School House is a difficult ‘house’ to track through the school’s history seeing as it can represent both the building on the ground and the group of individuals who would have felt represented by such a name. On the resignation of Headmaster Cunningham in December 1911, the following notice appeared in The Exonian:
The school began to get a good name, day boys came in larger numbers; the empty dormitories gradually found occupants; at the end of a few years the School House was packed with forty-two boys and a second boarding house was started.
J. W. MacBryan, an Old Exonian, recounts his time at Exeter School in 1905.
As regards dates and numbers I fear that my figures may not be accurate but I think they might be regarded as reasonable approximations. I am 89 years of age. My career at Exeter School commenced in 1905. At that time there were 150 boys at the School, about 90 being day boys chiefly from Exeter, with 60 boarders. The boarders were placed as to 40/50 at School House, 15 at Penleonard and a few at another very small (number) house (Maples housemaster).
W. S. Prideaux writes about his time at Exeter School from 1918-22.
I went to Exeter in the Autumn, 1918 and as I was only twelve-and-a-half spent the first two terms in the Junior Boarding House, which was in the middle of Victoria Terrace….We boarders quite enjoyed ourselves and when the day boys went home we enjoyed the peace and (almost) family life, with playing fields to ourselves. I regret that School House was the only Senior Boarding House.
