Mrs Sue Faulkner, Head of the Primary Division at Bolton School, is delighted to introduce the Hulton Lecture: a Primary Division counterpart to the Boys’ Division Tillotson Lecture and the Girls’ Division Platt Fisher Lecture. The first Hulton Lecture will take place at 5.00pm on Wednesday 3 May 2023 with Old Boy, Rob Dobson (Class of 1982) acting as the keynote speaker.
The Hulton Lecture is intended as a joint activity aimed at boys and girls in Year 6. Their parents and family members, Bolton School staff, and the wider Bolton community are warmly invited to attend. This event is free of charge.
Parking will be available in the Boys’ Division Quad (with overflow parking in the Dobson Road Quad if required). After the lecture concludes at around 6.15pm, guests are invited for refreshments in the Levehulme Suite.
Keynote Speaker Rob Dobson
After leaving Bolton School in 1982, Rob gained a first-class degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Southampton. He went on to found Actix, a tech business focused on algorithmic optimisation for mobile phone networks, growing the business to over 200 people with offices in eight locations around the world. Rob, who was the Boys’ Division Prizegiving Speaker in June 2017, is now one of the most active independent angel investors in Scotland and is passionate about empowering young people to start their own businesses.
The Hulton Lecture
The Hulton Lecture is named in recognition of the Hulton Charity Trust, whose links with education in Bolton can be traced back to the 17th Century. The trust was inspired by Nathaniel Hulton's desire to promote religion, learning and charity and whilst the school no longer holds the religious affiliations of the past, learning and charity remain at the heart of all that we do at Bolton School. The original Beech House was the home of one of the Hulton Trustees, Ralph Haslam, and later purchased by the School to be used first as the home of the Boys' Junior School and then later as the Infant School. There were Hulton Scholarships to University in Boys' Division and a Hulton Lecture in Girls' Division for many years. This link with Girls' Division is also rooted in the fact the Hulton Trust was involved in the construction of the original Bank Street Chapel, in 1696, and it was members of that congregation who inspired the creation of the original Bolton High School for Girls. As we embark on the new tradition of the Primary Division lecture programme, it is therefore fitting that we look into our past, and honour the long-standing connection between Bolton School and the Hulton Charity Trust.