John Henry Newman - the local connection
In the light of the papal visit to beatify Newman, here is the local connection to the then Anglican Newman.'In May 1808, John Henry Newman arrived at Great Ealing School as a boarder. A large private School of about 290 boys, it was run along the lines of the public schools by the genial Dr George Nicholas. ‘Dr Nicholas . . . was accustomed to say that no boy had run through the school, from the bottom to the top, so rapidly as John Newman.’ At the end of his time at Ealing School, John Henry underwent his conversion, influenced by Thomas Scott. '. . . to whom (humanly speaking) I almost owe my soul.' Scott was an Evangelical writer and clergyman who in his The Force of Truth traced his gradual recovery from a period of Arianism and then Unitarianism, to attainment of a firm and fervent Trinitarian faith. Newman confessed, 'I so admired and delighted in his writings that, when I was an undergraduate, I thought of making a visit to his parsonage, in order to see a man whom I so deeply revered.' - http://www.birmingham-oratory.org.uk/newman/Supplement.pdfFrom Wikipedia, 'Great Ealing School was situated on St Mary's Road, Ealing W5 London and was founded in 1698. In its heyday of the 19th century, it was as famous as Eton or Harrow, being considered "the best private school in England".[The school first took up residence in Ealing's Old Rectory. This was a moated house with a magnificent garden which stood next to the church of St Mary where Ranelagh Road now runs and all the way northward, along St Mary's Road to Warwick Road. The school had a swimming pool, cricket greens, tennis courts and the once famous Fives courts. A row of five cottages were used as studies. Opposite the school was the parish workhouse, where the poor and infirm slept three or more to a bed. [2] [3]The King of France, Louis-Philippe, taught mathematics and geography at the school. He did this to support himself whilst living in exile in Twickenham between 1800 and 1815. [4]Eventually, the Rectory succumbed to dry rot and had to relocate in 1847.[2]It moved from the north side of St. Mary's Church in Ealing on the eastern side of St Mary's Road to the western side of the same road and was renamed The Owls, which then formed part of its crest. In 1874, it became a day school teaching vocational subjects such as bookkeeping. In 1879, it changed again, becoming a school for Jewish boys.It closed in 1908 and the roads Cairn Avenue and Nicholas Gardens now stand upon the grounds. The latter is named after the famous headmastering family of its greatest period.Famous PupilsWilliam S. Gilbert of Gilbert and SullivanThomas Huxley - scientistFrederick Marryat - authorCardinal Newman - churchmanHicks Pasha - soldierHenry Rawlinson - soldier and adventurerZachary Pearce (1690–1774) Bishop of Rochester. George Augustus Selwyn (1809-1878) , First Bishop of New Zealand.Charles Knight. Publisher
Graham Weeks ● 5690d0 Comments