Eleanor Doughty

The misunderstood motto of Rishi Sunak’s old school

  • From Spectator Life
Winchester College (Photo: Getty)

The first thing that Dr Tim Hands, headmaster of Winchester College, would like to clear up is his school’s world-famous motto, ‘Manners maketh man’. Whenever a Wykehamist makes the papers, this ancient phrase is wheeled out, referring to his (in)decent manners. But this isn’t quite right, says Hands.

Two pieces of stained glass — one formerly in Bradford Peverell church near Dorchester, and another in the Warden’s Lodgings at New College Oxford (founded by Winchester’s founder Bishop William of Wykeham) — read ‘Manner maketh man’. This, says Hands, is the origin for the school’s motto. ‘“Manner” means what you are and what you do — not how you fold your handkerchief.’ And so, although Winchester’s is probably the best-known school motto out there, ‘it is probably the least well-understood’.

Last month, the public school made headlines as Hands, 64, who became headmaster of Winchester in 2016, following a headship at Magdalen College School, Oxford, announced that from autumn next year, girls would be introduced to the sixth form as day pupils. From 2024, the school will become fully co-educational, leaving only Eton, Harrow and Radley as boys-only, full-boarding schools.

There is no school uniform, but a glossary to learn: ‘Up to books’ means to be ‘in school and in lessons’, non-scholars are called ‘commoners’, and a 35-minute lesson is termed an ‘hour’

This is not so outrageous: introducing girls to Winchester has been mooted since 1899. And Hands has some experience in the co-ed transition, having managed the same move at MCS in 2012. ‘The younger boys looked at the girls as older sisters, and it was more like a family relationship than a school relationship,’ he says. This is his hope for Winchester, which turns 640 next year.

The alumni are supportive: ‘I would have expected a very conservative old pupil body, but the older they are, the more they are in favour.’

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