Preston Grammar School Association

This book, "British Fishes" by Buckland, a School Prize in 1893, was recently donated to the Association Archive by Ian Cuerden (Thornley, 1958-64).  His father had picked it up over 45 years ago, and Ian found it interesting largely on account of the subject matter. He was also intrigued with the PGS connection, but it had lived in a cupboard for many years, and he thought it was time to place it more appropriately.

The Headmaster on the inscription is the Rev. Alfred Beaven Beaven, notorious for his excellent exam results, his extremely rigorous regime, and his dwindling number of pupils (all in good ratio!). 

1893 is towards the end of his time (1898), and E Douglas Dall might have been one of the few pupils left to present a prize to (there were 76)! By the time Beaven Beaven was forced to resign, the number was down to 32!

A great scholar in his own right, he was no Headmaster, and he left the School having to be "saved" by the Rev. Henry Cribb Brooks!  Beaven Beaven apparently left no (or very few) School records, and it is interesting to note that the inscription seems to have been recycled, in the sense that it was so obviously intended for the previous decade! 

 E Douglas Dall can be found on the School Roll for 1894, complete with a reference to his prize.

History Prize, presented to W A Lee in 1871. It came into the possession of Marina Musgrove from the estate of her late uncle, an avid book collector. She read the dedication inside the front cover and made contact with the Association, via Brian McVann, to ask if we would like it returned to us. She very kindly donated the book to the Association’s archives and sent it to Charlie in May 2008.

Handwritten letter sent out by Alec Dumbill to those boys going on the School Trip to Rome in July 1958. The instructions speak for themselves and provide a fascinating reminder of the strict rules and regimes applied to such trips - which the participants always seemed able to circumvent!

A collection of badges owned by Bill Stansfield and photographed by Franklyn Jackson.

The badge of Carcassonne. Bill Stansfield was wondering if there was any historical link between it and the Preston badge because of the similarity of the image of the lamb.

Grammar School Letter of Acceptance

Hugill’s Pre-Admission Letter

Unsatisfactory Progress Letter

Old PGSA Membership Form

Old PGSA Membership Form (Reverse Side)

Borough Scholarship Letter (R. D. Simpson)

1940 PGS Book List and General Health Certificate Letter (R. D. Simpson)

LEP Cutting (1946) School Certificate Success

This is a fascinating list of names from 1946 which was found amongst the effects of the late Ron Simpson.