 There were 195 at the school in 1861 and it prospered for many years.He was appointed a member of a Royal Commission to report on the working of the educational system on 4 September 1866.About 1871 the number of students at the Grammar school began to fall off, partly because of the foundation of other secondary schools, and in 1874, feeling that it might be for the benefit of the school to have a younger headmaster, Bromby resigned and was succeeded by Edward Ellis Morris.