September sees students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland return to school and college. (The Scottish school year begins in August.) We may not mark the return as exuberantly as the French celebrate la rentrée, but even those long out of school often still experience the Back to School feeling each September.
At the Society of Genealogists, we are celebrating Back to School with a new course in Irish Family History for Beginners & Refreshers . The course covers everything you need to begin exploring your Irish ancestors, including full background on the essential records, where to find them, and how best to use them in your research.
Back to School season may also inspire you to explore your British ancestors’ educational history. Do you know where all your ancestors went to school, or whether they attended college or university? Society members can explore full alumni records and other educational resources from the comfort of home using SoG Data Online. Our Education records collection comprises digitised documents from schools and universities across the UK. These include school registers; annals; admission books; historical accounts; lists of old boys, notable scholars, and alumni; and high school magazines.
This example is a digital copy of the book, Register of the Clergy Orphan School for boys 1751-1896 edited by Mark John Simmonds. Originally published by St Augustine’s College in 1897, a copy is held in the Society’s Library (accession 20008).
As well as reproducing the register of attendee boys, the book provides an introduction to the history of the Clergy Orphan School for Boys of St Johns Wood’s in London and Canterbury, Kent. The book explains that “About the middle of the eighteenth century an endeavour was made to help the necessitous orphans of clergymen. The Corporation for the Relief of Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen and The Stewards of the Feast of the Sons of the Clergy gave aid to the widows and elder children of clergymen, but there was no provision made for children who were too young to be apprenticed, A society was formed in 1749 ‘for Maintaining and Educating poor Orphans of Clergymen until of age to put apprentice.’ ” The school began in Yorkshire in 1751. In 1804, the school moved to Acton in west London, and from there to St John’s Wood and then Canterbury in Kent.
In the below example from the Register of the Clergy Orphan School for February 1817, we can see that William Guinard Gower was registered as a pupil at the school. He was a son of Henry Hesketh Gower, Clergyman of Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire (Oxford). William had been born in April 1806.
A footnote reveals that William graduated from Magdalen Hall, Oxford in 1832.
Using this information, we can find out more about William’s life and family history by next consulting the digital copy of Alumni Oxonienses: The members of the University of Oxford 1500-1714 (Early series)and 1715-1886 (Late Series); their parentage, birthplace and year of birth, with a record of their degrees by Joseph Foster (James Parker, 1891; Society’ of Genealogists’ Library accession 24834 etc.) on SoG Data Online.
This gives us the exact date of William’s matriculation in 1832 (10 February), suggests that William’s middle name was ‘Guinand’ rather than ‘Guinard’, and tells us that he had two brothers: Anthony H. and John Alexander.
These brief entries can thus be useful in helping us build a genealogy and provide clues to further research.
The Clergy Orphan School has changed considerably over the years but continues as a school today in Canterbury.
Sources:
- Register of the Clergy Orphan School for boys 1751-1896 edited by Mark John Simmonds (St Augustine’s College, 1897); Collection of the Society of Genealogists/ SoG Data Online
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