Wakefield Family History Sharing
Educational Establishments
We know who our ancestors were by word of mouth and baptisms, marriages, burials and other records. We know where they lived because we have found them in the census from 1841 to 1901 and we may have found an address in a will or other document. But do we know what they were like when children ? What school did they attend ? Were they a 'goody goody' or a little on the naughty side ?
Have you ever thought of looking through School Records ?
Admission Books for Altofts have been transcribed and can be found on this site but have you ever thought of contacting your Local Archive Service and finding out what school records have managed to survive. In some areas a sample of records has been kept, possibly a 1 in 5 or if not so lucky a 1 in 10 year sample has been taken into the care of the archive service.
Some of these records may include, as before, admission books, punishment books, headmasters diaries ( you may find a name if they were very, very good or very very bad pupils! ), there may be a selection of photographs. You may possess a photograph of a grandparent, maybe an aunt or uncle, but what about a more distant relation, grandfathers brother or sister, perhaps - you may find a picture of them as a child or even as a teacher.
Prior to 1836 a list of free schools in Wakefield was compiled by John Firth, master of Sandal Endowed School from 1781 to 1836.
No. and Type of School | Males | Females |
1 Free Grammar School | 30 | |
1 National | 210 | 130 |
1 Lancastrian | 198 | 136 |
1 Greencoat | 70 | 50 |
1 Infant | 69 | 76 |
19 Other daily | 426 | 202 |
8 Boarding | 17 | 159 |
4 Sunday | 466 | 420 |
He also commented that four were confined to the Established Church and 2 to the Dissenters. He also remarked that furteen had been established since 1818, the same year that a Government enquiry had been instituted into the education of the poor. |
Left - Right : Cobblers Hall, Heath ; Old School, Heath ; Methodist School, Thornhill St, Wakefield
So it is worth looking to see what you can find !
School | Year Opened / Founded | Comments | Year Closed |
Grammer School | 1591 | Originally in Lady Bower, moved to Northgate in 1854 | |
Storie Petty School | 1674 | Founded by John Storie (see Greencoat School) | |
Charity School | pre 1703 | In 1703 was made up of 22 of the poorest boys and 19 of the poorest girls in Wakefield. Taught by 7 teachers (see Greencoat School) | |
Greencoat | 1703 | The Greencoat School was an amalgamation of two earlier foundations, the Storie Petty School and the Charity School. | 1875 |
Woolley First | 1720 | 1842 moved to present building. However, schools existed here before 1720 | 1993 |
Sandal Endowed Middle | 1747 | ||
Lancastrian School | 1812 | 1901 | |
West Riding Proprietary | 1834 | 1854 | |
Bell / National School | 1813 | Girls were at Almshouse Lane, while the boys were at Bell Street. 1869 moved to Zetland Street. All Saints School. 1895 Boys moved to Brook Street Cathedral School 1930's. The girls became the junior / jnfants. 1961 Boys to Thornes Road. | 1963 became part of St John,s Belgravia Road |
Silcoates School | 1820 | Silcoates Hall had been previously used as a proprietary school under the title of "The Yorkshire Pretestant Dissenters Grammar School". The school was burnt down in 1904 and being outside the Wakefield City boundary the City Fire Brigade were not allowed to attend. The Dewsbury Brigade arrived too late to be of any good. | |
St John's First School | 1861 | 1893 new school for girls and infants at Clarendon Street. 1930's the junior and infants transferred to East Moor. St John's Clarendon St became a senior school for girls | 1968 girls transferred to Eastmoor |
St Mary's First | 1840's | 1865 new school building | 1974 moved to new buildings |
Thornes Gaskell's | 1840's | 1970 | |
St Andrews | 1845 | 1952 | |
Methodist First | 1846 | 1974 moved to Field Lane. School is now an adult education centre | |
Holy Trinity, George Street | 1847 | 1954 | |
Holy Trinity, Harrison Street | 1850 | 1954 | |
Newmillerdam | 1850 | Is now a private dwelling | 1980 |
St James, Thornes | 1850's | 1861 new building. However, schools existed here before the 1850's | 1960 |
St Michael's | 1851 boys 1866 girls 1876 inf. | In 1951 the boys and girls moved to Flanshaw. However, schools existed here before 1851 | 1969 |
St Austins | 1858 | ||
Crigglestone St James | 1863 | 1975 moved to present site | |
St Catherines, Belle Vue | 1870 | 1959 | |
Westgate | 1874 | 1939 | |
Christ Church | 1876 | 1964 | |
Painthorpe (Crigglestone British Crigglestone Council) | 1876 | 1984 | |
Eastmoor First | 1878 | ||
Girl's High School | 1878 | ||
Sandal Magna First | 1890 | ||
Ings Road | 1897 | Closed due to clearences in Wakefield for Roads etc. However, the Boys and Girls entrance stones have been included in the road systems. | 1971 |
Belle Vue Infants | 1907 | 1956 opened as a Special School | |
Lawfield First and Middle | 1912 | ||
Thornes House | 1921 | In 1921 boys and girls were educated seperately, but in 1941 the school be came co-educational. In 1993 the school closed and the school buildings now forms part of Wakefield District College | |
Manygates Middle | 1928 | 1965 Manygates Infants closed. Is now an adult educational centre offering day and evening classes. | 1993 |
Snapethorpe First and Middle | 1931 | ||
English Martyrs | 1933 | ||
Flanshaw First | 1949 | ||
Waterton First (Broadway Infants) | 1951 | ||
Heath View Middle | 1952 | ||
Kettlethorpe First | 1954 | ||
Crigglestone Middle | 1956 | 1993 | |
Kettlethorpe Middle | 1957 | ||
Mackie Hill First | 1961 | ||
St Thomas a Becket | 1963 | ||
Standbridge First | 1964 | ||
Castle Grove | 1965 | ||
Kettlethorpe High | 1965 | ||
Eastmoor High | 1968 | ||
The Mount First | 1970 | ||
Greenhill First | 1982 | ||
Dane Royd First | 1984 |
Two views of the Grammar School, Lady Bower. Now opposite the open market.
Schools where date of opening and closures are not known