CHAPTER 4.

FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE END OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

The Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 meant the end of
the Puritan schoolmaster and a return to the orthodox tenets of
the Church of England. There must have been some confusion
at Kibworth during the changeover, for after Robertson's
departure in 1658 there is no mention of a schoolmaster till 1662,
when the Rev. Jasper Chapman, of Smeeton Westerby, received
the Bishop's licence to teach in the School. Chapman was educated
at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he gained his B.A. in
1648. He did not remain schoolmaster for long, for in 1663 the
feoffees appointed the Rev. Walter Abbott, of Merton College,
Oxford, to be the schoolmaster.  After Abbott's appointment,
Chapman continued his connection with the School, but in the
capacity of usher. Abbott himself did not have a lengthy tenure
of office; in 1665 he became the Rector of Shangton and resigned
his post at Kibworth. The following year, the feoffees appointed
as his successor the Rev. Nathaniel Weston, B.A., of St. John's
College, Oxford. Weston stayed only four years, to be followed
by the Rev. John Dand, of St. John's College, Cambridge, who
remained master at Kibworth for over thirty years.

John Dand belonged to the well-known Wigston family of
that name, and received his early education at Oakham School.
From there he proceeded to Cambridge, and he came to Kibworth
in 1670. A most important event during his period of office was
the visit, in 1686, of the Charity Commissioners to see that the
feoffees were running the trust satisfactorily. The commissioners
found, as previous investigators had done, that the tenants were
not paying their full amount of rent. So they ordered a new rental
roll to be drawn up, and it is interesting to note that in most cases
the rents were reduced. For example, the rent for the one and a
half yardlands leased to Kilpeck was fixed in 1615 at £18; but in
1686 the same amount of land was leased to T. Kirke for
£15 9s. 4d. The commissioners, moreover, ordered one of the
feoffees, John Parker, who had £6 4s. Od. belonging to the School,
to pay it over to the schoolmaster within one month.   They
mentioned that the Schoolmaster was to continue to dwell in the
messuage near to the School which had formerly belonged to John
Abbott, for it had convenient orchards, gardens and backsides.
The Commissioners made one complaint against the master—the
long table running down the middle of the, schoolroom was unfit
for use, so Dand was to provide a table " for the scholars to write
upon".

It is clear, however, that Dand made his scholars work, for
under him a number of boys went to the Universities. In 1680,
Theophilus Judd, son of William Judd, a farmer of Burton Overy,
was admitted as a sizar to Dand's old college, St. John's
Cambridge. In 1682, John Richardson, son of William Richardson,
the rector of South Kilworth, was admitted to St. John's; and three
years later, his brother William followed him. In 1686, Richard
Halford, the son of Sir Thomas Halford, Bart., went also from
Kibworth to St. John's. There was clearly at this time a strong
connection between St. John's College, Cambridge, and Kibworth
Grammar School, for, in addition to those already named, Thomas
Parker, Edward Smart, John Bold, Samuel Elly, and William John
Dand left Kibworth for St. John's while the Rev. John Dand was
Head. Of these the two most important were Bold and Dand.
John Bold was curate of Stoney Stanton for nearly fifty years, from
1702 to 1751, and he refused all offers of promotion, for his main
concern was the welfare of his parishioners. William John Dand
was the son of the schoolmaster, and in 1706 he succeeded his
father at Kibworth.

It is evident that, in the later years of the seventeenth century,
Kibworth Grammar School was growing in numbers, reputation
and scholarship. This all-round increase is reflected in the larger
salary paid to the schoolmaster. Whereas in 1650 the salary was
£20 a year, Dand was in 1700 drawing a salary of £50.