A surge of registrations in December meant that when the School returned in January the numbers of boys had risen from 27 to 99.  As a result, two more dormitories – 2 and 3 South – were brought into use.

The influx was not all good news.  Two brothers who arrived as new boys on January 25 – Phillip and Thomas Warwick – lasted only a few weeks before being expelled for reasons we will never know.   January also saw the first leaver; John Warner, one of those who had been present on the first day, left days after the start of the term.

Joseph Merriman had recruited a new master, a Mr Goosetry, to join himself and two other full-time staff. Donations had also picked up, and the target of £10,000 had been exceeded, although inevitably the original quotes for the work had also risen so there remained loans of around £600 outstanding.  The build itself had cost £8027 and Woodyer’s architectural fee was £350.

Most of the building work was by this stage completed, and the builders had left the site.  The Quad was only two full sides – the east and south – with the north side one story high and nothing on the west where the dining hall would later appear.  While Henry Woodyer had already drawn up plans for the continuation of the project, the governors were unwilling to commit until the numbers of boys, and so fee income, could justify it.

The term started days after a heavy blizzard had led to the suspension of the railway. The body of a labourer from Albury was found on Smithwood Common. An inquest decided he had been caught in the bad weather walking to work and frozen to death.