Tranby School stands within the shipbuilder’s residence that gives it its name – a grand house made nationally notable for a great scandal of gambling, cheating, and royal regret. To honour 150 years since the great house was laid down, the School hosted a recreation of that great scandal alongside other Victorian delights.  

To honour the sesquicentenary of Tranby Croft’s building – built as the home of Arthur Wilson, of the once grand and local Wilson Shipping Line – the School prepared an evening of Victorian entertainment, with the scandal that made the residence famous at its heart. Alongside joyous renditions of scenes from Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and Lerner and Loewe’s ‘My Fair Lady’, as well as a soiree of musical recitals in the residence’s picturesque Drawing Room, Tranby crafted an outstanding carousel showcase of late-Victorian charm. With performers from Year 7 to the Sixth Form, the three consecutive evenings of entertainment have wowed the guests. 

Director of Music, Mrs Cook, crafted the soiree-style run of musical performances in the Drawing Room. Mirroring how high society Victorian households would regale their guests with the talents of those present, the evening plays out with performers calling each other up to provide a song, an instrumental performance, and the recitation of poetry. Set within the heart of the Wilson family’s abode, with the room largely unchanged, the antique grandeur of its gilded mirror and Limoges panels provided the perfect setting for the pupils to perform. 

In the Dining Room – latterly the Headmistress’ Office – two mainstays of the Victorian/Edwardian era are performed. First, in a scene from Wilde’s ‘Earnest’, Year 9s Emma and Isabella play Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew as they swap barbs over who exactly is marrying Ernest. With a thrilling performance of Lewis Carrol’s ‘Jabberwocky’ as the scene shifts, then comes Oliver as Henry Higgins and Abbie as Eliza Doolittle, desperately trying to aspirate her aitches. 

In the Baccarat Room itself, Tranby’s seasoned pupil actors offer their own creation of the Royal scandal. Focusing on the events at the baccarat table, with victim-stroke-cheater (in more than one sense) Sir Gordon-Cumming narrating his fall from grace, what makes this masterful performance so compelling, alongside the convincing and endearing cast, is that the baccarat game at the heart of the scandal is represented in the very space, the very room where it happened. With its wood-panelled walls adorned with AW, the initials of original house builder Arthur Wilson, its period furniture and instruments and the wafts of smoke and flashes of feather adornments, guests are brought back over a century to when the glorious room hosted possibly the most controversial card game in British history. 

For the uninitiated, and without too many spoilers, the scandal involved an 1890 game of baccarat which, given it is deemed a game of chance and not skill, was illegal at the time. The Prince of Wales loved the game, and in their duty as his hosts for the evening, the Wilsons of Tranby Croft felt compelled to offer him the chance to play in their newly built music room. The Prince’s friend and long-time baccarat-playing companion, Sir Gordon-Cumming, played successfully, but was spotted cheating altering his bets after the cards were played, by the Wilsons’ son Stanley. The resulting scandal and associated civil court case led to a member of the Royal Family testifying in court, something that had never happened before, and something only repeated in July of last year when Prince Harry testified in a civil case. The case was covered across the country and has come to be called the Royal Baccarat Scandal. 

Tranby’s Director of Drama, Andrea Asbury, has been with the School for over two decades. She said: “Our central performance focuses specifically on the events at Tranby Croft, fittingly within the very room where the game happened. Many pupils and members of the School community know a little of the scandal, but with this performance, all appreciate the monumental events that happened in this very building.” 

Year 12 Will, staring as Gordon-Cumming, said: “This performance has given me a great opportunity to explore Tranby Croft’s history and the details of the scandal. To get into the shoes of Gordon-Cumming, and to provide a convincing performance, I’ve come to sympathise greatly with the man; his reputation and social standing were wholly ruined by the events, making him a truly tragic figure.” Year 12 Luka, appearing as the Prince of Wales, said: “I researched as much as I could about the scandal and about the Prince, hoping to emulate his overzealous and exuberant behaviour – friendly but loud; congenial but domineering.” 

With open requests for guests to join in their own Victorian attire, a number of guests joined the performance in costume befitting the period. For anyone interested in the history of Tranby Croft, the Wilson family, or the baccarat scandal, the School offers regular, history tours to visitors outside of school hours which are also bookable here.