Hall Lindler Academy?

[Roz S]

Hello all

Looking at the 1921 census, my Bank Top-born grandmother is recorded as full-time at what looks like the 'Hall Lindler Academy'. Do any of your contributors know of such an establishment in the Bedlington area at that time? She was 17 by 1921 which I think was quite old for a girl to still be in full-time education then.

Any clues would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Canny lass]

@Roz S Hi Roz S and welcome to the Bedlington forum. What was your grandmother's name and where was she living in 1921? I'll have a look at it and see if I can make sense of it for you.

[Roz S]

Hi Canny lass - and thanks.

She was Mary Jane Storey, living with her aunt and uncle, Elizabeth Dorothy and David Gray, at 3 Office Row, Bedlington Colliery. My gran was brought up by the aunt and uncle as they had no children and my gran's parents' house full of 4 older brothers. (She was with the Grays in 1911 too - address then given as 3 Shop Row which I guess may be the same house.)

[Canny lass]

Hi again Roz

I had a look at the entry for your gran in the 1921 census. Your gran’s uncle, David Gray who completed the census form, has a very clear style of hand-writing and I don’t think there’s any doubt that your gran was attending Hall Lindler Academy on a full-time basis.

You thought 17 years of age was a bit old to be engaged in full time studies but it’s worth bearing in mind that the 1920s was a ’boom’ time for women’s education. The school-leaving age had risen from 12 – 14 just a couple of years earlier in 1918 and, perhaps more important, women were also given the vote that year - albeit not on the same terms as men! The suffrage movement fought not only for voting rights but for women’s rights in general including the right to education.

Further education was becoming popular among the working classes and towards the end of the 1800s even the male dominated Mechanics Institute was allowing women to attend its courses. So there was a lot happening on the educational front for women!

I’ve been researching Bedlington and its nearest neighbours for 14 years now and I haven’t ever stumbled across Hall Lindler Academy. That, however, is not to say that it didn’t exist in Bedlingtonshire  or anywhere else. Also worth bearing in mind is that the word ’academy’ in 1920 shouldn’t be confused with the same word used today for many establishments for full time secondary education.

There were two types of academy: those who’s aim was to advance science, art and literature and those whose aim was to give training in a special field or skill – especially those skills which were useful/needed for employment. The latter arranged courses in just about anything: shorthand, typing, languages, mechanics, woodwork etc. and the courses could range from weeks to years. So, while your gran was engaged in in whole-time studies it may only have been on a short course.

I note that David Gray was working for the Coal Company in a white collar position, as he was a clerk (which would account for his neat hand writing!). Perhaps he could have encouraged your gran to move away from the then traditional, factory, serving girl, housekeeper and laundress type of jobs in favour of the ’cleaner’ jobs of bookkeeping, typing, teaching and clerical work. These, together with dressmaking and shop work, were the areas where women predominantly worked in the 1920s.

I note that Mary Jane and her husband are living apart a few years after their marriage. Mary Jane and her daughter – your mother – are living in Belford and her husband John Robert is living in Gosforth. While household duties are given as Mary Jane’s occupation, could she have been living there by reason of some earlier special employment? Perhaps you know something of her employment prior to her marriage. That could give some indication of the nature of her education.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help in unravelling the mystery of Hall Lindler Academy but I hope this has given you something to think about.

[Roz S]

Thanks for all the rootling around! Yes, family tradition had it that David Gray was a little 'posher' than gran's father - we used to have a splendid photo (now sadly lost) of him 'taking the wages to the pit' with a horse and open cart. They were quite strict - Gran said they didn't allow playing cards in the house - but she was encouraged to read (eg Chatterbox annuals which we do still have). As you say the 'Academy' was possibly something quite unofficial - and perhaps more geared towards 'ladylike' training. Gran was always baking, sewing, embroidering, knitting and crocheting but I don't think she ever had a 'proper' job. Her husband Robbie was certainly upwardly mobile - from a mining family but worked his way up in marine insurance and bought a house in Gosforth. I've seen the 1939 Register entries too. As my mother told it, Robbie got in a bit of a bind about Newcastle being bombed at the very start of the war so packed them off to the Seahouses area for a while, but they came back to Elmfield Gardens fairly quickly.

Gran's mother was a daughter of William Wilson, blacksmith, of Wilson's Yard in Front Street. He died quite young and his widow ran the business for the next decade or so, then when she died, her eldest son, also William Wilson took it on. He was in charge when Gran was a child - she said that she used to play in the yard and hide in the pit which was used when they made huge cartwheels. I'd love to find a picture of that business.

I do find family history fascinating and so much of my mother's side relates to the Bedlington area.

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@Roz S in January 2020, under the History Hollow section @Stuart created a topic as he was trying to find out where Wilson's Yard was in Bedlington.

This is a direct link to the topic and it has a couple of maps showing where Wilson's Yard - 'Smithy' was :-

 

 

[Roz S]

Thanks Alan (if I may) - that's very interesting and helpful!

Best wishes

Roz