ABSTRACT
In 1802 a commentator observed approvingly that football, cricket, fencing and military exercises are ‘improving youthful exercises’ present at all large schools.1
From this it can be seen that by the early nineteenth century the virtues of sport were appreciated in many of the major schools of England. Such admiration would certainly have accorded with the sentiments of some of those who had founded the great schools, notably Wykeham and John Lyon, who held sport in high esteem.2 However, during the first half of the nineteenth century such feelings were far from universal, and in 1834 the headmasters of Eton (Dr Hawtrey) and Shrewsbury (Samuel Butler) were united in their complaints about the pressure exerted upon them by the parents of pupils, who constantly demanded an increase in the amount of sport at their respective schools.3
