About Us

Alleyn's is one of the country’s leading HMC co-educational day schools, committed to achieving academic excellence within an ethos of strong pastoral care and a vibrant co-curriculum. This fully holistic approach to education aims to support and nurture every individual pupil, enabling each to fulfil his or her own potential while making lasting friendships and enjoying life to the full.

The Website

As part of the School’s work to commemorate its alumni who fought in WW1 we wanted to create a centenary 21st century memorial, in the form of this website. 

The Team

Many people have been involved in the creation of this website: SMT, Nicola Waddington, Rachel Evans, Nick Beagin, Neil French and Year 9 pupils. Three interns were also employed as researchers and content editors of the site.

Lucy and Olivia worked to identify the Old Boys and their service records. Their work formed the basis of the content matter on the site.

Lauren Benton worked from Spring 2016 to January 2017 as the Content Editor, writing up the biographies, adding photographs and uploading content. Here is her story:

A word from the Content Editor, Lauren Benton

"As a Historian who specialises in the history of the First World War, I was instantly drawn to the commemorative site that Alleyn’s was looking to set up in honour of their First World War Alumni. 

In my role as Content Editor, I have had the opportunity to apply my learning from my recently completed MA to a practical commemorative project, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Throughout my work on the project, I have found Alleyn’s dual approach to commemoration to be particularly inspiring. The project has gone to great lengths to ensure that all past pupils involved in the conflict are remembered but has also actively involved current pupils in this commemoration. 

I had the opportunity to witness this first-hand during a History class this year, where Year 9 used Army service records to research the Alleyn’s Old Boys who had walked the very same corridors as them just one hundred years previously.

The service records used by Year 9 History have been fundamental to the construction of each individual’s biography and they, along with the School Reports located by Neil French and the personal details we have discovered about each soldier, have helped to produce a view of the war that extends beyond the mere events of the battlefield. 

As someone with a keen interest in social and cultural history, it is incredibly exciting to see students using these sources to learn about the everyday lives of soldiers and engaging with the past on a more personal level.