History of Sedbergh School in 50 Objects #9: Sedgwick House
Sedgwick House was the second of the boarding houses to be completed under the vast Victorian expansion and was first occupied in 1879. Sir Francis Sharp Powell, OS and Chairman of the Governors, declared that “the boys’ accommodation in the second master’s House would be identical inch by inch with the accommodation in the Headmaster’s (new) House”.
The first Housemaster was Bernard Wilson, the founder of Sedbergh’s iconic Ten Mile race, who remained in post for 29 years, setting a moral framework within the house that prevailed for decades after his own departure.
Wilson gave a great deal to the School as a whole and particularly to the boys of his house. Following his death the Sedberghian magazine published 14 pages of tributes to Wilson. A former pupil of Bernard Wilson’s recorded;
‘..no School ever had a more devoted and more enthusiastic servant than Sedbergh had in him. His unstinted labours for the common good earned him the respect and admiration of men and boys, while his modesty and refusal to assume any credit endeared him to all with whom he came in contact.’
Following Wilson’s death an ‘Old Wilsonite’ R. K. Blair (Sedgwick 1890 – 1894), raised money amongst those pupils who had lived under Bernard Wilson in the house to create a memorial library in his name. This beautiful addition to the house was crafted using stone from the same quarry that had supplied the materials for rest of the house nearly 35 years earlier. The Bernard Wilson Memorial library is still used today as a place of relaxation and study for the boys.
In 1908 when the boarding houses were given permanent names, Sedgwick was renamed in honour of Adam Sedgwick, geologist and former pupil of the School, circa 1799 – 1803. Adam Sedgwick studied at Trinity College, Cambridge before being elected Fellow, appointed Woodwardian Professor of Geology and ultimately Vice-Master of the College in 1845. He was President of Geological Society, a keen politician and lover of archaeology and architecture. He was an eloquent speaker, and a most brilliant conversationalist. His writings are almost entirely in the form of papers for societies and journals. A paper he wrote featuring Cowgill and an ecclesiastical matter drew the attention of the Queen who sought to resolve the matter Sedgwick raised through a bill in parliament. Such was the regard in which he was held.
Three of Sedbergh’s four Victoria Cross recipients were old Sedgwickians. Robert James Digby Jones , VC, (1890 – 93) was awarded a VC for action at Wagon Hill in 1900 in the Boer War; George Ward Gunn, VC, MC (1926 – 30) for action at Sidi Rezegh in 1941 and Kenneth Campbell VC, (1931 – 35) for action over Brest Harbour, also in 1941. The men are remembered on the Victoria Cross memorial above the Cloisters, on Sedgwick House’s own memorial, and also the School Chapel which holds replica VC medals for the men.
The house colour for Sedgwick is red and the house magazine is called ‘Le Rouge et Noir’.
