William Henry Sewell (23 January 1804 – 14 November 1874), English divine and author, helped to found two public schools along high church Anglican lines.
Born at Newport, Isle of Wight, the second son of a solicitor and Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford, he had six brothers, four of whom became national figures.
Richard Clarke Sewell was a recognised poet, legal writer and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
When, however, in 1849, JA Froude published his Nemesis of Faith, Sewell denounced the wickedness of the book to his class, and when a pupil of his confessed to possessing a copy, he seized it, tore it to pieces and threw it in the fire.
In 1861 the Clarendon Commission defined it as a public school, but Sewell's aim was to provide an Anglican education for the ailing Church in Ireland, with emphasis on pastoral care and rigorous classical disciplines.
Sewell hoped to inspire boys in locis parentis, giving them cubicles to live in and "strengthen, enlarge and purify their minds.
Despite his trips to raise much-needed funds, his college showed bad faith towards a financial supporter who brought it much furniture and silver.
His colleagues wanted a more relaxed Irish Gaelic school, whereas he was known to have punished boys for failing to show table manners befitting young gentlemen.
Emphasis on regular attendance at Evensong and Matins was central to his scholastic vision of a High Church interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer.