The Hopkins Society
The ‘Hopkins Society’ is a new body which has been formed to foster, promote and develop cultural interests and activities within the Oratory School. The society is named after the famous Victorian poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, who was a master at the Oratory School under Cardinal Newman in the 1860s. Hopkins’s poetry was hidden for nearly thirty years after his death in 1889 and was first published by his friend, Robert Bridges, the Poet Laureate, in 1918. Subsequent editions of Hopkins’s poetry and letters added to his growing fame and reputation and he is now regarded as one of the most important poets and literary critics of the Victorian era. Perhaps his best-known poem is ‘The Windhover’, after which the Oratory School 6th Form public speaking society is named. It seems fitting that Hopkins should give his name to a society which aims to stimulate and widen an appreciation of culture and the arts in the Oratory School, an endeavour which would have been enthusiastically endorsed and supported by the poet while he was himself a master at the school.
To date, the Hopkins Society has been instrumental in creating, producing and staging its own dramatic productions (‘An Evening with Charles Dickens’); organising theatre trips (‘The 39 Steps’, ‘War Horse’, ‘An Inspector Calls’, ‘Three Sisters’); setting up the Newman Gallery; organising the (legendary) ‘Battle of the Bands’; engaging speakers to deliver talks to boys and parents (Antarctic explorer Rob Conway) and providing practical support for ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘A Man for All Seasons’ and ‘The Dream of Gerontius’. The Hopkins Society also hosted a Reception to view the outstanding A Level art on display in the Tomlinson Art Gallery. This was attended by Heads of Art from local Prep Schools, parents, boys and staff.
Future projects include visits to opera and ballet productions, London Art Galleries, the newly-refurbished Ashmolean Museum and the Oxford Literary Festival.
Tony Stroker
The Hopkins Society: The Head Master, Father Antony Conlon, Tony Stroker (Chairman), Hilary Fox, Julian McNamara, Oliver Godfrey, Jackie Beveridge, Michele Lee and Linda Coupland.