Leyton Technical Institute

Records of the Leyton Technical Institute, later Leyton Technical College, 1898-1938, comprising:

Press cuttings, 1898-1907, 1932 [note: currently closed due to poor condition]; prospectus for the Evening Classes, winter session, 1923-1924; invitations and programmes for prize giving ceremonies, 1921-1932; invitation and programmes for exhibitions of the students from the School of Art, 1928-1930; 'LETS Review', nos 2-3, 1924, magazine of the Leyton Engineering and Trade School; 'Leyton Technical College Magazine', July 1938; annual sports day programmes, 1924-1932; booklet containing football fixtures for season 1933-1934.

Opened in September 1898, the Leyton Technical Institute offered a range of technical education for the local community. A day school for boys and girls provided classes in commercial subjects alongside the normal subjects taught in secondary schools. Boys could learn commercial geography, book-keeping, commercial correspondence and shorthand. Girls were offered the additional subjects of needlework and cooking. For students over the age of 16 years, the institute ran evening courses in art, science, commercial, technical and trade subjects.

The secondary school moved out in 1916, to be replaced by an engineering and trade school and by 1928 the institute, now renamed Leyton Technical College, was providing full-time three-year courses for boys over 12.

In the 1930s the college was recognized for national certificate courses in chemistry (1931), building (1931), mechanical engineering (1932), and electrical engineering (1933). Although very popular, in 1934 there were 2,134 students in the junior technical and art schools, a survey of technical education in 1929 had deemed the existing college buildings unsuitable for expansion. When no suitable new site could be found in the local area, a new building was instead constructed in Walthamstow. Leyton merged with its counterpart in Walthamstow to become the new South West Essex Technical College in 1938.

Due to the origins of the material and its various moves over the years, there was no discernible order. The series have been collated together under the main sections as listed above.

Access is by appointment only, please contact the Archives Department, University of East London, for information. See: www.uel/lls/archives

Transferred from the library at the Barking campus in 2006.

Sources: 'A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6', Victoria County History, 1973.

Before its move to the Docklands Campus, the uncatalogued and unsorted institutional archive was housed in UEL's Barking Campus and an external store. When the Barking Campus closed in 2006, the material which was held onsite was transferred, however the external store material was not and as a consequence is lost. The extant material is therefore of a very patchy nature.

The University of East London also holds some records relating to: Walthamstow Technical Institute, later Walthamstow Technical College, [1900-1938]; Commercial School for Girls, Walthamstow, 1923-1937; South West Essex Technical College, later Waltham Forest Technical College, 1938-1969.

Waltham Forest Archives holds a number of records relating to Leyton Technical College and its successor South West Essex Technical College, including committee minutes and student records. These appear to have been deposited by the new Waltham Forest Technical College which took over the building of the old College when it left to become part of North East London Polytechnic in 1970.