Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

The Centenary of the House System

The renaming of Clive house to Raphael in September 2020 coincided with the centenary of the House system, founded in 1921. History Master and Registrar Jonny Taylor perused the Taylorian to tell the story. House systems have long been part of the Public School ethos so it is perhaps surprising that Merchant Taylors’ only adopted one relatively late in its long and distinguished history. Clearly the lack of boarding at the school meant there was no need to provide the accommodation and support that many of the Clarendon Schools were founded on. Indeed, Richard Mulcaster set out his stall very early when it came to their disadvantages: “The parent can attend to his own children better than the house-master to a large number. The parent can examine his son to see what progress he is making; the master, on the other hand, is weary with his day’s work, and can give but little private help without “shortening his life and dulling the childe” Richard Mulcaster’s Positions Concerning the Training up of Children (1581), in The Taylorian , October 1912 Mulcaster’s reputation as a visionary in education did not extend to pastoral care, despite his support for sporting competition. He promoted the latter as part of the curriculum to develop health and strength, and the regulation of the frequent excuse for brawls against St Paul’s into something akin to football has led some to see him as the father of competitive sport. It was not surprising, therefore, that sport was the motivation behind the introduction of four houses to Merchant Taylors’ School under Dr John Nairn in early 1921. The rugby season petered out halfway through the Spring term and it was decided that the “footballing public” (as the Taylorian termed them) should be divided into Houses or “clubs” to counter stale rugby sessions where “there was far too much playing for individual

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