EDUCATION.
West Ham's first parish school was
opened in 1723. During the following years public
elementary education was provided mainly by the
churches until 1871, when a school board, one of the
earliest in the country, was formed for the parish.
The board's first report gave details of existing
schools and assessed the deficiency of school places. (fn. 1)
There were 27 schools, in 46 departments, of which
the Church of England was responsible for 15, in 28
departments, the nonconformists for 7 (in 10), the
Roman Catholics for 3 (in 5), the Great Eastern
Railway for 1 (in 1), and the Ragged School Union
for 1 (in 2). Among the Church schools was classed
Sarah Bonnell's, a well-endowed charity school. All
the other schools depended mainly on subscriptions
and school-pence. For 20 years the churches had
been making great efforts to educate West Ham's
sharply rising population. Some Churchmen were
still reluctant to admit that the task was beyond
them. In 1870 the vicar of Christ Church, Stratford,
had appealed to the public to vote against the formation of a school board. (fn. 2)
The board's report showed, however, that the
public elementary schools had accommodation for
only 8,183 children out of 14,512 between the ages
of 3 and 13. There were places for a further 1,749 in
private and dame schools. Allowing for these,
for projected enlargements at some of the voluntary
schools, and for children absent through illness or
educated at home, the board put the deficiency at
3,100 places. This was clearly an underestimate, for
many of the dame schools were admitted to be of
a very low standard, some no more than nurseries.
Nor does the report make any allowance for future
population growth.
The school board, which was controlled by a
Progressive majority until 1895, and by the Conservatives from 1895 to 1903, appointed as its fulltime clerk Jeremiah Self, formerly headmaster of
West Ham Church school, who served successfully
until 1890. The board immediately planned to build
three new schools, at Forest Gate, Canning Town,
and Stratford. Meanwhile it opened several night-schools to provide elementary education for adolescents who had missed it. (fn. 3) In 1872–3 the board
took over 4 of the voluntary schools and opened
several other temporary day-schools, one of which
became permanent. The first three new schools,
Odessa Road, Hallsville, and High Street were
completed in 1874. Others followed rapidly, since
the 32 years of the board's existence coincided with
the period of West Ham's most rapid growth, in
which the school population rose to over 60,000.
By 1903 the board had built 43 elementary schools,
a school for the deaf, one for physical and mental
defectives, one for truants, and two pupil-teacher
centres. (fn. 4) Between 1871 and 1903 many of the
voluntary schools were closed, including all those
belonging to the nonconformists. One new elementary school was, however, built by the Church of
England and two by the Roman Catholics. A start
was also made in providing public secondary
education. The Sarah Bonnell school was refounded
in new buildings (1876) as a high school for girls,
and the Carpenters' Company opened a technical
school for boys (1891).
Under the Education Act, 1902, West Ham, as a
county borough, became responsible (1903) for all
types of education. The clerk to the school board
(Self's successor) became head of the new education
department, but he died in the same year during
inquiries which revealed that he had been embezzling public funds. The department was then
placed under the town clerk, who controlled it until
1939, when a separate education officer was again
appointed.
In 1903, in addition to the council schools,
there were 7 Anglican, 6 Roman Catholic, and 1 undenominational elementary schools. Three more
elementary schools, started by the school board, were
completed in 1904, and before the First World War
two others were built by the council and one by the
Roman Catholics. In 1906 the two pupil-teacher
centres were reopened as higher elementary (later
called central) schools, and in the same year the
council opened its first 'municipal secondary' school,
at Stratford. Two Roman Catholic secondary schools,
previously private, were recognized in 1904 as part
of the public system, and for many years these, with
the Bonnell school, provided most of the secondary
school places in the borough. Higher education was
provided by a technical institute (later college)
opened by the council in 1898. From 1900 the
institute was offering internal courses for the University of London's degrees in science and engineering, but most of its work was at a lower level. After
the closure of the Carpenters' school (1905) the
institute began to develop junior technical classes
for those under 16, which overlapped those of the
higher elementary schools.
In reorganizing the schools after 1903 the council
became embroiled in a bitter struggle with the
teachers over grading and salaries. This culminated
in 1907, when the National Union of Teachers
brought an unsuccessful suit against the council
and some 150 of the borough's teachers were dismissed or resigned. The dispute was settled in
September of that year.
In 1920 the education committee drew up a scheme
concerned mainly with older children. (fn. 5) It proposed
to open several temporary day-continuation institutes, pending the building of two new secondary
schools and four central schools. Part-time attendance at the institutes was to be compulsory, and by
1926 the school-leaving age for all children in West
Ham was to be raised to 15. Five institutes were
opened in 1921, but compulsory attendance proved
so unpopular that it was abandoned in the same year,
two of the institutes being closed and the others
continuing on a voluntary basis. By 1936 only one
remained. (fn. 6) A new council secondary school, at
Plaistow, in the south of the borough, was opened
in 1926. None of the other secondary or central
schools proposed in the 1920 scheme was built, but
this need was partly met by the steady expansion,
between 1918 and 1939, of the junior departments
of the technical college. The school-leaving age was
not raised during that period.
The reorganization of the elementary schools, on
the lines of the Hadow report, began in 1929. (fn. 7) This
involved building a junior and two senior schools
and new premises for the two existing central schools.
Complete reorganization proved difficult, owing to
the geographical isolation of some of the schools,
but the main part of the programme was carried out
in 1930–4, and by 1939 only 16 all-age (including
voluntary) schools remained. (fn. 8) During the reorganization a few junior schools were given new names
identical with those of associated senior schools,
but in most cases they had reverted to their original
names by 1939. Between 1918 and 1939 three more
special schools (one a replacement) and 2 nursery
schools were also built.
During the Second World War the elementary
schools of the borough reverted to all-age type, in
order to reduce travelling. Wartime bombing destroyed several schools, but the devastation which
it caused, especially in the south, provided an
opportunity for the educational planners, since it
caused a great movement of population out of the
borough, and at the same time facilitated the
redevelopment of large areas, thus providing building sites that would otherwise have been difficult to
find. After the war the reorganization of the elementary schools was completed. In anticipation of
the post-war increase in the birth-rate priority was
given to new primary schools: between 1945 and
1954 eight were built or rebuilt, of which six
(including two voluntary) were in the south of the
borough. Another voluntary primary school was
rebuilt in 1964. Since 1945 all the primary schools
have been mixed. Under a development plan of 1947
secondary education was provided in three 'streams',
grammar, technical, and modern. (fn. 9) The old municipal secondary schools and the Sarah Bonnell school
continued as grammar schools. Three new technical
schools were formed by the separation of the junior
departments of the technical college, the day-continuation institute being closed. The selective
side of the new plan was completed by the two
Roman Catholic schools, which became multilateral.
Between 1945 and 1958 one of the grammar schools
and two of the technical schools were provided with
completely new buildings, while most of the other
selective schools were substantially improved. No
secondary modern schools were built or rebuilt in
that period. The priority given to the selective
schools was partly due to the intention that they
should provide an unusually high proportion of
places, 30 per cent for boys and 25 per cent for girls,
but this level was not reached, and many of those
who did in fact gain selective places left before
completing the initial five-year course.
In 1959 the education committee drew up a new
plan, under which the secondary modern schools
were to be gradually replaced by larger non-selective
high schools and selective education was to be
provided in two central high schools. The latter
proposal had not been carried out by 1965, and the
former only in part. By 1965 two high schools had
been formed, one at Stratford, by the fusion of
a grammar (formerly technical) and an adjacent
secondary modern school, the other at Forest Gate, by
the enlargement of a secondary modern school. These
high schools have one selective class in each entry.
Other developments since 1945 have been the
designation of the technical college as a college of
technology and the opening of a college of further
education. Two adult education centres, an outdoor
activities centre (at Maldon), and two more nursery
schools have also been opened, while improvements
in public health have made it possible to close two
special (open air) schools. In 1949 most of the schools
in the borough were renamed, usually by dropping
such words as 'Street' from the original names.
In the following chronological sections the account
of each school is placed according to the date of its
original foundation. Since there has been much
rebuilding and reorganization the information in a
section may overlap the dates in the heading. All
changes of school names are described except the
temporary ones of the 1930s.
Elementary schools founded before 1871.
West Ham
(All Saints) Church primary school, Portway, (fn. 10) was
founded in 1723 as a parish charity school, supported by subscriptions, collections in the church,
and £4 a year given under the will of Mary Battailhey, proved 1702, for teaching the poor children of
Stratford and Plaistow to read. (fn. 11) The school appears
to have been held at first in the church, but in 1731
a proper building was erected on the east side of the
churchyard, and at the same time the management
was vested in a body of regular subscribers. In 1752
a second building, for a 'school of industry' was
added to the north of the original one. (fn. 12) The new
building, sometimes called the 'workhouse', (fn. 13) had
ceased to be used for its intended purpose by 1769,
when most of it was handed over to the founding
trustees of Sarah Bonnell's girls school. (fn. 14) For the
next century the Church school and Bonnell's school
were closely associated. The Church school originally
comprised 10 boys. Girls were first admitted in
1725, and by 1769 there were 30 of each sex. It was
stated in 1769 that 311 boys and 202 girls had
attended the school since its foundation, including
those still there. The children had been provided
with clothing since 1725.
By 1812 the Church school had received endowments of some £3,000, and its total annual income
from these and from subscriptions was £260. (fn. 15) In
1812–13 it was enlarged, and by 1818 it had 120
boys and 60 girls. (fn. 16) In 1826–30 a new boys school
was built to the east of the existing premises, with
aid from the National Society, and the old Church
school was leased to Bonnell's school, which became
responsible for educating all the girls of the parish. (fn. 17)
District schools were opened for Plaistow in 1830
and for Stratford in 1835: these remained in union
with the original school until 1848, when they
became separate, each of the three being given a
share of the educational endowments of the parish.
By 1846–7 there were 126 boys in All Saints school,
under a trained master. (fn. 18) The first government
grant was made in 1849. (fn. 19) By 1851 average attendance had risen to 145, but many of the pupils were
factory boys who stayed only three months. (fn. 20)
Meanwhile the Church school trustees had become
dissatisfied with the arrangement made with Bonnell's school in 1828, and in 1851 opened an
additional department, for girls and infants. (fn. 21)
In 1861 a new boys school was built about 200
yards farther east, at a total cost of over £3,000,
about a third of which came from selling most of the
remaining endowments. (fn. 22) In 1863, by a joint scheme,
Bonnell's school was demolished and replaced by a
range of buildings comprising a northern schoolroom for Bonnell's and a southern schoolroom for
the Church girls, with two houses for teachers
between them. The Church infants took over the
former boys school of 1826. The boys school of 1861
was known at first as the Pelly Memorial, in tribute
to Sir John Pelly, Bt. (d. 1852), but it was also
known at that period as the Model school because
of its high reputation. The headmaster (1846–71)
was Jeremiah Self, later secretary to the West Ham
school board. By 1871 attendance was 330, with a
further 130 in the girls department and 190 infants. (fn. 23)
In 1876, when Bonnell's school moved to West Ham
Lane, the Church girls took over all the 1863 buildings. In 1934 the school was reorganized for mixed
juniors and infants. It was granted Aided status in
1950 and Controlled status in 1956. In 1964 it was
completely rebuilt. (fn. 24)
Bonnell's charity school was founded by the will
of Sarah Bonnell, proved 1766. (fn. 25) She left £500 in
trust to build and maintain a school for poor girls
of the parish, which was to have the reversion of a
further £3,500 after the death of her brother James
Bonnell. James contested the will, and in 1769, after
a Chancery suit, an agreement was reached between
him and the trustees. The north end of the Church
school, on the east side of the churchyard, was to be
handed over by the parish for use as a school for 40
poor girls born in West Ham or adjacent places. (fn. 26)
The parish gave up its claim to the £500, but was to
have the reversion to the remaining £3,500 after
Bonnell's death. The schoolmistress, when appointed, was to receive £20 a year and £5 for coal
and candles. A master was to receive £15 a year for
teaching writing and accounts, and £5 for stationery.
Clothing for the girls was to be provided at a cost
of £100 a year. By 1772 the schoolroom had been
partitioned off and fitted up by means of a loan. (fn. 27)
James Bonnell died in 1774 (fn. 28) and the school was
opened in 1778. (fn. 29) In 1814 a new schoolroom was
built to the north of the existing one. A Chancery
scheme of 1820 empowered the trustees to admit
60 girls, or more if funds permitted, and to increase
the master's and mistress's salaries and the payments for clothing. In 1826–30, as described above,
Bonnell's took over all the old Church school, with
responsibility for educating all the girls of the parish.
In 1834 there were 140 pupils, of whom 80 were
being clothed by the charity. In 1856 the schoolroom
of 1814 was rebuilt, but in 1863 this and the original
school were demolished as part of the joint scheme,
already described, under which adjacent new buildings were erected for Bonnell's and the Church
girls. Under a scheme of 1873, drawn up by the
Endowed Schools Commissioners, Bonnell's became
the West Ham high school for girls, reopening in
new buildings in West Ham Lane in 1876. (fn. 30)
West Ham and Stratford British schools appear to
have originated in 1802, when a girls charity school
was opened in connexion with Brickfields Independent chapel. (fn. 31) A schoolroom was built beside
the chapel in 1806–8. There were 20 girls in 1807. (fn. 32)
In 1846 a ladies committee of leading dissenters was
formed to manage the school, as the West Ham and
Stratford girls British school, on a wider nonsectarian basis, and in 1847 a trained mistress was
appointed. The school was then renting the Sunday
schoolroom at Brickfields, but in 1851 new buildings
for girls and infants were erected in Bridge Road,
Stratford, with the aid of a government grant (fn. 33) and
a contribution from Samuel Gurney. In 1871 there
were 170 girls and 143 infants on the roll. (fn. 34) In 1889
the school was taken over by the school board,
which moved it in 1890 to temporary quarters at
the Workmen's hall, West Ham Lane, pending
demolition of the old buildings, and the opening in
1892 of the new Bridge Road three-department
school. (fn. 35)
Associated with the girls British school was one
for boys, built in 1836 in Little North (now Station)
Street, Stratford. Samuel Gurney was an original
trustee. In 1846 there were 160 boys, paying 1d. or
2d. a week 'in very good tone and discipline' but 'not
exhibiting much intelligence . . . under a master of
the old style'. (fn. 36) In 1873 the school was taken over
by the school board, which retained it until 1889,
when the site was sold to the Great Eastern Railway.
The boys moved to the Workmen's hall until the
new Bridge Road school was ready. (fn. 37)
Both the British schools had endowments. Between
1815 and 1838 the girls charity school acquired a
total of £440, of which £140 was spent in 1841–4.
From 1849 the income from the remaining £300
was used exclusively for Brickfields Sunday school.
Samuel Gurney, by his will proved 1856, gave
£5,000 in trust for the British schools, to provide
incomes of £50 for the girls and £100 for the boys. (fn. 38)
When the school board took over the boys school
the charity trustees agreed to pay the income of
£100 to the board, and this arrangement was
regularized by a Charity Commission scheme of
1878, under which the income might be spent in
any of the board's schools, for various purposes
stipulated, including prizes, exhibitions for promising pupils, special equipment, and payments to
teachers for advanced tuition. In 1889, by agreement
with the charity trustees, the girls school income
of £50 was also assigned to the school board, to be
used in the same way. By a scheme of 1899, however,
the whole income of £150 was restricted to the
provision of scholarships for higher education,
tenable only by former pupils of the Bridge Road
board school. (fn. 39)
St. Francis's Roman Catholic primary school,
Park Avenue, Stratford, originated about 1816,
when François-Joseph Chevrollais, the parish priest,
opened a school in High Street, adjoining his church
of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Patrick. (fn. 40) Two earlier
priests had conducted schools in West Ham, but
these were apparently private and short-lived. (fn. 41) The
attendance at the parish school was 139 in 1819. (fn. 42)
About 1870 part of the school was transferred to
Grove Crescent Road, adjoining the new church of
St. Vincent (later St. Francis), and another part to
premises at the west end of Forest Lane. In 1871
the total attendance was 285. (fn. 43) St. Vincent's school
was receiving a government grant from 1871, and
Forest Lane from 1874. (fn. 44) Soon after this the two
schools were combined at Grove Crescent Road. (fn. 45)
In 1884 an additional infant school, St. Patrick's,
was opened in the old High Street buildings. (fn. 46) By
1890 St. Vincent's (now St. Francis's) had again
been divided, the girls and infants moving to Park
Avenue and the boys remaining at Grove Crescent
Road. (fn. 47) The boys moved to Park Avenue in or
about 1900. (fn. 48) The school has remained at Park
Avenue, in buildings progressively modernized. It
was reorganized for mixed juniors and infants in
1945 and was granted Aided status in 1949. (fn. 49) St.
Patrick's infant school, which moved to Lett Road in
1896, was closed in 1940 and its pupils were transferred to St. Francis's school. (fn. 50)
Plaistow Lancasterian (British) school seems to
have been founded about 1820, meeting in a large
room in the Porch House, Cordwainer (now High)
Street. (fn. 51) In 1830 it was taken over by the Anglicans,
and merged in St. Mary's National school.
Forest Gate British school was probably founded
about 1830 by Jabez Legg, in connexion with the
Congregational church. (fn. 52) In 1871 it was situated on
the northern corner of Forest Lane and Woodgrange
Road, the position occupied by the original Congregational church. (fn. 53) The attendance was then 65.
In 1872 it was taken over by the school board which
retained it until Odessa Road school was opened
in 1874. (fn. 54)
St. Mary's National school, Plaistow, originated
in 1830, when the trustees of All Saints Church school
took over Plaistow Lancasterian school. (fn. 55) A new
school was built in 1831, to the west of St. Mary's
church, funds being supplied by the National
Society and by John Oliver, from whom the school
was known at first as Oliver's. (fn. 56) In 1835 50 boys
attended. (fn. 57) The school was enlarged in 1836, with
the aid of a government grant, and by 1838 there
were 62 girls as well as 47 boys. (fn. 58) In 1848 St. Mary's
school received £936 as its share of the educational
endowments of West Ham. (fn. 59) A further endowment
of £300 was received under the will of Edith Clark,
proved in 1860. (fn. 60) The school was further enlarged
in 1871 and 1877, and attendance rose to 332 in
1881. (fn. 61) In 1895 the boys department was closed to
reduce overcrowding. (fn. 62) The remainder of the school
was closed in 1903 and its endowments, worth £34
a year, were assigned to St. Mary's church. (fn. 63) The
school buildings still existed in 1970. The original
school of 1831, designed by G. R. French, was a
single-storeyed yellow-brick building with a 'Tudor'
doorway at its gable end. Above the door was a
carved tablet inscribed 'Oliver's National School'
with arms and date. (fn. 64) The school connected with
St. Peter's, Upton Cross, then a mission of St.
Mary's, is described below. (fn. 65)
St. John's National school, Stratford, was opened
in 1835 in a building also used as a Sunday school. (fn. 66)
In 1836 a permanent school, for 526 children, was
built in Great North (now Station) Street, on land
previously occupied by a brewery, with the aid of
a government grant. (fn. 67) The choice of site was unfortunate. Stratford railway junction and repair
works were soon built close by and noise from the
trains made teaching difficult. (fn. 68) In 1848 the school
received £735 as its share of the educational endowments of West Ham. (fn. 69) In 1851 it received a further
£182, later used to improve the buildings, under
the will of Mary Goldthorp. (fn. 70) In spite of this it was
much in debt at this period, and closure was being
considered. (fn. 71) In 1872, however, new buildings, with
accommodation for 831, were erected in Chant
Square. (fn. 72) The boys department was closed in 1894. (fn. 73)
The school was reorganized in 1938 for mixed juniors
and infants. (fn. 74) It was closed in 1947. (fn. 75)
Plaistow Public school was opened in 1844 by
John Curwen, minister of the North Street (later in
Balaam Street) Congregational church. (fn. 76) For a few
months it was restricted to infants, meeting in the
Sunday school. Then that building was enlarged and
older children admitted, under a trained master,
Alfred Brown. The school soon established a good
reputation. For 27 years the managers allowed
Brown to run it with a free hand, no government
grants being sought. The children, mainly from the
families of tradesmen or the upper working class,
often learnt French and Latin. In 1866 new buildings were erected in Balaam Street, entirely by
public subscription. These were described in 1871
as among the best in the parish, with accommodation for 425 (average attendance 237). (fn. 77) In 1872 the
trustees leased them to the school board as a gesture
in the cause of non-sectarian education. New classrooms were added in 1874 by the trustees, and in
1876 by the school board. A separate girls department was formed in 1874, Alfred Brown remaining
in charge of the boys until his death in 1886. In 1897
the pupils were transferred to a new board school
in the same street, the old buildings reverting to the
Congregational church.
Holy Trinity National school, Canning Town,
originated in 1848, when the vicar of Plaistow
opened a class in a shed in Hallsville Road. (fn. 78) When
the Victoria Dock was being built, attendance increased rapidly to over 200, some of whom were
taught in an adjoining cottage. In 1857 the school
was less crowded, but it was dilapidated and squalid:
in wet weather the mistress had to teach under an
umbrella. (fn. 79) The school received its first government
grant in 1858, as the Victoria Docks National. (fn. 80)
By 1860 its name had been changed to Hallsville
National. (fn. 81) Meanwhile the Plaistow and Victoria
Docks mission had been formed to build schools
and churches, and in 1861 this opened a new school
in Barking Road, opposite the site where Holy
Trinity church was later built. (fn. 82) The government
made one of the largest building grants in the
parish. (fn. 83) In 1871 the total attendance was 520. (fn. 84)
The infants were then in Wouldham Street, but
later in the same year a new building was erected
for them on part of the girls' playground. (fn. 85) The boys
and girls departments were closed in 1936–7 and
the infants in 1940. (fn. 86)
Christ Church National school, Stratford, was
built in 1850 in Union Street, adjoining the site
chosen for the church. The government made a
building grant. (fn. 87) By 1860 the boys department had
reached a high standard. (fn. 88) The school was taken
over by the school board in 1882 and closed in 1885
when the new Carpenters Road school was completed. (fn. 89) Christ Church also had a small school in
rented buildings in Channelsea Road, opened by
1858. (fn. 90) It was closed in 1874 and the site was bought
by the school board to build a new school. (fn. 91)
Chapel Street Ragged school is said to have been
founded in 1851. (fn. 92) In 1855 a local committee, in
association with the Ragged School Union, bought
the former Enon chapel and established the school
there. (fn. 93) Attendance was then 100. (fn. 94) Under the will
of William H. Dean, proved 1871, the school was
to receive the interest from certain residuary funds,
and also the reversion of much larger funds after
the death of various annuitants. If the school closed
before reversion occurred the money then payable
was to pass to some other charity, not necessarily in
West Ham. In 1899 it was stated that income from
the residuary funds had amounted to only £6 in the
previous year, but that the reversion was estimated
to be worth a capital sum of £3,827. This expectation
from Dean's Gift made it seem important, from a
local point of view, that the school should not close,
and prolonged its life, in spite of a restricted site
and unsuitable buildings. Situated in a very poor
area, and without sectarian support, it lived precariously. A government grant was being received
from 1881, (fn. 95) but by 1898 the school was £700 in
debt, and in that year a further £500 was borrowed
to enlarge the buildings. In 1899 the average attendance was 136. After 1902 the school was recognized
by the government only on a temporary basis. In
1905 the income from Dean's Gift was £73, the
whole of which was required to meet interest and
repayment charges on debt. (fn. 96) By then all the surviving annuitants were old, so that the final reversion
of the charity probably took place soon after 1905.
The school closed in 1927, and by a scheme of 1932
its remaining assets, of £3,200, were invested as
Dean's Gift, the income from which was to be used
to help needy pupils in West Ham. (fn. 97)
Emmanuel (later St. Saviour's) National school,
Forest Gate, was built in 1853 on a site, given by
Samuel Gurney, (fn. 98) at the corner of Woodgrange
Road and Forest Street. Government building
grants were received in 1854, 1861, and 1867. (fn. 99) In
1871 the average attendance was 141. (fn. 100) In 1884 the
school was handed over to the vicar of the new
parish of St. Saviour. With the building of board
schools at Forest Gate the maintenance of St.
Saviour's school grew more difficult and it was
closed in 1894.
The Public school, Victoria Dock Road, Canning
Town, was established about 1853, in connexion
with the Plaistow Congregational church (North
Street, later in Balaam Street), and met in the
Victoria Dock public rooms, built for this and other
purposes. (fn. 101) It was sometimes described as a British
school. (fn. 102) In 1871 it had an attendance of only 34 and
received no government grant. (fn. 103) It was taken over in
1872 by the school board, which later bought the
site, demolished the buildings, and there erected
the new Hallsville school (1874).
St. Paul's National school, Stratford, was opened
soon after 1850, probably in the mission schoolroom
in Queen Street erected by Samuel Gurney. (fn. 104) The
first government grant was received in 1855. (fn. 105) In
1869 a new building was erected in Maryland
Road. (fn. 106) By 1871 attendance had risen to 501,
including the infants, who were using the Queen
Street building. (fn. 107) The school was badly damaged by
bombing during the Second World War and was
closed in 1945. (fn. 108)
The Eastern Counties (later Great Eastern) Railway school was in existence by 1856, when it first
received a government grant. (fn. 109) It was associated
with and housed in the railway mechanics' institution, at first in Angel Lane and later in Store Street. (fn. 110)
By 1863 average attendance had risen to 200. The
school was intended primarily for railwaymen's
sons, but other boys were admitted at higher fees,
and in 1868 there were about 50 of these, paying
9d. to 1s. a week 'rather than lose the benefits of
this well-taught school'. In the 1870s, with increasing competition from the board schools, the railway
school ran into financial difficulties. In 1881 it was
handed over to the school board, which in 1882
transferred the boys to the new school in Colegrave
Road. (fn. 111)
St. Luke's Church primary school, Ruscoe Road,
Victoria Docks, originated in 1857, when an iron
church, the precursor of St. Mark's, was erected
at Tidal Basin. (fn. 112) This was also a school which
received a government grant from 1862. (fn. 113) After 1868
it was restricted to infants, the average attendance
in 1871 being 77. (fn. 114) It was closed about 1882. (fn. 115) A
second school for St. Mark's district was opened in
1862, at St. Matthew's church, Custom House. From
1864 this was restricted to boys. (fn. 116) The average attendance was 205 in 1871. (fn. 117) The school was reorganized
in 1872 for girls and infants. (fn. 118) Accommodation was
inadequate, and in 1880, after the government had
directed that the school should be restricted to
infants, the managers leased it to the school board,
which maintained it until 1882 when Regents Lane
board school was opened. (fn. 119) Meanwhile the efforts
of Henry Boyd, vicar of St. Mark's, had led to the
building of permanent schools, for this western part
of his parish, in Nelson Street. The infants department was opened there in 1866, and the girls in
1868; in each case the initial intake came from the
Tidal Basin school. (fn. 120) In 1872 the boys from Custom
House were also transferred to Nelson Street. (fn. 121) In
1875 the Nelson Street, Tidal Basin, and Custom
House schools were all transferred to the new parish
of St. Luke. Nelson Street, from 1882 St. Luke's
only school, was a good one, in spite of the difficulties
arising from a poor and shifting population. In 1933
St. Luke's was reorganized for junior boys, junior
girls, and infants. (fn. 122) It was badly damaged during
the Second World War. (fn. 123) After the war its site was
incorporated in the new Keir Hardie housing estate
and a new primary school, opened in 1949, was
built in Ruscoe Road. (fn. 124) The school was granted
Aided status in 1949. (fn. 125)
St. Mark's National school, Silvertown, existed
by 1860, when it received its first government grant. (fn. 126)
About 1871 new buildings were erected by the
vicar, Henry Boyd, between Constance Street and
Drew Road. (fn. 127) The school was enlarged in 1882–3,
to provide places for 470, (fn. 128) but in 1892 the boys and
girls departments were closed, and by 1897 only
84 infants attended. (fn. 129) The school had closed by
1901. (fn. 130)
St. Margaret and All Saints' Roman Catholic
school, Barking Road, Canning Town, was opened
about 1860, when a building grant was made by the
Poor Schools Committee. (fn. 131) The first government
grant was made in 1871. (fn. 132) Attendance rose from 150
in 1871 to 300 in 1881, (fn. 133) and in 1883 new buildings
were erected for 500. (fn. 134) A further enlargement,
completing three storeys, was carried out in 1896. (fn. 135)
In 1940 the school was wrecked by bombing and
was closed. (fn. 136)
St. Ursula's Roman Catholic school was founded
in 1862 by the Ursuline nuns of St. Angela's convent, Upton Lane. Classes were held in cottages at
Sun Row, Green Street, until 1863, when stables
adjoining the convent were converted into a school
for 30 girls and infants. (fn. 137) By 1893, after several
enlargements, attendance had risen to 229. (fn. 138) In
1903 St. Ursula's was amalgamated with St.
Antony's school in the new buildings in Lancaster
Road.
Plaistow Free school existed by 1866. (fn. 139) In 1871
it was a mixed school with an attendance of 125,
meeting in the Temperance hall, North Street. (fn. 140) It
appears to have closed soon after. This school, like
the hall, was probably supported by nonconformists.
The Wesleyan school, Barking Road, Canning
Town, was opened in 1868, and received its first
government grant in 1869. (fn. 141) In 1871 the attendance
was 190. (fn. 142) Fees were above those usual in West
Ham, ranging from 3d. to 9d. a week in 1875. (fn. 143) The
school was closed in 1894. (fn. 144)
Maryland Point school, Francis Street, supported
by the London City Mission, existed by 1869. (fn. 145) In
1871, when the attendance was 87, it received its
first government grant. (fn. 146) It was taken over by the
school board in 1875 and closed in 1886. (fn. 147)
St. Andrew's National school, Plaistow, originated
about 1870, as a temporary school in Webb Street,
attached to St. Philip's mission, Whitwell Road.
The first government grant was received in 1871. (fn. 148)
In 1873 a permanent school was built beside the
church in St. Andrew's Road. (fn. 149) This was enlarged
in 1883 to provide a new department for the infants,
who had remained in Webb Street. (fn. 150) The school
was reorganized in 1930 for mixed juniors and
seniors. (fn. 151) It was closed in 1936. (fn. 152)
St. Gabriel's National school, Bidder Street,
Canning Town, existed by 1871, receiving its first
government grant in that year. (fn. 153) In 1875 it was
transferred to the school board, which closed it in
1877, when the new Bidder Street school was completed. (fn. 154)
St. Peter's mission National school, Pelly Road,
Upton, probably originated about 1870. In 1871
there were two church schools in this area. (fn. 155) Upton
Cross school, with an attendance of 65, was east of
West Ham vicarage. The Barn school, attendance
50, was near it to the south-west on or near the
same site as the later St. Peter's school. No doubt
the barn was that used for the mission services
preceding the building of St. Peter's mission, Upton
Cross. (fn. 156) St. Peter's school received its first government grant in 1879. (fn. 157) In 1884 a new infants department was opened in Chapman Road. (fn. 158) The school
was closed about 1892. (fn. 159) Throughout its existence
it had been controlled by the vicar of St. Mary's,
Plaistow, since St. Peter's did not become a separate
parish until 1894. The Pelly Road site was used for
St. Mary's new vicarage, and the Chapman Road
building became St. Katherine's mission.
Elementary schools founded between 1871 and 1903. (fn. 160)
North Street board school, Plaistow, was opened in
1872. The board leased from the Quakers their
larger meeting-house, a classroom, and a dwelling-house. (fn. 161) By 1873 attendance was 200. In 1878–9 the
board bought the whole premises freehold, enlarged
them to accommodate 436, and established the
school as permanent. (fn. 162) Further extensions were
made in 1882 and 1890, raising accommodation to
1,139 in 1897. It was a difficult school: in 1888, 60
per cent of the children were said to come from very
poor families. The opening of new board schools at
Plaistow in 1888 and 1894 depressed the school still
more. The severity of its discipline attracted the
attention of the board and the magistrates. It was
reorganized in 1927 for mixed juniors and infants
and in 1930 for infants only. It was closed in 1933.
The buildings have since been used in turn by the
Lister day-continuation institute, the West Ham
technical school, and the West Ham college of
further education.
Odessa primary school, Forest Gate. Odessa Road
board school was opened in 1874 with places for
703. The school was enlarged in 1880 and 1889,
and in 1899 it was reconstructed internally, raising
the accommodation to 1,312. Owing to its isolated
position it was not until 1945 that it was reorganized,
for mixed juniors and infants.
Hallsville board school, Canning Town, with
places for 639, was opened in 1874 on the site of the
Public school, Victoria Dock Road. From the first
it was overcrowded. In 1882–3 a new girls department was added on the Burnham Street frontage,
and further extensions in 1892 raised the capacity
to 903. The school was handicapped by the poverty
of its pupils and the noise from traffic. It was closed
in 1933 and later demolished as part of the Silvertown Way improvement scheme.
High Street board school, Stratford, was opened
in 1874 on a restricted site near the northern outfall
sewer. In 1881 there were places for 526. The boys
department was closed in 1896 and the rest of the
school in 1899. The buildings were used for other
municipal purposes until they were demolished in
1937.
St. James's Church primary school, St. James's
Road, Forest Gate. St. James's National school was
built in 1874 by William Bolton, vicar of St. John's,
Stratford, in competition with Odessa Road board
school. It was transferred to St. James's parish when
that became separate in 1881. It provided 395 places,
increased by 1903 to 458. It was reorganized for
mixed juniors and infants in 1945.
Channelsea Road board school was opened in
1875 on the site of the former school belonging to
Christ Church, Stratford. After enlargement in
1877–9 it provided places for 434. In its early years
it was a 'penny school', and later it included 'halftime' pupils who worked in the local jute-mills. A
dining room was provided in 1889. Attendance
declined after the First World War and the school
was closed in 1924. The buildings, after temporary
use as a junior instruction centre, were demolished
in 1938.
Canning Town board school, Bidder Street, was
opened in 1877 for 750 pupils. The playground was
enlarged in 1891. The school served a poor district
and suffered from frequent staff changes. It was
reorganized in 1932 for mixed juniors and infants
and by 1939 for infants only. It was closed in 1945
and later demolished, the site being incorporated
in the electricity generating station.
South Hallsville board school, Agate Street, Tidal
Basin, was opened in 1878 for 800. It was in a poor
neighbourhood, and the early head teachers were
appointed on condition that they resided there.
Enlargements were made in 1884, 1887, and 1894–5,
raising accommodation to 1,266. In 1929 a new
mixed junior school was built to the east of the old
school and in 1931 a new infants school to the west.
These new buildings included medical rooms and
shower-baths. In 1932 the 1878 buildings were
replaced by a senior school. During the Second
World War the Hallsville schools, as they were by
then more shortly known, were all badly damaged.
After the war the area was redeveloped, Agate
Street disappearing in the process, and in 1948 the
new Hallsville primary school, Radland Road, was
built on the site.
Clarkson Street board school, Tidal Basin, was
opened in 1879 for 621 boys and infants. It was
enlarged in 1881 and again in 1883, when a girls
department was opened. By 1902, after further
enlargement and some reconstruction, there were
places for 1,107. The school was reorganized in 1938
for junior boys and infants, and in 1945 for mixed
juniors and infants. It was demolished in 1955.
Maryland primary school, Maryland Square,
Stratford. Maryland Point board school was opened
in 1879. Extra classrooms were added in 1883 and
1885, completing a quadrangular plan. In 1894 the
site was extended eastwards, raising the accommodation from 912 to 1,354. During its early years
the school had a high reputation, and it was used
as an extra-mural centre for pupil-teachers until
1894, when the full-time pupil-teacher centres were
opened. It was reorganized for junior girls and
infants in 1937, and for mixed juniors and infants
in 1945.
Abbey board school, Abbey Road, was opened in
1881 with places for 900. A wing was added in 1885,
and by 1893, after further extensions, there was
accommodation for 1,660. The school was reorganized in 1934 for junior boys, junior girls, and
infants. It was closed in 1938. The buildings were
demolished in 1946 and the site used for housing.
Grange infant school, Canning Town. Grange
Road board school was opened in 1881 as a long
single-storey building for 900. A school cookery
room, the first in West Ham, was opened there in
1884, with funds provided by J. S. Curwen. A new
infants department (1887) and later extensions raised
the accommodation by 1902 to 1,332. The school was
damaged by bombing in 1918 and again during the
Second World War. It was reorganized in 1932 for
junior boys, junior girls, and infants, and in 1945
for infants only.
Silvertown board school, Oriental Road, was
opened for infants in 1881, boys and girls departments being added in 1892. It was damaged in the
Silvertown explosion of 1917. By 1922 there were
places for 962. In 1933 the school was reorganized
for senior girls, junior girls, and infants. It was
bombed and closed in 1940, the buildings being
later used as a borough store.
Colegrave primary school, Stratford. Colegrave
Road board school, opened in 1882 with places for
1,054, was one of the first of the three-storey buildings which became standard for the larger schools
in West Ham during the next two decades. Infants
were accommodated on the ground floor, girls on
the first floor, and boys on the second. The barracklike buildings were relieved only by 'Dutch' or
'Queen Anne' ornament on the top floor and gables.
Owing to its isolated position it was not until 1945
that Colegrave Road school was reorganized for
mixed juniors and infants.
Regent Lane board school, Custom House, was
opened for boys and girls in 1882. An infants
department (1884) and later extensions raised the
accommodation to 1,059 by 1922. The school was
reorganized in 1933 for junior boys, junior girls,
and infants. It was bombed during the Second
World War and was demolished in 1943. The new
Regent primary school was built on the site in 1949.
The Grove primary school, Stratford. Salway
Place board school was opened in 1882, with places
for 903. It was reorganized in 1932 for mixed juniors
and infants and in 1949 was renamed The Grove.
Carpenters primary school, Stratford. Carpenters
Road board school was opened in 1885, with places
for 1,244. In 1886 the Carpenters' Company provided cookery facilities there for schools in the north
of the borough. A laundry was built in 1893 and a
second storey added for cookery in 1899. Owing to
its isolated position it was not until 1945 that it was
reorganized, for mixed juniors and infants.
Custom House board school, Freemasons Road,
was opened in 1885 with 967 places. It was badly
damaged in the Silvertown explosion of 1917. In
1930 it was reorganized for junior boys, junior girls,
and infants. It was closed in 1945 after bombing.
A new Custom House infants school was opened on
the site in 1954.
Ravenscroft primary school, Canning Town.
Denmark Street board school was opened in 1885
for 1,272 and was extended in 1892. It was reorganized in 1933 for junior boys, junior girls, and infants,
and for mixed juniors and infants in 1945. In 1949
it was renamed Ravenscroft.
Godwin primary school, Forest Gate. Godwin
Road board school was opened in 1885 for 1,247
and by 1902 had places for 1,340. It was reorganized
in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
Upton Cross primary school, Plashet Road. Upton
Cross board school was opened in 1885 with places
for 1,200. Some of its early pupils came from East
Ham. It was reorganized in 1930 for junior boys,
junior girls, and infants, and in 1945 for mixed
juniors and infants.
West Silvertown board school, Boxley Street, was
opened in 1885 with one mixed department for 250,
two rooms being added for infants in 1887. In 1889
it became a three-department school, and further
extensions in 1894 and 1910 provided a total of
about 1,200 places. In 1888 Duncan Knight established a library and cookery prizes, and in 1897
endowed scholarships for further education or
apprenticeship for boys at the school. The school
was wrecked by the Silvertown explosion of 1917,
but was repaired and modernized in the same year.
It remained an all-age school until 1945, when it
was reorganized for mixed juniors and infants. It
was closed in 1962.
Beckton Road board school, Canning Town, was
opened in 1888 with places for 1,542. By 1939, after
several reorganizations, it was restricted to junior
girls and infants. It was badly bombed during the
Second World War, and was later demolished, the
site being used for the new Hardie primary school
(1952).
Curwen primary school, Plaistow. Stock Street
board school was opened in 1888, as a three-storey
building for 1,316. A school furniture store was
added in 1891 and a drill hall in 1900. The school
was reorganized in 1930 for junior boys, junior
girls, and infants, and in 1945 for mixed juniors
and infants. It was renamed Curwen in 1949.
St. Antony's Roman Catholic primary school,
Lancaster Road, Upton. In 1888 the Franciscans,
who had recently settled at Upton, opened a boys
school in Khedive (later St. Antony's) Road, in a
building previously used as a mission church. (fn. 163) It
received a government grant from 1890. (fn. 164) In 1903
new buildings, with 1,074 places, were built in
Lancaster Road, St. Antony's being joined there by
the girls from St. Ursula's school. The school was
reorganized in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
It was granted Aided status in 1949.
The Park primary school, Eleanor Road. West
Ham Park board school was opened in 1889, as a
three-storey building. In 1897 there were places for
1,366. The school was reorganized in 1934 for junior
boys, junior girls, and infants, and in 1945 for mixed
juniors and infants. Its present shorter name has
been used since the 1930s.
Elmhurst primary school, Upton. Elmhurst Road
board school, Upton, was opened in 1891 for 1,361.
It was reorganized in 1930 for junior boys, junior
girls, and infants, and in 1945 for mixed juniors and
infants.
Bridge Road board school, Stratford, built to
replace the British schools, was opened in 1892
with places for 1,370. It had a roof playground and
other features new to West Ham. About 1938 it was
reorganized for mixed juniors and infants. It was
renamed Bridge school in 1949 and was closed in
1962.
Ashburton mixed secondary modern school,
Freemasons Road, Custom House, originated as
Russell Road board school, opened in 1893 with
places for 1,568. Part of this was used as a pupilteacher centre from 1894 until 1896, when a permanent centre, later a higher elementary school,
was opened on the adjoining site. By 1939 Russell
Road elementary school had been reorganized for
junior boys, junior girls, and infants. In 1932, when
the higher elementary school moved to Queens Road,
its buildings were reopened as Ashburton senior
boys school, but they were badly damaged during
the Second World War, and in 1945 those that remained were combined with the buildings of the
Russell Road elementary school to form Ashburton
mixed secondary modern school.
Greengate primary school, Plaistow. Cave Road
board school, opened in 1894 for 1,570, was the
first school in the borough built without schoolrooms
but with widened central corridors for assembly and
drill. It was reorganized in 1930 for junior boys
and junior girls, and in 1945 for mixed juniors and
infants. In 1949 it was renamed Greengate.
Hermit Road board school, Canning Town, was
opened in 1894, for 1,570. It was reorganized in
1935 for junior boys, junior girls, and infants, and in
1938 the junior boys department was closed. During
the Second World War it was bombed and closed,
the site being later used for housing.
Upton Lane board school was opened in 1894
for 1,367. It was reorganized in 1930 for senior boys,
senior girls, and infants, the senior boys department
being closed in 1937. It was destroyed by bombing
during the Second World War, and the site was later
used for the new Stratford grammar school (1959).
Drew primary school, Silvertown. Drew Road
board school was opened in 1895 and in 1902 had
places for 1,215. It was near the docks, and in 1921
subsidence of the site necessitated extensive repairs.
The school was reorganized in 1933 for boys and
infants and in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
Manor primary school. Manor Road board school
was opened in 1895 for 1,514. It was reorganized
in 1934 for senior boys and senior girls, the infants
department closing in 1935. During the Second
World War it was used by the fire service and
suffered bomb damage. In 1947 it was reopened for
mixed juniors and infants.
Star primary school, Canning Town. Star Lane
board school was opened in 1895 for 1,556. It was
reorganized in 1937 for junior boys, junior girls, and
infants, and in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
Three Mills primary school, Abbey Lane. Three
Mills board school was opened in 1895 as the successor to High Street school, with places for 1,576.
Craft and dining blocks were added in 1937. In
1945 the school was reorganized as a primary school
with senior and junior departments. The senior
department, which did not become a secondary
modern school until 1953, was closed in 1965.
St. Joachim's Roman Catholic primary school,
attached to St. Anne's church, Throckmorton Road,
Victoria Docks, was opened about 1895. Its original
building was enlarged in 1900. In 1903 there were
places for 452. Temporary buildings were added in
1928. The school was reorganized in 1945 for mixed
juniors and infants. It was granted Aided status in
1949.
Credon primary school, Plaistow. Credon Road
board school was opened in 1896 for 1,576. It was
reorganized in 1930 for senior boys, senior girls,
and infants, was bombed and closed in 1940, and
reopened in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
Holbrook secondary modern school. Holbrook
Road board school was opened in 1896 for 1,560.
In 1934, after alterations, it was reorganized for
senior boys, senior girls, and infants, and in 1945 it
became a mixed secondary modern school.
Forest Gate high school, Forest Street, originated
as Whitehall Place board school, which was opened
in 1896 and in 1902 had places for 1,411. It was
reorganized in 1926 for mixed seniors and mixed
juniors, and in 1945 as Forest Gate mixed secondary
modern school. In 1965 it was transferred to new
buildings as Forest Gate high school after the site
had been redeveloped. During the 1920s and 1930s
the Shakespeare day-continuation institute used
part of the school.
Burke mixed secondary modern school, Plaistow,
originated as Balaam Street board school, opened in
1897 for 1,556, as successor to the old Balaam Street
school. On each floor it had a large central hall
flanked by classrooms, to facilitate direct control by
the head teachers. In 1930 it was reorganized for
senior boys, senior girls, and infants, and renamed
after Edmund Burke the statesman, who lived in
Balaam Street for a short time. It became a mixed
secondary modern school in 1945.
Frederick Road board school, Canning Town, was
opened in 1897 for 1,572, on a site which included
a deaf and dumb centre. It was reorganized in 1934
for senior boys, senior girls, and infants. It was
bombed and closed in 1941, the buildings being
later demolished.
Water Lane board school, Stratford, was opened
in 1897 for 1,478, on a large site which also included
a deaf and dumb centre, a pupil-teacher centre, and
school board offices. It was reorganized in 1937 for
senior girls, junior boys, and infants, and in 1945 as
a secondary modern school with boys and girls
in separate departments, renamed Stratford Green
school in 1949. Stratford Green boys school was
transferred in 1958 to the Tennyson Road buildings
vacated by Stratford grammar school, and was closed
in 1965. Stratford Green girls school remained in
Water Lane and in 1961 amalgamated with the
adjoining Deanery grammar school to form Deanery
high school.
New City primary school, Plaistow. New City
Road board school was opened in 1897 with places
for 1,560. It took some years to fill, and was not
divided into three separate departments until 1904.
Its isolation prevented reorganization until 1945,
when it became a junior mixed and infants school.
Harold secondary modern school, Upton. Harold
Road board school was opened in 1901 for 1,552.
It was reorganized in 1930 for senior boys, senior
girls, and infants, the girls department closing in
1937. In 1945 it became a mixed secondary modern
school.
Elementary schools founded between 1903 and
1945. (fn. 165)
Faraday secondary school, Canning Town.
Holborn Road council school, planned by the
school board, was opened in 1904 for 1,600. The
building was of the standard three-storey type, but
hipped roofs and dormer-windows were substituted
for the usual gables. It was reorganized in 1933 for
senior boys, senior girls, and infants, and in 1945 as
a mixed secondary modern school. From 1949 it was
called Faraday, a name which had been used in the
1920s for the day-continuation institute occupying
part of the Holborn Road premises.
Napier primary school. Napier Road council
school, planned by the school board, was opened in
1904 for 1,500. It was reorganized in 1934 for junior
boys, junior girls, and infants, and in 1945 for mixed
juniors and infants.
Shipman secondary modern school, Canning
Town. Shipman Road council school, planned by
the school board, was opened in 1904 for 1,308. It
was reorganized in 1933 for senior boys, senior girls,
and infants, in 1945 for mixed juniors and infants,
and in 1948 as a mixed secondary modern school.
Hilda Road council school, Canning Town,
planned by the school board, was opened in 1906
for 1,000. It was built of steel and concrete and
electrically lighted. It was reorganized in 1937 for
junior boys and in 1945 for mixed juniors and
infants. It was closed in 1963.
St. Helen's Roman Catholic primary school,
Falcon Street, Canning Town, was opened as an
elementary school in 1908, in connexion with the
convent in Bethell Avenue, with places for 507. It
was reorganized for mixed juniors and infants in
1945, was granted Aided status in 1947, and was
rebuilt in 1952.
Gainsborough primary school, Canning Town.
Gainsborough Road council school was opened in
1912 for 1,500, in two separate blocks, comprising
a senior school, and a junior school with craft centre
above. Shower baths were provided. In 1937 the
school was reorganized for senior boys, senior girls,
and infants, and a new block with work rooms and
gymnasium added. It became a junior mixed and
infants school in 1945.
Rosetta primary school, Custom House. Rosetta
Road council school was opened in 1919 for 1,500
on an open site which allowed a single-storey
quadrangular arrangement. It was reorganized in
1930 for senior boys, senior girls, and infants and in
1945 for mixed juniors and infants.
South Hallsville council junior and infants
schools, Canning Town, were built in 1929 and 1931
respectively, adjoining the old school in Agate
Street. The history of all the schools on that site
has been described above. (fn. 166)
Tollgate primary school, Barclay Road, Plaistow,
was opened by the council in 1933 for 1,200 junior
boys and junior girls. It was reorganized in 1945 for
mixed juniors and infants.
Secondary and senior schools founded before 1945.
Sarah Bonnell grammar school for girls, St. George's
Road, Upton. The earlier history of this school,
founded in the 18th century, has been described
above. (fn. 167) In 1876 it was reopened as West Ham high
school for girls in new buildings in West Ham Lane.
That site was sold to West Ham hospital in 1905,
and a new school was built in the Grove. In 1922
there were 280 girls on the roll. The school was
destroyed by bombing during the Second World
War and the pupils were accommodated in other
schools until 1944, when they were rehoused in the
buildings in St. George's Road previously occupied
by the Grove central school. After the war the
school was renamed the Sarah Bonnell grammar
school.
St. Angela's Ursuline convent Roman Catholic
multilateral school for girls, St. George's Road,
Upton. (fn. 168) The Ursuline nuns, originally at Grove
House, Upton Lane, admitted boarding pupils from
1862. The first wing of their convent, built in 1871–2,
provided a hall, dormitories, and classrooms. There
were then 40 girls. Day pupils were first admitted in
1879. By 1902 St. Angela's high school had been
recognized by the Board of Education as a public
secondary school, and the borough council, through
its technical instruction committee, was providing
junior scholarships tenable there. (fn. 169) A preparatory
department, in Grove House, was opened in 1903.
In 1904 there were 248 pupils, including 70 over 16
years. (fn. 170) By 1921 numbers had risen to 474. Under
the Education Act, 1944, the school became a
multilateral secondary school. Between 1948 and
1955 Grove House was demolished and a new wing
was built on the site. (fn. 171) The school was granted
Aided status in 1946.
St. Bonaventure's Roman Catholic multilateral
school for boys, St. Antony's Road, Upton, was
opened in 1875 by the Franciscans of Stratford as a
private school. (fn. 172) From 1890 or earlier it was called
St. Bonaventure's grammar school. (fn. 173) It was recognized by the Board of Education as a secondary
school in 1904. There were then 154 pupils, including 28 in the preparatory department, but only 3
were over 16 years. (fn. 174) In 1908 the school altered its
name to the West Ham grammar school. Under the
Education Act, 1944, it was reorganized as a multilateral secondary school for boys and reverted to
the name St. Bonaventure's. It was granted Aided
status in 1947. In addition to the original school a
new range of buildings was built after the Second
World War on the Boleyn Road frontage.
The Carpenters' Company technical school, Jupp
Road, Stratford, was opened by that company in
1891 in buildings used also as an evening institute.
It had a swimming bath and a gymnasium, which
were also used by the local board schools. It was
recognized by the Board of Education as a secondary
school and for a short time the borough council's
junior scholars were sent there. But it was inconveniently sited, near the Channelsea river, and the
accommodation, though varied, was not well
planned. The number of pupils averaged 250, of
whom only 12 per cent stayed to 15 years. The
fortunes of the school were affected by the opening
of the municipal technical institute and the building
of the municipal secondary school. The borough
council's plans for the expansion of municipal
secondary education were fiercely opposed by the
headmaster of the Carpenters' school, as likely to
damage the existing secondary schools, especially
his own. (fn. 175) Eventually the Carpenters' Company
offered to hand over the school to the council, but
the offer was not accepted, and the company therefore closed the school in 1905. An Old Carpentarians' Association still existed in 1964, when it
produced a short history of the school. (fn. 176)
All the following schools, in this sub-section,
were built by the borough council.
Stratford grammar school, Upton Lane, originated in 1906, when West Ham municipal central
secondary (mixed) school was opened in Whalebone
Lane and Tennyson Road, in buildings for 680,
planned by the school board as a higher elementary
school. (fn. 177) The initial intake of 369 included the pupilteachers from two centres opened by the school
board in 1894 and given permanent buildings in
Russell Road (1896) and Water Lane (1897). The
last preparatory pupil-teachers were selected in
1909, and from 1912 bursaries were granted to
intending teachers who followed a full secondary
course. This bursary scheme ended in 1936. The
school was enlarged in 1914, c. 1920, and 1931.
Between the two world wars, when attendance was
about 600, its reputation was very high. The word
'central' was dropped from its name in 1925. The
school was partly destroyed by bombing in 1941,
after which some temporary huts were added. It
was renamed Stratford grammar school in 1945,
and in 1958 it was transferred to new buildings on
the site of the former Upton Lane school.
Russell Road higher elementary (mixed) school
was opened in 1906 in the buildings previously used
by the pupil-teacher centre for the south of the
borough. There was at first accommodation for only
190, but in 1920 the school was extended. In 1932
it was transferred to new buildings in Queens Road,
Plaistow, and renamed the Russell central school.
It was closed in 1940, the remaining pupils being
transferred to the Grove central school.
Water Lane higher elementary (mixed) school,
accommodating 295, was opened in 1906 in the
buildings previously used by the northern pupilteacher centre. (fn. 178) In 1932 it was transferred to new
buildings in St. George's Road, Upton, and renamed
the Grove central school. There was no intake after
1940 and the school closed in 1944.
Plaistow grammar school, Prince Regent Lane.
Plaistow municipal secondary (mixed) school was
opened in 1926 to serve the south of the borough.
It was built in two parts, the first, for 250 pupils
forming the northern quadrangle, the second, completed in 1930, forming the southern, with a further
350 places. After the Second World War it was
renamed Plaistow grammar school.
Pretoria boys and girls secondary modern schools.
Pretoria Road school, Canning Town, was built in
1932 for senior boys and senior girls. In 1945 it
became a pair of secondary modern schools.
South Hallsville senior school, Tidal Basin, was
built in 1932 on the site of the former Agate Street
elementary school. It was originally for boys and
girls in separate departments, but in 1938–9 was
reorganized for boys only. In 1940 it was bombed
and closed.
Ashburton senior school, Custom House, was
opened in 1932 in the buildings previously used by
the Russell Road higher elementary school. It was
originally mixed, but by 1938 was restricted to boys.
Much of it was destroyed by bombing during the
Second World War, after which the remaining
buildings were combined with those of Russell Road
elementary school to form a secondary modern
school. (fn. 179)
Deanery senior (mixed) school, Stratford, was
opened in 1933 in the buildings previously used by
Water Lane higher elementary school. It was
bombed and closed in 1941, and later demolished.
The other senior schools formed in West Ham
between the two world wars used parts of existing
elementary schools. (fn. 180) Whitehall Place senior school
was thus formed by reorganization in 1926. Upton
Lane, Credon Road, Balaam Street, Harold Road,
and Rosetta Road were formed in 1930. Silvertown,
Shipman Road, and Holborn Road were formed in
1933, Clarkson Street, Manor Road, Holbrook Road,
and Frederick Road in 1934, and Water Lane and
Gainsborough Road in 1937. Clarkson Street senior
school ceased in 1937. Upton Lane, Credon Road,
Rosetta Road, Silvertown, Manor Road, Frederick
Road, and Gainsborough Road, ceased during the
Second World War, or immediately after. All the
others became secondary modern in 1945.
Before 1945 education in technical, commercial
and domestic subjects, for pupils of about 13–16
years, was provided mainly by the municipal
technical college and the day-continuation institutes
to some extent in competition. The college, opened
in 1898, and described more fully below, opened
junior classes in trades (1912), engineering (1913),
art (1914), and commerce (1929). In 1928 the college
bought four houses in Water Lane and the Grove
to accommodate these classes, and in 1936 it opened
a trade school for girls in Water Lane (Deanery
Road). When the trade school was bombed in the
Second World War its work continued in part of the
buildings of the former Grove central school in
St. George's Road. In 1943 a school of building was
opened in the former Russell central school, Queens
Road.
In January 1921 West Ham introduced compulsory attendance at five day-continuation institutes, called Newton (in the Conference Hall,
West Ham Lane), Raleigh (Fairbairn Hall, Canning
Town), Shakespeare (Barclay Hall, Green Street),
Faraday (Holborn Road school), and Livingstone
(Balaam Street Congregational schoolroom). Compulsion was abandoned later in the same year and
the Newton and Raleigh institutes were then closed.
The Shakespeare institute, which later moved to
Whitehall Place school, was closed in 1936. Faraday
moved to Balaam Street Congregational schoolroom
in 1931 and was closed in 1933. Livingstone was
transferred in 1927 to North Street school and in
1933 was renamed Lister. After the Second World
War it was absorbed into the North West Ham (later
called the Lister) technical school.
Primary schools founded between 1945 and 1965.
The following were built by the borough council.
Hallsville school, Radland Road, Tidal Basin, was
opened in 1948 on the site of the former South
Hallsville elementary schools. Regent school, Prince
Regent Lane, Custom House (1949), was built on the
siteof the former Regent Lane elementary school.
Earlham school, Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, and
Portway school, Park Road, were opened in 1951.
Hardie school, Edwin Street, Canning Town (1952),
was built on the site of the former Beckton Road
elementary school, and Custom House school, Freemasons Road (1954), on that of the former Custom
House elementary school. All the above were for
mixed juniors and infants except Custom House,
which was for infants only. Three voluntary schools
were rebuilt: St. Luke's Church (1949), St. Helen's
Roman Catholic (1952), and West Ham Church
(1964). Other primary schools were formed by
reorganizing all-age schools or senior schools.
Secondary schools founded between 1945 and 1965.
The Education Act, 1944, made it possible to convert
the junior departments of the technical college into
separate technical schools. The girls trade school
was rebuilt (1949) as the West Ham technical school
for girls on the Water Lane (Deanery Road) site.
This was renamed Deanery grammar school in
1959, and in 1961 amalgamated with Stratford Green
girls secondary modern school to form Deanery
high school. The school of building and the junior
engineering department were combined to form
the South West Ham technical school for boys in
new buildings (1952) in Barking Road. The commerce and art departments became the North West
Ham technical school. This was housed for a time
in the old North Street schools, before moving, in
1952, to the Queens Road buildings of the former
Russell school. In 1956 it was renamed Lister
technical school.
Two existing schools were rebuilt during this
period: Stratford grammar school (1958) and Forest
Gate secondary modern school (1965), which became
a high school. Other secondary modern schools were
formed by the reorganization of all-age schools or
junior schools.
Special and Nursery schools.
Fyfield truant school,
for boys, at Fyfield, near Chipping Ongar, was
opened by the school board in 1885, and became a
truant and industrial school in 1907. In 1925 it was
converted into an open air school for delicate
children. (fn. 181) It was closed in 1956.
In 1893 the school board opened two temporary
centres for deaf and dumb children, one in the
Workmen's hall, Stratford, the other in the Boyd
institute, Victoria Docks. In 1894 the Stratford
centre was transferred to St. John's school and a
second class added at the Boyd institute. A permanent
centre for the south of the borough, accommodating
44, was opened in 1897 in Frederick Road, Canning
Town. By 1908 there were 31 on the roll, of whom 7
came from outside West Ham. A permanent centre
for the north, with 36 places, was opened in Water
Lane, Stratford, in 1900. These two centres were
closed in 1938, when a new one, for 80 children,
was opened by the council in Tunmarsh Lane,
Plaistow: in 1949 this was renamed West Ham
school for the deaf.
A class for defective children was opened at the
Abbey board school in 1896, and in 1903 a permanent school for 120 mental and physical defectives
was opened in Grange Road, Plaistow. This was
subsequently extended, and by 1925 the attendance
was 185. A craft block was added in 1937. The
school was damaged during the Second World War
and was later reconstructed. In 1949 it was renamed
Elizabeth Fry school. In 1954 it was restricted to
physically handicapped children.
A second school for mental and physical defectives was opened by the borough council in 1920, in
Knox Road, Forest Gate. In 1925 the attendance
was 193. In 1949 the school was renamed the
Gurney school. In 1954 it was restricted to educationally subnormal children. The Knox Road school
was designed for open air teaching, and in 1925 the
Crosby Road open air school was opened on the
same site, with places for 60 delicate girls. In 1932
it was extended to provide also for 30 boys. The
school was closed in 1946, after which all delicate
children were sent to Fyfield until that school closed.
In 1930 the borough council opened two nursery
schools, Edith Kerrison (Sophia Road, Custom
House) and Rebecca Cheetham (Marcus Street).
Others were opened in Osborne Road, Forest Gate
(1949), and Station Street, Stratford (1950). In 1964
the last was transferred to new buildings in Henniker
Road, and renamed Ronald Openshaw.
West Ham College of Technology and West Ham
College of Further Education.
Technical classes were
held for many years at the Great Eastern Railway
mechanics' institution (founded in 1851) and at the
Carpenters' Company institute (founded in 1886). (fn. 182)
In 1890 the county borough council set up a technical instruction committee, and soon after began
to give financial aid to university extension science
classes held at Stratford, Canning Town, and Forest
Gate. These classes drew large audiences, including
many serious students: in 1892 chemistry lectures
at Stratford were attended by about 1,000, of whom
100 were doing written work. (fn. 183) Meanwhile the
council was accumulating its share of the government's 'whisky money', which since 1890 had been
available for purposes of technical education. This
was used to build a technical institute at the Green,
Stratford, opened in 1898 with departments of
science, engineering, art, and a women's department. (fn. 184) The institute was badly damaged by fire in
1899 but reopened in 1900. At first the institute
offered many apprenticeship classes, but as early as
1900 it was also providing courses in science and
engineering recognized by the University of London
for internal degrees. (fn. 185) Shortly before the First World
War junior technical classes were started. In 1921
the institute was renamed the municipal college.
An extension, housing the women's work of the
college, and the girls trade school, was built in Water
Lane in 1936, and in 1938 the adjoining house was
acquired as a science annexe. Both these buildings
were destroyed by bombing in 1940. After the
Second World War the college concentrated on advanced work in science and technology. The junior,
trade, and commercial classes were transferred to
separate technical schools or to the college of further
education. The West Ham college of technology
(thus renamed in 1952) was in 1956 designated by
the government for development as a regional
college. A new science wing was added in 1953–4,
and in 1963 an extension was opened at the Green.
In 1959–60 there were 158 students on full-time
courses and 'sandwich' courses at university level,
of whom 58 per cent came from overseas. By 1964–5
there were 1,003 (48 per cent from overseas).
The buildings of the institute, together with those
of the adjoining central library (1898) and the Passmore Edwards museum (1900) form one of the most
striking architectural groups in West Ham. (fn. 186) They
were all designed by J. G. S. Gibson and S. B.
Russell and executed in bright red brick, lavishly
adorned with sculpture and stone dressings. Various
Renaissance features were introduced in the unorthodox manner typical of the turn of the century.
The symmetrical entrance front of the institute,
facing Romford Road, is the most disciplined
facade. It is divided horizontally at first-floor level
by a deep carved frieze above which is a 9-bay
colonnade framing the clerestory windows of the
great hall. The steep roof is crowned by elaborate
twin lanterns. Lower flanking wings link up with
the museum to the east and with the library, which
lies to the north, facing Water Lane. (fn. 187)
West Ham college of further education was
opened in 1961 in the old North Street school
buildings. It took over from the college of technology the department of commerce and all school-level and intermediate work.
Private schools.
In 1627 Edward Lawford was
licensed to teach a grammar school at West Ham. (fn. 188)
Thomas Pakeman, minister of Stratford Presbyterian
meeting (1687–91), provided a school for poor
children and paid the teacher's salary. (fn. 189) William
Dodd, curate and lecturer of West Ham (1752–66),
conducted a private school for boys at Plaistow. (fn. 190)
About 1800 there was a boys school at Essex House,
North Street, Plaistow. (fn. 191) Stratford House school,
founded about 1820 by John Freeman, was later
for many years in Romford Road, being continued
by his son and grandsons until 1907. (fn. 192) A directory
of 1839 lists 27 private schools in the parish, of
which 12 took boarders. (fn. 193) The school board report
of 1871 revealed the existence of no fewer than 121
private schools, with an average attendance of 14. (fn. 194)
Most of them, as the report emphasises, were dame
schools or nurseries providing little education. Such
schools must have disappeared as the board schools
were built, but there continued to be a demand for
middle-class private schools, especially at Stratford
and Forest Gate. Some 38 schools were listed in a
directory of 1886. (fn. 195) Among them was the Stratford
school of art, Leytonstone Road, under Mrs. Harriet
Taylor. This had existed since 1878 or earlier, (fn. 196)
and apparently continued until about 1890. (fn. 197) In
1896, when an attempt was made to reopen it, the
school was said to have been carried on in connexion
with the government's science and art department. (fn. 198)
Two of the schools listed in 1886 still survived in
1926: Miss Edgington's, in Manbey Park Road,
Stratford, and Miss Ingold's, later called Claremont
college in Claremont Road, Forest Gate. (fn. 199) In 1904
there were 13 private schools in the borough classed
as secondary. (fn. 200) These included Forest Gate collegiate school for girls, Romford Road, founded in 1874,
Forest Gate high school for boys, founded about
1894 in Claremont Road, later in Woodgrange Road
and finally in Earlham Grove, and the associated
Forest Gate high school for girls. Forest Gate
collegiate school was later taken over by Clark's
college: in 1918 this was one of 11 private schools in
the borough recognized by the Board of Education. (fn. 201)
By 1939 hardly any private schools survived.
The Metropolitan Academy of Music.
This
academy originated in 1885, when Harding Bonner,
an associate of J. S. Curwen at the Tonic Sol-Fa
college, Earlham Grove, Forest Gate, started private
classes there. (fn. 202) The college, founded in 1879, moved
to London in 1890, and Bonner then leased the
Earlham Grove premises as the Forest Gate school
of music. In 1897, at his suggestion, the owners
erected the Earlham Hall in front of the original
buildings. By 1904 there were 1,000 pupils, and in
1906 the school was renamed the Metropolitan
academy of music. Harding Bonner (d. 1906) was
succeeded by his son Frank, who greatly expanded
the academy. In 1916 it had 12 branches in Essex
and London and, with a membership of about
2,300, claimed to be the largest musical institution
in Great Britain. There was further expansion after
the First World War, when attendance rose to 5,000
in 1920 and 5,600 in 1921. The academy continued
to flourish until the 1930s but closed during the
Second World War.
Forest Gate Industrial School. (fn. 203)
In 1854 the
Whitechapel poor-law union built an industrial
school in Forest Lane, at a cost, including the site,
of £42,000. In 1869 the Whitechapel union joined
with those of Hackney and Poplar to form the Forest
Gate school district, which took over the school.
Hackney union withdrew from the district board
in 1877 and Whitechapel union in 1897. In 1890
twenty-six boys died in a fire at the school. This
disaster caused similar institutions to review fire
precautions and stimulated interest in 'scattered
homes' instead of 'barrack' schools. Poplar union
continued to maintain the school until 1906, when
the children were transferred to a new school at
Hutton. The buildings were subsequently converted
into Forest Gate hospital. (fn. 204)