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Old Merchant Taylors'

History

Who are the OMTs?

Society membership world-wide is now over 3000.

The OMTs enjoy very close and supportive relationships with the School. Dinners, reunions and other functions take place throughout the year.

Every member of the Society receives its “News Sheet” magazine, which is published three times a year and provides news, announcements, reports and photographs covering the wide range of  OMT activity.

A brief History of the OMTs

1698-1808

The first recorded formal meeting of the Old Merchant Taylors’ was a dinner at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in December 1698. Dinners were repeated at various intervals until 1808.

1875-1912

The great upsurge in OMT activity came a few years after the migration of the School in 1875 from Suffolk Lane to Charterhouse Square.

An old boys’ lodge of freemasons, the Sir Thomas White Lodge, was consecrated in 1879 and a School Dining Club was inaugurated in 1880. The OMT Football Club played its first rugby matches in 1882 and the Cricket Club followed in 1912.

1912-1965

After the First World War, a Memorial Fund was raised, partly to provide education for the sons of fallen OMTs and partly to establish a war memorial. Land at Teddington was purchased out of the Fund, a separate fund was raised to erect a pavilion and the OMT War Memorial Sports Ground was opened in 1922. In the following year the OMT Sports Club was formed.

Following the School’s move to Sandy Lodge, the Sports Club moved its home to its present location at Durrants, Croxley Green, which was opened in 1937. In October 1947, the School Club, the Sports Club and the Golfing Society came under the newly formed OMT Society, although each section continued to manage its own affairs. The Society thrived and by 1955 there were over 2000 members. Two squash courts were built in 1964 and hockey was introduced in 1965.

1977-2007

In April 1977, Durrants Club Limited was formed and took on the responsibility for the operation of the Durrants house and grounds. The Club and the sports sections were opened to non-OMTs, but the directors of the Company itself must be OMTs.

Following legal advice received in 1997, the Society and the School, with the full support of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, reached an agreement under which the the Society and the OMT sports clubs will relocate to new facilities to be built within the School grounds at Sandy Lodge. The necessary legal and planning processes were complex, but the project received the green light in December 2006.

Present day

The school continues to accept pupils based upon an entrance examination, sat when an applicant is either 11, 13 or 16. Over the years it has enjoyed high levels of academic success, most recently in 2006 succeeding in a 100% pass rate in all A Level examinations for the fifth year running and, at GCSE, 48.03% of exams taken received A* grades. The school was also praised in an inspection carried out in the autumn of 2002. Inspectors described it as "an excellent School with notable strengths in many areas".
In 2004, Mr S Wright succeeded Mr J Gabitass as Headmaster, who retired after 13 years of service. The school, however, does not forget its past roots. The members of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors visit the school on occasion - most notably on Speech Day and Doctor's Day, the final day of the autumn term. At each, the Master of the company addresses the school and the teachers. The school itself is a vibrant and active community. Many organisations are run within the school by pupils with the support of the teachers.
Music and sport are major activities at the school, with a plethora of bands and orchestras meeting in almost every available slot in the timetable, and strong teams in a wide array of sports, ranging from Cricket to Rugby Fives and Squash.
The school has two main publications. "Concordia", a reference to the Latin "concordia parvae res crescunt" which appears on the school coat of arms and which means "In harmony, small things grow", is sent out each term as a round up of events within school life, as well as trips and excursions. "The Taylorian" is published annually and is a culmination of the year. It includes artwork and essays from various subjects.

Links

• Wikipedia.org
• Merchant Taylors' Company
• Friends Reunited
• OMT Cricket Club
• OMT Society Website News