Friends School, Warrington

[andrewalston]

The Quakers had a Meeting House in Penketh/Great Sankey quite early. In my one name study I've found a marriage there from 1667, well before such things were legal. The existing building, on Meeting Lane, is much later.

The buildings in the pictures were at the corner of Tannery Lane and Station Road, and are shown on maps as Penketh Lodge. It was demolished about 1970, and the site, along with the adjacent public recreation ground, is now covered with houses.

There are other pictures of the school on Flickr, put there by Warrington Libraries. There are quite a few photos of Penketh besides.

The maps show how usage affects names.
Station Road was originally Ferry Lane. It led to Fiddler's Ferry, which then acquired a railway station.
Tannery Lane was originally Brewery Lane, but the brewery buildings got a fresh use. Their later use as a ceramic tile works goes unrecorded!

[OzJane]

Thanks everyone for this information. I also had relatives attend, one in early 1840's and the other was there in 1851. The idea of a benefactor makes sense and clarifies for me how the family might have been able to send the children there - they lived in Ross, in Hereford and father was a collier.
I also checked out "A HISTORY OF PENKETH SCHOOL" by James Cropper 1834-1907, published by Headley Bros, 1907
https://archive.org/stream/ahistorypenketh00hodggoog/ahistorypenketh00hodggoog_djvu.txt

“At the beginning of 1850, it was found that the increased rates of admission authorised in 1848 had not answered the expectation, and the Committee had under its consideration a proposal to reduce the terms, as they thought the advance had militated against applications. The decision arrived at was the discontinuance of providing the clothing of the children from the school funds, and the reduction of the range of admission rates of £12 to £20 to the standard of £9 to £15.
The General Meeting approved of the alteration, and accordingly issued a circular to parents, stating that Penketh School would be again open for girls as well as boys after the mid- summer vacation of 1850. Thus after a two years' probationary course as a boys' school only, the old regime was restored on the 14th of 6th mo., 1850. Hannah Evens, daughter of the Superintendent, was installed as Governess, and her sister Anne Drewry Evens, as Assistant “

My thanks also for the photos, really appreciated.
Cheers

[PVD]

Hi not sure if this will work with a link. I have a collection of photographs if anyone is interested in looking through them, they are on flicker. They are of the Friends School in Penketh and taken in the 1920s. There are lots of group photographs of all the students and teachers and some other bits of ephemera. 

Paul

https://www.flickr.com/photos/149979090@N03/

[Bazunitec]

Brilliant photos Paul... thanks for sharing

[Torquay]

My husband had a cousin, Phyllis Hartley born 1902 in Oldham, who was at the Friends School in Penketh in the 1911 Census. She was the youngest pupil at 8 years and went there after the death of her mother in 1910. Are there any records which will show how long she stayed there, what she studied, where she went when she left, and if her younger sister Marjorie b 1904 followed her there? I have sought info from the Archives at Warrington, but wondered if anyone had any pupil lists etc., apart from the 1911 Census (which I already have via both Ancestry and Findmypast). I guess she could have been there between about 1910/11 to 1917/18 or thereabouts, depending when she left.
Jill