Title | Friends School 1832 – 1924 (1) |
Date | 1832 – 1924 |
Location | Rawdon |
Photo ID | X795 |
Comment | A rare coloured image – The school when opened in 1832, by the Society of Friends (Quakers), initially with 40 boy pupils only. The fee was £12 a year, girls were also enrolled in 1836. |
Strict discipline was enforced with pupils carrying out domestic tasks as well as being taught.
The school closed in 1924 and pupils were transferred to Ackworth School near Pontefract.
The property was used for residential purposes until 1930 when Rawdon Council judged them unfit for habitation.
It is now an area of small business units (February 2018).
In this view the Headmasters house is in the middle and the school is to the right.
The below 10 images which show the buildings in derelict state, including part of the site used by the Aireborough Engineering Company.
Donated by Barbara Winfield.
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Previous Comments:
Graham Branston
The first headteacher of the Friends (Quakers) School was James Bolton and he was paid £100 a year. Because in the early years of the school, epidemics, especially cholera were rife, pupils had to have a health certificate confirming they were free from infectious diseases as a requirement for admission. Fees were subject to means testing.
In the early years of the school, pupils with well to do parents paid £16 per academic year, less well to do £12 and poorer families £6. Education was important to Friends and before the advent of free schools, along with several small fee paying day schools and Sunday Schools, the Friends School offered local children from all religions, a good basic education.
30 March 2018
Graham Branston
Other significant fee paying schools in Rawdon in the mid 19th century were Benton Park School for ‘young gentlemen’ on the site of the present Benton Park School, though in a rather more substantial building. Secondly on Layton Avenue (then called Back Lane) was a small boarding school for girls, now a huge semi-detached house opposite the Jubilee community building.
30 March 2018
Graham Branston
One of the most famous boarding schools in West Yorkshire and beyond, Woodhouse Grove, Apperley Bridge was founded in 1812, originally for the sons of Methodist Ministers.
30 March 2018
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Consolidated by Jack Brayshaw. 20 December 2020.
Last updated: 15 September 2023 – Photo ID: X795 & X781. 01 August 2023 – PhotoID: B228. 12 October 2022 – All images updated.