Henry Hatcher's School, Salisbury
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In 1822 Henry Hatcher, the antiquarian and historian of Salisbury, left his office of Postmaster of Salisbury and set up a school in Fisherton Street. At first he determined to have 10 pupils and felt that 20 would be the maximum. The house in Fisherton Street proved unsuitable for a school and he moved to Endless Street in 1824. By 1829 he seemed to have 50 'noisy and idle youths to superintend', as he wrote in a letter. Hatcher was a learned man who was fluent in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse and Dutch. He was a good classical scholar and studied northern languages, being particularly good with Anglo-Saxon. He was fairly expert in mathematics, fortification and physical geography and, of course was a zealous antiquary.
He was against boys spending too much time studying the classics and would have liked to have substituted modern languages, pure and applied maths, mechanical science, geography and history but he was too far ahead of his time in this. In 1835 he published a small tract on syntax and composition for his pupils, who obviously held him in high regard for they had collected money for a testimonial for him when he died suddenly on the 14th December 1846 at the age of 70. The school died with him as there was no one to take it on.
He was against boys spending too much time studying the classics and would have liked to have substituted modern languages, pure and applied maths, mechanical science, geography and history but he was too far ahead of his time in this. In 1835 he published a small tract on syntax and composition for his pupils, who obviously held him in high regard for they had collected money for a testimonial for him when he died suddenly on the 14th December 1846 at the age of 70. The school died with him as there was no one to take it on.