This noble public institution for the education of youth was founded by
KING EDWARD THE SIXTH, in 1561, on the supplication of Hugh Edwards and
Richard Whitaker, and endowed with the greater portion of the revenues of
the two dissolved colleges of Saint Mary and Saint Chad.—QUEEN ELIZABETH
greatly augmented her brother’s donation in 1571, by adding the whole
rectory of Chirbury, in this county, with additional tithes and estates
in St. Mary’s parish, which now produce a considerable revenue.
In 1798, the School having sunk into a state of comparative
insignificance, a bill was passed for the better government and
regulation of the Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth in this town,
by which the management of the revenues, and the removal or discharge of
the masters, is vested in the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (as
visitor) and thirteen trustees or governors. The appointment of head and
second masters rests with the Fellows of St. John’s College, Cambridge.
The school is open for the gratuitous instruction of the sons of freemen,
and has maintained a character of high repute from its earliest
formation. We learn that under the care of its first master, Thomas
Ashton, there were 290 scholars, among whom were many of the sons of the
gentry of the county and from North Wales, as well as from the first
families in the kingdom. Camden, when he wrote, says, “it was the best
filled in all England, being indebted for their flourishinge state to
provision made by the excellent and worthie Thomas Ashton,” who was
instrumental in procuring the grant of augmentation from Elizabeth, and
contributed greatly to the school himself, and from whose exertions and
judicious regulations it preserved its usefulness for many generations.
Many persons of eminence in by-gone days received their education in
Shrewsbury School. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth it sent forth one of
the most brilliant ornaments of her court, the gallant and accomplished
SYDNEY,—the “miracle of the age;”—and in the present day, under the able
management and profound learning of the late head-master, Dr. Butler, it
has maintained a pre-eminent rank among THE PUBLIC SEMINARIES OF SOUND
LEARNING AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION in this country, having produced
numerous individuals who have been distinguished for their eminent
classical attainments; whilst it is an acknowledged fact that scarcely
any gentleman can be pointed out who has sent so many pupils to the
Universities, the greater part of whom have risen into general notice and
estimation, mainly owing to the excellent manner in which their natural
capacities had been directed by the distinguished and successful talents
of their tutor.
The affectionate interest manifested by Dr. Butler in the welfare of his
pupils remained nearest to his heart to the last. {101} And in retiring
from the duties of his scholastic station, in 1836, it appeared as his
greatest comfort and happiness to find that St. John’s College had given
a good earnest of its intention to uphold the character of the school
over which he had so long and so zealously presided, by the selection of
the Rev. Benjamin Hall Kennedy as has successor, an appointment (it will
be admitted by all) the most conducive to the future prosperity of the
school, and consequently beneficial to the town and neighbourhood;
inasmuch as it is stamped upon high and indubitable authority that Mr.
Kennedy is one of the most brilliant scholars which the learned editor of
Æschylus ever sent forth,—the brightest star in that galaxy of
distinguished pupils whose names adorn the boards of Shrewsbury school;
while from his experience of Dr. Butler’s system, both as a pupil and
assistant master in this seminary,—his subsequent practice as a lecturer
and private tutor at College, and as an assistant master for upwards of
six years at Harrow, as well as from his own unrivalled talents and high
literary distinctions,—from his fine taste and sound learning,—there is
not a shadow of doubt but that he will fully maintain the reputation
Shrewsbury School has already acquired.