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Bluecoat School 1881


Scotty101

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Hi,

 

Does anyone know anything about a Bluecoat school. I have an ancestor who attended there in the 1881 census. It is recorded as being on Winwick street.

 

Was it a school just for orphaned kids? Was it a type of boarding school? All kids on the census are between 10 & 12

 

Any help would be great.

 

Thanks

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Hi,

 

Does anyone know anything about a Bluecoat school. I have an ancestor who attended there in the 1881 census. It is recorded as being on Winwick street.

 

Was it a school just for orphaned kids? Was it a type of boarding school? All kids on the census are between 10 & 12

 

Any help would be great.

 

Thanks

 

Scotty, information regarding the Bluecoat school in Bluecoat Street off Winwick Road, Warrington.

 

It was a school for the legitimate children of poor parents in the locality.

 

Taken from Slater's Warrington Directory of 1895.

 

Blue Coat School, Winwick road, founded in the year 1665 by :Mr. John

Allen, a native of the town, whose object was to apprentice

annually "five poore boys to some handicraft trades in

1677, it was decided to raise funds for the extention of the

plan & trustees were appointed; about 1690 these augmented

funds were invested in land, & to the original design of merely

apprenticing was added that of affording a prior education:

in 1711 the number of boys So educated was 24, & as a further,

encouragement they were provided with caps & bands, to

which suits of blue cloth & shoes were subsequently added:

in 1778 the present building was erected, a special fund having

been raised for that purpose & it was opened in 1782, under the

name of the" Blue Coat Hospital," 30 legitimate children of

poor parishioners being admitted & boarded, lodged, clothed

& educated, & in 1832 the trustees obtained an Act of Parliament:

the present number (1894) (of foundation scholars is

57; in 1855, at the suggestion of the late governor, the old

pupils formed a society called "The Warrington Blue Coat

Brotherly Society," which has for its objects, among others,

the cultivation of a friendly feeling among those who have

been educated in the school, the visiting of boys apprenticed,

the relief of the needy & the formation of classes & excursion

parties: the income of the school is about £1,500 yearly;

Edward Rose, governor & head master; Mrs. B. Rose, matron;

William Hatch Harding, usher & organist; Miss Eleanor Mul.

linder, assistant matron.

 

These are three maps displaying the location of the school in 1850,1894 & 1907.

 

1850.jpg

 

1894.jpg

 

1907.jpg

 

I have not yet come across a photo, if I do I shall PM you before uploading it to WW.

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I'm sure I remember seeing a photo relating to the Blue Coat school and also some info about it in my mums stuff as I know she once looked into it as one of her relatives went there.

 

I'll try and have a look through the boxes of stuff I have in the next few days.

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Thanks everyone, that has shed a lot of light on the matter. A photo would be great if anyone has one. :D

 

Looking at the maps, am I right in thinking that the school would have been where the Vauxhall garage currently is, opposite the climbing centre on Winwich road?

 

Thanks again everyone

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Correct Scotty, this screen shot shows St. Ann's Church across Winwick Road (now a climbing centre), The Vauxhall Garage is immediately right of picture, Bluecoat Street is the side entrance to the garage and a cul-de-sac.

 

bluecoatstreet.jpg

 

Dizz, it would be great if you could find the picture, if so would you mail me a copy for our collection please.images.jpg

algy.

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I've been through a box and found the following if it is of interest.

 

This is a transcript of a photocopy of a press cutting (Warrington Guardian) dated 24th January 1969. I tried to scan it for upload but it would have been hard to read on here as it's columns are split over two pages so I've typed it out instead.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The street where you live -

 

7. BLUECOAT STREET

 

BlueCschool.jpg

Above pic - The Georgian premises on Winwick Road which housed the Bluecoat School from 1782 until 1922

 

The Warringon Co-operative Society have occupied the premises on the site of the Warrington Bluecoat School in Winwick Road since 1923. Bluecoat Street is on the northern side of the premises and, perhaps significantly named is “Oliver Street” on the southern side.

 

A charity school situated in Georgian premises occupied the same site from 1872 until 1922, but this charity, know as the Bluecoat School did not begin here, nor did it ???cease?? to exist in 1922.

 

Indeed the charity had it’s beginnings in 1665 when a Mr Allen of Westminster willed to the Churchwardens of Warrington a legacy “….. to put out 5 several poor boys at 14 to apprenticeships to some handicrafte trade…”

 

Many Warringtonians subsequently bequeathed and donated money to this charity and especially did they do this after the charity became purely educational in the year 1711. It was then determined to make these boys fit for apprenticeships by putting them to the Charity School, “there to learn the knowledge and practice of the Christian Religion as profest in the Church of England, to learn to read and write “&c.

 

Twenty-four boys were put to school, all with blue caps and bands and the “blew boys” attended a school belonging to Trinity Chapel in the buildings behind the Church.

 

Boarders

 

About 50 years later girls were admitted in to the school and in 1782 new premises, capable of accommodating boarders, were opened on the Winwick Street site. In 1820, besides 24 boarders there were also 120 boys and 30 girls attending as day scholars under a monitorial system of instruction.

 

A Government Inspector investigated the Charity in 1858 and considered the school “to be one of the best” but nearly ten years later a protracted discussion took place in the correspondence columns of the local press as the result of charges levelled at the Trustees id the School by Dr. James Kendrick. He had been honorary medical examiner of the children in the school and resigned this post in 1866 following his discovery that his diatery table was ignored and that the scholars were living in “revolting conditions of dirt and disease.”

 

Dr Kendrick’s charges were ultimately published in a pamphlet entitled “The Warrington Bluecoat School Exposure” and although his charges were indignantly denied by the Trustees, the abuses complained of by Dr Kendrick were nevertheless corrected by the Trustees so that the Institution continued to earn the respect of the people of Warrington and to produce a number of distinguished men and women.

 

Move to Cheshire

The school was moved from Winwick Street and Bluecoat street in 1922 to the Oaklands, Preston Brook and although this Institution ceased to function as a school in 1949 the funds of the Charity are still administered by the Warrington Church of England Educational Trust.

 

Bluecoat Street itself has only ever had dwelling houses on the side opposite the school, and first appears in a Burgess List in 1878 although the street is shown unnamed, on the 1851 and 1875 maps of Warrington.

 

The empty school premises were acquired by the Warrington Co-operative Society in April 1933 and a new group of building on the site now houses the Co-operative Halls as well as the office block, a youth club, garages and other departments of the Society.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

All the above is a transcript of photocopy of a Warrington Guardian newspaper clipping dated 24th January 1969) ….

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Also this info was with the press cutting and was obtained from the Principle Librarian/Warrington....... date unknown and I have no idea who who's 'grandfather' it refers to as I don't recognise the name of the lady it is addressed to. If Ms Atha ever happens to read this can you send me a message as I presume you and my mum must have known each other or maybe were related

 

 

Dear Ms Atha

 

The Warrington Bluecoat School, a charity school for poor children, was established in 1711. It’s aim was “ to rescue poor children from ignorance and vitious courses of living and make them fit for apprenticeships, and to bring them under good discipline by putting them to the charity school, there to learn knowledge and practice of the Christian Religion, to learn to read, write and make good servants to God and other masters”.

 

At the time your grandfather was there, the school was residential with about seventy boarders, boys and girls, from both Warrington and further afield. The school was named after the pupils blue uniforms, and the curriculum included reading, writing, mathematics, religious instruction, geography, history, french and music. The boys also received industrial training in various manual skills, and the were placed in apprenticeships when they left at the age of fourteen.

 

The school was situated on Winwik Street until 1922 when it moved to Preston Brook, near Warrington until it closed in 1948. The Lancashire County Records Office, Bow Lane, Preston now holds the schools records and may be able to help you further about your grandfather’s attendance.

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Sorry about all the posts one after the other.... and I've still not found the damn photo I was looking for. I can visualise it and there are a group of young boys in their smart uniforms with big white colars stood near the school... Aargh...

 

Anyway one thing is puzzling me.

 

The newspaper clipping started off saying that the school was on Winwick Road but then starts referring to Winwick Street. I presumed the latter was just an error but having just briefly read through the other information I have 'Informatiom obtained from the Bluecoat School Minutes “The Bluecoat School at the ‘Oaklands’ 1919 1951" (don't worry I wont type all those out ha ha)

 

states

 

Jan 1919

 

The Bluecoat School was situated in Winwick Street, Warrington and the property committee thought it would be better situated in the country. So they decided to visit the Oaklands, Preston Brook, a Mansion House with 7 acres of land.

 

The Committee: James Hephers, Roger Parr, Peter Rplands, PT Fairclough, F A Frost, J J Whitley, John Coxton, Me Davies.

 

........ it's the little things that bug me. :oops::lol:

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The Bluecoat school on Winwick Road was demolished and eventually the site was used to build the Co-op Hall, I bet many a person who comes on to WW has danced in there.

As you say Dizz, (and I had forgotten) the pupils of the school moved to a building, not to Preston Brook, probably splitting hairs here, but Daresbury exactly where the Lord Daresbury Hotel or Daresbury Park hotel as it is now known, stands.

 

oaklands.jpg

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LAST POST I PROMISE....

 

The collation of typed information and bits from minutes etc etc also give an insight into what life was like at the school.

 

Although it refers to the school in 1922 (just as they moved into their new premises) iI imagine the routine must have been very similar when they were housed in the Warrington location as they had the same headmaster for 43 years until he resigned in 1944 due to ill health. Slightly outside your relatives time there though Scotty101 but you may find it interesting all the same, I did.

 

1922

 

"In 1922 Headmaster Charles F Weston arrived at the “Oaklands” when it would have been furnished ready to receive the scholars and staff, as they arrived from Warrington.

 

Curiously C.F.. Weston is listed in all directories as a “Private Resident”, the school not being mentioned. However as you will read, and although the formal opening ceremony due to take place in June 8th 1922 at 3pm had been abandoned the school did open.

 

Under the guidance and discipline of Mr Weston - the master, and the Matron Mrs Weston and full support of the trustees, it served it's purpose admirably as a Boarding School for children who's families because of ill health, bereavement or for financial reasons were unable to cope, and when they left would enable them to become self supporting, well educated and respectable citizens.

 

Daily Routine

 

6.30 am – wash – then had their particular jobs to do

8.30am Breakfast – Porridge

9.00am School

12 noon Dinner

12.45 ‘till 1.15pm Band Practice in the Cellar

1.30 ‘till 3.30 in the summer then they played cricket ‘till about 6pm but if any of the boys had misbehaved they had to stay and work and go to bed at 7pm. The rest of the scholars went to bed at 8pm.

 

Mrs Weston took the art classes, she was very good at painting. Lovely water colours the boys had painted hung in various rooms.

 

When the boys left school, Mr Weston took the to Lee & Clarks shop to be measured for a suit. They also got 2 shirts, 2 pairs of socks and 1 pair of shoes.

 

 

Anyway enough from me for fear that I'm boring you all or that I'm starting to go off on a tangent without realising.

 

If anyone wants a scanned copy of the newspaper clipping or the typed notes send me a pm and I’ll email them to you.

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The Bluecoat school on Winwick Road was demolished and eventually the site was used to build the Co-op Hall, I bet many a person who comes on to WW has danced in there.

As you say Dizz, (and I had forgotten) the pupils of the school moved to a building, not to Preston Brook, probably splitting hairs here, but Daresbury exactly where the Lord Daresbury Hotel or Daresbury Park hotel as it is now known, stands.

 

Yep splitting hairs Algy :lol: Damn Librarians and old newspapers though... both say Preston Brook but maybe it was classed as PB at the time :wink:

 

Anyway just read some more and you are right with the actual location of the new school (as usual :P )...

 

"In 1950 Greenall Whitley bought the "Oaklands" from the Trustees of the Warrington Bluecoar Charity, as by then it had ceased to exist as a school. It was badly eroded with dry rot.

 

The mansion was then used by Greenalls for various storage purposes until 1970 when, following planning approval obtaines on appeal, the building was demolished and the 'Lord Daresbury Hotel' built........... There was one exception to the demolition and this was the small stone lodge at the entrance which was used for staff accomodation until 1986 when, at the request of the Highways Authority, it was demolished to improve access and road visibility."

 

Shame :cry:

 

Anyway... back to the Winwick Street school before we get in trouble :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I visited the Oaklands at Daresbury when demolition was taking place 1969/70. Contractors were selling off materials and I purchased two cast iron hay racks and a loft ladder from the stables. I guess 40 years on such things would be nicked over night !!

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I visited the Oaklands at Daresbury when demolition was taking place 1969/70. Contractors were selling off materials and I purchased two cast iron hay racks and a loft ladder from the stables. I guess 40 years on such things would be nicked over night !!

Pedro, there can't be many people alive today who visited that building let alone possess items from it.

With working at Daresbury in the 50's when I was a lad, I new the caretaker who lived in the lodge, his name was Jimmy ?, damned if I can remember his second name though, he used to come to the smithy to buy brushes and other bits and pieces, it's amazing what we sold there, as well as being a forge and agricultural engineers it was also an early DIY store set in a country village.

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Did not come across Jimmy from the Oaklands Lodge but think the cottages nearby, on Red Brow, were part of Oaklands - still standing but fallen into disrepair and one was auctioned a few months ago. Straying off the topic but when working in Darebury village Algy did you ever hear of a fight outside the Ring O'Bells between two Irish farm labourers, resulting in one fatally stabbed - would have been 1948ish. Such things were only ever overheard at home or exchanged in primary school play ground.

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Did not come across Jimmy from the Oaklands Lodge but think the cottages nearby, on Red Brow, were part of Oaklands - still standing but fallen into disrepair and one was auctioned a few months ago. Straying off the topic but when working in Darebury village Algy did you ever hear of a fight outside the Ring O'Bells between two Irish farm labourers, resulting in one fatally stabbed - would have been 1948ish. Such things were only ever overheard at home or exchanged in primary school play ground.

Never heard of that one Pedro and I'm sure I would have done as I started at the smithy only seven years later -1955, the village in those days was full of gossip and my old boss, Colin dale would have said something about it, however it could have been that the villagers were ashamed of the crime and never spoke of it, who knows!.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Dizzy,

I think I have found the photo you refer to. The kids stood infront of the school in their uniform with big white collars and the headmaster (Edward Rose) looking on.

I found it in a book A History of Warrington by Alan Crosby. When I can get to the scanner I will up load it

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Cheers Scotty as it's been bugging me that so far I've not been able to find it in in my mums boxes of treasures although I do vividly remember her showing it me (from somewhere) and from your description it sounds like the same picture :D:D

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