Cheltenham College

From the main biography page of this site:

Cheltenham "Gentleman's" College (Cheltenham College)

Jasper: "Then, I went to a military school at age about 14." (The year was 1944, during the Second World War). "I got to like some of my contemporaries and started to paint, though I had an art teacher (Arthur Bell) who thought Monet was daring. Impressionism was still a frightening phenomenon. It was a gentleman's school [Cheltenham Gentleman's College, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire], so we were taught not to lie and to be kind to people, and that character was more important than intellect. Although there was a group of boys who formed a sinister club that listened to Stravinsky."

Jasper: "I began to dread that the war wouldn't stop before I had to fight in it. And, then I was in." (Jasper started serving in the Royal Army in 1948, and by that time the war was over). "They thought I was officer material. I didn't. I would avoid bayonet practice, and close my eyes and deliberately miss. Two months later I was an education officer on my way to the Far East."

Above: The main entrance and central administration building of Cheltenham College (also known as Cheltenham College, but not to be confused with Cheltenham Ladies College) built in the style of Tudor Revival Architecture in the middle of the 19th century. This picture is from 1910, and this is the way the building still looked when Jasper attended. See the next photo for the numbered comments concerning the architectural details and commentary on the "War Memorial."

The main entrance and central administration building of Cheltenham College as it appeared in 2019. (The College is now co-educational, but Cheltenham Ladies College still exists). The building has been very significantly altered, with many of the Tudor Revival Architectural features being removed since Jasper was a student there:

1. Turret-shaped chimney pots vs. All have been entirely removed (2019 view)

2. Rose window of stained glass vs. Clock that has been added (2019 view)

3. Finials: Tall vs. Short (2019 view)

4. Pinnacles vs. All have been entirely removed (2019 view)

Directly across from the front of the entrance is the War Memorial dedicated to the

'Fifty-four Old Cheltonians” who died in "the South African War 1899-1902" (also known as the Second Boer War.) The British Empire suffered 22,000 total dead in that war. This contrasts with World War I (just 12 years later) in which the British Empire suffered 900,000 dead. Jasper’s father William Rose, fought for Britain in World War I with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps. He experienced the unprecedented horrors of modern industrialized warfare with Germany on the Western Front. Nevertheless, after the war William went on to have an academic career that centered on German Literature, and sent Jasper to a school that had a military program. However, Jasper said the military program at Cheltenham was not as serious as it might have been. The military program only took up one day a week, and the teachers taught other quite civilized subjects on all the other days. William was on active duty with the British Army in the war against Germany in World War II when Jasper started school at Cheltenham at age 14.

Above: Postcard of Cheltenham College that is contemporary with Jasper’s attendance. It is quite possible that Jasper is one of the students seen in this postcard. Note the student formations and goal posts because we will see them again in some of Jasper’s portraits. The upper part of the main entrance and central administration building can be seen, and it is still topped-off with the Tudor Revival turret-shaped chimney pots. The two largest buildings are the Dining Hall (towards the center) and the Chapel (toward the right).

Above: The same sepia-toned postcard scene as it looked in 2019 in a color photo. The upper part of the main entrance and central administration building can be seen, but the Tudor Revival turret-shaped chimney pots have been removed.



Above: On the left, Arthur Bell, 1943. Jasper’s most beloved teacher of all of his student days. Arthur thought Monet was daring and Impressionism was still a frightening phenomenon. On the right, another portrait of Arthur Bell, R W A, 1943. In this portrait, Jasper added the initials R W A, which stand for Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, which is a regional Royal Academy of Art.



Above: On the left, Frank Halliday, mid-1940s. He is shown organizing students at P.T. (Physical Training) in a way that is strikingly similar to the sepia-toned photo that appears above. Jasper: “He was in charge of all the athletics… But then, he inherited some money and left the school, and went on to become a very very well known Shakespeare scholar.” The building behind him in the portrait is the Gymnasium. On the right, J.S. (Jesse) Bond, 1944. He was a very sweet teacher who collected contemporary English art.

Above: The Gymnasium building which appears in the background of Frank Halliday’s portrait.



Above: On the left, Sgt. Algy Dwyer, 1943. Besides teaching students how to march in military formation, he also taught painting and drawing. “You can see the level of his refinement to the Nth degree” said Jasper of this portrait. On the right, a close-up of the sepia-toned postcard seen previously, in which there appears to be an adult in a military uniform striding across the athletic field. Is it perhaps Sgt. Algy Dwyer?

Above: A panoramic view of the Cheltenham Gentleman’s College athletic field and main campus buildings as seen in 2019. The buildings on the very far left are behind Sgt. Algy Dwyer’s portrait. The next building is the Gymnasium which is behind Frank Halliday’s portrait. The next buildings include the Dining Hall and Chapel which appear in the sepia-toned postcard of the students at P.T. (Physical Training). Jasper once described how he had to pump air into the Chapel's organ and how that process would very from quite pedestrian to madly frantic depending on the musical passages being played.



Above: On the left is Eric Lamplaugh, 1945-8. Note the goal post on the athletic field. The two towers in the background are probably a reference to the Gymnasium building. He was Jasper’s housemaster at Leconfield House at Cheltenham College. Jasper said he was "a very sweet man," and noted that Eric’s wife Madge was a “very keen painter.” On the right is Rebbeck and Wood, students at Leconfield House. Note the "CC" for Cheltenham College on their sweaters. A very rough outline of Leconfield House appears in the background of the painting.

Above: Leconfield House circa 1900.

Above: Leconfield House in 2019



Above: Jasper sang in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers at the nearby Cheltenham Ladies’ College, which was led by Miss Rowley (seen on the left). Princess Hall (seen on the right) is where Jasper performed at the Ladies’ College. The stage has a magnificent frieze painted in 1901, by “Mr. J. Eadie Reid,” a faculty member of their Art Department which depicts “eleven inspiring women from literature, history and myth.”

Above: Cheltenham College Dining Hall as it appeared in 2019.

Above: Map of England showing the location of Cheltenham, and other cities in England where Jasper resided, and the University of London where his father William Rose was a professor. Oxford is also shown to highlight its proximity to Abingdon and Sutton Courtenay where Jasper spent part of his childhood and early years as a student.