Figure 1.--Philip R. Morris painted this image of the Duke of York's Royal Military School. We are unsure as to just when this portrait was take, but would guess about 1880. Notice the pillbox cap that the boy in the front is wearing. I had thought the other boys were wearing the same caps, but it is difficult to tell. Perhaps they are wearing campaign caps. The Leeds Museums and Galleries (City Art Gallery) holds the copyright.

British military schools, unlike many British public schools such as the prestigious Eton and Harrow schools, are of fairly recent origin. According to A. W. Cockerill, an authority on military schools of the British Army, "Military schools for students under the age of 18, to distinguish them from officer cadet training academies, have been in existence in the British military only since the mid-18th Century. Military schools are also to be found in the United States, but they are significant differences between British and American military schools. American military schools were privately funded and may or may not have retired military personnel on staff." They also catered to relatively affluent American families. As Cockerill notes, "The British military schools were funded and operated by the Army for the orphans of soldiers killed in battle and the children of impoverished British military families."

Military School System

While it was more common for English boys to go to boarding school than elsewhere in Europe, very few English schools were military schools. England appears to have the most limited number of military schools of any major European country. Britain has never had military boarding schools like the United States. Quite a large number of military schools were founded in America and these constituted a significant portion of the American boarding schools. These were schools primarily for affluent middle-class families. Very few military schools were founded in England. The few that have been founded were designed to care for the children of enlisted British servicemen who faced poverty if their fathers were posted abroad or killed during their military service. We do not yet know of any privately founded fee-paying boarding schools in Britain.

British Schools

We have in HBC generally separated our discussion of English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh schools. Of course these countries all make up the United Kingdom governed by a single national Parliament. We have in part separated our school discussion because there are separate school systems in England and Scotland. As regards military schools this makes less sense. Not only are there very few military schools, but there is only one military--the British military.

British Army

The creation of a standing British army is intertwined with the development of democracy in Britain. Until the 17th century there was no standing English Army. Under the Feudal system nobles owed military service to the king and were required to provide military forced when needed. As Parliament acquired increasing authority in England it used its prerogatives over taxation to limit royal power. The conflict between Parliament and the monarchy came to a head during the Stuart dynasty. The Stuarts believing in royal absolutism were unwilling to accept Parliamentary controls on their power. Parliament refused to grant the Stuarts new taxes which to create an army which could be used to suppress Parliament. As a result when Charles I tried to suppress the Scottish kirk, he found he did not have an army sufficient to the task or even able to withstand a Scottish invasion. It was in the ensuing Civil War (1642-51) that the first standing British Army was created--Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army (1644). Notably the Model Army won the Civil War and ironically Cromwell like Charles I, dismissed Parliament and ruled without it. After Cromwell's death and the restoration of Charles II, the potential dangers of a standing army impeded the development of a professional standing army in Britain. This began to change in the 18th century as conflict with France posed increasing dangers on Britain. The Seven Year's War (1756-63) is generally seen as a European War. For Britain and France it was a world war. Americans know it as the French and Indian War as a result of which Britain acquired Canada. On the other side of the globe Britain gained control of India. These acquisitions as well as other colonies in the Caribbean and North America greatly expanded the need for a standing army. Even so the British Army was still relatively small. When the Revolutionary War (1776) flared, King George III needed to hire Hessian mercenaries from his German relatives. The wars arising from the French Revolution (1789) and later the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) resulted in a greatly expanded British military.

Military Families

The families of British enlisted servicemen lived in strained circumstances at best. The expansion of the British military meant that more families were dependent on servicemen as the head of household and exposed to severe deprivations when he was posted overseas. Until 1800 there was no way that a serviceman posted abroad could remit his pay to his family back in England. Cockerill explains the problem, "When a regiment embarked for service overseas, six families per company only were allowed to accompany the battalion. Selection of the families permitted to travel was made by drawn lot. The families left behind were without support of any kind. They suffered misery and destitution." [Cockerill, RHMA] Cockerill adds, "When a soldier died, was wounded or left the service for any reason, there was no welfare service to cater to the family. There was no welfare service among the civilian population either--except the workhouse system. Read my book. Families traveling from a military depot to their home parish required a 'pass' from the commanding officer of the depot to avoid being arrested as vagrants when passing through other parishes en route. As for housing, not even soldiers had barracks until the 1790s and, when they did, some but not all families lived in a corner of the barrack room with the soldiers." [Cockerill, July 4, 2004.]

Chronology

The first British military school was the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin, Ireland. It ws founded by a charitable group in the mid-18th century to address the privations experienced by military families when the father was posted abroad. This occurred after the Seven Years War. The problem became increasingly serious during the extended conflicts associated with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The Eventually the British Army took over this responsibility and schools were founded in England (Duke of York's School) and later Scotland (Queen Victoria School). The Royal Hibernian Military School school was closed when Ireland obtained its independence. The two British military schools are now operated like British public (private) schools.

Specific Military Schools

We have some information on specific military schools, much of it derived from the work of Cockerill. There are two types of military schools: 1) schools for children and 2) service academies to train officers. The British military schools for children are facilities funded and operated by the army with the ethos, organization, discipline, and character of a military unit. The children, both boys and girls, wear military uniforms. They were founded as schools to care for the children of enlisted British soldiers. Britain also has establishments which in America would be called service academies. These are schools specifically created to produce military officers. The only army school currently operating is Sandhurst.

Source of Recruits

The British military schools for children were not schools specifically aimed at training soldiers. The British Army found the schools, however, to be a useful source of recruits. The military environment of the school meant that boys recruited there fit easier into military life. The boys in fact made an important contribution to the British Army. Cockerill tells us, "It is estimated that of 10,000 boys who passed through the Royal Military Asylum between 1803 and 1892, about 700 achieved commissioned rank i.e. 7 per cent. The others formed the core of the NCO ranks." [Cockerill, July 4, 2004.] British officers were mostly drawn from the privileged classes. Cockerill also points out, "This was true of all societies including the States at one time." [Cockerill, July 4, 2004.]

Sources

Cockerill, A.W. Information*Research*Publications.

Cockerill, A.W. E-mail message commuication, July 4, 2004.

Cockerill, A.W. Royal Hiberian Military School.

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