Match Striker Gallery          

The following match strikers all carry the crest of an independent school (i.e. schools not funded directly by the state). Such match strikers would probably have been bought by the staff and by the pupils and their parents. Since schools would be relatively small market for crested match strikers a high proportion of staff and pupils must have had to be willing to buy them to make them a successful commercial enterprise for the potteries that made them.

Bedford School

This independent boys school (for boarding and day pupils) can trace its foundation, in current form, back to 1552 when it was granted letters patent by King Edward VI (although there had been a church school on its original site even before the doomsday book was written).  The school is currently one of five supported by the Harpur Trust  which was endowed by Sir William Harpur in 1566. Sir William Harpur was a Bedford merchant from who moved to London, became wealthy, and was eventually elected Lord Mayor of London in 1561.



Charterhouse School

The school was founded with a bequest from Thomas Sutton one of the wealthiest men in Jacobean England on his death in 1611. Buildings that once housed a fourteenth century Carthusian monastery near Smithfield in London were purchased, to house the school, and Thomas Sutton was buried in the chapel. The monastic connection explains why pupils have always been referred to as Carthusians. In 1872 the school moved from London to just outside Godalming where subsequent purchases have increased the size of the grounds to to around 200 acres.



Eton College

Eton College is a boys school (boarders only) which was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI near Windsor Castle. When the Lancastrian Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by the rival Yorkist claimant, Edward IV following the War of the Roses all grants of lands made by the Lancastrians were annulled by Parliament, thus threatening the Colleges existence. It is purported that Edwards mistress, Jane Shore, interceded on behalf of the College and saved it from extinction by persuading Edward to restore some of its lands.

 

Framlingham College

Framlingham College was founded as a boys boarding school in 1864 near to Framlingham Castle, about 90 miles from London. It was dedicated to the memory of Prince Albert the husband of Queen Victoria. It is now a coeducational establishment catering to children from 4 to 18 (the Junior school is now located in the nearby Brandeston Hall).



Leys School is an independent boarding school founded in 1875 on the Leys Estate in Cambridge by the Methodist Conference for the tuition of the children of lay members. It's first headmaster was Reverend Doctor Moulton. It started admitting girls to the sixth form in the early 1980s and is now fully coeducational and teaches around 530 pupils on a 50 acre campus.



Oundle School dates back to 1556 when Sir William Laxton, Master of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and Lord Mayor of London, re-founded the original Oundle grammar school in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire (of which he was a former pupil). Later in 1875 the school was split into two parts, Laxton school became a day school for local pupils and Oundle grammar school a boarding school for those from further afield. These were once again merged in 2000. Today Oundle is the third largest public school in England.



Rossall School

The school was founded in 1844 by The Rev. St Vincent Beechey in in Fleetwood, Lancashire as a more modern and cost effective alternative to the traditional independent schools such as Eton and Harrow. The school motto is Mens Agitat Molem (Mind Moves Matter) which can be seen on one of the two match strikers shown below. The school is also slightly unusual in providing facilities for children of all ages from nursery,.infant, junior and senor school. Both boarding and day pupils are catered for and the school still operates from it's original historic building



Rugby School

Rugby school today is a coeducational school (boarding and day pupils) located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in 1567 as a provision in the will of Lawrence Sheriff, who had made his fortune supplying groceries to Queen Elizabeth I. The school was originally founded as a free boys school but girls have been admitted since 1975.  The school gave its name to the game of Rugby which it is said to have been first played there.



Tonbridge School

This matchbox holder has the crest and motto (Deus Pat Incrementum) of Tonbridge School which was founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde, in the historic market town of Tonbridge under Letters Patent of King Edward VI. The school currently serves both  boarding and day pupils on its150 acre campus.