Chapter V: Catholic Education in Chester

Memorial to Mother Elizabeth Austin, Head of the Infants' School 1871-1911.

Great strides

The Girls' and Infants' Schools have in some ways had a more fortunate history than the Boys' School. Since 1854, they have been in the care of nuns; the Faithful Companions of Jesus until their departure from Chester in 1925; the Ursulines from then until 1958, and since then the Irish Sisters of Charity. This has enabled the two schools to build up a tradition lasting more than a hundred years. It has also meant that the Mistresses in charge of the schools have been able to draw on the spiritual and material resources of a religious community, whose specific apostolate in the Church is the education of the young. In the nineteenth century, many of the problems faced by the Master of the Boys' and Infant boys' school existed in the other two schools, the poverty of the homes from which many of the children came, irregularity in attendance and in payment of school fees, the necessity of teaching for the sake of examination results, in order to obtain the grant. But they seem to have been faced in a more buoyant spirit. Moreover, the Mistresses placed in the schools were educators of outstanding calibre, Mother Louise Russell and Mother Josephine in the Girls' School, and Mother Elizabeth Austin who was Mistress of the Infants' School from 1871 until her retirement in 1911.

After the pioneer days of Watergate Row and the hayloft at Dee House, new buildings were put up on the site of the old coach-house in the convent grounds, which became the Girls' and Infants' Schools. They were paid for by Bishop Brown, on the understanding that when new schools were built in Queen Street, the Faithful Companions of Jesus would buy the premises from him. To undertake the cost, he opened a special account, called "Chester Girls' School Account", in 1861. The infants remained in this building until 1872, when they moved to their new school beside the Boys' School, built by Canon Buquet. In 1875, when the new church of St. Werburgh's was opened, the old chapel in Queen Street became the Girls' School.

The first Log Book of the Girls' School under Mother Louise opens in 1870 with the entry,

New schools opened this week. The children seemed delighted and came in great numbers and in high spirits. They are very good and diligent, though they have been away from school for eighteen weeks.

Since Mother Louise possessed a second class certificate, the school was at once put under Government inspection. The first visit of the H.M.I., S. N. Stokes, took place in 1871, and the praise he then gave Mother Louise became typical of future Reports.

The condition of the school," he wrote, "is very creditable to the teacher. I find discipline and instruction very satisfactory.

His "surprise visits" were equally favourable. On one occasion, he reported "the work was going on comfortably and cheerfully", and on another, "The Register and Log Book are nicely kept"; on a third unexpected visit, "The school is in excellent order".

In 1871, he commented on the confined area and consequent inconvenience of the schoolroom, but added, "larger premises are about to be built for the girls and infants upon a site adjoining the present Boys' School".

After the summer holidays of 1875, the girls moved into the room formerly occupied by the infants. Mother Louise's comment in the Log Book makes it easy to picture the new schoolroom. The room was still too small, but she added ,

this fault is counterbalanced by the shape which gives the mistress more facility in minding the children, who are all before her.

The room must have been the long one running the length of what later became the Preparatory School at Dee House, and in it one hundred and forty children had to be "minded".

At last, early in 1876, there came the glad entry,

We moved into the new school to the delight of the children and the relief of the teachers, who for months have been unable for want of light and room to give writing, sewing or collective lessons in a satisfactory manner.

There were the usual settling-in troubles. Workmen were disturbing lessons finishing off their work. The stove was put too near the woodwork and no fire could be lit in the cold weather, though the gas warmed the room a little. When the stove finally worked, the room was full of smoke. How vividly Mother Louise's pen brings the whole scene alive!

More memorable to the children, however, must have been other occasions like the entertainment by the conjurer, "who amused them highly", and the times when sweets and baskets of apples were sent in from Dee House and other kind benefactors. Once, Mrs. Harnett visted the school, bringing material for dresses and pinafores to be given as prizes, and promising the children breakfast on the day of their first Holy Communion. There was great excitement when the Duke of Westminster gave a special fete to all the school children of Chester, and everyone started off for Eaton Park in great spirits. Once, there was an excursion, possibly to the seaside. For many, this was their first train journey, and one little girl said "She was afraid to cross the sea". All the Log Books refer to the visit to the schools of Cardinal Manning on April 30th, 1875. Mother Louise spoke of the kind, affectionate way in which he talked to her children. On St. Patrick's day, "the children looked very gay all decorated in green" - a proof of their Irish origins. Christmas parties in which the schoolroom was brightly decorated, were concluded with the children's songs and recitations, and by a magic lantern entertainment. One little girl must have remembered one such occasion with sorrow because she had not attended school regularly enough to be allowed admittance. Another time, three children were taken away from the school when they too were not permitted to go to the party, though they returned the following week.

If the "Superioress" of Dee House, as she is called in the Log Book, provided so many good things, there were also times when she visited the school to examine the classes in their reading, writing and arithemetic, to give "decorations for good conduct", or to superintend the school if Mother Louise had to be away. Then, she must have seemed a formidable person to small girls who curtsied before her, and stumbled over their letters and sums.

Naturally, lessons different from those in the Boys' School appear on the timetable. The Report for 1875 made special mention of Needlework. We hear of a girl named Bridget Kirkby who left from Standard VI to learn the trade of a dressmaker, but the first class must have found buttonhole stitching trying enough, especially when they could not see through want of light in the room. Special note is also made of music, and of the good attempt of the children to sing in parts. They must have been accustomed to hymn singing at Mass on Sundays, as the first time they were accompanied by the organ is mentioned. When the harmonium was out of order, there was no singing lesson.

Girls who hoped to go on to pupil teaching are noted, like Sarah Bradley who left in September, 1874 and was entered as a candidate in the Infants' School, and another girl from the VIth Standard preparing for pupil teaching, who was put to teach their letters to children who had been absent. At Christmas, the pupil teachers of both schools went to Dee House for the special tea-party in their honour.

One is left with the impression that it was a happy school - two children were removed because their parents thought there were too many holidays! There is only occasional mention of truancy, so constant a feature of the boys' School, though one does read of two children who spent a day and night in Liverpool before they were found, and of the small girl who ran and hid when she saw the pupil teacher coming to look for her. For the most part, their schooldays were probably the happiest for these children, for many of whom life would otherwise have been hard and drab. If they missed school it was because they had to stay at home or in the house where they lodged, "to mind the house" while their parents went out to work, picking fruit or working in the market gardens. Their school life was a short one, for in the 1870's many of them left at the age of twelve, some to go and work in the cotton mills of Stockport or Preston. One wonders how quickly they then became weary and listless. One such child had reached only Standard I in school. Some came back in the evenings to the Night School which the nuns opened after 1867. In spite of all that was done to help the children in their school days, many were poorly fed and poorly clothed, though their cleanliness was often commented on. In 1875, one child died from weakness, after an attack of fever. The Parish Registers during all these years, and well into this century, speak constantly of the high mortality rate among infants and young children. Parents could not afford to send for medical aid and when death occurred, it was not unknown for an orange box to be used for a coffin.

In 1891, Mother Louise became Superior of Dee House, and she was replaced in the school by Mother Josephine, who remained as Headmistress for the next seventeen years. She retired in 1904, and died in May 1913. Her place was taken by Mother Monica.

In the porch of St. Werburgh's church, there is a stained glass window, showing a Faithful Companion of Jesus, set against a background depicting the Dee House convent and the school in Queen Street. It was erected in 1914 in memory of Mother Elizabeth Austin, who retired as Headmistress of the Infants' School in 1911, after holding that position since 1871. When she died on February 3rd, 1912, at the age of sixty eight, the whole Catholic community of Chester mourned the loss of one whose name was a household word among them. When Mother Elizabeth first took up her office as Mistress of the school, she was not certificated, but before the year was out, the Government Report could already say of her, "The management of this school is sufficiently good to warrant the admission of the teacher to examination for a certificate". In the days when it was not so common for nuns to be trained after they had entered the convent, Mother Elizabeth came out of the school in order to work for her qualification. Presumably she went to the only Catholic training college for women in Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, run by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Meanwhile, Miss Maria Hamilton, a certificated second year student from Notre Dame took charge. By 1875, Mother Elizabeth was back in Chester, fully qualified and ready to take over the post which she held for the rest of her active life.

The esteem in which the Faithful Companions were held by the Inspectors has already been mentioned. Under Mother Elizabeth, it was said more than once,

The school possesses in a high degree all the characteristics of an excellent Infants' School. Every class does well.

In 1892, the Report again gave high praise:­

The quality of instruction is distinctly high, and the character of the discipline is both kindly and firm. The recitation deserves special praise for its accuracy, distinctness and expression, and it is seldom that the infants of an elementary school acquire such good pronounciation and accent. The class of babies is most suitably taught, and there is ample evidence in every class that the true principles of infant training are understood.

By then, Mother Elizabeth was assisted in her teaching by Mother Anastasia, two assistant teachers named Elizabeth Jones and Teresa Murphy, and three pupil teachers, and she had well over two hundred children in the school. At a time when relations with Inspectors were often strained and their "surprise visits" regarded with dislike and suspicion, she was on extremely cordial terms with them. They obviously had the highest respect for her, and she turned to them for help and advice. Thus, in 1890, when the school had to be closed for a month because of a severe epidemic of whooping cough and measles, she became alarmed lest it run short of the required number of "meetings of school" to qualify for the annual grant. The Inspector, Mr. Kynnersley assured her, with "his usual courtesy and kindness" that the school would be allowed the grant. In 1894, when he came for the annual examination, she entered in her Log Book:

The children did their best and were excellent. As usual, the morning, instead of being an ordeal, was quite a pleasant one, and teachers and children alike left the school happy at such a termination of the year's work.

There must have been few teachers in Chester at the time who could speak in such terms of their Inspector. If Mr. Kynnersley recognised her as a teacher who fully understood the principles of infant training, she was convinced by "his courtesy and kindness of manner that in him we have a friend and sympathetic adviser in the great work of education". Probably, one of the highest compliments he paid her was to bring his sister to visit the school.

In one sense, one of Mother Elizabeth's hardest trials must have been the constant stream of visitors to the school. The children were clearly her pride and joy, as also was the school for the "Reverend Manager". The result was frequent interruptions of lessons, so that songs could be sung and drill performed for everyone, ranging from Cardinal Manning to nameless ladies and gentlemen. In the end, Mother Elizabeth was entering in the Log Book the amount of time that went by in this way, ten minutes for the Bishop, twenty for the young ladies accompanied by Sisters from the convent, etc. But the children must have welcomed the baskets of fruit and the sweets that usually followed the visits. Mrs. Topham sent in apples for All Hallowe'en, Mrs. Hostage provided the Christmas tree and presents and £5 came from Miss Jones's charity, for the poorest children. No matter how badly attendance dropped during the winter term or how inclement the weather, the infants always turned up in full force for the Christmas party, and this is always described in full detail in the Log Book. In 1888, a large box of toys was sent in for the Christmas tree, and then on December 18th, "At 3 o'clock, the children assembled. The schoolrooms had been prettily decorated, and the children looked their best, while their behaviour was most praiseworthy. Tea had been provided by Reverend Mother to the great satisfaction of children and visitors alike. After a very pleasant evening, the children were dismissed at 7.30". One hundred and ninety six had enjoyed themselves. On another occasion, there were two hundred and forty six.

The poverty and distress of the 1880's and 1890's, particularly during the hard winters, are reflected in many entries of the Log Book. When epidemics broke out, as they often did, many children could put up no resistance, because they were "too cold and semi-fed". Several years running, Canon Lynch gave daily breakfasts to the poorer children. In January, 1893, the Log Book records:

Breakfasts for 150 children. They consist of bread and dripping with good hot tea. Children are not restricted to the quantity but may have as much as they require, provided there is no waste.

During this month, seven hundred and fifty seven breakfasts were served to the children in one week. The following year, Reverend Mother of Dee House gave out good warm clothing to forty girls and twenty one boys, "whose beaming faces and eyes spoke volumes". In 1895, eighty children were clothed by Dee House, and breakfast and dinner were given to one hundred and thirty children, but Mother Elizabeth noticed that "the extreme cold was telling on them in spite of the efforts to feed and clothe them, and to keep the school warm". The first Parish Magazine, produced in 1904, described how in times of distress the nuns showed remarkable charity towards the poor, feeding the children at school and the adults at the convent.

With all her motherly love for her "little ones", as she so often called them, Mother Elizabeth expected high standards of behaviour and work, both from them and from her pupil teachers. In 1888, the Inspector reported, "the school continues excellent", but she was not satisfied, as the following remark shows:­

If a little more regularity of attendance could be secured, then one might hope for something like good results!

She taught her pupil teachers from 9 to 9.30 a.m. and from 3.30 to 5 p.m. each day, with an extra two hours on a Saturday morning for sewing. Several passed well in their annual examinations, and one, Teresa Flanagan, obtained a Queen's Scholarship. She observed their lessons, often given to classes of forty children. She criticised them when necessary, and she praised their devotedness to the children. With such a teacher working in their midst, it is difficult to imagine how it could be otherwise.

During the 1880's and 1890's, the amount of grant the Infants' School "earned" is usually entered after the H.M.I.'s Report in the Log Book. The average over these years, when the school numbered about one hundred and ninety, was £142.

After 1882, the number of attendances of each individual child was no longer necessary for the calculation of the grant, but only the aggregate total for the whole school. During this same period, the average Parliamentary grant for all the schools of St. Werburgh's came to £362 a year. An account book for the year 1898-9 shows that the situation was improving for that year's grant is entered at £513 10s. To this, a monthly "Fee grant" of £71 15s. was added. The same account book, however, gives the total expenditure in salaries, coal, gas, water, school cleaning and the purchase of school equipment of every kind as £1,062 7s. 5d., £200 more than it had been ten years earlier. To keep the schools solvent, a variety of means had to be found. Donations and annual subscriptions helped, and the account book enters for instance, an annual donation of £5 sent by the Duke of Westminster. One of the more popular ways of raising money was by balls and concerts. These are referred to in the Parish Notice Book, and several programmes have survived. The Town Hall was often hired for concerts, for instance on Christmas Day, or on St. Patrick's day, and the proceeds usually came to about £25. Occasionally also the Town Hall was hired for a lecture, like the one given in 1898 by Father Stephen Perry, S.J. on Astronomy, a subject on which he had won a high reputation. It was patronised by the Mayor of Chester, and brought in £15. In 1898, the total accumulated in these different ways was £957 6s. 1d., which still left a deficit of £105 1s. 4d. Thus, the pattern familiar to Catholic congregations all over the land was repeated in Chester, as Catholics there strove to maintain their schools.

As the schools grew in numbers in the early twentieth century, improvement and extensions became imperative. In 1905, two classrooms and cloakrooms were added, which involved the loss of the old presbytery. The porch of the old Queen Street chapel was removed in 1908, and replaced by a window, and the entrance of the school was removed from the original portico in Queen Street to Union Walk. At the same time, a new heating system was installed, to replace the old stoves. This left a debt of £1,400 on the school. The same year, the old Catholic cemetery, which had not been used for fifty years, was paved over and the headstones removed, so that it could be used as a playground for the infants. By 1911, the debt on the school had risen to £5,000. This had to be borne by the parish priest. Though denominational schools could now receive aid from the rates, from which they had been formerly excluded, the cost of any new buildings, repairs or alterations still had to be found by the parish priest as the Manager of the schools.

The foundation stone of St. Francis's schools was laid on 5th June, 1881 by the Earl of Denbigh, and they were opened on 20th May of the following year. They had accommodation for about three hundred, and children belonging to the parish who had been attending St. Werburgh's schools now went to their own schools. After 1885, they began to receive a Government grant of about £100 a year. By now the Capuchins had also founded the Mission at Saltney. They were given land for schools there in 1877 by the Duke of Westminster.

Catholic Education: Education for boys	Contents	Chapter VI: Parish Life in the last hundred years
From Catholicism in Chester: A Double Centenary 1875-1975
© 1975 Sister Mary Winefride Sturman, OSU