Wisbech Grammar School - Notable Old Grammarians

Notable Old Grammarians

Former pupils are known as "Old Grammarians". The school has a number of notable alumni. The earliest recorded alumnus is Thomas Herring (1693–1757), who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1747 and 1757. Perhaps the most famous alumnus is the abolitionist, Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846), whose father, John, was headmaster at the school. His essay on slavery and subsequent campaigning led to the foundation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. Thomas Clarkson's younger brother John Clarkson (1764–1828) also attended the school. He subscribed to his brother's abolitionist cause, and became the first governor of the free Sierra Leone colony, founding the country's capital city, Freetown.

Other figures from this era include General Sir Charles Wale (1765–1845), the last British governor of Martinique, and The Hon. Charles Lindsay (1760–1846), the last Bishop of Kildare.

Victorian composer and organist W. H. Jude (1851–1922) was a prolific lecturer and hymnodist, and opened over 1000 organs across the UK and Australasia during his career. Another composer associated with the school was Peter Fenn (1931–2011), director of music for Anglia Television, who attended the school as an evacuee during World War II. Philip Vassar Hunter (1883–1956) was awarded the CBE for his anti-submarine research in World War I, and in World War II invented the buoyant cable which contributed to the defeat of the magnetic mine. He was later President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and manager of the British Ice Hockey Association.

Sir Frank Stockdale (1883–1949) was a Holmes Scholar, and during his career as an agriculturalist played a leading part in establishing rubber, tea, and coconut research institutions. He was appointed the first comptroller for development and welfare in the West Indies in 1940, and was co-chairman of the Anglo Caribbean Commission. Brian Hitch (1934–2004), diplomat, was also a Holmes Scholar and was High Commissioner to Malta between 1988 and 1991.

The school has recently produced a number of actresses including Zara Dawson and Claire Goose. Other alumni include author John Gordon, known for his children's novel The Giant Under The Snow, economist Professor Stephen Littlechild, who developed the price-cap system of electricity regulation, Denys Bullard (1912–1994), MP for South West Norfolk, Fred Hoyles (1923–2004), Wimbledon tennis referee-in-chief from 1976 to 1982, Ray DaSilva, founder of the Norwich Puppet Theatre and Richard Blakesley, joint inventor of the Kymera wand, which won £200,000 backing on Dragons' Den.