Hi Nivard Well at least you can see that I am not going mad! I picked up a book at bedtime to do with Birmingham which I am re-reading and although the chapter was to do with how Birmingham developed, the Blue Coat School was mentioned. It was a boarding school, so it would not have been uninhabited at all. The Blue Coat Charity School was an Anglican Foundation to provide education for the children of poorer families in the town who could not afford the fees of King Edward's. Essentially its purpose was to provide the growing town with a small army of apprentices and domestics, raised in 'godliness and good learning'. It admitted girls as well. Blue Coat moved to Harborne in 1930 and is now a wealthy and well-respected private school. It has occurred to me that some of us with members of the families missing on census night might have a child at this school, whereas we would be expecting them to be home? Pauline

Hi Pauline Now I had not thought for a moment that you were going mad <g> This little exercise has been quite interesting, despite the fact that it started on a false premise :-) Its also been interesting finding out about the Blue Coat Schools of which there were many, it was not the only School system of its type either. In the search for information I came across the following two books http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18821/18821.txt http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13926/13926-8.txt I suspect they have been mentioned before on this list but for those who have not read them I would recommend a peek (project Gutenberg is free) With regard to your comment that there were possibly children staying at that or any school overnight, its also worth remembering that some institutions (Hospitals/Asylums for example) only enumerated the initials of the person/patient. It was also brought up on another list that some had the name reversed and that may have been carried through in any transcription. So worth checking for surname in the forename field and vice versa. Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) Admin for OVINGTON - HAYLOCK - SEYMOUR Lists > Well at least you can see that I am not going mad! > > I picked up a book at bedtime to do with Birmingham which I am re-reading > and although the chapter was to do with how Birmingham developed, the Blue > Coat School was mentioned. > It was a boarding school, so it would not have been uninhabited at all. > > The Blue Coat Charity School was an Anglican Foundation to provide > education > for the children of poorer families in the town who could not afford the > fees of King Edward's. Essentially its purpose was to provide the growing > town with a small army of apprentices and domestics, raised in 'godliness > and good learning'. It admitted girls as well. Blue Coat moved to > Harborne > in 1930 and is now a wealthy and well-respected private school. > > It has occurred to me that some of us with members of the families missing > on census night might have a child at this school, whereas we would be > expecting them to be home? > > Pauline

Hi Nivard Well, you might not have thought I was going mad, but I certainly did!! I have certainly found this most interesting, because it is easy to think that the only schooling was either National Schools or the Sunday Union Schools, before the Education Act was passed. I knew a little about Blue Coat Schools because when I was boarding in Stourbridge we used to have to pass the Stourbridge Blue Coat School on our way into Town, and I knew that was fee paying and extremely expensive - but that is all I knew. I will take a look at the sites you mention later on today - I have not got a particular interest in schools as it has never been necessary, but it's information always worth knowing for a later date, and again, if I find a person missing I will now know where to look. Regards Pauline ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nivard Ovington" <ovington1@btconnect.com> To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 10:58 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] Birmingham Boarding School > Hi Pauline > > Now I had not thought for a moment that you were going mad <g> > > This little exercise has been quite interesting, despite the fact that it > started on a false premise :-) > > Its also been interesting finding out about the Blue Coat Schools of which > there were many, it was not the only School system of its type either. > > In the search for information I came across the following two books > > http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18821/18821.txt > > http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13926/13926-8.txt > > I suspect they have been mentioned before on this list but for those who > have not read them I would recommend a peek (project Gutenberg is free) > > With regard to your comment that there were possibly children staying at > that or any school overnight, its also worth remembering that some > institutions (Hospitals/Asylums for example) only enumerated the initials of > the person/patient. It was also brought up on another list that some had the > name reversed and that may have been carried through in any transcription. > > So worth checking for surname in the forename field and vice versa. > > > Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > Admin for OVINGTON - HAYLOCK - SEYMOUR Lists > > > > > Well at least you can see that I am not going mad! > > > > I picked up a book at bedtime to do with Birmingham which I am re-reading > > and although the chapter was to do with how Birmingham developed, the Blue > > Coat School was mentioned. > > It was a boarding school, so it would not have been uninhabited at all. > > > > The Blue Coat Charity School was an Anglican Foundation to provide > > education > > for the children of poorer families in the town who could not afford the > > fees of King Edward's. Essentially its purpose was to provide the growing > > town with a small army of apprentices and domestics, raised in 'godliness > > and good learning'. It admitted girls as well. Blue Coat moved to > > Harborne > > in 1930 and is now a wealthy and well-respected private school. > > > > It has occurred to me that some of us with members of the families missing > > on census night might have a child at this school, whereas we would be > > expecting them to be home? > > > > Pauline > > >