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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Wigan Album

St Michael & All Angels, Swinley

1 Comment

Staff of the school, c1905.
Staff of the school, c1905.
Photo: Brian Elsey
Views: 3,068
Item #: 389
Staff of the school, c1905.

Comment by: Bob G on 9th December 2010 at 18:35

Too late for my gran (Nellie Smith), she was there in the 1890's. She remembered Mr Shardon the head (is that him in the middle?) who was a Francophile and introduced french-style class numbering starting at 4 (7-8 yr olds) finishing with class 1 - still in use in my day. Those were the days of chronic teacher shortage, when the leading lights among the older kids were pressed into service taking classes - 'pupil-teachers'. Gran was one, and at age 12 when her contemporaries all left, she stayed on as a fulltime teacher, continuing her training at evening classes - until her marriage in 1900. Most of the ladies in this picture look no more than teenagers, like my gran.

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