SCHOOL RECORDS
Research & Holdings
In the three hundred years 1500-1800 practically all of the schools in Somerset were established by individuals as charitable concerns. Many of these were small parish schools run by one Master or Mistress who taught the basic skills of reading and writing. A few of the schools evolved into grammar or secondary schools in the course of the 18th century. In the 19th century, particularly in towns, private schools for fee paying pupils were founded either by individuals or by bodies such as non-conformist congregations. In the 19th century religious societies such as the National Society began to establish public elementary schools, both in towns and rural villages. The Education Act of 1870 established non-denominational 'board' schools in areas where previously there had been no educational provision and the 1902 Education Act transferred both board and voluntary schools to the authority of the County Council.

Educational records can be divided into two types:

records produced by an education authority
records produced by a school

Education Authority Records

School Records

Governors' or managers' minute books [these can also be found among the County Council's records]

Log books
Admission registers
 Correspondence
 Plans
Records of urban authorities

  • education committee minutes and reports [these can also be found among the County Council's records]

  • education committee ledgers

  • school attendance committee minutes and reports [these can also be found among the Poor law Union records]

Records of the County Council

  • minutes and reports of the education committee

  • minutes and reports of sub-committees

  • minutes of urban education committees

  • minutes of governors' of schools

  • central government material

  • 1902 Education Act returns
Governors' or managers' minute books
discussion and decisions concerning appointment of teachers, non attendance of pupils, repairs, alterations or extensions to school buildings, non payment of fees by parents, use of building for other purposes. The majority of elementary school minute books survive only from the 20th century but where earlier charitable foundation schools have deposited their records these can date from the 17th or 18th centuries.

Log Books

The teacher's weekly diary with comments on children's attendance, curriculum taught, equipment purchased. Usually contains a copy of the school inspector's annual report on the state of the school. Individual children occasionally mentioned. Can survive from the 1860's although many schools have lost their early ones.

Admission Registers

These give the child's date of birth, name and address of parent or guardian, dates of entering and leaving school. Sometimes the reason for leaving is given. Elementary school registers can survive from the 1860's although many schools have lost their early ones. Charitable foundations may have lists of pupils in their early minute books as well as admission registers.

Correspondence

Letters to and from the school dealing with a variety of administrative topics such as inspection, employment of pupil teachers, purchase of equipment. Can also contain circular on national policy from the education department in London and, after 1903, similar circular from the county education authority.

Plans

There is one large series of plans which includes very many of the elementary schools built or extended in the last forty years of the 19th century. These often include block plans, floor plans and elevations. Earlier charitable foundations may have plans of later extensions to their buildings and there are some 20th century plans of schools among the County Council's records.
Education Committee Minutes
Discussion and decisions on appointment of teachers and pupil teachers, repairs or alterations to schools within the authority, purchase of materials and equipment, attendance, fees, occasional individual disciplinary cases. Discussion on matters of the County Council's general education policy. A continuous series from 1892.

Education Committee Ledgers

Financial records showing amount of money received from fees and government grants, money spent on salaries, building works etc
School Attendance Committee Minutes
Discussion on families whose children were irregular attendees at school, decisions to send attendance officer to see parents, reports from attendance officer.
Education Sub-Committees' Minutes
There have been many sub-committees under the Education Committee. The following list is not comprehensive and not all the records are open to public inspection.

agricultural education

buildings

finance and general purposes

school meals

attendance and health

higher education

staffing
Central Government Material
This section includes Acts of Parliament relating to education, reports of governmental departments, circular and instructions to school managers or governors and teachers, all 20th century.

1902 Education Act Returns

This Act made County Council and County Borough Councils the local authorities for technical, secondary and, with a few exceptions, elementary schools. The County Council sent enquiry forms to each school asking questions on the date of building, size of classrooms, sanitation arrangements, teachers' qualifications and salaries, curriculum taught, income and expenditure.

Records of individual schools have generally been transferred to the Record Office only when those schools closed. They date mainly from c. 1870 and include admission and attendance registers, managers' minutes and log books. Records less than 50 years old will not be produced. Consult the Subject Index under 'Education', where school records will be found listed alphabetically by parish. Some earlier records of endowed schools are also held (e.g. Crewkerne, Martock and Taunton) and these can be located in the same index.