Michael at Eton

[E.N]

Michael matriculated at Christ Church in January 1919, but when did he graduate from Eton?

[Brutus]

Michael ended his secondary schooling at Eton at the end of the summer term in 1918, fully intending to join the Scots Guards after a summer holiday but the Armistice in November 18 ended the war.  He then went to Oxford. (By the way, you don't graduate from Eton, or from any British school, only from university or tertiary education.)

[E.N]

Thank you!But I'm a bit confused, when you read J.M Barrie and the Lost Boys, it says that Michael began his first half at Eton at the end of April 1913, and then on page 279 there is a letter from Barrie to Mrs Hugh Lewis where he writes about the war ending, and how Michael marched at Eton with bath-tubs as drums and that the night ended with Michael getting 500 lines. Barrie also wrote that he would be going down to Eton to discuss Michael's future. This means that Michael was still at Eton in November 1918, and so he can't have ended his secondary schooling at Eton at the end of the summer term in 1918?

[Brutus]

You're right, it is confusing! I've had to look at different sources to piece it together. What happened was that Michael left Eton at the end of the summer, intending to enjoy a last summer holiday before joining the Scots Guards in the autumn. However, he changed his mind and went back to Eton for the Michaelmas Half while waiting to join the guards. Hugh Macnaghten wrote that "subsequently he  [Michael] wrote in the quiet of the holidays asking if he might return. He was welcomed back, and the record of his last Half is 'A wonderful Captain: he worries, but his judgment is unerring and his actions swift as lightning: the most admirable boy who has ever been in the house.'

The war ended in November, and Michael was finally persuaded to go to Oxford in January 1919.

Hope that helps!