English private schools have been described as gentlemen’s factories. But this was not always the case. What are some examples of these schools’ disheveled past?

Answer: At the turn of the nineteenth century English public schools had little to recommend them. A general atmosphere of unruliness was the norm. One observer said that the operating philosophy of many of these learning bodies was ‘anarchy tempered by despotism’. One Westminster school alumni writing two hundred years ago said, ‘The boys fought one another, they fought the masters, the masters fought them, they fought outsiders; in fact we were ready to fight everybody.’ Anarchy and violence was in the DNA of many of these schools. In 1710 Winchester boys mutinied over beer rations. At Eton, between 1768 and the 1830s, there were seven, what were termed, ‘uprisings’. In 1771 the carriage of a visiting Harrow governor was attacked and the school closed for nine days. In 1797 an Eton staff member was taken prisoner, precipitating the reading of the Riot Act, resulting in soldiers, special constables and armed farmers being called in.

Source: Modern World Encyclopedia

More at: History

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