This thesis constitutes a detailed study of the rectorate (1901--08) of Father Joseph M. Bampton, S.J. at Beaumont College, a secondary boarding school for boys founded by the English (now British) Province of the Society of Jesus at Old Windsor (Berkshire, England) in 1861.The period under research is of great interest in its own right, since it was precisely in February 1906 when, with the admission of Father Joseph M. Bampton to the Headmasters' Conference (HMC), Beaumont College---previously a private school---was recognised as a public school. Several factors which made this recognition possible, and which Beaumont shared with its Protestant counterparts (Eton is only a few miles upstream on the other side of the Thames), are analysed: character formation, athleticism, Oxford and Cambridge links, military spirit, autonomy of the Rector, independence from the State system of education, etc.One of the conclusions of the thesis is that this transformation was feasible thanks to the Rector's deliberate adoption of some of the educational methods of the most prestigious non-Catholic public schools of England (such as Eton, Harrow or Rugby). Prominent among these methods was the introduction of the "English system" of discipline (which the Rector named "Captain system"), or participation of the boys themselves in the government of the school, as opposed to the age-long "Jesuit system" of strict and ceaseless boy supervision by masters of discipline or Prefects.We have drawn upon a substantial collection of sources (both manuscript and printed) for the elaboration of the thesis. It will contribute to enlarge our knowledge in the fields of the History of Education, the Civilization and Culture of Great Britain and the Comparative Systems of Education. Furthermore, the research includes the study of the education and training of a sector of the contemporary ruling class in the United Kingdom and in other European countries like France and Spain.