PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Mr Alonzo J Rider was the Headmaster of Stoke Public School, housed at the time in Keppel Place. In 1878 he and his wife were apparently reprimanded by the secretary to the committee of management of the School, a Major-General L Tripe, which it is thought gave rise to Mr Rider's dream of running his own school. That dream was realised in 1895 when the ailing Devonport, Stoke and Stonehouse High School for Girls went into voluntary liquidation and vacated an imposing Gothic building at the top of Albert Road, Stoke. It is said that the building was purchased on behalf of Mr Rider for the sum of £3,500. The new Naval, Civil Service and Commercial School opened there at 9am on January 16th 1896. Its lofty classrooms were thoroughly ventilated, heated and completely furnished and the School had its own chemical laboratory equipped at Mr Rider's personal expense. It was renamed Devonport High School for Boys shortly afterwards. Almost from the start Mr Rider acquired a 11½ acre site at Keyham Barton for use as a playing field. Cricket and soccer were played on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. A second field was purchased at Penlee, Milehouse, and finally Mr Rider bought "Greatlands" at Milehouse. The school day in those days lasted from 9am until 4.45pm with just one break, from 12.30 to 2pm for lunch. Lessons lasted for 45 minutes each except for the last period of the day, which was one hour. There was no school on a Sunday although the staff still had to supervise the boarders. The school cap was dark blue. Following the Education Act of 1902, which gave local authorities the powers to acquire educational establishments, Devonport Borough Council's Education Committee decided to purchase Devonport High School for Boys so that it should became the Council's Municipal Secondary School. For the princely sum of £6,000 it was transferred to the Devonport Local Education Authority (i.e. the Council) on June 18th 1906. Mr Rider retired at the end of 1906 after 43 years of being associated with schools in the Borough. There was a presentation in the Devonport Guildhall, such was the importance of the event. He continued to live at "Outram", the school-house next door, until his death on February 9th 1921. The history of Devonport High School for Boys continues in the Local Education Authority section.
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