Stoke Newington: Education

Education

William Patten built a schoolhouse on the western end of the church aisle which he built in 1563. (fn. 14) In 1664 Thomas Stock bequeathed the rent from one of his houses for educating five poor children. (fn. 15) From 1682 there were seats in the church reserved for schoolchildren, including those taught by the assistant curate John Price in 1712. (fn. 16) The vestry made payments to individuals for teaching parish children from 1707 (fn. 17) and in 1728 agreed to establish a charity school to clothe and educate 6 boys and 6 girls. (fn. 18) By 1784 the vestry had appointed and paid a master and mistress to teach 10 boys and 8 girls. (fn. 19) The school was endowed by the charities of Thomas Thompson (1729), John Newman (1730), George Green (1764), Mary Hammond (1774), and Sarah Bowles (1788), although the income was not always applied according to the benefactors' wishes. (fn. 20)

In 1789 a vestry committee reported that the school received £21 a year from the charities and £17 from the church rates. It considered that the school was ineffectual and it recommended the establishment of a school of 15 boys and 10 girls, funded by subscriptions and managed by a committee. (fn. 21) By 1795 endowment, voluntary contributions, and collections made at charity sermons provided for teaching 15 boys and 12 girls. (fn. 22) In 1819 there were 30 boys and 25 girls clothed and, with another 40 children, educated in a schoolhouse on the south side of Church Street, where the master and mistress lived. (fn. 23) In 1830 trustees leased a site north of Church Street, entered from Barn Street, where a National school, St. Mary's parochial school, opened in 1831. (fn. 24)

Dissenting ladies established a charity school c. 1790 where 14 girls were clothed and educated, supported by voluntary contributions and charity sermons at the meeting house. (fn. 25) The Sunday School society, which was founded in 1802, opened Sunday schools at Kingsland and Newington in that year and at Clapton in 1805. In 1808 they were replaced by a building at the southern tip of Stoke Newington, which opened in 1809 as a day school and developed into a British school using Lancasterian methods. (fn. 26) In 1820 both schools apparently survived, together with a Quaker school for girls, which was supported by the sale of their needlework. (fn. 27) In addition several (presumably private) day and boarding schools were mentioned in 1819, when the poor were said to have sufficient means of education. (fn. 28)

The Quaker girls' school of 1820 may have been the cottage school established by William Allen on his estate in Lordship Road, to which he alluded in 1823. Allen, interested in the Lancasterian system, supported the Quaker girls' boarding school founded in 1824 and also an infants' school in Stoke Newington, (fn. 29) although the latter may have been the school at Newington common in Hackney, which had moved to High Street by 1845. (fn. 30) Allen's school was mentioned in 1832 (fn. 31) and was presumably one of the five day schools, which included the parish school and boarding schools, where 142 boys and 65 girls were taught in 1833. There was also a Sunday school supported by Independents, with 41 boys and 55 girls on the roll, in 1833. No mention was made of the British school then (fn. 32) or in 1846, when 195 children were educated at the parish day and Sunday schools, at two dames' day, and one boys' day school. (fn. 33)

Sunday schools attached to nonconformist chapels opened at Newington Green in 1840 and at Milton Road in South Hornsey in 1860, becoming day schools in 1860 and 1868 respectively. (fn. 34) St. Matthias Church of England school opened in 1849 but the Kingsland British school closed c. 1865.

Stoke Newington was included in the Finsbury division of the London school board, set up under the Public Education Act of 1870. (fn. 35) In 1871 there were two public schools (St. Mary and St. Matthias), two private schools run by committees (St. Faith and Newington Green), and 12 adventure schools. One was connected with St. Matthias's mission in Green Lanes while all the rest were dame schools. Together the schools accommodated 1,095 children, with 1,179 on the rolls and an average attendance of 894. Of those the public schools accommodated 649, had 798 enrolled, and an average attendance of 581. (fn. 36) Although most of the adventure schools were condemned as inefficient, (fn. 37) the board did not open its first temporary schools, in Church Street and Defoe Road, until 1878 and its first permanent school, in Oldfield Road, until 1882. Others opened in Church Street in 1892 and Princess May Road in 1899.

Milton Road Congregational school was the only public school in South Hornsey in 1871. The detached portions of South Hornsey were included in the area of Hornsey school board, which was formed in 1874 (fn. 38) and opened a temporary school in 1875 in the Congregational school before moving to another chapel in Milton Road in 1876. The board opened a permanent school in 1878 in Wordsworth Road, which was transferred to the London school board when the detached parts of Hornsey were incorporated into Stoke Newington in 1900.

Newington Green Unitarian school closed in 1896 and in 1903 there were said to be eight efficient elementary schools: four board schools accommodating 6,312 children, with 5,207 on the roll and an average attendance of 4,538, and two Church of England and two private schools accommodating 926 children, with 943 on the roll and an average attendance of 803. (fn. 39) Raleigh Memorial school, which had replaced Milton Road Congregational school in 1880, was not included, presumably because it was not thought efficient, and it closed in 1925.

The L.C.C.'s education committee replaced the London school board in 1904. In 1913 it opened its first secondary school in Stoke Newington, Oldfield central, which was replaced by Stoke Newington central school in 1928. The existing schools were reorganized at about the same time, with Church Street and Princess May Road council schools and St. Mary and St. Matthias Church of England schools as primary and Oldfield Road and Wordsworth Road council schools as secondary schools. Both the last two also had infants' departments, although Wordsworth Road had lost its infants by 1936.

The Second World War saw schools evacuated, their buildings requisitioned and many badly damaged. In 1947 the London school plan proposed two new primary schools (Woodberry Down, opened c. 1951, and Sir Thomas Abney, opened c 1954) and one new secondary school, besides reorganizing secondary education on comprehensive principles. (fn. 40) Woodberry Down was opened in 1955 as a comprehensive but other comprehensive schools, often renamed, were housed in existing premises: Clissold in those of Stoke Newington central, Daniel Defoe in Oldfield Road, and wordsworth in the board school. Clissold and Wordsworth amalgamated in 1956 and the combined school, called Clissold Park in 1967, moved into new buildings in 1969, when Daniel Defoe closed. New primary schools opened at Grasmere (1965), Parkwood in Finsbury Park (1969), and Grazebrook (1970). In the voluntary sector the Jewish Avigdor primary and secondary schools opened after the Second World War but the latter closed in 1961. A declining birth rate and emigration from the area followed the expansion of the 1960s, and by 1979 there was a sharp fall in the numbers of children. Amalgamations followed, leaving only one secondary school in Stoke Newington after Clissold Park had merged with Woodberry Down in 1982. (fn. 41)

Public schools. The general sources are those indicated above, p. 119, with the addition of P.R.O., ED 3/5; ED 7/79, 84, 87; Rep. from Sel. Cttee. on Educ. of Lower Orders in Metropolis, H.C. 498, pp. 124-5 (1816), iv; Educ. Enq. Abstract, H.C. 62, pp. 581-2(1835), xlii (2); Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1880 [C.2948-I], H.C. (1881), xxxii; 1885 [C.4849-I], H.C. (1886), xxiv; 1888 [C.5467-I], H.C. (1888), xxxvii; 1893 [C.7437-I], H.C. (1894), xxix; Schs. in receipt of Parl. Grants, 1898 [C.9454], H.C. (1899), lxxiv; Return of Schs. 1899 [Cd. 315], H.C. (1900), lxv(2); Schs. under Admin. of Bd. 1901-2 [Cd. 1277], H.C. (1902), lxxix; Public Elem. Schs. 1906 [Cd. 3510], H.C. (1907), lxiii; 1907 [Cd. 3901], H.C. (1908), lxxxiv; G.L.R.O., SBL 1527 (Lond. sch. bd., lists of temporary schs. 1885, 1896; lists of schs. 1899, 1902).

ABNEY PARK PRIMARY, see Sir Thomas Abney primary.

ALBION RD. CENTRAL, see Stoke Newington Central.

AVIGDOR HIGH, (fn. 42) 65-9 Lordship Rd. Opened 1947 as Jewish grammar sch. for 300 SM. Maintained by L.C.C. from 1950. Controversy 1955 between L.C.C. and orthodox Jewish governors. SG 1960. L.C.C. withdrew support (fn. 43) and sch. closed 1961.

AVIGDOR PRIMARY, 67 Lordship Rd. Opened 1948 as Jewish JM sch. with boarding dept. at no. 63. (fn. 44) Vol. assisted JM, I by 1970. Roll 1981: 197 JM, 1.

CHURCH STREET. Opened 1892 as bd. sch. N. of Dynevor Rd. (fn. 45) 1893 accn. 300 B, 300 G, 388 I, a.a. 592. Enlarged 1895. (fn. 46) 1898 accn. 1,242, a.a. 894; 1919 a.a. 391 B, 304 G, 264 I. JB, JG, I by 1932. 1938 a.a. 273 JB, 256 JG, 315 I. JM, I and renamed William Patten 1951. (fn. 47) Enlarged c. 1968. Roll 1981: 216 JM, 130 I, 50 nursery.

CHURCH STREET TEMP. Opened 1878 as bd. sch. in rented bldg. belonging to trustees of Abney Pk. chapel. 1880 accn. 331, a.a. 235. Closed and children transferred to Oldfield Rd. 1881. Reopened 1889 for GI. Sch. pence (2d). Closed 1892 and replaced by Church Street.

CLISSOLD, see Stoke Newington Central.

CLISSOLD PARK. Comprehensive sch. formed 1967 by amalg. of Wordsworth and Daniel Defoe SM schs. New bldg. opened 1969 for 1,725 SM on extensive site in Clissold Rd. (fn. 48) Roll 1981: 850 SM. Amalg. 1982 with Woodberry Down in Stoke Newington comprehensive. (fn. 49)

DANIEL DEFOE, see Oldfield Rd.

DEFOE RD. TEMP. Opened 1878 as bd. sch. in rented assembly rooms in Defoe Rd. 1880 accn. 720, a.a. 173. Closed 1881 and children transferred to Oldfield Rd. Reopened 1889. Closed 1892 and replaced by Church Street.

GRASMERE PRIMARY, 92 Albion Rd. Opened 1965 for JM & I in former Stoke Newington Central sch. bldgs. (fn. 50) Roll 1981: 161 JM & I.

GRAZEBROOK PRIMARY, Lordship Rd. Opened 1970 for I. JM dept. added 1973. Enlarged 1976. Roll 1981: 209 JM & I, 48 nursery.

KINGSLAND BRITISH. (fn. 51) Built 1808 at corner of Cock and Castle Lane and Stoke Newington Rd. to replace 3 Sunday schs. Opened 1809 as day sch. for 30 B, 30 G. Joined British Soc. 1811. Accn. for 200 B added 1815 and rest of bldg. used for G. Roll 1817: 191 B, 119 G. Enlarged 1818. Supported by vol. subscriptions, sch. pence (2d.), and needlework of G. Clothing given to G. Roll 1834: 250 B, 130 G. Schoolroom for I built 1850. (fn. 52) Roll 1857: 170 BG; 1868:90. Closed c. 1865. (fn. 53)

MILTON RD. CONG., S. Hornsey. (fn. 54) Sunday schs. built by Cong. ch. 1860 and 1864. Day sch. with accn. for 200 BG opened there 1868. Roll 1869: 209 B, 176 G. Supported by vol. contributions, sch. pence, and chapel funds. Parl. grant 1870, when a.a. 148 B, 141 G. Sch. offered to Hornsey sch. bd. 1875 but refused because insufficient accn. for I. (fn. 55) Sch. closed and site sold to S. Hornsey local bd. 1880. Sch. replaced by Raleigh Memorial.

MILTON RD. TEMP., S. Hornsey. Hornsey sch. bd. rented Milton Rd. Cong. sch. bldgs. for a year 1875, and Meth. New Connexion chapel in Milton Rd. for 1876-9. Accn. 352 BG, 100 I. Replaced by Wordsworth Rd. (fn. 56)

NEWINGTON GREEN. Unitarian chapel opened Sunday sch. 1840 and day sch. in rented cottage behind chapel 1860. (fn. 57) Teaching in 2 rooms, sch. pence (1-2d.). Roll 1871: 40 B, 33 G; a.a. 22 B, 21 G. Sch. rebuilt 1873; sch. ho. built 1887. (fn. 58) Licence to convert sch. into store 1896. (fn. 59)

OLDFIELD RD. Opened as bd. sch. for 240 B, 240 G, 320 I 1882 at junction of Oldfield Rd. and Ayrsome Rd. (fn. 60) Enlarged 1883, 1893, 1898. (fn. 61) Parl. grant and sch. pence (3d. 1882, 1/2d. 1893, nothing by 1899). 1885 accn. 1,598, a.a. 1,202; 1898 accn. 1,670, a.a. 1,395; 1919 accn. 498 M, 489 JM & I, a.a. 440 M, 384 JM & I. SB, SG, I by 1932. 1938 a.a. 270 SB, 275 SG, 261 I. SM, called Daniel Defoe, 1951. (fn. 62) Bldgs. became lower sch. of Clissold Pk. 1967, and were taken over by Hackney and Stoke Newington Coll. for Further Educ. 1969 when Clissold Pk. bldgs. opened.

OLDFIELD RD. CENTRAL. SM pupils from Oldfield Rd. transferred 1913 to sch. in Kynaston Rd. and Stoke Newington High Street. 1919 accn. 300 M, a.a. 249 M. Closed 1927 and premises absorbed by Oldfield Rd.

PARKWOOD PRIMARY, Queen's Drive. Opened 1969 just S. of Finsbury Pk. Roll 1981: 169 JM & I.

PRINCESS MAY RD. Opened 1892 as bd. sch. for 304 B, 304 G, 308 I between Princess May Rd. and Barrett's Grove. (fn. 63) 1906 accn. 304 B, 304 G, 353 I, a.a. 294 B, 283 G, 286 I. Enlarged 1913. (fn. 64) 1919 accn. 368 B, 368 G, 438 I, a.a. 302 B, 293 G, 288 I. JB, JG, I by 1932. 1938 a.a. 229 JB, 271 JG, 317 I. Renamed Princess May 1951. (fn. 65) JM, I by 1964. Roll 1981: 202 JM, 119 I.

RALEIGH MEMORIAL, Albion Rd. (fn. 66) Opened 1880 by Cong. chapel to replace Milton Rd. Cong. sch. Albion Rd. Also called Middle Class schs. Closed 1925.

ST. FAITH C.E., Londesborough Rd. Opened by 1871 as private sch. by St. Faith's ch. Roll 1871: 38 B, 32 G, a.a. 25 B, 30 G, Sch. pence (2d.). Considered 'not efficient' 1871. Probably used as Sunday sch. long after ceased to be day sch. (fn. 67)

ST. MARY C.E. PRIMARY, Barn Street. Opened 1831 as Nat. sch. but began as char. sch. much earlier. Roll 1833: 80 B, 45 G. Master and mistress, supported by char. endowment, subscriptions, and collections at par. ch. Leases of surrounding land 1848, 1866, and 1876, and bldgs. enlarged 1871, 1875, and 1913. (fn. 68) 1853 a.a. 92 B, 106 G, in 2 rooms; sch. pence (2d.). I sch. opened in old Rectory before 1855 and later in Rigby's bldgs. S. side Church Street, near High Street. (fn. 69) Parl. grants by 1866. 1871 accn. 315, a.a. 83 B, 69 G, 76 I, in three schoolrooms and one classroom. Endowment increased by £500 under will of Augustus Clissold (d. 1882) (fn. 70) and no fees charged by 1897. (fn. 71) 1887 accn. 445, a.a. 307; 1901 accn. 432, a.a. 230; 1919 accn. 120 B, 114 G, 112 I, a.a. 104 B, 210 G & I. JM & I by 1932. 1938 a.a. 286 JM & I. Vol. assisted status after 1944 Act. Enlarged 1980. Roll 1981: 81 JM, 45 I.

ST. MATTHIAS C.E. PRIMARY, Wordsworth Rd. Opened 1849 as Nat. sch. in bldgs. used as sch. during week and ch. on Sundays. Conveyed 1852 to trustees as sch. for children of labouring classes. (fn. 72) Roll 1871: 171 B, 156 G, 163 I. 3 classrooms in 2 bldgs. described as 'dark and disagreeable' 1871. Financed by vol. contributions and sch. pence (2d.) 1873. Chronic state of insolvency due to ch. troubles and refusal of managers to apply for parl. grant 1870s and to increasing poverty of district. Small parl. grant 1881. 1893 accn. 345, a.a. 364, sch. pence (2s. 9d.). Enlargement 1897 with large parl. grant. (fn. 73) 1901 a.a. 550. 1919 accn. 176 B, 158 G, 164 I, a.a. 157 B, 279 G & I. JB, JG & I by 1932. 1938 a.a. 128 JG & I. Bldgs. damaged during Second World War. (fn. 74) Reopened as vol. assisted JM & I 1951. New block opened 1971 for 150 JM. (fn. 75) Roll 1981: 300 JM & I.

SIR THOMAS ABNEY PRIMARY. Opened by 1954 for JM, I at junction of Fairholt and Bethune rds. as Abney Pk. primary. (fn. 76) Renamed 1955. Roll 1981: 163 JM, 83 I.

STOKE NEWINGTON. Comprehensive SM sch. formed 1982 by amalg. of Clissold Pk. and Woodberry Down. Accn. for 1,080 in bldgs. of former schs. (fn. 77)

STOKE NEWINGTON CENTRAL, 92 Albion Rd. Opened for 400 SM 1928. (fn. 78) 1932 a.a. 378. Renamed Clissold SM by 1951. Bldgs. taken over by Wordsworth SM 1956 and closed 1965. Grasmere primary built on site.

STOKE NEWINGTON PAROCHIAL, see St. Mary C.E. primary.

WILLIAM PATTEN, see Church Street.

WOODBERRY DOWN COMPREHENSIVE. Opened 1955 for 1,250 SM in 3 four-storeyed blocks on 5 a. at junction of Woodberry Down and Woodberry Grove. (fn. 79) Roll 1977: 1,300 SM; (fn. 80) 1981: 1,040 SM. Amalg. 1982 with Clissold Pk. to create Stoke Newington comprehensive.

WOODBERRY DOWN PRIMARY, Woodberry Grove. Opened by 1951 for JM, I. Roll 1981: 196 JM, 100 I.

WORDSWORTH RD. Opened 1878 for 566 B, 490 G, 528 I by Hornsey sch. bd. on site acquired 1876 at junction of Wordsworth and Palatine rds. (fn. 81) Altered 1882, enlarged 1889. (fn. 82) Transferred to Stoke Newington M.B. and L.C.C. 1900. 1901 accn. 1,602, a.a. 1,461; 1906 accn. 520 B, 473 G, 422 I, a.a. 469 B, 414 G, 383 I. SB, SG, I by 1932, when a.a. 376 SB, 380 SG, 146 I. SB, SG by 1936, 1938 a.a. 283 SB, 313 SG. JM, I by 1947, (fn. 83) SM, I by 1951. 1956 I dept. closed, SM moved to 92 Albion Rd., and Wordsworth Rd. bldgs. used as annexe and lower sch. of sch. named Clissold Pk. 1967. (fn. 84) Bldgs. closed 1969 when Clissold Pk. new bldgs. opened. Site used for Horizon special sch. (fn. 85)

Special schools. CRUSOE HOUSE, Clissold Rd. Day sch. opened 1972 for maladjusted in new bldg. Roll 1981: 46 M. 1982 moved to Nile Street, Hoxton. (fn. 86)

HORIZON, Wordsworth Rd. Moved 1974 from Wenlock Rd., Hoxton, to new bldg. on Wordsworth Rd. sch. site. Day sch. for educationally subnormal JM, SM. (fn. 87) Roll 1981: 151 M.

NEW RIVER, Clissold Rd. Opened 1967 for visually handicapped in bldg. to replace schs. in Islington and Tower Hamlets. Enlarged 1975-7. (fn. 88) Roll 1981: 58 M.

PRINCESS MAY, Princess May Rd. Accn. for 60 mentally deficient at Princess May sch. 1899. 1903 a.a. 49. (fn. 89)

WOODBERRY DOWN HEALTH CENTRE, Green Lanes. Sch. for maladjusted 1956 and 1965. (fn. 90)

Evening and technical education. In 1816 106 men, averaging 50-70 a night, attended evening classes in Kingsland British school. (fn. 91) In 1871 evening classes were held at St. Matthias National school, for 47 girls, and at Newington Green Unitarian school, where 22 boys and 12 girls were taught in a school held for four hours a week during the winter. (fn. 92) In 1881 St. Faith's church opened a school in its mission house in Gordon Road; it met three evenings a week during the winter and charged 3d. or 6d. a week. (fn. 93) An evening school, with an average attendance of 47, was held at Oldfield Road school in 1901. (fn. 94) North London College of Commerce, maintained by the L.C.C., was housed in Princess May school by 1955. It closed in 1964. (fn. 95)

Hackney and Stoke Newington junior commercial and technical college, which was founded in 1956, provided evening classes in local schools, including Woodberry Down. In 1969 the college, renamed Hackney and Stoke Newington college for further education, took over the former board school premises in Oldfield Road and in 1974 it was absorbed into Hackney college. (fn. 96)

Private schools. There were dissenting acedemies at Newington Green in the late 17th century (fn. 97) and private schools were numerous in Stoke Newington in the 18th and 19th centuries. Early schools included those of one Wyn c. 1682, (fn. 98) of Mrs. Elizabeth Tutchin, who had a non-conformist school at Newington Green before 1710, (fn. 99) and of John Price, the assistant curate, in 1712. (fn. 1) In the 1720s Erasmus Carter kept a boys' boarding school, probably on the site of Rigby's Buildings on the south side of Church Street, near High Street. (fn. 2) The King's Head society, founded in 1730, established its own institution at Newington Green c. 1732 under its first tutor, Abraham Tayler. (fn. 3) Dr. James Burgh (d. 1775), the moral and political writer, kept academies at Stoke Newington 1747-50 and the Islington part of Newington Green 1750-71, where Samuel Rogers was a pupil. (fn. 4) Thomas Day, author of Sandford and Merton, attended a school in Stoke Newington c. 1755 (fn. 5) and Thomas Smith opened an academy, possibly on the south side of Church Street, in 1769. (fn. 6)

Elizabeth Crisp ran a girls' boarding school in the older part of Fleetwood House from 1772 or earlier to 1795. (fn. 7) Sarah Jefferies had a school there by 1813 (fn. 8) and it may have been continued by the Graves or Greaves family. (fn. 9) In 1792 seats were assigned in the church for pupils of the boarding schools of Mrs. Crisp (8), of Jenkins (10), and of Maddox, Wragg, and Williams (24 each). (fn. 10) John Barker had a school at no. 187 High Street in 1794. (fn. 11) Anthony Barbre, schoolmaster of Stoke Newington, occupied a cottage in High Street in 1799. (fn. 12)

Many schools, mostly small, short lived, girls' boarding schools, opened in Church Street during the 19th century. (fn. 13) There were 8 schools in Church Street in 1826, 12 in 1834, 11 in 1841, and 5 in 1851. Among the longer lived were those of Ann Giles and her sisters (1826-61), a girls' boarding school on the south side of Church Street, George Wallace or Wallis (1826-41), a boys' boarding school in Paradise Row, Mary Ann Sparshatt (1834-61), a day school, and Sarah Norville, who had a school in Albion Road in 1848, (fn. 14a) and later in High Houses in Church Street (1851-72).

Notable among the Church Street schools was the Quaker boarding school for girls which opened in 1824 in the newer part of Fleetwood House with Susannah Corder as headmistress. In addition to the usual subjects, it offered astronomy, physics, and 'experimental philosophical chemistry', probably under William Allen, who supported and gave classes at the school. Ugo Foscolo, the poet, was engaged by Allen to give Italian lessons. (fn. 15a) By 1838 Susannah Corder (d. 1864) had ceased to be headmistress and the school was no longer at Fleetwood House. It has been identified with the school of Sarah Sweetapple, on the south side of Church Street, which in 1841 housed 2 teachers and 12 girls; (fn. 16a) it had closed by 1848. (fn. 17a) The Quakers in their stiff cardboard bonnets 'were the sport of the young ladies of a rival non-Quaker establishment next door', (fn. 18a) a school in the other half of Fleetwood House run by Mrs. Greaves and her daughters in 1826-7. By 1834 it had become a preparatory school under Mrs. Mercy. It had closed by 1838, probably, like the Quaker school, after the loss of its extensive garden to Abney Park cemetery. (fn. 19a)

A house on the north side of Church Street, east of Edward's Lane and occupied by the Independent minister until 1801, was leased from 1806 by the Revd. John Bransby, lecturer at the parish church 1814-25, (fn. 20a) who was running

Manor House boarding school there by 1813. (fn. 21a) Edgar Allan Poe, a pupil from 1817 to 1820, described a school and master named Dr. Bransby in William Wilson, but with little resemblance to the Stoke Newington school or its master (fn. 22a) who moved to Norfolk in 1825. The school was probably continued by Philip Theobald (? d. 1838), (fn. 23a) who ran a gentlemen's boarding school in Church Street in 1826 and 1834. In 1841 Manor House school had 25 boarders under the Revd. G. Pike, (fn. 24a) a dissenting minister, who was in charge by 1838. By 1845 John Dodd had taken over the school, which in 1851 housed 22 girls and was probably run by his wife Sarah, who had a boarding school with 21 girls in Church Row in 1841. Sarah and later her daughter Sarah Dodd continued the school until it was demolished in 1880. (fn. 25a)

Schools were also numerous along the London road. George Hodgson (d. 1814), minister of Abney chapel, had a school in High Street after he moved from Church Street in 1801. (fn. 26a) There were two girls' boarding schools in Nelson Terrace at the Kingsland end of the road in 1828 and Stoke Newington college in High Street in 1829. (fn. 27a) Prospect House in Stoke Newington Road was a boys' school 1826-40, (fn. 28a) initially under Benjamin Clements, and Minerva House on Stamford Hill a classical and commercial school under James Clements 1835-40. Among the longer lived were a girls' school on Stamford Hill kept by Mrs. and Miss Hornblower 1834-60 and a preparatory school kept by Jane Nias in Nelson Terrace 1834-51. There were 11 schools in 1834, 6 in 1841, and 5 in 1860, but most were very shortlived and, in spite of pretentious names like Nelson Terrace academy (1838-45) or Stamford Hill ladies' college (1860), (fn. 29a) were probably mostly small dame schools.

There were a few schools at Newington Green, such as that kept by Thomas Rees, minister of the Unitarian chapel, for 20-30 boys, including foreigners, c. 1810 (fn. 30a) and College House (1821). A boys' school in Edward's Lane was kept by William Brown 1838-51 and one in Green Lanes by Richard Abbatt 1848-61 but very few of the schools listed in 1834 or 1851 were outside Church Street and the London road. As building spread from the 1870s, schools were dispersed, and even in Church Street, their main centre throughout the 19th century, the number declined. Only two of the 13 adventure schools listed in 1871 were in Church Street and they were held in rooms over shops. Most of those schools, which charged less than 9d. a week, were small dame schools founded in the 1860s and considered inadequate by the government inspectors. (fn. 31a)

Schools in Church Street in the later part of the 19th century included a girls' school at no. 3 Church Row, later called Church House, run by the Misses Turner and Evans (1860) and by Amelia Oakshott 1872-84. In 1864 Stoke Newington Ladies college, which had been housed in no. 191 High Street, probably as Stamford Hill Ladies college, moved to Paradise Row but closed after a few years. (fn. 32a) In 1864 Thomas Burgess Barker, chaplain of Abney Park cemetery, was lessee of Abney House (fn. 33a) at no. 36 (later no. 106), on the north side of Church Street where with George Ingram he opened a boys' boarding school in 1869. Ingram (d. 1878) moved to no. 91 on the south side c. 1877, where in 1878 he built a schoolroom in the garden for 120 boys. (fn. 34a) His widow continued the school, which survived in 1885 but had closed by 1890. Caroline Mess taught girls at no. 4 Church Row in 1872 and at Frankfort House, no. 176 Church Street, in 1884. Ivy House in Paradise Row housed a girls' school under Mrs. Soundy 1872-6 and St. John's college for girls under Miss M. Farmer 1900-1. Paradise House, also called Modern school, in Paradise Row 1879-1929, was a boys' day and boarding school which had opened in Redesdale House, Lordship Park, in 1876. (fn. 35a)

In 1872 there were adjacent boys' schools at nos. 127 and 129 Stoke Newington Road. R.V. Chilcott had one and the other, Gordon House, housed a commercial college under Crawford Duncan, who had had a school at Oak Lodge in the same road in 1861. By 1876 Mrs. Anne Duncan's ladies' college had replaced Chilcott's school. The commercial college, a day and boarding school, was still there in 1879 and the girls' boarding school in 1884. Other schools included a girls' school at no. 4 Aden Grove 1872-88, a preparatory boys' school in South House in Albion Road 1877-88, run by E. Dean Jones, (fn. 36a) whose Middle Class school was opened at Mildmay Park in Islington in 1870, and St. John's college, a primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys in Green Lanes, founded in 1881 and surviving in 1938. (fn. 37a) Stoke Newington Grammar school was founded in 1886 to provide a mainly commercial education for 120 boys at nos. 6 and 8 Manor Road. (fn. 38a) It closed in 1925. Servite Sisters ran a Roman Catholic High school at no. 114 Lordship Road 1900-10.

There were 25 private schools in Stoke Newington in 1872 and 22 in 1882 but by c. 1900 many of the larger houses, which had once

housed schools, were being divided into flats, or industry was growing nearby. Throughout the 20th century the middle classes left the district and boarding schools moved farther out. In 1929 the Jewish Secondary School Movement opened a secondary school for boys in Alexandra Villas, Finsbury Park. By 1940 the headquarters of the movement was at no. 86 Amhurst Park and the school, called Avigdor House, was at no.93, both just outside Stoke Newington. The school, evacuated during the war, reopened in 1947 in Stoke Newington. (fn. 39a) By 1964 the only private schools were Jewish talmud torah schools, at no. 17 Stamford Hill and no. 114 Bethune Road respectively.