Discover your past at Bristol Grammar School
The BGS School Chronicle- all publications since 1879 available to explore online
We are delighted to share a new digital archive, available to explore online: The BGS School Chronicle charts the fascinating history of the School from 1879 to the present day. You can discover abundant photographs, reviews and information including names of your family, captains and prefects, news of academic success, reports from societies and innovations.
The Chronicle, originally a magazine with school news and general articles, expanded over the years to include events, people, history, essays, poems and of course sports reports. It declared the good news but also recorded, sombrely, those killed and missing in action, those who died of wounds and those made prisoners of war. The Old Bristolians also record who served where and who chanced to meet whom when posted to France, North Africa, the Middle East, and how pleased they were to chat about BGS! The format changes to reflect new times, but the Chronicle remains a contemporary record of BGS, now of course in full colour.
In creating a long-term programme of digitisation, the Archives Department worked on a variety of records, with a priority to digitise the complete run of the Chronicle. Many enquiries can now be answered quickly and accurately and with the background of School life to add flavour, zest and context. It gives all of us great pleasure to make The Chronicle available to the entire BGS family and to everyone who is interested in any aspect of the history of the School as 2032 approaches and it nears the Five Hundredth Anniversary of the Charter granted by Henry VIII.
The Archives Department is very happy to receive donations of any items that relate to the School’s history or its former students or staff. Documents, ephemera, photographs, books, uniform and artefacts are all most welcome; if you have anything you feel we should like to see, please contact the Archivist at abradley@bgs.bristol.sch.uk.