Chapter Four

The Girls’ Department   [1860 – 1939]

The first Mistress of the Girls’ Department was Miss Margaret Glendining. She commenced working April 1860 when she had the sole charge of the Girls’ School. A copy of the letter from the Management Committee offering her the post still exists. The letter was addressed to her in West Hartlepool, Durham and asked her to start ‘without delay’ and to say ‘what books and school furniture should be purchased’. It was explained that the school had only just been built and was not yet opened. ‘The Committee expect you will have 60 girls at least under your sole care’. She was paid £40 per year (£15 less then the Boys’ Master, Mr. Peak) and had the use of one of the schoolhouses free of rent and taxes.

The Management Committee also furnished the Mistress’s House.

There is no reference to the furnishing of the Boys’ Master’s House. It may have been done to partly compensate for the lower salary of the Mistress. The furnisher, Edwin Stringer of Stourbridge, provided an estimate. The estimate shows us what furniture was considered appropriate for a Schoolmistress of the 1860’s. The number of items is fairly limited but seems to have been reasonable quality. In the bedroom there was one set of bedsteads, a feather bed, bolster and a pair of pillows, flock mattress and washstand and toilet table. In the kitchen there were four Windsor chairs, an oak kitchen cupboard with folding doors and Pembroke table, a fender and fire irons, a carpet and hearthrug, a bookshelf or chiffonier and roller blinds to the windows. This total amounted to £22 8s 0d equivalent to more than half a year’s wages to the Mistress.

Margaret Glendining was unlikely to have visited Oldswinford before her arrival to start work. There is no reference to any ‘interview’. We know that she was aged about 23 years old and that her father was a merchant’s clerk, probably in Hartlepool. She was evidently an efficient teacher. The first entry in the Girls’ School Log is a copy of the Inspector’s report for 1862. It read ‘Discipline, instruction and fitness for training apprentices, Good. Religious Knowledge and Needlework, Good. Writing, Fair. Of 35 girls who has attended 100 days, 34 passed in Reading, 29 in Dictation and 23 in Arithmetic’. The first entry by the Schoolmistress herself is dated 1^st June 1863.

The curriculum in the Girls’ Department was similar to that of the Boys: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic and Religious Instruction – but with one notable addition – Needlework. There was also the usual smattering of other subjects such as Geography and singing. In June 1863 a lesson in Geography was given ‘as a reward for diligence’ – it was evidently a rare treat. Like the boys, the girls too had homework, and also, like the boys they took any opportunity for entertainment whenever it presented itself – whether or not it was in school hours. On two occasions in 1864 the girls were absent ‘at an entertainment in the Corn Exchange’. But there were differences. The use of detention seems to have been as frequent a punishment as the cane. There were also frequent visits from local ladies who took an interest in the girls’ education. One of these was a Mrs. Taylor who ‘paid the school pence for five of the girls’. But the most regular visitor in 1963 and the first half of 1864 was the Rector’s first wife, Mrs. Eliza Craufurd. She often took a class in a reading lesson or listened to the girls singing but her main interest was in the girls’ needlework and knitting. Not only did she frequently inspect this but also provided the materials. The girls would not have been unable to afford to buy the material or wool themselves. On 24^th September 1963 ‘Mrs. Craufurd came this afternoon and brought some calico to be made into garments to be given to the children at Christmas’. The distribution of girls’ clothing at Christmas took place for a number of years and no doubt provided a motive to the girls in their efforts. If sewing was not done well, it was unpicked. On one occasion it also seems that the girls carried out sewing of items such as window blinds for ladies of the district, possibly upon payment to the school of a small fee. The girls’ Mistress was constantly asking local ladies for material and wool, particularly after the death of Eliza Craufurd in November 1864. Among the items made are chemises, pinafores and knitted socks. Later there are references to the working of samplers.

The Girls’ Mistress at this time was more fortunate than the Boys’ Master in that she had a pupil teacher, as opposed to mere monitors, to help her. The Pupil Teacher, Jane Hall, remained in the Girls’ Department until December 1866 when she sat an exam for a scholarship. She was successful and left to attend Cheltenham Teacher Training College.

In early September 1863 the Girls’ Mistress was absent from school due to illness. The Log states that her sister took the school. She was ill again in early January 1864 and from 29^th January to April 1864. During these long absences the Mistress’s sister again took the school. The Inspector was scathing in his report for 1863-64. He was evidently not impressed by the efforts of the sister. ‘The school appears to have been much neglected….but illness of the late teacher furnished some excuse for the deficiencies of the instruction’. By the summer of 1864 the first Mistress had left. On 17^th June 1864 she wrote ‘My last day in school. A new governess will be taking my place on Monday’. There is one more twist to the story of Miss Glendining. On leaving she signs herself not as Margaret Glendining but as Margaret Peak. St. Mary’s Parish Register records on 26^th May 1863 Margaret Glendining married the Boys’ Master, Levi Peak at St. Mary’s Church in a service taken by the Reverend Craufurd. Further, on 10^th April 1864 their baby daughter, Mary, was christened. Margaret’s illnesses were almost certainly related to her pregnancy. We know that Mr. Peak remained as Boys’ Master until March 1865 when he left to emigrate to Australia. We must assume that Margaret and her infant daughter accompanied him.

Mrs. Catherine Cartwright replaced Margaret Peak [ne Glendining] as Mistress of the Girls’ Department in June 1864. As in the Boys’ Department, the departure of the Peak family led to a stricter regime. On her second day in school Mrs. Cartwright ‘detained 26 girls in school after hours as a punishment for coming too late…..threatened severe punishment in future for irregular hours’. The following day ‘the children were very punctual’. Nevertheless the singing lessons with the boys, where Mr. Peak was still Master, were allowed to continue and there was a lighter side to Mrs. Cartwright. On 3^rd August 1864 she broke up school early ‘and took 35 of the girls to a flower show at Hagley Park’.

Following the death of Mrs. Eliza Craufurd in late 1864 a number of other ladies took a more active interest in the school. Following the remarriage of Reverend Craufurd in 1868 his new wife, Mary Craufurd, became a regular visitor and soon recommenced the supply of needlework materials. On 16^th June 1868 she sent a ‘supply of cotton and needles to knit stockings, also one dozen pinafores to be made by the girls’. A further dozen pinafores followed a few days later. These visits continued until 1873 with Mary Craufurd carrying out the usual duties of presenting prizes and distributing the clothing, along with the usual bun and oranges at Christmas.

Following the departure of Mrs. Cartwright the next two Mistresses of the Girls’ Department did not stay long in the post.

Mrs. Cartwright left in March 1869. Miss Emma Johnson replaced her. Miss Johnson was no stranger to the school as she had been the Infants’ Mistress since 1867. Over the years two further Infants’ Mistresses were to progress to the Girls’ Department. The salary was higher and the position seemed to carry more status. It also had the benefit of free accommodation in the School House. A luxury the Infants’ Mistresses did not have.

School life under Emma Johnson progressed as much as under Mrs. Cartwright. The night school ceased to function {as in the Boys’ Department} but other duties remained as heavy as ever. Emma Johnson left after three and half years and was replaced by Isabelle Fleming who also remained for about three and half years before leaving in March 1876.

The next Mistress was Miss Jane Hall. She had been the pupil teacher under Mrs. Peak and Mrs. Cartwright in the 1860’s. From 1872 she had been the Infants’ Headmistress and so she was already well known within the school. Her brother had been a pupil teacher in the Boys’ Department. Her time as Girls’ Mistress was not to be easy as she had to do battle with irregular attendance by the girls and scathing reports from Inspectors throughout her time.

In 1876 the average attendance in the Girls’ Department was 54 and this was to rise steadily. In June 1876 the school received new help in the person of Miss Downing, the daughter of the new Rector. She volunteered to take some lessons within the school and her involvement was to continue well into the twentieth century. At the same time the loss of Mary Craufurd, the late Rector’s wife was felt. Following her death the usual distribution of clothing did not take place at Christmas. As a result the number of girls attending school in the winter months fell – they no longer had the motivation of a gift of winter clothing.

The Inspector’s report for 1877 was not good, particularly in arithmetic. This largely appears to have been due to the irregular attendance of the girls. Although the numbers on the register steadily increased their attendance remained irregular and unpunctual, making it difficult to teach them. Discipline was also a constant battle. In August 1879 Miss Hall wrote ‘The first week after the holidays. The numbers were never better but the discipline seems in a wretched state. I suppose it is too great a restraint after so long a holiday’. The numbers were now up to one hundred, with some local private schools in the district having closed down.

In December 1880 there was a particularly bad Inspection report. ‘Miss Hall needs a more able helper’ and ‘she should be encouraged by the more frequent visits of the Managers – especially the ladies’. The Inspector continued to criticise the heating of the school ‘the children in the corners of the room were crying with the cold, and from that cause alone, many no doubt failed to do themselves justice in the examination’.

The problems continued. Miss Hall felt the Attendance Officer, who was supposed to look into the cases of absence ‘seems to have little or no authority over the children’. No doubt this was a difficult job given the belligerent attitude of some of the parents. In the winter of 1882 scarlet fever returned and two girls died. ‘Many mothers are afraid to send their girls for fear of carrying it into their homes’. Again, the Inspection report for 1882 was bad. ‘The utter want of intelligence shewn by the large majority of the girls is surprising’. But Miss Hall wrote ‘Many of the girls were really frightened by the Inspector’. At a later Inspection in 1891 she wrote ‘the examiner frequently yawned most undisguisedly when examining, putting vague, uninteresting questions and in no way assuming any interest in their work’.

In 1883 the report was only slightly better than in the preceding year but it was kinder to Miss Hill. ‘The bane of the Girls’ Department is irregular attendance. If they would attend more regularly they would do better for teaching is most careful’. Arithmetic was a particular problem with bad results every inspection. In desperation Miss Hall wrote in 1886 that she caned five girls for ‘gross inaccuracy in arithmetic’. In 1887 she was trying to teach arithmetic to Standard VI but wrote ‘this is a sinking fund for a teacher’s energy and patience’. On top of all these problems there was an economic depression. Even Miss Hall was philosophical about the loss of the girls to the hop fields in September 1886. ‘More girls have gone hop picking than have gone for several years. The depression in trade makes the poor parents glad to avail themselves of the opportunity of getting a little’. Things were still bad 1889. Miss Hall wrote that one of the mothers came to the school one Friday afternoon and ‘brought her daughter Alice to school as she did not like to come, because she had been absent in the morning. Both mother and child were nearly fainting from hunger. It seems that none of the family had tasted food since dinnertime on the day previous. Food was provided at once and the child soon took her place in class, the mother gladly hurried home with a meal for her other children at home’.

On 23^rd November 1891 Miss Hall resigned. By now the average attendance was 117 in contrast to the 54 at the start of her Headship. She gave ‘My best wishes for the futures prosperity of the schools’. She had been associated with the school for 30 years.

Miss Jones became Head Mistress of the Girls’ Department in November 1891. Ironically the Inspection report for 1891 was a good one which, the Inspector said ‘reflected great credit not only to Miss Jones but also on her predecessor, Miss Hall’. Miss Hall’s good work was finally recognised by the Inspectors after she had left

Miss Jones arrived at a time when the curriculum in schools generally was being expanded. Whilst the boys took up horticulture, the girls were to take up cookery. The first lesson was on 17^th March 1892 at 2 o’clock and was for the highest classes. Miss Jones did not take the lesson herself; a cookery teacher came into school for the purpose of taking the lesson. In February 1894 the cookery class was examined and we are told the dishes that were made ‘very creditably and satisfactorily’ – ‘Baked Mould, Potato Scallops, Apple Snow, Custard, Boiled Custard and Apple Pie’. Shortly afterwards two local interested ladies attended and were ‘treated to a demonstration in the making of lentil Soup, Apple Snow, Cocoa Mould, Fruit Pie, Light Custard Pudding and Apple Dumplings’. Whilst sounding delicious one wonders how many of the poorer girls would have eaten such food at home.

Miss Jones does not appear to have lived in the School House. In June 1893 her share in the house was handed over to the Infants’ Mistress, Miss Pearman, upon payment of rent of 3/6. This is possibly a continuation of an existing arrangement as according to the census Miss Pearman was already living in the house in 1891.

Miss Jones left in May 1894 and was replaced by the then Infants’ Mistress, Emma Pearman. Miss Pearman had in fact already been an assistant mistress in the Girls’ Department under Miss Hall from April 1885 to 1887. Miss Hall had frequently referred to Miss Pearman as being a ‘very hard worker’. Like Mr. Sutton in the Boys’ Department, Miss Pearman was to remain as Head Teacher until the 1920’s, which must have given stability to the Schools at a time of rapid change.

Miss Pearman herself took over the teaching of the cookery lessons. The Inspector was critical of the cookery facilities and a proper cooking range was installed in 1899 with a coal-burning stove. An inventory taken in 1903 lists the numerous items that had been purchased for the cookery lessons. These included a shovel and pokers for the fire, pie dishes, jelly mould, soup ladle, cake tins, nutmeg graters, fish slice, pastry cutters, 2 long tables, scales and weights, rolling pin etc. Despite the school’s investment in the cookery department, in 1907 the Inspector writes ‘The cookery lessons should now be taken at the Technical School in Stourbridge, as was done by other local schools, instead of in the classroom’. Thus the lessons ended and the girls went instead to the Technical School for their cookery lessons.

In the meantime Miss Pearman was attracting the approval of the Inspector. The report for May 1895 said ‘This is a good school. Order and discipline are all that can be desired and the work as a whole is very satisfactory’. In 1905 the Inspector said ‘The girls are, as usual, in excellent order’. He even thought that ‘Arithmetic is carefully and intelligently taught’. Miss Pearman was evidently quite energetic and in 1901 and 1902 there were excursions for the older girls to Aberystwyth and Rhyl. There are also references to the occasional celebrations of various events. In June 1907 there was a day’s holiday for the girls to attend the Rose Fayre at the Rectory at which the children represented the Four Seasons.

As in the Boys’ Department there were changes in attitudes to the girls’ health and welfare. In 1908 there are the first references to medical examinations, and later visits by an oculist and dentist. Attitudes to parents were also changing and Miss Pearman repeated an experiment of inviting parents into school to view children’s work, as Miss Hall had tried in 1886.

In 1911 Miss Pearman was concerned at the fall in numbers on the Register. For this reason she noted why girls were removed and on 19^th May 1911 she wrote ‘The names of two girls have been removed from the Registers, the said girls being in the Workhouse and so in attendance at Wordsley schools’. There are few references in the Log Books to children going to the Workhouse but this may have been because it was a regular occurrence that did not normally merit mention.

As in the other departments the years of World War I imposed a strain on the school. If teachers were ill there was unlikely to be any temporary replacement for them. Also, as in other departments, Miss Pearman had to teach a class in addition to her duties to ‘control and supervise the work of the school’.

In 1923 the school Inspector seemed determined that there should be changes. As in the Boys’ Department an unfavourable report meant that the Head Teacher had to leave. It read ‘The condition of this Department presents a number of unsatisfactory features. The Headmistress, who has filled her post for many years, would appear to have failed to appreciate the existence of modern developments in teaching practice’. Given the positive reports received by Miss Pearman in previous Inspector’s reports the Inspectorate appeared to have changed its agenda. Following the harsh report Miss Pearman was ill for two months and returned for a few weeks before she wrote on 2^nd August 1923 ‘Today I resign charge of this school having held the position of Head Mistress since May 1894’. Miss Pearman had worked in the schools for 38 years, 29 of them as the Girls’ Headmistress.

Miss Sharp became Head Mistress of the Girls’ Department in September 1923. During her time at the school the curriculum continued to widen. The possibilities for further education for at least some of the girls were also increasing. Some girls gained scholarships to the Girls Secondary School, as a few had done under Miss Pearman. The Stourbridge Girls Secondary School was housed on the top floor of the Technical School and Stourbridge Public Library.

On the 1^st March 1929 Miss Sharp attended the Official Opening of the new Girls’ High School building in Red Hill, referred to from now on as the County High School for Girls. In addition girls were to gain scholarships to the Queen’s College in Birmingham, Oldbury Commercial School, Brierley Hill Commercial School and the Junior Art School. For the girls still within the school there was now the possibility of lessons in laundry and commercial subjects, to be taken at the Technical College. Needlework was still taught but it no longer took up so much of the girls’ time.

The girls’ horizons were also broadened. There are several references to groups of girls being taken to the cinema and on the 10^th March 1929 ‘one hundred girls, accompanied by three teachers and the Headmistress went to the Scala this afternoon to see the film Livingstone’. In common with the boys some of the girls attended the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley and they also visited Baggeridge Colliery. As well as other trips and visits, some visited the theatre. In January 1934 28 senior girls were taken to the Repertory Theatre to see ‘Toad of Toad Hall’ from the Wind in the Willows, which the girls were reading.

There is evidence that the school was increasingly entering the ‘modern’ world. Several of the Mistresses bicycled to school [and periodically fell off and hurt themselves]. A representative from ‘Singer’ repeatedly attended to show the girls how to use the sewing machine. But the old problems with the building continued. Three classes still had to be taken at the same time in the largest room. In 1933 the Inspector noted a difference between the ‘eager and natural’ children who occupied classrooms containing only one group to the ‘slow and lethargic’ children from the large room, which contained three classes.

Change was inevitable and it came in the form of the amalgamation of the three departments and the transfer of the older girls to The Grange and Brook Street Schools. The last entry in the Girls’ Log read ‘School closed for the summer holidays….After the holidays the Girls’ Department will form part of the Junior Mixed and Infant School’.

Miss Sharp, no longer Head Mistress, continued as an Assistant Teacher until 30^th September 1941, when she left after 28 years at the school.