Have you ever thought ‘if only these walls could talk’? Well looking at some of the historic buildings that surround us living in the UK its easy to start wondering who lived there?
I wrote an article about one such building in York, and thought I would share part of that here as it’s a great example of building history and family history combining to deliver a great story.
St. Anthony's Hall. York
St Anthony’s Hall is a restored medieval building situated on Peasholme Green, (named because it was once a meadow where peas grew!) in York. The Hall was built in the fifteenth century and was initially used by Friars as a hospital and then later became a Guild Hall. By the time of the Civil War, it was used as a gaol to house captured Royalist soldiers and after the war continued as a prison for some time. In 1705 it was used as a school and that was the start of the Bluecoats School which was housed in the building until it closed in 1946.
The York Bluecoats School was established by York City Corporation as a charitable institution to provide education in reading, writing, religious studies and arithmetic for forty poor boys aged between 7 and 12 years. Entry to Bluecoats was by a quarterly ballot of subscribers though the number of boys given places was increased after a generous bequest in 1890. The boys were provided with food, lodging and clothing, including the blue (or grey) coats which gave the school its name. When they finished school, boys were expected to gain a position as an apprentice, often bound to a Master for seven years, or otherwise enter domestic service.
For over 240 years, scores of boys, and later girls, lived, played, and worked within the walls of the Hall. In 1850 there were 70 boys enrolled at Bluecoats and by the time of the census in 1901 there were 67 boys registered with their 4 teachers. The census gives us a gateway to the past, each name would have a lifetime of stories to tell, and a little research can unravel fascinating detail of the people they were.
I chose four entries on the 1901 census of Bluecoats School and delved into the records to tell their stories. In this blog I’ll just share the research about one of those boys and save the others for another time!
In addition to the census, the school records from ‘Find My Past’ are an excellent resource and helped to pinpoint individuals to learn more about their stories.
Arthur Clemmit: A hero in the making.
The first name to catch my eye was one Arthur Clemmit. He was born in November 1892 and his parents were Robert and Susan Clemmit. Robert was listed as a Labourer on Arthur’s baptism record, and they lived in Low Ebor Street in York. Low Ebor street is close to the city centre and consists of terraced houses built in the late 19th century, so would have been fairly new when Arthur and his family lived there. The 1899 school admission records of St Mary Bishop School, helpfully give date of birth and address of the boys making it easy to match them up with the birth and previous census records. Arthur was enrolled here first before moving to Bluecoats on 3rd July 1899 when he was 7 years old. We can only imagine how a very small boy felt to be leaving his parents to live at the school. The 1901 school records indicate that his schoolwork was ‘average’ and he had attained Standard V11. School work was classified into ‘standards’ and Standard V11 was the top standard so I would have thought to achieve that by age 7 he was doing alright! We assume he continued at Bluecoats until he was 12 years old but have no details of these intervening years.
By the time of the 1911 census Arthur would have been 19yrs old and had left Bluecoats behind and was working as a Colliery Byeworkman. A Byeworkman did general repair work of roads or ground, but as a Colliery employee the work could have been underground near the coalface. Arthur was living in the village of Streethouse, near Pontefract. At that time, it was a busy mining community. Perhaps the school managed to place him in work here as I could find no family link to the area.
Arthur lodged in Streethouse in 1911 and the owner of the property was one Elizabeth Chadwick. Just a few months later Arthur married an Alice Chadwick, perhaps she was a relative. She also lived in Streethouse with her parents and her Dad also worked at the Colliery. Arthur was only 19yrs old but his life and future in the mining industry must have seemed secure.
Just three years later the world changed forever with the outbreak of WW1. Arthur enlisted, as so many other young men did and served as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery in both France and Salonika. His army records are not available online, but he was awarded the Military Medal and a report of this in the London Gazette gave his name, rank, service number and home address. I found the Citation and a photo on Ancestry which detailed his amazing bravery:
It is rare to find such detail and really brings Arthur alive. After this episode, Arthur was then posted to Salonika (Greece). Despite being hospitalised with fever in 1916 while in Salonika, he survived the war and returned home to Alice. They went on to have a family, having at least six children. In 1921 they were living in Streethouse, and they can be found on the electoral records in Normanton near Castleford for a few years and then by 1939 they were living in Slough, and Arthur was employed as a Foreman in a Foundry. Arthur then moved to Buckinghamshire for the rest of his life, and I found his death registered in 1969 aged 78yrs. His life was interrupted by war as many who lived in those times, but he survived and returned home to raise a family. His time at Bluecoats perhaps provided a good grounding for the future.
Arthur’s story is just one of many that could come from the walls of St Anthony’s Hall.
Do you know of a historic building that begs to be researched? Contact me to chat through any help you might need. I’m always fascinated at the stories that the research uncovers!
