Records of Newton School of the Society of Friends

Abstract book of John Brabbin's Trust, 1767-1899 [U 17]; Executors and trustees accounts and receipts, 1768-1810 (2 vols. & 3 bundles) [U 22/3-7]; Legal papers and papers re. John Brabbin's will, 1763-1783 (3 bundles&1 item) [U 22/9-10, 8; LL 90]; Papers re. purchase of land, building of the school and its maintenance, 1784-1812 [U 22/11, 13, 12]; Correspondence re. post of master, c.1798-1804 (1 bundle) [U 22/14]; Charity Commission papers re. Newton School Foundation, 1921-1930 (1 bundle) [U 22/15]; Plans of the school, 1920-1925 (5 items) [DD 25]; Brighouse Monthly Meeting Newton School Committee proceedings, 1868-1869 [LL 60]; Financial records of Brighouse Monthly Meeting Newton School Committee, 1902-1924 (4 bundles) [LL 61-64]

The Quaker School in Newton-in-Bowland was funded by a bequest from John Brabbin, who died in 1768, and left both funds and premises to educate boys and girls from local Quaker families. A trust was established to manage the school, the object of which was 'to advance good manners and useful learning'. Children from non-Quaker families in Newton were also admitted to make the school viable. The school taught basic writing and arithmetic and did not charge attendance fees. When the post of schoolmaster became vacant in 1844, a replacement could not be found. A Quarterly Meeting committee to assist the school was set up around this time, comprising James Backhouse, Joseph Rowntree and Samuel Tuke. The trust funded six places for poor children at the National School in Newton as an alternative from 1847 onwards. A new schoolmaster was appointed in 1868 and the school continued until 1911.

The records are numbered and arranged according to the system used when they were in Carlton Hill Meeting House

The conditions of deposit include a clause requiring written prior permission from a Friend Custodian for access to consult current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old

The collection of archives of the Society of Friends formerly held at the Friends Meeting House at Carlton Hill, Leeds

In English

Contents listed in Handlist 99, "Inventory of the records of Brighouse, Knaresborough, Leeds, and Settle Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends formerly preserved at the Friends Meeting house, Carlton Hill, Leeds", 2nd edition, 1997

As with access, the photocopying of current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old requires the permission of a Friend Custodian

Related material in Leeds University Library: Related bundle of papers, 1767-1845, VI 7, Clifford Street archive; Records of Newton-in-Bowland Preparative Meeting and Brighouse Monthly Meeting

W. Pearson Thistlethwaite, Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting of the Society of Friends, 1665-1966 (author, 1979), pp.207-208; L.J. Stroud, in FQE, 1948, pp.59-63

The records are deposited and remain the property of the Society of Friends