IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0347 S21
Held at: Wandsworth Heritage Service
Title: Battersea Grammar School Old Grammarians' Association including records relating to Battersea Grammar School, Sir Walter St John's Schools' Trust, Sir Walter St John's School, Rosa Bassett School, Streatham Hill and Clapham High School
Date(s): 1700-2008
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 9 boxes
Name of creator(s): Please contact the Archive for further information.
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
In 1700 a Trust was established by Sir Walter St John for the continued provision of a school to provide free education for twenty poor boys from Battersea. By 1750 the school had nearly 90 pupils, and was the only school of significance in Battersea until a school was established there by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in 1799. The two schools were run as one for part of the first half of the 19th century, and separated out again in 1853. In the 1870s an upper school for 250 fee-paying scholars was proposed as an addition to the elementary school. The original twenty free places were to be safeguarded at the latter.
The Upper School, shortly renamed Battersea Grammar School, opened on 12th April 1875 on St John's Hill, Battersea. The second headmaster, William Henry Brindley who originally joined the school as an assistant master, was appointed in 1881, to what was then a school of 48 pupils. In 1936 the school moved to purpose built premises in Abbotswood Road, Streatham. During the Second World War pupils were evacuated first to Worthing then to Hertford. As a result of lack of funds, the school became a controlled school in the late 1940s. It closed in 1977, and staff and pupils were amalgamated with those of the Rosa Bassett Grammar School in the new Furzedown Secondary School. In 1993 the Abbotswood Road site was taken over by Streatham Hill and Clapham High School.
Headmasters of Battersea Grammar School were Rev Edmund A Richardson, 1875-1881, William Bindley, 1881-1918, Henry Ellis, 1918-1945, Walter Langford, 1945-1965, James Cowan, 1965-1972, and John Phillips, 1973-1977.
The Old Grammarians' Association was founded on 16 July 1902, although Old Grammarians had held a variety of recreational and social functions prior to this, and it continued to provide social and recreational activities for old boys of Battersea Grammar School throughout the 20th century. It is still in existence at the time of writing, seee www.oldgrammarians.co.uk (correct at time of writing, January 2011).
The Sir Walter St John's Schools Trust was from 1875-1949 the governing body of both schools. After 1949 it existed largely to handle the funds of the Trust, to nominate a proportion of governors and help the schools by making grants.
Sir Walter St John's School continued in existence until 1986. At the time of writing the site houses the Thomas' Day School.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Battersea Grammar School Old Grammarians' Association including records relating to Battersea Grammar School, Sir Walter St John's Schools' Trust, Sir Walter St John's School, Rosa Bassett School, Streatham Hill and Clapham High School.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The records were mostly artificially sorted into 'types' prior to deposit and it was not possible to reconstruct original provenance other than to arrange them as far as possible according to their basic apparent source, ie records produced by the OGA itself, Battersea Grammar School, the Sir Walter St John's Schools Trust, Sir Walter St John's School and related schools.
Conditions governing access:
This material is only available in the Wandsworth Heritage Service search room at Battersea Library. Please contact Heritage Service staff for more information.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Please contact the archive for further information.
Finding aids:
Please contact the archive for further information.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Many records relating to Battersea Grammar School itself have come to form part of the archive of the Old Grammarians' Association. There is evidence that some records at least were forwarded to the Assocation from a former headmaster (see S21/1/5/3). A number of records bear the names of former pupils and were most likely donated to the Association by them or family members.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Please contact the archive for further information.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note:
Finding aid created by export from CALM v8.0.2.40 Archives Hub EAD2002. Entry amended by Barbara Ball
Date(s) of descriptions: April 2011