Hanwell: Schools

SCHOOLS.

There is no record of any school in Hanwell before 1782, but within a few years before that date two separate attempts were made to provide schooling for the children of the village. The less important of these, for Hanwell, was the foundation by Edward Betham, rector of Greenford, of a school in Greenford to which children from Hanwell were to be admitted. By a scheme of 1876 the rights of Hanwell children in the school were replaced by an annual grant to Hanwell of £20 to provide exhibitions or to support schools in Hanwell itself. (fn. 1)

In 1779 the trustees of Hobbayne's charity began to pay the school fees of a few poor children, who seem to have attended an existing school or schools in Brentford. In 1781 the trustees decided that they would grant £30 a year to a charity school if one could be established, and in the following year the rector, Samuel Glasse, purchased and equipped a house by the church for the purpose. The charity paid £30 towards the initial expenses and continued to support the school and its successors until 1900, when the annual grants made by the trustees were diverted to the provision of exhibitions and grants to children at secondary schools. (fn. 2) The school started with 24 charity pupils, and six more were added in 1790: the master may also have taken some paying pupils in the early years. (fn. 3) The school-house was blown down in a gale in 1800 and was rebuilt on the same site by the rector (the son of the founding rector), who still owned the freehold: (fn. 4) this building survived in 1959 as Rectory Cottage. (fn. 5) It was replaced in 1807 by a new school erected on Hobbayne's charity land on the west side of Halfacre Road: (fn. 6) this no longer exists. The school seems to have been partly supported by subscriptions from the start, but about this time the subscribers appear to have definitely taken over its management, which had before been shared by the rector and the Hobbayne's trustees. (fn. 7) In 1817 a second schoolroom was added, and the school was brought into union with the National Society and thrown open to all the poor children of the parish. (fn. 8) There was a trained master in 1843, (fn. 9) and the school seems first to have received government grants in 1849-50. (fn. 10) In 1852 the rector presented a new site, formerly part of his glebe, (fn. 11) on the corner of Lower Boston Road and Green Lane, and the school was rebuilt here in 1855. (fn. 12) From about 1870, when there were on average some 200 pupils, (fn. 13) the school was almost continually troubled by over-crowding. The dates at which extensions and alterations were made to the buildings include 1871, 1884, and 1895. (fn. 14) In 1886 the rector started a charitable fund which gave the children dinner for 1d. each. This was later stopped, but in 1905 breakfast was being served for a farthing. (fn. 15)

In 1819 there were two schools in the parish, presumably including the National school. (fn. 16) A dissenter was holding a school in the parish in 1821 but he had moved to Ealing by 1824. (fn. 17) A Sunday school seems to have been maintained at the dissenting chapel after he left, however, and was still kept up in 1843. (fn. 18) By 1833 there were six day schools which charged fees and contained some 80 pupils, slightly fewer than then attended the National school. (fn. 19) In 1843, when the National school had over 100 pupils, there were four dame schools (three kept by dissenters) with about 50, and two rather more pretentious and expensive schools. (fn. 20) In 1871 a British day school was started at the Union church, which had just been built to replace the old dissenting chapel. It charged fees of 2d., (fn. 21) probably about the same as those of the National school, and there was a good deal of rivalry, which resulted in a pitched battle between the boys of the two schools in 1880 and continued until both were taken over by the school board. (fn. 22)

The supporters of the National school opposed a school board successfully for some time and the additions made to the school buildings in 1895 were designed to avoid the need for one. (fn. 23) By 1899, however, both schools were overcrowded, the National with 766 pupils and the British with 162, and a board was formed. The minister of the Union church was chairman, and the rector was one of the six other members. Negotiations with both schools were started at once and, after some difficulties, they were both taken over in 1900. (fn. 24) The British school was closed in 1902, though the buildings were used to house temporary council schools in 1904-6 and 1910-11, (fn. 25) and the National school was enlarged by the addition of an iron building in 1901. (fn. 26) In 1902, just before its functions were transferred to the county council, the board opened its own school, St. Ann's in Springfield Road, which took the children from the northern part of the parish. (fn. 27)

A Roman Catholic school had meanwhile been started in 1901 by Sisters of St. Joseph, who had just settled in Lower Boston Road at the invitation of the parish priest. This school was recognized by the Board of Education in 1904 and moved to new and permanent buildings in York Avenue in 1908. (fn. 28)

The county council enlarged the former National school (now called St. Mark's) in 1905, (fn. 29) and opened schools in Oaklands Road in 1906, and in Greenford Avenue in 1911. (fn. 30) In 1926, when Hanwell became part of Ealing, the borough took over the council schools. Just before this, in the same year, St. Mark's had lost its senior pupils, and in the next few years the seniors were also removed from Greenford Avenue (now renamed Hobbayne School) and Oaklands Road (renamed Oaklands), while St. Ann's kept a senior girls' department. (fn. 31) Drayton Manor Grammar School, Drayton Bridge Road, was opened in 1930. The Bordeston senior boys' council school was opened in 1932 and the Cuckoo (renamed Brentside in 1953) junior, senior boys', and infants' schools in 1936, 1937 and 1939 respectively. (fn. 32) A nursery class was held at St. Mark's between 1936 and 1939. (fn. 33) No new schools have been opened since the county council once more took over the management of education under the Act of 1944.

In 1959 St. Joseph's R.C. School contained 464 pupils of all ages. The county primary schools had 1,884 pupils between them, of whom 236 attended St. Mark's, the former National school. The secondary modern schools (Bordeston, Brentside, St. Ann's) had 1,464 pupils, and Drayton Manor Grammar School had 556. (fn. 34)

There were a few private schools in Hanwell during the 19th century, when the village combined a considerable middle-class population with rural surroundings. The chief of these was Hanwell College, kept by the Revd. J. A. Emerton, which was quite well known and specialized in educating boys who were to enter the army. (fn. 35) It seems to have been started in 1832 and had closed fifty years later. (fn. 36) It occupied fairly large buildings where Manor Court Road now joins Church Road. (fn. 37) Hanwell College has been regarded as a continuation of a school kept by the Revd. John Bond earlier in the century, (fn. 38) but no evidence has been found to connect the two. Bond occupied Brent Lodge from 1808 or before until about 1820, and he is known to have kept a school in the parish in 1823. (fn. 39) In 1845, 1851, and 1862 there was a girls' private school in the parish in addition to Hanwell College, and towards the end of the century and in the early 20th century there were generally about three private schools in the parish. (fn. 40) There was one in 1959. (fn. 41)

In 1856 the City of London and St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, together built the Central London District poor law school on the Cuckoo farm estate in the north of the parish. There were sometimes over 1,000 children in the school during the 19th century. For many years the standard of living was very low and ophthalmia was endemic among the pupils. (fn. 42) The buildings were extended at different times, notably about 1894 to accommodate children from the West London District as well. (fn. 43) The school was closed in 1933, (fn. 44) and most of the buildings were demolished. (fn. 45) Among its past pupils is Charles Chaplin, the actor and film-director. (fn. 46)