CHRIST'S COLLEGE, FINCHLEY
In 1857 the Revd. Thomas Reader White, Rector
of Finchley, converted the Queen's Head Tavern,
near St. Mary's church, into a school, opened as
Finchley Hall School with three boys. By 1860
there were 150, all boarders, and a new building was
erected opposite on the east side of Hendon Lane.
After the first year or two White did little teaching,
but appointed himself 'Warden'. (fn. 2) The first headmaster, the Revd. T. C. Whitehead (1866-73),
believed in military discipline and constant supervision; the boys were known by numbers, were
marched to and from meals with their band, and
slept as many as 60 to a dormitory. (fn. 3) The Revd.
R. W. Gallop succeeded Whitehead as 'Headmaster
and Chaplain' and became proprietor on the death
of White in 1877. In 1895, when numbers were
down to 65, mostly day boys, the school was bought
by the father of the new headmaster, J. T. Phillipson,
who aroused much opposition by changing from
rugby to association football; one result was that the
school had two independent Old Boy associations
for half a century. By 1902 numbers had decreased
to 50, but Phillipson nevertheless managed to get
the school taken over by the Middlesex County
Council on his own terms, with himself as headmaster, his existing staff, and Church of England
services in the chapel. Numbers rose and by 1914
there were almost 250 boys. In 1927 there were 380
on the roll, new buildings were erected, and the
chapel was demolished. Under the new headmaster,
H. B. Pegrum, who succeeded Phillipson in 1929,
the school continued to flourish, and by 1944 the
number of boys exceeded 500. (fn. 4) By January 1965
there were 582 pupils on the roll. (fn. 5)
Footnotes
| 1 |
This section contains histories of some of the more
important or educationally significant schools in Middlesex
founded more than a century ago. Other schools have been
or will be treated in other volumes of the Middlesex
History. Schools which originated in the cities of London
or Westminster, whether remaining there or not, are
reserved for treatment in V.C.H. London. University
College School is dealt with in the section on University
College (see p. 357). |
| 2 |
Centenary Book of Christ's College, ed. A. T. Milne,
1-5. |
| 3 |
Ibid. 6-10; H. W. Nevinson, Changes and Chances,
20-24. |
| 4 |
Centenary Bk., ed. Milne, 11-34. |
| 5 |
Ex inf. the headmaster. |