Rugby School

Rugby School is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom and is perhaps the leading co-educational boarding school in the country.

Rugby School was founded in 1567 as a provision in the will of a certain Lawrence Sheriff who had made his fortune supplying groceries to Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Since Lawrence Sheriff[?] lived in Rugby, the school was intended to be a free grammar school for the boys of that town. Gradually, however, the nature of the school shifted to become fee-paying, and so a new school - Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School - was founded to continue Lawrence Sheriff's original intentions.

The school's most famous headmaster was Dr. Thomas Arnold. Appointed in 1828 he executed many reforms to the school curriculum and administration and was immortalised in Thomas Hughes'[?] book Tom Brown's School Days[?].

The game of Rugby owes its name to the school. The legend of William Webb Ellis and the origin of the game is commemorated by a plaque which states;

THIS STONE

COMMEMORATES THE EXPLOIT

OF

WILLIAM WEBB ELLIS

WHO WITH A FINE DISREGARD FOR THE RULES OF FOOTBALL,

AS PLAYED IN HIS TIME,

FIRST TOOK THE BALL IN HIS ARMS AND RAN WITH IT,

THUS ORIGINATING THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF THE RUGBY GAME

A.D. 1823

However the legend is pure myth.

Rugby School has both day- and boarding-pupils - the latter in the majority. Originally it was for boys only, but girls have been admitted to the sixth form since 1975. It went fully co-educational in 1995.

One of the more famous alumni of Rugby School was Charles Dodgson, later to become famous as Lewis Carroll, who did not enjoy his stay there.

External links
The school maintains a web presence at http://www.rugbyschool.net