Orwell Astronomical Society (Ipswich)
History of Orwell Park School
1868 - 1939
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.
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.
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 |
# See Wikipedia article on "Louis Wilkinson" (1881-1966).
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 |
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 |
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 | 2nd Dormitory maid |
Marjorie Rivron | 26 October 1923 | 3rd Dormitory maid |
Frances Smith | 04 July 1920 | 1st 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].
Information from Kelly's Directory for Suffolk
Year
Page
Location
Information
#1. John Frederick Spurgeon, Aldeburgh Corporation Councillor 1921-22 [8].
#2. Arnold Frederick Saunders, born Reigate, Surrey, 1865, died Aldeburgh, 1950.
#3. Francis James Welch Glass, born Marlborough, Wilts, 1875, died Dersingham, Norfolk 1968.
[1]
[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.
[4]
[5]
Ipswich Evening Star, 07 August 1974.
[7]
OASI Newsletter, February 1973, second page (numbered p. 1).
[8]
Kelly's Suffolk 1922, p. 26.
Bill Barton, FRAS