Frances Billinge 2019
INTRODUCTION
In 1833 the educational establishments in Bovey Tracey had limited provision for children of poorer families. To improve such provision a National School was established in 1834 led by the vicar and others. From 1860 a local woman of the ‘middling sort’ developed increased provision for poorer children by establishing the British School. Expansion of the ‘grammar’ school was driven by a major local landowner who lived on the prestigious Parke estate.
BACKGROUND
Who were the people behind the development of education in Victorian Bovey Tracey? They were not starting from scratch. By 1830 there was already charitable provision associated with the established church, based on endowments as far back as the seventeenth century. These endowments were from previous lords of the manor and some wealthier residents. Although the lord of the manor did make an annual £5 subscription to the church/National school from 1834, the expansion of education for children from poor families came from the vision of the local ‘middling sort’, and one woman in particular, Annie Croker, daughter of a local surgeon. Provision for more able children was driven by William Robert Hole, a local magistrate who resided at Parke, and through his generosity a new ‘grammar’ school was built on his land in the 1870s.
SCHOOLS IN 1833
The upper classes mainly educated their children at home and then sent them to public and other independent boarding schools. A school similar to a grammar school, and some private schools, were available for the middle classes in Bovey Tracey. Provision for poor children was limited.
In the 1833 Parliamentary Enquiry Bovey Tracey was described as having:- Nine day schools one with 66 children partly supported by an endowment of £25-30 p.a. arising from land for the education of 20 boys and partly by payments from the remainder of the children. The endowment is conducted under the superintendence of trustees of whom the vicar is always one. In the other 8 schools, (one of which with 30 children commenced in 1833) 154 children of both sexes are instructed at the expense of their parents. Three Sunday schools, at one (of the established church) are 40 males and 41 females- at another (of Wesleyans) 42 males and 49 females- at the other (of Baptists) 127 children of both sexes- these schools are supported by subscriptions. [1]
Not all of these have yet been identified. The ones we know of are as follows:
1.ANCIENT ‘GRAMMAR SCHOOL’
Figure 1 Yew Tree Cottage. Frances Billinge 2106.
This school was on Fore Street comprising a master’s house and an orchard called Yew Tree Cottage.[2] (Fig. 1). It was an ‘ancient school’, but not actually a grammar school as the locals described it. Sellman, in his survey of early Devon schools, quoted from the Schools Enquiry Commission (Taunton Commission) Report of 1864-1864 which stated that it was really an English school, that is taught by an ‘English’ schoolmaster, rather than by a teacher of ‘grammar’(Latin), although the master was licensed by the Bishop.[3] It was funded partly by endowments from various lords of the manor an others since the 1600s. In 1812 William Chudleigh junior obtained a licence to teach there from the Bishop.[4]
In 1828 Chudleigh advertised the term date for his commercial and mathematical academy; interestingly he was not describing it as a grammar school but rather as a more modern establishment. This would have been attractive to the middle classes who were seeking an education for their children which would better equip them for business and enterprise. Chudleigh was also seeking a new assistant.[5] He advertised again in 1830 describing the school as the Bovey Tracey Academy near Chudleigh.[6] The school was conducted as a public elementary school and ‘grammar’ school with the master licensed by the ordinary, in other words the established church. This school was funded from various ancient charities. These were
1.1 Hele’s Charity.
Elizaeys Hele was lord of the manor c. 1618-1836. His estate, which included Parke, was left initially to his wife who died shortly after him, and then to John Maynard. Hele’sestate was intended for pious uses. This money mainly went to developing more prestigious establishments in the county. Hele is remembered for Hele’s schools in Exeter and Plympton, and also St John’s Hospital in Exeter.Maynard, using the money he inherited from Hele, continued with Hele’s ‘pious’ vision and established the Blue Maids’ School in Exeter, which became Maynard’s School.[7] There was some lack of memory in Bovey Tracey about the educational provision Hele had made for poor local children. This was investigated and in 1839 and 1840 it was rule by virtue of the Queen’s Royal Warrant that £30 was to be paid to the school master annually for the application of Hele’s charity.[8]
1.2.William Stawell’s endowment.
Stawell was lord of the manor from 1669-1702 and he also endowed the ‘ancient’school. Stawell gave Mannings Meadow in Bovey Tracey with its annual income to be managed by a group of feoffees with the rents to go to the schoolmaster to maintain an English School. Stawell made other gifts to the parish as seen in the exquisite silver church plate which is on display at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum Exeter.[9] In 1810 this endowment was increased through a gift from Robert Hole’s estate which provided a schoolroom. This was built c.1813 at Robert Hole’s expense on condition that the schoolmaster taught two children appointed by Hole or his heirs. This schoolroom was next to the school house and its orchard. From the indenture we learn that the schoolmaster was entitled to £35 12s per annum and a dwelling house and garden.[10]
1.3 John Stooke’s Charity
John Stooke’s charity came into existence some time before 1709. The property he left was known as Foot’s tenement in Bovey Tracey, the rents of which were partly to fund communion, partly to help poor people, and the charity commissioners of 1833 concluded it was also partly for education.[11]
1.4.Wise’s Meadow
This as an endowment from at least 1709, given by Thomas Tothill. It comprised the land and tenements of Wise’s Meadow, the rents of which were to provide funding for the licensed teacher to educate seven poor children of the parish. These children were to be appointed by Thomas Tothill’s heirs an the trustees. Thomas Tothill was a local man, and with this endowment he added £20 for pious uses to Stooke’s endowment. his meant that with the six children supported by Stooke’s gift and the seven by the Tothill’s, the schoolmaster should be teaching thirteen poor children.[12] In 1715 Tothill’s sister confirmed this gift.[13] The education was described as ‘instructing them to read or write or such of them to read and such to write, and for the training and instructing of them in church catechism, and for buying for such of them that shall be appointed to read, books for that purpose but not to be carried off from the school’
1.5. William Steer’s Charity/Foot’s Tenement
As there was some confusion as to which charity was meant to do what in 1833 it was concluded by the commissioners that Stooke’s earlier endowment also included the rents from part of New Inn/Foot’s tenement. By this time this property was owned by William Steer and so the charity became associated with Steer’s name.
Clarifying the Endowments of the ‘Ancient Grammar’ school in 1833
The Commission recorded that in 1811 the schoolmaster was teaching ten poor boys and girls, appointed by feoffees, on the ‘Madras’system. He was also meant to be teaching six poor children in respect of the rent of Wise’s Meadow and these children were to be appointed by Joseph Steer esquire, as one of the other trustees of Mannings Meadow. But as we will see things were not working out like that.
When William Chudleigh became the schoolmaster in 1812 he understood that he was to teach ten poor parish children in the Madras System, under Stawell’s/ Tothill’s/ Stooke’s gifts. Those children were to be appointed by the feoffees who would keep the dwelling house and schoolroom in repair. The Commission found that seven more poor children were meant to have been taught under the rents from William Steer’s gift/Foots tenement. However as this money had never been paid the schoolmaster explained that he had not instructed these poor children and he argued that their number was covered under the ten children he had already agreed to in his contract at the start. This tells us that only ten poor children were receiving instruction at the ancient school, despite endowments to teach slightly more than that.
The commission also found that poor people in the town were angry that the schoolmaster, William Chudleigh, had asked them to pay for stationery. He had said they should pay him 2s 6d a quarter for pens, ink and paper or provide it themselves. In 1822 he reduced the sum to 2s per quarter. The commissioners noted that none of the charitable gifts had made provision for stationery, but the gifts had said books would be provided and the parents were in fact paying for these books. The commission concluded that as the schoolmaster had not had all the rents he should have had, but he was not teaching the extra children anyway, he was not over-remunerated. They adjudged that he should have the rents for Foot’s tenement but should admit more children to justify his salary.
What did the ‘Ancient Grammar’ School teach?
When the previous master retired the advertisement for his replacement in 1810 informs us that by then the school taught Latin, reading, writing, and arithmetic and all it branches. It firmly stated, ‘No-one need apply who is not a member of the established church’.[14]
2. PRIVATE SCHOOL OWNED AND RUN BY H. CRAGG
H. Cragg advertised her day and boarding school in 1804.[15] No evidence has so far been found to confirm that this school was still in existence in 1830, but as the Charity Commission referred to as many as nine schools it is a possibility. The n 1804 advertisement stated: ‘H. Cragg respectfully informs her friends and the public that her boarding and day school for young ladies will open after the present recess on Monday the twenty third instant. H. C flatters herself her unremitted attention to the improvement of her pupils will render her worthy the patronage of those who are pleased to distinguish her by their favours
TERMS
Board, washing, the English Grammar
Plain and fine needlework £14 14s 0d
Entrance £1 1s 0d
Writing and arithmetic £16 0s 0d
Christmas gratuity 10s 6d
Dancing etc on the usual terms
The strictest regard to health and morals may be relied on.
This was a private school run by the owner and pupils’ parents paid fees. They were all girls and learnt grammar, needlework ,writing, arithmetic, and dancing was also available. It is not known where this school was sited.
3. PRIVATE SCHOOL OWNED AND RUN BY MISS PUDDICOMBE
In 1810 Miss Elizabeth Torr Puddicombe advertised her preparatory boarding school for young ladies under twelve years.[16] This is another school which we are not sure was still functioning in 1830. The fees were £20 p.a. sundries included. Miss Puddicmbe lived at Church Style, a large house in a prestigious position next to the church. The current house is of a later date but a sketch by Annie Croker, not only a philanthropist but also an active local artist, is thought to illustrate the earlier residence (Fig. 2). Miss Puddicombe was born in Teignmouth in 1765 and she, and her sister who lived nearby in East Street, were of independent means. Miss Puddicombe was a Baptist and in her will of 1849 she left £1,000 to the local Baptist chapel. [17]
Figure 2. Sketch by Annie Croker thought to be of Church Style in 1836. By kind permission of Devon Archives and Local Studies Service.
4. MR WELCH’S COMMERCIAL AND MATHEMATICAL ACADEMY, A PRIVATELY OWNED AND RUN SCHOOL
The school was run by W. Welch and was the new sort of school offering commercial subjects. It was advertised in the local press in the 1820s.[18] It taught reading, writing and arithmetic, English grammar, merchants’ accounts, geography, use of globes, land surveying, and other branches of mathematics. The health education was solely by W. Welch. It was a boarding school with fees at £16 per annum, plus a guinea a year for washing. This made it £3 cheaper per annum than Miss Puddicombe’s girl’s school. Welch stated that there was no entrance fee, and apart from payment for books, no extras on top of the annual fee. He was doing well as in 1828 he was advertising for an assistant. It is not yet known where this school was sited. This development of commercial and mathematical education was part of a growing trend. McLain in his study of the evolution and expansion of Victorian Public Schools explained that between 1840 and 1870 the middle classes were showing a wish for education for their children and their sons in particular, and that the business middle classes followed the lead of the professional middle classes i this.[19]
Bovey Tracey at this time had a developing pottery industry which attracted workers from as far afield as Staffordshire.[20] This might have helped to expand acommercial school.
5. PRIVATE DAY AND BOARDING SCHOOL OWNED AND RUN BY MRS SUSAN LOVEYS
This school was listed as a day and boarding establishment in Morris’ 1879 directory. From the 1881 Census we learn that it was at Church Hill House, East Street. By then it had five female secondary aged boarders aged 12-17 years. Two of these were sisters who had been born in India. Their mother, Elizabeth Coombes, had been born in Hennock As the school mistress had been living in East Street from at least 1851 it is possible that her school was established by then. No boarders were referred to in either the 1851 or 1861 Census, but two boarders were listed by 1871. These were girls who had been born nearby in Lustleigh and Manaton. No further information has yet been found on this school.
6. SUNDAY SCHOOLS
Three Sunday schools were held run by the Church of England and the Wesleyan Baptist chapels An advertisement of 1835 referred to an anniversary celebration of the Baptist Sunday School but how long it had been running is not known.[21] The Church of England Sunday school met in the newly built National School building from 1834. A drawing of 1836 shows it at that time (Fig. 3). It is probable that the other Sunday schools met in the premises of their own churches.
Figure 3. Bovey Tracey [Parish Church] Sunday School 1836, pencil drawing Annie Croker. By kind permission of Devon Archives and Local Studies Service, reference DHC 2160A/PZ/3
SUMMARY OF DAY SCHOOLS IN BOVEY TRACEY 1833
We have so far accounted for only three day-schools – the endowed ‘grammar’ school, Mr Welch’s Mathematical Academy and Mrs Loveys day and boarding school. We have found the possibility of a further day-school for girls which had been run by Miss Cragg. The other school possibly still running was that of Miss Puddicombe’s, but that was a boarding school for girls. This means that only three or four day-schools have so far been found. This is far fewer than the nine recorded. The other schools known to have existed did not seem to have advertised for pupils or staff and local memory has not recalled anything about them.
LOCAL LAND USED TO SUPPORT EDUCATION ELSEWHERE IN 1830
Not all land in Bovey Tracey which was endowed for education was actually for local children. An indenture of 1830 confirms that land by Drake’s Lane was part of Christopher Coleman’s charitable endowment for the education of children in Bishopsteignton.[22] It might seem surprising that an educational endowment of local land was not being used to support local children but land was owned by people living far and wide and they could do with it as they pleased. Perhaps Coleman at some time had a connection with both places and he chose to support education elsewhere than in Bovey Tracey.
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL ESTABLISHED 1834
The Anglican National Schools movement developed to provide education for the working classes. These schools were run by the local church and the clergy were their head teachers.[23]
In 1834 a National School was erected in the building which is now called the Church Rooms, as already illustrated in Figure 3. This was on land given by Francis Berry esquire, woollen mill owner of Barnstaple for the education of the poor of the established church.[24] Initially this school catered for thirty children whose parents paid for their attendance.
The school was erected by public subscription of £250 and aided by a grant from the National Society. It was further assisted by Joseph Harris’ charity in 1839 by which he left £30 to be put in government security for the dividends to go to the National School.[25] In 1845 there were thirty three children on roll. The school was funded by £18 of subscriptions, £5 taken in fees and paid a salary of £20. A year later the numbers had nearly doubled to seventy six. In 1847 it was noted that the pupils were mostly girls. By 1853 there were four classes each of boys and girls.[26]
The local population was expanding and eventually the schoolneeded new premises. In 1864 the vicar The Reverend Honourable Charles Leslie Courtenay gave land for a new school to be erected nearby.[27] He made this gift ‘for the education of children and adults, or children only, of th labouring, manufacturing, and other poor classes of the parish. The master and mistress has to be of the Church of England, duly qualified, with a committee of five ladies to manage the girls and infants schools.’ The boys moved to these new premises.
The National School is the only one for which we have records.[28] Much emphasis was given to teaching religion, the catechism and studying the Bible. Absenteeism was a problem with the reasons given as carrying the father’s food to harvest, a menagerie in the town, and, ‘Got no boots’.The need for practical mathematical knowledge was shown in the lesson in 1865,‘taught them bills and parcels’. In 1866 we hear that, ‘the Miner’s holiday kept man boys away’, as there would have been many parents involved in the several mines around the area. In October boys were absent for acorn picking, followed by more absenteeism because of a circus on the Heath.
On 15 May 1867 Miss Hole, whose family continued to contribute financially to local education, visited to say she was giving two prizes in each class for boys who did best in class by the end of the year. Local wives of high social standing visited – Mrs Bentinck being Lady of the Manor, and Mrs Harris the wife of a prominent member of the Borough administration. The cash book of the school tells us who was supporting it financially.[29] For example in 1864 the following were subscribers:
Wm Adair esq £5 R
ev F.B. Anstice £2 2s
C.A. Bentinck esq £2
W. Buller esq £3
Miss Campbell £1
Rev. Hon Courtenay £10
Earl of Devon £5
John Divett esq. £3
Wm Harris esq £1
Jabez Mugford £1 1s
Rev. C.A. Raymond £1 1s
Rev. Marwood Tucker 10s
W. Watts esq. £1 1s
Rev. Nutcombe Gould £1
Total £35 14s
These were mainly those also involved in the workings of the vestry, borough and manor together with major land owners or businessmen. The school received a £40 4s capitation grant from the National Society making its income for that year £68 13s 11½d. Another source of income was by sale of the children’s work which made £7 3s 2½d in 1864. It was not only local men who supported the school financially as quarterly payments were received from Mrs Divett 3s, illegible initials 5s, Miss Manning 4s, Miss Hughes 3s,and Miss Pike 1s.
POTTERY SCHOOL
The children who worked at the pottery had two educational opportunities. A newspaper article in 1855 headed ‘School at the Pottery’ made it seem as if the pottery owners were being public spirited in making such provision, but actually they were required to do so by law.[30] The article praised, ‘extensive work by Divett and Buller to provide one hour a day for children’s mental improvement. Recently opened entirely at proprietors’ expense and they provide the books.’
We also find that at least by 1863, the time for which we have extant records, some pottery children were taught before school hours at the National School.[31]By the time of the 1871 Census only two children were described as half time at school and half time at the pottery
SCHOOLMISTRESSES AND A TEACHER
On the 1861 Census Mary Palmer who lived in a house in the area called College described herself as a schoolmistress. She might have been running a dame school as in 1851 she had been described as the wife of an agricultural labourer.
On the 1861 Census Jane Pitts of Fore Street, born in Okehampton, described herself as a teacher of grammar, geography etc. She was a new arrival in the town as she had not lived there in 851. Possibly she was teaching at her house
On the1871 Census locally born Annie Treleaven of Townsend House was described as a schoolmistress.
DAME SCHOOL RUN BY MISS MARY HARRIS
On the 1841Census Mary Harris described herself as a teacher and by 1851 as the schoolmistress of a dame school. She lived in Fore Street. By 1871 she was a blind pauper living in a house where a pupil teacher also boarded.
ST JOHN’S INFANT SCHOOL ESTABLISED 1861
This was opposite the church of St John the Evangelist on the Ashburton Road, and catered for infants who as juniors passed on to the National or British Schools. It is now the Wickham Hall (Fig. 4). In 1870 Miss Sarah Smallbridge was the schoolmistress and she lived nearby at Heathfield Cottages.[32]
Figure 4 St John’s School. Frances Billinge 2018.
BRITISH SCHOOL ESTABLISHED 1861
The British, non-denominational, school opened first in hired rooms in 1861 and then in the Temperance Hall on Fore Street in 1864 (Fig. 5).[33]
Figure 5. Temperance Hall used by the British School in 1864. Frances Billinge 2018.
This was a development driven by Miss Annie Croker who was critical of the Tractarian/high church nature of the education the local vicar was providing in the church schools.[34] Sellman gave a full description of the difficulties Annie Croker experienced in establishing this school and finding staff, and of her commitment o non-denominational education.[35] Annie Croker’s school newsletters and related newspaper cuttings are lodged at the Bovey Tracey Heritage Trust Archive. She experienced considerable difficulty in raising money for the school. Despite it being her efforts which established the school she was not chairman of its committee but worked tirelessly as its treasurer. In 1867 John Divett, the proprietor of the local Pottery business, leased ground on Mary Street to a group of local people so that the British School room and playground could be erected there (Fig. 6).[36]
Figure 6. British School Mary Street. Frances Billinge 2016.
By 1866 a hundred and twenty children were attending. We learn that another daughter of an influential local family was involved in the school as in 1880 Miss Divett joined Annie Crocker as representatives of the British School who sat on Lady Clifford’s committee to improve needlework in schools. A Miss Fock and Miss Divett also represented the National School.[37]
At Annie Croker’s memorial event in Bovey Tracey in 1907 Miss Tracy described her as, ‘Founder and supporter, by God’s help, of the British School. She probably did as much for Bovey as anyone, but she did it in a quiet way’. Maybe her commitment was to providing education for the poorest children as in her obituary of 1906 she was described as having always attended the established church in Hennock rather than a local non-denominational chapel.[38]
BRIMLEY SCHOOL STENTIFORD LANE
This school was in Lower Brimley, but no dates are known for its establishment.[39] Jervis stated that twenty children attended (Fig. 7). It is difficult to understand how a school could be financially viable in such a tiny hamlet with few children nearby. On the 1861 Census an Ilsington born schoolmistress called Susannah Carpenter aged 50 was living in Lower Brimley. If Stentiford Lane school was established by then she lived near enough to work there.
Figure 7. Brimley School, no date, handwritten on reverse MissTreleaven Headmistress. By kind permission of Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre.
GOVERNESSES
What about the education of the wealthier residents of the parish? Some would have sent their children to independent boarding and public schools elsewhere. The only family with a resident governess on the 1851 Census was that of George Manning, Lieutenant R.N. who lived at the prestigious Colehayes estate. The governess was London born Miss Maria Bartholemew aged 29. On the 1861 Census the children at Frost Farm had an unmarried governess called Jane House, she was 21 and had come from Somerset. Many families in the larger houses locally also had children and plenty of servants such as cooks, dressmakers, nurses and parlour maids, but no governesses.[40] We know that one ‘lady’ governess of Bovey Tracey was seeking employment, but as we only have her initials she is too elusive to find. In 1839 she advertised that she could, ‘teach English, French, Italian, grammar (Latin), music, drawing, use of globes and different branches of polite education. Apply A.E. Bovey Tracey Office.’ [41]
DISCUSSION
We have seen that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was the lord of the manor, and after that other notable residents who gave endowments to the ‘grammar’ school. In the 1800s there was to be a change. The lord of the manor at the start of the century was William Courtenay, Earl of Devon who did not endow any local school. He sold the lordship of the manor of Bovey Tracey to Count Charles Bentinck in 1855. Courtney was succeeded in the earldom by his son William in 1859. As eleventh earl of Devon William had a keen interest in social matters both in the county and nationally. McLain has described that Courtenay campaigned in the House of Lords to improve education for the middle classes in the mid- Victorian era. Courtenay had important national posts, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1866-7, was created a Privy Counsellor in 1866, and from 1868 he was President of the Poor Law Board. In Devon Courtenay chaired the governing body of Blundell’s School.[42] His contribution to education in Bovey Tracey seems to have been limited to making an annual subscription to the English/church school. This was an important endorsement of that school.
However his brother, the Rev. Hon. Charles Leslie Courtenay was the vicar and as such was an automatic trustee of the church school, which linked the prestigious Courtenay family name with that school. As we have seen Rev. Courtney gave land to assist the expansion of the National School.
Charles Aldenbugh Bentinck was descended from Counts of the Holy Roman Empire and had a pedigree going back to William of Orange. He was great, great grandson of the first earl of Portland, his mother was the daughter of an earl, and he was married to Harriet Fulford, daughter of Sir Francis Fulford of Great Fulford. His family was known for its socially pioneering work as his third cousin Lord William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, as Governor General in India, had campaigned successfully against the practice of suttee and introduced regulations against it in 1829.[43]
Charles Bentinck, Lord of the Manor of Bovey Tracey, made an annual subscription to the National School. He also made charitable donations for repairing the parish church. He lived locally, satas a J.P. and his other generosity was in contributing to local life by hosting various festivities on his prestigious estate at Indio.[44]
The Hole’s were local landowners who had a strong involvement with local education and civic life. They had settled in Bovey Tracey in the 1700s and in the 1820s moved to Parke. They were about to increase their Bovey Tracey land holdings even more, so that by the turn of the nineteenth century they owned more local land than the lord of the manor. Their financial support of local education was a positive contribution. It was later through Hole’s generosity of a gift of land that the grammar school expanded and moved to a new site in 1876, although this school closed in 1908. Hole sat on various local government bodies such as the petty sessions, and the poor law board, and he also assisted in the improvement of the local water supply.
The change we see is that it was the daughter of the local surgeon, a ‘middling’ sort, who initially pushed for increased education for poor children by establishing the British School. Her family did not have extensive land holdings and they were known to be opponents of the Tractarian developments in Bovey Tracey. Through her efforts, and with the support of the Divett family which was the main local employer, more education was made available for poor children (Fig. 8). This trend for educational philanthropy being supported by the ‘middling’ sort of landowners, clergymen and businessmen was described by Mitch, and in this respect Bovey Tracey was similar to other places.[45] The difference was that in Bovey Tracey a local woman was the driving force for education to be available for all.
Figure 8. Annie Croker. By Kind Permission of Bovey Tracey Heritage Trust.
By 1870 Bovey Tracey had the National School with boys and girls at separate sites, the British School, and the endowed ‘grammar’ school, and probably some private schools. In 1911 the British School closed as a Council school had opened on a new site which meant free elementary education was then available for all (Fig. 9).
Figure 9. Bovey Tracey Primary School, site of the 1911 Council School. Frances Billinge 2018
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Jackie Paxman, Librarian, Bovey Tracey Library for her untiring assistance in obtaining references.
REFERENCES
[1] Abstract of Answers and Returns, Education Enquiry 1833, Vol 1, Bedford –Lancaster, London, House of Commons, 1835, Page 72 .
[2] The Western Times 10 June 1854, p,4, refers to site of the school house, orchard adjoining the endowed school on the High Street [Fore Street]; site also confirmed in Charity Commission Enquiry into the Parish of Bovey Tracey 1907, p, 8.
[3] Sellman, R.R.,1984. Early Devon Schools. Unpublished MSS, Devon County Council, p.136.
[4] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 9 July 1810, p.2.
[5] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 12 January 1828, p.3.
[6] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 15 July 1830, p. 1.
[7] Billinge, Frances, 2016. The lords of the historic manor of Bovey Tracey. Trans Devon.Assoc Advmt Sci., 48, forthcoming.
[8] Charity Commission Enquiry 1907, p 5, refers to Hele’s Charity and Queen’s Royal Warrant of 9 November 1839 and 4 March 1840, see note 2.
[9] Ibid., p. 2.
[10] Ibid., p. 3
[11] Ibid., pp.3-4.
[12] DHC 2160A/PF 9: Indenture 1715 confirms Thomas Tothill’s gift; also explained in Charity Commission Report 1907, pp.1-2, see note 2.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 24 May 1810, p.1.
[15] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 5 January 1804, p. 1.
[16] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post 24 May 1810, p.1;1841Census, address of Elizabeth Torr Puddicombe confirmed at Church Style http://www.ancestry.co.ukaccessed 27 October 2016.
[17] 1849 Will of Elizabeth Torr Puddicombe http://www.ancestry.co.uk accessed 27 October 2016.
[18] Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 25 December 1823, p.1.
[19] Richard Dalton McClain, 2003. The Evolution and Expansion of the Victorian English Public Schools, A Comprehensive Case Study of Blundells, Clifton, Eton, Lancing and The Leys. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis University of Exeter, p.90.
[20] Adams, Brian and Thomas Anthony, 1996. A Potwork in Devonshire (Bovey Tracey, Sayce).
[21] The Western Times, 11 July 1835, p. 2.
[22] DHC 4187M/SS 1-7, 1830, indentures of Christopher Coleman’s charity giving land below Drakes Lane to Bishopsteignton for charitable (school) purposes; Coleman’s will of 1729 shows he was of Bishopsteignton, www.ancestry.co.uk
[23] McLain, 2003, p.98, describes that the clergy were the heads of these schools p.98, see note 19.
[24] Charity Commission Enquiry 1907, pp.12-13 describe in 1834 Francis Berry conveying to 14 trustees the land and garden in churchyard to build a school house to educate the poor of the established church, see note 2; Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 29 January 1835, p.2 describes the grant.
[25] Charity Commission Enquiry 1907, p.13 describes Joseph Harris charity of 9 October 1839 leaving £30 to be put in government securities and the dividends to be devoted to the National school.
[26] Sellman, 1984, p110, see note 3.
[27] Hyde , unpublished manuscript, DHC Devonshire Association files, Bovey Tracey, refers to 30 July 1868 Rev and Hon Charles Leslie Courtenay granted meadow no. 2095 on Tithe Map called Orchard meadow 1 rood ¾ perches for a school; also confirmed in Charity Commission Report 1907, p 13, see note 2; DHC 1473C/EB14 C 1870 architect’s plan drawn up for proposed new National School by Joseph William Rowell of Newton Abbot.
[28] DHC 2160A/PE/1, National School Log Book from1863, 20 May 1865, ‘sent boy to enquire about absentees most were kept home to carry their father’s food to the harvest field’; 11June 1865, ‘very few children at school today on account of a menagerie being in the village’; 12 June 1865, ‘Coniam played truant in the afternoon ’and on 13th ‘cautioned against mitching in the future’; 21 July 1865, ‘sent after absentees , excuses made for being kept home were trying, ‘Got no boots’; 29 October 1866 , ‘absentees 4/5 boys employed picking mast alias acorns’; 30 Oct 1866, ‘Circus on the heath [absentees]’; 15 May 1867, ‘Miss Hole visited to say she was giving 2 prizes in each class for boys who do best in class by the end of the year’; 24 September 1867, ‘school visit by Mrs Harris’; 25 September 1867, ‘school visit by Mrs Bentinck’; 29January 1867, ‘requested to put T. Meads name in Pottery book’.
[29] DHC2160A/PE/10, 1864, Bovey Tracey National School Cash Book.
[30] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 24 February 1855, p4.
[31] National School Log Book, 19 February1867, ‘the pottery boys will continue to attend school before time’, see note 28.
[32] Barry Jervis, 2004. Schools, in Kennedy, Victoria, The Bovey Book(Bovey Tracey, Cottage Publishing), p.93.
[33] Roger R. Sellman, 1967. Devon Village Schools in the Nineteenth Century (Newton Abbot, David and Charles) p. 42.
[34] Frances Billinge et al., 2019. Schools for the Poor in Mid-Nineteenth Century in Devon inStudies in Church History, (Cambridge University Press) vol. 55, pp.307-323.
[35] Sellman , see note 33, pp.42, 71.
[36] Charity Commisson Enquiry, 1907, p.16, see note 2.
[37] The Western Times 28 August 1880, p. 6.
[38] The Western Times article on funeral held at Hennock 25 may 1906, p 13; Exeter and P Gazette 18 may 1907 p 4.article on memorial event
[39] Jervis, 2004, p.101, see note 32.
[40] 1851 Census www.ancestry.co.uk accessed 27 October 2016
[41] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 12 January 1839, p.3.
[42] Mc Lain, R.D., 2001. Aristocratic Leadership in the Advancement of Secondary Education during the Mid-Victorian Period: the Earl of Devon, Earl Fortescue and Sir Stafford Northcote. Rep. Trans Devon Ass. Admt Sci., 133, 175-190, pp, 175,180
[43] James Peggs , 1832. India’s Cries to British Humanity (London) www.archive.org accessed 6 February 1017
[44] The Western Times, 25 August 1880, p.3. flower show of the Cottage Garden Society.
[45] David Mitch, 2016. Schooling for all via financing by some; perspectives from early modern and Victorian England, in Pedagogica Historica, 52, no.4, pp.325-348, p328, 331.