HC Deb 09 June 1891 vol 354 cc20-1
MR. KEAY

I beg to ask the hon. Member for Penrith (Mr. J. W. Lowther) whether it is a fact, as stated on page 16 of a pamphlet entitled St. Paul's School and its Scandals, by Mr. James Beal, Member of the London County Council, that the High Master of St. Paul's School has for several years drawn from the funds of the Charity large sums in excess of what he is allowed to draw by the Scheme passed by Parliament in 1876 and 1879, and which sum for the year 1889 is there alleged to amount to £640 6s. 8d.; and whether the Charity Commissioners will take steps to inquire into the truth of these allegations?

MR. J. W. LOWTHER (Cumberland, Penrith)

The Scheme by which St. Paul's School is regulated does not fix precisely the maximum amount of remuneration to be received by the High Master. But the Commissioners have reason to believe that as the Governors have not as yet appointed a High Master of the modern department in pursuance of Clause 38 of the Scheme, the High Master, who is the only existing master entitled to receive capitation fees, has received those fees in respect of a larger number of boys than it was contemplated by the Scheme would be—as all boys in the school in fact now are—under his immediate supervision. The Charity Commissioners have called upon the Governors for explanations as to this and other allegations which have been made as to the conduct of this school, and it is understood that these explanations will be furnished shortly.