ACADEMY STUDENTS

The students were a very mixed bunch. Many were serious minded and dedicated mainly from the families of radical dissenters and liberal churchmen. It was necessary for the Academy, for financial reasons, to make up numbers with the sons of richer families. This meant diluting the numbers of serious students with young men of a different temperament who were indulged by their parents and who were easily distracted from their studies. Some of these had been sent down from their public schools or universities and had been placed at Warrington as a last resort. They had learned all the evil without any of the good of those establishments. The Academy hoped that the students would:

Students attended from all over the British Isles and some were from the West Indies and the American Colonies. The Caribbeans gave the most trouble as they had little respect for discipline. Warrington was able to indulge the students in a variety of ways they were the best customers in some cases and therefore were tolerated but the traders complained bitterly about bad debts when they occurred.

The Committee (29 June, 1780) passed two practical measures designed to circumvent the nightly exploits of the students. It was resolved that there shall in future be no back door" to the students' quarters, and that " a wall be erected about that part of the quadrangle not yet built upon"

The absence of doors and the presence of walls have never yet kept students in who meant to get out. Indeed, at Warrington, "the stable door was locked when the horse was stolen ", in other words, the mischief was done, and glorious traditions of successful "rags " remained to stimulate and inspire the energies of succeeding generations.

Many were the stories of the practical jokes played in the town by such men. There were of course no police to interfere with law-breakers, only a few beadles, or night-watchmen with rattles, and little if any organized public opinion in support of law and order, especially maybe, when the offenders were young gentlemen from the Academy, who might be trusted to pay substantial damage for "sowing their wild oats", and were reckoned by tradesmen, and above all, by innkeepers amongst their best customers.

One morning ", says Bright, " the landlords of the different inns in Warrington might have been seen with bewildered looks gazing up to the sign-boards which swung above their hospitable doors. Well might they be bewildered! In a single night the " Red Lion" had become the Roebuck", the "Nag's Head" was the " Golden Horse Shoe", the Royal Oak " had changed places with the "Griffin", and the " George and Dragon" appeared now as the "Eagle and Child"

This prank, one of many, was probably an inspiration of Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the Irishman who was tried for sedition in 1792. He had spent a year, 1768-9, at Warrington, probably on the recommendation of John Jebb his tutor, when "rusticated" from Cambridge. Heir to a great fortune, he had " fallen into a fast set" at queen's College, Cambridge, and "speedily became more remarkable for his dogs and hunters and feats of strength than for love of learning", and so, according to a contemporary, ' after coolly attempting to throw a tutor into the Cam, after shaking all Cambridge from its propriety by a night's frolic (in which he climbed the signposts and changed the principal signs) he was rusticated."

Seddon wrote a severe letter to Rowan, 2 August, 1769, in which he referred to the clandestine manner " in which he left Warrington, adding:

You were told very plainy and freely on what terms your continuance there depended ; you proinised to comply with them; but you have acted contrary to them in every instance; there is no dependence to be had on your resolutions and promises ; and therefore I beg to repeat to you, what has several times been said to you, that you had better retire from the Academy at Warrington, and not expose yourself to the disgrace of being dismissed in another manner.

There remained the matter of Rowan's debts which his London agents settled in due course.

Another hell raiser was William Strickland. The Warrington Library contains copies of correspondence between him, his friends, his parents and the academy authorities leading up to his expulsion at the end of 1772. It seems that he was a friend of one Jacob Jarvis who having previously shown a disposition towards dissipation, was expelled at about the same time for visiting a house of ill repute. After a serious of lesser crimes, such as wearing silk stockings and black silk at a funeral, also going to Liverpool without permission, Strickland was accused of breaking down a door at the Academy after a night in a tavern and showing a degree of contempt of the authority and laws of the Academy which rendered expulsion absolutely necessary. The last item of correspondence was a letter of confession and apology to his father , ending with a plea for forgiveness and a request for money to settle his debts in Warrington.

William Strickland became Sir William Strickland Bart. Of Boynton nr Scarborough.

A prominent interest of students at Warrington is apparent in a letter written by William Turner (student and later tutor) to his brother a few weeks after he entered the Academy in 1777.

"This is the barrenest place for news I ever was in. We do not much seek for it, nor have we much association with the town. I have not read a newspaper since I came here. Americans may be all cut to pieces for aught I know."

Whilst at school in Bolton ,Turner had been regularly informed as to the progress of the war with the colonies by his father, who continued the practice when writing to Warrington, frequently quoting at length from letters received from his correspondents in London and America. Such news of the campaigns, largely unreported or misreported in the English press, was more than welcome to other enthusiasts for freedom in the Academy.

The political opinions of students in wartime are apt to he somewhat warm. Those of Warrington men during the American Revolution were also dangerous, because opposed to the policy of the government.

One person who became very much involved in politics was Archibald Hamilton Rowen. After Warrington he was accepted back at Cambridge eventually gaining a degree. Whilst there he joined the Huntingdon Militia, got a commission and was a British Army Officer for a few years. He was friendly with Lord Montagu who was Governor of S. Carolina and spent three months with him in Charleston. Here he became aware of the colonial unrest which eventually led to the War of Independence. On his return to Cambridge his lifestyle made problems for him so he sold up and went to live in France for 11 years. Here he became aware of the build up to the French Revolution. In 1781, now married he moved back to Ireland, taking a deep interest in Irish politics. His humane and liberal views, gained in Warrington, America and France and he made powerful enemies in high society.

At the time of the revolt of the American colonies the British Government was worried about home defence and threats from France. The Irish Volunteer movement was formed as a home guard when Britain's forces were engaged in America but it soon became a political reform movement. Rowan took a lively interest in all this. He joined the Volunteers in his father's Company and in 1786 was elected as its commander. In 1791 the Society of United Irishmen was formed in Belfast and a month later in Dublin. The objectives of the Society were "to make a united society of the Irish nation: to make all Irishmen citizens and all citizens Irishmen - union is power - it is wisdom - it must prove liberty. " Rowan was elected a Major in the Independent Dublin Volunteers. Eventually he was arrested and tried for "seditious libel", and sentenced to 2 years in gaol. In the early months of his imprisonment he was involved in negotiations between an emissary from France and the United Irish Leader, Wolfe Tone. This involved him liable to a charge of high treason and almost certain to be executed. He made a dramatic escape from gaol went to France and thence to America where he remained until the turn of the century.

In America he was careful to keep a low profile and not be seen to be involved with American politics. He also missed the Irish insurrection of 1798. He was eventually given a royal pardon and returned home to his family in Ireland. Here he lived to a ripe old age suffering the classic fate of a surviving unsuccessful revolutionary - almost total oblivion. Warrington Academy escaped the doubtful distinction of having a former pupil hanged for treason.

Amongst the students who attained some distinction were:

Thomas Barnes, D.D., and Ralph Harrison, the first tutors at Manchester Academy;

John Aikin, M.D., lecturer at Warrington;

Thomas Percival, M.D., F.R.S., founder of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society;

F. R. Malthus, the political economist;

Edward Righy, M.D., an eminent Norwich surgeon and Mayor of Norwich; 1805 ;

Sir William Strickland Baronet - expelled from Academy 1772 for contempt of its authority and laws

Sir John Scott, Lord Ennismore;

George, 17th and last Lord Willoughby, of Parharn;

Henry Beaufoy, F.R.S., M.P.;

William Bruce, D.D., principal of Belfast Academy;

Nathaniel Alexander, successively bishop of Clonfort, Down and Connor, and Meath; Markham Salisbury, an eminent botanist ;

William Howell, divinity tutor at Caermarthen Academy when at Swansea;

John Wedgwood, son of the great potter ;

Samuel Farr, translator of Hippocrates ;

George Forster, who accompanied his father on Cook's second voyage and was afterwards~ professor of natural history at Cassel;

Samuel Galton, a Quaker philanthropist, a member of the Lunar Society and one of Priestley's most generous patrons;

John Goodricke son of Henry Goodricke, M.P., dumb from childhood, who in 1784 won the Copley Medal for his astronomical discoveries

Samuel Heywood, who proceeded to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was appointed Sergeant-at-Law 1795 and Chief Justice of Wales 1807;

Benjamin Vaughan, who went to Cambridge, was engaged in the Treaty of Peace with France under Lord Shelburne's administration and afterwards made for himself a name in America; and his brother William Vaughan, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.R.A.S., merchant and author, sons of an American lady;

Isaac Cookson, Sheriff of Newcastle, 1777 ;

Caleb Hillier Parry, M.D., F.R.S., a famous physician and one of the most original agriculturists of his day;

Benjamin Arthur and Nathaniel Heywood, nephews of the Academy treasurer, who as partners founded in 1788 a Manchester Bank represented to-day by the Williams Deacons Bank;

W. J. Glanvilie, Agent for Barbadoes;

Isaac Bough, Secretary to the Supreme Court of Calcutta ;

Richard Bright, merchant banker of Bristol whose brother was M.P. for the city in three parliaments ;

Edward, Corry, brother to the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer;

Samuel Yates Benyon, Attorney-General for the County of Chester;

James Clark, Sheriff of Edinburgh;

John Leland Maquay, a director of the Bank of Ireland and grandson of Dr. John Leland, writer on the Deists;

Henry Laurens, son of a distinguished American statesman;

Richard Enfield, town clerk of Nottingham;

Archibald Hamilton Rowan - A leader of the Irish volunteers and the United Irishmen. Rusticated from Cambridge University, expelled from Warrington Academy, gaoled for sedition. Escaped hanging for high treason. Died of old age.

The grandsons of Calamy, the nonconformist historian, and of Doddridge, the famous tutor;

 OLD WARRINGTON STREET NAMES

A number of the more notable tutors and students have been recognised in Warrington by commemorating them in street names. The most notable of them perhaps is Joseph Priestley - a world class scientist with major discoveries in gases and fizzy drinks. Other notables were the Aikins - father and son - both called John. The father was a Doctor of Divinity. His son, a student at the Academy, became a Doctor of Medicine and eventual tutor of chemistry, anatomy, physiology from 1770-1779. Author of many books on medicine, also "Essays on Song Writing". Aikin Street was built in 1869 followed by Aikin Street Hospital in 1879

The daughter of John Aikin DD, Anne Letitia, was very closely associated with Academy life and was an unofficial student in the all male society. She formed a romantic attachment with two young men at the Academy. One was John Howard friend of her brother and eventual prison reformer. The other was an 18 year old pupil called Rochemont Barbould, the grandson of a French Hugenot who escaped to England hidden in a cask. She knew of the hereditary insanity affecting Rochemont Barbould yet decided to marry him in 1774 when she was 31. The marriage proved to be childless so she adopted another Aikin - her nephew Charles Rochmont. She established herself as an author and wrote children's books and poetry. her husbands illness became worse and after trying to murder her he died insane in 1808. After her husband's death she continued her literary career. She died at Stoke Newington in 1825.

Barbould Street is now part of the circulating system from Warrington Bridge to Bridge Street. The site of the Anna Letitia Aikin Mrs. Barbould residence is what is now the Conservative Club opposite St. Mary's Church in Buttermarket Street.

Another tutor at the Academy was John Reinhold Forster. Forster Street named after him ran from Winwick Road to Orford Lane. He lived in Warrington for two years. His accomplishments as a scientist and scholar still attract the attentions of modern scholars. He was born in Polish Prussia the son of a Burgermeister. In his youth he formed a remarkable knowledge of foreign languages. His occupation as a minister of religion did not provide enough stipend for his family. He accepted a post to superintend some Russians at Saratov. His prickly personality offended his patron and he left Russia in a hurry. His personality gave him further trouble in England. Having accompanied Captain Cook on his voyages of discovery he wrote a book about it. When the Admiralty heard about it they asked him to desist because Capt Cook was writing about his adventures. He complied with the request however he persuaded his son to write it and published it three weeks before Cook's. As a result they both left England for Paris.

The Rev John Holt, the second of the first two tutors appointed to the Academy was tutor in Mathematics for 15 years. He was by all accounts a strange man - described by Anna Aikin as a "reasoning automaton". Another illustration of his personality is that when he was a student at Glasgow he walked from Scotland to Rivington Pike above Bolton. He asked a messenger to tell jis brother who lived in Bolton that he would like to see him. After his brother climbed the Pike and talked to him, he then turned round and walked back to Glasgow. Holt Street is now demolished and is somewhere under the TSB in Times Square.

Two other tutors remembered in street names are Enfield and Wakefield, along with a contemporary of the Academy - the penal reformer John Howard. These streets were connected to Priestly Street in the Whitecross area most of which disappeared in the development of the area in recent years.

A small street in Howley is named after Dr. Thomas Percival, considered one of Warringtons greatest sons of local and international fame. Born in Sankey Street, after attending Boteler Grammar School he was the first student at the Academy in 1757. After 4 years he went to Edinburgh to study medicine. At 25 he was the youngest member of the Royal Society of London. After obtaining his MD at Leyden he moved back to Warrington. He married and settled in Manchester to practice medicine. He corresponded with his friend Benjamin Franklin - an old acquaintance. He wrote many important books including "Medical Ethics - 1803" considered to be the greatest book on the subject to have ever appeared in English. He helped to form the Manchester Academy in 1786. He was a correspondent of many distinguished American and Europeans. He died in 1804 and was buried at Warrington Parish Church.