the school 

Hampton School Archives

Separate provision for the Hampton School Archives is very recent, arising to some extent from interest in the School’s History stimulated by the 450th Celebrations in 2007. The designation of an Archive workroom in September 2008 has meant that work can now proceed in sorting the mass of material which the School possesses. Progress will nonetheless inevitably be slow, and it will be some time before the Archives can claim to be fully operative. Nonetheless, a start has been made, in line with the Mission Statement and Aims given below:

Mission Statement

Hampton School dates its foundation to 1557 when, thanks to a bequest by Robert Hammond, a prominent local businessman, provision was made for the instruction of local children by the Vicar of St Mary’s, Hampton upon Thames. Although now wholly secular in its operations, formal links with St Mary’s are maintained and the Vicar is ex officio one of the School’s Governors. The School Archives are the guardian of its collective memory.

Aims

The Archives aim to preserve and develop, to the best possible professional standards, a collection of material relating to the history of Hampton School both as a separate institution and in relation to Education generally, and to the School’s position within the local community. Their aim in so doing is to support the School’s immediate educational, cultural and charitable objects and increasingly to become a repository of evidence and information valuable to professional and private researchers alike.

 

The Archives’ Access and Accessions policies can be consulted by following the links below. Approaches to the Archives should in the first instance always be made in writing (no telephone messages, please) to Dr Tim Leary, either by e-mail (T.Leary@Hamptonschool.org.uk) or letter, addressed to him at the School.

 

Resources

It is hoped that these will be expanded in time. In the meanwhile, the following may be useful:

A brief history of Hampton School 1557-1957, Bernard Garside (index)

Details from the statue of Robert Hammond, who bequeathed property, the rent from which was to ‘fynysshe in the  Church yerd … a howse with seates in yt for Children to be towght in.’

1788 Cash Book relating to schools in the Hampton area

Restoration work on the mediaeval masonry recovered from St Mary’s, Hampton, adjacent to which Hampton School was originally sited

Extract from the Minutes of the Trustees of Hampton Free School, dated 9th July 1828.

William Page, Old Hamptonian and Highwayman, executed 1758

 

View of a case in the School Museum. The Clock ‘Old Yellow Face’ was given to the School by William Jackson Esq., Chairman of the Trustees of Hampton Free School in the early 19th Century.