The Mystery of School House and School Farm

I was intrigued when I first discovered that there had been mention of a "School Farm" and a "School House" long before the present building was built, in 1846; so I decided to look through all the censuses, from 1841 onwards, to see who actually lived in these places and were tyhey teachers. What I found, in each census, from 1841 to 1891 follows below:

School House, School Farm in the Censuses

Looking through the censuses, I found "School house" and "School Farm" mentioned with, generally, agricultural labourers and their families living there. The "School house" couldn′t, therefore, be that used for teaching the children. Also, obviously, it was not the residence of the "schoolmaster"; or "teacher". So, why "School house"?

There is no mention of a school, as such, but censuses only covered "Habitations" or other places where people lived (ships, hotels, for example) so schools would not normally be included unless someone was living there, such as a "boarding school".

So, I think an explanation of the mention of a "school house" but no sign of a school could be either: -

a) The school house was NOT where the lessons were taught but was, at one time, a dwelling where the school master lived or was intended to live. The schoolmaster might, however, already have a house, either locally or nearby, or it was unsuitable (perhaps too small for his family or fell into disrepair) and so the parish let the property to others, which would explain the presence of the family of an Agricultural labourer. The apparent absence of any teacher would also be explained if he/she lived outside the parish.

b) The school house mentioned WAS where, at one time, the lessons were held but the building had become unsuitable for some reason (perhaps, too small for the number of children); however, the name of the house or farm stuck. If this were so, where were the lessons actually now held - where were the real school rooms? I didn′t think that I′d find them in the census but what I did find was interesting.

The following are extracts from the various censuses and all refer to a "school house" though, as I′ve said before, the meaning is unclear. I′ve included Ninfield, in some cases, because it′s not very far away (though transport was not so, relatively, easily available as it is to-day) and, anyway, who knows what time may show.

The first census is that of 1841 and we have a "School House" and a "School Farm" but no sign of a teacher living in the village.

It′s worth mentioning that in the 1841 census ages were rounded down to the nearest five years - except for children aged 16 and under where the true age had to be given (this was not the case in the subsequent censuses where the correct age had to be given). Also, the last column in this census asked the question “Whether born in same county“ - to which the answer was either "Y" (Yes) or "N" (No); again, as with the ages, in later censuses, everybody had to state where they were born.

1841 CENSUS

1841 - "School House", Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref HO 107 - Piece 1109/2 Folio 8 Page 10

1841 - "School Farm", Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref HO 107 - Piece 1109/2 Folio 8 Page 10

These two entries - one for a "School House" and one for a "School Farm" are proof that there must have been some sort of school, in Hooe, in 1841 and, certainly, before this date but how long before, I have no idea - as yet.

As a matter of interest, there is no mention of "Scholar", under "Occupation", in the 1841 census of Hooe, but there are several possible reasons for this. One such reason could be that this information was, simply, not required by the enumerator.

1851 CENSUS

The 1851 census was the first census that gave information useful to the family historian - the head of the houshold and the relationship of the others to him or her, whether married or unmarried, exact age (if known, of course!), occupation, and where born. That there must have been a school, somewhere in the area, is proved by there being, in this census, 110 entries of "Scholar at Home". They would have needed a large building for this number of children and more than one teacher.

By this time, however, the school, still standing to-day but now as a private dwelling, would have been built yet we still have entries for "School House" and "School Farm", with the usual "Ag Lab" and, in this case, a farmer; but, this time, there′s mention of a "school teacher". I′ve listed the School Teachers in a separate part which follows thisPart for that see the next section as is shown

However, it′s difficult to imagine 110 pupils all crowded into the 30 ft x 17 ft (roughly 9.2m x 5.2m) building of 1846. Perhaps, the parish council realised the problem they were going to have and never approved the plan, with two results - the 1846 school was never built and a new school design produced, which is that shown in the second, undated drawing, and which may have been drawn as early as 1849.

1851 - "School House", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref HO 107 - Piece No. 1638 Folio 178 Page 18

1851 - "School Farm", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref HO 107 - Piece No. 1638 Folio 178 Page 18

1861 - "Schoolhouse", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG9 Piece No. 568 Folio 144 Page 9

1861 - "School Farm", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG9 Piece No. 568 Folio 144 Page 9

1861 - "School Farm Cottage", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG9 Piece No. 568 Folio 144v Page 10

1861 - "School Cottage", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG9 Piece No. 568 Folio 149v Page 20

Here we have a surfeit of "school" buildings! A "house", a "farm", a "farm cottage", and a "cottage" - and even a teacher (see later) - but not in any of these buildings!

1871 - "School Farm", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG10 Piece No. ??? Folio 47 Page 1

1871 - "School Cottage", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG10 Piece No. ??? Folio 47 Page 1

1871 - "School House", Hooe, Sussex - PRO ref RG10 Piece No. ??? Folio 47 Page 1

In the 1861 census there was a "School Cottage" and a "School Farm Cottage". Because of its location in the census, I believe that the latter is the "School Cottage" in the 1871 cottage and that the former was either misnamed or changed its name.

The strongest pointer to the 1861 "School Cottage" not being the correct one is that it was situated in "Hooe Common" and not in "Hooe" where the school was. It would seem probable, however, that the dwelling was known as such because of the "School Farm Cottage" entry that appears to have changed its name by adding the word "Farm".

It would be interesting to find or, if necessary, create a map of the village over this period to get some idea as to where the houses listed in the census were and then to identify and, on paper, locate the people who lived in them; virtually, to get a snapshot of the village between 1861 and 1871.Perhaps, one day, I will do just that!

1881 CENSUS

For the 1881 census, I widened my search to cover Ninfield just so that I had a record of what was in that parish and in case I needed the information later. I found another "School House" and a "School House" with a "teacher" (see under Part 2 - Teachers)!

1881 - "School House", Ninfield, Sussex PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1042 Folio 81 Page 3

1881 - "School House Cottage", Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1042 Folio 75 Page 18

1881 - School Farm, Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1042 Folio 76 Page 19

1881 - School Farm, Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG11 Piece 1042 Folio 76 Page 19

1891 – School Farm House, Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG12 Piece 776 Folio 146 Page 13

1891 – School Farm House, Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG12 Piece 776 Folio 146 Page 14

1891 – School Farm, Hooe, Sussex PRO Ref RG12 Piece 776 Folio 146 Page 14