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#1
17-10-14, 08:55
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Very welcome extra information
I knew that my grandfather, Cecil Henry Jeffcoat Purkis, had attended Portsmouth Grammar School from newspaper entries and from family information.
Spurred on by our recent trip to Portsmouth and the knowledge that the school has a dedicated Archivist, I sent an e-mail to which I received a reply within 36 hours. Apparently not many records survive from this time, but the Archivist was able to confirm that my grandfather entered the school in May 1898, aged 11. He gave me the family's address at Southsea. He won a Stone scholarship worth £5 a year for three years, and told me that scholarship boys tended to be brighter than the fee payers as they had to sit a competitive examination. Also Cecil came 2nd for Classwork and top in Maths in his first year. Second year, he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1900 he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1902 he was top of the school's entrants for the Naval Engineers examinations (coming 12th overall, presumably nationally) . I'm naturally thrilled to have this information, more especially as my grandfather died before I was born. I e-mailed my thanks to Mr Sadden, who replied by telling me that I was very welcome to visit the school next time I visit Portsmouth! What a wonderful offer and a kind man. 
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#3
17-10-14, 09:19
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Thanks, Marquette. He was an Engineer in the Royal Navy and reached the rank of Engineer Lieutenant Commander. However, he didn't stay in the RN as he suffered health problems (I know he contracted malaria). When he left he worked at the Air Ministry in London for the rest of his career.
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#6
17-10-14, 11:21
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I was most pleasantly surprised as I have contacted a couple of schools in the past and have not received any replies.
We knew my grandfather was quite bright, but it was fantastic to have some detail. Apparently he didn't really want to go into the Royal Navy but I think he was expected to follow his father. It is said he would have preferred to have gone into medicine. His younger brother became a doctor. Last edited by ElizabethHerts; 17-10-14 at 11:34.
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#8
17-10-14, 16:05
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Quote:
Not everyone is as appreciative as you though and there was once a grumpy email complaining of slow delivery of what they wanted. On the plus side we've had two delightful visitors and some very interesting correspondence with relations of our WW1 dead.
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#9
17-10-14, 16:15
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Jill, I'm pleased you have had some positive contacts and that your assistance to people has been appreciated.
I had also discovered that my grandfather's younger brother attended Eltham College so this morning I e-mailed the archivist there and got an almost immediate response. A lovely reply, telling me that my great-uncle would "...have attended the Royal Naval School, which started in a building in New Cross (now Goldsmiths) and moved to Mottingham in 1889, lasting only until 1910 before the school closed (our good fortune). That his father was in the Navy (rather than a missionary) almost certainly confirms that he attended that school, which was also sometimes known as Eltham College." The current Eltham College started out as a school for the children of missionaries. However, when the archivist returns to the school he is going to see if he can find any records of my great-uncle as there are some magazines from the era. Apparently, the records of the original school seem to have disappeared. A very helpful e-mail and the archivist showed great interest, despite the school being not the same one!
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#10
17-10-14, 17:13
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So pleased for you, Elizabeth!
__________________
Love from Nell researching Chowns in Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Brewer, Broad, Eplett & Pope in Cornwall Smoothy & Willsher/Wiltshire in Essex & Surrey Emms, Mealing + variants, Purvey & Williams in Gloucestershire Barnes, Dunt, Gray, Massingham, Saul/Seals/Sales in Norfolk Matthews & Nash in Warwickshire
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