Alfred Carver

Alfred James Carver (22 March 1826 – 25 July 1909) was a noted educationalist and cleric who was Master of Dulwich College from 1858 to 1883.

Carver was born the son of James Carver. He was educated at St Paul's School and went on to Trinity College, Cambridge where he was the Bell Scholar in 1845 and the winner of the Burney Prize Essay. He received a first class degree in the Classical Tripos and Senior Optime Maths in 1849. He received his MA in 1852. From 1850 to 1853 he was a Fellow of Queens' College.

He married Eliza Peek (daughter of William Peek of the tea merchants Peek, Winch & Co.) on 19 July 1853 with whom he had two sons and five daughters. Both his sons and two of his daughter's husbands went to Dulwich College.

Having completed his education he went on to become Surmaster from 1852 to 1858 at St Paul's School (London). He was also the University of Cambridge Examiner for the Classical Tripos between 1857 and 1858. He took up the post of Master of Alleyn's College of God's Gift in Dulwich (at that time colloquially referred to as Dulwich College) in 1858. What had been the 'College of God's Gift' became Alleyn's College of God's Gift when, on 25 August 1857 the Dulwich College Act dissolved the existing cooperation and the charity was reconstituted with the new name. The first Master of the College in this new form was Alfred Carver, he was also the first Master not to share the name of the school's founder "Alleyn" (or latterly "Allen"). The educational college was split into an Upper and Lower school (based on syllabus differences, not age) both of which were under Carver's control. Under Carver, the formation of the school as one of the recognisable great Public Schools of England began. The buildings which the school now occupies were built. The present school colours and school magazine were established in the 1860s and 1870s, as were school societies such as Debating and Natural Science. By the time Canon Carver retired from the position of Master in 1882 Dulwich College was said to have expanded more rapidly in the previous 25 years than any other establishment and to be holding its own at universities, to have won a large number of places of honour in the Indian and Home Civil Service and at the Royal Military College of Woolwich and to be well represented amongst the public schools medals of the Royal Geographic Society and the prizes of the Art Schools of the Royal Academy.

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