1915
Swimming Bath ceded to troops.
James Hilton entered School House (S 1915-18).
Hilton came from a Lancashire Methodist family and is particularly famous as the author of ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’. In his novel James partially modelled the central character on Balgarnie who had made a lasting impression on him. He made it clear that Mr Chipping was an amalgam of several masters, and his nickname came from another. However, he described Balgarnie as “the chief model of my story”. After the war, the novel was turned into a play in the West End and after one performance, to cries of “Author!”, Hilton came on stage. He pointed to one of the VIP boxes and much to the embarrassment of Balgarnie who was sitting in it, said: “And we have the real Mr Chips here with us tonight.”