Bedfordshire 
Contents 
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
BEDFORD, a borough and market town, having separate jurisdiction, in the county of BEDFORD, of which it is the capital, 50 miles (N. N. W.) from London, containing 5466 inhabitants. This place, called by the later Britons Lettuydur, and by the Saxons Bedanford (both which terms are expressive of its character as a place of public accommodation at the passage of a river) derives its name from its situation near an ancient ford on the river Ouse. In 571, a battle was fought here, between the Britons and the West Saxons, the latter being commanded by Ceolfulf, brother of Ceawlin, third king of Wessex, in which the Britons were defeated with considerable loss. The town having been almost destroyed by the Danes, was restored by Edward the Elder, who greatly enlarged it by erecting buildings on the opposite side of the river; but in 1010, it suffered again from an irruption of the Danes, who committed most dreadful ravages in their progress through the country. After the Conquest, Payne de Beauchamp, third baron of Bedford, built a strong castle here, which was besieged and taken by Stephen in the war with the Empress Matilda; and when the barons took up arms against King John, William de Beauchamp, who then possessed it, having taken part with the insurgents, delivered the castle into their possession, but it was subsequent]y besieged and ultimately taken for the king by Falco de Breant, upon whom that monarch bestowed it as a reward for his services. In the reign of Henry III, Falco having committed excessive outrages, for which he was fined £8000 by the king's itinerant justiciaries at Dunstable, seized the principal judge and imprisoned him in the castle, which, after a vigorous siege and an obstinate defence, memorable in the history of those times, was taken, and, by the king's order demolished, with the exception of the inner part, which was given for a residence to William de Beauchamp, to whom Henry restored the barony, which he had forfeited in the preceding reign. Of this fortress, only a part of the intrenchments, and the site of the keep, now converted into a bowling-green, remain. The ancient barons of Bedford were Lord Almoners at the coronation of the kings of England, and, as an inheritor of part of the barony, the Marquis of Exeter officiated at that of George IV, receiving the usual perquisite of a silver alms-bason, and the cloth upon which the sovereign walked from Westminster Hall to the Abbey. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., this town, which bad been garrisoned for the parliament, surrendered to Prince Rupert, in 1643: the parliamentary troops, under Col. Montague, afterwards entered it by stratagem, and carried off some money and horses, which had been brought thither for the use of the royalists.
The town is pleasantly situated in a fertile vale, watered by the river Ouse, over which a handsome stone bridge of five arches was erected in 1813, at an expense of £15,187, replacing a former bridge of great antiquity: it consists of one spacious street, nearly a mile in length, intersected at right angles by several smaller streets; the houses, many of which are ancient, are in general well built, interspersed with several of modern erection. A crescent is at present being formed on the northern side of the bridge, and the general appearance of the town is rapidly improving it is well paved and lighted, and amply supplied with water. Races are held in the spring and autumn; assemblies take place during the winter; and a small theatre is opened occasionally. The principal branches of manufacture are those of lace and straw-plat, in which many women and children are employed; and a considerable trade in corn and coal, by means of the Ouse, is carried on with Lynn-Regis and the intermediate places. The market days are Monday, for cattle; and Saturday, for corn and provisions : the former market is held in the southern, and the latter in the northern, division of the town. The fairs are on the first Tuesday in Lent, April 21st, July 5th, August 21st October 12th, and December 19th, for cattle; and there is a wool fair on the 17th of November. The government, by charter of incorporation, granted by Charles II., by which the prescriptive privileges of the borough were confirmed, is vested in a mayor, recorder, deputy recorder, two bailiffs (who act as sheriffs), two chamberlains, an indefinite number of aldermen, and thirteen common council-men, assisted by a town clerk, three serjeants at arms, and subordinate officers. The mayor, who is a justice of the peace, and the two bailiffs, are elected annually from among the freemen: the aldermen, whose number is by custom limited to twelve, are chosen from among those who have served the office of mayor. The corporation hold a court of session quarterly, at which the deputy recorder, or, in his absence, the mayor, presides. The borough gaol has been pulled down, an arrangement having been made whereby offenders committed by the magistrates for the borough are sent to the county gaol; and a lock-up house has been built for the temporary confinement of disorderly persons. The borough first sent representatives to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., since which time it has returned two members: the right of election is vested in the freemen and burgesses, whether resident or not, and in inhabitants, being householders and not receiving alms, in number about four hundred: the mayor and bailiffs are the returning officers. The assizes and quarter sessions for the county are held in this town. The sessions-house, rebuilt in 1753, is a neat stone edifice, in St. Paul's square: the county gaol and old house of correction, rebuilt in 1801, is a handsome structure, surrounded by a high stone wall at the north-western entrance into the town; it contains a tread-mill for grinding corn, worked by prisoners sentenced to hard labour. The county penitentiary, or new house of correction, a large brick building on the road to Kettering, was erected in 1819. The house of industry, erected by act of parliament, in 1796, at an expense of £5000, is under the control of thirteen directors resident in the town, to whom, by an act passed in the 34th of George III., the expenditure of the poor rates is entrusted. The county lunatic asylum, a handsome brick building on the road to Ampthill, was erected, by act of parliament, in 1812, at an expense of £13,000, and will accommodate sixty-five patients private patients are admitted on paying 14s. each per week. The county infirmary, on the same road, is a substantial brick building, with a stone front, towards the erection and endowment of which the late Samuel Whitbread, esq. gave £10,000, Lord Hampden £1000, and the Duke of Bedford contributes £100 per annum. The Marquis of Tavistock, at the parliamentary election for the county In 1826, presented £2000 to this institution, in lieu of entertaining the freeholders.
The town comprises the parishes of St. Cuthbert, St. John, St. Mary, St. Paul, and St. Peter Martin, within the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln. The living of St. Cuthbert's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £5.9. 4½., endowed with £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Crown. The living of St. John's is a rectory not in charge, in the patronage of the Corporation: the church is a neat structure in the later style of English architecture, with a handsome tower, but it has been much modernized. The living of St. Mary's is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £11.4. 9½., endowed with £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Lincoln: the church is in the later style of English architecture, with a plain square tower. The living of St. Paul's is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at £10, and in the patronage or Lord Carteret. The church is a spacious and venerable structure, partly in the early, and partly in the decorated, style of English architecture, having a handsome tower surmounted by an octagonal spire, and a north and south porch in the later style: the interior, which is chiefly in the early English style, contains a stone pulpit, embellished with gilt tracery, on a blue ground, and some interesting monuments and brass plates: over the south porch there is a chamber, in which the records of the corporation are deposited, and over the northern side of the chancel, a library of valuable books. The living of St. Peter's Martin is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £11. 13. 1½., and in the patronage of the Crown: the church is an ancient edifice with a tower, the upper part of which has been recently restored, and having, at the southern entrance, a beautiful Norman arch. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Moravians.
The free grammar school was founded in 1556, and endowed with property consisting of some houses and land in Bedford, and in the united parishes of St. George the Martyr and St. Andrew above the Bars, Holborn, London, by Sir William Harpur, a native of this town, and lord mayor of London in 1561, whose statue, in white marble, is placed in a niche over the entrance. It has eight scholarships of £80 per annum each, tenable or four years, in either of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin, six of which are restricted to boys whose parents are inhabitants of the town, and the remaining two are open to all scholars on the foundation. The school is under the inspection of the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford, who appoint the master and the usher, and under the management of eighteen trustees resident in the town, six of whom retire annually, in rotation, six others being elected in their stead. Under the same endowment there are an English school for boys, a National school for boys and girls, and an hospital for the maintenance and education of fifty children of both sexes; an apprentice fee of £30 each is given annually with ten of the boys, and one of £15 each with five of the girls, who, at the expiration of their apprenticeship, on producing a certificate of good conduct receive a sum not less than £10, nor exceeding £20 each, to assist In setting them up in business. From the same fund were founded and endowed twenty almshouses, each containing four apartments, for ten aged men and ten aged women, decayed housekeepers, each of whom receives a weekly allowance of 10s., and £3 annually for clothing; and forty-six additional almshouses have since been erected, on the northern side of Harpur-street, for aged men and women, who receive a weekly allowance of 7s. each, and £2 annually for clothing: small pensions are also granted to the widows who quit the almshouses on the death of their husbands. The sum of £800 is annually given, in marriage portions of £20 each, to maidens of good character, resident in the town, £500 for the relief of decayed housekeepers, and other pecuniary donations to the poor, all arising from the same endowment which, owing to the increased rental of the estate, yields an annual income of more than £11,000. A school, for ten boys and ten girls, was founded in 1727, and endowed with lands producing £46. 10. per annum, by Mr. Alexander Leith; and a Blue-coat school, now united to the National school, was founded in 1760, and endowed with £33.15. 6. per annum, by Alderman Newton, of Leicester, for twenty-five boys, for clothing whom the endowment is now appropriated. Eight almshouses, for unmarried persons of either sex, were founded and endowed in 1679, by Mr. Thomas Christie. An hospital, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was founded and endowed by the inhabitants of Bedford, in the reign of Edward II., for a master and ten brethren; its revenue, at the dissolution of religious houses, was a £21. 0. 8., but the charity was then confirmed, and the mastership is now annexed to the rectory of St. John's. A monastery of uncertain foundation existed here at a very early period, in the chapel of which, Offa, King of Mercia, who had been a great benefactor to it, was buried; the chapel being afterwards undermined by the Ouse, sunk with the tomb of that monarch into the river. Near St. Paul's church stands an ancient building, supposed to have been one of the prebendal houses noticed by Leland: about three quarters of a mile west of the town, on the bank of the river, are some remains of the conventual buildings of Caldwell priory, which was founded in the reign of John, by Robert, son of William do Houghton, for brethren of the order of the Holy Cross, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £148. 15. 10. At Newenham, a mile east of the town, are considerable remains of a priory of Black canons, which, in the reign of Henry II., was removed thither from Bedford, where it had been originally founded by Simon Beauchamp; and at Elstow church, formerly Helenestowe, two miles distant on the road to Clophill, are the interesting ruins of a nunnery, founded by Judith, niece of William the Conqueror, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and to St. Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £325. 2.1. John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim's Progress, was confined for twelve years and a half in the county gaol at Bedford, from which he was ultimately released on the intercession of the Bishop of Lincoln. Bedford confers the title of duke on the noble family of Russell.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
The 1851 Census Index for Bedford can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 8, Books 1 & 2 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
There is a list of 1881 Census: Residents of Union Workhouse, Bedford St Peter, Bedford.
There is an Index to the 1851 Census of Bedford Prison, Parish of St. Paul.
Ecclesiastical & Chapels of Ease
All Saints Church, Queens Park, erected in 1896 as a chapel of ease to St. Pauls, is a plain edifice of brick, and will seat 500 persons. Rev. Ernest William Adams D.A. of Durham University, is curate in charge.
The ecclesiastical parish of the Holy Trinity was formed from that of St. Paul in 1860: the church in Bromham road, erected in 1839-40, is a spacious edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave north and south porches, and a lofty western tower containing a clock and one bell: in the chancel is a memorial window to the first vicar of the parish: in 1891 the organ was enlarged and moved from the west gallery to the east end: there are sittings for 1,400 persons of which 500 are free. The register dates from the year 1841. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £466, with residence, in the gift of the vicar of St. Paul's, and held since 1880 by the Rev. George Arthur Willan M.A. of St. Johns College, Cambridge.
The ecclesiastical district of St. Leonard's was formed from St. Mary's parish by Order in Council dated August, 1889. The church of St. Leonard the Confessor, in the Victoria road, is a temporary iron structure seating 450 persons. The register dates from the year 1889. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £150, in the gift of the rector of St. Mary's, and held since 1894 by the Rev. Vitruvius Partridge Wyatt M.A. of Queens College, Cambridge, assistant chaplain of the Chapel Royal, Savoy.
The ecclesiastical parish of St. Martin was formed out of the parish of Holy Trinity by Order in Council dated December 6, 1896. The church, which stands on the Clapham road, erected at a cost, including site, of £5,200, was dedicated October, 1889, by the Lord Bishop of Ely, and is an edifice of brick, with Bath stone dressings, in the Early English style, from the designs of Mr. J. A. Chatwin, architect, of Birmingham, and consists of chancel, with aisle, organ chamber, vestry, nave of four bays, aisles, transepts, western baptistery and a detached wooden belfry containing one bell: in 1898 a stained memorial window was placed in the south aisle: there are 740 sittings. The register dates from the year 1896. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £24, with fees amounting to £12 and offertories, in the gift of the Bishop of Ely, and held since 1896 by the Rev. Alfred Hawkins Jones LL.D. of the University of London, and curate in charge from 1888. A Sunday School for 200 children was built in 1894, and enlarged in 1897.
[Extract from Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Catholic
The Catholic church, in Midland and Brereton roads, and dedicated to The Holy Child and St. Joseph, is a lofty building of stone in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave and aisles: provision has been made for extending one end of the church, and when complete it will have a fine tower with broach spire: the altar, erected in 1864, by subscriptions collected by the children of the congregation, is of Bath stone, with the figures, in canopied niches, of King David, St. Gregory the Great, St, Andrew and St. Nicholas: over the high altar is a stained window, also the gift of children, and exhibiting incidents in the life of Our Lord: in 1887 a bede altar of Bath stone and marbles was erected from designs by Mr. A. E. Purdue, and is adorned with figures of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin and various saints: in1864 a fine stained window was erected in the chapel as a memorial: both these additions were the gift of a member of the congregation: there are 250 sittings : the Rev. Robert 0. Middleton is priest in charge: attached to the church is a presbytery.
[Extract from Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Non-Conformist & other
St. Cuthbert's Mission hall, at the corner of Newnham street and opposite St. Cuthbert's church was erected in 1891-2, at a total cost, including site (£345) of £2,000, and is an edifice of red brick, with red rubbed brick and stone dressings, in the Early English style, from designs by Mr. W. B. Davis, architect, of Bedford; it contains a large hall, 60 ft. by 30 ft. with a platform 25 ft. by 12 ft. a reading room 30 ft. by 20 ft. constructed so as to open to the large hall and serve as a gallery; lavatories and offices have been provided in the rear. The large hall will seat 300 persons, and with the platform and gallery affords about 450 sittings. The hall is used for work connected with the Sunday school, bible classes, lectures and educational classes, as well as for Evangelistic meetings and mission purposes. In the evening it serves as a working men's club, and in the winter as a soup kitchen, and for mothers' meetings, parish clubs, and other agencies.
The Bunyan Meeting (Union of Baptists and Congregationalists), in Mill street, was rebuilt in 1849, on the site of the former chapel, known as the "Old Meeting," itself erected in 1707, on the site of the building of which John Bunyan was the minister (1672-1688): his chair is preserved in the vestry, and a tablet in the vestry records that he was for 12 years a prisoner in Bedford County Gaol: the church was established in 1650: in 1876 the Duke of Bedford gave two massive bronze doors for the principal entrance; these have 10 panels, each of which, by Thrupp, represents in bold relief, a scene from his famous allegory, "The Pilgrims Progress," the first part of which was written during his second imprisonment in the town gaol on Bedford bridge (1675-6) : the chapel has sittings for 1,078 persons. A hall for school and other purposes was attached to this chapel in the year 1866.
The Howard Congregational church, in Mill Street, was originally founded by John Howard, the philanthropist, and others in 1772, and enlarged in 1849. In 1862 a school room and various class rooms were erected to celebrate the thirty years' ministry of the Rev. William Alliott: the church will seat 700 persons.
The Baptist chapel, Rothsay road, built in 1894 at a cost of £3,700, is of red brick and stone, and will seat 650: attached is a Sunday School for 150 children, with class rooms beneath.
The Wesleyan chapel, in Harpur street, built in 1832, was restored in 1889 at a cost of £1,600, and will seat 1,000. The Wesleyan chapel, in Bromham road, built in 1877, will seat 650. The Wesleyan chapel, Cauldwell street, was built in 1862 at a cost of £4,000, and will seat 400.
Here are also the following chapels, with the number of sittings specified :- Baptist, Mill street, 660 ; Catholic Apostolic, Gwyn street, 233. Brethren, Bedford hall, Greenhill street, 200. Primitive Methodists, Cauldwell street, 300 ; Hassett street, 424; Park road, 200. Theistic Harpur street, 100. Zion (Huntingdonian), Lurke street, 137. Christadelphian, Alexandra place, 100. Moravian, St. Peter's street, 500. Salvation Army Congress Hall, River street, 1,300.
[Extract from Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
There is an Index to the 1851 Census of Bedford Prison, Parish of St. Paul.
Bedford Gaol
From 1983-86 a group of teachers in Bedfordshire worked with a subset of the statistics for Bedford Gaol that were collated by Robert Evans Roberts who was the governor of the Gaol between 1855 and 1886. They produced a database a of 1333 records giving details of some of the prisoners, their crimes and punishment 1801 and 1877. The database was original held in 9 files and interrogated using the Quest program. They also supplemented the database with printed materials and microfiche records.With the development of Web technology, it has been possible to make that database searchable via the Internet, but also to extend the original pack with photographs, extended studies and additional materials. In addition, explanatory notes have been added to the original database entries to make them more easily understood.
Robert Evans Roberts was innovatory in his use of photography to record prisoners. Included here are all the photographs from the prison register for the years 1859 to 1877, linked to the original database where possible.
In time, Bedford Records Office plans to produce a complete database for the 4000+ prisoners that were held in Bedford Gaol over the period 1801-1877. This will provide an even more detailed and richer resource than the database currently used.
BEDFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL is one of the 16 schools licensed by letters patent of Edward VI. and its foundation dates from 1552. Sir William Harpur, a native of Bedford, alderman of London and Lord Mayor in 1561, together with Dame Alice his wife, in 1566 granted to the Mayor and Corporation of Bedford, an estate then consisting of 10 acres and 1 rood in London situate in the parishes of St. George the Martyr (Queen square, Bloomsbury) and of St. Andrew, Holborn, which had been purchased by him for the sum of £180, for the purposes of founding a school: this estate from its position became exceedingly valuable and has since been entirely built over, the following being some of the streets now existing on the estate:- Bedford row (west side), Lamb's Conduit street, Theobald's road, Harpur street and New North street. Many of the houses having been required for improvements in the neigbbourhood, have been compulsorily taken, and the proceeds invested by the trustees in the funds: the annual rent of the remaining houses, mostly let on leases of 30 years, is estimated at £4,000: the trustees also own some houses in St. Johns end St. Paul's, Bedford, producing a further rental of £150: the trusts of the charity were reconstituted by a scheme of the Endowed Schools Commissioners approved by Her Majesty in council in 1873, and dating as from 30th May, 1871:. the governing body; under this scheme, consists of 27 persons, of whom six are ex-officio, viz. the Lord Lieutenant, the Mayor and the members for the town and county; nine are nominated for five years, viz. Lord Lingen, H. M. Burge, esq. M.A. J. E. White esq. M.A. Rev. H. B. George M.A. the Rev. A. P. Kirkpatrick M.A. F. Tanqueray Willaume esq. James Anstie esq. B.A., Q.C. Charles E. C. Prichard esq. J. Carter esq. M.R.C.S., J.P. and W. E. Taylor esq. and 12 representative governors, who hold office for three years, viz. J. E. Cutcliffe J.P. J. W. D. Harrison, J. H. Howard, Geoffrey Howard M.A. R. P. Jarvis, J. Miller, R. Richards, G. Robinson J.P. 0. D. Shelton, Capt. Verey J,P., and C. Wells; A. H. Allen, Harpur trust office, is clerk to the governors.
In a niche over the entrance of the old Grammar school, now the Town Hall, is a statue, of the founder, Sir William Harpur, knight, in his robes as alderman of the city of London: and inserted in the wall at the base of the statue is a marble slab, bearing a Latin inscription, He died in 1573, and was interred in St. Paul's church in this town, where his tomb still remains.
The old buildings of the school in St. Paul's square, have been transferred to the Corporation for conversion into municipal buildings.
The present school buildings adjoin De Parys avenue; the foundation stone was laid Oct. 17th, 1889, by Samuel Whitbread esq. M.P. for the borough and chairman of the governing body of the Harpur trust, and the buildings completed Oct. 19, 1891, at a total cost of about £25,000, are in the Tudor style from designs by Mr. E. C. Robins F.S.A. architect, of London, and consist of a large assembly hall on the north side, with 42 class rooms and offices on the east, west and south sides in three storeys, and a chemical laboratory; the front elevation facing the new park, includes the battlemented north side of the central hall, containing seven huge windows, with suites of class rooms on either side, three porches and an octagonal tower at the corner; the school stands in its own grounds, and is approached from two sides by carriage drives, and adjacent is a playing field of 20 acres ; there are also chemical and physical laboratories, covered playground, fives courts, gymnasium, carpenters and engineering workshops, observatory &c. and two sanitoria on the. Clapham road.
The school is organized in four departments:
1. THE PREPARATORY SCHOOL, for boys from 7 to 10 years of age, with a separate playground, but with the same privileges as the rest of the school.
2. THE JUNIOR SCHOOL, for boys from about 10 to 13½, which has also a special portion of the playground and playing-field allotted.
3. THE CLASSICAL DEPARTMENT (upper and Middle Forms), for boys preparing for the Universities, for the professions &c.
4. THE CIVIL AND MILITARY DEPARTMENT, in which pupils are specially prepared for law and medical examinations, the London University Matriculation, Cooper's Hill, Indian Police, the Civil service, the royal navy or naval clerkships &c; persons wishing to inquire about the school can see the head master, at the school, Bedford, or, in his absence, A. Talbot esq. 27 De Parys avenue, on applying to Mr. E. Smith at the office at the school, which is generally open in term, and in holidays from 10 to 1 and 2:30 to 4. Parents should apply to the headmaster for a form of application for admission.; boys residing,. with their parents or grandparents (or uncles and aunts under certain conditions) receive the full school education for terminal payments of £3, for boys under 13, and £4, over 13 ; entrance fee £2; no boarders are allowed except in masters' houses: they are eligible to all prizes and exhibitions ; the boarding houses are small, only taking from 10 to 25 boys, whose lessons are prepared under supervision: the boarding fee is £63 per annum under 13 and above that age £66 15s, entrance fee £2, laundry £1.1s. and sanitorium 7s, a term.
BEDFORD MODERN SCHOOL, in St. Paul's square, is divided into the Higher Modern side, the Military and Engineering side, the Commercial side and the Junior and Preparatory schools. The school now numbers about 600 boys. The Preparatory school is intended for boys between the ages of 7 and 10; it is under the care of mistresses and is separated from the rest of the school. The Junior school is for boys on leaving the Preparatory school, and for boys entering the school between the ages of 10 and 12; they may remain in it until 12 years of age, if they do not obtain their promotion earlier. Above this, as far as the Upper Fifth, Form inclusive, the school is divided into two branches: Higher Modern and Commercial. Above the, Upper Fifth Form, a further choice of subjects is allowed, with a view of enabling boys to compete for special examinations or, to prepare for special pursuits ; and they are, divided into classes under the following:-Matriculation Side, for London Matriculation, Local Examinations, Professions &c. Military and Engineering Side, for admission to Woolwich and Sandhurst; the City and Guilds of London Institute, and for Engineering pursuits, Mercantile Side, for the Commercial Certificates of the Cambridge Local Examinations and the London Chamber of Commerce, Clerkships, higher Commercial life. Candidates are admitted at the age of seven, and may remain till they have attained that of seventeen, and by special permission of the Governors, on the recommendation of the head master, till they have reached their eighteenth year, but are not then eligible for exhibitions and prizes. Attached to the school are two exhibitions of £55 and £45 yearly, tenable for three years at any university, or any other place of liberal and professional education approved by the governors, who have also power to establish exhibitions in the school, providing that, in half at least, preference be given to boys educated at the elementary schools of the town.
Head master, Rev. Robert B. Poole D.D University College, Oxford F.C.P. formerly assistant master, in Clifton College.
The HIGH SCHOOL for girls, Bromham road, opened in May 1882, is on the same foundation as the Grammar School for boys, and numbers 600 pupils. The buildings are in the Jacobean style and include a large central hall, holding 700 people and containing an organ, the gift of old pupils and friends of the school, a fully equipped art studio, a Swedish gymnasium and a chemical laboratory. The school is divided into upper, middle and junior departments. Open exhibitions are awarded annually in the form of exemption from tuition fees and a scholarship tenable at some place of higher education. Boarders are received in houses licensed by the governors. Head Mistress, Miss Belcher.
There are numerous private boarding schools, the principal are the Priory School, Bromham road : Rev. T. Russell M.A. and Robert Lewthwaite B.A. principals; St. Michaels School, St. Michaels road, Thomas Henderson esq. M.A. principal.
The MODERN SCHOOL for girls is in St. Paul's square, and has now about 150 girls. Pupils are admitted at seven years of age. Head Mistress, Miss Dolby.
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, adjoining the Modern School premises, are available for about 900 boys, 820 girls and 400 infants. G. M. T. Bates B.A. head master; Miss Mitchell, head mistress; Miss H. Smith, head infants' mistress.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Ampthill road, for 363 boys, 355 girls and 374 infants; average attendance, 357 boys ; 340 girls and 365 infants; John Baldwin, head master; Miss Elizabeth Robinson, head mistress; Miss A, A. Smith, head infants' mistress.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Clapham road, erected in 1892 for 420 boys and girls and 330 infants; average attendance, 351 boys and girls and 287 infants; Miss Ellen Matilda Poynter, mistress; Miss Alice Chesher, infants' mistress.
All the Bedford Schools are under the Harpur trust, with the exception of St. Cuthbert's and St. Paul's, which are mission schools.
Clerk to the Trust, Albert Harry Allan, Harpur street
[Extract from Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Bedford Archaeological & Local History Society
The Bedford Archaeological & Local History Society, which has been in existence for over 100 years, currently runs a monthly lecture programme on subjects of local archaeological and historical interest. Recent topics included; timber framed buildings, the history of a local village, oral history, manors and local archaeological discoveries.
Bedfordshire Family History Society
Bedfordshire Family History Society (BFHS) was founded in 1977 to bring together those interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry, primarily in Bedfordshire, and to help co-ordinate research and to make our county records more freely accessible. The society holds regular monthly meetings, usually on the first Friday of each month (except August), and publishes a quarterly journal. Activities include transcribing and indexing county records, and copying and indexing monumental inscriptions. Meetings are held at Mark Rutherford School (near Mowsbury Park), Wentworth Drive, Bedford. Visitors or potential members are welcome.
Bedfordshire Historical Record Society
The Bedfordshire Historical Record Society specialises in promoting access to County history, specifically from archival sources. An annual volume of source material is published, along with monographs on aspects of the County's history.
Find help, report problems, and contribute information.
[Last updated 31 May 2004 Martin Edwards]