Stowe School#Notable former pupils

{{further|Stowe House}}

Stowe School opened in 1923. The main building is Stowe House, whose exterior was completed by 1779. Funding for the school came through the Rev. Percy Warrington and the Martyrs Memorial Trust.W. A. Evershed, Party and Patronage in the Church of England 1800–1945, D. Phil. thesis, Oxford University,1985, gives a detailed and well-referenced account of the questionable methods employed by Warrington. The Martyr's Memorial Trust appointed the first Governing Body, whose Chairman from August 1922 was Lord Gisborough. The school's first architect was Clough Williams-Ellis.

File:Stowe School - geograph.org.uk - 582994.jpg

The first Headmaster was J. F. Roxburgh. He aimed to focus on the individual child and introduce them to beauty and learning; he wanted a civilised school founded on Christian values.Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle By Anthony Russell

The Beatles played a concert at Stowe School on 4 April 1963. A recording of the concert was revealed in 2023, and leaked to the public later in the year.{{cite news |last1=Thorpe |first1=Vanessa |title=Please Please Us: Lost tape of Beatles school gig could be saved for the nation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/please-please-us-lost-tape-of-beatles-school-gig-could-be-saved-for-the-nation |access-date=29 October 2023 |work=The Observer |date=9 April 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYaMkVmlg3A | title=The Beatles - Stowe School Complete Concert (4-4-1963 / Original Recording) | website=YouTube | date=23 August 2023 }}

The school's cricket ground is used as a first class ground by Northamptonshire CCC.

The Stowe Corner of Silverstone Circuit is named after the school.{{Cite web|url=https://www.silverstone.co.uk|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429050429/http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/hi_overview.html|url-status=dead |title=Home|archivedate=29 April 2009|website=Silverstone}}

A Southern Railway "Schools Class" steam locomotive, No. 928, which was built in 1934 was named after the school, and is preserved at the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex.{{cite web|url=http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/stowe.html|title=Bluebell Railway Locomotives – Stowe|website=bluebell-railway.co.uk|access-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113203807/http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/stowe.html|archive-date=13 January 2017|url-status=live}}

In 2005, the school was investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for "price fixing", participating in a "fee-fixing cartel".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2005/nov/10/consumernews.publicschools|title=Top 50 independent schools found guilty of price-fixing to push up fees|author1=Matthew Taylor|author2=Rob Evans|author3=Rebecca Smithers|work=The Guardian|date=10 November 2005|access-date=13 February 2025|url-status=live}}

In 2016, a Daily Telegraph investigator posing as a parent of a Russian pupil was told by the then school registrar that while pupils would always be expected to pass the entrance exam, it would help secure a place if a borderline child's parents were able to donate "about £100,000 or something like that."{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/09/inside-story-buy-place-top-school/|title=The inside story:How to buy a place at a top school|author1=Claire Newell |author2=Luke Heighton |author3=Edward Malnick |author4=Camilla Turner |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=9 December 2016|access-date=6 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307124331/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/09/inside-story-buy-place-top-school/|archive-date=7 March 2017|url-status=live}}

{{unreferenced section|date=April 2017}}

There are 13 boarding houses: 8 boys' houses and 5 girls' houses. There are also three Day Houses - 2 boys' houses and 1 girls' house. The boarding houses are mostly named after members of the family of Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Each house has a number or letter assigned to it.

File:Cricket pitch and Pavilion, Stowe School - geograph.org.uk - 528059.jpg

The first recorded match on the school cricket ground came in 1928 when Stowe School played St Paul's School.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_misc.html Other matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404013901/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_misc.html |date=4 April 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com. Buckinghamshire played their first Minor Counties Championship match there in 1947, when the opponents were Berkshire. Between 1947 and 1982 the ground held five Minor Counties Championship matches, the last of which saw Buckinghamshire draw against Bedfordshire.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_minc.html Minor Counties Championship Matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044341/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_minc.html |date=5 March 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com. The ground has also hosted a single MCCA Knockout Trophy match which saw Buckinghamshire play Bedfordshire.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_mint.html Minor Counties Trophy Matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305000434/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_mint.html |date=5 March 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com (7 August 1983).

The ground has also held a single List A match for Northamptonshire in the 2005 totesport League, against Gloucestershire.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_a.html List-A Matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105038/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_a.html |date=4 March 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com (19 June 2005) and has held fourteen Second XI fixtures for the Northamptonshire Second XI in the Second XI Championship and Second XI Trophy.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_sec.html Second XI Championship Matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404024857/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_sec.html |date=4 April 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_set.html Second XI Trophy Matches played on Stowe School Ground] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404074616/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086_set.html |date=4 April 2016 }}. Cricketarchive.com.

• 1923–1949: J. F. Roxburgh
• 1949–1958: Eric Reynolds
• 1958–1964: Donald Crichton-Miller
• 1964–1979: Robert Drayson
• 1979–1989: Christopher Turner
• 1989–2003: Jeremy Nichols
• 2003–present: Anthony Wallersteiner

{{See also|Category:People educated at Stowe School}}

{{alumni|date=September 2019}}

Former pupils of Stowe School are known as Old Stoics. Matthew Vaughn is currently the President of the Old Stoic Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stowe.co.uk/school/old-stoics/about|title=Old Stoics - About}}
Old Stoics include:

• Michael Alexander (1920–2004), British Army officer
• John Anderson (1918–1943), British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Noel Annan, Baron Annan (1916–2000), British intelligence officer and academic
• Adam Atkinson (born 1967), Bishop of Bradwell
• John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee (born 1956), Conservative politician and grandson of Prime Minister Clement Attlee
• George Barclay (1920–1942), Royal Air Force fighter pilot and World War II flying ace
• Alexander Bernstein, Baron Bernstein of Craigweil (1936–2010), British television executive and member of the Labour Party
• Oliver Bertram (1910–1975), English racing driver
• Richard Boston (1938–2006), English journalist and author
• John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter (1908–1998), Conservative politician
• Richard Branson (born 1950), British businessman
• Lyndon Brook (1926–2004), British actor
• Jack Brooksbank (born 1986), English businessman and husband of Princess Eugenie
• Simon Brown, Baron Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (1937–2023), British barrister, judge and Justice of the Supreme Court
• Florence Brudenell-Bruce (born 1985), British actress and model
• Martin Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount Buckmaster (1921–2007), British diplomat
• James Burnell-Nugent (born 1949), Royal Navy officer and Commander-in-Chief Fleet
• Henry Cavill (born 1983), British actor
• Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire (1917–1992), recipient of the Victoria Cross and founder of the Cheshire Foundation
• Oliver Churchill (1914–1997), SOE officer during World War II
• Simon Clegg (born 1959), British sports businessman, former CEO of the British Olympic Association and Ipswich Town Football Club
• Peter Coke (1913–2008), English actor, playwright and artist
• Oliver Colvile (born 1959), Conservative politician and MP
• John C. Corlette (1911–1977), English architect, Gordonstoun teacher and founder of Aiglon College
• John Cornford (1915–1936), English poet and communist
• Andrew Croft (1906–1998), SOE officer during World War II and Arctic explorer
• Joanna "Jo" da Silva (born 1967), engineer and founder of Arup International Development Group
• Chelsy Davy (born 1985), Zimbabwean businesswoman and former girlfriend of Prince Harry
• Michael Deeley (born 1932), British film producer and Academy Award winner
• Robin Devereux, 19th Viscount Hereford (born 1975)
• Simon Digby (1932–2010), English oriental scholar
• Roland "Roly" Drower (1953–2008), English software engineer, journalist, activist, poet and composer
• Ben Duckett (born 1994), English cricketer
• John David Eaton (1909–1973), Canadian businessman
• Hugh Dundas (1920–1995), Royal Air Force fighter pilot and broadcasting executive
• John Dundas (1915–1945), Royal Air Force fighter pilot and World War II flying ace
• Alex Farquharson, British curator and art critic
• Thomas Firbank (1910–2000), Welsh-Canadian author, farmer and military officer
• Gareth Forwood (1945–2007), British actor
• David Foster (1920–2010), Royal Navy pilot and business executive
• Reginald "Reg" Gadney (1941–2018), English painter and thriller-writer{{cite news |title=Obituary – Reg Gadney|editor-last=Witherow|editor-first=John |work=The Times |issue=72567 |date=21 June 2018 |page=54|issn=0140-0460}}
• Howard Goodall (born 1958), English composer
• Michael Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 1943), English television executive and businessman
• Harry Gregson-Williams (born 1961), British composer, conductor, orchestrator and record producer
• George Haig, 2nd Earl Haig (1918–2009)
• Rose Hanbury (born 1984), peeress, model and political staffer
• Edward Hardwicke (1932–2011), English actor
• Peter Hayman (1914–1992), British diplomat{{cite news |url=http://ianpace.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/two-obituaries-of-peter-hayman-senior-diplomat-mi6-officer-and-pie-member/ |title=Obituary: Sir Peter Hayman |author=Denis Greenhill |author-link=Denis Greenhill |newspaper=The Independent |date=11 April 1992 |access-date=2 July 2014}}
• Jack Hayward (1923–2015), English businessman, philanthropist and former owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Robert Heber-Percy (1911–1987), English eccentric
• Nicholas Henderson (1919–2009), British diplomat and writer
• Nigel Henderson (1917–1985), English documentary artist and photographer; asked to leave after burning a Union Flag
• John Henniker-Major, 8th Baron Henniker (1916–2004), British diplomat
• Annabel Heseltine (born 1963), British journalist
• Roger Hodgson (born 1950), English singer-songwriter and founding member of British rock band Supertramp
• Oscar Humphries (born 1981), Australian art dealer and journalist
• Robert Kee (1919–2013), British journalist, historian and writer
• John Kempe (1917-2010), Headmaster of Gordonstoun School and mountaineer{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7756803/John-Kempe.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=John Kempe | date=23 May 2010}}
• Danny Kinahan (born 1958), Ulster Unionist politician and MP
• Adam King (born 1999), English cricketer
• Marc Koska (born 1961), English inventor
• Percy "Laddie" Belgrave Lucas (1915–1998), Royal Air Force officer, golfer, author and MP
• Nicholas Lyell, Baron Lyell of Markyate (1938–2010), English Conservative politician, Solicitor-General for England and Wales and Attorney-General for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• George Parker, 8th Earl of Macclesfield (1914–1992)
• Gavin Maxwell (1914–1969), British naturalist and author
• Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (1942–2014), British businessman, politician and author
• George Melly (1926–2007), English jazz singer, critic, writer, and art history lecturer
• Crispian Mills (born 1973), English singer-songwriter and film director
• Christopher Robin Milne (1920–1996), English author, bookseller and son of A. A. Milne
• George Monbiot (born 1963), British writer, journalist and activist
• Iain Moncreiffe, 11th Baronet (1919–1985), British officer of arms and genealogist
• Chandos Morgan (1920–1993), British priest, military chaplain and Archdeacon of the Royal Navy
• David Niven (1910–1983), British actor, author and military officer
• Edward Donough "Toby" O'Brien (1909–1979), British journalist, propaganda expert and spy
• Marilyn Okoro (born 1984), British track and field athlete
• Dalton Philips (born 1968), Irish businessman
• Henry Pollock (born 2005), English rugby union player
• Anthony Quinton, Baron Quinton (1925–2010), British philosopher
• Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1923–2005)
• Miranda Raison (born 1977), British actress
• James Reeves (1909–1978), British writer
• Graham Riddick (born 1955), Conservative politician and MP
• Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill (1921–2011)
• John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover (1927–2022), British businessman and politician
• David Shepherd (1931–2017), British artist and conservationist
• Tilly Smith (born 1994), 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami rescuer
• David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate (born 1936), member of the UK Independence Party
• Edmund "Ed" Stoppard (born 1974), British actor
• Richard Sutton (born 1937), businessman
• Henrik Takkenberg (1967–2006), musician
• Karan Thapar (born 1955), Indian journalist
• Richard "Ric" Thorpe (born 1965), Bishop of Islington
• Simon Towneley (1921-2022), Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire{{cite web|url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/scion-of-distinguished-recusant-family/ |title=Scion of distinguished recusant family |work=Catholicherald.co.uk |date=2 December 2022}}
• Bubby Upton (born 1999), British equestrian{{cite web|url=https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/tag/bubby-upton| website=Horse and Hound|accessdate=12 May 2024|title=Bubby Upton}}
• Matthew Vaughn (born 1971), British director and producer
• Michael Ventris (1922–1956), English architect, classicist and philologist who deciphered Linear B
• Jon Vickers (1916–2008), British trade union leader
• Rollo Weeks (born 1987), British former actor
• Laurence Whistler (1912–2000), English artist and poet
• Graeme White (born 1987), English cricketer
• Nicholas Winton (1909–2015), British stockbroker and humanitarian
• Henry Worsley (1960–2016), British explorer
• Peregrine Worsthorne (1923–2020), British journalist and writer
• David Wynne (1926–2014), British sculptor{{cite web |url=https://www.stowe.co.uk/house/plan-your-visit/the-david-wynne-collection |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922022806/https://www.stowe.co.uk/house/plan-your-visit/the-david-wynne-collection |archive-date=22 September 2020 |title=Stowe House – The David Wynne Collection}}
• George Zambellas (born 1958), Royal Navy officer, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff

• Theodore Acland (1890–1960), housemaster 1924–1930; later headmaster of Norwich School
• T. H. White (1906–1964), English teacher 1932–1936; author known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958. His novel Mistress Masham's Repose is set in a mansion with gardens inspired by Stowe
• Harry Gregson-Williams (born 1961), composer in residence 2012–2013; Old Stoic and Hollywood composer
• Peter Farquhar (1946–2015), English teacher 1983–2004; author and murder victim{{Cite news |last=Crick |first=Michael |date=2015-11-18 |title=Peter Farquhar obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/18/peter-farquhar-obituary |access-date=2023-07-30 |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite news |title='Evil' churchwarden guilty of murdering author |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49002436 |accessdate=24 July 2023 |publisher=BBC News |date=9 August 2019}}

{{Infobox COA wide

|image = 200px

|escutcheon = Quarterly indented Argent and Or, first a lion rampant Azure, second a pile Gules, third a pile Vert thereon a cross of the second bearing five torteaux, fourth three martlets of the third.

|motto = Persto et praesto

|notes = Granted in 1923.{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Stowe_School|title=Stowe School |publisher=Heraldry of the World |accessdate=15 February 2023}}}}

• List of the Beatles' live performances
• List of schools in the South East of England
• List of independent schools in the United Kingdom
• List of boarding schools
• Aitchison College

• Alasdair MacDonald, Stowe: House and School, London: W. S. Cowell, 1951 {{ISBN needed}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.stowe.co.uk/school Stowe School Website]
• [http://www.oldstoic.org/ Old Stoic Society]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050825150847/http://www.shpt.org/ Stowe House Preservation Trust]
• [http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/57826.html Cricket ground record at] cricinfo
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080203145427/http://www.alliedschools.org.uk/ The Allied Schools]
• [http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=110548 Department for Education Performance Tables 2011]
• [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/2086.html Stowe School Ground] at CricketArchive
• [http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/57826.html Stowe School Ground] at Cricinfo

{{Public schools in England}}

{{Buckinghamshire Secondary Schools}}

{{Buckinghamshire CCC}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference

Category:Private schools in Buckinghamshire

Category:Cricket grounds in Buckinghamshire

Category:Boarding schools in Buckinghamshire

Category:Educational institutions established in 1923

Category:Buckingham

Category:1923 establishments in England