Meanwhile many of the old Grammar Schools in England had fallen on very evil days. In 1840 some of those to which the term ‘decayed’ could be most fitly applied were converted into _Elementary Schools_. Twenty-four years later a Schools’ Enquiry Commission was appointed by the Government to enquire into the condition of the Grammar Schools throughout the country. The following are details from the report of the Commissioners. At Beverley in 1865 there were only fifteen boys, and the school premises were ‘dirty and the furniture out of repair.’ At Hull no classics were taught; only two boys out of sixty-seven were learning French, and two German; Algebra and Euclid were ‘not attempted.’ At Sancton the children paid nothing, and ‘received instruction which was worth nothing.’ At Barmby-on-the-Marsh the vicar was receiving £97 from the Grammar School endowment, and out of it paying £2 to the village school. Bridlington Grammar School was, we know, held in 1866 in a room near the Corn Exchange in the ‘Old Town’; and some eight or ten scholars were in attendance. It was then temporarily closed, and its funds were carefully nursed by Mr. Thomas Harland, who meanwhile succeeded in interesting others in its refoundation. As the result of Mr. Harland’s labours, various funds were amalgamated, including those of the Spinning School previously mentioned; and eventually a site for the school was obtained, and new buildings were erected. These were opened in 1899 by Lord Herries, the Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding, and have since been twice enlarged. * * * * * It has been shown how Hull and Pocklington owe their Grammar Schools to pious founders. That the days of pious founders are not wholly past and gone, we have proved to us in the existence of HYMERS COLLEGE at Hull. ‘Hymers’ owes itself to two brothers, John and Robert Hymers, each a native of the North Riding and an ‘old boy’ of Sedbergh School. [Illustration: _Photo by_] [_Turner & Drinkwater_ Bridlington Grammar School. ] [Illustration: ARMS OF HYMERS COLLEGE. ] The elder of these two brothers, who was born in 1803 at Ormesby in Cleveland, became a distinguished mathematical scholar, and a Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge. Somewhat late in life he was appointed rector of Brandesburton, where he spent his last thirty-five years. On his death in 1887 it was discovered that he had left almost his whole fortune for the foundation of a Grammar School. The wording of a portion of his will ran as follows:—