The Winslow Boy The Winslow Boy The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, "The Winslow Boy" is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for stealing a five-shilling postal order. To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their
George Archer-Shee of the United Kingdom's best barristers of the age, who had a son at Osborne. Before he took the case, Carson subjected the boy to questioning to test his story, only accepting once he had satisfied himself of the boy's innocence. Several problems prevented Carson from taking the case straight to court. Firstly as Archer-Shee was a naval cadet at the time, this excluded him from the jurisdiction of a civil court. Secondly as he was not enlisted in the Royal Navy, he was not entitled to a court-martial. In order to help his client, Carson brought a petition of