Description

Admin History:

The School Boards were established under the Education Act of 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c.75). Funded by local rates, the Hull School Board, set up in 1871, was made up of 15 members elected every three years by the town's ratepayers. The first chairman of the Board was Sir Henry Cooper (1807-1891), a former Mayor of Hull. Perhaps the most active members of the Board during its existence were the Rev. Joseph Malet Lambert (1853-1931), the vicar of St. John's Church, Newland and two local business men, Thomas Barton Holmes (1836-1913) and Thomas Stratton (1830-1904), both of whom became chairmen of the board. Secretary to the Board throughout its existence was Denis John O'Donoghue. Most of the Board's schools built between 1874-1898 were designed by architect William Botterill (1820-1903), who in later years worked with John Bilson (1858-1943).

The Board at first generally struggled to keep up with the demands of a growing population, and initially provided education at the lowest cost possible. With a rate lower than any other comparable city, Hull's educational standards and salaries were below the national average. On its creation, the Board had to hire rooms in order to accommodate children, often in churches and chapels. However, by 1874, it had opened its first schools, in Courtney Street, Daltry Street and Lincoln Street. By 1878, a further 6 new schools had been opened, but it still struggled to meet demand and overcrowding was not uncommon. In addition, the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1880 and free schooling in 1891 put further pressure onto the Board. Despite this, with the construction of new schools and the creation of cookery centres, along with the recruitment of a school inspector (William Brook), a peripatetic drill-instructor and a manual instructor, the Board had begun to develop an educational service in Hull. In 1899, it established a pupil teacher centre, although again much later compared to other cities. The Board's first special school, in 1884, was a boy's truant school, the former Ragged School on Marlborough Terrace. A similar type of school for girls was opened on Park Avenue in 1889. In 1894 the Board took over the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Intially the board established 3 distinct centres across the city before eventually bringing them together into a single centre on Brunswick Avenue.

At first, the Board's schools consisted of 3 departments: - boys, girls and infants. In 1894, this changed, with departments for senior boys, senior girls, mixed juniors and infants, although it had already set up 3 higher grade schools, Central (on Brunswick Avenue), Craven Street and the Boulevard, in order to meet the needs of older pupils.

The whole of the Newington School Board area and part of Cottingham and Stoneferry and Sutton districts were incorporated into the Borough under the Boundary Extension Act of 1882. In 1903 the School Board was superseded by the Hull Municipal Corporation under the Education Act of 1902 (7 Edw. VII c.42) and disbanded. At that stage it had 41 schools in the city.

Description:

Election papers (1871-1901)

Minutes of the Board and Committees: the Board (1871-1903); Bye Laws Committee (1872-1903); Bye Laws Preparation Committee (1871-1872); Clerks Selection Committee (1871); Committee of the Board (1871-1892); Courtney Street Site Committee (1873); Dr. Rollit's Bye Law Committee (1871); Evening Class Special Committee (1887-1888); General Purposes Committee (1872-1883); Industrial Schools Committee (1872-1875); Officers Committee (1871); Offices Committee (1871-1873); Property, Finance and School Management United Committees (1872-1873); Scholarships Committee (1874-1876); School Management Committee (1872-1903); Science and Art Committee (1872); Sites Committee (1871-1872); Statistics and School Supply Committee (1871); Technical Education Committee (1890-1893)

Notices and agenda for Board Meetings (1877-1903)

Reports: triennial reports of the Board (1874-1901); annual reports of school inspections (1874-1903); statistical tables for finance, school attendance, examination results etc. (1871-1903); miscellaneous printed material: reports, returns, rules, examination regulations, papers and results etc. (1871-1903)

Deeds for properties (1795-1903)

Letter books and correspondence (1877-1903)

Papers relating to Industrial Schools (1879-1896)

Miscellaneous administrative and financial records (1886-1903)

Leases of school buildings and allied records (1873-1900)

Offers of sites for Board schools (1871-1872)

Tenders and miscellaneous agreements relating to the erection and maintenance of buildings (1875-1903)

Fire insurance policies for Board schools (1877-1902)

Ledgers (1871-1903)

Loan papers (1872-1903)