Eagle House School

History

Wellington College Prep was founded as Eagle House School in 1820 at Brook Green, Hammersmith. In 1860 it moved to a house named Brackenbury's at Wimbledon, then in 1886, after a major fire, moved to its present home at Sandhurst. In 1930 a severe outbreak of chicken-pox and measles reduced the school's numbers from twenty-nine to five, but the school soon recovered. The school was purchased by Wellington College in 1968 and shares most of its governors.

Between 1957 and 1962 Nick Drake, later a singer-songwriter, attended the school and became head boy. He was taught French at the school by John Watson, who while still at Eagle House came second in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with his song "Looking High, High, High".

Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowley chaired the school's Governing Body from 1968 to 1976.

Present day

Originally for boys only, Wellington College Prep now caters for boys and girls between the ages of two and thirteen. It is in the same ownership as Wellington College, forming part of the same registered charitable organization. A majority of pupils continue their secondary education at the college. Before the college became fully coeducational in 2005, most girls left at age 11 for secondary school.

Headmasters

• 1920: Joseph Railton
• 1833: Edward Wickham
• 1858: Edward Huntingford
• 1874: Arthur Malan
• 1906: Robert Bruce-Lockhart
• 1928: Arnold Jones
• 1929: John Parmiter
• 1939: Paul Wooton
• 1968: Michael Haggard
• 1974: John Greenish
• 1988: Simon Carder
• 2003: Andrew Barnard
• 2023: Ed Venables

Notable former pupils

• Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, soldier
• Stuart Burge, actor and director
• James Chalmers, actor
• Nick Drake, singer-songwriter
• John Gardner, composer
• Lewis Moody, rugby player
• Ellie Bamber, actor
• John Bruce Lockhart, schoolmaster and cricketer
• Ed Stewart, British radio presenter
• James, Earl of Wessex, son of The Duke of Edinburgh and grandson of Queen Elizabeth II

References

References

1. Alex Sharratt, ''Preparatory Schools 2011'' (2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=9coeY8yejKEC&pg=PA72 p. 72]: "Eagle House School 5096 (Founded 1820) Headmaster: Mr CEG Taylor BA(Hons), PGCE, appointed: September 2006 / School type: Coeducational Day & Boarding / Boarders from 7 years / Age range of pupils: 3–13 / No. of pupils enrolled as at 1/9/10: 346 / Boys: 212, Girls: 134 / No. of boarders: 60... Teacher/pupil ratio 1:8"
2. "Our History". Eagle House School.
3. Wendy Bosberry-Scott, ed., ''John Catt's Preparatory Schools 2010'' (2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=RWp5Bd5wro4C&pg=PA34 p. 34]
4. J. S. Cockburn, H. P. F. King, K. G. T. McDonnell, ''A History of the county of Middlesex: Volume 5'' (1995), p. 375
5. ''Country Life'', vol. 171 (1982), p. 25: "THE FIRST EAGLE HOUSE SCHOOL, AT BROOK GREEN, HAMMERSMITH, moved to Wimbledon in 1860, and to Sandhurst in 1886..."
6. Donald P. Leinster-Mackay, ''The Rise of the English prep school'' (1984), p. 126
7. ''Eagle House Magazine'' dated Lent Term, 1930
8. [http://www.eaglehouseschool.com/documents/Eagle_House_School.pdf 2009 ISI Inspection Report] {{webarchive. link. (2 July 2013)
9. Patrick Humphries, ''Nick Drake: the biography'' (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=yYphmmBedMYC&pg=PA22 p. 22.]
10. "COWLEY, Lt-Gen. Sir John Guise" in ''[[Who's Who (UK). Who's Who 1990]]'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1990).
11. Thomas Moore, Nicholas Lee Torré, ''Cantus hibernici'', vol. 2 (1858), p. viii: "Huntingford, Rev. Edward, DCL, Head Master of Eagle House School"
12. Alfred Hiley, ''Recapitulatory examples in arithmetic'' (1882), p. ii
13. 'BURGE, Stuart', in ''Who Was Who'' (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008); [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U9427/ online article] (subscription site), by [[Oxford University Press]], December 2007, accessed 20 April 2012
14. 'GARDNER, John Linton', in ''Who's Who 2012'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2012) [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U16758, online article] (subscription site), by Oxford University Press, January 2012, accessed 20 April 2012