Notes from the Archive: The English at School; From the Papers of W.P.D. Stebbing

From the Papers of W.P.D. Stebbing by Pernille Richards

The English at School was the name of an exhibition arranged by Arnold Muirhead on behalf of the National Book League between April and May 1949. It aimed to show English School Life in its various guises; private schools, charity schools and the eventual establishment of state schools. Kenneth Lindsay, Chairman of the National Book League, appealed for old school reports and similar documents to be lent to the exhibition and a variety of textbooks and documents were exhibited, along with a selection of disciplinary equipment. An article in The Times on the 8th of April reported it as an ‘exhibition of progress’ in education. The story of education always fascinates, but no doubt interest in the subject matter was heightened by the recent 1944 Education Act. The Times article of the 12th of April, announcing the exhibition and appealing for material, is found among the papers of W.P.D. Stebbing, along with other items on education collected in the years between 1947 and 1949.

W.P.D. Stebbing’s papers reveal a keen interest in education; he attended many Education Committees as a councillor between 1941 and 1955 and he was a frequent speaker for Educational Societies including the Deal Men’s Society. The collection on educational matters is more eclectic than his archaeological notes. It consists of a mix of articles selected from The Times and more academic items such as the address ‘On Education’ to the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Advancement of Science by Linda Grier (1880-1967). He also assembled lists of old school textbooks, literary references and images. Most items are research notes for a talk on education before 1870. There is also a short talk on Deal Charity School, 1792 to 1814, where Stebbing recounts its establishment and early history. Stebbing quotes as his source a vellum bound ledger with a red label in the centre with the title ‘Deal Charity School 1792’; this volume was in use until 1814. It included the school’s regulations, a list of subscribers, and the back of the ledger contains the minutes for sixteen meetings up until, and including, the year 1813. Stebbing also transcribed minutes taken at Charity School meetings by the Rev. P. Brandon and others from 1806 to 1813. These minutes are described as “Extracts from several sources, book in hand with blotting paper, recording the minutes of the Deal Charity School from 1802” and notes about the rules and routine running of the school. There were sixteen clauses in all, mostly to do with management, subscriptions and meetings, but some were concerned with the day-to-day running of the school as it impacted on the children and their parents such as uniform, admittance requirements, and the curriculum. The curriculum consisted of the three Rs, religious instruction and, for girls, knitting and plain work. Head lice and attendance problems appear to be constants in the world of education and one regulation states: “The Parents shall not neglect to wash and comb their children every morning and take them punctually to school.” The first location of the school is uncertain, later it moved to Broad Street and in 1813 it moved again to Middle Street, where it changed its name to the National School in 1842. Stebbing gives the impression of an excellent source for the study of a local Charity School and the changes in education over time. Unfortunately, he has not included information on where he accessed his sources and neither has Stephen Pritchard in his 1864 book, nor John Laker in his 1917 book on the History of Deal. All three appear to have used the same sources in their accounts of education in Deal. There are two interesting catalogue entries, the most likely looking one is in the East Kent Archives Centre, the other at Canterbury Cathedral Archive, but as both are currently closed, in preparation for the move to the Kent History Centre and building works respectively, it has not been possible to investigate further. You don’t realise the value of archives until they are not accessible! It will be exciting to investigate further when these archive centres reopen.