This academic year, we celebrate Emanuel’s 430th anniversary. This article highlights some significant dates in the school’s proud history.
1594: The beginnings of Emanuel Hospital
It has been said that the death of infant Geoffrey Dacre, the only child of Lady Anne Dacre and her husband, played a significant part in the founding of Emanuel Hospital as her will made provision for the development of a hospital for twenty poor children. Anne died in 1595 and although it took many years for the instructions in her will to become reality, the wheels were in motion when the hospital fell under the office of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London and it became a public establishment lasting for 250 years from 1623 to 1873.

Emanuel Hospital
1601: Emanuel Hospital is granted its Charter of Incorporation
Anne Dacre was a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, as her father was related to Anne Boleyn and brother, Thomas Sackville, was a friend and supporter of the Monarch. By 1601, a Charter of Incorporation for Emanuel Hospital was in place. The royal decree ensured Lady Dacre’s will was acted upon relatively quickly after her death.
1736: The first pupils attend Emanuel Hospital
Almost 150 years after the death of Lady Dacre, the school finally opened its doors to twenty specially selected poor children, ten boys and ten girls. Over the decades, the number of attendees gradually increased. Days were long and hard, with the same system of reading, writing and arithmetic being taught until the changes ushered in by the Education Act of 1870.
1883: Arrival in Wandsworth
Emanuel School relocated into the former Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Boys building (opened in 1872), an orphanage primarily for boys who had lost family in the Crimean War. Recently appointed Headmaster Arthur Chilton welcomed 117 boys and this grew to 270 over the next six years. There were few surviving connections with Emanuel Hospital beyond the fixtures in the chapel, the governing body and controlling foundation. Girls also disappeared from Emanuel for the next 112 years.
1906: The Dormitory evolves into the House system
When Emanuel arrived in Wandsworth in 1883, the headmaster decided to retain the dormitory names used by the orphanage to respect the building’s past. As most pupils boarded, sport and other competitions operated through this dormitory system. However, as boarding declined, Headmaster the Reverend Harold Buchanan-Ryley evolved the dormitories into a new House system. It proved to be a resounding success with many pupils showing great loyalty to their Houses and the competitive spirit which was a by-product of it.
1906: Founding of the Cadet Corps
Although battalion drills had taken place since the 1890s and there was already a Rifle Club, the Officer Training Corps (OTC) was not founded until 1906 and was commanded by the headmaster, the Reverend Harold Buchanan-Ryley. The OTC, renamed the CCF in the years after the Second World War, played a significant part in school life until it was replaced by the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme in the 1990s.

CCF in the early years
1913: Boarding comes to an ends
From 1883 until 1913, Emanuel provided boarding and many of the classrooms on the first and second floors were dormitories organised by House. As London expanded and the area become less rural, boarding declined until it was no longer economical to continue and classroom space was required for the expanding school roll.
1922: Raglan House makes a comeback
Raglan was one of the original eight Dormitories but was replaced by Drake, which originally only included day pupils. In 1922 Emanuel opened its own preparatory school, with boys as young as eight joining the school and this Junior House was named Raglan until after the Second World War when the prep ended.
1939: The evacuation to Petersfield
From 1st September 1939 until early July 1945, the majority of the 560 pupils and some younger siblings were evacuated to the rural Hampshire town of Petersfield and stayed in ‘billets’ hosted by local families. Many had wonderful times, escaping the daily smog of London, whilst others were more unfortunate and were moved from family to family. Emanuel used the facilities of local school Churcher’s College and teaching also took place in various locations around town. Although some children started to drift back to London in 1943, when the Battersea site reopened, many others enjoyed farming and the quieter life, with a few even meeting their future wives in Petersfield. Reunions continued for seventy years and there was always great appreciation for the hospitality shown by the town.

Petersfield VE Day
1944: The Education Act
The overhaul in the education system, which resulted in the abolition of fees and the arrival of the 11+ examination system, had a profound effect on Emanuel School as it provided the opportunity for bright children from poorer families to attend when it became a Voluntary Aided Grammar School. The positive effect was staggering and by the sixties it became the norm for pupils to attend top universities, graduating to make their mark in the world as playwrights, doctors, politicians, scientists, poets, philosophers, engineers, university lecturers and many other professional roles.
1951: The first royal visit
On 7 November, 1951 the then Queen, later known as the Queen Mother, visited the school as part of the 350th anniversary celebrations of the granting of the Royal Charter in 1601. The Queen enjoyed watching a Latin lesson, gave a stirring speech, planted a magnolia tree and chatted with pupils and staff before having tea.

The Queen & Lt Col Charles Hill 1951
1966: The 1st VIII triumph at Henley
Emanuel’s greatest sporting triumph is without doubt its magnificent victory in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley, backed up by a dominating season on the river. The success continued with another first place in the Schools’ Head, sixth place in the Open Head and six other senior eights events. The strength and depth of the Emanuel School Boat Club was astonishing, with coach Derek Drury guiding Emanuel into the history books. Many fantastic crews followed the boys of 1966, but none have managed to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.

Henley 1966

1966 rowing squad
1976: Emanuel goes independent
The long-running struggle to remain a grammar school ended in September 1976 when Emanuel chose to become an independent fee-paying school rather than turning comprehensive. There were even discussions to amalgamate Emanuel with neighbouring Spencer Park School, creating a comprehensive of nearly 3000 pupils. The dispute with the ILEA had lasted several years, dominating the headship of Mr Charles Kuper, with Emanuel the last London school to follow the ILEA guidelines. Until that moment marches, television appearances, radio spots, lobbying MPs, the involvement of celebrity actor parents, petitions to Parliament, school sleep-ins and a huge swell of local support had helped keep the clash in the newspapers.
1976: Impressive rugby statistics
Simon Haslett (OE1972-77) captained arguably Emanuel’s greatest ever rugby team. When they finished Fourth Year (Year 10) Mr Michael Stewart, who coached them, wrote in the May 1976 Portcullis: “After four years, the record shows: Played 75, Won 70, Lost 3, Drawn 2, Points For 3114, Points Against 207.” They were unbeaten in 60 consecutive matches since their last defeat on 10th December 1973. This year group was also responsible for Emanuel’s only triumph at Rosslyn Park Sevens, when they were U13. They were talented players and featured Francis Emeruwa (OE1972-79), one of our finest ever players, who went on to play for Wasps and England ‘B’.

Rugby legends U15 1976
1985: The Hill Form arrive
Named after legendary Geography teacher and long-serving CCF leader Lt. Col. Charles Hill, primary school aged pupils returned to Emanuel with the new Year 6 class, which was later expanded to two in the noughties.

Hill Form 1985
1989: An OE is responsible for one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century
In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee (OE1968-73), a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) while working at CERN. A decade later the world was forever changed.

Sir Tim Berners Lee 2016 visit
1994: Queen Elizabeth II visits
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Emanuel School on 17 March, 1994, we hosted the visit of the late Queen Elizabeth II. This was undoubtedly one of the proudest moments in Emanuel’s long history with the Queen chatting to pupils, meeting the CCF guard, enjoying a tour and viewing the magnolia tree her mother had planted in 1951 in the area now known as the Queens’ Courtyard after both royal visitors.

Queen & CCF Guard of Honour 1994
1995: Girls arrive at Emanuel
For the first time since 1882, Emanuel admitted girls. Mital Desai, Sarah Denny, Yasman Ghomshei and Janine Nolan were the first four to enter Year 12 in September 1995, with a small number of Year 7 girls joining in 1996. It took some time and challenging work behind the scenes to lose the reputation as a boys’ school. Before long, the four girls were entering their first rowing events, bravely paving the way for the fully co-educational school we know today.

1995 girls’ crew
2003: The end of the Assisted Places Scheme
The Conservative Government’s Assisted Place Scheme established in the early eighties was abolished by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1997, with pupils already on the scheme allowed to complete their studies. It was normal for around 30% of the Emanuel School roll to be on Assisted Places, coming from poorer backgrounds but having their fees paid by the Local Authority.
2016: Girls’ Quad triumphs on the national stage
Although girls had already excelled on the national sporting stage by reaching the final of the U13 Independent Schools’ Netball competition in 2013 and others had represented their country in rowing, winning the Jim Mason Plate for Girls’ Coxed Four at the National Schools’ Regatta was the finest achievement yet. Darcy Jennings, Issy Rafferty, Jess Thomas, Mariella Hayes and cox Claudia Stanley had both the perfect season and regatta, winning a host of top events before this masterclass on the river. Darcy and Mariella returned in a Pair the following year, winning silver.
2016: Girls begin to play cricket competitively
Cricket for girls began with two training sessions per week for girls in Years 6-10 for U13 (combined Year 6-8) and U15 (combined Year 9-10) teams. This followed hockey being reintroduced a few years earlier and football was to follow several years later.
2017: The ‘New’ Dacre Building opens
The long Mark Hanley-Brown era from 2004-17 was a period in which the school site was developed extensively to accommodate a school roll which surpassed 1000 for the first time in its history. 2007 saw the expanded library relocate to the old Senior Dining Hall. The original library was redeveloped into the Fiennes Theatre and both the Memorial Bridge, and the ‘New’ Dacre Building were completed in Marks’s final years.

Dacre opening night 2017
2022: Rowers return to the international stage
Undoubtedly inspired by Lauren McAuliffe winning double golds for England in the 2019 Home Counties Regatta when she was only in Year 11, both Maddie Kitchen and Isaac Thurnham also grabbed golds for England in the same competition in 2022. Isaac returned the following year as Junior Boys’ Captain to win gold with his Emanuel schoolmate Sam Williams, repeating their triumph in the Nick Bevan Cup for Championship Coxless Pairs at the National Schools’ Regatta.

Lauren McAuliffe 2019 double gold for England

Isaac Thurnham and Maddie Kitchen
2023: Celebratory concert at St John’s Smith Square
The school’s 430th anniversary celebrations took place in November at St John’s Smith Square. The school choir, orchestra and ensembles were joined by the prestigious Berkeley Ensemble for a wonderful event that celebrated the history of the school and the talents of Emanuel’s musicians.