Figure 1.--This boy is G.V. Naylor-Leyland. He was about 15 years old when this portrait was taken in his Eton School uniform. Note the crisp Eton collar. The portrait is undated, but we estimate that it was taken about 1907.

This boy is G.V. Naylor-Leyland. He was about 15 years old when this portrait was taken in his Eton School uniform. Note the crisp Eton collar. Eton is one of the few schools to have important garments named after them, namely the Eton suit and collar. (Rugby is the only other school with Rugby shirts and suits.) The portrait is undated, but we estimate that it was taken about 1907. He was one of a huge list of English soldiers killed in World War I. He was killed in action on Monday September 21, 1914 aged 22 years in France during the early phase of fighting during World War I. He was a Lieutenant with the Horse Guards (the 'Blues').

Boy

This boy is G.V. Naylor-Leyland. He was about 15 years old when this portrait was taken in his Eton School uniform. We know nothing about the boy. As an Eton student at the turn of the 20th century, he must have come from an affluent family. Scholarships now help a substantial number of bright boys from middle-class families attend Eton, but this was not the case in the 1900s.

Eton School

Eton College is one of the best known schools in the world. Americans think of colleges as small universities. Colleges in most of the rest of the world are secondary schools, as is Eton College, albeit a prestigious one. Eton College was founded in 1440, nearly 58 after the founding of Winchester school, by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, under the patronage of Henry VI--the Scholar King, and with the title of "the College of the Blessed Mary of Eaton beside Windsor." The buildings were completed between 1491 and 1523. The original buildings consist of two quadrangles containing the chappel, the upper and lower schools, appartments for officials, the library, and offices. The school has produced a long list of distinguished former pupils, including Sir Robert Walpole, Robert Hartley, william Pitt the Elder, Horace Walpole, the Duke of Wellington, Thomas Gray, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Ewart Gladstone.

Eton Collar

Note the crisp Eton collar. Eton is one of the few schools to have important garments named after them, namely the Eton suit and collar. (Rugby is the only other school with Rugby shirts and suits.) The portrait is undated, but we estimate that it was taken about 1907. The Eton collar worn by Eton students, became a standard for properly dressed boys throughout Britain. A boy during the late 19th and early 20th century was not considered well dressed without an Eton collar. It was also widely worn in America. Boys on the Continent also wore Eton collars, but not nearly as commonly as in Britain.

World War I

He was one of a huge list of English soldiers killed in World War I. He was killed in action on Monday September 21, 1914 aged 22 years in France during the early phase of fighting during World War I. He was a Lieutenant with the Horse Guards (the 'Blues'). Looking an images like this, one is reminded by the tragedy. Churches all over England have massive books in which the fallen in the War were listed. The page of this book and the smaller book for World War II are turned daily.

Created: November 4, 2002
Last edited: November 4, 2002