School Log

The Bishop Burton school log is a primary contemporaneous account of the weekly activities in the school from two years after its opening in 1861 through to its compulsory closure in 1986; the school replaced an endowed school that had been funded initially by the Gee family. The log was maintained by the school head to comply with statutory requirements. The schoolmaster for the first 46 years of its life was Benjamin Swann and his accounts in particular go beyond the minimum required. They provide a fascinating account of life and behaviour in the village. Issues that figure strongly in the log include the curriculum, the role of religion, childhood illness and death including major epidemics that caused the temporary closure of the school, attitudes to schooling, the behaviour of the children, school funding, the development of pupil teachers, the battle to keep children at school, the pressure for children to enter employment or take part in casual activities such as shooting parties, the relationship with the village gentry, local events such as the rose show, the impact of the two world wars, the activities of school inspectors, severe weather.

The original log is held in the archives of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and may be inspected there.

The log was photocopied when it was lodged in the archives and the photocopies are in the possession of Mr John Dunning of Cold Harbour Farm, Bishop Burton. The files on this CD were created by taking a digital photograph of the photocopied pages. The quality of the copies varies rather and some are scarcely legible but most are of good quality. From 1863 to 1929 the files are organised by a folder for each year within a folder for each decade. Thereafter the files are organised simply by decade since the size of entries is rather smaller.

Any queries about the files should be addressed to: Bishop Burton News bishopburtonnews@gmail.com