Hinchingbrooke students vote to remove Samuel Pepys’ name from school house

According to Independent.co, students at a Cambridgeshire school have voted to remove 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys' name from one of its houses after research into his behaviour. Pepys House is one of five houses at Hinchingbrooke School, each named after historical figures with local connections.

Pepys was a naval administrator famed for documenting the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London of 1666 in his diary and attended the then Huntingdon Grammar School in the 1640s. An email sent to parents by Hinchingbrooke School in 2025 said recent research had uncovered "actions that were harmful, abusive and exploitative, especially in his relations with women"; following a consultation a majority of students voted to seek a new figurehead, the principal said.

The school said it will begin developing a shortlist of potential alternative figureheads for Pepys House.

Key Topics

Culture, Samuel Pepys, Hinchingbrooke School, Pepys House, Andy Hunter, Huntingdon Grammar School