Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 35

WE ARE WELLINGTON
OUR HERITAGE
Wellington College in the UK was founded by Queen Victoria in 1859 as the national
monument to Britain’s greatest military figure, the Duke of Wellington, who also served
the country with distinction twice as Prime Minister. Queen Victoria herself remarked
that the Duke of Wellington was ‘the GREATEST man this country has ever produced’.
Thus the story of Wellington College began and 159 years later the College is one of the
most respected schools in the United Kingdom and beyond. In the past decade alone,
this vibrant and popular co-educational school has reached new heights by maximizing
the potential of thousands of pupils who, on leaving the College, go on to become Old
Wellingtonians or (OWs) – each a fervent supporter of the college.
The extraordinary red brick buildings (architect, John Shaw), built to impose by the
grandest of scale and set on the bleakest of moorland and bog in southern England,
provided little comfort and life was harsh for the first few generations.
As a ‘Royal and Religious Foundation’, the pioneering first Master, Edward White Benson
(later Archbishop of Canterbury), firmly grasped the fledgling college. The educational
regime was strongly imposed, discipline was tight, religious precepts and practices were
established as daily reminders of sin and error. The boys were boisterous, not easily
tamed and quickly built up ‘the Wellington spirit’ with strong loyalties in their Dormitories
and Houses, which were mostly named after Wellington’s generals. Sport was introduced
early, from cross-country running (instituted by the redoubtable Revd. Charles Kingsley)
to rugby football, swimming in the lake and, later, cricket, athletics and hockey.
College grew in prestige and numbers (470 in 1900, 610 in 1950, and 800 in 2000).
Sport developed to embrace many more activities. Culturally, the College developed
and became a more humane place, by then, ‘The Wellington College’ was always at the
heart of the nation. The Royal Family took a great interest in its progress and, like the
Duke, very many Old Wellingtonians dedicated themselves to the public service. Jonty
Driver, 11th Master, brought an international position to Wellington. New buildings and a
softening of the old quads was apparent, continued by Hugh Monro.
The past decade brought dramatic change. Full co-education was been achieved. Every
aspect of life was accelerated. Educational achievements now exceed all previous
standards, to be fit for today’s international university entrance, with the widest choice of
studies ever offered. Sport, cultural activities, social life and self-inquiry have burgeoned,
as have the pressures of life mirroring those of today’s world. Wellington is now more
than a College. It is an educational, sporting, social and cultural centre in the South-East
of England and has expanded to embrace international events, such as The Round Square
Conference in 2011 attended by Her Majesty, the Queen, and a thousand pupils and
staff from some twenty different countries. As our much loved Royal Visitor, Her Majesty
had attended two years earlier to mark the 150 years celebrations in 2009, surely as
memorable as those of fifty, and a hundred, years before.
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