OASI: Orwell Park School

Orwell Park Observatory is part of Orwell Park School, which licenses its use to OASI.

The school was founded in Lowestoft in 1868 by the Reverend Walter George Wilkinson (1830-1906). The school was initially called Crespigny House, and Wilkinson was first Headmaster [1]. Records reveal the subsequent history of the school as follows.

1881 Census

The 1881 census, taken while the school was still called Crespigny House, recorded the following on the night it was taken.

Name	Age	Position	Duties	Place of Birth
Walter G Wilkinson	51	Head	Schoolmaster	Godshill, Hampshire
Charlotte	39	Wife		Charlton, Wilts
Christabel Emra	9	Daughter	Scholar	Aldeburgh
Maurice	7	Son	Scholar	Aldeburgh
Emma Green	23	Assistant	Teacher of music	Northamptonshire
Caroline Ringer	32	Servant	School matron	Norfolk
Elizabeth Ellis	29	Servant	Cook	Harwich, Essex
Sarah Button	19	Servant	Housemaid	Leiston
Jane Read	18	Servant	Housemaid	Leiston
Jane Woodbridge	19	Servant	Kitchenmaid	Blaxhall
Emma Harvey	14	Servant	Nursemaid	Ipswich
Plus 27 male scholars, age 9 to 14

The census records individuals present in a particular building on the night it is taken, so it is reasonable to assume that those identified above as scholars are boarding pupils, and that day pupils would not have been recorded.

1891 Census

By the time of the 1891 census, the school had changed its name to Eaton House. The following persons were recorded.

Name	Age	Position	Duties	Place of Birth
Walter G Wilkinson	61	Head	Clark in holy orders and head of preparatory school	Godshill, Isle of Wight
Charlotte	49	Wife		Charlton, Wilts
Christabel Emra	19	Daughter		Aldeburgh
Louis Umfreville ^#	9	Son	Scholar	Aldeburgh
Rebecca Forbes	26		Teacher of English and classes etc	Scotland
Torel John Groche	29		Teacher of classes in French etc	Jersey
John Tothill	20		Teacher of classes, drawing etc	Devonshire
Caroline Ringer	42	Servant	Matron	Nottingham
Agnes Elliston	38	Servant	Cook	Ipswich
Mary Corneby	26	Servant	Parlourmaid	Suffolk
Louisa Hammond	24	Servant	Housemaid	Cambridgeshire
Esther Pallant	19	Servant	Housemaid	Aldeburgh
Elizabeth Corneby	20	Servant	Kitchenmaid	Suffolk
Caroline Warren	18	Servant	Nursemaid	Ipswich
Plus 28 male scholars, age 9 to 15

1901 Census

In 1901, the school was still known as Eaton House. The census recorded the following.

Name	Age	Position	Duties	Place of Birth
Walter Wilkinson	71	Head	Clergyman (CoE), schoolmaster	Godshill, Isle of Wight
Charlotte	59	Wife		Charlton, Wilts
Maurice	27	Son	Schoolmaster	Aldeburgh
Francis Glass	25		Schoolmaster	Marlborough, Wilts
Edward Tupper	23		Schoolmaster	Wimbledon
Edith Maltravers	28		Schoolmistress	Melksham, Wilts
Elizabeth Stewart	59	Servant	Cook	Baylham
Winifred Roberts	24	Servant	Matron	Merionethshire
Annie Bloomfield	24	Servant	Housemaid	Benhall
Annie Everett	17	Servant	Housemaid	Bedingham, Nfk
Edith Bloomfield	19	Servant	Housemaid	Rickinghall
Gertrude Cooper	15	Servant	Kitchenmaid	Aldeburgh
Thomas Lister	14	Servant	Page	Hitcham
Plus 29 male pupils, age 9 to 14

1911 Census

By 1911, the school had again changed its name, this time to Aldeburgh Lodge, and Walter Wilkinson's son, Maurice (1874-1943), was headmaster. The census recorded the following.

Name	Age	Position	Duties	Place of Birth
Maurice Wilkinson	37	Head	Headmaster	Aldeburgh
Alice Wilkinson	31	Wife		Birmingham
Violet Wilkinson	7	Daughter		Aldeburgh
Mark Wilkinson	3	Son		Aldeburgh
Noel Wilkinson	2	Son		Aldeburgh
Gerald Dale	51		Assistant schoolmaster	Blackheath
Edith Tillott	32		Matron	Loddon
Mildred Barnett	24	Servant	Nurse	Raynham
Jane Dale	17	Servant	Nurse	E. London
Edith Goddard	31	Servant	Cook	Bury St. Eds
Edith Gamble	22	Servant	Kitchen maid	Ipswich
May Weaver	19	Servant	Parlour maid	Metfield
Ellen Sawyer	17	Servant	Dormitory maid	Tunstall
Maud Bailey	14	Servant	Between maid	Rickinghall
Edith Cattermole	22	Servant	House maid	Glemham
Plus 19 male boarders, age 7 to 13

1939 School Register

In 1936, the school purchased Orwell Park from the Pretyman family and, in the following year, relocated from Aldeburgh to the new location, changing its name to Orwell Park School [2]. Two years later, in 1939, the school register recorded the following.

Name	Date of Birth	Duties
Maurice Wilkinson	20 March 1874	School teacher
Alice Wilkinson	04 September 1879	Unpaid domestic
John Spurgeon ^#1	02 November 1874	Headmaster
Dora Spurgeon	31 March 1875	Unpaid domestic
Noel Wilkinson ^#2	24 December 1908	School teacher
Philip Sidney	13 October 1905	School teacher
Brian Belle ^#3	07 April 1914	School teacher
Edward Scholefield	13 June 1908	School teacher
Marjorie Hagger	21 October 1909	School teacher
Edith Tillott	17 March 1879	School matron
Barbara Stearn	27 May 1919	School matron
Betty Ruffles	04 May 1918	School matron
Joyce Manning	18 October 1913	Lady cook
Catherine Macauley	12 September 1913	Head parlour maid
Margaret Balls	25 September 1916	Head dormitory maid
Megan Davies	20 January 1911	2^nd Dormitory maid
Marjorie Rivron	26 October 1923	3^rd Dormitory maid
Frances Smith	04 July 1920	1^st Kitchenmaid
Marjorie Newson	16 February 1919	Housemaid
Peggy Soanes	14 September 1914	Housemaid
Plus 22+ "at school"

#1, Spurgeon, John Frederick, Joint Headmaster 1919-1946, died, Ipswich 17 July 1946 [3].

#2, Wilkinson, Noel Hawtrey, (born Aldeburgh, 24 December 1908, died 6 Market Place, Hadleigh, 23 October 1983). Co-author of the Dragon Book of Verse, Clarendon Press, 1956, with Wilkinson, William Alexander Chaplin [4]. Noel taught at the Dragon School 1931-35. He was Headmaster of Orwell Park School 1947-69 [5].

#3, Belle, Brian (1914-2007), Headmaster of Orwell Park School 1969-79 [6]. Belle was the first president of OASI, serving for the year 1973 [7].

Trade Directories

Year

Page

Location

Information

#2. Arnold Frederick Saunders, born Reigate, Surrey, 1865, died Aldeburgh, 1950.

#3. Francis James Welch Glass, born Marlborough, Wilts, 1875, died Dersingham, Norfolk 1968.

Footnotes And References

[2]

Private correspondence between OASI Secretary, Roy Gooding, and Noel Wilkinson, January-February 1982.

[3]

Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, volume 2, John Venn, p. 612.