Maghull C.E. Schools 1839-1939

MAGHULL C.E. SCHOOLS 1839-1939 CENTENARY SOUVENIR BOOKLET A MESSAGE FROM LORD DERBY Derby House, Stratford Place, W.1. W. Higham, Esq., Headmaster, Maghull C.E. Schools. Dear Sir, I understand that the Centenary celebrations of the Maghull C.E. School take place this year. I hope, if any of these celebrations are public, I shall be allowed to attend, but in case I am not able to do so, I would like to say how much I enter into the feelings of satisfaction of those who celebrate this hundredth anniversary. I know that the School is divided really into two parts the older one, which celebrates its Centenary this year, and the newer one, which is the Maghull Parish War Memorial to its dead. 1 cannot think of any Memorial more fitting than one which fits the youth of the country for the battle of life. Probably many of its pupils have been the sons of men who fought and perhaps fell in the War, and 1 am sure that every one of you would rejoice to think that the Memorial to those men is helping their children in their future career. My best congratulations to the School as a whole: my thanks to those who have made it the success it is; and my earnest hope that the future may bring additional rewards to those who are educated within its walls. Yours sincerely, DERBY. 2 FOREWORD. Inscribed over the main entrances to many of the schools of Wales is the motto : “Goreu arf arf dysg Goreu dysg gair Duw,” which, freely translated, means “The best weapon is the weapon of knowledge ; the best knowledge is a knowledge of God.”-- This is an adage which might be more deeply studied in this secular age. The stress laid here on the importance of education to an individual or a nation, and the double emphasis on the paramount importance of spiritual or moral values, make it a fitting theme for the centenary celebrations of a Church of England School. For many centuries the Church was almost solely responsible for the preservation and the dissemination of learning. During the last century She led the way in establishing schools for the education of the general public. It is to that enterprise that we in Maghull owe a hundred years of educational opportunity. This year Maghull celebrates the centenary of its Church of England School. At such a time as this we must ask ourselves two important questions. How are we going to show our gratitude to those who have gone before; and what are we going to pass on to those who will come after? The end of one century marks the beginning of another, and there is a tendency to forget the one in the contemplation of the other. In this age of breathless progress we are inclined to despise the old through admiration for the new, but if we do this we are guilty both of ingratitude to the past and of disloyalty to the future. As members of an organised Church we are duty bound to provide for the rising generation continued facilities for an adequate education hallowed by religion. Twenty years ago we were just emerging from the indescribable horror of a war which had claimed victims in practically every parish of the land. That occasion was marked everywhere by the erection of War Memorials to the fallen, and the people of Maghull, which was then a rural village, showed profound sagacity when they decided that their memorial should take the form of a school-an addition to the existing Church of England School. We, to-day, have just passed through a nightmarish crisis but, thank God, peace has been preserved. Surely, this occasion should not be allowed to slip by without some tangible expression of gratitude. The most fitting method would be to invest one's tokens of gratitude in increasing the educational amenities of the parish, for this would be more than plain investment it would be an insurance policy. Thus it is the object of this Souvenir Booklet to focus attention on the work of this school in the past, and to direct interest towards the needs of the future. It will have achieved its aim if, in a small way, it inspires the people of Maghull with a desire to see that a representative Church of England school is passed on to posterity. 3 MAGHULL CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOLS. 1839-1939. A Souvenir Booklet in connection with the Centenary of any school would be incomplete without some reference to the history of that school during those hundred years. To many residents of Maghull much of this story will be already known ; but there is an increasing number of parents to whom it will be unfamiliar. We trust that both sections of the community will find in this account something of interest. The Maghull National School was erected in 1839 and was invested in seven Trustees, of whom the Rector of Halsall, the Rev. R. Loxham, was one, and the Rev. Geo. Hoiden, Vicar of Maghull, another. The funds for the erection of the School and the Master's House were obtained partly by voluntary donations, and partly by grants from the National Society, and from the Committee of Council on Education. Much of the expense was obviated by gifts and by the offers of gratuitous services by local men: the land was the gift of Rd. Alison, Esq.; Mr. Samuel Holme, of Liverpool, gratuitously furnished the plans and specifications, and inspected the progress of the work, which was executed by Messrs. Rule and Anderson, of Liverpool; Mr. Welsby, solicitor, of Ormskirk, gave his professional services gratis, in the preparation of the enrolment of the conveyance and trust deed John Formby, Esq., gave the stone for the school yard wall while Messrs. Rigby, Harrison, Mawdsley and Whalley offered their services for the carting of material. The grant from the Parliamentary Education Fund was withheld for a time and the work would have been held up had not Mr. Rigby, one of the Trustees, loaned £165 19s. 5d. for the completion of the work, for which loan he subsequently refused to accept any interest. The whole cost of the School was £450 7s. 0d -an interesting figure by comparison with modern rates. The Maghull School, having been erected by these and other means, was entrusted to seven trustees, and by unanimous resolution it was placed under the superintendence and direction of the Rev. Geo. Holden. The original enactment stipulated that---the trustees do and shall hold the land, school rooms, house and buildings in connection with the National Society for promoting the education of the poor In the principles of the Established Church throughout England and Wales; and do and shall use and employ the same premises as a school for the instruction of poor children of both sexes resident in Maghull and the neighbourhood thereof, on Sundays in reading and in the Church Catechism, and in the principles of the Christian religion, and on working days in reading, writing, arithmetic and other branches of useful learning; and do and shall permit the same school to be conducted in conformity to the principles of the said National Society and towards the advancement of its ends and designs. And upon further trust, they, the said trustees for the time being, do and shall at all times pay and apply the said fee farm rents or yearly sums hereby granted, bargained or sold for towards the stipend or stipends of the master, mistress or mistresses of the said School." The fee farm rent referred to above was an endowment of £11 18s. ld. per annum given by Mr. and Mrs. John Formby, and was paid to the first headmaster (as part of his salary), for which he was to teach twelve boys belonging to the town-ship of Maghull until capable of reading the Scriptures. Three scholars a so had to be taught writing and arithmetic-an interesting fact when one compares this with the modern, crowded curriculum. The Rev. G. Hoiden and the Rev. A. B. Forde were empowered to elect the twelve boys mentioned above, and to dismiss them. This free scholarship was last approved of in 1846. 4 At that time-and until September, 1887-there were two distinct departments, boys and girls, each divided into three classes, presided over by a Master and a Mistress respectively. The Rev. Geo. Hoiden was also appointed Visitor, with power to make such rules and regulations as he thought proper for the management of the Schools-and in this was included the power to draw up the course of instruction. In 1844 the Visitor made the following regulations: Girls who come to the Maghull Girls' School may attend the master during the hour devoted to writing and accounts in the morning and afternoon of each day. The Master may instruct such girls in writing and accounts during the time above specified on receiving from the mistress 2 /- per quarter for writing and 2/6 for accounts for each pupil. The master shall not teach during school hours any girls who do not attend the Female School In 1845 the Master and Mistress resigned- The new Master was to be paid the endowment, together with the house to reside in ; and the Mistress was to have an annual salary of £5 " provided the funds in the Treasurer’s hand would allow it, and so long as their conduct (master and mistress were husband and wife) should be approved by the Trustees.

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