Education records

Find your forebears in the school registers and gain an insight into their formative years

Until compulsory education was introduced across the country in the 1870s, those children lucky enough to go to school were taught in a variety of places, from the more well-known public schools to local church schools, or dame schools run by older women.

I n 1833, the government began to provide funds to set up schools, so even the poorest in the parish could receive an education. These early schools are included in the London Metropolitan Archives ( LMA) collection on Ancestry.co.uk: London, England, School Admissions and Discharges 1840-1911, which covers 843 schools within London.

SCHOOL REGISTERS

The admission and discharge records will show you when your ancestor started school, as well as give some useful information including their address, date of birth, parents’ names (usually just the father) and sometimes the father’s occupation. They will also show you when and why a child left, whether they went on to further their education or, more often, left to start work and help the family.

Though you might not find your ancestors among the earlier records, the later entries will include all children aged from five to 12, following the Elementary Education Act of 1870, which ensured all our ancestors got basic schooling. Given the information the later records contain – child’s address, parents’ names and occupations – they can help fill in the blanks in your family’s circumstances between censuses. Another shorter collection that covers 1912-1918 takes us right up until the end of the First World War when the school leaving age was increased to 14.

Alongside these collections is a specific set of records called London, England, Poor Law School District Registers, 1852-1918. These district schools were set up by Poor Law Guardians across multiple parishes to pool their resources and educate all their pauper children en masse. These institutions gave poor children from workhouses a better academic education than they would have received in their own parish, while also teaching them industrial skills to help them in later work. The records include admission and discharge dates and the child’s basic details. The

purpose of such schools was to educate children to a high enough standard that they wouldn’t be dependent on the parish.

Another way out for many was military service, be it with the Army or Navy, and a fascinating collection from the LMA gives details of those gaining their sea legs. The London, England, TS Exmouth Training Ship Records, 1876-1918 has information on an inventive scheme, where those in the care of the parish were taught how to be seamen after the Metropolitan Asylums Board borrowed the former naval ship, preparing them for a life at sea rather than in the parish. The records include each boys’ basic details but also some rich descriptions of their physical appearances and careers after their training was complete.

These collections on Ancestry are a great way to learn about your ancestors’ education.