Where did your ancestors go to school?

By Matthew Jones, Assistant County Archivist If you're someone who enjoys researching your family history, there is a huge amount of archive material available at West Sussex Record Office and it's not unusual for people to trace their roots back to the 1700s or earlier still. Boys at The Lancastrian School, Chichester, 1914 (WSRO E35/19/20)…

West Sussex Unwrapped II: Month 3 – 185 years of Eastergate school

As of 2021, Eastergate school has been almost ceaselessly teaching for more than 185 years. It has served the parish, and also the surrounding localities, by educating numerous generations of West Sussex families. As you will have seen in the film footage below, the school underwent a huge transformation in 1970; turning from a traditional…

Record of the Month

West Preston Manor School, Rustington - South Africa scrapbooks (WPM 1/5/2-5) West Preston Manor School in Rustington was opened in September 1933 by Miss Dorothy Boykett, who remained as headmistress until the school closed in July 1979. There were 15 pupils to start with, aged from about 6 to 12 and including four small boys,…

Steyning School Register, 1840-1876 (Acc 10206)

Chosen by Joyce Sleight, researcher Some years ago I attended a talk on the work of WSRO at Worthing Library given by a member of the Searchroom staff. In the informal chat that followed I mentioned that as a history teacher and librarian at Steyning Grammar School I had charge of some of the school archive. He…