United Services College

The United Services College was an English boys' public school for the sons of military officers, located at Westward Ho! near Bideford in North Devon. Almost all boys were boarders. The school was founded to prepare pupils for a career as officers in the armed services, many of them going on to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, or the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

History

The college was founded in 1874. Its first headmaster, Cormell Price, was a housemaster at Haileybury College and took twelve Haileybury boys with him to the new school.[1]

USC suffered financial difficulties and closed in 1903. Its boys were ultimately absorbed by St Mark’s School, Windsor in 1906. That was soon renamed as “Imperial Service College“ and itself merged with Haileybury College in 1942.[2]

As at virtually all boys' schools of its era, corporal punishment (strokes of the cane) was used, but USC was very unusual in that the cane was applied to the student's upper back (as described by Kipling) rather than the buttocks.

Notable former pupils

References

  1. Brian Gardner, The Public Schools: an historical survey (Hamilton, 1973), p. 188
  2. "Imperial Service College and Haileybury Junior School". Thames Web.
  3. Frederick Charles Danvers, (1894), Memorials of Old Haileybury College, page 455, (A. Constable and Company)
  4. Haileybury College Archives – Roll of Honour
  5. Francis Aylmer Maxwell, (1921), Frank Maxwell: A Memoir and Some Letters, page 9, (J. Murray)
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