The February 1999 Parish Magazine reported that there have been two meetings of the Eton Wick History Group; the Festive Evening on 9th December, and the meeting on the 13th January at which Mrs. Penny Hatfield, Eton College's Archivist, gave a talk on "Eton College Through the Archives".
The Festive Evening differed from the usual format in that, as well as the customary Quiz, there was also an opportunity for members to display their own interesting artefacts and memorabilia, thus mounting an informal exhibition - perfect for browsing whilst enjoying John Denham's delicious punch and the customary generous refreshments. The Quiz was won by Mrs. Joan Ballhatchet, with Mrs. Lund a close runner-up. Mr. Frank Bond pointed out that next year, of course, we would be looking at a 'Millennium Christmas Social"!
He issued programmes for 1999 and took the opportunity to thank
the committee members and all those involved in preparation of food, donating
raffle prizes, etc. over the past year; with special thanks due to Mrs. Mary
Gyngell, who was away at that time and was to go into hospital. (Despite ill
health, Mrs. Gyngell has provided cakes for all the group's meetings since it
commence in 1992, i,e, 45 meetings).
Mrs. Hatfield commenced her talk by clarifying any doubts as
to what 'archives' actually are;: they are bits of paper one produces during the
course of day to day business which, once they have lost their administrative
value, can by used for their historical value. She gave some fascinating
examples, including one which appeared to prove that wolves had become extinct
in 1400 - this was based on a Customs record of someone trying to import two
(by then rotten!) wolf carcasses; the logical conclusion being that if there
had been wolves in England there would have been no need to import them. It was
always very important to take into, account why the document was created in the
first place.
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| Foundation Charter |
Mrs. Hatfield went on to talk about and show photographs of the earliest records at Eton College, including the Foundation Charter - the College was founded on 11th October 1440, and the Statutes etc. - beautifully illuminated documents, one of which clearly shows the earliest representation of the members of the House of Commons. Some of the records held in the College's Archives pre-date the College and the earliest documents dates from 1091 and has on it the autographed cross of William Rufus, his brother Henry and various Archbishops - we were reminded that William the Conqueror and his sons were illiterate - hence the crosses.
Mrs. Hatfield was able to give the dates of construction of
various College buildings, from the construction of the Chapel (which, after 7
years Henry felt was not large enough, so he had them pull it down and start
again, only to have it reduced in size later anyway!) and Lower School in 1443.
This schoolroom has been in continuous use since that date, although its
present interior is probably 17th Century. Above Lower School was Long Chamber,
where boys over 14 years old had beds on their own, but younger ones had to
share - there was no heating and only shutters over the open window apertures,
and it was said that if you survived Long Chamber in Eton you needed no medical
examination for insurance because you were obviously very tough. The present
Upper School was built in 1689 (an earlier one fell down after just 20 years).
The College's brick buildings are some of the earliest and best to survive in
this country, and the Archives even contain records of the names and trade of
the people involved in the early construction work. In 1864 New Building was
constructed and Long Chamber was partitioned off into separate rooms. School
Hall and School Library (architect: L.K. Hall - an Old Etonian) were built as a
memorial to the 129 Etonians who were killed in the South African War.
Mrs. Hatfield wove many humorous anecdotes into her talk:
boys paid 3d, to see a camel(?); only the old and ugly need apply to be
laundresses; the floor of Long Chamber was cleaned, annually, by pulling small
boys up and down the room on rugs; the College barber was paid 15/- to
whitewash over the imagery on the Chapel walls etc, etc. We hope she will come
and talk to us again.
The next meeting will be on 24th February when Tony Cullum
will speak on “The changing face of Eton as viewed through the late Mark Bell's
sides”.
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