School in Oldfield, Dunham Massey

[northern_rose]

Peter

You are a star - Mr Race was the School master at the school (1851) I am concerned with! Do you know anymore about the school?

Reiver - thanks for your help and you have me intrigued but as it appears to be the wrong school I won't ask you to go to anymore trouble.

Thanks to you both

[peterbennett]

Hi

        Sorry no I don't know anything about the school except the information gained from the census and directories.

       Maybe Reiver's local connection can add some local knowledge.

regards

peterbennett

[Reiver]

Peter's input has thrown up a puzzle 

The school in question was at Oldfield House.  As you know the master was Henry Race.  He was 42 in 1851 and with him were his wife Mary, a couple of his brothers, a niece Ann Race aged 18 and of course the pupils.  No name was given for the school on the 1851.

In 1861 it is given the name Oldfield School.  Head was Mary Race (married) age 60 and Anne Race now 27 and four pupils.

Local Historians say that the school was Bowdon Grammar School (Oldfield being in the parish of Bowdon. )  The school, I'm told, was then split between between fee paying and not fee-paying.  (Can'r remember which waty round  )  One group went to the building now called Blakeswood following recent development - referred  to in an earlier post.  The others went to a new Bowdon Grammar School much nearer the Parish Church.   Apparently this lost pupils to a local authority grammar school opened 'down the road'.   It eventually closed but then the buildings were  used to house Altrincham Preparatory School for many years.

I cannot yet for the life of me find where  Harefield House was     But it is still on the agenda.

Kind regards
Reiver

[Su]

Harefield House sited on Woodville Road
circa 1850 was at some time destroyed.

taken from Mansions and Men of Dunham Massey by Frank Bamford

Northern rose I have a photograph of Oldfield House school which was built in 1759 with money left by Thomas Walton a salt master of Dunham Woodhouses (where incidentally I was born) for the instruction of 40 boys aged eight to eleven years who lived in Altrincham, Dunham Bowdon and Hale.

taken from Altrincham a pictorial history by Hilda Bayliss.

If you would like to see the photo please pm me

Kind regards
Su

[northern_rose]

Su

Thanks for your kind offer of the photo - my understnding is that the school you refer to is the one "my boys" were at in 1851 as Mr Race was the school teachers and they were from Manchester rather than the local area.

I'd love a picture and will PM my email address.

Wanted again to say thanks to you all on board.

[peterbennett]

Hi Reiver/Northern Rose

seems to be known as Harefield House in at least one of the census years

The above should have read Directory years, not census, you are correct in that the Race family are at Oldfield School in the 1861 census.

I have attached a section of the 1860 Whites Directory that shows the Harefied House entry, looking at it again I feel it could apply to either Ann Race (above) or Margaret Warburton (below) I have looked in the 1861 census but cannot find a Margaret Warburton school mistress in the area.

Sorry for the confusion.

peterbennett

[Reiver]

Hello Peter
Most intriguing 
A couple of questions.

Outside of the the section on the left there are some small numbers/
Inside the section there are also numbers

What is the significance of these numbers?  I notice in the right hand column each entry is numbered

Regards
Reiver

[peterbennett]

Hi Reiver

            The directory covers Dunham Massey NO NUMBER, Oldfield (1) Sinderland (2) and Woodhouses (3)

regards

peterbennett

[Reiver]

Thanks for the answer Peter.

Yesterday I was told of a book called "Schools in Victorian Bowdon" by Myra Hendrick.  They had a copy in Altrincham Library which I had a quick scan through looking for Harefield.  Only a quick scan but couldn't spot the word.   I'm told there were an awful lot of schools created in the late 19th centiry in Altrincham - largely to cater for the Manchester industrialists etc who chose to live in the area.

Su pointed out that Harefield House was referred to in 'Mansions and men of Dunham Massey" by Frank Bamford.  I did find Marianne Ray (Mary Ray(?) in the Directory extract from Peter?) a Teacher at that address in 1861. She was 23.   There were no pupils living there (But it may well have been a day school)  However Harefield was 'in the middle of Altrincham'  and some distance from the school at Oldfield House in 1861 with Ann Race as a teacher.(See earlier post).  It appears to have been called Seamons Moss School almost since it was founded - even if it was for a long time in a building called Oldfield House.

There is still a puzzle related to the James Smith at Seamons Moss Endowed School (See directory extract from Peter Bennet) which I would like to resolve.   It may not be worth reporting back here though 

Do you have all the information you want Northern Rose?

Regards
Reiver