Wellesley House School

Wellesley House School is a prep school in Broadstairs in Kent.

History

It was first established in 1866 as Conyngham House in Ramsgate, with the first of the buildings on the present site being built in 1898. During the Second World War the British Army used the school buildings while the school was temporarily housed at Rannoch. In 1969 the school amalgamated with St Peter's Court, another Broadstairs preparatory school, The problems of preparatory schools post-war had been predicted during the war by F. G. Ridgeway of St Peter's Court.^[1] The Wellesley House School site was developed as the sole site over the next few years. The school became co-educational in 1977.

School organisation

The school is organised into a Junior House (7–9 years) and Senior School (up to 13 years). There are three boarding houses: the boys' Junior House, the boys in the Main School and Orchard House for girls, but all pupils are split into one of four houses: Vikings, Romans, Saxons and Danes. The school is organised into year blocks:

• Form JS
• Form JH
• Block 4
• Block 3
• Block 2
• Block 1

Old Welleslians

The school and St Peter's Court in 2011 were voted 'The Archant Good School'.^[2] Distinguished former pupils^[3] include:

Armed Forces

• Peter de la Billière, former Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in the 1990 Gulf War
• Lord Jellicoe, former First Lord of the Admiralty
• John Ruggles-Brise, Honorary Colonel in the Territorial Army

The Arts

• Reginald Bosanquet, former ITN newscaster on ITV
• Sir Jeremy Child, actor
• Pandora Clifford, actress
• Michael Denison, actor
• Siobhan Hewlett, actress
• Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, photographer
• Gresby Nash, actor
• Oliver Preston, cartoonist
• Sir Jocelyn Stevens, Chairman of English Heritage

Business

• Neil Sclater-Booth, former New York City financier
• John Cobbold
• Patrick Cobbold
• Robin Leigh-Pemberton, former Governor of the Bank of England
• Sir Adrian Swire, Hong Kong-based billionaire

Politics

• James Arbuthnot, Conservative MP
• Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Bt
• Henry Bellingham, Conservative MP
• Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP
• Nicholas Lyell, former Conservative MP

Royalty

• Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
• Prince George, Duke of Kent
• Prince William of Gloucester
• Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester

Sportsmen and sportswomen

• Graham Cowdrey, former cricketer
• William Fox-Pitt, Silver Medal-winning Olympic equestrian competitor
• Georgina Harland, Bronze Medal-winning Olympic athlete
• Alex Loudon, former cricketer
• George Mann, former cricketer
• Tony Nash, Gold Medal-winning Olympic bobsleigh competitor

Writers

• Simon Astaire, author, agent and media advisor
• Jonathon Porritt, environmental journalist
• Tom Stacey, novelist and former foreign correspondent
• Hew Strachan, military historian

Lucas Mickelborg - weetabix man

References