The Henry Dunster Society 
Inaugurated at Harvard University in September 2008,
to bring together from time to time the overseas alumni/ae of
the Bury Grammar Schools,
and to help support new initiatives for the Schools.
Celebrating in 2009 the quatercentenary of Henry Dunster's birth.
And looking forward to celebrations in 2013 of the 350th anniversary of the birth of Roger Kay.
A Note About Henry Dunster, 1609-1659
Henry Dunster was the third Headmaster of Bury Grammar School and the first President of Harvard.
Dunster was born near Bury, Lancashire, in 1609 and attended the Bury School, now Bury Grammar School. He went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, and after graduation became the Curate of Bury Parish Church, a living in the patronage of the Earl of Derby. The pluralist Rector of Bury attended the earl elsewhere in Lancashire. Dunster also became the third Master of Bury School, originally founded about 1570. Dunster left his posts in Bury in the summer of 1640 when, like many other Puritans dissatisfied with developments in both church and state and probably in anticipation of a Civil War, Dunster emigrated to Massachusetts.
Soon after his arrival, Dunster was asked and agreed to become the first President of Harvard College, now Harvard University. By all accounts, Dunster rescued a fledgling institution on the verge of closing its doors and in all respects laid the groundwork for making Harvard the leading institution of higher education in North America, and eventually in the world. Among his other notable achievements, Dunster helped craft the Massachusetts school system, set up the first printing press, which evolved into Harvard University Press, and drafted the 1650 Charter for the President and Fellows of Harvard College (the Harvard Corporation), the first corporation chartered in the New World. Dunster died in 1659 and his grave is marked in the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, MA.
Remarkably, given his contributions and achievements, Dunster was not armigerous during his lifetime. The "Dunster arms" on a window of Magdalene College are those of another family and the different arms on Dunster House at Harvard were created in the mid-1930s. Although few documents survive to explain how Dunster thought of himself, he did use a phrase in one letter, ego enim Lancastrensis sum, suggesting that he was a modest, hard-working, Lancashire lad, proud of his northern English origins and of his Lancashire accent. A recent registration of arms in memoriam for Dunster symbolizes his emigration to the New World and his Lancastrian roots, Azure a galleon under sail Argent St George's Cross flying on her masts proper on a chief Argent two roses Gules barbed and seeded proper. This is an initiative of the Henry Dunster Society. See also the BGS Heraldry Page
The Bury Grammar Schools: Si monumentum requiris, circumspice
The two Bury Grammar Schools have worked together since the end of the nineteenth century to provide a unique education for generations of outstanding girls and boys. The roots of the Schools go back to about 1570. The emphasis is now and has always been always upon academic excellence and the all-round development of the individual child. The Schools’ alumni/ae have achieved distinction world wide -- si monumentum requiris, circumspice. Alumni/ae are characterised by their integrity, their spirit of enquiry, their no-nonesense approach to tough problems, and by their contributions to society.
There is information about the history of the Schools, written by Ian Fallows, together with information about how to order a copy of the book on this page: History of Bury Grammar School About a hundred years ago, when the girls joined the boys and the two Schools began to work side by side under a joint governing body, the Schools entered an important new phase of development. Today, their joint commitment to the future is affirmed in the campaign for a way forward that says now the time is right, again, for excellence, leadership, and commitment.
The Bury Grammar Schools -- the Boys School,the Girls School, the Junior School, and the new Kindergarten -- welcome support now more than ever before, to take them through the twenty first century.
Plans for the future of the Schools are explained here.
The HDS Inaugural
Even though many alumni/ae living in the United States and Canada could not attend the reunion held at Harvard on September 20, 2008, there is curiosity about what happened. The bottom line is that this inaugural event at Harvard was a huge success.
In brief, there was an excellent turnout of alumni/ae and accompanying spouses. Clive and Conchita Armitage traveled all the way from Queensland, Australia. Others flew in from the west coast of the United States and Canada, and there was also a good mix of people living in the mid-west, southern states, and on the eastern seaboard.
The Society met at the Harvard Faculty Club and later in the equally august setting of the Pusey Library, where an exhibition of Dunster artifacts and antiquities had been assembled by Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, the Harvard University Archivist, and her staff. The Society was treated to a rare, direct viewing of the 1650 Charter of the Harvard Corporation, drafted by Henry Dunster. This is the Magna Carta of American higher education, normally on public view only when Harvard installs a new President. The Archivist also led a brief excursion via Harvard Yard to the Dunster grave site in the Cambridge burying grounds. At the end of the day, the pleasure of learning new things and meeting old friends was enhanced by a gourmet dinner in The Jewel Box at Upstairs on the Square.
Because of the connection that runs through the life and work of Henry Dunster, the Bury Grammar Schools have caught the attention and imagination not only of the Harvard Archivist but also of the President of Harvard, Drew Gilpin Faust, who is an historian by trade. We hope that bodes well for future relationships between the two institutions.
The Steering Committee for the inaugural event, and most especially Francine Healey, put a lot of effort into this first overseas reunion ever attempted by the Bury Grammar Schools. But the payoff in goodwill for the Schools among a broad cross-section of alumni/ae now living in the United States and Canada, and the Antipodes, and eventually other regions of the world as well will be very large.
The Schools were also represented by Derek Calrow, a Governor and chair of the Development Committee, and by Bobby Georghiou, the Headmistress of BGSG, whose address after lunch electrified the audience, not least when she announced that Heather Sellars of the Sixth Form was preparing to swim the English Channel. Heather completed her swim in ten and a half hours just one week later.
So, the occasion was a happy and profitable one. The next time the Henry Dunster Society convenes, whether in America, Europe, or some other part of the world we hope many more alumni/ae will join us.
Other Commemorations of Dunster
 There have been in the past and no doubt will be in the future other commemorations of Dunster's birth and death. In 1989, for example, a plaque was unveiled at the Bolholt Hotel in Bury to mark Dunster's birthplace. The event was attended by Mrs. Margaret Rickaby, a direct descendant of Dunster and shown in the picture, below, in the company of persons representing the local council and its planning committee. There are also plans in late 2009 to name streets in a new industrial park in Bury in honor of Henry Dunster and Harvard University, to mark the quatercentenary of Dunster's birth.
There are, in addition, strong links between Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Dunster, based on Dunster's membership of the College after he went up to Cambridge from Bury Grammar School. These links are the subject of an essay: Ronald Hyam, Magdalene and America's First University: The Quatercentenary of Henry Dunster, 42-49, MAGDALENE COLLEGE MAGAZINE (New Series), No. 53, (2008-09).
Initial Organization of the Henry Dunster Society
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Patron: Derek Calrow ’57, A Governor of the Schools
Hon. President: Tony Tavill ’54 (Shaker Heights, OH)
Hon. Vice President (BGSG): Carole Seely ’64 (Harriman, TN)
Hon. Vice President (BGSB): David Howarth ’55 (Austin, TX)
Hon. Vice President (Australasia): Clive Armitage’57 (Toowoomba, QLD)
Hon. Vice President (Canada): Clive Snape ’62 (Brampton, ON)
Hon. Secretary: John Treanor ’55 (Marston Mills, MA)
Hon. Treasurer: Bill Holland ’56 (New Hartford, NY)
The Charterers: Geoff Ainscow ’60 (Sunnyvale, CA), Francine Healey ’79 (Bury, Lancashire), Andrew Higgins ’75 (Austin, TX), Mark Kalisch ’70 (Beverly Hills, CA), Mohit Kaushal ’97 (Boston, MA), Andrew McBrien ’79 and Angela McBrien ’83 (Andover, MA), Catherine Redford ’77 (Naperville, IL), Judith Slater ’82 (Ottowa, ON), Martin Wilson ’62 (Alpharetta, GA), Paul Worsley ’64 (Victoria, BC).
Honoris Causa: Roberta Georghiou, Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, Joe Prophet '39, Jane Farish '55, Barry Henstock '56, Ian Fallows '42, Margaret Rickaby, Sheila Lindsay Bryant '62, Sheila Davenport '63, Chris Schofield '65, Janet Huige-Lees '56, Derek Hodgkiss, Arthur Price, Rosemarie Belcher '59.
Recorder: Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith ’62 (Davis, CA) |
The achievements of the Bury Grammar Schools, the Henry Dunster Society, and Henry Dunster in memoriam are in the United States Heraldic Registry.
Copyright © Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith, for the Henry Dunster Society, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Contact: gawsmith@ucdavis.edu |
