St Peter's Court

St Peter's Court was a prep school for boys at Broadstairs in Kent, U.K. In 1969 it merged with the nearby Wellesley House School and its site was redeveloped for housing.

St Peter's Court
Location
Broadstairs
,
Kent

United Kingdom
Coordinates51.35°N 1.42°E / 51.35; 1.42
Information
TypeIndependent prep school
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Closed1969
GenderBoys
Age7 to 13

History

The school was established during the 19th century and came to prominence in the early 20th century when it was chosen by the Prince of Wales (later King George V) for his younger sons. During the Second World War it was evacuated to Shobrooke House, near Crediton in Devon,[1] and its head master, F. G. Ridgeway, predicted that after the war many preparatory schools would not survive much longer.[2] In the event, the move to Devon had one alarming result. At 4 a.m. on 23 January 1945, while occupied by some seventy St Peter's schoolboys and staff, Shobrooke House caught fire and was almost completely destroyed, with the death of two of the boys.[3]

After the end of the war the school returned to Broadstairs and was able to continue for many more years. In 1954 it had two joint head masters, the Rev. F. G. Ridgeway and C. C. Ridgeway, M.A., the number of boys was stated as 70 to 80, and there were ten teaching staff ("seven resident masters and three ladies").[4] In 1969 the school merged with another Broadstairs prep school, Wellesley House.

The school had its own Eton Fives court,[5] and many of its boys were prepared for Eton. The writer Simon Raven later recalled that "St Peter's Court was once a very smart private school, much patronised by the Royal family."[6]

In October 2019, Wellesley House celebrated the 50th anniversary of its amalgamation with St Peter’s Court.[7]

Former pupils

Those educated at St Peter's Court include:

Notes
  1. Cyril Cunningham, Beaulieu: Finishing School for Secret Agents (2005, ISBN 1844153126), p. xi
  2. Donald P. Leinster-Mackay, The Rise of the English Prep School (1984)
  3. Potpourri, from Exeter Express & Echo newspaper dated 23 January 1945, accessed 6 January 2015.
  4. The Public and Preparatory Schools Year Book 1954, p. 643
  5. Lord Kingsdown, a tribute at fivesonline.net, accessed 6 January 2015
  6. Simon Raven, Alms for Oblivion (2012 edition), p. 30
  7. 50th Anniversary at wellesleyhouse.org, accessed 14 May 2020
  8. "Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974)" in Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Oxford University Press, 2007)
  9. James Panton, Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy (2011), p. 251
  10. Peter Millar, "The Other Prince" in The Sunday Times dated 26 January 2003
  11. Book of Mackay, archive.org; Lorna Almonds, A British Achilles: The Story of George, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, p. 25
  12. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach, obituary in The Daily Telegraph dated 26 April 2011, accessed 6 January 2015
  13. "Lord Montagu of Beaulieu". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. The International Who's Who 2004 (Routledge, 2003, ISBN 1-85743-217-7), p. 892
  15. Paid Notice: Deaths SCLATER, BOOTH, NEIL LUTLEY in The New York Times accessed 2 October 2017
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