Over the centuries Cowbridge school has produced many famous men. Many have reached prominance in Politics, Academia, Journalism, Acting or Sport.
We are endebted to Mr Iolo Davies for the historical information on this page which was taken from his book, "A Certaine Schoole" published in 1967. Only the mistakes are ours.
Evan Seys (1604-1682}
A Squire's son from Boverton. In 1618 at the age of 14, Seys delivers a lengthy speach in Latin praising the surviving founder, Sir John Stradling.
After Cowbridge he studied at Christ church, Oxford. In 1659 he became MP for Glamorgan and for Gloucester from 1661 to 1681.
Sir Leoline Jenkins (1624? -1685)
The son of a poor yeoman from Llantrisant, he went from Cowbridge to Jesus College, Oxford in 1641. During the Civil War he followed the royalist cause into exile before finishing his studies.
Returning from exile after the Restoration, he was made Fellow of the College even though he had not finished his degree!
In 1661 he became Principal of Jesus College. He reached high office and served as Privy Councillor and Secretary of State.
He bought Cowbridge school from the Stradling family and bequeathed it to Jesus College. Rich and unmarried he left his fortune to support both institutions, thus forging the centuries old bond between the School and the College..
pic Sir Leoline Jenkins
by Herbert Tuer
oil on canvas, 1679 Awaiting permission from National Portrait Gallery
David Durel (1721-1763)
He entered Pembroke College in 1747. Appointed Principal Hertford College, Oxford in 1756. In 1765 became Regius Professor of Greek and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.
Born in Jersey, a kinsman of Daniel Durel, the then headmaster, he had a somewhat chequered school career.
Until the age of 15 he was described as "a good Boy" but afterwards fell into bad ways! Having lost money gambling he falsely claimed the money had been stolen by a serving-maid.
Petty theft, and running away, first to Newport and then to an alehouse in Cardiff were added to his "crimes". He was part of a campaign for extra holidays but after transcribing another boy's verses designed to flatter and enlist the support of the Bishop of Llandaff, he falsely claimed authorship.
He entered Pembroke College in 1747. Appointed Principal Hertford College, Oxford in 1756. In 1765 became Regius Professor of Greek and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.
George Cadogan Morgan (1764- 1798)
Born at Bridgend and after leaving Cowbridge went to Jesus College, Oxford.
He gained a high reputation as a scientific writer and published works on Electricity. Said to forshadow subsequent discoveries.
Died after inhaling poisonous fumes while conducting chemistry experiment
Evan Evans
He left Cowbridge in 1831 for Jesus College and then to Pembroke College
In 1878 he became the fifth known old Bovian to became Head of a House in Oxford and the second to become Vice-Chancellor of Oxford.
Alun Lewis (1915 -1944)
A poet of the Anglo-Welsh school. Born at Aberdare in the Cynon valley. His early death at the age of twenty-eight robbed Wales of its most promising poet and story writer.
By the time he attended Cowbridge Grammar School, he was already interested in writing. He went on to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and the University of Manchester.
Although best known as a poet, his first published work was a volume of short stories, The Last Inspection (1942). In his poem Raider's Dawn, Lewis makes a biblical reference to Peter and Paul.
He died in Burma, during the Second World War campaign against the Japanese. He was found shot in the head, after shaving and washing, near the officers' latrines, with his revolver in his hand. He died from the wound six hours later.
Despite the suggestion of suicide, an army court of inquiry subsequently concluded that he had tripped on the steep slope and that the shooting was an accident.
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alun_Lewis
Alun Lewis: Letters to my Wife
Gweno Lewis, £14.95 Hardback
Order from http://seren-books2com.site.securepod.com/biography/p/1801/
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE (1937-
An Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning film, stage and television actor.
As a concequence of his dyslexia he found that he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing or playing the piano, than attend to his studies.
Hopkins himself has spoken of his own unhappy memories of the school, and one must assume the feeling was mutual.
"I was lousy at school, really screwed-up, a moron," he said of his time there.
"I was anti-social and didn't bother with the other kids. A really bad student. I didn't have any brains. I didn't know what I was doing at Cowbridge. That's why I became an actor."
Hopkins was influenced and encouraged to become an actor by compatriot Richard Burton, whom he met briefly at the age of 15. He left CGS in 1953. He enrolled at the College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, from which he graduated in 1957.
After a two-year spell in the Army, he moved to London where he trained at RADA, at the suggestion of Roy Marsden.
In 1965, after several years spent performing and honing his craft in repertory, he was spotted by Sir Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the National Theatre.
Hopkins won the BAFTA Best Actor award in 1973 for his performance as Pierre Bezukhov in the BBC's production of War and Peace.
A Piano virtuoso, he conquered his alcoholic addiction in 1975.
Hopkins' most famous role is the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992) 
Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Wales on July 16, 1988
He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1987, and a Knight Bachelor in 1993. In 1996 Hopkins was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Wales, Lampeter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Hopkins
COWBRIDGE BOY AWARDED Victoria Cross?
Have just been told that an ex-pupil won the V.C. Don't know who or in which war. ANYONE able to shed some light? Gabe