London Bluecoat School

[Askeladden]

My 2x great grandfather Henry Wentworth Mist was born in 1833 and joined the Royal Navy in 1847 as a midshipman. Prior to the navy, I believe he went to a Bluecoat school. He lived in Fulham and my first guess is that he went to Christ's Hospital School - either in Newgate Street or at the Hartford location, but he could also have gone to "The Blewcoat" in Clayton Street. I have a ton of information about his life, just not the Bluecoat part. His mother di d when he was 5 and his father was a wine merchant near Covent Garden.

Is there a way to find student lists somewhere? I was thinking of trying the current Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, but guessing they have more pressing issues with th School year about to kick of, so wondering if there's any other way to narrow the search. I live in the USA.

Any pointers appreciated!

Erik

[rosie99]

Hi

Welcome to rootschat

Where do you have him in 1841 census.

I can only see one Henry Mist bn c1833 and he is at Fullands House, Taunton, Somerset which was a school - age 7 not born in Somerset.  (Sorry, there is another but he is with parents in Warwickshire)

[Bookbox]

Is there a way to find student lists somewhere? I was thinking of trying the current Christ's Hospital School in Horsham

There are many Bluecoat schools, but Christ's Hospital is the only one in London with pupil records that survive for this particular period. Its historic records are at London Metropolitan Archives, not at the school. They are accessed on microfilm and are very comprehensive. Please see the information leaflet.

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/29-records-of-christs-hospital-and-bluecoat-schools.pdf

The records are not online, and they are not indexed online. So you will need to use LMA's research service, or have someone go on your behalf.

[Askeladden]

Excellent - thank you so much. I may be in London this fall, so this might be a good errand to do while I'm there. Separately, I am looking for pictures, paintings, etc that shows Henry in a Bluecoat - that would confirm the location.

Again, thank you very much!

[Askeladden]

"Where do you have him in 1841 census.

I can only see one Henry Mist bn c1833 and he is at Fullands House, Taunton, Somerset which was a school - age 7 not born in Somerset.  (Sorry, there is another but he is with parents in Warwickshire)"

Thank you! Very interesting!

I can't find Henry Mist in the 1841 census, and I can't find the Taunton Mist you found either. They did have relatives in the west country as the family came from Amesbury a few generations earlier, so Taunton could be a possibility. I would be interested in tracking down the Taunton reference to see if that is a possible lead, if you could point me to it.

Thank you again!

[rosie99]

1841 census reference
HO107 / Piece 959 Bk 26 folio 4 page 1

[Askeladden]

I was able to find my 2xgreat grandfather in the Christ's Hospital register at the London Met. Archives - thank you again for the pointer. He entered in 1843 and stayed until 1847 when he became a midshipman in the Royal Navy.

I am now wondering if he therefore was in the Royal Mathematical School? I couldn't find anything at the archives regarding which schools he attended while at the Christ's Hospital School (Grammar, Writing, etc.) but since the RMS was aimed at preparing students for the navy it would make sense that he was there, but I don't know where I might be able to find this out. If anyone has any pointers, I would be grateful!

[Bookbox]

Thanks for posting an update. It’s very good to know you found him at the archives.

For the Royal Mathematical School, there are at least a couple of possible items in the LMA catalogue. You can download the pdf version and might find more ...
https://search.lma.gov.uk/LMA_DOC/CLC_210.PDF

CLC/210/F/012/MS12875B
Royal Mathematical School register of children discharged and apprenticed.
The lists are printed up to 1767, after which they are entered in the register in manuscript.
1 volume, paper

CLC/526/MS30338
Register of Christ's Hospital Royal Mathematical School boys apprenticed to ships' masters. 1816 – 1857
Register gives date the boy was apprenticed to the master, name of ship and its tonnage, destination and master's name.
Microfilm
(This one is a Trinity House record, so more likely to be Merchant Navy than RN.)

[Askeladden]

Excellent, thank you!

I will check these the next time at the LMA. Great resources!