Collection Highlights

Below is a selection of material taken from the collection. The page will be updated as the cataloguing progresses.

A Royal Visit

In April 1894, the Duke of York, later King George V, paid a visit to Worcester to lay the foundation stone of the Victoria Institute. During his visit the Prince stayed with the Coventry family at Croome.Read more about the Duke of Yorks Visit

School Report for Blind Child, 1901

In England, the education of deaf and blind children was not specifically addressed until 1893. Although Forster Education Act (1870) had made elementary education compulsory, it made no reference to children with special needs, and consequently national provision of education was patchy. There were no dedicated schools for educating special needs pupils (Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen was established in 1866, but as its name suggests was a fee-paying boys’ school). They were sent out of the city to be educated, at the Worcester Corporation’s expense, in this case, to a boarding school for blind and deaf children at The Mount in Stoke-on-Trent. It had opened in 1897 and its catchment area extended as far as Manchester. The report shows a surprising range of subjects, not only of the 3Rs but also physical education, singing, geography and practical skills such as cookery.

496.5/BA9360/CAB19/Box 2

St Paul’s Boys’ School Cup Winning Football Team, 1931

In April 1931, St Paul’s played Hounds Lane in the final of the Worcester Schools Football competition for the Price Cup. Neither school had won the cup before. The final resulted in a 1-all draw even with extra time, and a re-match was held a week or so later. St Paul’s won 2-1. The photograph is taken from a log book recording educational visits and general items of interest concerning St Paul’s Boys’ School from 1924 to 1931. Compiled by one the schoolmasters, it is a unique item filled with newspaper cuttings, photographs, letters and programmes. The school occupied the former St Paul’s Church, built in the 1830s, after a new church was built in the 1880s. The rise of the suburban population and corresponding decline of the city centre’s population meant that the school closed at the end of the summer term in July 1970. It had just over 100 pupils aged 3 – 11, about a third of whom were in nursery class, as St Paul’s was one of the handful of schools that catered for children of this age in the city.

496.5/BA9360/CAB19