The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
in the English port city of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
.
The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on Mount Street. The institute was first known as the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts. In 1832 the name was shortened to the Liverpool Mechanics' Institution. The façade of the
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, the entrance hall and modified school hall remain after substantial internal reconstruction was completed in the early 1990s.
School history in brief
Its initial primary purpose as a
mechanics' institute
Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...
(one of many established about this time throughout the country) was to provide educational opportunities, mainly through evening classes, for working men. Lectures for the general public were also provided of wide interest covering topics ranging from
Arctic
The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
exploration to
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
and philosophy. Luminaries like
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
,
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...
and
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
delivered talks and readings in the main lecture hall (now the architecturally restructured Sir
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
Auditorium of
LIPA).
By 1840 the Institution offered evening classes, lectures, a library and a boys' lower and upper school. By the 1850s a formal art school was evolving from the evening classes and in 1856 this diversity was recognised by another name change – The Liverpool Institute and School of Arts.
A girls' school was founded and opened in 1844 under the name
Liverpool Institute High School for Girls. It was housed in a merchant's mansion across the street from the boys' school in
Blackburne House provided by the generosity of
George Holt and which was later (1872) donated to the school by his family in his memory. The school was one of the first which was open to the public in the country established exclusively for the
education of girls.
In 1905 the
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...
took over the management of the secondary schools when the LI Board of Governors presented the school and assets to the City. From then until its closure in 1985, the school was formally known as ''The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys'' or more familiarly as ''The Institute'' or ''The Inny'' to its pupils.
It was an English
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
for boys ages 11 to 18 with an excellent academic reputation built up over more than a century. Its list of scholarships and places at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
runs to some 300 names – in addition to distinctions gained at
the University of Liverpool and many other prominent British universities. The school was a true measure of Liverpool's intellectual capital, and its old boys could and can be found in later life in many fields of professional distinction including the law, the Church, armed forces, politics, academia, government and colonial administration as well as in trade and commerce.
[A History of the Liverpool Institute Schools, Herbert J Tiffen, 1825–1935.]
In the 1950s, two of the future
Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
and
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
, were educated at the school.
[Vincent Perez Benitez, ''The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years'' (Praeger, 2010, ), pp. 1–2]
Closure of the school
The school was closed by the city council in 1985. The
Labour Party nationally opposed grammar schools – see
Anthony Crosland
Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influe ...
's Circular of September 1965 required that Local Authorities bring forward schemes for comprehensive secondary education. As grammar school pupils were selected by examination at age 11, there was a long-standing push towards '
comprehensive schools' (as non-selective schools were known) from that party when it took majority control of the City Council in 1983. Demand for secondary school places in the City had also dropped precipitously and there was a huge oversupply of school space as Liverpool's population contracted during the severe economic recession of the early 1980s.
The Deputy Leader of the Labour (Militant) Group on Council at the time was a former LI schoolboy
Derek Hatton who had left without academic distinction in 1964 and with strong feelings of dislike towards the school. However the man who was Chair of the Educational Committee at the time of the decision to close the school was Dominic Brady, whose qualifications for his position amounted to being a former school caretaker.
After closure, the building stood empty and neglected, the roof leaking and the walls crumbling. In 1987 it was announced that the LI Trust (under control of Liverpool Council's Education Department) would grant use of the building and site to a new educational establishment.
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
had returned to his old school in 1979, when with the band
Wings he had played a concert at the
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. After the school's closure in 1985, McCartney returned one night to reminisce about his school days, while he was writing his '
Liverpool Oratorio'. This visit is captured in 'Echoes'; a DVD which accompanies the ''Liverpool Oratoria'' box set. McCartney was determined to save the building somehow and during a conversation with
Sir George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
, the idea of a 'fame school' emerged as Martin was helping
Mark Featherstone-Witty start a London secondary school with an innovative curriculum. McCartney and Featherstone-Witty joined forces to create the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, cul ...
(LIPA) opening in 1996. The new company took over the Liverpool Institute Trust which had its origins in 1905.
The building was rebuilt (entirely in parts) behind its old façade and re-opened in 1996 under LIPA's name. The new institute is affiliated with
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
and is no longer a Liverpool secondary school.
Art school

The city's Art College had its origins as part of the Liverpool Institute. In 1883 a new building housing the School of Art was opened around the corner on Hope Street, adjacent to the principal building housing the High School on Mount Street. The Art College by which it was later known, took in talented students often without formal academic credentials (e.g.
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
) and the college eventually became one of the four constituent parts of the Liverpool Polytechnic in 1970 and later in 1992
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
(LJMU) with the School of Art and Design being housed in the
Art and Design Academy.
Liverpool Institute and music
Music and musical performances were a constant theme throughout the life of the school and the Mount St. building. Annual school Speech Day concerts (held in the fine acoustics of
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall on Hope Street, Liverpool, Hope Street in Liverpool, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and is recorded in the National Heritage List f ...
), choirs, the organ, piano, music classes and the singing of daily devotional hymns have echoed around its walls for 170 years and continue to do so at
LIPA:
*
Neil Aspinall, 1954–1959: Beatles' road manager, managing director of Apple Corp
*
Les Chadwick, 1954–1959: member of
Gerry and the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their early successes helped make ...
*
Albert Coates, 1894–1900: Anglo-Russian conductor and composer
*
David Ellis: composer and arts administrator
*
Lauri de Frece, 1893–1898, singer in
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
and actor
*
Len Garry, 1954–1959: member of
the Quarrymen
The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several school friends, the ...
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
, 1954–1959: musician and one of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
. Left without formal qualifications in July 1959 for a job as an assistant electrician at
Blacklers department store
*
Stan Kelly-Bootle 1941–1947: mathematics scholar, folk singer and composer.
*
John McCabe, 1950 to 1957: prolific classical music composer
*
Sir Paul McCartney, 1953–1960: musician. Having taken O and A levels, and deciding not to apply for teachers' training college, in July 1960 left school for the Beatles' first stay in Hamburg.
*
Peter Sissons 1953–1961, head boy. Presenter of the ''BBC Nine O'Clock News'' and ''BBC Ten O'Clock News'' between 1993 and 2003, and a newscaster for ITN, on ITV and Channel 4. He was also a former presenter of the BBC's ''
Question Time'' programme, retiring from the BBC in 2009.
*
Mike McCartney, 1955–1961: musician Mike McGear of
the Scaffold
*
Sir Charles Santley, British baritone
*
Ivan Vaughan, a classics sixth former, 1953 to 1960, who introduced Paul McCartney to John Lennon.
*C.W. (Colin) Manley, 1953 to 1959 and D.M. (Don) Andrew, 1953 to 1959 both became part of
the Remo Four, a group later managed by
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein ( ; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967.
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put hi ...
.
Notable former pupils
Headmasters
19th century
* Mr. Robert Landers (University of Edinburgh), 1828–31, Headmaster, 1835–36; died in May 1836.
* Mr. Alexander Sinclair MacIlveen Teacher, 1840–42, then Head of Commercial School (1842–1854), then Head of the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute.
* Dr. William Hunter, M.A., LL.D. (Glasgow)- Head of High School of the Liverpool Mechanics' Institute, 1842–45.
* Dr.
William Ballantyne Hodgson, L.L.D. (Glasgow) – Head master, 1845–47. Left for Chorlton High School, Manchester, 1847–48. Later Prof. Economic Science, University of Edinburgh, 1871–80.
* Mr. (Later Rev.) James England, M.A. (Dublin, Trinity College) – Headmaster, Liverpool Mechanics' Institute, 1847–49.
* Dr. William Ihne, PhD. (former Prof. Royal Protestant Gymnasium, Elberfeld, Rhenish Prussia) English, Classics – Headmaster, Liverpool Mechanics Institute, 1849–54.
* Mr. Alexander Sinclair MacIlveen, Teacher, 1840–42, then Head of Commercial School (1842–1854), then – Head of the reunited School, 1854 to death in October 1861.
* The Venerable Joshua Jones (later Hughes-Games), M.A., D.C.L. (Oxford, Lincoln College). Mathematics. – Head 1862 to 1865. (Born in 1831, died 1904.)
* Rev.John Sephton, M.A. (“Late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge”) ( 02.1866–1889 Headmaster. Born 1836; died in 1915. Reader in Icelandic, University of Liverpool, 1895–1910.
* Mr. Alfred Hughes, M.A., (Oxford, Corpus Christi College). Mathematics. Headmaster, 1890 to 1896. Later Registrar, University of Manchester (born in 1860, married Hester, daughter of Alfred Booth; died 1940.
* Mr. William Charles Fletcher M.A. (Cambridge, St. John's College) CB (1896–1904) – Headmaster of the reunited school, President from 1939 to 1945 of the
Mathematical Association
The Mathematical Association is a professional society concerned with mathematics education in the UK.
History
It was founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching and renamed to the Mathematical Association in ...
, died in 1959
20th century
* Henry Victor Weisse (name changed to Henry Victor Whitehouse in 1917), B.A. (Open Exhibitioner, Oxford, Christ Church) (1904–1923) – Headmaster. Died in July 1936.
* Frederick W. H. Groom, M.A. (Cambridge, St. John's College, Jesus College?) (1894–1917) Vice-Principal (1917–1932 ret.) Acting Headmaster 1923–24. Died in Jan. 1956.
* Rev
Henry Herbert Symonds, M.A. (Oxford, Oriel College) – Headmaster (1924–1935). Author of ''Walking in the Lake District'', 1933; ''Afforestation in the Lake District''. Born in 1885 – Died 28 December 1958.
* John Robert Edwards MA (Oxford, University College) Headmaster (1935–1961) born in 1897 at
Rhyl; died on 8 January 1992 at the age of 95.
* Malcolm Pasco Smith, M.A. (Cambridge, Trinity) Head master (1961–1965)
* Dennis Booth, B.A. (Liverpool) (1942–1972) Vice Principal (1957–1965); Head master (1965–1972 ret.).
* J. Gareth Rogers, M.A., B.Litt. (Oxford, Jesus College) (1950–1977; – Vice-Principal, 1965–1972; – Head master (1972–1977 died).
* Bertram (Bert) L. Parker, BSc (Wales, Aberystwyth) (January 1948 – 1982; Head master, 1978–1982 ret.).
* Maurice Devereux, B.A. (Liverpool) (1953–1983; Head master, 1982–1983 ret.).
References
External links
Liobians.orgLiverpool Institute for the Performing Arts(LIPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liverpool Institute High School For Boys
Boys' schools in Merseyside
Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool
History of Liverpool
Educational institutions established in 1825
Defunct grammar schools in England
Grade II listed educational buildings
Educational institutions disestablished in 1985
1825 establishments in England
Defunct schools in Liverpool
1985 disestablishments in England
Holt family