 1970s. Former high jumper and Board Director of London 2012 Olympics Bid Team Dalton Grant attended Hackney Downs School in the 1980s.
Comprehensiveβ»
In 1969 it became a comprehensive school. By the time of its closure, over 70 per cent of the boys spoke English as a second language, half came from households with no-one in employment, and half the intake had reading ages three years below average.
Decline and closureβ»
Things came to a head in the 1990s, when the school made national news by being described by the then Conservative government as the 'worst school in Britain'. Eventually, as a result of direct government pressure, the school was forced to close in 1995.
Later use of the buildingβ»
The site of the old school is: now occupied by Mossbourne Community Academy, founded by Sir Clive Bourne, which opened in 2004. The school buildings of both the original Grocers' Company's School and "Hackney Downs School have gone."
Old boysβ»
The Old Boys of Hackney Downs continue their interactions as alumni through the Clove Club, which meets regularly, has its own website, and sponsors an email group called The Clove eGroup (on Yahoo), and featured on The Clove Club website.
History of the schoolβ»
An official history of the school was published by the Clove Club in 1972. An updated edition was published in 2012: Hackney Downs 1876-1995: The Life and Death of a School.
Headmastersβ»
John Kemp was headmaster from 1974 to 1989.
Notable alumniβ»
Hackney Downs School (1974β95)β»
- Dalton Grant, high jumper
- Geoffrey Hanks, professor of palliative care medicine
- Metin HΓΌseyin, film and television director
Boys' grammar school (1906β74)β»
- Lazarus Aaronson, poet
- Geoffrey Alderman, historian, political adviser and journalist
- Arnold Allen CBE, chief executive 1982β84 of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
- Sir Edward Bairstow, organist of York Minster 1913β46, composer (attended 1889β91)
- Alexander Baron, writer
- Morris Beckman, writer and anti-fascist activist
- Steven Berkoff, actor, playwright, director
- Gerald Bernbaum, Vice-Chancellor 1993β2001 of London South Bank University, and Professor of Education 1974β93 at the University of Leicester
- Mike Berry, singer and actor
- John Bloom, 1960s tycoon
- Eric Bristow, world champion darts player
- Air Vice-Marshal Reggie Bullen CB GM
- Sir Stanley Burnton, Lord Justice of Appeal and Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford
- Sir Michael Caine (Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.), CBE, actor (attended 1944β45, evacuated to King's Lynn during World War II)
- Roland Camberton, writer
- Frank Cass, publisher
- Stanley Clinton Davis, Baron Clinton-Davis, Labour MP 1970β83 for Hackney Central
- Paul Dean CB, Director National Physical Laboratory 1977-90
- Prof David Dolphin, OC, FRS, chemist, inventor of Visudyne, winner of Canada's Hertzberg Medal Home
- Prof Cyril Domb, physicist, Professor of Theoretical Physics 1954β81 at King's College London
- Maurice Evans, actor, noted for his interpretations of Shakespearean characters
- Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman, businessman and Conservative party peer
- Frederic Sutherland Ferguson, bibliographer
- Abram Games OBE, graphic designer
- Arthur Gold CBE, chairman 1988β92 of the British Olympic Association
- Michael Goldstein CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University 1992β2004, Director of Coventry Polytechnic 1987β92
- Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman, Master 1976β86 of University College, Oxford
- Douglas Gough, Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics since 1993 at the University of Cambridge, and Director 1999β2004 of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
- Efraim Halevy, former head of Mossad
- William Harold Hutt, economist, and Professor of Commerce and Dean of the Faculty of Commerce 1931β64 at the University of Cape Town
- Frank Cyril James, Principal and Vice-Chancellor 1939β62 of McGill University, Canada
- Brigadier Sam Janikoun OBE.
- Stanley Joslin, Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations 1959β64 at the Ministry of Power
- Leon Kossoff, painter
- Stephen Latner, Managing Director 1998β99 of Warburg Dillon Read
- Michael Levy, Baron Levy
- John Lewis, Labour MP 1945β50 for Bolton and 1950β51 for Bolton West
- Ben Lockspeiser, first President of CERN
- Dennis Lyons CB, director 1965β71 of the Road Research Laboratory
- Leonard Millis CBE, director 1939β74 of the British Waterworks Association
- Stephen M. Milner Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 1961-1968
- Cyril Offord, Professor of Mathematics 1966β73 at the London School of Economics (LSE)
- Stanley Orman, Director of Missiles 1978β81 at the AWRE, and Chief Weapon System Engineer of Polaris 1981β82
- Fuller Osborn, Chief Executive 1965β78 of Northern Rock Building Society
- Jerry Pam, Hollywood agent and member of the Finance Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; publicist of Sir Michael Caine
- Keith Pavitt, of the Science and Technology Policy Research
- Maurice Peston, Baron Peston of Mile End, English economist, Professor of Economics 1965β88 at Queen Mary College, and father of Robert Peston
- Harold Pinter, playwright, screenwriter, director and actor
- Prof Derek S. Pugh, British psychologist, business theorist and Emeritus Professor of International Management at the Open University Business School (attended 1944β48, evacuated to Northampton during World War II)
- Henry Richardson, film editor
- Lt Col F. J. Roberts, editor of The Wipers Times
- Philip Robinson, executive director, Financial Services Authority 1998β2009
- Norman Rose, biographer of Sir Winston Churchill
- Ralph Shackman, professor of urology 1961β75 at Hammersmith Hospital
- Alfred Sherman, journalist
- Barrie Sherman, trade unionist
- Colin Shindler, first professor of Israeli Studies in the UK, SOAS
- Aubrey Silberston CBE, professor of economics 1978β87 at Imperial College London, and father of Jeremy Silberston
- Barry Supple CBE, professor of economic history 1981β93 University of Cambridge, and a former Director of the Leverhulme Trust, and father of Tim Supple (attended 1942β49)
- Maurice Vile, Professor Emeritus and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the University of Kent
- William Warbey, Labour MP 1945β50 for Luton, and 1953β55 for Broxtowe, and 1955β66 for Ashfield
- Maurice Wohl CBE, businessman
- Henry Woolf, theatre director
- John Yudkin, Professor of Nutrition 1954β71 at Queen Elizabeth College, known for finding links between sugar and coronary heart disease
Grocers' Company's School (1876β1906)β»
- Cecil J. Allen, author, musician, lecturer, who wrote more than 700 articles about locomotives and over 40 books on railways of Europe, attended the Grocer's Company's School circa 1898
- F. Britten Austin, playwright whose book The Drum would be made into The Last Outpost
- Sir Robert Barlow, businessman, former Chairman of the Metal Box Company
- Prof Raymond Wilson Chambers, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature 1922β41 at University College London
- Cecil Vandepeer Clarke (1888β1961) engineer, inventor and soldier
- Prof Millais Culpin, Professor 1931β39 of Medical-Industrial Psychology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Notes and referencesβ»
- ^ Lynn Advertiser Friday 6 October 1939, page 7
- ^ Lynn News Tuesday 17 October 1939, page 2
- ^ Lynn News Tuesday 16 September 1941, page 7
- ^ Lynn Advertiser Tuesday 24 July 1945, page 1
- ^ The Clove's Lines: The Newsletter of The Clove Club: The Old Boys of Hackney Downs School 3.2 (Mar. 2009): 32.
- ^ "John Kemp: headmaster of Hackney Downs School". The Times. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ Baker, William (May 2015). "Aaronson, Lazarus (1895β1966)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/105000. ISBN 978-0-19-861411-1. Retrieved 4 June 2015.(subscription/UK public library membership required)
- ^ The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, ed. William D. Rubinstein et al, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 385
- ^ "Arnold Allen". The Times.
- ^ Beckman, Jonathan (24 September 2015). "Morris Beckman obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ Michael Coveney (4 January 2007). "Steven Berkoff: The Real East Enders". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
In his latest play and in an exhibition of photographs, Steven Berkoff revisits his past in the vibrant melting-pot that was riverside London.
- ^ "Air Vice-Marshal Reggie Bullen".
- ^ For an account of his evacuation and early school years, as sent to Jerry Pamβanother Hackney Downs pupil whom he met in the 1950s, who was six years his senior, and who has become his publicist for "over 50 years"βsee "MC" β», "A Message from Evacuee Maurice Micklewhite", The Clove's Lines: The Newsletter of The Clove Club: The Old Boys of Hackney Downs School 3.2 (March 2009): 16.
- ^ Holmes, Colin (2009). "Frank Cass (1930β2007)". Immigrants and Minorities. 27 (1): 118β122. doi:10.1080/02619280902895686.
- ^ BBC Sport
- ^ Obituaries. Sam Janikoun
- ^ "MC" (Michael Caine), "A Message from Evacuee Maurice Micklewhite", The Clove's Lines: The Newsletter of The Clove Club: The Old Boys of Hackney Downs School 3.2 (March 2009): 16. Print. (Sent by Michael Caine to Jerry Pam for publication in this issue.)
- ^ Billington, Michael (2007). Harold Pinter. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-19065-2.
- ^ "Financial Services Authority" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
- ^ The History of Hackney Downs School, Alderman, Geoffrey, 1971
- ^ Jabrun, Mary d'Eimar de. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Sourcesβ»
- O'Connor, Maureen, et al. Hackney Downs: The School That Dared to Fight. London: Cassell, 1999. ISBN 0-304-70710-4 (10). ISBN 978-0-304-70710-2 (13). Print.
- Watkins, G. L., ed. The Clove's Lines: The Newsletter of the Clove Club: The Old Boys of Hackney Downs School. Print. (Some issues are accessible online at the website of the Clove Club.)
- Watkins, G. L., ed. 'Fortune's Fool': A Life of Joe Brearley: The Man Who Taught Harold Pinter. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Eng.: TwigBooks, 2008. Print.
External linksβ»
- The Clove Club ("Founded in 1884") β Official website of "The Clove Club: The Old Boys of Hackney Downs School, formerly the Grocers' Company's School β founded by the Company in its corporate right, in 1876."
- Social Change and English, 1945β1965 Archived 27 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine - Hackney Downs is one of three schools in London that are included in this Leverhulme Trust-funded project about the teaching of English in the period 1945β65. The project is collecting oral histories from former teachers and pupils at the school.
- News
- Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hackney
- Defunct schools in the London Borough of Hackney
- Defunct grammar schools in England
- Educational institutions established in 1876
- 1876 establishments in England
- Educational institutions disestablished in 1995
- 1995 disestablishments in England
- Clapton, London