Nineteen boys joined the school during the new term of January-July, 1848. This included four pairs of brothers, the Elliots, the Hills, the Kennards, and the Woods, and two cousins, Henry and William Sewell, William Sewell’s nephews. The inclusion of a number of these in the school had been the subject much discussion between Sewell, Robert Singleton and the various parents and close relations of the boys concerned, particularly the Elliot brothers, and the Hills, who were being moved from Marlborough College, and Henry Portman. Despite the doubts over a suitable age for a boy to start at the school, which had been a major stumbling block for the admission of Gilbert Elliot, at least three were over 15 when they started, being born in 1833, whilst one, Nicholas Hill, born 1832, was already nearly sixteen. The youngest new boy was Henry Sewell, born 1840, and still only 8 years old. This wide discrepancy in the boys’ ages caused problems, which were possibly not rectified until William Bedon Heathcote became Warden in 1851, when he established junior and senior dormitories, and gave the younger boys their own matron.
Most stayed at the school for a reasonable time, given their ages at entry: two left within a year, and one in the next year (1849) but the majority stayed throughout Singleton’s time as Warden, ten boys leaving with him at the end of 1850, and two in 1851. A further four boys continued until the end of Heathcote’s Wardenship in 1852. Only three of those who came in the initial two terms continued under William Sewell’s Wardenship, including his nephew, Henry Sewell. Only four are recorded as attending another school after leaving Radley.
Of the first twenty-two boys to enter the school (including George Melhuish, Samuel Reynolds and Clutterbuck) ten went on to graduate (nine from Oxford, one from Cambridge University); five went into the Church; four into the army; three into the professions (doctor, writer, insurance broker) and three into business (two brothers working together trading with Russia, one a brewer in Suffolk); two emigrated to the colonies, with a third entering the Indian Civil Service; two became prominent local landowners, serving as magistrates as Justices of the Peace, and one became a member of Parliament; one died young after a distinguished university career, and for one there is no information. Three died in their early twenties, three in middle age (41, 57 and 58) but all the others lived long lives, ranging from 75 years to 93.
Arrived Lent Term (ie. between January-April, 1848)
Day, Hermitage Charles. Born 1833. Aged 14/15 on admission. Son of Thomas Hermitage Day of Frindsbury, Rochester. Hermitage Day was appointed one of the first eight prefects by William Heathcote in 1851. He left in the latter half of 1851. He entered Brasenose College, Oxford in 1851; BA 1855; MA 1858; ad eund. MA Durham University 1859. Took Holy Orders 1856. Served as Vicar of Bredhurst, Kent, 1864-78. Died at Frindsbury, Rochester, 29th September 1917.
Donnison, Edward William. Born 1834. Aged 13/14 on admission. Son of John Donnison of 71 Cornhill, London. Left Radley in 1850. He emigrated to Canada and then to New York, where he died 8th March 1859.
Elliot, Dunsterville. Born 1835. Aged 12/13 on admission. Son of William Elliot, Doctor, of Stratford, Essex. Left Radley in 1850. He became an insurance broker and then a librarian. He died at Belvedere, Kent, 17th December 1893.
Elliot, Gilbert Stanley. Born 1833. Aged 15 on admission. Elder brother of Dunsterville. He left Radley in 1849. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford, 1851-52. He then emigrated to Australia, where he became a station owner in New South Wales. In 1868 he married Catherine Maria, daughter of William Robinson of Courtlands, Barstow, Surrey. He died from a carriage accident at Young, New South Wales, on 10th February 1874.
Hill, Alfred Octavius. Born 1835. Aged 12/13 on admission. Son of Henry Hill, (who had died before his sons attended Radley), of Ashfield Hall, Cheshire. Transferred from Marlborough College. Alfred Hill was appointed one of the first eight prefects by William Heathcote in 1851. He left Radley in 1852. He became a merchant in Russia. In 1856 he married Bessie Alice, daughter of Dr John Drury of St Petersburg. He died in St Petersburg on 19th July, 1869.
Hill, Nicholas Stanton. Born 1832. Aged 15/16 on admission. Elder brother of Alfred. Transferred from Marlborough College. Left Radley 1850. Became a Russia broker based in Eastcheap, London. In 1856 he married Katharine Boycott, daughter of Rev. Frederick Gauntlett, Rector of Fladbury, Worcestershire, and in 1907 he married Margaret Emily, daughter of Hugh Alexander Kennedy, Madras Army. He died in London on 5th February, 1918.
Howard, Henry. Birth date unknown. Son of John Henry Howard of Woburn Place, London. He left Radley in 1854. Attended Trinity College Dublin, awarded Bachelor of Medicine. He died in Honolulu, c. 1890.
Portman, Henry Fitzhardinge Berkeley. Born 1839. Aged 8/9 on admission. Son of Major Henry William Berkeley Portman, JP, late of 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, of Langton Lodge, Dorset. He left in 1850. He attended Magdalen College, Oxford from 1859, awarded BA 1863, in Holy Orders 1864. He became the Rector of Pylle, Somerset, 1866-85, and of Orchard Portman with Thurlbear from 1885. He married (1st) in 1866, Alice Elizabeth, daughter of John Mainwaring Paine of Farnham; and 2nd, in 1887, Gertrude, daughter of John Frederick Norman of Staplegrove, Taunton. He died at Thurlbear, 18th November 1924.
Sewell, Henry. Born 1840. Aged 7/8 on admission. Son of Henry Sewell, of Wellington, New Zealand, and nephew of William Sewell. Appointed Senior Prefect under William Sewell in 1857. He rowed for the VIII in 1855-6. He left Radley in 1858. He was awarded a Scholarship and Mathematics Exhibition to University College, Oxford in 1858. BA 1862, MA 1879. He joined the Indian Civil Service (Madras) in 1862. Became Councillor and Magistrate at Trichinopoli in 1875; District and Sessions Judge 1886; Councillor and Magistrate South Arcot, 1887-90. Retired 1891. In 1872 he married Sarah Letham, daughter of E.J. Bostock of Australia. He died at Boscombe, Bournemouth, on 13th April, 1919.
Willis, Thomas Frederick. Born 1838. Aged 9/10 on admission. Son of Rev. Thomas Willis, Incumbent of Southwick, Brighton. He left Radley in 1852, and shortly afterwards entered Eton College as a Scholar. He went to Exeter College, Oxford in 1857, taking his BA in 1861, and Holy Orders 1862-76. In 1864 he married Eleanor, daughter of James Farthing. She died in 1870, and in 1872 he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Milner of Clapham Park. He died in London on 20th October, 1928.
Wood, Henry. Born 1835. Aged 13/14 on admission. Son of Robert Henry Wood of Richmond, Surrey. He left Radley within a few months in 1848. In 1853 he joined the 69th Regiment, transferring in 1855 to the 30th Regiment, and then in 1859 to the Rifle Brigade. He achieved the rank of Brevet Major in 1872, commanded his battalion in 1880-85, made Brevet Colonel in 1884 and commanded the 9th Regimental District in 1887-90. He retired in March 1890. He served in the Crimean War, including the Siege of Sebastopol, 1855-6; on the North-West Frontier in India, 1864; in the Afghan War, 1879; and was mentioned in despatches in the Mahsood Wuzeeree Expedition in 1881. His first wife, married in 1866, was Charlotte Frances, daughter of Major-General Smith, who died in 1869; and his second wife, married in 1871, was Helen Mary, daughter of Rev Henry Brown, Rector of Woolwich. Henry Wood died at Norwich on 17th March, 1919.
Wood, Robert. Born 1837. Younger brother of Henry Wood. Aged 10/11 on admission. He left, with his brother, shortly after entering Radley in 1848, and later attended King’s College School, London. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1856, taking his BA 1859, MA 1861, and Holy Orders 1861. He served as Vicar of Christ Church, Erith, 1875-81, then as Rector of Halstead, Kent, 1881-87, of Smarden, Kent, 1887-90, and as Vicar of Bickley, 1890-98. In 1861 he married Charlotte, daughter of WH Goschen, of 12 Austin Friars, EC, London. He died at Farncombe, Surrey on 6th March, 1912.
Young, John Hardy. Born 1835. Aged 13/14 on admission. Son of John Young of Stamford Hill, London. Left Radley in 1850. There are no further details of his life in Radley’s records.
Arrived Summer Term, 1848: August-September
Byass, Robert Nicoll. Born 1835. Aged 13/14 on admission. Son of Robert Blake Byass, of Neville Court, Kent. Left Radley in 1851. Attended Oriel College, Oxford, 1853. Became Justice of the Peace for Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, 1874. Married, first in 1857, Mary, daughter of Rev W. Hutchinson, who died 1879; second, in 1884, Mary Ann, daughter of James Dalglish of Aigburth, Lancashire. He died at Bournemouth on 4th April, 1924.
Kennard, Adam Steinmetz. Born 1833. Aged 14/15 on admission. Son of John Pierse Kennard of Hordle Cliff, Hampshire. Left Radley in 1850. Became Justic of the Peace for Hampshire in 1879, and Sherriff in 1885. He married, first in 1861, Grace Ellen, daughter of Joseph Hegan of Dawpool, Cheshire, who died 1880; and second, in 1883, Alica Jane, daughter of H. Lomax Gaskell, of Kiddington Hall, Oxfordshire. He died at Belmore, Upham, on 1st February, 1915.
Kennard, Edmund Hegan. Born 1834. Younger brother of Adam. Aged 13/14 on admission. Left Radley 1850. Attended Balliol College, Oxford, 1853; 3rd Class in Law and History, 1857, BA 1858, MA 1873. Joined 8th Hussars, 1858, achieved the rank of Captain in 1866, retired from active service in 1870, and then became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 15th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, 1870-1885, Honorary Colonel from 1885. Member of Parliament (conservative) for Beverley, Yorkshire, 1868-9 and Lymington, Dorset, 1874-85. In 1868 he married Agnes, daughter of Joseph Hegan of Dawpool, Cheshire – sister of his brother Adam’s wife, Grace. Agnes died in 1906. Edmund died at Great Tangley Manor, Guildford on 9th July, 1912.
A third Kennard brother joined the school in the following term in 1848.
Kennett, Charles Leighton. Born 1838. Aged 9/10 on admission. Son of Captain Charles Leighton Kennett. Left Radley in 1850, and attended Lancing School. Joined the 4th Hussars in 1858, Captain, 1865, retired 1866. In 1864 he married Miss Emma Allison. He died at Crawley, Sussex, on 1st December 1867.
Richards, Edward Saxon. (photograph) Born 1837. Aged 9/10 on admission. Son of Rev. Edward Tew Richards, Rector of Farlington, Hampshire. Became one of the earliest Prefects. Left Radley in 1855. Awarded an Exhibition to Trinity College, Oxford, 1855 and a Demy at Magdalen College, Oxford, 1856. He died at Oxford on 20th January, 1857. His father founded the Richards Gold Medal in his memory. This has remained the highest prize awarded annually by Radley College.
Sewell, William Robert Dalrymple. Birth date unknown. Son of General Sir William Henry Sewell, KCB. Left Radley 1850, and attended Addiscombe School, 1850-52. He joined the Madras Artillery in 1852 and served in the Indian Mutiny in 1857, including the capture of Delhi. He was mentioned in despatches. He was invalided out of the army and died on the voyage home, off St Helena, on 6th January, 1859.
Last modified 1 February 2013