St Francis RC Grammar School, also known as ''St Francis Xavier Grammar School'', was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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, in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It opened on 17 September 1956 and was subsumed into The

English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College The English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is a secondary school and sixth form college located in Hartlepool with academy status. English Martyrs (referred to locally as "EMS" and "Martyrs") is the only Catholic secondary sch ...

along with St Joseph's Convent School and four more local Catholic schools in 1973.Hall,G.(2005
Saints and sinners
''The Hartlepool Mail''. It was run by the

Xaverian Brothers The Xaverian Brothers or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier are a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after Saint Francis Xavier. The institute is dedicated to education. His ...

Head Teachers

Teachers and Brothers

Houses

There were four houses within the school: Percy, Swalwell, Errington, and Thirkeld. In the same way as the later

would name its houses after the English Martyrs, the houses of St Francis Grammar School were named after the following:

Percy

* Thomas Percy, the 7th Earl of Northumberland who was executed in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in 1572.

Swalwell

*John Swalwell, who can be found on the list of abbots of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey as Master of Wearmouth in 1526 and Master of Jarrow in 1531.

Errington

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

churchman, George Errington (martyr), executed at

in 1596.

Thirkeld

priest, Richard Thirkeld, also executed at

in 1583.

Sites

Woodlands

* Wooler Road, the main site.ST FRANCIS GRAMMAR SCHOOL
''Museum of Hartlepool''.

Normanhurst

* Grange Road. Now a pub known as 'The White House'.(2011

''The Telegraph''.

Notable alumni

* John Darwin.(2008
Canoe woman Anne Darwin 'one of the greatest actresses in the world'
''The Telegraph''. *

Jez Lowe John Gerard "Jez" Lowe (born 14 July 1955) is an English folk singer-songwriter. Lowe was born and raised in County Durham, in a family with Irish roots. He is known primarily for his compositions dealing with daily life in North-East England, ...

.(2010
Wherever I go in the world, people tell me how impressed they are when they visit Durham, and I feel the same way.
''The Free Library''.

Reunion Groups

* Over 150 members plus photos: http://www.schoolfriends.com.au/School.page/St_Francis_Xavier/10822/Details * Over 100 members: http://www.friendsreunited.com/School.page/St_Francis_Grammar_School/411118/Details

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis Roman Catholic Grammar School Defunct schools in the Borough of Hartlepool Defunct grammar schools in England Defunct Catholic schools in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1973 1973 disestablishments in England