Countdown to 450 years
Dartford Grammar School will be 450 years old in 2026, and we plan to celebrate this milestone with fitting events. The week devoted to the programme of celebration will be Monday 23rd March 2026 to Saturday 28th March 2026 inclusive, with our Founders' Day marked on the Friday of that week. More details will be released in the summer term this year.
Some History
'In 1576 (19 Eliz)William Vaughan of Erith, esq., yeoman of the queen's chamber, Edward Gwyn, grocer, of the City of London, and William Death, gent. then lord of the manor of Charles, in Dartford, conveyed a messuage or tenement with a garden and backside, in the High Street, Dartford, heretofore their joint inheritance, to Thomas Ashley and twenty-seven other persons, in trust, to let it for the best rent, and after deducting the expenses for repairs, quit rent and other just allowances, to apply the remaining rent towards the supporting of one honest, sufficient and learned man in grammar, for teaching, instructing and eruditing the children of the town of Dartford aforesaid, in the knowledge of grammar.'
And so began the history of the School, currently some 449 years ago.
This section of the website will grow over the next few months, but it will never be a complete account of the history: that will be accomplished when the commissioned new and updated book becomes available in our 450th anniversary year. More details on that will follow.
Rather, we here include some items of history that we hope will interest all our audiences - most notably an archive of about 100 issues of The Dartfordian which we open to you all. We are proud of this resource, but it cannot stay hidden in a cupboard any more - you are welcome to open each and enjoy the snapshot it gives of life in Dartford Grammar School across the last century.
Archive of Dartfordian Yearbooks
Access the archive HERE
Our Founders
William Vaughan of Erith was a wealthy and important man. He was a Gentleman of the Wardrobe to Henry VIII and a Yeoman of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth I. He was a generous benefactor to the town of Dartford, one gift being a house for the benefit of the poor. His will made provision for the poor of Dartford, Stone and Erith, and then notably to Elizabeth Death, his daughter, and to Frances Gwyn, daughter of Edward Gwyn.
Edward Gwyn was a member of the Grocer's Company and a Citizen of London. His home was in Walbrook, and he had no known connections with Dartford apart from being a founder of the school. It is clear however that there was a bond between his family and those of the other two founders.
William Death was Lord of the Manor of Charles in Dartford, Principle of Staple Inn and an Attorney of the Common Pleas at Westminster. Like Vaughan, he was a benefactor to the town of Dartford. There is a brass in Dartford Parish Church, where he was buried, that was renovated and restored to a place near the lectern in 1925, paid for by Old Boys of the School.
