PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Way back in 1831 a Mr Joseph Trounsell noticed on his walks around Devonport that the children received their education on the streets not in educational establishments. At the time there were only four schools in Devonport and they were all run by charities. It prompted him to found the Royal Naval and Military Free schools. The Royal Naval and Military Free Schools were established at Devonport in 1831 for the purpose of educating the sons, daughters and infants of seamen, retired mariners, soldiers, fishermen and watermen. Its first home was in a temporary building, it being considered that a school of any sort was better than none at all. In 1832 it moved to the old Assembly Rooms in Cherry Garden Street (later known as York Street). The venture was so small that in its first five years only 400 children passed through the School. Sometime afterwards the School was removed to further premises in Granby Street, where, in 1846, the entrance qualification was enlarged to include children of parents engaged in the Royal Dockyard, Keyham Steam Yard and other Government establishments in the Town. When this change was made the original subscription of a penny per week was increased to 2d per week for Dockyard labourers' children and 4d per week for the sons and daughters of artisans. There were in 1868 some 500 children paying only 1d per week, however. Although the School was non-sectarian, there was a clause that required every pupil to attend a Sunday school. Even in 1915 it was claimed that such a clause 'could not be imposed nowadays'. Also on the morning of Monday September 14th 1846 a big step forward was achieved with the laying of the foundation stone of the new premises in King Street. This was done by the Earl of Auckland, First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. It was completed in 1848 at a cost of over £2,000. It is interesting to note that Her Majesty Queen Victoria subscribed £50, HRH the Prince Consort, £25, and the Lords of the Admiralty, £200, to the cost. Other subscribers included the Duke of Northumberland (£100) and the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (£50). The largest subscription came from a Mrs R R Adams (£400). The building was designed by Mr John Greenwood, of Stoke, and built by his father, Mr William Greenwood.
By 1864 the school was full to capacity despite the boys' school-room having been twice enlarged. Plans were made to enlarge the premises and provide an additional room for the boys but the proposal had to be abandoned by the order of the Government. The numbers attending the School had to be reduced instead. Luckily, this extension was achieved in 1868, when a class-room was added on the south side at a cost of £700, and the numbers could once again be increased. This allowed 70 more boys to be added. There were in 1868, 370 boys, 203 girls and 227 infants (i.e. children under the age of 7 years) on the registers, making a total of 800. The average attendance throughout the School, however, was only 635. The building itself was well commended. It stood three storeys high, with residences for the master and mistress, plus committee rooms and the infants' school, on the ground floor. The girls' school occupied the other two floors. The boys' school was at the rear and was reached by crossing the paved playground for the girls and the infants. The boys' playground was a room on the ground floor while above were seven rooms used for the classes. A portrait of the founder of the Schools, the gift of a Mr William Clifton, was hung in the gentlemen's committee room while a memorial tablet to Mr Trounsell was erected in the infants school-room in 1854. The Government grant to the School in 1867 amounted to £264 10s, an increase of £42 18s 8d over the previous year. Fines (for non-attendance?) dropped from £30 to £10. Boys in the sixth and seventh standard also learned algebra, Euclid, geography and history in addition to the normal subjects (which included music and drawing) and they were expected to pay double the fees up to a maximum of 6d per week, unless the parents were very poor, when this condition was waived. Boys were also prepared for the competitive exams held by the Dockyard. The older infants and the girls all learned needlework and
knitting and work was taken in from outside the school to be done. School pence in 1867 amounted to nearly £190, the Government Grant to £264 10s 6d, dividend on stock and interest to £141 16s 2d, donations to £140, and annual subscriptions to £73 12s 6d. The donations included £25 from the Admiralty towards the extension of the new school. It is interesting to note that collections were often made on board Her Majesty's Ships to support the School and it was said that ex-pupils were amongst the most generous of givers. The ordinary expenditure was quoted as £800 a year, or £1 per pupil, although during 1867 the expenditure of £1,300 included the cost of building the new class-room for the boys' school. Upwards of 8,000 children had been educated at the Schools, a large percentage of the boys having entered Her Majesty's services. Following the adoption of the Education Act 1902 on June 1st 1903, the School became a "Non-provided" School under the Devonport Local Education Authority. In April 1910 the Trustees of the School transferred the site to the Devonport Local Education Authority with the express condition that it be transformed in to an elementary school within the new Education Act of 1903. The Royal Naval and Military Free Schools thus continued as the King Street Elementary School, Devonport.
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