History of Sedbergh School in 50 Objects #15: Printed Registers

Printed first in 1895, with later editions in 1909 and 1930, the ‘Sedbergh School Registers’ are the single greatest resource of material about Sedbergh’s alumni community. Entries in ‘Registers’ are organised by year of arrival at School and include biographical details such as birth and family, achievements during Sedbergh schooldays, university education, career details in adulthood and details of death or current address. The first two registers were compiled by Bernard Wilson, master at Sedbergh between 1876 and 1913, founder of the Wilson Run and a major benefactor and supporter of the School. Wilson devoted his long school holidays to researching the lives of alumni featured in the registers. He spent over a year, and much of his own money to facilitate periods of research at the British Museum, the Bodleian Library and the Cambridge colleges. Wilson generously donated a copy to every member of the School.

A second edition appeared in 1909 enlarging the register and bringing it up-to-date. This edition also included a short history of the school and is sprinkled with early photographs and a copy of the school’s charter – predating Henry Lowther Clarke and W. N. Weech’s History of Sedbergh School 1525-1925 and providing a published history of the School for the first time. All three editions of the register were privately printed by Old Sedberghian Richard Jackson.

After Bernard Wilson’s death in 1913 a long gap occurred before the next register was published. The 1930 register, covering entrants to school 1875 – 1928, featured an editorial commenting that dislocation of Old Sedberghians during the First World War was largely responsible for the long delay, but that the intention was to produce a new edition every five years going forward. This practice did not take place as planned, however the Old Sedberghian Club printed ‘List of Members’ replicated much of the detail held in the registers until the lists were discontinued in 2012.

An example entry below gives details for John Hubert Worthington, the Old Sedberghian architect who designed the School Memorial Cloisters:

Entries 1901

Worthington, John Hubert: (Mr Lemarchand) [Lupton House], brother of Nos. 635 and 817; born July 4th, 1886; left July, 1905; Prefect; Rankin Shakespeare Prize, 1904, 1905. Manchester University, M.A. 1909; A.R.I.B.A., 1911. Great War: — Captain., Manchester Regt.; wounded 1916; despatches 1919. Hon. A.R.C.A. 1924; Professor of Architecture, Royal College of Art, London, 1923-28. Partner in the Firm of T. Worthington & Sons, Manchester; Designer of the School War Memorial. Address: — The Pantiles, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

The registers provide an invaluable record of the achievements of Old Sedberghians, both while at School and after leaving and are used daily in the archive to aid alumni projects, external researchers and to directly support pupils’ history lessons.