of
in the custody of the
(reference: GB-2432-Haberdashers)
Listed by R Olney, September 1993
Historical Manuscripts Commission
Enquiries relating to these records should be addressed to the Principal at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Girls' College. Access to them is at her discretion.
The schools of the Haberdashers' Company originate from the will of Robert Aske, a city merchant and Liveryman of the Company, who died in 1688 leaving an estate to the Company in trust for charitable purposes. The hospital and school, founded at Hoxton, were the subject of a Charity Commission scheme of 1873, under which schools for boys and girls were established in 1875-6 on land owned by the Company at Hatcham in south east London, in addition to the schools remaining at Hoxton. In 1882 a separate site on the New Cross Road was purchased for the Hatcham Girls' School, which opened there in 1891. The Hatcham schools became voluntary-controlled in 1946 under the LCC, and later comprehensive schools under the Inner London Education Authority. Most recently they have become City Technology Colleges.
The surviving records in the Archive Room at Jerningham Road to some extent reflect these changes. For the period 1874-c1930 the archive is comparatively full, and contains material - accounts, clerk's papers, architectural drawings and inspectors' reports - that relates not only to the Hatcham girls' school but also to its sister schools at Hatcham and Hoxton (the latter moving to Acton and Hampstead in 1898). Thereafter, however, the records become much less full. This may have been due initially to the disruption caused by the Second World War, and then to the effects of changes in status from 1946 onwards. For this more recent period the historian will clearly have to supplement the surviving records at Jerningham Road with the records of the Haberdashers' Company itself, and with material surviving in the archive of the Inner London Education Authority. (The records of the Haberdashers' Company now deposited in the Guildhall Library include minutes and other records for Robert Aske's charity 1688-1894, mainly for the period before 1875.) But there has also been a lack of continuity in the school's own archive keeping, only partially compensated for by the careful preservation of printed literature and photographs.
In order to make an examination of the contents of the room it was necessary to re-order them to some extent, and the following shelf list describes the books and papers as arranged by the end of the Commission's visit on 1 September 1993. This is not necessarily the ideal arrangement, but has enabled a little more space to be created on the shelves, and has also helped to identify and isolate the non-archival contents of the room.
The Commission would like to express its thanks to the College for this opportunity to record the existence and contents of its archive, and the compiler would like to add his own thanks to Dr Sidwell (Principal) and Mrs Fitzpatrick (Head of History) for their hospitality on the occasion of his visit.
For the purposes of this list the shelves are numbered 1-4, starting at the top. Each shelf is divided by uprights into four bays, the bay immediately to the left of the door on entering the room counting as bay 1.
Shelf 1, bay 1
Architectural drawings and maps as follows:
Ground plan of additions to Hoxton Hospital 1874, by William Snooke (1 roll).
Design for Hatcham Girl's School 1887, by Henry Stock (5 drawings and 1 tracing, in a roll).
Proposed extension to Hatcham Boy's School 1905 (1 roll).
Drainage plans for Acton, Hampstead and Hatcham schools 1922 (3 rolled items).
Floor plans of Hatcham GS, LCC 1974 (3 items).
Folder containing various drawings of the school 1930s-70s.
Proposed new buildings, Hatcham GS 1976-7 (1 file).
Large-scale OS maps of Hatcham site 1895, 1953 (2 items).
Also with the above, summaries of accounts for the four Hoxton and Hatcham schools 1876-82 (1 roll).
Shelf 1, bays 2 and 3
School crockery.
Shelf 1, bay 4
Unused stationery.
Shelf 2, bay 1
Duplicate copies of school magazine (Capricorn) c1975-86.
More stationery.
Shelf 2, bays 2 and 3
Printed books, including school prizes and a set of the eleventh edition of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Shelf 2, bays 3 and 4
A large quantity of photographs, in albums and folders and loose, many recent but some dating from the earlier years of the school. Unsorted.
Shelf 3, bay 1
Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Girls' Association: a box of recent records plus other non-archival material. (For early records see below, shelf 3 bay 4.)
Shelf 3, bays 2-3
Admissions registers 1876-1919 (1 large volume), 1909-24 (6 volumes), 1956-91 (2 volumes).
Entrance registers 1896-1952 (4 volumes), 1919-38 ('no, 4').
Attendance registers 1943-50 (3 volumes), 1960-72 (9 volumes), 1972-5 (7 volumes: 'absentee registers'), 1976-81 (7 volumes: 'central registers').
Absentee books 1978-9 (23 small volumes).
Late books 1987 (2 volumes).
Staff register 1905-29.
Headmistress's log book 1907-32.
Shelf 3, bays 3-4
Aske's schools, Hoxton (later Acton and Hampstead) and Hatcham, managers' general cash books 1883-1930 (6 large volumes, missing 1909-12). Salaries, fees, etc.
Hatcham cash books 1875-6 (2 volumes), 1875-1919 (boys' school and girls' school, 1 volume).
Expenditure ledgers 1921-4 (empty), 1945-59; income and expenditure account 1951-63 (.1 volume); ledger 1979-81.
'Bank accounts' 1890-1915 (6 volumes), 1930-7 (1 volume).
Hatcham schools' fees 1877-9 (1 volume); girls' fees 1882-94, 1899-1912 (2 volumes); music fees 1876-87 (1 volume).
Miscellaneous accounts 1960s, etc (6 volumes), including needlework stock book and housecraft purchase order book.
Shelf 3, bay 4
Minutes of staff meetings 1929-39 (2 volumes), 1955-77 (6 volumes), 1979-83 (2 volumes).
Minutes of senior and junior school council meetings 1943-86 (13 volumes).
Minutes of school clubs c1922-84 (11 volumes), mostly sports but including music and gardening.
Library accession register ?1930s.
Index to archives (begun 1936 but with only one or two entries).
Records (minutes, etc) of Hatcham Girls' Association 1887-1916 (7 volumes),
Various school exercise books, given by former pupils (c40 volumes).
Shelf 4, bay 1
Copies of school magazines, mainly 20th cent. (These were found sorted or partially sorted, and not disturbed.)
Shelf 4, bay 2
Photocopies of statutes 1695-1745, in folders; printed copies of 1852 statutes (1 item) and 1900 scheme (as amended 1910-21 (3 copies); papers of W Ellis, Clerk to the Managers of the Schools, relating to the acquisition of the New Cross site and building of the girls' school 1882-91 (1 folder); further correspondence and papers of W Ellis relating to Charity Commission schemes, sites for new schools, etc 1891-9 (8 folders and some loose papers). All in one cardboard carton.
Reports on schools (Hatcham girls' school and others on the foundation) by Board of Education, London University and LCC inspectors c1904-34 (1 bundle).
LCC (ILEA) circulars, etc (several bundles).
GCE Ordinary Level results 1941-62 (2 volumes and 1 parcel).
Medical sheets, 1977 entrants (1 bundle).
Miss Connolly Memorial Fund (1 parcel, not inspected).
Miss Dyson Memorial Fund 1962-9 (1 parcel).
Papers relating to visit by Princess Margaret 1971 (1 file).
Shelf 4, bays 3 and 4
Papers relating to the history of the school, many assembled by Miss Pat Knight (former pupil and teacher, d1992).
'Tercentenary material' (1 box).
Miscellaneous recent material, partly printed, including copies of Foundation Day and Speech Day programmes. 2 unsorted piles.
Recent printed material. Box as found.
Notes relating to the Haberdashers' Company and Hall; papers relating to the sorting and arrangement of the archive, etc. One cardboard carton.
Additional copies of the 1900 Scheme (c20 small red volumes).
Miscellaneous items, including a gaslight, Miss Kirby's cushion, a box of lace, and a box labeled 'Textile Archive'. All in the corner between bays 3 and 4.
In corner of room near bays 4
Further framed photographs, etc.
Under table
Further printed material for review and weeding or destruction, including 18 copies of The Foundation and Early History of Aske's Hospital at Hoxton 1695-1744 by JR Meredith 1964 (should be kept), printed copies of ILEA committee minutes 1960s-80s (1 box), copies of ILEA Education Bulletin 1960s (2 bundles), Christmas cards and prize bookplates (1 box), and carol service programmes 1980.