Hertford in 1881

Share your memories and stories from the Hertford Christ's Hospital School, which closed in 1985, when the two schools integrated to the Horsham site....

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
MKM
Grecian
Posts: 799
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:29 pm
Real Name: Mary Lynch

Hertford in 1881

Post by MKM »

While googling for Hazel Rolf's book I found this page http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.u ... -girls.htm which lists the girls at Hertford in 1881. It's interesting to see that pupils came from all over England, and beyond, even in those days of difficult transport.
Mary
CH 1965-1972
User avatar
englishangel
Forum Moderator
Posts: 6956
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:22 pm
Real Name: Mary Faulkner (Vincett)
Location: Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by englishangel »

I don't suppose they went home three times a term, probably not even three times a year!
"If a man speaks, and there isn't a woman to hear him, is he still wrong?"
Angela Woodford
Button Grecian
Posts: 2880
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:55 am
Real Name: Angela Marsh
Location: Exiled Londoner, now in Staffordshire.

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Angela Woodford »

Isn't this fascinating?

Looking at the list of girls' first names, they could be names of rather smart girls today! Well, maybe not Ethel and Gertrude :wink:, but Susy, Louisa, Constance, Emma, Beatrice...
"Baldrick, you wouldn't recognise a cunning plan if it painted itself purple, and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing "Cunning plans are here again.""
MaryB
GE (Great Erasmus)
Posts: 161
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:35 am
Real Name: Mary Bowden (Gaskell)

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by MaryB »

There seems to have been a Headmaster (aged 32), a master, a beadle(!) and a headmistress . Considering the number of boys, that seems very little to carry on the work of education. Also, the boys seem less farflung than the girls.
Incidentally, is it another CH characteristic to find lists like this (names, ages, hometowns) really interesting?
Mary Bowden (Gaskell)
5.10, 3.6: 64-71
User avatar
jhopgood
Button Grecian
Posts: 1884
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 6:26 pm
Real Name: John Hopgood
Location: Benimeli, Alicante

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by jhopgood »

It makes fascinating browsing.

Even including all the boys, the numbers from London seem outnumbered by those from elsewhere. Seems a few were born on ships or abroad. One boy is registered as "Trafalgar Square"!

I wonder if the place noted is where they were born, but that their families were now living in London?

If not, how could the Foundation justify their "Mission" which was to provide education for the poor of London?

It was also interesting to see the number of places now gobbled up by London: Woolwich, Lee, Southwark, Greenwich, Lewisham, Kennington, Deptford, Croydon etc. I have some old OS maps and London's expansion was quite rapid, following the railway lines. Just shows how important ease of transport is to the changing face of the world.
Barnes B 25 (59 - 66)
Fjgrogan
Button Grecian
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:56 pm
Real Name: Frances Grogan (nee Haley)
Location: Surbiton, Surrey

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Fjgrogan »

I thought when I first saw this heading that it referred to the 1881 census, but apparently not. It might be interesting to look that up and compare it with CH's own version!
Frances Grogan (Haley) 6's 1956 - 62

'A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.'
Fjgrogan
Button Grecian
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:56 pm
Real Name: Frances Grogan (nee Haley)
Location: Surbiton, Surrey

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Fjgrogan »

Traditionally other than the City of London, the parts of London north of the river were in Middlesex and south of the river in Surrey. I forget the date when it changed.
Frances Grogan (Haley) 6's 1956 - 62

'A clean house is a sign of a broken computer.'
User avatar
Mid A 15
Button Grecian
Posts: 3172
Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 1:38 pm
Real Name: Claude Rains
Location: The Patio Of England (Kent)

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Mid A 15 »

What a fascinating link.

I notice one of the boys was called Talbot H Rothwell.

Could he have been a relative (father perhaps) of this chap?

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874397/
Ma A, Mid A 65 -72
User avatar
MKM
Grecian
Posts: 799
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:29 pm
Real Name: Mary Lynch

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by MKM »

This page http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.u ... spital.htm (which has a link to the list) implies the names are from the census.
Mary
CH 1965-1972
User avatar
Jo
Button Grecian
Posts: 2221
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:36 pm
Real Name: Jo Sidebottom
Location: Milton Keynes
Contact:

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Jo »

If it's from a census then I guess there were other staff who were non-resident, and therefore not showing on the census for CH.
Jo
5.7, 1967-75
AndrewH
GE (Great Erasmus)
Posts: 169
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 1:40 pm
Real Name: Andrew Harrison
Location: Cardiff
Contact:

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by AndrewH »

I see that the first name on that list is "Julia Margaret Harbor" from Twickenham, my great-great-grandmother was also a Julia Harbor from Twickenham, probably related!
Andrew Harrison
Maine A 1970-73
Lamb A 1973-77
Kim2s70-77
Grecian
Posts: 659
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:02 pm
Real Name: Kim Elizabeth Roe (nee Langdon)

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by Kim2s70-77 »

Wow - two from Australia and one from New Zealand! That's a heck of a trip home on Long Saturday! Can you imagine the journey they had to take to get to CH in those days!??! Imagine the home sickness that some kids felt anyway and then imagine being that far from home at a time when it took weeks to get anywhere!!
chaosriddenyears
Deputy Grecian
Posts: 366
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 9:06 pm
Real Name: Lynn Ammerer-Ford
Location: Austria

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by chaosriddenyears »

I don't suppose they saw their families for years. Officers in India and other parts of the Empire sent their children back to England to go to school, wild sons were shipped off to Australia or South Africa to get them out of trouble.......The only contact was through letters that took weeks to arrive. Unimaginable these days!
I wonder where the girls went in the holidays? I suppose they must have had relations here unless they spent the holidays at school.
kerrensimmonds
Button Grecian
Posts: 9395
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 8:34 pm
Real Name: Kerren Simmonds
Location: West Sussex

Re: Hertford in 1881

Post by kerrensimmonds »

I've long known about this website (and I THINK I've already mentioned it on the Forum). It features a Marker's Medal presented to a girl - I fought the owner for it on eBay and he won in the very last second. When I told him why I was interested, he said he would will it to me (wonder if he will have?!). It's a fascinating website and yes the names on that page do come from the 1881 census. Have you browsed deeper?
The names of the staff are well known in CH history circles/the Museum - there's even a book about Mr. Royde.
Sadly I have never since on eBay seen a Marker's Medal presented to a girl - though I (and others) have several presented to boys. To find Susannah Holmes' (as worn in both portraits) would be a real coup!
Kerren Simmonds
5's and 2's Hertford, 1957-1966
Post Reply