Hampden House School Brill

[looby42]

My great grandmother appears on the 1881 census as a scholar at this school. The headmaster was Paul Clarke, a retired Wesleyan minister. We have no connection to Bucks prior or subsequent to this and I'm wondering what she was doing there and whether anyone knows anything about this place. It's not to be confused with another Hampden House which was a school in the 1940s. The one I'm interested in was in Brill. Just for info her name was Rebecca Bristow (later Darby). Any ideas how i could find out what she did later...my gran always told me she became a concert pianist and indeed she appears again in 1901 as a music teacher in Lancashire.

[yewtreerob]

Hello Looby42!

A great aunt of mine named Alice Cox was also listed as one of the scholars at this school in the 1881 census, but on the list I have found it does not include your relation Rebecca Bristow

[notanotherminer]

For anyone wishing to assist the 1881 census ref. is RG11/1494/25/page 25

Rebecca is shown as b.1867 at Mansfield. There is also an Emily Bristow (sister?) b.1872 Birmingham

[notanotherminer]

Can I assume this was Rebecca's marriage?

Bristow Rebecca Jun qtr 1886 Kings Norton vol 6c page 610

Indexed on the same page is Horace Charles Darby

[Peter Goodey]

...and Alice Cox is on a later page, The National Archives; RG11/1494 f 26 p 27.

[Peter Goodey]

The 1883 Kelly's Directory shows Rev. Paul Clarke as the Minister of the Wesleyan Chapel (not retired)

[Peter Goodey]

Photo at http://apps1.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms20...os/bri0024.jpg

Prospectus etc at http://members.multimania.co.uk/Chau...John_Mary.html

[notanotherminer]

Any ideas how i could find out what she did later...my gran always told me she became a concert pianist and indeed she appears again in 1901 as a music teacher in Lancashire.

1901 was actually the only census where I couldn't find her. There's no occupation shown for her in 1891 and in 1911 (RG14/18218/SN 133 Crown Copyright TNA) her occupation was House Work. However that doesn't mean much at all. Even where women had jobs they weren't always recorded. It was always assumed that a woman's occupation was one of being a wife to her husband.

[Peter Goodey]

In 1901 she appears to be at The National Archives; RG 13/3912 f 158 p 6

She is working on her own account, at home which can only mean that she gave lessons at home to some pupils but there's no way of telling how busy she really was with this.