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| copyright © J.Middleton This modern building was built on the site once occupied by the Coleridge Street Roman Catholic School |
Two boxes of pencils
One box of chalks
Four boxes of nibs
A gross of pen-holders
Four dozen framed slates
three sets of reading books
36 natural history pictures
Maps of the five continents
One dozen books of Old Testament stories
Six packets of Collins Arithmetical Test Cards
Copy books / exercise sheets / reading sheets
Revd Charles Willock Dawes
The school was fortunate to have a wealthy benefactor in the above mentioned gentleman. He had started out as an Anglican clergymen, and was most probably influenced by the Oxford Movement with its aim to turn the clock back from strict Protestant practices to the more Catholic base that had been prevalent for hundreds of years. During their studies and in their quest, several prominent Anglican clergymen then decided to join the Roman Catholic Church, probably the most famous being Cardinal John Henry Newman who has recently been declared a saint.
Father Dawes purchased a vacant piece of land in Coleridge Street, and then laid out £4,000 on the building and equipping of the new school. The well-known local architect, Thomas Lainson, designed the school, and the plans were submitted on behalf of the Lord Bishop of Southwark, and Revd S. A. Donnelly of the Church of the Sacred Heart. These were approved on 20 November 1890, and building went ahead the following year. Thomas Lainson was also responsible for additions to the school and these plans were passed on 20 August 1896.
New Premises
The school opened in its new premises on 4 September 1891. Good attendance at school was actively encouraged because the government regarded the figures as an important matter when allocating grants. In 1893 prizes were given for good attendance, and top of the list was young Michael Hart who was awarded a prize of five shillings for his 437 attendances. In August 1913 Katie Brooks won a bronze medal for perfect attendance.
Sometimes, it was the lure of earning money that made children skip school. For example, in 1893 several children were absent because they had gone hop-picking.
There was also the question of poverty. Unfortunate children from the poorest families simply did not own a pair of boots in which to walk to school. In 1892 Revd T. G. Goodwin presented ten of the most needy children with a pair of boots each.
It is interesting to note that not all the children attending the school were Catholics. They came there because it was the nearest school to their homes. In 1910 the Diocesan Inspector reported that rather more than 50 per cent of the children were non-Catholic. In 1906 when some girls were sent to far-off East Hove Schools in Davigdor Road for cookery lessons, it was quite an adventure. Later on, some pupils went along to the same school for swimming lessons, it being the only council-run school in Hove with the luxury of its own swimming pool.
Staff
Miss Elizabeth McCarthy, a trained and certificated teacher, was the headmistress when the school opened in Haddington Street and when it moved to Coleridge Street. She resigned in December 1897, and left three months later.
Like many schools of the time, there was a great reliance on monitors and pupil teachers. For example Miss McCarthy had only one certificated assistant and she was Mrs Goulding. Pupil teachers could be more accurately described as apprentices because after five years they became assistant teachers. This happened to Lucy Keene who was noted as a third year pupil teacher in 1900, and as an assistant teacher in 1902. Other monitors and pupil teachers mentioned in the Log Book in the early days were Annie Beach, a monitor in 1892; Margaret Chitty and Elizabeth Wyatt, temporary monitors with a view to becoming pupil teachers in 1902, and Maud McMorrow, monitor, who resigned in 1905 at the request of her parents. In 1902 it was decreed by the Board of Education that no male pupil teachers were allowed.
For a short while, from 1896 to 1904, the infants department was organised as a separate school with its own Log Book. Mary Torrance was the principal teacher, and she had the assistance of two teachers.
In 1901 Miss Windsor was reprimanded when she arrived at school an hour late without being able to give a good reason.
In 1904 the school was again organised as it used to be – that is, the older children in the main room and their own classroom, and the infants in a separate room of their own. It is interesting to note that Mary McCarthy was back as headmistress with Clara Seabourne and Ellen Crowley as teachers, plus probationers Louise Samuel, Elizabeth Wyatt, and Maud McMorrow.
In November 1908 Miss Rice was obliged to resign due to ill-health. She must have been a popular teacher because her leaving presents consisted not just of a framed picture, but also a gold bangle studded with pearls and coral.
Mary McCarthy was still the head in 1916, but all
was not going well, and reading between the lines, perhaps she was
ill. A meeting of managers was called and she had to attend and give
her version of why there was a state of unrest amongst the staff. But
all she could come up with was unpunctuality and wrong marking. The
unfortunate woman died on 18 June 1917.
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| copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove Brighton Herald 4 August 1917 |
Miss Mary Luck
W. R. Clements attended the school from 1925 to 1932, and remembered Miss Luck in person. When Miss Luck saw the government inspectors arriving (usually three of them) she would send word to her teachers who then ordered a quick tidy-up. In the classrooms questions would be fired at the children, and finally the exercise books would be called for and piled up on the desk. The inspectors were quick to notice an untidy book and would call out the name of the hapless child. When the ordeal was over, Miss Luck would summon her shattered staff to her nearby house and give each of them a restorative glass of sherry to calm their nerves.
Miss Luck was headmistress from 1917 to 1945, and she was an unforgettable character who hailed from Lancashire. One of her pet niggles was the school title – Coleridge Street Catholic School. She declared ‘It looks to the world as though we are a mere piffling council school.’ It is not clear when the ‘Sacred Heart’ name was dropped. If Miss Luck had had her way, it would have been called St Theresa’s. But at least she could name her house within the school grounds– it was called ‘Stella Maris’ – Star of the Sea, and one of the many titles of the Virgin Mary.
Miss Luck had a passion for literature and drama, and she taught throughout the school when she could. Many children must have been inspired by her love of books, and indeed the school library had been in existence since 1892. Her favourite author was Charles Dickens, and she brought the characters alive when she read to the children, using variations in her tone to match the different characters.
Miss Luck celebrated Empire Day (25 May) with enthusiasm, making preparations for several days beforehand. She kept festoons of flags in her house, and all the children had to dress up as historical characters. On the great day itself, the piano was rolled into the playground, and the children marched out to the strains of Land of Hope and Glory. The teachers gave a special lesson about the British Empire, and all the red bits on the map would be pointed out. Young Clements asked a relevant question ‘If it all belongs to us, why are our parents so poor?’ Miss Luck replied ‘Sit down Clements. None of your socialism here.’
Miss Luck did what she could to combat the poverty. She kept a special eye on the poorest children. If they had been sent to school without sandwiches, she would ensure they had something to eat to keep them going. But she could also be very strict. For example, one morning when the local joinery works went up in flames, the children on their way to school could not resist pausing to watch the spectacle. Miss Luck was furious, and despatched teachers and caretaker to round them all up and bring them to school. Then, with the exception of the infants, she caned all the children.
It should also be noted that Miss Luck took the children’s side when the doughty figure of the school nurse came to inspect the children’s heads for nits. Miss Luck objected to the indignity of it although a portion of the classroom was screened off for privacy. Miss Luck‘s revenge was to send some of the pupils outside on some outdoor activity so that she could truthfully sign the document stating that all children inside the school had been examined.
On the other hand, Miss Luck positively encouraged pupils to attend the school dentist who carried out examinations behind the blackboard. Many pupils had poor dental health, and by the time they left school several teeth had already been extracted.
Health Matters
Of course sickness took a toll on school attendance. For example, there was an outbreak of measles in 1897, while in 1899 the school was actually closed for nine weeks due to illness.
Tuberculosis was a constant worry, and there was one family in Coleridge Street where both the mother and the father were stricken with the disease. When the mother was admitted to a sanatorium for a spell, the boys were despatched to St Wilfred’s Orphanage in Shoreham. But rather than dreading the move, the boys looked forward to it because conditions at home were so bad while in the orphanage they were well fed.
Circus and Outings
The School Log for 13 July 1899 recorded that Barnum & Bailey’s Circus was in town. This proved an irresistible draw for the children, and the few that did turn up at school were dismissed and sent home..
The children were given a half-day holiday in June to celebrate the Sacred Heart. They also enjoyed an annual outing.
Inspections
By April 1899 there were 51 boys and 59 girls on the books.
In 1904 the HMI’s Report ran as follows: ‘Mixed School. The school is now organised as it used to be, the elder children in the main room and their own class-room, and the infants in a separate room of their own; the change to the older plan is most advantageous, and the general efficiency of the School is greatly improved thereby. Discipline is very good, and instruction is efficient and apparently interesting to the scholars.’ The staff were listed as follows:
Elizabeth McCarthy, headmistress
Clara Seabourne
Ellen Crowley
Louise Samuel, probationer
Elizabeth Wyatt, probationer
Maud McMorrow, probationer
In 1905 the HM’s Report stated ‘instruction is zealous and generally effective but the work of the children has something to gain in the methods of neatness.’
In 1910 the inspector was not happy about the school. ‘The main room must accommodate three classes – a very inconvenient arrangement. It is not sufficiently warmed by one stove. The organisation might be improved. At present the Mistress takes no clearly defined share in the work, the only certificated teacher is in charge of the lowest class.’
Matters were much improved by the arrival of a new head in 1917. In 1920 the HMI noted ‘the children are well behaved, pleasantly disposed and willing to exert themselves. The staff are diligent.’
At the Diocesan Inspection in February 1923 it was noted that there were 233 children (107 boys and 126 girls). Out of this number 123 were non-Catholic (56 boys and 67 girls). The staff were as follows:
Miss Mary Luck, headmistress
Agnes Kelm
Alice Nixon
Mary Hanrey
Margaret Hawkins
Elena Margaret Ogden
Cecilia Ogden
The HMI admitted that the school was generously staffed but ‘the teaching is handicapped by the fact that three classes must be taught side by side in the main room.’
Structural alterations were made in 1926, and by 1932 each class had its own, separate room.
The Titanic
When the ship sank in 1912, two of the scholars at the school made a collection on behalf of the victims’ families, and ten shillings was raised and sent off.
First World War
Two old boys visited the school during the war. George Whillier came on 13 October 1916 wearing his Distinguished Service Medal awarded for ‘constant signalling under serious and damaging fire in the Dardenelles.’ Strangely enough, his name does not appear in the List of Distinctions in Hove And the Great War by H. M. Walbrook. Perhaps he was overlooked.
In October 1917 Lieutenant J. Adams came to the school.
Second World War
When war broke out the school found itself sharing their premises with two schools evacuated from London; they were St Joseph’s Girls’ School and Norbury Manor School. Fortunately, this state of affairs only lasted from 25 September to 16 October when the authorities decided it was safe for them to return home.
The school air-raid shelters were in constant use from 2 September 1940, but the separate occasions were not logged. Then in January 1941 the Education Committee decided that the shelters were simply too damp to be used just for an ‘Alert’. In future they would only be used when bombs were falling or there was gunfire.
The shelters were in the playground, which meant there was no space for drill. For exercise the children had to go to HovePark or Stoneham Recreation Ground.
On 22 March 1941 Miss Olney went with the 22 children being evacuated to Yorkshire.
In February 1945 a teacher, Mrs Reilly, was absent from school because he husband was home on leave.
In 1945 Mr T. Cain became the new head, with Miss Luck as his deputy. He and his family moved out of School House, which was then used for staff rooms and the headmaster’s study.
In February 1946 Mr L. Harrison resumed teaching after war service in the RAF.
End of the Road
The last entry in the Log Book is dated 4 April 1950. Then the old school premises were closed, and staff and children moved to more spacious quarters elsewhere in Hove, and the school became Cottesmore St Mary’s.
Heads (Mixed)
1889 – Miss Elizabeth McCarthy
1917 – Miss Mary Luck
1945 - Mr T. Cain
Heads (Infants)
1896 -Miss Mary Torrance
1899 – Miss Mary Jane Brown
Sources
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove
The Following Records were kept at Cottesmore St Mary’s
Log Book of Coleridge Street Roman Catholic Schools 15 August 1889 to 16 April 1908
Log Book of Coleridge Street Roman Catholic Schools (Infants) 11 September 1896 to 2 August 1900
Log Book of Coleridge Street Roman Catholic
Schools 1 May 1908 to 25 July 25 July 1968
Typewritten
Memories 1925-1932 by W. R. Clemens
Copyright © J.Middleton 2022
page layout by D. Sharp