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  1. #1
    A fountain of knowledge
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    Oct 2004
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    Essendon, Victoria, Australia
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    418

    Question Teacher - tertiary qualifications

    Hello folks,

    I am tracing the career of a teacher, James Russell, born 1846, who probably came up through the ranks as a pupil teacher, his parents also being teachers. By 1874 he was the schoolmaster of a gentleman's college in Bridgwater, Somerset. In 1881 he was the head of a large boarding school, Silesia college in Barnet, Herts, and in 1901 he was the head of a day and boarding school called "New College" in Rosebery St, Harpenden, Herts.

    He had a child shown as having been born in San Francisco in about 1893, suggesting some teaching overseas.

    A 1902 Directory lists him as "James Russell, BA" at the New College, Harpenden. Can anyone suggest where I would look to discover where he obtained this BA? Is there some sort of national registration of private school teachers, or a directory of some sort?

    With thanks,

    Lenore Frost

  2. #2
    geoffpowers
    Guest

    Default James Russell BA

    Lenore

    From your description it seems that he would probably have gained his BA degree around 1860-70.

    You will probably need to approach the registrar's offices at the principal UK universities: in the case of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and London you may even need to approach individual colleges, given the period in question.

    In descending order of probability as:

    Oxford - various colleges
    Cambridge - various colleges
    London (University College; King's College)
    Durham
    Manchester (not sure of the status of this university in late 19C - it may still have been only a college: you would have to find out its date of incorporation.)

    - and in Scotland:

    Edinbugh
    St Andrews
    Glasgow

    I do not know of any centrally held records of British graduates for this period.

    Unfortunately, is more than likely, that records for the period in question will not have been preserved.

    Do you have any information about the institutions in which James Russell taught, as their records would quite likely give details of his qualifications?

    It may help if you contact the National Archives at Kew, London:

    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

    They will be able to advise you better than I how best to proceed.

    Sorry I cannot be more helpful.

    Regards

    Geoff

  3. #3
    uksearch
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by geoffpowers
    SNIP
    Manchester (not sure of the status of this university in late 19C - it may still have been only a college: you would have to find out its date of incorporation.)
    SNIP
    Geoff
    Try the link below
    https://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/facts/history/



    UK

  4. #4
    A fountain of knowledge
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Essendon, Victoria, Australia
    Posts
    418

    Default Teacher - tertiary qualifications

    Quote Originally Posted by geoffpowers
    Lenore

    From your description it seems that he would probably have gained his BA degree around 1860-70.

    You will probably need to approach the registrar's offices at the principal UK universities: in the case of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and London you may even need to approach individual colleges, given the period in question.

    <snip>

    Do you have any information about the institutions in which James Russell taught, as their records would quite likely give details of his qualifications?

    <snip>
    Regards

    Geoff
    Hi Geoff,

    Thank you for your comments - sorry I was slow in responding, we've been away camping for a fortnight.

    I felt it more likely that his qualification was closer to 1901 when I first noticed him advertising it. Having a university education was a big plus for a teacher, and I reckon he'd have been advertising it earlier if he'd had one.

    Thanks for the tips on the most likely universities. I can probably find some tomes of graduates in the local uni library and slog through those. I wondered though whether education authorities had introduced a system of registration for private school teachers as they did in Victoria, Australia in 1906 (and we always copied what England did!)

    One school he was at had its records destroyed in WW2. Another that he taught at in his early days - I have tracked down some papers, but not examined them yet, but he was barely out of pupil-teacherdom in those days, and not likely to have had a BA. In his later years the school looks like a very small affair run by himself and his wife, maybe more along the lines of taking in a few boarders for personal tutoring. I don't expect to find any records for that one. Other schools? Don't know. He appears to have been in San Francisco for a few years.

    However, I'll work through the books of graduates and see how I go.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

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