I love finding Ancestors in School Admissions and Registers. Not just for the fact this would mean they could read and write, this is also a great way to find out family and even Parish information in between Census years. Just going back to the start of the record set and reading reveals a lot.
Ranby County Primary School, Lincolnshire appears to have opened in 1876. One of the first entries in the Log is a comment that many of the scholars do not know their ages. This is followed by months of behaviour and punctuality problems. My great grandfather Tom Weatherhog started on October 5, 1891. I was able to locate his 2 siblings further along in the records. According to the front pages of the School Log book, it seems to take its students from nearby Parishes of Sotby, Stainton and of course Ranby itself. Whilst no mention of Tom himself, there was still lots of information to be had. I aim to do a One Place Study of Sotby down the track so this Record has proven very useful. The Register mentions the weather, particular closures for different festivals, Annual reports by inspectors on the school’s performance and so on. The Register even mentions the Annual grants given to keep the school running. Luckily this appears to increase each year.
A lot of childhood illnesses were mentioned too. Measles, Mumps, Scarlet Fever and Whooping cough kept a lot of children away from school. The illnesses usually spread from parish to parish quite quickly. In November 1890 there was an outbreak of measles in my great grandfather’s parish of Sotby. By January 1891 it had spread to the other Parishes so the school was closed for 3 weeks. In August 1891, 2 students were away with Scarlet Fever.
On June 6 1892 The Sotby children have left at 3.30 in order to be in time for their Whitsuntide Treat. This was an expression I had to Google. Whitsuntide is the week that starts with WhitSunday - the seventh Sunday after Easter, celebrated as a festival in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost. On January 29 1895 the School closed for a week as the state of the roads, from rain and snow I suspect, made it impossible for the majority of the children to attend.
During my search of the Registers I found another familiar name from my Family Tree, not a student this time but one of the teachers. Only ever referred to as E Firth, I was curious. As mentioned above, the front pages of the School Log book had a lot of information. Also included was each teacher as they arrived and then departed the school. Their start and finish date plus their date of birth. I was able to confirm that E Firth was in fact Emily Firth, Toms older cousin. I went back to the Register and found she also attended the school as a student, commencing November 6 1880 aged 11. she finished school at age 14 on May 6 1885 and the Log book says left for Teaching School. I assumed that meant she went to teachers college but a few weeks later she was mentioned in the log book as Emily Firth - Monitress. This term appears to refer to a female student who helps or assists a teacher in school. After further reading I believe this is an old term for student/assisstant teacher. Emily resigned her post on November 20 1896. She wrote to the school on December 12 1896 advising she wished to forfeit a month’s salary instead of serving out her months’ notice. She married a few weeks later so I can only assume this is why she left.
Image of History lessons studied in 1893 (click on image to enlarge)
Bibliography
National School Admission Registers & Log Books 1870 – 1914
National School Admission Registers & Log Books 1870 – 1914 Image Browse
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/whitsuntide
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/monitress
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