Schools - 2

Calder Girls School

based upon a history written by H. B. Stout, 1977.

As the last visible evidence of this once successful school is obliterated by its conversion to other uses, it is perhaps a suitable time to look at the story of its foundation by the four sisters, the Misses Wilson.
Mary Jane Wilson        1855 - 1942
Elizabeth Wilson         1859 - 1910
Annie Louisa Wilson    1863 - 1941
Florence Ada Wilson    1867 - 1952

The Wilsons are an old local family. Christopher farmed at St.Bees and one of his sons, John, married Jane Hilton, granddaughter of Thomas & Jane Hilton of Scalegill Hall, and lived at Lonsdale Terrace, St.Bees. He was at one time a general grocer & corn dealer and had a family of seven sons and four daughters.

The impression given of these four women is one of single minded determination to succeed in founding and carrying on a first class boarding school for girls. They appear to have spared no effort in their quest for self-improvement, at an age when most people are inclined to sit back and take it easy. They were undoubtedly outstanding women of their time and of this district.

In 1882 Mary and Elizabeth decided to open a private day school for girls at Park Nook, Gosforth, rented from the owner of the property Dr Parker. At the same time they rented No.3, The Crescent, Seascale, for use as a weekly boarding school for about a dozen girls. Precisely how the two schools were run concurrently is not now known, especially bearing in mind their ages, as Florence Wilson was only 15 years old.

Park Nook continued until 1884, when they all moved to Seascale. In 1885 Joseph Hilton of Whitehaven, their uncle, bought a large 2 year old house on the Banks, built in 1882 by a Mr.Milburn of Barrow, and he made this over to 6 trustees, 4 of whom were the Miss Wilsons. This was to become Calder House School for Girls and was so called until 1909. It was run by Mary Jane as General Factotum and Elizabeth as Headmistress.

Elizabeth Wilson
We do not know what she did before the school in Gosforth. However once she became established at Calder House she set about doing something to obtain qualifications for herself. She must have felt that she could hardly employ qualified staff without having any of her own.
She decided to obtain an external Diploma from the University of St.Andrews, an L.L.A. (Lady Literate in Arts), She prepared for the first two examinations privately and sat the Exams in Leeds, passing with Honours in History in 1894 and Education in 1895. The next two subjects were taken by correspondence courses, run by the University Preparatory Institute, Edinburgh.

In 1896 she passed with Honours in English and in the following year with Honours in French, thus completing the requirements for obtaining the L.L.A. Diploma in 1897.

Annie Louisa Wilson
It is thought that about 1887 Annie Louisa went to Canada to further her education and later to Germany to study German. In 1890,in company with her younger sister Florence, she opened a Junior School, at No.14 Foxhouses Road, Whitehaven, which continued until 1895, when the two sisters moved to Workington, opening a private Girls School at No.l6 Portland Place, which eventually became Workington High School for Girls. They stayed there until 1905.

In 1906 Annie, at the age of 43, entered Newnham College, Cambridge for a years study, and returned to Calder House at the end of 1907, where she became joint Headmistress. The elder sister Elizabeth was Headmistress, but beginning to fail in health, she resigned in the summer of 1909 and died in February 1910. She was succeeded by Annie Louise, who, on her return from Cambridge, had assumed the name of Hilton and henceforth became known as Miss Hilton Wilson.

Florence Wilson
When Miss Hilton Wilson left Newnham College her place was taken in 1907 by Florence Ada, who remained there till July 1909, after which she went to St Mary’s Training College, London, for 12 months and then rejoined her sisters at Seascale.

The original Calder House was enlarged and doubled in size in 1901, to become the house it is today, and in 1906/7 Caldersyde and Calderend were built, along with the gymnasium. In 1901 there were about 30 pupils, a dozen of whom were boys. In 1909 the school became known as Calder Girls School, with 50 girls and a staff of 6 qualified teachers. Playing fields were bought for Lacrosse & Tennis. Board and school fees, under 12’s £18.00, over 12’s £23.00. Piano lessons with mistress £1.11.6, with master £2.2.0.

By 1912 Miss Florence Wilson became Head of the Preparatory School, the staff had increased to 12, pupils to 70. In 1914 Waterhead House was taken as a Domestic Science Dept, the staff increased to 14 and the fees to £30.00. Linsdale House was bought for the use of senior girls and a sports pavilion was presented by the old boys in 1913.

The school continued to prosper under Miss Hilton Wilson and after the war Strathairlie House was added. In 1919 the large Assembly Hall with classrooms under was built. A year later Waterhead House was disposed of and Newlands House bought in its place. The following year Calderthwaite was bought and in 1926, Caldergarth. Jacksonville, later called Calder How was bought in 1930 to replace Newlands House. There were now 100 girls and a staff of 18.

In 1939 the number of pupils increased considerably, because of the safe area in which the school was situated. However Miss Hilton died in 1941, aged 78, leaving the school to be run by Miss Florence and Miss Mary Wilson under the guidance of the senior mistress Miss Rance. Miss Mary died in 1942 and Miss Florence gradually withdrew, leaving the running of the school to Miss Rance and others.

In 1930 Miss W.M.Gardner had been appointed Music Mistress and in 1933 Miss K.M.Bellamy as Maths Teacher. These two ladies became good friends and eventually conceived the idea of taking over the school, with Miss Gardner as Headmistress and Miss Bellamy as Joint Head and in charge of Finance.
There were 110 pupils at the school but things appeared to be at a standstill due to lack of proper leadership. It was at this time, in 1946 that the new partners took over control.

Under new management the school took on a new lease of life and by 1951 the numbers had risen to 220 pupils. Calder Rigg was taken in 1950 and tennis courts and a hockey pitch were added. In 1951 the Hall was extended to provide cloak rooms, 2 class rooms and a servery.

Burnthwaite was taken over in 1952. Since 1946 it had been occupied by Miss Florence in semi-retirement. She moved to Whitehaven where she died in 1952. The house was renamed Calder Wilson in honour of the family. In 1953 further extensions were made to the Hall to provide a Staff Dining Room and Class Rooms over. Calder How was sold in 1956.

Then came the Windscale Incident. This event, aggravated by the exaggeration of newspapers and radio, had a devastation effect on the school and its pupils. Some were withdrawn immediately, others at the end of term. Applications for places dropped dramatically, but the school managed to struggle on. A further blow came with the death of Miss Gardner in 1961. By 1967 the number had dropped to 100. It was at this time that Miss Bellamy decided to close the school.

Three of the houses were sold as dwellings, Calder House became a Private Hotel, the other buildings being converted into houses, flats and maisonettes. Caldersyke, Lonsdale, Strathairlie, & Calder Hall houses were sold to the building firm - Milburns, who started the conversions in December 1972.

The Old Girls Associations still flourish, with regular meetings being held at Carlisle, Belfast, Leeds, Manchester and London, but the girls in their light green and brown uniforms are no longer to be seen in Seascale.

THE CRESCENT SCHOOL, Seascale
For a short period there was a Girls school held in a house situated at the Crescent in Seascale as shown by this article from a local paper.
Amateur Drama at the Crescent School, Seascale Whitehaven News: Dec.1883

“Parents and friends of the Misses Wilson attended a concert given by the schools pupils. Part one of the programme provided excerpts from Shakespeare whilst part two consisted of glee singing. More than 200 attended the performance which included the reading of examination results and the presentation of prizes by Mr.W.T.Newbold the Headmaster of St.Bees Grammar School.”

The way the article was written implied that the event was held in the school but the concept of 200 watching a performance in a house on the Crescent is not credible. The concert must have been held in the church hall.

Nev.Ramsden, December 2008