X-Nico

47 unusual facts about Eton College


2011 Svalbard polar bear attack

Seventeen-year-old Horatio Chapple, a pupil of Eton College, was with a party of twelve when the attack happened.

Adrian Darby

Darby has served as a regional committee member of the National Trust; a fellow (governor) of Eton College (1979–1994); a county committee member of the Country Landowners Association.

Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh

The son of Robert Bruce, at one time Tory Member of Parliament for Clackmannan, he was born in Kennet in that county and educated at Loretto, Eton and Oriel College, Oxford.

Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran

He was educated at Eton College, and subsequently entered the diplomatic service.

Bangorian Controversy

Hoadly himself wrote A Reply to the Representations of Convocation to answer Sherlock, Andrew Snape, provost of Eton, and Francis Hare, then dean of Worcester.

Bill Fitzgerald

Before starting his television career, Fitzgerald taught junior high and high school level English in Rome, Italy and at Eton College in Great Britain.

Blackett baronets

He was educated at Eton College and served in the Rifle Brigade in the Crimean War and was seriously injured at the Sebastopol Redan.

Britten's Children

They became close friends a few years later when Humphrey was at Eton.

Christopher Wren, Jr.

He was educated at Eton and Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, which he entered in 1691, but left without a degree.

Claude Aurelius Elliott

Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott OBE, MA, (27 July 1888 - 21 November 1973) was Head Master of Eton College at Windsor in Berkshire, and was later Provost at the same school.

In 1949, after sixteen years as Head Master, Elliott was appointed Eton College's Provost, a post he held until 1965.

Coming Up for Air

He was the son of an Indian Civil Servant who was still in India, and he lived a genteel life with his mother and two sisters, though spending much of the year at boarding school at Eastbourne and later at Eton.

Cowick, Devon

In 1440 it was refounded by his successor King Henry VI (1422-1461) and was granted in 1451/2 to his new foundation of Eton College.

Daniel Dulany the Younger

Like many sons of wealthy Maryland families, Dulany was sent to England to be educated, at Eton College and Clare College, Cambridge.

Denis Granville

Lord Bath also obtained for him a promise of the next vacant fellowship at Eton College.

Duncliffe Wood

From there it passed into the possession of a French nunnery, until in 1414 it became a Crown property, from where it was then gifted to Eton College.

Edward Chichester, 6th Marquess of Donegall

After being educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he adopted a career in journalism and for many years wrote a column for the Sunday Dispatch under the title "Almost in Confidence".

Elizabeth George

It introduces Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, actually Lord Asherton, privately educated (Eton College and Oxford University) and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley's partner, (secondary modern educated and from a working-class background) – both from Scotland Yard.

Eton and Castle

The Jubilee River north of the Eton College playing fields forms the north eastern boundary of the ward with Chalvey.

Eton Choral Courses

In recent years the courses have been held over seven weeks, in Oxford, Cambridge and Durham as well as Eton College.

Falconbury School

Falconbury school prepared boys for entry to some of the major Public Schools in England; including Eton College and Sherborne School.

Fire in the Abyss

Numerous, as well as humorous, notable individuals from 16th century England populate this section, including Nick Udall, headmaster of Eton College, and Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister who was beheaded.

Francis Urquhart

He was educated at Eton where, although not noted for brilliance, was recognized for his diligence and industriousness.

Government College Umuahia

These three institutions, Government College Umuahia (GCU), Government College, Ibadan and Government College Zaria (Barewa College), were designed to follow the traditions of British "public schools" such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester.

H. D. G. Leveson Gower

He was educated at Winchester College, where he played cricket for the school first eleven for three years from 1890, and in 1892 he captained the school team to its first victory against Eton College for 10 years, scoring 99 runs and taking 8 wickets for 33 runs in the match.

Inverness by-election, 1954

The Tories chose as their representative the 36 year old, Eton and Sandhurst educated Lieutenant Colonel Neil McLean who had lived in the Highlands as a child.

Ivan T. Sanderson

As a teenager, Sanderson attended Eton College, and, at 17 years old, began a yearlong trip around the world, focusing mostly on Asia.

James Leigh-Pemberton

The son of former Governor of the Bank of England and life-peer Lord Kingsdown, James Leigh-Pemberton was educated at Eton and started his career at S. G. Warburg & Co.

John Bosanquet

He was born to Samuel Bosanquet, the governor of the Bank of England, and his wife Eleanor, and was educated at Eton College before being accepted into Christ Church, Oxford.

John Dickins

Born in London in 1746 and educated in Eton College, he came to America and was appointed a Methodist preacher in 1774.

John Pratt, 4th Marquess Camden

He succeeded in the marquessate at the age of only two months on the early death of his father, and was subsequently educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.

John William Kaye

The son of Charles Kaye, a solicitor, he was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Addiscombe.

Joseph Dawes

He was coach at Eton College from 1863 to 1866, and then engaged in a similar capacity with the Royal Artillery at Woolwich up to 1876.

L'Orphelin des Astres

Located in this quarter is the Star College which is modelled on the English public school Eton College right down to the uniforms.

Maurice Bridgeman

The third son of the 1st Viscount Bridgeman and Caroline Bridgeman, and younger brother of the 2nd Viscount, he was educated at Eton College, Berkshire and at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Oliver Bevan

Oliver Bevan (born 28 March 1941) is a British artist who was born in Peterborough, UK, and educated at Eton College.

Oxford–Cambridge rivalry

Cambridge may be best known in film as the real-life location of the court race scene portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire (although the scene was filmed at Eton College instead), or for the television series Porterhouse Blue.

Percy Hansen

While he was being educated at Eton College, Hansen's father applied for British citizenship so that his son could join the British Army.

Ralph Allwood

Ralph Allwood, MBE (born 1950) was the Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College in the UK until September 2011.

Reginald Welby, 1st Baron Welby

Born on his father's Rectory at Hareston in Lincolnshire, Welby was educated at Eton College where he became known amongst his friends as a "great footballer."

Richard Montgomerie

He is currently a chemistry teacher at Eton College where he has become a keen coach of sport and most notably U15 hockey.

Robert Gordon-Canning

Educated at Eton, he went on to serve in the 10th Royal Hussars in the First World War, attaining the rank of Captain and being awarded the Military Cross.

Robert Wylkynson

Robert Wylkynson (sometimes Wilkinson) (ca. 1450 – Eton after 1515) was one of the composers of the Eton Choirbook.

Royal College

Although many institutions are formally Royal Colleges, such as the three royal public schools of Westminster, Winchester and Eton, the phrase "The Royal Colleges" is commonly applied to the medical institutions, such as the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians, and the Royal College of Nursing and similar institutions in Australia, Canada, and elsewhere.

Sydney Watson

He then moved to Eton College, leaving in 1955 to take up a post as music lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, and organist of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, which posts he held until 1970.

Thomas George Coventry

He was born in London, the son of the Earl of Coventry and Lady Blanche Craven, and was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College in Camberley.

Thomas Morell

He was born in Eton, Buckinghamshire and educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge.


Bumps race

Bumps racing in fours is also the format of intramural rowing at Eton College and at Shrewsbury School.

Charles Ward-Jackson

Educated at Eton, Ward-Jackson served in the 3d Yorkshire Regiment and then the Yorkshire Hussars from 1891 to 1907; as an officer during the Boer War he was twice mentioned in dispatches.

Christopher Hussey

Hussey's series of monographs on selected houses and a series The Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge collected material drawn from his Country Life articles, offered in more permanent format: Petworth House, Clarence House, London, Ely House, London, Berkeley Castle, Eton College, Shugborough were all given the Hussey treatment, and they demonstrate the range of his competence.

Colin Hercules Mackenzie

Having attended first Summer Fields and then Eton (as a King's Scholar), Mackenzie was commissioned into the Scots Guards and was badly wounded at the very end of the First World War, undergoing a series of amputations of his leg in an ultimately successful battle against gangrene.

David Looker

After his education at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he went on to enjoy a playboy lifestyle during the 1930s.

Edmond Warre

He was educated at Eton, where he was an exact contemporary of Algernon Charles Swinburne, and then at Balliol College, Oxford, where he had a distinguished university career, taking a double first (1856 and 1859).

Francis Mudie

After graduation Robert Francis Mudie spent a term as assistant master at Clifton College before commencing as assistant master at Eton College.

George Hugh Bourne

Bourne was the son of the Revd R. B. Bourne and was educated at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1863, BCL 1866, DCL 1871).

James Walston

He is educated at Eton and Jesus College, Cambridge (BA 1975, and PhD 1986) and the University of Rome, La Sapienza (Diploma di Perfezionamento, 1981).

Jane Martha St. John

Her brother Michael, 21 years her senior had married and her brother William, 18 years older than his sister, was continuing his education at Eton and at Edinburgh with his tutor Sydney Smith, leaving her as the only child at home.

John Gally Knight

He was the eldest son of Rev. Henry Gally, rector of St. Giles-in-the Fields, Holborn, Middlesex and educated at Eton College (1753–57) and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1757), where he was awarded LLB in 1764 and elected fellow in 1764.

John George Witt

He was taught at home by a governess and then attended Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar, 'Keeper of the Wall' and 'Captain of the School,' and founded 'College Pop.'

Jordan Frieda

He had a small part in Steven Spielberg's TV mini series Band of Brothers and took the lead role in a controversial American TV movie called Prince William, filmed in 2002, in Dublin, Ireland, about Prince William of Wales, with whom Frieda attended Eton College.

Julian Russell Story

He was the youngest child of sculptor William Wetmore Story, and the brother of sculptor Thomas Waldo Story, and was educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford University, England.

Kenelm Lister-Kaye

Born in Kensington, London, England, the son of Sir Cecil Edmund Lister-Kaye, 4th Baronet, he attended Eton College, and played in Fowler's match in 1910.

Newcastle Scholarship

Distinguished winners of the Newcastle Scholarship in its original form include Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy, WR Inge, Patrick Shaw-Stewart, Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, Douglas Hurd and William Waldegrave (currently Provost of Eton College).

Robert Still

At Eton and Oxford he developed an interest in racquet games, winning a Blue and in later life playing real tennis for the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Rugby Group

Five of the Rugby Group schools, Charterhouse School, Harrow School, Winchester College, Rugby School and Shrewsbury School are members of the original nine 'Clarendon' public schools defined under the Public Schools Act 1868, with the other Clarendon schools (Eton College, St Paul's School, Merchant Taylor's School and Westminster School) having other affiliations.

Simon Hornblower

Born in 1949, he was educated at Eton College, where he was a scholar, at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he took first-class honours in 1969, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he took first-class honours in Literae Humaniores in 1971 (BA and hence subsequently MA) and a DPhil in 1978 with a thesis entitled Maussollos of Karia.

Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet

Beaumont was educated at Eton College, where he was taught drawing by the landscape painter Alexander Cozens.

Sir John Carew Pole, 12th Baronet

The elder son of Lieutenant-General Sir Reginald Pole-Carew, by his marriage to Lady Beatrice, a daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Ormonde, Carew Pole was educated at Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Stephen Spurr

Before his current appointment, Dr Spurr was the headmaster of Clifton College, and prior to that he was a master at Eton.

The Final Test

He played opening batsman for the Harrow Eleven, often in partnership with Victor Rothschild, and in 1929 he represented Harrow at Lord's in the annual match against Eton College.

The Land of Lost Content

Chenevix-Trench was known for his substantial tenures as headmaster of Bradfield College, Eton College and Fettes College; he had also taught at Shrewsbury School.

Chenevix-Trench had been a widely acclaimed teacher at Shrewsbury School, and subsequently headmaster at Bradfield College, Eton College and Fettes College, but was later criticised for his approach to corporal punishment.

Tom Lyon

He attended Eton College in the 1990s, where he met fellow magician Drummond Money-Coutts with whom he reformed the Eton College Magic Society, hosting such performers as Uri Geller.