Froebel House School. 1911
Little is known about Froebel House School. The school is known to have existed
in 1900 and was located somewhere in Stoke; this can be ascertained from the Subscribers
List to Henry Whitfeld's Plymouth and Devonport in
Times of War and Peace. Whitfeld's book was published in 1900 and one
of the subscribers was Charles Alfred Organ, BA, with his address given as Froebel
House, Stoke, Devonport.
The images below are from the summer prize-giving programe of 28th July 1911. Judging
by the person presiding over Prize Day, the Reverend Alexander Sharpe, MA, perhaps
the school had links with a nearby church? If any reader can throw more light on
Froebel House School it would be good if you would write-in please.
The school was definitely for senior pupils, as many of the prizes were for the achievement of
vocational skills, such as passing the Civil Service exams, or for Pitman's Shorthand.
And there's one more thing that can be ascertained from this programme ... that it was quite a good school, just look at their attainments.
Rather than translate all the pupils' names from this document, I've scanned each
page. The images below are very easy to read if you are looking for a Devonport
ancestor.
Update December 2013
Reader Patricia March contacted me - her father lived in Beresford Street, Devonport,
as a youth, and attended Froebel House School. Patricia says the school
was located in Stuart Road. Her father's name was William Launder. William was born
in Bermuda in 1907 as
his father, William
Joseph Willoughby Launder, was a pattern maker working in Burmuda Dockyard at the
time (being transferred there from Devonport Dockyard). The family returned to England
in 1920 and that was when the young William was sent to Froebel House School.
Patricia also sent a copy of an interesting recent 'house-for-sale' advertisement; it was for the property in Stuart Road where the school was located.
A house in Stuart Road, Millbridge. The inset smaller image is a building in the rear garden - being what was once Froebel House School.
So, from the quirky route of a property advertisment, then on via a kind reader,
an image of the actual school is able to be shown to you. Tiny wasn't it?
It was of course a private school, with the building being what today might be used
as a vehicle garage.
But that tiny school served its pupils very well, for several of them reached decent
achievements. Here is a part of the text that accompanied the property advertisement
...
Quote. 'Froebel House is a splendid and remarkable Victorian end of terrace
property, built
about 1890. The property has a wealth of character features including various
marble fireplaces, ceiling rose, coving, picture and dado rails, stripped pine floors,
architraves and skirting.
An intriguing aspect of this property is the detached former Victorian school house
which is situated in its grounds. Presently the school house has a 28'7 garage area
on the ground floor and the first
floor measures approximately 32' and has two double glazed windows and three
double glazed skylights.'
Unquote.
(page added April 2011 - updated December 2013)