NO.119
T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
to the school, not so much to interview
him as to appoint him, which he did
during Gray’s first visit. He probably said
nothing to Gray about the school’s parlous
financial position, but it is unlikely that
Gray had no idea what he was taking on,
as it seems to have been fairly common
knowledge in academic circles.
The situation was not good. Gray
took over in the summer term of 1880.
There were eight masters, four of whom
were new, and 75 boys, a number which
was falling rapidly (Bradfield had been
founded with the aim of having 300). By
Easter the following year Stevens could
not pay the staff salaries, not for the first
time, and creditors were petitioning for
the bankruptcy of the school, which had
debts of £160,000 (the annual fee for a
commoner at the time was £126). The
creditors had already seized over £400 of
the fees paid for the summer term, and
only the action of Stevens’ son, who set up
a separate account into which the other
fees were diverted, kept the school going.
At the start of the summer term in
1881 only 55 boys returned, and only 13
of them were paying full fees; 14 were
Founder’s Scholars and paid nothing at
all. Gray had to give personal guarantees
to their parents for board, lodging and
tuition, and he also had to guarantee the
staff salaries. The only solution was for the
founder to be forced to give up as Warden
and for Gray to become Warden as well as
headmaster. Gray thought this was
unlikely, and had already applied for
headmasterships at Malvern and
Glenalmond.
On 13th June 1881 the Council met
for the first time since Gray’s
appointment, to make his acquaintance
and deal with the crisis. He asked them
whether they would take over financial
control. They refused. They asked him
whether he had withdrawn his candidacy
for the headmasterships. He said that he
had. ‘And is that because you believe in
Bradfield?’ he was asked. ‘No sir’ replied
Gray, ‘it is because I believe in myself.’ As
production of a Greek play in Greek in
Britain for over 50 years. Two other
members of the cast of Agamemnon were
given parts in Alcestis, and Gray himself
took the role of Admetus.
a gesture of goodwill, the council agreed
to repay from their own pockets the fees
seized by the creditors, but gave Gray the
ultimatum that either he accept the
Wardenship and full fin