School History
The School was named after Samuel Lucas the artist 1805 – 1870, the second son of William Lucas whose Quaker family had been yeomen and maltsters in Hitchin for more than 300 years.
In his early years Samuel Lucas was sent to be educated at the Society of Friends School, Bristol, and it was here he developed his love of sketching and drawing that was to stay with him for the rest of his life.
During his time as an apprentice and working for a corn merchant at Wapping in London, Samuel Lucas continued to draw and paint as much as he could. This was much against the wishes of his father who strongly disapproved of any such activity other than daily work and prayer.
Samuel Lucas returned to Hitchin in 1834 and, although working hard in the family business, still found time to paint. Many of his water colours of the surrounding countryside were exhibited at the Royal Academy. Samuel Lucas was also noted for his many fine pen and ink drawings of local characters from in and around Hitchin.
Today Samuel Lucas watercolours are much sought after by connoisseurs as reflecting good English painting of their time.
The School
Samuel Lucas School was built originally as an infant school and opened on 3rd September 1974 with 48 children. The school’s official opening was on 12th March 1975 by the Rev. Richard Lucas one of the few surviving relatives of the Samuel Lucas family. The plan was for both an infant (key stage 1) and junior school (key stage 2) to be built on the site. However, these plans were dropped and Samuel Lucas became a junior mixed infant community primary school in 1978 to accommodate the rapidly growing Key Stage 2 it became necessary to add mobile classrooms.