ECR 60 07

ECR 60 07

New Governing Body

Series

The New Governing Body was set up by the Provost and Fellows under the provisions of the Public Schools Act in 1869. Although its initial membership included the Provost and four of the existing Fellows, it was very much driven by its outside members, particularly in its reforms of the school. Its ten members, also known as Fellows, included the Provost of King's College Cambridge, representatives of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, of the Royal Society and of the Lord Chief Justice, and one member elected by the masters, and it was chaired by the Provost. These Fellows were not required to be in orders and they were not resident; they were school governors rather than a religious corporation. One of the principal duties of the New Governing Body was to draw up new Statutes and also a new set of Regulations to reform the running of the school. Their proposals had to be submitted to and approved by the Speical Commissioners created by the Public Schools Act to oversee the process of reform. The Commissioners' role was not that of a rubber stamp and there was considerable discussion and revision, particularly in respect of the role of Fellows. The last of the Fellows appointed under the Henry VI Statutes, Rev. William Carter, died in 1901, and with him the old College. It was resolved in 1902 that New Governing Body meetings should be discontinued and that all business should be transacted by meetings of the Provost and Fellows - the same personnel as the New Governing Body but preserving the old name. This was embodied in the Statutes of 1904 and the New Governing Body ceased to exist.

1869 - 1962

There is some overlap of business into the papers of the post-1904 Provost and Fellows, ECR 60/8