 Throughout the next 100 years, a number of former pupils achieved national recognition, helping the school to establish its reputation; these include the first Headmaster, John Twyne, as well as Christopher Marlowe, William Harvey and John Tradescant the Younger.The buildings were improved and academic standards raised during the leadership of John Mitchinson, and around this period, the School became a "public school" with a national reputation.When Canon John “Fred” Shirley became Headmaster in 1935, the School was suffering from the effects of the depression, and he saw the School expanded greatly to around 600 pupils in some 30 years.