Scholarship to Eton College? - Genealogists' Forum

Olde Crone · #1 10-12-09, 19:02

This is william Alfred Brown again, I'm sorry!

His daughter has just told me that WAB "Won a scholarship to Eton, but could not take up the place because the family were too poor".

He was born in 1900 and entered the RN in 1913 as a boy sailor, so the time scale is tight. How on earth can I prove or disprove this story, and does anyone have any idea how a boy from a humble background would be entered for an Eton Scholarship???

OC

kiterunner · #2 10-12-09, 19:21

I reckon it would be easy to find out if he actually went to Eton, but if he didn't go, not very easy at all! I thought the point of a scholarship was so that boys from poor families could go, though, so the story doesn't quite make sense to me.

Sally · #3 10-12-09, 19:46

He could indeed have won a scholarship to Eton if he was intelligent and academic. The record, if there is any, would be with his school and not Eton itself.

The scholarship would have paid for his education, but not for all the trappings, i.e. clothing etc...........not cheap, in fact the whole Eton experience was and is very expensive. The uniform code has always been strict, and if the family could not afford the clothes/accessories/etc. etc. then he would have stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb - this may be why the scholarship was not taken up

Nell · #4 10-12-09, 19:53

Boys who won scholarships had a specific name which I can't remember now.

Nell · #5 10-12-09, 19:55

King's scholars?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Scholar

Olde Crone · #6 10-12-09, 20:43

No, he certainly didn't go to Eton.

Would it have been a usual thing though, for an "ordinary" school to enter boys for Eton Scholarships back then?

If this tale is true - and his daughter is adamant that he got a scholarship to Eton "the famous Public School" because he was very clever.....what a tragedy. He spent his adolescence and young adult life in the RN, a worthy career no doubt, but not one which required any academic brilliance and once he left the Navy, did a series of factory jobs.

OC

Sally · #7 10-12-09, 20:56

OC, it is indeed tragic because if he gained a scholarship to Eton then he must have had an exceptionally good brain........Yes, it was unusual, which is why if the story is true it is so tragic.

Picture the family; - they have a brilliant child who is recognised by the masters at his school as being exceptional. They put him forward and he actually wins the scholarship, an achievement which so few could boast. Can you imagine the kitchen table discussions about this? As I said earlier, the uniform was precise and very expensive, and the lifestile of the scholars also required money. The decision not to send him was probably totally based on finances.

Olde Crone · #8 10-12-09, 21:10

He was the eldest of eight children and I can see it would have been a financial impossibility, but I do wonder who made the decision for him to enter the RN as a boy sailor INSTEAD!

My mum won a scholarship to Grammar School in the 1930s. Same thing - eldest child, very poor family so she could not go - they could not afford the uniform for one thing.

However, in her case she was also up against the inverted snobbery of her family "Who does she think she is, getting above herself?".

Mum married very young and never worked, so never had a chance to use her brain in an academic way. Another wasted brain.

OC

Merry · #9 11-12-09, 06:09

As well as a perceived financial problem there could also have been a 'class' difficulty.

My brother-in-law was not allowed to apply to go to Oxford uni as my mother-in-law would not allow it as she thought it would make him a snob. For the same reason she didn't let my OH try for Winchester Cathedral Choir School (for which a scolarship was available). I think a lot of people from working class backgrounds would have been 'terrified' of letting their children mix with 'the nobs' because they believed they would either fail to mix in or (worse?) would become alienated from their families.

Nell · #10 12-12-09, 14:41

I think any boy would be eligible to apply for a scholarship. But I would think that its unlikely any parent/school would suggest it except for boys from a "suitable background".