Introduction

In 2010, The Lodge School celebrated its 265th anniversary as an institution of learning. This extended period has not been continuous, as the school closed and reopened four times during these two and a half centuries. The timescales chosen for this article have their benchmarks with some of these dates. The school at various times was known as Codrington College, The College, The Mansion School, the Codrington Grammar School, The Codrington Foundation School, Codrington Collegiate School, Codrington Endowed School, Codrington Lodge Grammar School and even The Lodge Collegiate School. By 1882 the school's name had finally settled on The Lodge School, after the Chaplain's Lodge where some of the early classes were undertaken.

Early history 1745 to 1880

The Lodge school, had its beginnings in a bequest made by Sir Christopher Codrington

Christopher Codrington

Christopher Codrington , British soldier, bibliophile and colonial governor, was born on the island of Barbados, West Indies, in 1668...

 who had two estates on the island. The Codrington experiment was to baptise and instruct in Christian education which was greeted with much suspicion by other Barbadian slave owners in the 18th Century. Codrington’s managers were ordered to give his people time off for themselves (usually a Saturday), Sunday being reserved for Christian instruction through which they were to have the benefits of education and the consolations of Christian religion.

There is some dispute as to the exact date of the school's foundation. Building work is recorded as having commenced in 1714, but for a variety of reasons was not finished until 1743. The Barbados Pocket Book of 1838 however records that the Codrington Foundation School was founded in 1721. When the school opened its doors to twelve foundationers to "teach them gratis, the Sons of such Persons as shall be judged not to be in Sufficient Circumstances to bring them up in learning the learned languages" on 9th Sept 1745, chronographers recognise this date officially as its inception. Other pupils were fee paying and most were boarders. The Lodge School is therefore one of the oldest secondary educational establishments on Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

.

The bequest, Codrington Foundation School, was established with the primary purpose of educating boys who could be subsequently trained in "the study and practice of divinity, physic and chirurgery" there and at other seminaries in the region. In History of Barbados its author Robert Hermann Schomburgk

Robert Hermann Schomburgk

Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk , was a German-born explorer for Great Britain who carried out geographical, ethnological and botanical studies in South America and the West Indies, and also fulfilled diplomatic missions for Great Britain in the Dominican Republic and Thailand.-Biography:Schomburgk...

 gives an early account of Codrington College

Codrington College

Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados. It was founded by Christopher Codrington, who after his death in 1710 left portions of his 'estates' - two slave labour plantations on Barbados and areas of Barbuda - to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in...

 on pages 111 to 123. The first Bishop of Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

, William Hart Coleridge http://anglicanhistory.org/wi/coleridge_memoir1850.htm, contributed immensely to the development of education in Barbados. The promotion of education was high on his agenda and the number of schools increased from eight to eighty three during his episcopate. The number of children receiving education in these schools increased from five hundred (500) to seven thousand (7000).

The devastating hurricane of 1780 ruined many buildings on the island, including those of the school. The historian Poyer describes it "the havoc which met the eye contributed to subdue the firmest mind. The howling of the tempest; the noise of the descending torrents from clouds surcharged with rain; the incessant flashings of lightning; the roaring of the thunder; the continual crash of falling houses; the dismal groans of the wounded and the dying; the shrieks of despair; the lamentations of woe; and the screams of women and children calling for help on those whose ears were now closed to the voice of complaint, formed an accumulation of sorrow and of terror too great for human fortitude, to vast for human conception. Earlier in 1775, the school was closed as a result of financial difficulties with the Codrington estates and it was not until 1789 that it was able to open again, continuing in a precarious manner with a succession of Headmasters, such that by the middle of the last decade of the Eighteenth Century it was not flourishing.

The appointment of Rev M Nicholson in 1797 was to have a marked improvement of the scholastic achievements as the school also made consistent progress. Pupils were known to leave and go straight to University. Under his leadership Foundation Scholarships were first offered in 1819 to students to enable them to go up to further education. Notably it wasn't until 1879 that the Barbados Scholarship scheme was started.

Coleridge also reorganised Codrington Foundation School so that it became in 1827 a training establishment for clergy as had been intended by its founder, Christopher Codrington

Christopher Codrington

Christopher Codrington , British soldier, bibliophile and colonial governor, was born on the island of Barbados, West Indies, in 1668...

. The Grammar School was transferred to the Chaplain's Lodge on the upper estate (from which the school later took its name) in 1829 under the charge of the Rev. John Packer and finally settled where it is now located on Codrington’s Society Estate in the parish of St John. Measures were taken for the opening of the College "no longer as a mere Grammar school for boys, but as a strictly collegiate institution for the education of young men, especially with a view to Holy Orders" (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel report on Codrington College, 1847).

In 1846 the Barbados Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 made its first state grant of £750 for education. The Rev. Richard Rawle was appointed as Principal of Codrington College

Codrington College

Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados. It was founded by Christopher Codrington, who after his death in 1710 left portions of his 'estates' - two slave labour plantations on Barbados and areas of Barbuda - to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in...

 and the training of elementary school teachers was undertaken. In 1850 the first Education Act was passed which also raised the grant to secondary schools to £3,000 per annum. By June of that year under the headship of Rev W. Webb the numbers at the school had grown to 39 boys and two years later this had increased to 63 pupils, 48 of whom were boarders. In 1878 the governing body of the Lodge School was properly constituted and in the following year, the Government took over the running of the school, meeting all the expenses of the institution and paying a small stipend to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPC).

In BB Ward's History of The Lodge School 1745-1900 he closes the chapter of The Fourth School with the comment "perhaps an unfortunate oversight that there is nothing in the school to perpetuate the names of Mark Nicholson (Headmaster 1797-1821) and Rev Rawle (Principal of Codrington College 1847-1864), two of three men (Codrington, of course, the other) to whom the school owes its very existence".

Middle years 1880 to 1930

The Government leased the lands containing the school from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the school reopened in 1881 as a grant maintained First Grade School administered by a Governing Body with Mr Tracey as Headmaster. An Education Commission established by Bishop Mitchinson secured an affiliation of Codrington College to Durham University. Further improvements were made to the school, but its grammar school ethos remained unchanged. On the retirement of Tracey in 1892, and with frequent changes of headmasters, the school floundered somewhat. In 1899, when O. DeC. Emtage was appointed Headmaster, the school began to flourish again under his leadership and by 1902 it had outgrown its accommodation. Building works were started and new wings were constructed to provide a library, improved science lecture rooms and a reading room. Also at the turn of the century, Mr Emtage instituted the annual speech at which athletic meetings were held. Prior to 1900 these were only held occasionally. In 1903 the Cadet Corps at The Lodge started and was the first such unit in the West Indies.

The Latin quote "Possunt Quia Posse Videntur" by Roman poet Virgil is the school’s motto chosen by Mr Emtage, is also the school motto for Christ College, Brecon, Wales http://www.christcollegebrecon.com founded by Royal Charter in 1541 by King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 as well as for The Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles California. The English translation of the motto is "They Can Because They Think They Can". The school Arms and Crest were designed by Mrs Evan Sealy, wife of a former rector of St John in conjunction with Mr Emtage in the first decade of the twentieth century. The School crest of the leading sea horse comes from the Barbados Arms. The coat of Arms has a white field, indicative of purity and uprightnesss; a black and fess , hinting that the qualities signified by the field would be strenuously defended; and finally three Maltese croses, the device of St John the Apostle and the Knights Templar of the same name. The fess and white field were adopted from the arms of Codrington College, the lions of the latter being replaced by Maltese crosses

When Mr Emtage resigned in 1931, the school could hardly be recognised as the one he took over in 1899. The Lodge School Record comments "trace what nerve of body politic you will and at its source, ruling our activities whence alone they can be ruled, siting where metaphor he had now sat for a quarter of a century, you will find the chief". The school roll at this time had increased to over 100, with nearly sixty being boarders.

1930 to present

With the appointment of Rev H.B.Gooding to succeed Mr Emtage, The Lodge School had finally produced its own Headmaster, an achievement to be proud of. The new Headmaster re-introduced Greek into the curriculum and encouraged the serious study of Classics. In 1935 the Memorial Hall was completed, partly to accommodate the increased number of boarders on the first floor, but also to provide for more classrooms. Construction of a new science/laboratory block accommodating additional classrooms on a second floor also took place. There was great interest in the boarding establishment and the number of applications to join the school increased, especially from neighbouring islands, and when Gooding retired in 1941 the school roll had passed 150, which included about 70 boarders.

The Memorial Hall was built from funds raised almost exclusively by Old Boys in honour of former pupils who died in the First World War. It was opened in 1935 and bronze plaques bearing the names of those who died in both World Wars were added in 1965.

In May 1944, the Sanatorium and Library was destroyed by fire. The Library was temporarily rehoused in locked cupboards in a classroom until 1953 when a small room became available where the books were stored. The new library rebuilt from subscriptions and re-opened in 1955. Further building works were undertaken and the boarding establishment was enlarged to accommodate 30 more termly boarders by 1945. By June 1946, the school roll had increased to 213. In September 1950 the school roll passed 300 for the first time.

In 1959 the Government, through the Education Act, instituted the Common Entrance Examinations to The Lodge and similar secondary education schools on the island. Around this time the school roll exceeded 400.

For much of the 1960s, the school population was quite static but pressure by Government was beginning to be placed on the school to increase its numbers and the Governing Body acceded to the wishes of the Minister of Education to expand into a three form entry such that the 1967 school roll of 438 had passed 550 by 1970. Two new laboratories were added in 1967 eventually leading to two labs for each of the three science disciplines. The following year a new classroom block to accommodate a further three classrooms was opened.

In 1971 the Government instituted free Secondary education which immediately impacted on the boarding establishment of the school, such that by 1979 this 234 year unique aspect of the Lodge School became uneconomic to maintain. Another great shift in the school was about to take place in the mid seventies with the introduction of girls from other schools into the sixth form. Earlier in 1970, two girls from a sister school, Codrington High, had come to The Lodge to undertake Biology A Level instruction, but it was not till 1974 that The Lodge had enrolled its first girls into the school.

ln 1979 the hundred year lease the Government was given on the premises by the SPC expired and it took the opportunity to acquire full possession of the premises The Lodge School in October 1983.

Much of the historical information is courtesy of P.D.Frost's kind copy of F.A.Hoyos, Two Hundred Years: A History of the Lodge School, 1745–1945, published by the Barbados Advocate as well as B.B. Ward's History of The Lodge School 1745 - 1900.

Rolls of Honour of the two World Wars

The Rolls of Honour commemorating the school's war dead are on two bronze plaques on either side of the entrance to the Memorial Hall, the portal of which has the word Remember engraved. The Lodge School Old Boys' Association raised funds over several years to have these memorials to their fallen comrades poigniantly installed and consecrated in 1965.

1914 - 1918	1939 - 1945
A.F.M. Berkeley	P.L.I. Archer DFC DFC DFC may refer to:*Dfc is one of four symbols for the subarctic climate under the Köppen climate classification system*David Fickling Comic *decorrelated fast cipher...
A.G. Cameron DSC DSC -in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...	G.L.A. Clarke
H.T.A. Cox	P.E. Davison
A. Edghill MC	A.P.C. Dunlop
J.S. Gardiner	P. DeFreitas DSC DSC -in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...
R. Hancock DSO Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...	A.W. Gooding
M.R. Hannam	J.A. Greenidge
R.E.L. Hollinsed	J.D. Greenidge
W.L. Hutchinson	T.D.L. Johnson
F.L. Johnson	R.C. Lynch
J. Manning	J.H. Manning
C.G. Peterkin	J.C. Manning
H.S. Wilson	W.H.B Short DFC DFC DFC may refer to:*Dfc is one of four symbols for the subarctic climate under the Köppen climate classification system*David Fickling Comic *decorrelated fast cipher...
J.S. Wilson	J.W.S. Skinner
	H.V.F. Smith

Headmasters

• Rev T. Rotherham 1745-1753
• Rev J. Rotherham 1754-1758
• Rev T. Falcon 1959-1763
• Rev J. Butcher 1763-1775 (first Barbadian to be appointed)

(school closed for 14 years due to financial difficulties with the Codrington estates)

• Rev H. Husbands 1789-1792
• Rev W. Thomas 1792 - 1796
• Rev M. Nicholson 1797-1821
• Rev S. Hinds 1821-1823
• Rev H. Parkinson 1823-1829
• Rev J. Packer 1829-1834
• Rev T. Watts 1834-1843
• Rev E. Parry 1844-1848

(school closed Midsummer 1848 to 11 June 1849)

• Rev E. Smith 1849-1850
• Rev W.T. Webb 1850-1864
• Rev W.Allder 1864-1865 (Acting)
• Rev J. Jaques 1865-1866
• Rev C. Clarke 1866-1871
• Rev W.H. Prideaux 1872-1878

(school closed for 4 years due to financial difficulties with the SPG and its decision to hand the assets of the school over to the Government on a 99 lease basis)

• C. Tracey 1882-1891
• Rev R. Jones 1891-1892
• W. Burslem 1892-1894
• E. Buck
  Edward Buck
  Edward Buck was an English schoolmaster and rower who won several events at Henley Royal Regatta.Buck was the son of Albert Buck of Worcester. He was educated at Malvern College and matriculated at Hertford College, Oxford in 1876 where he studied mathematics and won the Hershell Astronomy Prize...
  
   1895-1897
• A. Hernaman 1897-1899
• O.DeC. Emtage 1899-1931
• Rev H.B. Gooding 1932-1941
• T. L. Evans 1942-1949
• W.A.Farmer 1949-1954
• A.R.V. Newsam 1954–1964
• P.McD Crichlow 1965–1972
• C.E.A. Smith 1972-1984
• C. de M. Nicholls 1986-1991
• D. Browne 1992-2003
• T. Pilgrim 2003–present(2012)

Housemasters

• L.A. Walcott
  Leslie Walcott
  Leslie Arthur Walcott was a West Indian cricketer who played for Barbados between 1929 and 1936 and in one Test for the West Indies in 1930....
  
   1946 to 1954
• P. McD. Crichlow 1955 to 1964
• H. B. Gooding 1965 to 1971
• P. D. Frost 1971 to 1977
• D. N. Smith 1977 to 1978

Notable Old Lodge Boys

• Sir Reynold Abel Alleyne, Member of H.M. Council in Barbados for 30 years and Colonel of Militia
• Sir John Carrington, Chief Justice of Hong Kong
• Sir Henry Bovell, Attorney General, Solicitor General, Chief Justice British Guiana
• Sir Herbert Greaves, Solicitor General, Queen's Counsel, Attorney General, Leader, House of Assembly
• Sir Aubrey Goodman, Solicitor General, Attorney General, Chief Judicial Commissioner of the Federated Malay States, Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements.
• Capt Edward Hooper Senhouse RN, Provost Marshall of Barbados, Colonel Adjutant General Barbados Militia
• Dean Phillip Lovell Phillips, Delegate who defended Barbados' Constitution in 1876 against the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
• Sir Robert Bowcher Clarke, Member of House Assembly, Solicitor General and Chief Justice
• Sir Randall Phillips President of the Legislative Council
• Dr Sir Grey Massiah Former Presidents of the Legislative Council and Senate of Barbados. Senate of Barbados
  Senate of Barbados
  The Senate is the name given to the Upper House of the bicameral legislature the Parliament of Barbados. The Senate is accorded legitimacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados. It is the smaller of both chambers and also includes HM Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados...
  
  
• Sir William Chandler, President of the Legislative Council
• Sir Laurie Pile, President of the Legislative Council
• Sir John Hutson, President of the Legislative Council
• John Douglas Claude Goddard, captain, West Indies Test cricket team, 1947/8 - 1951/2 and 1957
• Sir John Stanley Goddard K.A. Independent Senator of the Barbados Senate
• Sir David Simmons, K.A., Queens Counsel, Attorney General, Chief Justice of Barbados
• Frederick B Smith, First Captain of Barbados Cricket Team inaugural match against Demerara in 1865
• Michael Carrington, DLP MP and Speaker of the House of Assembly
• E.L. "Jimmy" Cozier, founder, Barbados Daily News
• W.A.L. Tony Cozier
  Tony Cozier
  Anthony "Tony" Cozier has been a cricket writer and commentator for West Indian cricket since 1958.Cozier is the son of Barbados journalist, Jimmy Cozier and he studied journalism at Carleton University, Ottawa...
  
  , cricket writer and broadcaster
• Floyd Reifer
  Floyd Reifer
  Floyd Lamonte Reifer is a Barbadian cricketer. He is a left-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler....
  
  , captain, West Indies Test cricket team, 2009
• Brad "Bad Lovely" Lovell; artist, publisher, writer and multimedia designer
• Torrey Pilgrim; Founder of Sir Frank Worrell Global Foundation
• Rt Hon Stephen Lashley DLP MP and Minister Of Sports
• Rt Hon Dr. Jerome Walcott Former BLP MP and Minister Of Health
• Rt Hon Noel "Barney" Lynch, Former BLP MP and Minister of Tourism
• Ralph "Bizzy" Williams, Entrepreneur
• Major Sam Headley
• Roy Marshall
  Roy Marshall
  Roy Edwin Marshall was a West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests from 1951 to 1952. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959.-Early career:...
  
  , Former First Class cricketer with Hampshire
  Hampshire County Cricket Club
  Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
  
  , UK
• Prof Dr. Henry Fraser, Dean University Of The West Indies School Of Medicine & Clinical Research
• Kyffin Simpson CBE, Leading Businessman & International Entrepreneur
• Anthony J Da Silva, Chairman of Innotech Services Limited, Director of Barbados Tourism Investment Inc, Barbados Turf Club, Needhams companies
• James Wedderburn (athlete)
  James Wedderburn (athlete)
  James "Jim" Wedderburn was a Bajan athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.He competed for the British West Indies in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Malcolm Spence, Keith Gardner and George...
  
  , First Barbadian to win an Olympic medal as part of the 1960 Bronze medal winning West Indies Federation 4x400 team
• Theodore "Val" Mc Comie, Former Ambassador to The U.S and OAS Assistant Secretary General
• George Jones, Anderson "Youngblood" Armstrong, Terry "The Mexican" Arthur, Founding members of Music group Square One
• Captain Peter Short, Former President of The BCA and WICBC
• Owen Estwick, Former Vice President of The BCA and board member of The WICBC
• Mc Donald "Mac" Fingall, Entertainer, Comedian
• Trevor Marshall, Historian
• Peter Simmons, Former Barbados High Commissioner to The UK
• Sir David Seale, Businessman and entrepreneur
• David Allan
  David Allan (cricketer)
  David Walter Allan is a former West Indian cricketer who played in five Tests from 1962 to 1966. He was wicket-keeper in all five Tests....
  
  , Former West Indies Wicket Keeper
• Richard "Prof" Edwards, Former West Indies Fast Bowler
• Dr Oscar Jordan, Island Scholar and noted medical doctor, Chairman of The Barbados Diabetes Foundation
• Patrick Frost, one of few West Indians to represent Oxford in cricket and dedicated Lodge School Master
• Eric Murray (the late), Barbadian Canadian journalist
• Senator R. Geoffrey Cave, CBE, BCH, LLD, Senator and Businessman
• Laurie Johnson
  Laurie Johnson (cricketer)
  Hubert Laurence Johnson is a West Indies born cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1949 and 1966. He scored over 14,000 runs for the club in the first-class game.Johnson was born at Pine Hill, St Michael, Barbados...
  
  , a Barbados born cricketer who played for Derbyshire
  Derbyshire County Cricket Club
  Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
  
   between 1949 and 1966.

Renovations

A BD$25m project involving the construction of two new blocks, a hall, pavilion, new bathrooms, additional exits and other refurbishments to the facility will begin in 2011. The Memorial Hall will be kept but many buildings will undergo substantial improvements.

School Song - Song Of The Years - What is there

Here we stand where our fathers standing

Thought the thoughts that are ours today;

Yielding their hearts to the School’s commanding,

Tuned their lives to accept her sway:

One with theirs is the prayer we pray-

One with theirs is our Hope, our Light-

One with theirs is the game we play-

One with theirs is our rule for right.

Still in the lore of her legend’s pages

Truth, like the quenchless star

Set for a sign for future ages

Shines on the years that are.

Here in the games that are ours for playing

Find we more that the moment’s prize-

Shoulder to shoulder our ranks arraying,

Face the future with fearless eyes,

Hence with doubting and vain surmise!

Standing firmly we front the foe;

Whatsoever the days devise,

Life shall call us and we will go.

Ay, and the lesson of this our chorus

Still we will bear in mind;

Draw for the light of the years before us,

Might from the years behind.

Here in the tasks that are ours for learning

Read we more than the pages bear-

Fan the flame in our spirit burning

Not to be less that our fathers were;

What they ventured we too would dare-

Whither they journeyed we set our face-

Long as The Lodge that had these in care,

Stand unmoved in her storied place.

Memory born of old days shall bind us

-Though we return no more-

Still shall the light of the years behind us

Brighten the years before.

William Wallace Cathcart Dunlop (1920)http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/walk/rcr51/ThomasAustin/tree/pafn21.htm Professor of Classics at Codrington College

Codrington College

Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados. It was founded by Christopher Codrington, who after his death in 1710 left portions of his 'estates' - two slave labour plantations on Barbados and areas of Barbuda - to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in...