Joseph Priestley was born at Brodsworth, near Doncaster, on the 5th of April, 1830. His connection with Tewkesbury commenced in the early part of the year 1852, when he came to the town as an assistant to Mr. James Tilley, who had a large Boarding School at Shuthonger House, and in whose service he remained for a few months until a vacancy occurred in the Headmastership of the Tewkesbury Grammar School, to which post he was appointed in the later part of 1853, when he married and settled down, in Church Street, in the house now occupied by the Misses Watson. Finding himself faced with the charge of a very unruly set of pupils, and refused a free hand by the governing body of the School in what he felt to be necessary reforms for the successful management and well-being of the boys, Mr. Priestley resigned his Headmastership shortly after his appointment, and the property adjacent to the Bell Hotel being then in the market, with the financial assistance of a few friends he purchased the same, and having made consider-able alterations in the premises opened them as "Abbey House School” in the year 1858. His friends in the neighbourhood rallied round him well at the start, and with the sons of some of his Yorkshire friends as boarders, the School was successfully launched on its career. It is interesting to note amongst the names on its first quarter's register those of our present contemporaries Messrs. H. Bishop, J. Gannaway, C. Morris, F. Neale and N. Stephens. In those days Boarding Schools were at their zenith, and Abbey House School continued to prosper until its numbers overflowed its accommodation, and despite additional rooms, which were built about the year 1863, further sleeping rooms had to be acquired, and for some time bedrooms were rented in the house in Church Street now occupied by Mr. Barsanti, which was the residence of Mr. Willis; but the numbers still increasing, in the early seventies a second house was rented (No. 5, Abbey Terrace), in which a caretaker was installed and the whole of the rooms used as dormitories for the surplus boarders at Abbey House School.
In November, 1876, Mr. Priestley died, after a short illness brought on by a chill contracted in the Council Chamber on November 9th, when the School passed under the control of Mr. J. E. Priestley, the present Headmaster. At that time there were on the register 66 Boarders and about 20 Day Scholars, but very shortly afterwards the number of boarders commenced to decline owing to the general advance of Secondary Education throughout the Country, and the establishment of large and splendidly-equipped Schools in so many of the larger towns from which the boarders were drawn, Dean Close School, Birmingham King Edward’s Schools, Abergavenny and Newport Grammar Schools taking so many pupils whose brothers had formerly come to Tewkesbury, whilst the numbers gradually changed to their present condition of a few Boarders and from 40 to 50 Day Scholars in attendance.
In 1894 a Committee of Old Boys consisting of Messrs. Hayes, Maund, Merrell, Norman Rice and Watson, arranged for a gathering of Old Boys, which took place in October of that year when a very interesting football match was played with the boys then at then at Abbey House School, and was followed by a dinner at the Swan Hotel. About 36 Old Boys were present on that occasion and the “Old Theocsbrians” Society of Old Boys of Abbey House School was launched; in connection with which further successful reunions were held in June 1895, June 1897 and June 1899.
In September, 1899, the Headmastership of the Grammar School falling vacant by the death of Mr. John Morgan, the appointment was given to Mr. J. E. Priestley, in consequence of which seven “Free Scholars” from the old foundation were transferred to Abbey House School, and the two Schools were for the future merged under one head, to be known henceforth known as the Tewkesbury Grammar School, and coming partly under the control and management of the Foundation Governors on the Tewkesbury Town Council. This led in 1903 to the further development that a Governing Body of the Schools was appointed under the presidency of the Mayor, when the premises were purchased from the executors of the late Mr. Priestley, and an application was made to the Board of Education that the School should be placed on their list of grant-earning Schools, be conducted under their supervision, and be visited at regular intervals by their Inspectors. In consequence of this change the handsome block of new buildings was erected in 1906, and formally opened for the work of Day and Evening Classes in October of that year.
In August, 1910, came the appointment of the present Governing Body under the Chairmanship of Canon H. Sewell, M.A., which, under the scheme then drawn up by the Board of Education, became the Managers of both the Grammar School for Boys, and the High School for Girls carried on at Avonbrook House.
Their entrance upon office was quickly followed by the extensive alterations made in the old premises of the Grammar School, and by the erection of the convenient block of Domestic Science Buildings, etc., at the High School, and these additions have resulted in bringing the equipment of both schools to a most effective condition
The process by which the Grammar School, as now known, has been evolved from the Old Abbey House School, may have been in a measure responsible for the lapse of the Old Boys' Reunion after its meeting in 1899 referred to above, but at a gathering of Old Boys from the immediate neighbourhood of Tewkesbury, called together in February this year, it was felt to be very desirable to revive the "Old Theocsbrians” Association, and to place it on a permanent basis if possible, and a strong local Committee and Officers were then elected to manage the same. This has already resulted in a very successful Reunion, held on June 3rd this year, in connection with the School Sports and Cricket Match, and will be followed it is hoped by many happy gatherings of "Old Theocsbrians" in the years to come.
(From the first edition of "The Theocsbrian", December, 1914)