Walking round Uppingham, we soon came across 'Uppingham School' which is on a par with Rugby and Eton and boasts such famous ex-boys as Stephen Fry (who was expelled), Boris Karloff ( real name William Pratt), Malcolm and Donald Campbell (land and water speed record holders) even Rick Stein was there. It was founded, along with another school at Oakham by Robert Johnson (1541-1645). By the time Edwin and his brother William were living in Uppingham, it had grown from a handful of boys to around 300. Family legend had it that the brothers attended a school in Uppingham, but it moved to Hastings and they didn't go with it. Having bought a few local history books from the paper shop in the High Street, we soon came across a few facts that matched this apparent conundrum. In 1875 there was a outbreak of Typhoid in Uppingham and after the deaths of five boys, it was decided to up sticks and take the whole school lock, stock and barrel to Borth near Aberystwyth in Wales. Off they went to the nearest station, hired a train , loaded up and stayed away for a whole year. There, is seemed, was our answer to this unlikely story of the school moving to Hasting, as with many 'word of mouth' stories it was in fact to Borth.
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