In the 1911 census Bill is a pupil at Highfield School, Liphook, Hampshire. Mr E A Wells was the
owner and first Headteacher. The school opened as a boys’ prep school with 18 pupils. In 1904 Mr
William Mills became owner and Headmaster and he moved the school to its present site of some
175 acres in Liphook, Hampshire. Mr Mills was ordained in 1912 and later became Honorary
Canon of Portsmouth Cathedral and remained headmaster until 1953. The school grew to
accommodate 12 boys and established an enviable reputation for academia and sporting excellence.
Highfield School won many scholarships to leading English public schools.
One of the other pupils at the school at the same time was John Andrew Walter Pyman. His family
lived at 28 Victoria Road, Penarth and many other of the largest houses in Penarth so we can
assume that the lads knew each other.
The family in the 1911 census were living at 42 Victoria Road: William and Ethel, with daughter
Ethel Violet, then age 15. Also there were William Sydney’s brothers: Horace, a solicitor and
Thomas Rice, an electrical engineer at the Power Station in Cardiff. Thomas’s birthplace is given as
Hartrow Somerset, so we must wonder if this is why they called their house in Park Road
“Hartrow”. The Hartow Estate in Somerset is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Florence
Hookway was still working for the family.
After Highfield School, Bill was educated at Malvern College, where he was a member of both
elevens. Bill is remembered on the WW1 memorial within the school. While at school Bill
developed a passion for both rugby and cricket and was involved in matches against many colleges,
including Shrewsbury, Cheltenham and many more.