History and Administration

In the archive we have a small collection of letters from famous literary figures. One, which we shared last week, is a letter from George Bernard Shaw written to an Old Mancunian and has a direct li…

The MGS archive holds a collection of five literary letters sent by various luminaries and in the second of a three-part series, we will look at this postcard from George Bernard Shaw. It was written…

The MGS archive holds a collection of five literary letters sent by various luminaries and in the first of a three-part series, we will look at this letter written and sent on behalf of Thomas de Qui…

This rather convoluted document gives us an insight into what boys chose to raise with members of staff in their joint committee meetings. The answer in 1971? The perennial problem of hairstyles at s…

A claim to fame for the MGS archive, this letter written by Florence Nightingale is a part of our collections that were held by Manchester City Council for a brief period during the 1980s to 2000s un…

These school rules date from around the turn of the century. Certain indicators make it clear they were in force before the school relocated to Rusholme, and therefore are pre-1931 (“No boy is allowe…

A recent addition to the archives, an OM kindly purchased these images of Long Millgate for the school on ebay. These postcards depict the school at the turn of the century and we get a glimpse of li…

There are many images of owls in the Archive – and rightly so, I hasten to add.  I am fairly sure that there is only one image of an owl with a string of sausages hanging out of its mouth, however. …

This week’s item is a cartoon from a publication The Howl. The archive only holds two editions of this magazine, which was published in the 20s and 30s. The magazine was a fundraising effort, and inc…

By Dan Farr Everyone at MGS is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Chaim Henry Ferster and I would like to express my sincere condolences to his family. Chaim was an inspiration to everyone he …

The school form lists are a vital part of the archive and are one of our “go to” sources when researching individuals. Perhaps they struck fear into the heart of boys at the time, but they are an inv…

The school cap was first used at MGS in 1889 and was introduced by High Master Michael Glazebrook for all boys not in the sixth form. Previously some boys, particularly those in the sixth form, had w…