Education in Newport 1750-1914

1750-1850

In 1750 education was not thought necessary for the poor and also for girls. Schooling for boys was haphazard.

The Royal Free English School began in 1442 as part of the college of St Mary in St Mary Street.(This was a chantry chapel of St Nicholas' church.) When chantry chapels were dissolved in the Reformation, the school became independent in 1547, and the school was paid for by rents from property and land in Newport and Church Aston. One example is of land at Schoolground Lane, hence the name of this road. This school taught basic English to poor boys, and, although 'free', they had to pay a small fee. Children came and went - no one could be refused or forced to attend. The site of this school moved around Newport; two sites were Rosemont House, on the corner of Forton Road and Chetwynd Road, and William Adams' market/town hall. A new headmaster, John Lees, in 1838 raised subscriptions to build a proper school on Upper Bar. By 1843 the income was about £50 per annum and there were 54 pupils in 1851.

The Grammar School had been founded in 1656 by William Adams on its present site. Its syllabus was Latin, Greek and Hebrew. It was designed to give free education to 80 Newport boys though there was an admission fee. In 1750 the Headmaster was Samuel Lea. He died in 1773 aged 84 having been at the school for 47 years. He had four wives, rode his horse through the school and had only 27 pupils! The next Head, Joseph Scott, stayed for 45 years and when he died the next potential Head - the curate of Newport church - was physically thrown out by the towns people for his bad behaviour. The buildings were repaired in 1822 but by 1850 were not in good condition. The pupils by then were being taught Latin, Greek, some English and arithmetic.

1850-1914

After 1850 there was great concern about educating the working classes as a result of expanding technology and industry. Politicians were also anxious that the new male voters should be able to read and write, and that education should be as good as in Germany and America, as they were now competing with this country for trade.

The Forster Education Act of 1870 set up a national system of elementary education, and churches were allowed to build them if they could afford it. Consequently in 1873 the Newport Church of England National school opened in Avenue Road (now Newport Junior) and they added an infants school next door in 1898. The Royal Free English School was closed in the second half of the 19th century.

Other churches set up schools. The Congregational School, also called 'The British School', was opened in Wellington Road next to the church (now Trinity Church) in 1841. This also closed although the building is still there. A Roman Catholic school opened in 1879; this was next to the catholic church and Salter's Hall in Salters Lane.

Numbers at the Newport National School increased at first but by 1900 the average attendance was down to 224. There were tremendous problems with money. Children still had to pay a small weekly sum until 1890. Many children were poor attendees; some due to poor health – children died from measles and whooping cough - and they had a poor diet. Also, some couldn’t attend due to having to work on family farms. The school often depended on pupil teachers who were little older than their pupils. Average classes countrywide were about 70 pupils per class. This school catered for both boys and girls and it was an all age school. The leaving age was raised to 13 years in 1898. The children used slates for writing, earth toilets were across the school yard and there were no school meals.

At the Grammar School the great changes came in 1870 with the appointment of a new, vigorous headmaster, Tom Collins, who widened the curriculum, brought in examinations and introduced sports such as cricket, football and athletics. Even so by 1900 numbers had rarely risen over 50.

There were several private schools. Mr Picken's Classical and Commercial School at Aston Old Hall (now Linden Hall surgery, Station Road) would presumably have been aimed at boys. For girls there was Beaumaris House in Lower Bar, Merevale College at Chetwynd End (now Castle House School) and other small scale enterprises (for example Mrs Milner's at 34 Station Road, and Misses Thompson ladies day and boarding school at 24 Station road)

In 1902 the church schools were taken over by the County Council and the Education Act of 1902 established a national secondary school system.

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