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THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF BRENTFORD |
century. A local directory of 1823-4 lists 10 academies; this
had decreased to six by1888. Two private schools in Brentford
boasted famous pupils in1785, at the age of ten J M W Turner
attended a school run by John white at 125 High street (where
the Dewdrop Inn is today) Percy Bysshe Shelley attended Syon
House Academy, a boarding school kept by a DR Greenlaw,
which stood on the site of the Royal Mail Delivery Office
just west of Brentford Bridge Shelley joined the school
in 1802 when he was 10 and stayed for two years A
contemporary has this to say about him;' even at that age
he exhibited considerable poetical talent accompanied by
a violent and extremely excitable temper which manifested
itself in all sorts of eccentricities…' Shelley loved
messing around with gunpowder and on one occasion at least
he blew off the lid of his desk in the middle of lessons,
to the great surprise of the master and the whole school.
Shelley was not happy at Syon House Academy and often broke
bounds to go into Brentford. Here he discovered a cheap
bookseller, Norburys at 110 Brentford High Street. Another
famous Syon House Academy pupil was Sir John Rennie
(1794-1874), a distinguished civil engineer and son of
the famous John Rennie who built three bridges over the
Thames. The school closed about 1820 and the building
became a private house Syon Park House. It was demolished
in 1953. Confusingly, there was a private school in Ealing
Rd Brentford known as the Grammar School in 1896-7. It
was kept by James Niblock and advertised itself in a directory
thus; The one object of this school is to provide a Sound
and Thorough Education calculated to prepare boys for
Professional or Commercial Life, Fees: from four to six
guineas per annum according to age-no extras'. However
the school closed soon after, and the building was
demolished in 1900.
Photographs of Brentford
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