From the President

Hi, I’m Matt Cass and I was at The Crypt School from 1984 – 1991. I’m Gloucester born and bred and still live and work in the city and consider it an honour to have gone to The Crypt School. I’m still close friends with many school friends and keep in touch with many of my class mates from that era. In fact over the last few years we have organised a class reunion where a good number of us have met up and had a great time catching up with each other – some of whom I had not seen since school days. It’s great to see how people have grown and succeeded, what jobs they have and who has moved to different countries.

This year I’m hoping that we can arrange a class reunion at the annual Old Cryptians’ meal in March which is normally at the school and hope you’ll be able to join me and maybe organise your own reunion for your class and year. The annual meal seems to me to be the perfect time to organise this sort of thing and reminisce about the old schools days (good and bad) and the many things and people who have come and gone from those days. It’s also great to see the old school and how its grown over the years into the powerhouse it is today.

When I was at school we had at one point about 300-400 pupils in the school as a whole and nowadays there are over 1,000!  Apparently the school is so popular that people are coming from afar as Swindon and Wales!

I mentioned in my acceptance speech at Founders’ Day that as President of the Old Cryptians I will do my best to represent the school and its former pupils, young and old. We have had some notable people attend our school over the years but this year I want to celebrate one person in particular. I plan to celebrate one of the school’s most famous alumni during my term of office and hopefully bring some local and national publicity to the club and school. 

William E Henley

2024 is the 175th anniversary of William E Henley’s birth (he went to The Crypt School from 1861–1867) and 2025 is the 150-year anniversary of his most famous poem, ‘Invictus’.

For those of you that don’t know much about Henley:
He lived in Eastgate Street in Gloucester and even has a House at the school named after him.
He suffered from Tuberculosis at age 20 and had a leg amputated.
He was friends with Robert Lois Stevenson who wrote “Treasure Island”.  Henley is believed to be the inspiration for Long John Silver in his book; probably because of him losing one leg.
He also wrote ‘Invictus’ which is arguably his most famous poem; which Nelson Mandela quoted as inspiring him during his 27 years of captivity.
It is also the inspiration for the 2009 ‘Invictus’ film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon about South Africa winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
The Invictus Games founded by Prince Harry also takes it name from the poem.
And it all started at The Old School Room at St Mary de Crypt on Southgate Street, where The Crypt School was founded.

It is an honour to be linked to a school with such a rich heritage and such a positive present and future. I will do my best during my term of office to do the club and the school proud.
  
Kind Regards,
 
Matthew Cass
OCC President 2024-2025

pr*******@ol**********.org