- Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School
Bedford School is an independent, selective, fee-paying school (public school) for boys, situated in Bedford, 50 miles north of London, England. It has a long and established history and is well respected as a centre of academic excellence.
The school was founded in 1552, much aided by the actions of Sir William Harper (indeed, the school is now one of four in a group of schools run by the Harpur trust), when King Edward VI granted letters patent.
In 1979, the school suffered a devastating arson attack during the night, and the imposing main building was gutted by fire. The flames leapt to an astonishing 130ft high. The fire was fought throughout the night, into the early morning of Sunday 4th March, and when it had finally been beaten, the extent of the damage was revealed: Over 90% of the building had been destroyed by the blaze and 30 classrooms lost. Remarkably, almost all of the pupil-records were recovered, but the extensive collection of portraits, books and furniture were destroyed.
The school today prides itself on both its academic prowess, and its extra-curricular strength. On the sports field, the school is able to field in great depth (up to 4 or 5 teams per age group in major sports (rugby, hockey, cricket) fixtures) and has a respectable career success. Incidentally, the school has produced many fine sportsmen, such as the young cricket star Alistair Cook, who captained the England U19 team in Bangladesh in 2004.
Old Bedfordians
Prominent old boys of Bedford School include:
- James Dennis (1815–1861), palaeontologist and natural historian
- Henry Hawkins, Baron Brampton (1817–1907), barrister and Judge of the High Court of Justice, 1876–1898
- Henry Corbet (1820–1878), agricultural writer and editor
- James Howard (1821–1889), agriculturalist and agricultural implement manufacturer
- Sir Wyndham Dunstan (1861–1949), chemist and Director, Imperial Institute, 1903–1924
- John Platts (1830–1904), Indian and Persian language expert
- Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), occultist
- Hubert Burge (1862–1925), Headmaster of Winchester College, 1901–1910, Bishop of Southwark, 1910–1919, and Bishop of Oxford, 1919–1925
- General Sir Walter Braithwaite (1865–1945), Adjutant-General to the Forces, 1927–1931
- Sir Walter Langdon-Brown (1870–1946), Regius Professor of Physic, University of Cambridge, 1932–1935
- H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870–1916), short story writer
- Field Marshal Sir Cyril Deverell (1874–1947), Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1936–1937
- Sir Lynden Macassey (1876–1963), engineer and barrister
- Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker (1877–1930), Director-General of Civil Aviation, 1922–1930, and victim of R101 disaster
- Major-General Sir Hubert Huddleston (1880–1950), Commandant, Sudan Defence Force and General Officer Commanding Sudan, 1925–1930, and Governor-General of the Sudan, 1940–1947
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett (1882–1945), Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq, 1932–1935, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Royal Air Force Training Command, 1936–1939, and Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942
- Gilbert Campion, Baron Campion (1882–1958), Clerk of the House of Commons, 1937–1948
- Sir Bernard Reilly (1882–1966), Resident/Chief Commissioner/Governor of Aden, 1931–1940
- Charles Meek (1885–1965), anthropologist
- Marshal of the RAF Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall (1886–1963), Air Member for Supply and Organisation, 1935–1937, Chief of the Air Staff, 1937–1940, and Governor-General of New Zealand, 1940–1946
- Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker (1887–1964), soldier and weapons designer
- Admiral Sir Robert Burnett (1887–1959), Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic, 1944–1946, and Flag Officer Plymouth, 1946–1950
- William Rowan (1891–1957), ornithologist
- Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul Maltby (1892–1971), Air Officer Commanding Java, 1942, and Black Rod, 1946–1962
- John Dudley North (1893–1968), aircraft designer
- General Sir Sidney Kirkman (1895–1982), General Officer Commanding, 50th Northumbrian Division, 1942–1944, and XIII Corps, 1944–1945, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1945–1947, and Quartermaster-General to the Forces, 1947–1950
- Sir Percivale Liesching (1895–1973), Permanent Under-Secretary, Ministry of Food, 1946–1948, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1949–1955, and High Commissioner in South Africa, 1955–1958
- Sir Karl Parker (1895–1992), art historian and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, 1945–1962
- Harold Abrahams (1899–1978), sprinter, long jumper, barrister and civil servant
- Jack Beresford (1899–1977), oarsman and coach
- J. D. Bernal (1901–1971), physicist
- Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett (1901–1972), naval officer, amphibious warfare expert and politician
- Sir Bob Dixon (1904–1965), Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, 1943–1948, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1954–1960, and Ambassador to France, 1960–1965
- Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas Pike (1906–1983), Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, 1953–1956, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command, 1956–1959, Chief of the Air Staff, 1960–1964, and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 1964–1967
- Charles Dent (1911–1976), physician and biochemist
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael LeFanu (1913–1970), Director-General, Naval Weapons, 1958–1960, Controller of the Navy, 1961–1965, Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, 1965–1968, and First Sea Lord, 1968–1970
- Joseph Godber, Baron Godber of Willington (1914–1980), Minister of Labour, 1963–1964, and Secretary of State for Agriculture, 1972–1974
- Joe Chamberlin (1919–1978), architect and town planner
- Frank Adams (1930–1989), Fielden Professor of Mathematics, University of Manchester, 1964–1970, and Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry, University of Cambridge, 1970–1989
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