Trent College and The Elms

Trent College was founded in 1868 by the Derbyshire industrialist Francis Wright as a self-conscious "middle class alternative" to the great Victorian public schools like Eton, Harrow and Rugby. Wright's vision was to provide a public-school education for the sons of the rising industrial bourgeoisie of the East Midlands at a more accessible price point. The school occupies a 45-acre campus in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, between Nottingham and Derby. It is now co-educational, educates around 1,113 pupils across the Senior School (around 760) and The Elms Junior School (around 330). The Head is Bill Penty. The President of the College Council — a ceremonial role — is the 12th Duke of Devonshire.

Trent College is a member of the HMC and the BSA. Old Tridents — the alumni name — include particularly strong cohorts in early-twentieth-century sport and military service. Captain Albert Ball VC, MC and Bar, DSO — one of the most decorated British pilots of the First World War, with 44 aerial victories before his death over France in May 1917 at the age of twenty — was a Trent College pupil. Ball was awarded the Victoria Cross, the Military Cross with Bar and the Distinguished Service Order, and is remembered alongside Mick Mannock and James McCudden as one of the three great British fighter aces of the Great War.

In rugby union, Alexander Obolensky — a Russian Prince who had emigrated with his family after the 1917 Revolution and was naturalised before being capped by England — was a Trent pupil. His try in the Twickenham match against the All Blacks in January 1936, sprinting through the New Zealand defence after a long-range break, became one of the most famous moments in English rugby and has been replayed for ninety years.

In contemporary entertainment, the actress Georgia Groome (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging; London to Brighton) and the actor Harry Gilby (Tolkien; Just William) are Old Tridents. Sir Howard Colvin's A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects is a defining reference work of British architectural history; he was a Trent College pupil. In politics, the Thai Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj attended in the 1920s. The school operates a substantial bursary programme.