Dr Thomas Arnold (father of the poet Matthew Arnold) served as headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1842, and brought many changes. He is regarded as the school’s greatest headmaster. Tom Brown’s Schooldays - covering Dr Arnold’s time - was translated into French in the 1870s, and made a deep impact on Pierre de Coubertin, who later founded the modern Olympic Games. Pierre de Coubertin visited Rugby, and said Dr Arnold was a profound influence on his life and thought.
While John was a pupil, Percival Hugh Lyon was the headmaster. John liked Hugh Lyon and got to know him better than most pupils did, as he served as head of house and then head boy of the school. Dr Lyon was a man with a strong and positive spirit, and he wrote poetry. He had previously been Rector of Edinburgh Academy. A plaque to his memory in the chapel records these lines:
Lo we have put away doubt and cast off fear
Come, let us fashion the world to the song of our strength.
