The Spartan Club was instituted by the Reverend G.D. Barne, 4th Principal of Sanawar on 13th October 1922. He is said to have named it after the ancient Greek city state of Sparta, which was renowned for its legendary and widely envied traditions of martial and sporting excellence. Here is a transcription of the Order announcing the formation of the Club, hand-written and signed by Principal George Barne himself:

"It has been decided to form a Club in connection with Past and Present Sanawarians called the Spartan Club.
Committee is composed of the President and Secretary of the Old Sanawarians Society and the following Old Sanawarians resident in Sanawar:-

• C.S.M. G. Foster
• J. Hale Esq.
• C. Teeling Esq.

1. Election to the Club is entirely in the hands of the Committee and will be by invitation.
2. Membership will ordinarily be confined to Sanawarians whose names appear on the Honours boards in the Lawrence Club, but Old Sanawarians who have subsequently distinguished themselves on the field of sport, or Old Sanawarians who left before the Honours boards were put up will be eligible for election at the discretion of the Committee.
3. Present day Sanawarians are eligible for admission when still at School.
4. Membership may also be extended in certain cases to others who, themselves distinguished in games etc., have rendered service to Sanawar in this direction.
5. The subscription to the Club will be Re. 1/- on election and no further subscription.
6. Members of the Club will wear as the Club colours, a dark blue blazer with L.R.M.S buttons and the School crest surmounted by the Royal Crown with the words SPARTAN CLUB underneath. The crest will be mounted on a red back ground to distinguish it from the blazer which every Old Sanawarian is eligible to wear whether members of the Spartan Club or not.
7. The aim of the Committee both in the election of members and in the direction of the Club, will be to promote and preserve the best traditions of Sportsmanship".

[Transcribed verbatim from LRMS Sanawar Order Book Page 105 paragraph 630, handwritten and signed by The Reverend G.D Barne O.B.E., M.A., Principal, dated 13th October 1922].

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The Committee convened two or three times a year to consider candidates for membership. Election to the Club required full consensus and the distinction of membership was keenly contested and highly prized. The Club flourished for several years and in 1930, for the first time, ladies became eligible for election. In September 1934 however, the Club was inexplicably closed down by Principal E.A. Evans. No reason was given for the closure. A convening notice for the Committee appeared in School Part II Orders on 25th September and was cancelled without explanation less than three days later. The Committee was dissolved and little or nothing was heard of the Spartan Club for the next twelve years. The Club was eventually revived by Principal H.E. Hazell in August 1946 and lived on under Principal and Headmaster E.G Carter until his retirement in 1955. Evidently, it continued well into the late 1990's and then appears to have ceased altogether. [Ed.]