Mr. Raven

Farnworth Grammar school seems to me to have been rather fortunate in recruiting James Alfred Raven (JAR) to the position of Principle Schoolmaster in 1861. Mr. Raven was a "graduate" of St Mark's Teacher Training Academy in Chelsea, developed under the leadership of the Reverand Derwent Coleridge (pictured left), one of Samuel T. Coleridge's children. However, by the time he had retreated with his family to Oxford around fifteen years later, to convalesce and reconsider his position, the next twenty years would not be quite as successful. However, in the absence of a full family history records and any detailed research, some of the suggestions should be treated as speculation, based on likely events, rather than known facts. Further research into the life of JAR awaits more time!

St Mark's College, with its pleasant chapel and grounds (see RHS from a painting by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd) was established in 1840 and for those interested in the details, a rather nice PhD thesis from Dr. David Nichols is available to download online from the Institute of Education in London (Nicholas, D. (2007) Derwent Coleridge (1800 - 1833) and the Deacon Schoolmaster, PhD thesis, University of London.) There is also a nice comparative review of the Colleges of St John and St Mark available here, by Paul Grosch and Dave Harris. 

John Alfred Raven (JAR), was born into a rural community in Lexham, Norfolk around 1838. His father, William who was born around 30 years earlier, in nearby Rougham (see the Norfolk map below) was a farm bailiff. In this substantive rural role, he would have enjoyed the patronage of his landlord, and would have been responsible for recovering rents and overseeing "logistics" at those farms owned by his employer. William had married James's mother, Charlotte Oldfield on July 23rd, 1834 in West Lexham Norfolk. Charlotte hailed from from Bradenham, also in Norfolk. However, from census records, from his birthplace in Rougham, William and then Charlotte moved around Norfolk, presumably taking increasingly responsible positions; culminating in 1861, as the neighbour of Sir Charles Fawcett-Rolfe, the incumbent of Heacham Hall. By the time of the 1861 census, the family had grown, and JAR had a 19 year old brother (Oldfield, who was a farm worker), a 17 year old sister, who was presumably a servant to the Rolfe family, and a young brother Thomas who was 8 years old and a scholar at the time.

In 1861, William, now 49 was living with Charlotte and his three youngest children at number 3, Hunstanton Road (as it is today, the middle white door, LHS). Their nearest listed neighbours are the Rolfe family. The large house to the back, RHS of the picture, was home to a very recent Rolfe family, but was probably built later than the old tied cottages. It is also possible that the house numbers have changed since 1861, and so the identification of the Raven home at the time does remain speculative. Another possible location is alongside the entrance to the pathway leading up to Heacham Hall, which looks more like a set of storage buildings, but might have included a gatehouse of some sort [more digging required here].

Clearly, as it would emerge later, JAR was a bright young boy, and the census in 1861 lists him as a boarder at St.Mark's College in Chelsea. There are no easily obtained records of James between the 1851 and 1861 census, but there is a reference in a White's Directory for this decade of a 16 year old "Pupil Teacher" in Castlegate (near Swaffham) named James Raven, which is consistent with what happened next. During the middle of teh 19th Century, there was a severe shortage of competent schoolmasters throughout the country, and this was particularly the case in rural areas. It was therefore common for bright pupils to act as the equivalent of today's classroom assistants. Indeed the teacher training model at St. Mark's College combined advanced instruction with classroom practice. However in an isolated school, a pupil teacher would teach all day and would receive around an hour of tuition and mentoring from an experienced teacher, typically at the end of the day. 

Around the time that JAR reached the age of 16, the opportunity to compete academically for a funded place at a teacher training college like St. Mark's, became possible in the form of the "Queen's Prize Scholarships". At St. Mark's, students would typically spend two to three years at the college, serving their time as trainee teachers, in an institution that pioneered modern approaches to education. It seems likely that JAR was given the opportunity to study at St Mark's with the encouragement of his local schoolmaster and possibly also by the "Lord of the Manor", for whom I assume, his father now worked. (These details will undoubtedly be easy to confirm, with access to the Rolfe family archive, which has been placed in safekeeping for the Nation). 

[The Rolfe family, had a long and distinguished history in this area of Norfolk, with the then owner, Sir Charles Fawcett-Rolfe being a descendant of John Rolfe, an early pioneer of New England and, famously, the husband of the native American Princess, Pocahontas! Would it be too much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that the resident governess at Heacham Hall spotted JAR's undoubted academic abilities? Stretching the story a little further might lead to the conclusion that the bright young son of a farm bailiff would be advised to get a good education at an establishment such as St Mark's? A spot check of JAR's peers at St. Mark's, shows that 10 years on, many of them were living back home, close to their place of birth, and teaching at a local school.] Some of the key villages in the Raven sphere of influence are shown on the Google Map below.

[I intend to provide a separate account of St. Mark's and the shift from Lancaster's popular, but oppressive approach to the education of the lower classes (as captured beautifully by Charles Dickens in Hard Times), through Derwent Coleridge's alternative, Christianity led, empathetic approach; finishing with the emergence of the primary-junior-senior school model, with the brightest pupils ideally obtaining "Grammar School" places through some form of competitive entrance examination. The educational opportunities of the leaders and the workers in industrialised Britain would only really converge over 100 years after the formation of the Qu'est-ce Que C'est Club!]
 
St. Mark's college and church are a 2 mile walk away, over the bridge from Spencer Road in Battersea, where around this time, the parents of JAR's future life partner, Sarah Page, were living and working. Sarah was born in Stepney, London in around 1838, the daughter of George Hunt Page and his wife Charlotte Page (it is likely that her unmarried name was Bailey, since a widow (Fanny Bailey) was living with George and his wife in 1851), in one of the number of homes they shared (in 1851), again in London. In fact, George Hunt Page and his wife Charlotte had finally settled down after a number of career influenced, house moves, not in fact dissimilar to Raven senior.



It transpires that George Hunt Page was one of Batersea and Wandsworth's most prominent architects. Indeed, he designed and built his house, Aylsford Villa (en hommage  à la maison du nativité) at 35, Spencer Road, Wandsworth, shown left as it is today (again,the caveat should be added concerning changes in house numbering over the last 100 or more years). 

Spencer Road 1910

Inspection of the records from St. Sepulchre's cemetery, following an Internet search for JAR, led to the finding that Sarah Page and JAR's marriage certificate was issued at St. Mary's Church in Battersea on 2nd October,1862, only a few months before Sarah gave birth to their first child, Fanny Louise Raven in March 1863. It has been suggested that by securing a teaching position in Farnworth, JAR and Sarah might have eased the social and family pressures under such circumstances. However, both sets of parents are listed at the wedding. (Only the signatures of both fathers indicate their presence at the service, it would seem likely that at least Sarah's mother attended (implied by later events)). 

The date of JAR's appointment at Farnworth Grammar School is given as 1861; the year that Count Leon Tolstoy made a documented (recently discussed by Victor Lucas in Tolstoy in London and here) visit to the On-site College School at St. Mark's. The census of 1861 lists JAR as a boarder still at the College and it is highly likely that he attended there until shortly before taking up his position in time for the September intake at Farnworth. It is therefore quite likely that JAR was introduced to Tolstoy during his visit. What is also interesting is that Tolstoy asked class 3B students (11 and 12 years old) to write an essay about what they had done on that day; and all 15 of these are reproduced in full, in Lucas's book. Tolstoy also asked the students some questions of his own, after a set piece Q and A with the Director (Mr. Coleridge). On the topic of cotton, the students had revised the Head's answers. When Coleridge probed more widely, it was clear that no answers were forthcoming. Plus ca change! [Read the first Chapter of Hard Times for a comparison with the Gradgrind visit!].

This gives an interesting picture of James Raven. How did he end up in Chelsea, from his rural roots in Norfolk, via the Church at St. Mark's? How and where did he meet Sarah Page, Chelsea is not far from Battersea, but when would the opportunity have arisen? It would seem unlikely it was at Sunday Services, since the Page's attended St. Mary's in Battersea. Sarah's sister, Louise Page was soon to marry Mr Rotton, whose family had lived in India, and who would often visit the Page household. Clearly, the Pages were moving in a wide social circle, but how did JR make her acquaintance? And how did their relationship create the opportunity for a child! This needs exploring.

Finally installed in Widnes, initially at the "old grammar school" (seen LHS, after acquisition of the old building by an old boy of the school, as a commercial warehouse) close to the Church, JAR would have brought with him, a high quality, classical education from St Mark's. A quick sampling of his peers at College suggests that most would go on to become teachers around the country, but mainly in their home towns and villages. Teacher placement was an important part of the work of St. Mark's and Coleridge took considerable care in supporting able "graduates". In his correspondence, it is clear that he would often leave the various school board appointing committees in no doubt about whether the salary and conditions were a suitable match for his candidates!  And perhaps some of the visionary thinking of Derwent Coleridge had rubbed off on young Raven! Since shortly after his appointment, with a pitifully low school roll, JAR would take on the personal risk of investing in a new School Building. 

Given JAR's Norfolk family background, it would seem likely that in the absence of finacial underwriting from the School Board, his Father in Law (or a similarly affluent individual) would have provided at least some of the collateral required to secure a mortgage on the property that currently stands at the corner of Beaconsfield Road and Derby Road: originally called Moon Meadow. The task of refurbishment and recruitment of staff, followed by the  necessary increase in student numbers, was all achieved successfully. By the middle of the decade, JAR had increased the number of scholars by ten-fold, marking both a financial and academic peak in the late history of Farnworth Grammar School.

The success of the school would run parallel with JAR's involvement with the  Qu'est Ce Que C'est Club; JAR had clearly made his mark on the town and was now mixing socially with some of its greatest luminaries. Unfortunately, with the school at its high point, JAR suffered an injury whilst inspecting refurbishments. A nasty back injury rendered him unable to carry out his duties and required a period of convalescence. This marks the decline of the JAR era and what follows is a rather sad tale of school board politics, personal tragedy and, it would appear, the passing of a progressive force in education in the town. Interestingly, the Pheonix that emerged from the Ravens' ashes; a purpose built Grammar School, in between the likely birth place of Bishop Smyth and St Luke's Church  would be opened in some pomp and circumstance by Lord Winmarleigh, and the first headmaster was none other than Walter Angus Watts! The Qu'est Ce Que C'est Club legacy continued and the last phase of the involvement of these two individuals and the rise of Freemasonry in Widnes will be the subject of the third part of this story.