Leyton: Education and charities

EDUCATION.

A school board was formed for Leyton in 1874. At that time there were two schools in the parish, at Leyton and Leytonstone, but 1,128 more places were needed. (fn. 1) Between 1874 and 1903 the board opened 12 schools (including one temporary), took over one National school (the other being closed), and started a pupil teacher centre. In the same period the Roman Catholics opened a school. Cann Hall lay outside the area of the Leyton school board, (fn. 2) but its children crowded the board's school at Harrow Green. In 1880, after complaints from Leyton, Wanstead formed a school board, (fn. 3) which built four schools in Cann Hall before 1903.

Under the Education Act (1902) Leyton U.D.C. became a 'Part III' authority, responsible for elementary education throughout the whole district, including Cann Hall. (fn. 4) It opened three more elementary schools before the First World War. Secondary education, for which the county became responsible, was already being provided at the technical institute, which had been opened by the U.D.C. in 1896 and had been offering mixed day classes since 1898. The county continued both the evening and day departments of the institute, a private school was recognized as a girls secondary day-school (1905), and the pupil teacher centre became a mixed secondary school. A new high school for all the girls opened in 1911. The boys remained in two high schools until these were amalgamated in 1916. In that year also a junior technical day-school was opened.

In 1919 there were 20 elementary schools (including one Roman Catholic school) in Leyton, with 23,557 places; four of them had overflowed into temporary premises. (fn. 5) The oldest school was closed in 1923, and in 1925–6 two schools were reorganized as selective central schools. Two special schools were opened in 1927. In 1932 the council's elementary schools were reorganized on the lines of the Hadow report, one new school being built. (fn. 6) The technical institute was closed in 1938, when the South-West Essex technical college opened.

During the Second World War Leyton was an evacuation area; schools were dispersed as far as Wales; (fn. 7) those which reopened for returning children did so under emergency and often improvised conditions. (fn. 8)

Under the Education Act (1944) the borough became an excepted district within the county's system of divisional administration. (fn. 9) In 1948 the schools were reorganized to provide 2 secondary (grammar) schools, 6 secondary (modern) schools, and 10 (including 1 non-provided) primary schools. (fn. 10) In 1950 a mixed technical school was added, in 1954 a new primary school, and in 1956 a seventh secondary (modern) school. Of the original 6 modern schools, 5 had been built in 1894–1904. Shortage of land precluded rebuilding these on new sites, but between 1956 and 1964 all 6 were enlarged, as were the two high schools. (fn. 11) In 1957 most schools were renamed, usually by omitting the word 'Road'. (fn. 12) In 1959 an infants school was closed and its buildings taken over for maladjusted children.

In the following chronological sections the school accounts, which are taken up to 1965, are arranged according to the date of original foundation. (fn. 13) They do not attempt to detail temporary wartime arrangements, 1939–45; these can sometimes be traced in the education committee's reports to the council, and in records of individual schools.

Elementary schools founded before 1874.

Robert Ozler, by will proved 1698, left £300 to build within 7 years a free school for 7 children from Leyton and 7 from Walthamstow, together with £12 a year to pay a master to teach reading and writing. (fn. 14) In 1705, no school having been built, Ozler's executor agreed with the vestry to pay the £12 to Mr. Philips, the master of a private school, to whom several free scholars were thenceforward sent. (fn. 15) In 1709 a Chancery decree authorized the purchase of a house and land in the High Road for £270 for the school, and £12 a year, charged on Black Marsh farm, to pay the master. (fn. 16) The school opened in 1710 in a thatched cottage, with Philips as master. In the same year £10 left to the poor by Nathaniel Tench was used towards the conversion of the building. (fn. 17) Rules drawn up by the trustees in 1710 restricted the free places to boys. The master was allowed to take private pupils. In 1726 the Leyton vestry ruled that Walthamstow should share the cost of repairs. (fn. 18) About 1764 a larger school was built by subscription. This was rebuilt after a fire in 1779, the cost being met mainly from the poor-rates of the two parishes. The master then agreed to take 10 boys from each parish, (fn. 19) but in 1800 the number was reduced to the original 7. By 1808 the school had fallen into disrepute. There were only two free scholars, and the master was running a private girls boarding school; he was arrested for debt in 1810. Under his successor the school recovered. In 1813 William Bosanquet left £200 in trust to buy books, pens, and stationery. By 1818 all the free places were occupied. (fn. 20) In 1846 the school was demolished and the trustees joined with those of Leyton National school to build a new one, for girls as well as boys, on the same site. (fn. 21)

In 1787 churchmen resolved to open a Sunday school (fn. 22) and in 1791 a schoolroom was built for it in the yard of the free school. (fn. 23) This schoolroom was used also for a girls school of industry opened in 1794 for 30 girls, and supported by subscription. (fn. 24) In 1797–1801 the mistress of the girls school was being paid for stockings and linen supplied to the workhouse. (fn. 25) A house was built for the mistress in 1815. (fn. 26) In 1834 the mistress was paying £5 5s. rent to the free school master for the girls school and house. (fn. 27) The school still existed in 1839. (fn. 28)

Leyton National school originated in 1816, when Samuel Bosanquet leased to trustees a corner of Lawyer's field in James Lane, to be used for this purpose. (fn. 29) The school was established in 1819. In 1820 there were 136 pupils; attendances were maintained until 1833, but fell thereafter, to 81 by 1846–7, when the master and mistress were paid £75 and £55 respectively. (fn. 30) In 1847 the school united with the Ozler free school, and a new mixed school was built by subscription on the free school site, with houses for master and mistress; a wooden building near by served for the infants. (fn. 31) From 1854 the school had a share of the income from the commoners' compensation from the waterworks company, (fn. 32) but the same year the Ozler income was apportioned between the Leyton and Leytonstone National schools. The apportionment was amended in 1856, when the rents from the parish's high street cottages were also applied to support both schools. (fn. 33)

By 1863 there were 140 boys and girls and 90 infants; fees were graded 1d. to 4d. a week. (fn. 34) Grant aid was received by 1865. (fn. 35) By 1874 there were no free scholars, (fn. 36) but attendances were increasing rapidly. In 1877 the infants school was rebuilt and the boys and girls departments enlarged by subscription, with help from the National Society, to provide 425 places. In the 1880s Hibbert family legacies enabled more improvements to be made, (fn. 37) but further enlargement in the 1890s left the trustees deep in debt. In 1900 they transferred the school at a nominal rent to the school board, while the charity's income was applied to repayment of the debt. (fn. 38) The school, which then became known as High Road school, was closed in 1903, but reopened by the council in 1904 as a temporary mixed school. (fn. 39) It finally closed in 1923. (fn. 40) In 1925 the land and premises were returned to the trustees, and sold soon after. Ozler's £12 rent-charge was redeemed in 1922. In 1930 the scheme governing the Ozler foundation was amended by Board of Education order. The charity's assets were invested and shared between Leyton and Walthamstow. Thenceforward the Leyton income was applied to religious instruction and educational awards. (fn. 41) The school buildings are now (1968) occupied by several small factories.

Leytonstone National schools were founded by 1815. (fn. 42) The schools, usually attended by about 100 boys and girls, (fn. 43) stood in the yard of the Leytonstone chapel of ease. (fn. 44) In 1835 the schools were pulled down, the chapel itself converted into schools, and houses built for the master and mistress. (fn. 45) Paid monitors were assisting in 1846–7. (fn. 46) The schools received a share of parish educational charity funds from 1854 (fn. 47) and annual grants by 1872. (fn. 48) About 1874 they were attended by Timah and Shumah, the African bearers who accompanied David Livingstone's body back to England after his death in 1873. (fn. 49) The schools closed soon after 1876, with the opening of Kirkdale Road board school. (fn. 50) The building, later known as the Assembly Rooms, was demolished in 1938. (fn. 51)

A British school for girls at Leytonstone was listed in directories from 1855 until 1870. (fn. 52) It adjoined the Independent chapel. (fn. 53)

Elementary schools founded between 1874 and 1903.

The schools in this section, unless otherwise stated, were opened by the Leyton school board. (fn. 54) When classes started in the calendar year before any formal opening, the earlier date is given.

Kirkdale Road board school was opened in 1876 with places for 500. By 1891 it had been enlarged to twice that capacity. After it was condemned in 1929 the seniors and juniors were moved to temporary buildings in Connaught Road. Part of Kirkdale Road was reconstructed and reopened for infants in 1932; the rest became education offices in 1936. After a rocket severely damaged the buildings in 1945, the school carried on in two classrooms at Connaught Road school until 1948, when it closed. (fn. 55) The education offices were restored.

Church Mead junior mixed and infants schools. Church Road board school was opened in 1877 (fn. 56) for 540 and by 1891 had been enlarged to twice that capacity. In 1913 new buildings were opened for the girls and infants. The school was reorganized in 1932 for senior girls, (fn. 57) junior girls and infants, in 1942 for senior girls, junior mixed, and infants, and in 1948 for junior mixed and infants only.

Harrow Green board school was built on 1 a. of Small Gains, the parish's copyhold charity land, (fn. 58) granted to the board in 1874 in return for payment of the fees to enfranchise the whole piece. (fn. 59) The school, opened in 1877, was enlarged twice by 1882, increasing its capacity from 565 to 1,200. In 1929 it was condemned and remodelled in 1932 as an infants school. It closed in 1935.

Cann Hall junior mixed and infants schools. Cann Hall Road board school was opened by the Wanstead school board in 1882. It was reorganized in 1932 for senior and junior boys and infants, in 1940 for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants, and in 1948 for junior mixed and infants.

Newport junior mixed and infants schools. Newport Road board school was opened in 1883 for 1,040; by 1898, after extension, it was accommodating 1,854. (fn. 60) It was reorganized in 1932 for senior and junior boys and infants, in 1942 for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants, and in 1948 for junior mixed and infants only. It was again enlarged in 1952. (fn. 61)

Downsell junior mixed and infants schools. Downsell Road board school was opened by the Wanstead school board in 1887. It was reorganized in 1932 for senior and junior boys and infants, but the senior boys were discontinued in 1942.

Mayville junior mixed and infants schools. Mayville Road board school, opened in 1889, was reorganized in 1932 for senior and junior girls and infants, in 1942 for senior girls, junior mixed, and infants, and in 1948 for junior mixed and infants.

Lea Bridge primary school. Lea Bridge Road board school, opened in 1892 as a mixed school, was very small; only 157 children were attending in 1898; in 1919 it had room for 286. From 1932 it became an infants school only. It became an annexe to Sybourn Street school in 1958–9 and was discontinued in 1959.

Ruckholt Road board school was opened in 1892. In 1926–7 the upper departments became a central school. In 1928 the juniors and infants were merged as an infants department, and in 1929 they were dispersed to other schools; their rooms were taken over by the central school.

Trumpington Road board school, opened by the Wanstead school board in 1894, was reorganized in 1932 for senior girls, junior mixed, and infants, and about 1940 for senior mixed and infants. In 1948 it became a mixed secondary (modern) school, renamed Lake House in 1957. An extension was completed in 1959. (fn. 62)

Goodall Road board school was opened in 1895 in temporary buildings, with boys only. The permanent school, completed in 1900, (fn. 63) was for boys, girls, and infants. It was reorganized in 1932 for senior girls, junior girls, and infants, and in 1940 for senior mixed and infants. In 1948 it became a mixed secondary (modern) school and was enlarged and modernized in 1959–60. (fn. 64)

Capworth Street board school was opened in 1896. It was reorganized in 1932 for senior girls, junior mixed, and infants. In 1948 it became a secondary (modern) school for girls, renamed Leyton Manor in 1957. In 1962 building extensions were completed. (fn. 65)

Connaught Road (temporary) mixed school, which opened in 1900, was discontinued in 1904.

High Road (temporary) mixed school, formerly Leyton National school, is dealt with under that school.

Farmer Road board school opened as a temporary mixed school in 1900. The permanent school for boys, girls, and infants was completed in 1903. (fn. 66) It was reorganized in 1932 for senior boys, junior boys, and infants, and in 1942 for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants. In 1948 it became a secondary (modern) school for boys, and in 1957 was renamed George Mitchell after an old pupil awarded the V.C. in the Second World War.

Cobbold Road board school, opened by the Wanstead school board in 1900, was reorganized in 1925 as the Tom Hood central school. It was built on the site of Wood House, Cann Hall.

Davies junior mixed and infants schools. Davies Lane board school, opened in 1901, (fn. 67) was reorganized in 1932 for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants, and in 1948 for junior mixed and infants.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic junior mixed and infants schools. St. Agnes Roman Catholic 'poor school' was established about 1874 at Leyton House (renamed Park House). In 1882 it was a mixed school combined with an orphanage. (fn. 68) St. Joseph's (R.C.) non-provided mixed school in Vicarage Road was opened in 1900, and the orphanage closed soon after. (fn. 69) The upper floor of the new school was used as a temporary chapel until 1904. (fn. 70) The school was reorganized for juniors and infants in 1948 and became aided in 1950. (fn. 71) An extension was opened in 1959. (fn. 72)

Elementary schools founded between 1903 and 1945.

The Sybourn junior mixed and infants schools. Sybourn Street council school opened as a mixed school in temporary buildings in 1903. The permanent building was completed in 1910 (fn. 73) for senior mixed, junior mixed, and infants. In 1919 there were still 300 pupils in the temporary building. The school was reorganized for boys, girls, and infants in 1925–6 (when new infants premises were built), (fn. 74) for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants in 1932, and for junior mixed and infants in 1948.

Norlington Road council school for boys, girls, and infants opened in 1904. In 1932 it was reorganized for senior girls, junior girls, and infants. In 1940 the school was badly damaged by bombs. The junior department became mixed in 1942. In 1948 the school became a secondary (modern) school for boys. Extensions were completed in 1964. (fn. 75)

The Barclay junior mixed and infants schools originated in Canterbury Road council school. This opened in 1908 in temporary premises with infants only; by 1909 junior mixed were also attending; the permanent school for mixed and infants was completed in 1910. (fn. 76) It was enlarged and reorganized in 1914–15 for boys, girls, and infants, but the boys remained in temporary accommodation in St. Andrew's and St. Paul's church halls until 1924, when a new building was opened for them. The school was enlarged in 1929–31, (fn. 77) reorganized for senior boys, junior mixed, and infants in 1932, and for junior mixed and infants in 1948. An extension was completed in 1952. (fn. 78)

Connaught Road school, opened in 1932, was built for senior girls and junior mixed departments. The junior mixed department closed in 1948. (fn. 79)

Secondary and senior schools founded before 1945.

Leyton high school originated in 1898, when the U.D.C., assisted by the county council, opened a mixed day-school of science in the technical institute. It became a county secondary school under the 1902 Act and in 1905 had 201 pupils, over 65 per cent of them from public elementary schools. (fn. 80) The girls were transferred in 1911 to a new girls high school in Colworth Road (fn. 81) and the boys in 1916 to Leytonstone high school. (fn. 82)

Leytonstone high school originated as a pupil teacher centre established by Leyton school board in 1900, and based first on Goodall Road school, then on Davies Lane. In 1905, when there were 95 pupils, it was transferred to temporary buildings at Connaught Road, rented by the county council from the Leyton education committee, where it became a mixed secondary school, recognized in 1907. In 1911 the girls were transferred to the new girls high school, and from 1916, when it was joined by the boys from Leyton high school, it became known as Leyton high school for boys. (fn. 83)

Elson House girls high school in Wallwood Road, founded in 1884 as a private school, was placed in 1905 under a representative board of management, and recognized by the board of education as a secondary school. County scholarships were tenable at the school. In 1905 there were 180 pupils, 2.8 per cent of them from public elementary schools. (fn. 84) In 1909–10 the school was taken over by the county to be amalgamated with the new girls high school which opened in 1911. (fn. 85) Elson House preparatory department continued as a private school until 1967, when it was compulsorily closed. (fn. 86)

Leyton high school for girls, Colworth Road, opened in 1911, with the girls from the two mixed high schools, and from Elson House. The first headmistress was the founder of Elson House. The redbrick building, in a 17th-century domestic style, was designed by W. Jacques. (fn. 87) A new wing was opened in 1932, and in 1933 a swimming bath for which the school itself raised the money. Further extensions were completed in 1957. (fn. 88)

Leyton high school for boys, formed in 1916 by amalgamation of Leyton and Leytonstone high schools, occupied temporary premises at Connaught Road until 1929, when it moved to new buildings in Essex Road. It was enlarged in 1934–5 and again in 1957. (fn. 89)

Tom Hood secondary technical (commercial) school. Tom Hood mixed selective central school, named after the poet, who lived near by in Wanstead, (fn. 90) was opened in 1925 in the former Cobbold Road elementary school. It was enlarged in 1932. It was closed during the Second World War, but reopened in 1950 as a mixed secondary (technical) school with a commercial bias. A major reconstruction of the school was completed in 1954. (fn. 91)

Ruckholt selective central school was established in 1926–7 in part of Ruckholt Road elementary school, with separate girls (1926) and boys (1927) departments. From 1929, when the remaining infants were dispersed, it occupied the whole premises. In 1936 the school became mixed. Selective entry was discontinued from 1940, and the school, in an evacuation camp, closed in 1943. In 1940 bombing demolished most of the original building. (fn. 92)

Connaught Road senior girls school was the only senior school built in Leyton between the two world wars. Built under the 1929–32 reorganization programme, on the site vacated by the boys high school, it opened in 1932. In 1948 it became a secondary (modern) school for girls, taking over the adjoining premises of the former junior mixed department. Extensions were built in 1960–1 and 1964. (fn. 93)

The other 13 senior schools established in 1932, all single-sex, used parts of existing elementary schools: the boys were at Cann Hall Road, Canterbury Road, Davies Lane, Downsell Road, Farmer Road, Newport Road, and Sybourn Street; the girls were at Capworth Street, Church Road, Goodall Road, Mayville Road, Norlington Road, and Trumpington Road. (fn. 94)

Primary schools founded between 1945 and 1965.

In the 1948 reorganization 8 elementary schools became primary schools for junior mixed and infants: Cann Hall Road, Canterbury Road, Church Road, Davies Lane, Downsell Road, Mayville Road, Newport Road, and Sybourn Street. The George Tomlinson junior mixed and infants school, Harrington Road, named after the Minister of Education, was opened in 1954. (fn. 95)

Secondary schools founded between 1945 and 1965.

Six secondary (modern) schools were established in 1948 in existing elementary and senior school buildings. Goodall Road and Trumpington Road (Lake House) were mixed; Capworth Street (Leyton Manor) and Connaught Road were for girls; and Farmer Road (George Mitchell) and Norlington Road for boys. In 1950 Tom Hood central school reopened as a mixed technical school. In 1956 Ruckholt Manor (Ruckholt central rebuilt) was opened as a third mixed secondary (modern) school. (fn. 96)

Special schools.

Harrow Green school for educationally subnormal children originated as the Knotts Green school for mentally defective children opened in 1927. (fn. 97) In 1948 the school moved to new buildings on the site of the former Harrow Green infants school. (fn. 98)

Knotts Green open air school for physically defective children was opened in 1927. (fn. 99) In 1955 it was discontinued when the premises, renamed Leyton Green school in 1957, became an annexe to the Harrow Green school for educationally subnormal children. (fn. 100)

Lea Bridge day-school for maladjusted children opened in 1959 for juniors in the former Lea Bridge infants school. (fn. 101) Senior children were later admitted. (fn. 102)

Technical education.

In 1891 the Leyton local board set up a technical instruction committee. Evening classes started the same year in the town hall and schools. Within a year there were 694 students attending. A technical institute, built with the new town hall, was opened in 1896. (fn. 103) In 1898 a day-school was established in the institute, recognized after 1902 as a secondary school. (fn. 104) By 1914, in addition to evening classes in commercial subjects, day and evening classes were being held in arts and crafts. (fn. 105) The secondary school moved out in 1916. In its place, later in the year, a day engineering and trade school opened with 95 pupils. (fn. 106) By 1928 this was providing full-time three-year courses for boys over 12. (fn. 107) In the 1930s the institute was recognized for national certificate courses in chemistry (1931), building (1931), mechanical engineering (1932), and electrical engineering (1933). By 1934 there were 2,134 students, and 424 full-time pupils in the junior technical and art schools. A survey of technical education in 1929 had found the institute unsuitable for future expansion. Negotiations for a new site in Leyton having proved fruitless, a site was found in Walthamstow. (fn. 108) The Leyton institute closed in 1938 when classes started at the new South West Essex technical college. The institute building became an extension to the town hall.

In 1922 E. J. Davis left to the local education authority a freehold house and grounds, called Broomhill, in Vicarage Road, for use as the Davis homecraft institute; he also endowed school prizes and domestic prizes for the best-kept houses in the district. Practical domestic courses for girls from local schools started in 1923. Since the 1950s the institute has been known as the Davis housecraft centre. (fn. 109)

Industrial schools.

Bethnal Green Union industrial school was established at Leytonstone House in 1868 by the Bethnal Green poor-law guardians, and closed about 1932. From about 1910 the children over 8 years attended Leyton council schools. (fn. 110)

The Good Shepherd children's industrial home originated as a children's home and laundry founded by Miss Agnes Cotton in 1865 in Forest Place, Leytonstone. (fn. 111) In 1876 she bought the estate in Davies Lane once owned by Mary Bosanquet, (fn. 112) including the house built by Daniel van Mildert, (fn. 113) which she renamed The Pastures. In 1879 she built in the grounds, on the site once occupied by Mary Bosanquet's house, the Home of the Good Shepherd, with a school-house, chapel, laundry and infirmary. By previous arrangement, on her death in 1899, the home was taken over by the Clewer Sisters of the Anglican Community of St. John the Baptist, Clewer (Berks.). It closed about 1940 when the children were evacuated, and was not reopened after the Second World War. (fn. 114)

Private schools and colleges.

Hugh Williams, a minister sequestered from a Norfolk living, was keeping a school in Capworth Street in 1656. (fn. 115) Philip Anderton, vicar of Leyton from 1651, taught a school after his ejection in 1662. (fn. 116) In 1702 John Hewit was teaching a Latin boarding school at Leytonstone. (fn. 117) In 1705 he asked John Strype's approval for a licence to teach and to serve as curate. (fn. 118) He was author of a poem, 'Leightonstone Air', and taught the naturalist George Edwards. (fn. 119) The entry of his burial at Leyton in 1728 describes him as 'schoolmaster'. (fn. 120) Another private school conducted in the early 18th century, by Mr. Philips, has been mentioned above. (fn. 121) Mark Davis, a Methodist, kept a school in Mary Bosanquet's house in Davies Lane for several years, after she left in 1768. (fn. 122)

Leytonstone academy, a boys boarding school, was started in 1765 by John Coulthist (d. 1784) in a house called Andrews; he added a schoolroom and playing fields. In 1785 the school was taken over by William Emblin, who transferred to it his own school from Bow (Mdx.). Hebrew, classical, and modern languages, history, geography, navigation, and merchants' accounts, were taught by the 'most lenient methods'. Emblin died in 1802; his successor was a professor from a royal military college in France. In 1812 the boarding fees were 30 guineas a year. Though reinforced in 1819 by the pupils from Bath House academy, Muswell Hill (Mdx.), the school closed in 1821. The building, later known as Royal Lodge, was burned down in 1878. (fn. 123)

A boarding school at the Assembly House, Forest Place, Leytonstone, is shown on a map of 1777 (fn. 124) and also mentioned in 1798. (fn. 125) The schools run there by William and Georgiana Morris, listed in directories from 1839 to 1863, followed by the Misses Medlicott and Norris from 1867 to 1874, (fn. 126) were probably in the new Assembly House. (fn. 127)

Leyton college, claiming foundation in 1827, (fn. 128) was conducted at Walnut Tree House (Essex Hall), c. 1870–86. It took about 40 boarders and 100 day boys; George Westfield was principal for 42 years. It closed by 1890. (fn. 129)

Salway House college, in Leyton High Road, (fn. 130) a boarding school for boys, was founded about 1832. (fn. 131) An engraving shows the school in 1840. (fn. 132) Under Dr. J. R. Aldom, principal 1851–85, (fn. 133) it was described in 1855 as 'commercial and mathematical'. (fn. 134) Aldom was a prominent Wesleyan and his pupils were regularly marched to Knotts Green chapel, of which he was a trustee. (fn. 135) For some years after 1870 Aldom also ran Cambridge House girls school, in Lea Hall, Capworth Street. (fn. 136) Some time after his death in 1886, and by 1905, a successor moved the boys school to Fillebrook Road, renaming it Salway college. It closed in 1912. (fn. 137) Cambridge House closed about 1890. (fn. 138)

Between 1839 and 1867 the number of private schools in the parish listed in directories rose only from 3 to 5, including a short-lived grammar school built in Grange Park Road in 1866, but by 1870 there were 12. (fn. 139) The demand for schooling created by the population growth of the 1870s, is shown by the existence in 1876 of a school in a small cottage attended by 88 children from 3 to 13 years, where there was 'not sitting and barely standing room and the utmost disorder prevailed'. (fn. 140)

The heyday of the private schools came with the peak growth of the 1880s; by 1882 there were 23. In 1890 of 21 listed 14 were in Leytonstone. (fn. 141) Many were short-lived, though Leytonstone College for boys in Fillebrook Road, founded in 1883, survived until the late 1920s. (fn. 142) By 1906, with increasing public provision for education, the number had fallen to 13; in 1914 there were still 15, but by 1926 only 8. (fn. 143)

Henry Green Scholarships.

In 1935 Henry Green bequeathed £10,000 to the Leyton education authority to maintain 2 scholars from the council's schools at Oxford, Cambridge, or London universities. (fn. 144) In 1945 the Ministry of Education ruled that the endowment should not be transferred to the Essex county council under the 1944 Act. (fn. 145)

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.

The parish benefited from a number of small dole charities, the earliest dating from 1584, and from Smith's almshouses, built in 1653–6, which later attracted a number of endowments. (fn. 146) In 1818 the average annual income from the charities for the poor was said to be £116. (fn. 147) In 1854 the charity income, and the tenancies of the alms-houses, were apportioned between Leyton and Leytonstone according to population. The proportions were revised in 1856. (fn. 148) By a scheme of 1929 all the alms-house and dole charities were combined as the Leyton United Charities. (fn. 149) Their total income in 1967 was £241. (fn. 150)

The United Charities.

Alms-house Charities.

John Smith, by will dated 1653, devised land in trust to pay annually 50s. each to 8 inmates of almshouses then being built by him in Leyton; the will was proved in 1655. The houses were completed in 1656 (fn. 151) west of the church in Church Road. In 1659 the trustees granted to Thomas Haford, one of Smith's executors, part of Hughes farm, Leyton, subject to a rent-charge of £20, which for many years constituted the charity's main endowment. (fn. 152) The alms-houses were extensively repaired in 1739 by subscriptions aided from the poor-rate, (fn. 153) and again in 1790 at the expense of William Bosanquet. (fn. 154) In 1840 £200 was subscribed to endow a repair fund. (fn. 155) In 1885 the houses were rebuilt with the aid of £2,000 from the Hibbert family, who had for long been the owners of Hughes Farm. Before rebuilding the alms-houses consisted of a singlestoreyed brick range with lattice casements and a small central gable; the front had been partly obscured by later porches and outhouses. The new single-storey range was of flint with stone dressings, designed in a Tudor style by Richard Creed. (fn. 156)

The alms-house rules of 1711 provided for the admission of men or women, but by 1818 all the inmates were women. From the middle of the 18th century the alms-houses received a succession of endowments, mostly to provide stipends or gifts in kind for the alms-women. In 1739 Richard Jefferys left £155 to pay each of the alms-people £1 2s. 6d. a year until the capital was exhausted. The almshouse income was permanently augmented in 1747, when Charles Phillips, Turkey merchant, gave £12 rent, charged on lands in Mayland and Steeple, for the alms-people. (fn. 157) By 1927 this had been commuted for £400 stock. Also in 1747 John Phillips gave £6 rent charged on a house in Dover Street, London, to buy 2 chaldrons of coal to be given to the almspeople, any surplus to be distributed to them in cash. William Bosanquet (d. 1813) left £300 stock to the alms-houses. They also received £300 from Thomas Lane in 1817, (fn. 158) £200 from Magdalen Daubuz in 1818, £250 from Catherine Moyer in 1827, and £120 from Mary Bertie in 1832. In 1834 each of the alms-women was receiving 3s. 6d. a week, 6 sacks of coal a year, and 2s. 6d. a year from Archer's charity. In 1848 the alms-house income was £86. (fn. 159) The alms-houses received further gifts of £500 from Sarah Hibbert in 1884, £500 from Louisa and Emma Graham in 1886, and £500 from George Hibbert in 1887. (fn. 160) In 1967 their total income was £98 from £3,265 stock, and £6 from John Phillips's rent charge (Champion's Gift). (fn. 161)

Distributive Charities.

Henry Archer, by will dated 1584, left 20s. rent charged on his estate at Coopersale, in Theydon Garnon, to be distributed to the poor at Whitsuntide. By 1834 it was being given to the alms-women. By 1927 the rent-charge had been commuted for £40 stock.

Robert Rampston, by will proved 1585, gave 20s. rent charged on Stone Hall, Little Canfield, for weekly bread. It was still being paid in 1967. (fn. 162)

In 1702 Sir William Hicks bequeathed £50 to the poor. In 1707 Lady Hicks added £10, and the combined sum was used to buy a 3½-acre copyhold field called Small Gains adjoining Grove Green, the rent to be spent on bread for the poor. The income was £3 in 1713 (fn. 163) and £16 in 1834. In 1874 1 a. was sold to the school board to raise £250 to enfranchise the whole field. (fn. 164) The remaining land was let in 1877 on a 99-year building lease, at a ground rent of £75, and by 1906 was covered by houses fronting Lascelles, Florence, and Cathall Roads. In 1929 the charity was included in the scheme and the income applied to the benefit of the alms-houses. The estate was sold in 1956 for £4,750, most of which was invested in an accumulating account to provide an endowment. (fn. 165)

The Inhabitants' charity was accumulated mainly from money paid to the parish for the poor from 1766 onwards, in return for permission to inclose forest waste. (fn. 166) John Ives added £100 to the fund by his will proved 1821. (fn. 167) In 1834 the total stood at £550 stock and the income of £16 10s. was given in weekly bread to the poor. In 1887 Thomas Turner by will left £29 stock to be added to the parish bread fund. (fn. 168) The total income in 1967 was £14 9s. 4d. (fn. 169)

James Holbrook, by deed dated 1805, gave onethird of a rent of £117 charged on property in Marsh Street, Walthamstow, for bread for distribution to aged and infirm poor. The income in 1967 was £22 18s. 3d. (fn. 170)

Charles Smith, by will proved 1845, left £100, the income to be divided among the poor at Christmas. The income in 1967 was £2 8s. 4d. (fn. 171)

Louisa Hall, by will proved 1868, left £500 stock, the income to maintain the tomb of her father, William Hall, in Leyton churchyard, the surplus being distributed among the poor. The income in 1967 was £12 10s. (fn. 172)

The George Westgate and Good Intent Hospital Gifts originated separately. George Westgate, by will proved 1925, left £100 to the Nurses' training home, Beachcroft Road, for the Leytonstone poor. In 1952 the fund was transferred by the county council to the charity trustees to assist the sick poor of Leytonstone or sick alms-persons. In 1957 £134 standing to the credit of the Good Intent Hospital Aid Society, which had been wound up, was transferred by the registrar of friendly societies to the charity trustees. The two funds were combined and invested in 1957. The income in 1967 was £7 18s. (fn. 173)

Other Charities.

George Hibbert, by will proved 1894, gave £1,000 in trust for the poor; this was invested in stock, and is known as the Hibbert benevolent fund. The income in 1927 was £28. The fund is usually distributed in doles at Christmas. (fn. 174)

Under the will of Edward Jones (d. 1917) a trust on behalf of Leyton came into effect in 1947, to preserve the fabric and churchyard of St. Mary's parish church, to augment the stipends of the curates of St. Mary's, and for the benefit of the almswomen. The capital, which is held by the diocese, is invested in shares bought at a cost of £4,700. The income of about £255 a year is distributed by the parochial church council in proportions agreed with the diocese. (fn. 175)