SHEFFIELD:
Sheffield description, 1852
database file source="h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/WRY/SheffieldDescription.txt"
THE SCHOOLS OF SHEFFIELD, 1852
SCHOOLS: Upwards of 10,000 children attend the different SUNDAY
Schools attached to the churches and chapels; and the various congrega-
tions are liberal supporters of other Institutions for the promotion of
Christian Knowledge : amongst which are Bible, Missionary, Tract, and other
Associations. Here are also many Public Day Schools, at which about
8000 children are instructed either gratuitously, or for trifling weekly
payments. The Ragged School, established in 1848 by the Rev. J. Manners.
and supported by him and other subscribers, is attended by about 140
children, and it is hoped that several other schools will soon be established
for the religious and moral training of the destitute poor, and the suppression
of juvenile depravity and mendicity.
The Boys' CHARITY SCHOOL, in East parade, was erected in 1710, and
rebuilt in 1825 and '6, and now affords board, lodging, clothing, and
education to 100 poor boys, at the cost of about £1200 per annum, arising
from the endowment and voluntary subscriptions. The GIRLS' CHARITY
SCHOOL, in St. James' row, was erected in 1786, and its object is to clothe,
support, and educate 70 poor girls, and to give them every requisite
instruction to fit them for domestic servants. The NATIONAL SCHOOL, in
Carver street, was built in 1812, and affords instruction to about 260 boys,
and 340 girls, on the Madras system. It is the central school of the Sheffield
National District Society, which has eight other Day Schools, and 15
Sunday Schools, in different parts of the town, and nine Day Schools, and
10 Sunday Schools in the neighbourhood, affording instruction to about
5000 children. The LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL, in Gibraltar street, is
attended by about 250 boys, and 250 girls, and was established in 1809.
The Wesleyans, in 1832, opened their large Sunday School, at Redhill, for
the reception of day scholars, who pay from a penny to fourpence per
week; and they have since opened, for the same purpose, their Sunday
Schools at Norfolk street, Brunswick, and Ebenezer Chapels. Here are
also seven INFANT SCHOOLS, supported partly by annual contributions.
Four of them are under the care of the Infant School Society, connected
with the Established Church, and are situated in Beet street, Hermitage
street, Hoyle street, and the Park. The CATHOLIC SCHOOL, in Surrey
street, was built in 1836, and is now attended by 50 boys, and 60 girls,
who pay from 2d. to 3d. per week. ST. GEORGE'S SCHOOLS, at the head
of Beet street, are amongst the handsomest and largest National Schools in
the kingdom, and were erected in 1844-5, at the cost of about £4000,
including £1200 given for the site. The building is of stone, in the Norman
style, and the three spacious school rooms will accommodate about 1200
children, and are now attended by about 700 day scholars, viz., 250 boys,
250 girls, and 200 infants. The members of St. George's church contributed
liberally towards the erection, and the Privy Council granted about
£1250, the National School Society, £500; and the Church Burgesses,
£100. St. Paul's National School, in Charles street, was erected in 1844.
The FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL is a commodious and handsome stone
building, in Charlotte street, erected by subscription, in 1825, in lieu of the
ancient school which stood near the top of Townhead street. It was
founded by letters patent of James I., in 1601, and the Vicar and Church
Burgesses are the trustees and governors. The endowment produces about
£160 a year, of which £100 is paid to the master, and £50 to the usher,
who are required to teach 30 boys, (appointed by the governors,) at half
the usual charges. They have generally about 75 pupils. The FREE
WRITING SCHOOL, in School croft, was founded by Wm. Birley, in 1715,
and rebuilt in 1827. The master has from the endowment £50 per
annum, for which he teaches 30 poor boys reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The COLLEGIATE SCHOOL, pleasantly seated on a gentle acclivity in the
vale of the Porter, near Broom hall, was founded by a company of
proprietors, with a capital of £3000, raised in £25 shares, in 1835.
It is a handsome building, in the Tudor style, and has a pleasure ground
of 32 acres, at the foot of which is the boarding house, erected in 1837.
The proprietors allow £100 per annum in four exhibitions to the pupils from this
school at either of the Universities, and the present worthy Principal gives
a free scholarship to the boy at the head of the first class. The WESLEYAN
PROPRIETARY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, in a pleasant situation near Glossop
road, is one of the largest and handsomest scholastic institutions in the
kingdom, and is now (by royal patent,) called WESLEY COLLEGE. It
was finished in 1838, at the cost of more than £10,000, exclusive of £4500
paid for six acres of land, tastefully laid out in pleasure grounds. It is a
long and lofty building, with an elegant Corinthian portico in the centre,
and has accommodations for about 250 boarders. For the teachers of these
collegiate and other scholastic establishments in the town, see pages 242 to
244. In Orchard street is a school, dignified with the name of the People's
College, and established about ten years ago by the Rev. R. S. Bailey,
formerly minister of Howard street chapel, but now in London.
The SCHOOL OF DESIGN, in Arundel street, was established about nine
years since, and is supported by Government grants, a number of yearly
subscribers, and the small payments of the pupils, now about 200 in number.
It is well stored with casts, models, drawings, and elegant specimens
of British and Foreign manufactures, and works of art. The Government
grant to this school was extended from £250 to £600 per annum, in 1849,
when two additional masters were appointed. This is the only School of
Design in the kingdom to the pupils of which prize medals were awarded at
the Great Exhibition of 1851, and it was evident from the extensive and
beautiful display of the manufactures of Sheffield in the Crystal Palace,
that the cutlery, silver-plated goods, stove grates, edge-tools, joiners' tools,
and all the other productions of this town, had derived considerable
improvement from the taste and skill diffused through the medium of this
school. The council of this valuable institution have recently appealed to
the public to provide it with a more commodious building, embracing "an
elementary room, to contain from 200 to 300 pupils; a gallery for statuary
and works of art; a modelling room ; a ladies' class room; a geometrical
room ; a pupil teachers' room ; a library and print room ; and small studios
for the more advanced pupils." Latterly, two scholarships, of £20 each,
have been given by the subscribers, and an annual prize of ten guineas by
the Mayor. A prize of £50 has just been given by William Overend, Esq.,
to be competed for by the pupils in 1853; and a committee of ladies have
recently vested £60, to provide annually silver prize medals, to be called
"Montgomery's Medals," in remembrance of our venerable poet. Mr.
Y. Mitchell is the talented master of this useful school, and there are two
assistant masters.
Data transcribed from:
Whites Directory of Sheffield 1852
Transcribed by
Colin Hinson ©2003
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