Rugby School Rebellion

Background. Rugby School was founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys and is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up to 1667 it remained in comparative obscurity, but under the headmastership of Henry Holyoake (1688–1731) it became more than a local concern and began to take on national importance. Henry Ingles became headmaster in 1794 and was known for strict discipline, earning the nickname 'The Black Tiger'.

Immediate Cause. The rebellion's trigger combined two grievances. Ingles heard a boy fire a cork gun and learned from him that Mr Rowell, a grocer, had supplied the gunpowder. Separately, Ingles decreed that damage to a tradesman's windows should be paid for by the students, which the legacy record identifies as provoking the uprising.

Aftermath and Context. The supplied passages do not describe how the rebellion ended or its consequences; they record only that the 'Great Rebellion' of 1797 became the most notable episode of Ingles's headmastership, which the passages give as lasting from 1794 to 1806. Thomas Arnold, Rugby School's most famous headmaster, was appointed in 1828, but the passages do not state that he directly succeeded Ingles.