LEADING figures in Oxford’s business world were educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys.

The school could boast famous people like comedian Ronnie Barker and Lawrence of Arabia among its alumni. But it also supplied plenty of local talent.

Memory Lane reader Ray Stone has sent in details of Old Boys’ dinners in 1903, 1919 and 1953.

The roll call for the first dinner on Wednesday, April 22, 1903 included numerous well-known city names, among them Alden, Payne, Rowell, Taphouse, Cave, Zacharias, Salter, Gardiner and Knowles.

A table plan for the dinner at the Randolph Hotel in 1919 included Darby, Franklin, King, Loxley and Savage.

The 1903 dinner was held at the Clarendon Hotel in Cornmarket Street and the organisers had clearly faced a testing time, with no clear guide as to the whereabouts of many of the 600 Old Boys.

They wrote: “It was hoped at one time that members would rise to nearly 100, but as one stray lamb was brought into the fold, another would leap the fence.

“Some could not catch convenient trains, some could not leave their duties, some were just changing their place of abode, and one of the oldest boys had an unfortunate bicycle accident on the previous day.

“However, it is surely a matter for congratulation that eventually 64 Old Boys and Masters sat down to dinner.”

Proposing a toast to the school, chairman Mr W H Gee noted that there had been no falling off in the school’s academic successes, while in athletics, there had been a marked improvement since his time as a pupil.

Rising to respond, the present head, Mr A W Cave, “was greeted with prolonged cheers and the singing of ‘For He’s Jolly Good Fellow’”.

He spoke of improvements in classrooms, playground and sports and said he felt the school was an important part of the city, although “this fact is not recognised so much as it might be”.

Other toasts were proposed to the King, the Masters, the Corporation and Governors, and to the Old Boys’ Club.

At the Jubilee dinner in 1953, the number of toasts was cut to three – to the Queen, the Society and the School and the Founders of the School.

Over the years, old boys of the school have been represented by three organisations – the Old Boys’ Club, then the Old Oxford Citizens Society and now the City of Oxford School Association (Cosa).

Former pupil Mr Stone, of Witney Road, Long Hanborough, writes: “The Old Oxford Citizens Society was the Old Boys Club before closure and the name highlighted the fact that a large number of independent traders in the city went to the school.

“The Jubilee Dinner menu in 1953, with details of the 1903 dinner, highlights even more well-known names, such as Osborn King, who attended the school and maintained contact.

“Cosa, the present Old Boys’ club, is running events to mark the 50th anniversary of closure of the school and hopefully they will be well attended.

“It will be interesting to see how long it can exist – we hope for many years.”

As we have recalled, the school occupied a site at the corner of George Street and New Inn Hall Street from 1881 to 1966. It then merged with Southfield School on the Southfield site in Glanville Road, East Oxford, to form Oxford School. It is now known as Oxford Spires Academy.