Great Ealing School was situated on St Mary's Road, Ealing

Ealing

Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

 W5 London and was founded in 1698. In its heyday of the 19th century, it was as famous as Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 or Harrow

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

, being considered "the best private school in England".

History

The school first took up residence in Ealing's Old Rectory

Rectory

A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

. This was a moated

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

  house with a magnificent garden which stood next to the church of St Mary where Ranelagh Road now runs and all the way northward, along St Mary's Road to Warwick Road. The school had a swimming pool, cricket greens, tennis courts and the once famous Fives

Fives

Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...

 courts. A row of five cottages were used as studies. Opposite the school was the parish workhouse

Workhouse

In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...

, where the poor and infirm slept three or more to a bed.
The King of France, Louis-Philippe

Louis-Philippe of France

Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...

, taught mathematics and geography at the school. He did this to support himself whilst living in exile in Twickenham

Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

 between 1800 and 1815.
Eventually, the Rectory succumbed to dry rot

Dry rot

Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...

 and had to relocate in 1847.

It moved from the north side of St. Mary's Church in Ealing

Ealing

Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

 on the eastern side of St Mary's Road to the western side of the same road and was renamed The Owls, which then formed part of its crest. In 1874, it became a day school teaching vocational subject

Course (education)

The very broad dictionary meaning of the word course is the act or action of moving in a path from point to point . There are multiple meanings for this word, some of which include: general line of orientation, a mode of action, part of a meal, a mode of action, and many more. This article focuses...

s such as bookkeeping

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, receipts and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accounting process is usually...

. In 1879, it changed again, becoming a school for Jewish boys.

It closed in 1908 and the roads Cairn Avenue and Nicholas Gardens now stand upon the grounds. The latter is named after the famous headmastering family of its greatest period.

Quotes

• "The education was first-rate, particularly in the classics, and as there was no alternative to learn, the boys progressed rapidly, and the school turned out some bright fellows." -- Benjamin Armstrong, pupil and vicar.

• "We had cricket and rounders, and in the winter months football; petty fives against every petty wall; hopping and hopscotch, patball and trapball, prisoner's base (or bars?), tops of several kinds, and multiform games of marbles." -- Francis William Newman, pupil (1812-1821).

Headmasters

• Rev Dr David Nicholas - 1790s
• George Nicholas
• Francis Nicholas
• Charles Morgan in 1874
• Dr John Chapman from 1881