The Grammar Free School at Tenterden

( 129 ) THE GRAJYIMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. BY A. H. TAYLOR. A FEW months before he died in 1923 the late Mr. Leland L. Duncan, so well remembered as a keen and valued member of our Society, wrote to me asking if it was possible to write anything of the history of the Grammar School at Tenterden and suggesting one or two points in connection therewith. At that time I had but very little material in hand but have since acquired considerably more, and as a slight tribute to his memory the following notes have been compiled. The actual foundation or origin of this school is rather obscure. It is not included in the list of schools given by Lambarde,1 so we come to Kilburne2 who is the earliest of our Kentish historians to mention it. Under his survey of Tenterden he writes : One Heyman (Ancestor of the late Sir Peter Heyman) very antiently founded the Free-School of this Town, and William Marshall, clerke, about the year 1521 gave ten pounds per annum out of lands in this parish towards the maintenance of the School Master there. As Kilburne knew Tenterden well, being long a resident m the neighbourhood and often in the town on official and legal business, he must have had some knowledge of the school, but although the writer has searched the Heyman wills from 1464 which are preserved in the P .C.C. at Somerset House, he has failed to find any reference to the S'chool by that family. Later authorities give about the same until we come to Hasted a who amplifies Kilburne as follows: An ancestor of the family of Heyman of Somerfield many years since founded the free school in this town 1 Lambarde's Perambulation, sixth edition, p. 68. 2 Topogr(llJ)hie of Kent (1659), p. 271. " Fl,iB«>ry of Kent, Vol. ID, p. 100. 13 130 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. for teaching the Latin tongue gratis to so many poor children of this parish as the Mayor and Jurats should think proper who are trustees of it and appoint the Master ; but at present there are no children on this foundation. William Marshall, clerk, about the year 1521 gave £10 per ann. to be paid to the Master of this School out of a messuage and 12 ac. of land in this parish now belonging to Sir Edward Hales, bart, which was confirmed by a decree in the Exchequer anno 4 Queen Anne, and then in the occupation of Thomas Scoone. John Mantell, gent, in 1702 gave £200 which was laid out in the purchase of ten acres of fresh marsh land in St Marie's, let at £10 p.a. to be paid to the Master of this School. The South Chancel1 of the Church is appropriated to the use of this School. To go back, however, to more certain ground, we :find that the before mentioned William Marshall, who had been Rector of Warehorne and Vicar of Appledore, by his will2 dated 21 January 1523-4, made the following bequest: I will myn executours shall aske recover and receyve of George Guldeford esquier tenne pounds which he owes me ; and then I will that the same be distributed and bestowed towards the purchasing bilding or making of a convenient house for the said chauntry prest for the tyme being at Tenterden to loige and to teche his scolers accordingly. This seems to imply that the chantry and the school were practically of the same foundation, and is further confirmed by a clause in the Chantry Certificates which expressly mentions a certain rent charge in support of a chaplain for celebrating service in the church as for teaching in the Grammar School. But apart from this bequest it appears that he had during his life time, c. 1521, endowed the school with £10 p.a. from lands in the parish which came to be known as Marshall's lands, which clearly entitles him to 1 It is now almost entirely occupied by the organ. s P.C.C., 18 Bodfelde. 8 Chantry Certificates, Roll 29, No. 117 (See alsoAroh. Gant., Vol.XXXI, p. 243, and TheSchool8oj Medieval England, by A.F. Leach, pp. 298-9, 326). THE GR.AMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 131 be regarded as a generous benefactor to the School. This payment fell into abeyance or neglect later, and a lawsuit was commenced in 1703 to recover the same. This will be noticed further on. The school house bequest received an addition when George Strekenbold of Tenterden, by his will1 dated 18 March 1524-5, and proved 12 April 1525, directed : If there be a scole house made in the parish of Tenterden within seven years after my death then I will to the building of the same scole house twenty shillings. It appears by this that the building had not been commenced although Marshall had been dead over a year and the fact that the testator allows seven years for the purpose implies some uncertainty in the matter. George Guldeford was a feoffee and witness to this will, he it was who owed the ten pounds to Marshall. George :ffelyppe, who had been Bailiff of Tenterden in 1542 and 1546, by his will2 dated 21 July 1551, bequeathed "To M• Forcet the scolemaster, 13" 44 ." This was John Forcett, clerk, who gave evidences concerning the status of Smallhythe Chapel in 1549. He was then aged about 40 and acted as adviser and witness to sundry parishioners in making their wills. He eventually went to New Romney4 where he became Vicar in 1565 and died in 1572, having also been Rector of Dymchurch, 1563-65. At the visitation5 of Archdeacon Harpsfield in 1557, the school came under notice, the churchwardens being requested: To enquire of the state of the Schole, and to make certyficate whether they come to the church, behave themselves well and decentlie theare or no, videlicet, Samfues wife and Benett's wife. 1 Archdeaconry, Vol. 16, fol. 12. 2 Consistory, Vol. 24, fol 71. 3 Arch. Oant., Vol. XXX, p. 160. ' Probably about the end of 1661, as his name appears as a witness in a New Romney will dated April llth, 1552, when acting as Curate. 3 The Visitation of the whole of the City and Diocese of Mag. Nicholus Harpesfilde, D.L. Archdeacon of Canterbury, May 4th, 1567. (MS. Vol. in Cathedral Library, fol. 131.) 132 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. What these two women had to do with the school can only be a matter for conjecture, but as the first was found to be away from the town, and the other dead, nothing further appears to have been recorded. Three years later, at the Archdeacon's visitation1 in 1560, it was reported : " They have a skolemaster that doth teach grammar but what grammar they know not." And at a further visitation in 1576, presentments were made against "William Harris who teacheth grammar in our town," and " one Henry Robinson who teacheth English within our parish," but whether either of them were licensed was not known. According to a " Terrier2 of the Glebe lands belonginge to the p'sonage of Tenterden made 8 July 1577 "the school house appears to have been built on the glebe, the seventh item in the list being : " the Scole house and a yearde of land . 5\" out of a total amount of 20• 64 • With the opening of the sixteenth century the principal information available is contained in the names of the Schoolmasters. The name of George Ely, who was Vicar of Tenterden, 1571-1615, does not appear in connection with the school, but there can be no doubt that he was more or less interested through having been a Lower Master at the King's School, Canterbury, from 1568 until he came to Tenterden. DANIEL PICKARD. His name appears in the Parish Register as "Schoole= " in 1599 and 1603, and doubtless by reason of his abilities he was frequently employed to make the transcripts of the parish register now in the Diocesan Registry at Canterbury, one of his earliest having this endorsement: "29 Sept. 1600, copied forthe by Daniell Pickarde." Entries show that he did this for many years. lSAAO WA.RD, B.A., of Queens Coll., Carob., 1611, M.A., 1614. He was chaplain of Smallhythe and on being presented for serving that cure without licence8 confessed, 13 January 1 MS. Volumes of the Visitations of the Archdeacons of Canterbury (Cathedral Library). 2 Chartre Miscellanoo, Vol. XI, No. 91 (Lamb. Pal. Library). 3 Archdeacons' Visitations, Vol. 26 (1616-18), fol. 202. 0 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 133 1617-8, that he had done so for twelve months and "bath a schole at Tenterden where there is a Free School." This appears to be the only reference to him as Schoolmaster. He became Rector of Snargate in 1648. PETER BURTON. He also was occasionally employed in writing out presentments and making the register transcripts, c. 1640-41. In the parish register is the following entry : " 1644, Peter Burton Scoolemaster of this Towne was buried the 24th of August." An indenture1 bearing date, 20 December 1655, concerning premises in Tenterden, adds by way of describing their position: " . . which said premises do abut to the house called or known by the name of the Chantry or ffree gram.er schoole house of Tenterden towards the east . . To the common High Street and to the Closter of the said Chantry or Free Grammar School towards the south . " ROBERT CROPLEY probably succeeded Burton. During his term of office one of his pupils was Stephen Haffenden who eventually succeeded him as Master. The writer has in his care a letter written by Cropley to the father of one of his pupils asking for his fees, which appears of sufficient interest to quote in full : Goodman Girdler I had thought yt out of ye Goodnesse of your nature you would have payd mee long agoe. Surely you have had money since i time you sayd you would pay mee when you got money. Is not he yt laboureth worthy of his hire? is your dealing with mee according as you would have me to deale with you in ye like case ? Make my Cause your owne and then judge impartially. It may be you thinke i I tooke not sufficient paines wth your sonne, if you doe, you wrong me in your thought, blame not mee if your sonne did trewant away his time ; beleive it (if you please) as I have before told you i he asked leave in your name to goe about your businesse, so i I am not to be blamed for his fault, if you will pay mee in money deliver it I pray you to Daniel Dunoke, or if 1 Now in the possession of F. William Cook, M.D., F.S.A., of Appledore. 134 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. you thinke good let him have ye worth of it in mault, thus if you doe you shall satisfy mee who in ye mean time in expectation of satisfaction resteth Yours, ROBERT CROPLEY. ffeb. 16H. The above letter fills ten lines and is very clearly and neatly written in the small space of 4£ ins. by l¼ ins. Robert Cropley made the statuable declaration as required under the Act of 13 and 14 Car. II., 1661, and was followed by STEPHEN HAFFENDEN, also chaplain of Smallhythe Chapel and Cu.rate of Egerton, who was licensed to be the Schoolmaster by Archbishop Sheldon in 1666 and remained in that office till 1674. According to a "Catalogue of Promocons1 etc in ye Dioc. of Cant. 1663" it is spated that "Tenterden Free Schoole belongs to ye gift of ye Vicar." This may account for the Chaplains of Smallhythe holding the office, which was conferred on them as the right of the Vicar of Tenterden. Among the Corporation Records I met with the following under date 29 August 1666. "l\fomd. That one of the Indentures declaring the uses of ye Grafuar Schoole in Tenterden is in the custody of Edward £finch, esq. and the other Indenture is in the custody of William Aldcroft, Comon Clerke here, in trust for the uses in the said Indenture menconed." Neither of these indentures was to be found, otherwise full details and regulations regarding the school would be obtainable. ROBERT ORUTTALL, although appointed in 1674, did not make the required declaration till 1681. There is evidence that the affairs of the school were in an unsettled condition according to the following resolution passed at the Vestry held 5th April, 1681, being Tuesday in Easter week: Itt is· likewise now further ordered and agreed upon that Elhanan Tucker, gent, bee requested (as soone as conveniently he can) to waite upon s• Edward Hales in order to the contriveing some way for the 1 Lambeth MSS. 1126, p. 38. THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 135 settling of the ffreeschole in this pish. And that he shall have alsoe power to gratifie John Granger, gent, or any other pson that he shall imploy, with any sume of money not exceeding ffive gynnyes woh said s'Ulfle shalbe repaid out of the poore scott for this pish. During the year 1702 the school benefited considerably by the generosity of Mr. John Mantell, who contributed two hundred pounds which was laid out in the purchase of land in the parish of St. Mary-in-the-Marsh near New Romney. He filled the office of Mayor of Tenterden on three occasions, refusing to serve a fourth, and lies buried in the church where his epitaph, as recorded in a survey of the inscriptions, etc., made in 1881, describes him as a "Jurat of this place" and says that he died 30th July, 1702, aged 70 years. This memorial does not appear to be now extant as it is not recorded.in the Inscriptions at Tenterden which Mr. Duncan published in 1919. Mr. Cruttall was appointed Town Clerk of Tenterden, 6th November, 1702, being succeeded as Master of the School by HUMPHREY HAMMOND, B.A., of All Souls', Oxon, and Corpus Christi, Camb., who although appointed at Michaelmas, 1702, did not make the declaration1 until 1714. He also held the Chaplaincy of Smallhythe, and it was during his tenure of office that the lawsuit to recover an annuity of 40s. yearly due to the church which had not been paid since 1685 ; and the annuity of £10 yearly to the School, payment of which had only lately been refused was undertaken. The suit was against the Hales family as being owners of the lands charged with the annuities and was completely successful, the defendants being ordered to pay the arrears of a year and three-quarters to the school, and of ten and a half years to the church. The resolution passed by the vestry which led up to the proceedings is recorded in the Churchwardens' Accounts as follows : 1 After August 1st, 1714, Sohoolmasters took the oaths of :-(a) Allegie.nce e.nd Supremacy. (b) Abjuration of the Pretender. (c) Conformity to the Liturgy of the Churoh of England. (d) Repudiation of Transubstantiation. 136 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. The Third of June 1702. Itt is hereby ordred that M• William flinch be desired to waite on S• John Hales, Baronett, and in the name of the Pish of Tenterden to request of him a coppy of those writings in his possession which convey the Lands of Tenn pounds p. ann. for the use of the ffreeschoole of Tenterden aforesaid . . . And it is further ordred that in case the said S• John Hales shall deny or refuse to grant the Towne of Tenterden the said coppyes, or to make such further conveyance . . . that then the said M• ffinch shall take such course for the Recovery of the same as the Law shall direct. Signed by the Mayor, Vicar, and principal inhabitants. The suit was commenced by a Bill of Complaint1 being filed in the Easter Term of the second year of Queen Anne, 1703. This is addressed to the Right Honourable Sydney, Lord Godolphin, Lord High Trear of England, and contains forty-eight lines from which the following extracts are taken : sr Edward Northey, Knight, Attorney Geiiall of her Mat• most Excellent Majesty that now is, Sheweth unto and Informeth your Lordshipps . . on the behalfe and at the Relacon of the Mayor Juratts and Comonalty of the Towne and Hundred of Tenterden in the Countie of Kent ; Humfrey Hammond, gent, Schoolmaster of the Grammar :ffreeschool of the said Towne . . . That Sir John Hales of St Stevens', Co. Kent, Baronet, having the Inheritance of certaine Mannors, messuages, lands, etc in Tenterden and Woodchurch . . lineally descended from his ancestors . . . and that sm;ne or one of them having a pious and godly designe . . . did devise to the Mayor and Corporacon of the Towne of Tenterden for the said £free school for ever, one afiuity of ten pounds per ann . . . for the use and benefitt of the School and Schoolmaster . . and the said s• John Hales hath continued to pay the ten pounds to the Mayor and Corporacon ever since the death of his £father S• Edward Hales till about Michas last . . .And that the Deeds and Evidences were 1 Bills, Answers, etc., Exch. K.R. Will. ill and Anne. Four large parchments. THE GRAMMAR FREE SOHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 137 kept by the Mayor and Oorporacon in their Towne House . . . till about forty years agone . that then happened a ffire . . that burnt it to the ground and destroyed evidences, ooppies of wills etc . . . and noe copies thereof pserved, the said charities are in drmger of being lost . . the said sr John Hales contriveing how to defeat the charities and taking advantage of the calamity which ,4appened in the said Oorporacon by the said £fire and destruction of their deeds . . doth now absolutely refuse to pay . . · Writ of Subpena prayed. The answer of Sir John Hales to the above is contained in forty-five lines. He denied that to his knowledge or belief he was ever seised of the lands from which the ten pounds was payable and contended that it might have been paid with other things as an act of charity or voluntary gift and not otherwise. On the 12th February 1704-5 a Special Oommission1 was issued out of the Exchequer under this heading: Interrogatories to be exhibited to the witnesses produced, sworne, and exaied on the behalfe of her Ma't1•• Attorney Gen.all at the Relacon of the Mayor Jurats and Comonalty of the Town and Hundred of Tenterden ; and of Humphrey Hammond, Schoolemaster of the Grammer :ffree Schoole of the sd town These were twelve in number, the third of which was " As to your knowledge of the Grammer ffree schoole of Tenterden, the master, etc." and the seventh ".As to the burning of the Court House of the said Town and Oorporacon." On the 5th April the evidence, which discloses many features of interest, was taken, and from the statements made regarding the school the following items are extracted. Deposicons of Witnesses taken at the house of Willm Read called the W oollpack scituate in Tenterden on Thursday 5111 .April, 4 Anne, A.D. 1705, Before Robert Spiller, John ffowle, and :ffrancis Brooke, gent. by 1 Special Commissions and Depositions. Exch. Q. R., Vol. 4. Five parchments. 138 THE GRAMMAR FREE SOHOOL AT TENTERDEN. vertue of Her Mat1•• Com.ission to them and to Robert Taylour, gent. for the exacon of witnesses betw. Her Mat.1 . Attorney Generali at the Relacon of the Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty of Tenterden, pltfs ; and Sir John Hales, Barr\ deft, as follows : Stephen Haffenden of Egerton, clerk, aged 60 yeares and upwards. Sworne, To the 34• He knoweth the Grammer or ffree schoole of the Town of Tenterden and hath known the same for :£forty yeares and above. And was brought up a schollar there . . and that he was Licensed Schollmaster of the said Schoole by Gilbert, late Archbishop of Canterbury in 1666, and continued Master untill the year 1674 . . and that he doth beleive M' Humphrey Hammond is the present Schoolmaster and hath soe been for the space of Two yeares last past or thereabouts . . . and· during the time that he was schoolm' he did receive of Edward ffinch, esq, and M'. Andrew Tucker who were successive Stewards and Agents of Sir Edward Hales, Barr\ Grandfather of the defdt, the sum of £10 per ann. by halfe yearly payments . . . and did see in a booke in the custody of M' flinch a receipt by M' Cropley this deponent's former Maister and predecessor . . for the said £10 . . and after he left the School one M' Cruttall succeeded this deponent . and continued there as Schoole Master . . . £or the space of Tenn yeares or more . . and did likewise receive the said sallery as this deponent beleives. To the 71,h. He saith that he did know the Court House or Court Hall formerly standing in the Town of Tenterden . . and that it Wa.<3 by some accident burnt downe to the ground on or aboutl the 19th March 1660 . . and that it. was generally reputed in the said Corporacon that the writeings and instruments belonging to the Corporacon, or most of them, were, before the Burning of the said Court House or Court Hall, kept there. Stephen Ginder of Bennenden, gent. aged 84 yeares or thereabouts. Sworne, To the 3rd• That he knows the Grammer and ffree Schoole of Tenterden, and hath known the same ever since he was seven yeares of age, 1 i.e., 1660-61, actually in the year 1661. THE GR.AMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 139 and was then and afterwards a scholler there and hath allways heard it reported that a yearly payment of £10 p. ann. hath allways been paid to the Schoolmaster . out of the lands of the Hales in Tenterden. Benjamin Down of Kennardington, yeoman, aged 60 yeares . . . deposeth, To the 3rd • He did know the ffreeschoole in Tenterden about ffifty yeares since and was a schollar there with one M' Ha:ffenden when Mr Cropley was Master . . and hath heard it reported that the said Tenn pounds was paid by the Hales that belonged to the House or Seate called the Place _in Tenterden. Thomas Marshall of Halden, gent. aged 50 yeares and upwards . . Sworne, To the 3rd • He knoweth that there is a Schoole in the Towne of Tenterden and hath soe knowne the same for the space of 20 yeares last past . . .And that he hath been Steward for the defdt S• John Hales and his ancestors for about 20 yeares last past . . . and during all that tfme he hath duely paid to the School Master Tenn pounds yearely finding the same hath been paid by former Stewards. And that about a year since he was ordered by the defdt not to pay the same for the future. Thomas Scoone of Tenterden, carpenter, aged 40 yeares and upwards. Sworne, To the 4th • That he knoweth certaine lands in Tenterden belonging to Sir John Hales ; .And that he hath used the same for the space of 14 yeares last past, and during all this time the lands have been undertaxed to the publick taxes Tenn pounds yea.rely in respect of payment to the School. The further execucon of this Comission is adjourned to eight of the clock tomorrow morning being the 6th of April at the place abovesaid. Thomas Short of Tenterden, gent. aged 50 yeares . . . sworne and deposeth, To the 3rd • He doth know the Grammer ffreeschool . . . and that one Mr Humphrey Hammond hath been Schoolmaster for two yeares and a halfe last Lady day . . . and that he did see Mr Thomas Marshall, psent Steward, pay to the psent Schoolm•, Twelve pounds and tenn shillings at two payments for one year and a quarter due at Christmas 140 THE GRAMM.AR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. in 1703, and that there is one and a quarter due for arrears at Lady day past. James Skeets of Tenterden, gent. aged 70 yeares or thereabouts. Sworne, To the 3rd • He doth know the house which is called the ffreeschool and hath known the same ever since he was capable of remembering. And that M' Humphrey Hammond is reported to be the present schoolmaster and in all his time tenn pounds hath been paid James Whitfield of Tenterden, gent. aged 70 yeares and upwards. Sworne, To the 12t\ Saith that he hath formerly been Mayor of the Corporacon of Tenterden and that whilst he was soe Mayor, S' Edward Hales, the defdt• £father was at Tenterden in this deponent's company in the raigne of the late King James the 2d, and at that time this deponent acquainted the said Sir Edward Hales of the demands of the Corporacon out of his estate as to Tenn pounds yea.rely to the Schoole of Tenterden . . . and the said Sir Edward Hales did then declare that as to the £10 to the School he knew out of what lands the same was payable, and that he would make the said Corporacon a Tytle to the same Following this, nine questions or interrogatories were administered to witnesses on the behalf of Sir John Hales, defendant. Only three witnesses were examined and no fresh items regarding the school were disclosed. In the Court of the Exchequer on the 21st June, 1705, the Attorney General made further relation of the matter1 pointing out The said defdi paid £10 per ann. to the Schoolemaster of the said towne from the decease of S" Edward Hales, the defendant's father, till Michas before the exhibiting 0£ this bill. . And that the defdta father was in the tyme of King James II, Governor of Dover Castle and thereby had great authority in the Cinque Ports . . . and soone after the late Revolucon . did goe into parts beyond the seas, and there 1 Exchequer Decrees and Orders, Series IV, Vol. 18, fol. 514-515. THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 141 continued till hee dyed soe that there was no opportunity to sue him. . . . And to the end that the school of the said Schoolmaster of Tenterden for the time beinge may know for the future to what lands of the said defdh to resort to for the said paymt of Ten pounds per ann. . . . It is ordered and decreed by the Court that a Commission doe yssue under the seale of this Court to certaine Comm•• to be named on both sides to ascertaine and sett out the lands of the said def& in Tenterden lyable to the payment of £10 . In accordance with this order a certificate was issued to four Commissioners dated at Westminstt:ir, 27th June, when two witnesses were further examined under this title Deposicons of witnesses taken at the house of William Read called the Woolpack scituated in Tenterden on Fryday 5th October, 4 Anne, before John Mascall, sen. gent. Richard Baker, gent. Nathaniell Denew, esq. and John Sawkins, gent. by vertue of her Mat1•• Comission out of the Court of Exchequer . Thomas Marshall of High Halden, aged five and fifty yeares or thereabouts, deposeth that he hath several times paid the said £10 to the Schoole of Tenterden in perticler to this psent schoolmaster M" Hamond and that he took receipts . . for the same to be issueing out of lands in. Tenterden . . . John Edmed of W oodchurch, yeom. aged seaven and forty yeares and upwards, deposeth that he dwelt in Tenterden by the space of seaven yeares and in that time served the office of Churchwarden and Overseer of the Poor, and heard it reported that certain lands were liable to the payment of ten pounds, but what, lands he knoweth not nor ever heard . . At the foot of this sheet is the following memorandum : This Cofuission was adjourned from Tenterden to the house of John Reeve being the signe of the Sarazens head in Ashford to this p'sent 22 October for the further execucon by us. Jo. MAsoALL. Rron. BAKER. 142 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL ATTENTERDEN. No further evidence was tendered at the adjournment and the Commissioners not fully agreeing on certain points made two separate reports, one being signed by J. Mascall and R. Baker, and the other by Nathaniel Denew and J. Sawkins. The certificate of the two former contains suggestions for additional lands to be acquired in case of fire or other accident or calamity, but this was rejected. Judgment was eventually given on the 26th November, 1705, in a decree1 which fills 158 lines of closely written matter with the signatures of four judges. The · material points are as follows: It is thereupon ordered adjudged and decreed by the Court that the said der doth forthwith pay to the said Relator, Humphrey Hammond, the said sum of seaventeene pounds tenn shillings due and unpaid being one yeare and three quarters from Christmas 1703 to Mic:iias last. . . It is also ordered and decreed that [ certain specified lands] containing by estimacon 12 acres lyinge in Tenterden aforesaid in the occupacon of Thomas Scoone . . . shall for the future stand and be charged with the payment of Tenn pounds to the Schoolmaster of the said ffreeschoole of Tenterden £or the time beinge . . . The suit having thus terminated with success both to the Church and School the next matter was the settlement locally. This was accomplished at a " Publick Vestry of the Inhabitants of the parish of Tenterden, the seaventh day of March in the :ffifth year of our Soveraign Lady .Anne .Anno 1706 " when " The accompt of William Finch, gent. as Sollicitor for the parish of Tenterden in a cause . . . concerning the 10 pounds pr ann. payable to the ffree Grammer School of Tenterden was made and yeilded up." Entries relating to this occupy considerable space in the Churchwardens' Accounts and equally concern the church rents recovered at the same time as the school annuity. The parishioners being so well satisfied with the result it was " .Allowed by the said Vestry to M' wm flinch for his Extraordinary care and 1 Exchequer Decrees and Orders, Series IV, Vol. 18, fol. 642-543. THE GR.A.MM.AR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 143 paines in the suite . . :ffiiteene1 Guineas " in addition to " Paid to M• Alex. Homesby . . . clerk to the pishes Sollicitor in the cause agt S• Jon Hales, 1.0.0." Humphrey Hammond continued in office till his decease which took place on 4th March 1735-6 in the 58th year of his age. He is interred in the churchyard at Tenterden, and on the tomb erected to his memory it states that he was Master of the Free School in this town and Rector of East Guilford in Sussex. Robert Stace is mentioned as a schoolmaster in the years 1725 and 1727 ; he may have been an assistant or acted if Mr. Hammond was absent. THEOPHILUS DEL' ANGLE, clerk, is stated to have made the st􀂍tutable declaration2 in 1732. He was Vicar of Tenterden 1723-1763, but only resident sixteen years, so that he could not well have held office after about 1740. At the visitation3 of Archbishop Secker in 1758 in answer to the enquiry whether there was a Free School in the town, the Vicar replied, " There is a Grammar School. . . . Mr. Reginald Mantle gave 200 pounds to the schoolmaster. . . . The Mayor and Corporation of Tenterden are trustees and see the several sums annually paid to the Schoolmaster for whose use they were given. . . ." The benefaction tables and other authorities however state that it was John Mantell. JAMES HALL appears as the next ·and is mentioned as schoolmaster about the middle of the eighteenth century, and making the declaration4 in 1786. On his decease a Mr. James Buckland set up a private school in the town and there not being a suitable or competent person to succeed to the Grammar School, the salary was given to him on his undertaking to teach six children grammar (Latin) to preserve the old foundation distinct. This arrangement continued for 1 This amount is ca.rried out aa £16 2s. 6d., showing that the guinea was then calculated at £1 ls. 6d. t .Arch. Oant., Vol. XLI, p. 101. 3 Visitation of the Diocese and Peculiars of Canterbury, May 1758 (Lambeth MSS. 1134, 4, p. 234). ' .Arch. Oant., Vol. XLI, p. 101. 144 THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERD.EN. some time till about May in 1817• when Mr. Buckland left Tenterden and became the Master of the Olothworkers School at Sutton Valence where he gave evidence before the Commissioners in November, 1818. Much interesting information is obtained from the report! of the Charity Commissioners who visited and took evidence at Tenterden on the 4th and 5th November, 1818. Three witnesses, the Rev. J. R. Coombe, Vicar, V. Mills, esq., Jurat and Treasurer of the School; and J.B. Pomfret, esq., J urat and a Trustee, were examined. The latter stated that he had resided in Tenterden thirty-three years, and had known three or four young men appointed masters of the Grammar School, and after a few years'trial they all quitted the situation not :finding a sufficient number of scholars to make it answer. The report deals very fully with the condition of the school as then existing, and a few extracts are here given : It does not appear that any property was derived from the original foundation beyond the premises used as the school and schoolhouse. Marshall's donation of £10 per ann. is the earliest endowment of which any trace exists. It is regularly received from the steward of Sir Edward Hales by the treasurer of the school who also receives the annual £10 payable out of ten acres of marsh land in the level of Romney Marsh purchased with the legacy given by Mantel. This last mentioned land is now let at a yearly rent of £33, which is an advance of £18 upon the previous lease. . In an indenture dated 10 November 1666, it is stated that the premises, denominated as a Grammar School, consisted of a messuage or tenement and half an acre of land, but at the present time there is nothing but a small yard annexed to the school house, the land having been encroached upon by new buildings. The school house is now let in two tenements at rents of £8.8.0 and £7. 7 .0 yearly making the whole amount of the school revenue £58.10.0 per ann. 1 'l'lw first report of the Oommissionera re Oharitiea and tlw Jj]ducaticn of JM Poor. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, March 4th, 1819. Vol. I, 1819, pp. 148, Append. p. 281. From an engraving of 1824 in Buckler's architectural drawings. (Reproduced, by the courtesy of Messrs. Methuen & Co., from The Schools of Mediawal England, by A. F. Leach.) At thf' pr<'R<'nt day. THE GRAMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. 145 Thinking that as a Grammar School the foundation wa.s of no use to the parish, the trustees proposed that its revenues should be applied to the support of the National School established in the town . . this plan has been embraced . . and it appears to be the general opinion of the parish that the present establishment is more beneficial than the old one could possibly be if restored. . The salary paid to the ma.ster of the National School is £70, and to the mistress £30 . there are about 100 boys and about 80 girls. . It is worthy of remark, however, that it was stated to us in evidence by the present Vicar, that a clergyman of the name of Brown1 who serves two curacies in the neighbourhood has lately come into the town and has a few private scholars to whom he teaches the classics in the old schoolroom which he rents of one of the tenants for 2' a week, and who, the witness thinks, would be capable and desirous of undertaking the Grammar School upon its old establishment, and it appeared to be the opinion of the same witness that in the present character of the population, six boys or more might be found in the neighbourhood whose parents wish them to learn grammar. This proposal, however, did not mature, and the old Grammar Free School finally became merged in the National School, and so continues at the present day, one half of the revenues being paid to the Tenterden School Charity ( otherwise the National School) and the remainder to the Kent Education Committee as the local education authority. At the enquiry2 held under the Municipal Corporations' Act in 1834, in dealing with the School, after noticing a complaint made by the Dissenters regarding the lack of facilities for educating their children, the Commissioner remarks " the original foundation for six scholars is still preserved and from them no religious exercises are required.'' 1 This was the Rev. Thomas R. Browne, who had been licensed to the curacy of Newenden, some five miles distant, in 1817. (Act Book, XIV, pp. 170, 222.) 2 Municipal Oorpora.tions. Appendix to first report, printed by order of the Rouse of Commons, March 30th, 1835, Sect. 44, p. 1068. 14 146 THE GR.AMMAR FREE SCHOOL AT TENTERDEN. Nicholas Carlisle, F.S.A., who published a work on Endowed Grammar Schools in two volumes in 1818, under Tenterden1 quotes only Hasted's account, and for want of further information adds, "No answer has been received to the author's letter." Whatever was the cause of this, Tenterden was not the only defaulter, as other schools also failed to send replies, among which were Sevenoaks, Tunbridge and Wye. A view of the old school which is situated two doors eastward of the Town Hall, may be seen in Buckler's architectural drawings, dated 18th April, 1824, and preserved in the British Museum.2 This has been well reproduced in a useful work, The Schools of M ediceval England, by A. F. Leach (1915), p. 326; and is reprinted here, by the kind permission of the publishers, together with a view of the building as it stands at the present day. As stated in the Commissioners' Report of 1818, it is still occupied as cottage tenements; the end dwelling now shown as that of a seedsman, etc., the writer remembers over fifty years · ago was a bootshop occupied by George Ellis, First Serjeant-at-Mace to the Corporation (1862-1902). A few friends have kindly furnished me with some notes which have been incorporated in the foregoing. To each of them I tender my sincere thanks.-A.lI.T. 1 In Vol. I, p. 625. 2 Add. MS. 36368, Vol. XIII, No. 117.