James Surtees Phillpotts (18 July 1839 – 16 October 1930) was a reforming Headmaster of Bedford School and the author and editor of a number of educational books.

[5] In the summer of 1863, with his friends Robertson and Chaytor, he ascended the Jungfrau peak in Switzerland, a notable feat at the time.

[6][7] On leaving university he joined the staff of Rugby School where, from 1862 to 1874, he was an Assistant Master under the headmastership of Frederick Temple.

[8] When James Surtees Phillpotts took over as headmaster Bedford Grammar School (as it then was) had an indifferent record as an educational institution.

As a result of the various developments initiated by James Surtees Phillpotts the school ran out of space in its original town centre location.

His youngest daughter, Marjory Surtees Phillpotts captained the England Ladies Hockey Team[12] and married William Sealy Gosset.

Phillpotts' charismatic personality is contained in an article by a former pupil of his which was published in The Pioneer (an Indian journal) in 1903 and was quoted many years later in a Bedford newspaper.

[15] "He had a pale and thoughtful face, deep sunken candid eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a full flowing beard.

He was tall, burly, and broad-shouldered; all his movements were quick; his walk, his conversation, his expression, everything he did, was marked with an energy which recalled the idea of a steam-engine in trousers."

When he tried to tell a joke or relate a comic story, it was pain and misery to listen; when he danced, his movements were those of a half-tamed buffalo; when he played whist he invariably fell asleep in the middle of the rubber."

There was not the slightest trace of anger in the calm, measured accents of the low, keen voice which cut like a razor... And when he had stated his side of the case he came down on his opponents like a steam-hammer on a bandbox and pulverized them."