Thomas James , Dr

Rugby From 'The James, Pyne, Dixon Family Book' publ 1977, account by Alicia C Percival (shortened version):

Dr. Thomas James,D.D., Headmaster of Rugby, has been generally forgotten by the public, largely because of his eclipse by Dr. Arnold, half a century later, but at the time, and for many years after his death, he was looked on as almost the second founder of the school. There has never been a full life of him but William Birch, a Rugbean under him, wrote a Memoir as a preface to a poem of his own. In the classic History of Rugby School, W.H.D. Rouse states:

Thomas James has hitherto hardly had justice done him. He came to Rugby at a crisis in its fortunes when the sudden increase of the value of its endowments gave almost unlimited scope to an able man, and he showed himrelf fully equal to the occasion. He introduced a new and carefully devised course of studies in no way behind the best scholarship of the day, and in some respects in advance on that of other schools. He drew up wise rules for the division of time and for the internal government of the school, which in the main are still observed. He showed bimself capable of dealing with boys in a spirit of firmness and justice, yet not without a great deal more peronal friendship and kindliness than was usual at the time. A generation later Thomas Arnold quickened this perfected organism with a new life....

James succeeded in developing the small local grammar school, founded by Lawrence Sheriff in Tudor times, into an institution having a status which it never lost. After his retirement it dropped in numbers and reputation, but it still remained Rugby School. Dr. James had put it on the map.

Lawrence Sheriff's foundation at Rugby had got off to a bad start with all kinds of legal and financial difficulties during its first hundred years. By the middle of the eighteenth century it had settled down to being a reasonably esteemed though undistinguished grammar school, when owing to a rise in the value of some land left by the founder it became financially much better off. The Trustees (equivalent in this school to Governors) were faced with the prospect of an income which would not only clear them of a large building debt but would give wide scope for new developments. A new man was therefore needed, and in 1778 they appointed a young tutor of King's College, Cambridge. For the sixteen years of his headship, during which he, no less than his noted successor, may be said to have changed the face of the school, they gave him unqualified support and approbation. They did not lose by it. If there was in him a tendency to make the most of his acquaintance with those who were well-off or well-born, the school certainly benefited from this no less than from his scholarship. But it was his energy and attention to detail, as shown in his reforms, that raised the standards of the school. The numbers increased fivefold, to 245 boys at the peak, and no doubt he-and the Trustees-were pleased to welcome several of the 'sons of the nobility and gentry' as additions to the Foundationers and local boys. (There is no indica tion that the latter suffered from the change - and one must remember that the Trustee- Governors were local men.) James made the most serious efforts to keep down the charges and the incidental expenses so that parents should not find their sons' education a financial burden.

It indicates something of Thomas James's remarkable ability and character that he himself was in no way connected with any noble or scholastic family and was probably not thought of as even 'gentry' by origin. Birch says discreetly - and the Dictionary of National Biography bases its account on him - that he was born at St. Ives of 'very respectable and sufficiently opulent parents'. True, 'respectable' was then a word of higher connotation than it became, having still the literal meaning of 'worthy to be respected'; all the same, it was evidently being used to make the best of a distinguished man's undistinguished ancestors. James's second marriage into a good county family and the success of himself and his relations encouraged the idea of high ancestry; the tradition of the first wife's descendants is less exalted.

John James, grandfather of the Headmaster (furthest back known to his descendants) used to be referred to in family tradition as 'The Equestrian'. This was explained to the child whose later reminiscences are the source of knowledge in that branch of the family, as meaning not a Knight, not even to her disappointment a Circus rider, but - an ostler. There is a vague, unsupported tradition that he was of Welsh origin, but he worked at an inn in Huntingdon and is said to have married the daughter, or widow, of his master the inn-keeper. In 1706 there is a record of a John James marrying Mary Colton, by licence, at Christ's College Chapel, the traditional year of the marriage of Thomas's grandparents; this has been accepted as relevant. One son, John, born 1714, survived to become a surgeon in Cambridge; there may well have been other children before Thomas (father of the Hcad- master) was born in 1725.

This, the first known Thomas James (1725-1813), is reputed to have been a corn-factor, a leather-seller - 'or something of the sort' - and to have owned an inn in Holborn. (Perhaps these occupations were combined with a carriers' business for bringing up country produce.) He is said to have taken some interest in politics on the Whig side but having made money he returned (if he ever left) to his native Huntingdonshire and married Mary Wood, who had property at Swavesey in Cambridgeshire. He became, according to another family tradition, High Constable of Elsworth (Cambs) and St.Ives (Hunts). This officer, who was responsible for bringing forward local cases at the Assize, should not be confused with High Sheriff, which James definitely was not, but was reputed to have been by his more status- seeking descendants. However, the family were certainly on the up-grade. The son of Thomas's elder brother, the surgeon, married Ann Burleigh of Cambridge (their descendants becoming known as 'the Burleigh Jameses') and their son became Headmaster of Oundle and a Canon of Peterborough.

Thomas James, then, the James of Rugby, was born at St. lves, or at least baptized there, 14th October 1748; he seems to have been the eldest, probably the only surviving son of the High Constable and Mary. There were at least two daughters who died young, and one, a Mary, who married James Brittin of Huntingdon and whose descendants survived and have a window in St. Ives Church. Thomas, perhaps as 'opulence' increased in the family, was according to tradition sent to Eton to be made a gentleman and became also a scholar.

Whatever his background, Thomas James's biographer says that he got his first education in the classics at the school of the Rev.John Wheeler, the local vicar. Probably for 'school' one should read 'tuition', as it was, and continued to be, a common practice for a small group of boys, or even a precocious individual, to be taught by a clergyman at his house. The praise bestowed on the young scholar for his 'diligence and amiable disposition' sounds merely conventional, yet it is interesting to note that these are the very qualities which particularly characterize his success later on as a teacher. His early career at Eton is not quite obvious. The records show that he was entered as a King's Scholar in May 1761, but considering that boys might be taken from the age of eight, his entry at thirteen would make him rather old for a lad of talent. The author of British Public Characters (1804), though not always reliable, makes the point that 'Love of reading and propensity to study caused him to be sent to Eton at not more than nine years old'. Probably he was sent privately to one of the boarding houses kept by a Dame, for three years, after which he was 'elected upon the Foundation', i.e. entered College. There are other examples of this procedure

[To save space some entertaining paragraphs about Eton have been omitted - find them in the full text in James&Pyne&Dixon.doc]

It is not known how old he was at the time when his Greek verses received special commendation; they were published in the Musae Etonensis of 1760 so he must have been quite young. He had translated a thoroughly 18th-century piece of verse by the then famous poet Mark Akenside, who was so much pleased with the boy's verses that he sent him 'The Iliad in two Quarto Volumes'. His being 'called up for good' i.e. work, several times, is witness to his prowess in the kind of scholarship which was to be so much admired for the next hundred years. But the one other reminiscense known of him is quite different though equally typical of a headmaster-to-be, as a sensible example of organization.

It had been the custom for each boy to bring his own knife and fork into Hall and ar there was no place to put them, it continually happened that they were lost. To prevent this, James himself put up a drawer in the Buttery where they should be constantly kept. The consequence was that the Bursar took the hint and knives and forks have since been regularly provided for all the boys.

Thomas James's election to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, took place in 1766 and he went into residence there in Feburary 1767. His record at the university testifies to his eminence as a scholar, though his election to King's is not in itself a sign of outstanding merit. It is common knowledge that the Colleger of Eton who was highest on the list, if not yet nineteen, automatically succeeded to a vacancy among scholars at King's. Moreover, provided he kept residence, he was certain of receiving his degree as these scholars were not compelled to sit for any university examination to attain this. (Charles Coleridge James, Thomas's grandson, was one of those who fought for the reform of this scandal when the privilege was abolished in the 1860s.) Thomas James, however, did not allow the state of affairs to impair (according to his biographer) his strong desire to take every opportunity of acquiring knowledge' and 'although he had a certain prospect of a Fellowship.... he did not remit any of his former diligence.' In addition to classical scholarship, he turned to the study of mathematics, already of outstanding importance at Cambridge, and obtained 'a very comprehensive and creditable knowledge of this subject'. His interest in it neverlapsed and he later introduced it into the Rugby timetable (as distinct from allowing it to be taught there as an 'extra') and took at least the upper boys in it himself.

As at Eton, the most interesting and pleasing incident known of his Cambridge days has nothing to do with his academic study. One of the Bible Clerks of his college, Henry Maiden had fallen on evil days and a subscription was raised to help him, to which James through his own lack of means was unable to contribute as much as he would have liked. He therefore wrote an account of King's, with special attention to the College Chapel. As a kind of guide book, An Account of King's College had a good sale (published first in 1769, it went through several editions) for the benefit of Henry Maiden.

James got his Fellowship in 1771, took his B.A., became Members' Prizeman in 1772 and 1773, and went on to his M.A. in 1774. It is probable that between his election to the Fellowship and his appointment as a Tutor to the College (1774) he acted as a private tutor, one of his pupils being Lord Lumley. No doubt his private tutoring led to or increased his contact with the aristocracy, which later helped him not a little. James had known among his contemporaries at least two who were to be useful to him later - the future Bishop of Lincoln, and William Pitt, future Prime Minister. But as a scholar he could make his own way and his appointment to the College Tutorship at 26 was regarded as 'a very early age' (Birch).

For four years it seems that 'as a public Tutor he gave universal satisfaction', as Birch naturally says, yet in about 1778 he was finding that 'the air and situation of Cambridge were not at all congenial to his health.' This may not be surprising in itself but as he had lived in that district all his life, Eton apart, he had taken a long time to discover it and one cannot help wondering if there was some other cause. Fortunately this was the moment when the headship at Rugby fell vacant. Friends encouraged him to apply and in spite of some competition - from whom it is not recorded - he was successful. His reign lasted from 1778 to 1794.

Before studying Dr. James's life work, the creation, that is, of his professional career, one should look at his personal life, for James was essentially a man of feeling as well as of thinking. His emotions were strong and uninhibited; he felt and showed what he felt and he clearly had a great capacity for affection. He shows this in his dealings with his friends, his pupils, and above all his family. Not long after he came to Rugby, he came into touch with one of the leading local families who had for years been sending sons to Rugby (still known as Lawrence Sheriff's) school: the Caldecotts. (Rugbeans will note that the name is commemorated in 'Caldecott's Piece' - land obtained by the school for playing-fields and named after a games-playing member of the family.) To the fourth daughter of the con- temporary Mr. Caldecott, Thomas James is said to have paid some 'attentions' but there was no engagement, though the lady may have had hopes and inclinations. For his holiday, the young headmaster went to Bath - perhaps there really had been some trouble with his health at Cambridge? - and there met the daughters of a Coventry gentleman, Mr. John Mander. With Elizabeth, who was one of the Beauties of Bath at the time, he at once fell in love and they were married early in 1779, she being then 22. Little is known except by family tradition about the lady and her family (see E.E.C.) but so strong an impression was made by her that she was simply designated as 'the beautiful Miss Mander'. Their happiness was short. A son, Thomas, was born the next year, a daughter, Mary, in 1782, and two years later, after the birth of another little girl who died as an infant, Elizabeth also died. Her death is reported as being from 'a decline' (which nearly always stands for consumption) but it was 'a rapid illness'. Thomas was heart-broken 'frequently visiting her grave and weeping over it'. The emotionalism is entirely in keeping with his warm, uninhibited character. Her monument (now, unfortunately, skyed over the north door of Rugby church - which was used by the boys in James's day when they had no chapel) is in keeping with his taste; a perfectly simple urn in relief and a Greek inscription.

'Inconsolable' - Birch's word for his grief - he was not. James 'took up again the connection' with the Caldecotts which, just over a year after Elizabeth's death, ended in his remarriage. Thomas and his Arabella, who outlived him by nearly thirty years, were extremely happy and his last extant letter, written only five months before his death, is addressed to 'My dearest, sweetest, and best beloved Belle' and is full of small jests and loving expressions, including the hope, sadly unfulfilled, 'that we may long live to bring up our children and to be happy instruments of comfort and enjoyment to each other'. For, by his second marriage, James had a surviving family of six (see under the section: The Caldecott Jameses). Yet, curiously, not a single male descendant of the name of JAMES remains from either family; and one should note that the Rugby headmaster of the name who followed much later was no relation whatever.

To look next at Dr. James's more strictly educational reforms. When he came, all the boys were taught in one room, 'Big School'. In a high desk at each end sat a master, the Head or his assistant. Later there were four desks (and masters), one in each corner. James brought in at once the Eton system of a series of forms, with separate rooms as soon as these could be provided, and as many assistant masters as forms. He himself, anticipating Amold in this, took the VIth form and sometimes Vth for their classical studies. These, of course, still formed the greater part of the curriculum but James set aside two of the weekly half holidays for the arithmetic master, the French master, the dancing master and the writing master. This last was specially engaged for the younger or backward boys. (children used to come from the age of six and might stay till eighteen and upwards, so the division into forms was long overdue.)

But one of the half-holidays was regarded as 'earned' by the excellent work of a senior boy, especially in 'verses' (Greek, Dr. James's introduction - but, in his day, only for those who had the wish and intelligence to cope with the subject). The Head would announce or write on the board: 'Play for Landor' or, more often, 'Play for Butler'. Landor was Walter Savage Landor, of later literary fame, whose rebellious and controversial spirit made him such a nuisance at Rugby that in the end Dr. James had to ask for his removal. Samuel Butler, grandfather of the author of Erewhon, was himself to become the Headmaster of Shrewsbury, where he did work not unlike that of Dr. James in transforming a small local foundation into a well-reputed public school. These were brilliant boys, but the best witness to James's success both as a teacher himself and as the organiser of a system to bring about good teaching in general, is the effect on quite a different sort of boy - Charles Apperley, who later was well-known for his sporting articles, written under the name of 'Nimrod'. One would think he had little affinity with classical literature, yet the background of this remained with him-he would carry a Virgil or Horace when out hunting-and though not uncritical of the school he pays this tribute: "I think there was a very honourable feeling throughout the scbool as to.... gentlemanly and honounble conduct and likewise a great deal of taste.... How thick soever a boy's head may have been, he could not have left Rugby without hringing away with him something of that classical character".

To appreciate James's relations with his pupils in general (but each was clearly an individual to him) one ought to remember the historical context within which his headship lay - the Naval Mutinies and the French Revolution, the prisons visited by John Howard and the hulks of Great Expectations and, more vaguely, that black but extremely mobile patch, The Industrial Revolution. Within the schools themselves one should bear in mind the general use of the birch, the reputation of that later 'great beater', Keate of Eton, and Charles Lamb's sadistic master ('I have a great mind to flog you, sir, and '.... rushing out, 'by God, I will'), to realize how far James was in advance of his times. True, he is remembered by one ex-pupil as of small stature but having 'a very strong arm'. Yet his intention, what he called his 'disposition of mind', was very different: 'I governed more by principles of justice and.... the Eternal Rule of Right and Wrong.... by maintaining such a sort of character among the boys by my actions than by the terror of the Rod.' But similarly he adds: 'I have never governed the boys by that secret information which some Masters are thought to have derived from their own subjects. It would be a high crime and even treason against the virtue and honour of the school to induce boys to be traitors to their fellows'.

This is a point of view much nearer our own even than Amold's, and shows a very close and unusual identification with the boys themselves. (It is particularly remarkable, as the next sentence refers to the kind of thing he had to deal with: '.... as in the case of the old man's teeth knocked out.') It is this feeling of being on easy terms with the boys that Birch is indicating in his 18th-century language, in the Memorial Poem:
Sincerely courteous, cheerful with the gay,
A child with children, thou wouldst vie in play;
Diffusing social joy, thy placid mind
Could cheer the languid, make the froward kind.

It was because of this width of sympathy that, though like Amold he probably knew his VIth form boys best (and his relations with Samuel Butler were exceptionally intimate and long-lasting-see his letters in the Temple Library at Rugby School), he also took a real interest in the little ones - though he was prepared to beat them from a tender age. He made out their timetable every whit as carefully as those of the upper forms and he saw to it that they had a share in the Library fiction which included Robinson Crusoe and The History of Llttle Jack. His appreciation of wit and sparkle among the intellectual boys is shown in plenty of anecdotes and he must have found this a pleasing contrast to the thoroughly school boy humour of finding a donkey tied up to the Master's desk when he came in to give a lesson. James put by this joke with 'Take him down, but pray don't hurt the young doctor'. He clearly preferred Landor's: There were seven boys in the School of the name of Hill. The boys wanted a half-holiday and came to Landor. 'Write to old James for one', said they. Lander consented and wrote a copy of verses, wherein he compared Rugby to Rome, because it was built on seven Hills. 'Ah', said the Doctor, 'I don't ask you who wrote this, for there is only one of you with the brains to doit. Half-holiday? Yes.'

It is an example of the sharing of interest between the teacher and the taught - the hallmark of good teaching.

Scholarship was one of the 'twin pillars' on which James himself claimed to have erected the school; the other was - economy. This must have been an unexpected effort, but welcome to parents; he was determined to avoid the mistakes he must have seen at Eton of giving some boys too much money to throw about. His whole book of rules, Sumptuary Laws, as he refers to them, which he left as a legacy on his retirement and which he had evidently inculcated in practice throughout his time, shows the most precise attention given to what might reasonably be spent on the boys' stationery, clothes, laundry, mending, hair cutting and the dancing master. Books and clothes should be marked with the boy's name or initials. No article should be supplied by the tradesmen except against a signed note from the master concerned; these notes should be returned by the supplier every half year and the parent will be charged. With all expenses catered for, there is no reason why pocket money should not be reduced to a very small item. The blessed phrase 'parent-teacher cooperation' was not yet in use, but James knew all about the need for it and wrote: 'It is my earnest request to all Parents that they will in future abide steadily by these conditions which the Master has laid before them, checking every degree of secret or indirect innovation....(i.e. attempts to get round the rules)'.

Expense apart, James was far before his time also in co-operating with parents over the curriculum. He made provision for boys not going to the universities but, clearly, into trade. In 1784, Rugby had acquired a new French Master, a Hungarian who founded a dynasty in Rugby, which indeed became well-known in the English scholastic world. He was Count Wratislaw of the Holy Roman Empire and had been an Attache to the Austrian Embassy in Paris but 'circumstances compelled him to quit Paris and retire to England.... he continued French master at Rugby till his death in 1796', says a note in the Register. James arranged that he should give private evening lectures also in German 'with the Anglo-Saxon pronunciation and dialect, to any young gentleman whose parents may judge such an acquirement necessary to his future view on life (From a Hungarian Count,;this must have been considered cheap at two guineas for the half-year.) Moreover, a few older boys could learn engrossing hands and arithmetic and algebra. A headmaster who was making a real effort to fit a boy's curriculum to what his parents thought he would need must have been a novelty indeed at the time. No wonder parents were satisfied and the school grew.

[Poems and some other text omitted from here on - see full version in James&Pyne&Dixon.doc]

The improvements and enlargements of the buildings made by the Trustees, almost certainly at James's suggestions, were many and ingenious. Even the new funds could not enable buildings to keep pace with the growth of the school and a new erection like the large apsidal hall would be mixed with old sheds and barns pressed into service for classrooms till the whole looked 'like a chapel that had lost its way in a farm-yard'. But in the matter of expenditure, James was prepared to accept the half-loaf of reconditioning and making-do without recrimination; he had a good sense of priorities. He managed almost from the first to give the boys in his house 'studies' - a boy had his private sanctum, with basic equipment provided, including a padlock, at the door of which even the Headmaster would knock before entering. This was a great innovation; not even Etonian collegers had this unless they could get a room in the town; it must have added immensely to the boys' comfort and self-respect.

With his cheerful and accommodating good-humour, it is no wonder that Dr.James got on well with his Governors but it is remarkable that, to judge from minutes and memoranda, the honeymoon of his first appointment seems (like that of his marriage) to have lasted the full period. He had their full support over the 'rebellion' which Rugby, in common with a number of 18th-century schools, suffered; it is important to note that this is not the Rugby Rebellion often referred to when a good deal of damage was done to the school and soldiers were finally called in, which took place under James's successor. James's in 1786 was a comparatively trivial affair. The Governors backed him to the extent of minuting their hope that 'he will not hesitate to remove every Boy from the School who shall presume to dispute his Authority or disturb the peace of the same'. He had little trouble; his fault was probably in a certain ambiguity - showing a relaxed friendliness and then having to pull the boys up when they took too much advantage of it. This was one crisis in which he got the support he needed from the Governors; the other was at the end of his school career. James had driven himself hard during these sixteen years; it was his nature to live fully and at a great pace till he broke down: 'I filled up every nook and corner of my Time so exactly and I was so busily (I must say also. pleasantly) employed (Note - even while I was undressing and more while I was dressing myself in a morning) that I sank at length under a burden of uninterrupted thought which I could not any longer bear....'

This is from a letter of 52 pages (draft) which he wrote to them in June 1794. He was not complaining, on the contrary was most appreciative, but it is the letter of a man severely disturbed. We know of two causes besides his 'unremitting zeal'. One was 'a sharp operation' that he had to undergo in an emergency and great pain; it sounds like some tumour or ulcer; not as so often 'the stone' but he mentions 'agony which followed a cross-section of a wound that could not before endure the touch'. He recovered but was convinced that to labour further would endanger his health. His other trial was the death of five-year-old Arabella Maria, evidently a beloved youngest daughter.

The Governors did all they could. They allowed him to stay on in office till September, to give him time 'to take a handsome leave' of parents; they voted him a pension, to be paid quarterly by his old friend, their Clerk; they phrased a most complimentary minute of farewell; they presented him with a handsome silver tray with their names and arms inscribed as a mark of esteem (this, happily, remains in the family). They did not forget him and two years later obtained for him a 'Prebendal Stall' at Worcester, in which diocese he found a living at Harvington.

It is not surprising that with his interest in church music and the organ, Dr.James in his retirement in Worcestershire was able to take advantage of one of the oldest institutions for music in the West Country - what has now become known as The Three Choirs Festival, in which Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford all take a share. What has been called 'the domination of Handel' was supreme at the time but in 1800 Haydn's The Creation was performed for only the third time in England. When we consider what an important part is played by the Dean and Prebendaries of the cathedral where the 'Music Meeting' was taking place, it is hardly fanciful to think that Dr.James may have had something to do with the organization which included Haydn's new work.

He died at home, on 23rd September 1804, 'having on that day experienced much happiness from effecting a reconciliation between some parties in his parish who had quarrelled'.