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Preface
Contents
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Appendix

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Contents

At the above general meeting the following Friends were appointed the committee to meet at Ayton once a month:-
John Harris, John Pease, Caleb Wilson, Henry Pease, Thomas Mounsey, Charles Brown, Isaac Sharp, Isaac Martin, John Fletcher, Wm. Beaumont, Wm. Backhouse, Edward Backhouse, junr., Jos. Weatherall, Alfred Kitching, William Holmes, Philip Heselton, John Richardson, Edward Pease, Isaac Brown, Thomas Richardson.

Committee of women Friends.- Anna Pease, Ann Weatherall, Hannah Brown, Elizabeth Dunning, Hannah White, Ann Fossick, Mary T. Mounsey, Sophia Pease.

Farm Committee.- John Richardson, John Fletcher, William Flounders, William Backhouse.

The Friends were admitted to dinner by tickets, of which about 80 were sold. All who favoured us with their company at this, our first general meeting, seemed pleased with all they saw in the grounds, and surrounding objects of interest.

The fossils which we had displayed for sale were all purchased, and sufficient was raised to pay for a good electrical machine. It was a lively sight to see one carriage load after another drive off over the green. When night came we were left in quiet possession of the place, encouraged by the congratulations of our friends on the success of the examination, to go forward with increased zeal in the important work entrusted to our care.

In looking over the pages of the Irish Friend, for 1842, I found the following two accounts of the Ayton School First General Meeting.

“The First General Meeting of Ayton School,
7th month, 26th, 1842.

“This infant establishment was commenced about a year ago, by Friends of Durham Quarterly Meeting, aided by a munificent donation of £5,000 from Thomas Richardson, of Stamford Hill. It is one of five kindred institutions under the care of Friends, viz.:- Penketh, Rawdon, Brookfield (in Ireland), Ayton and Sibford, in which agricultural or manual labour is united with intellectual instruction. The success of these experiments is watched with much interest by many friends, and the auspicious commencement of the Ayton establishment, as exhibited at the late general meeting, must prove very encouraging to its supporters. The pretty village of Great Ayton is a few miles south of Stockton-upon-Tees and within the borders of Yorkshire. The general meeting was held on the 26th of 7th month, 1842, and was attended by nearly 100 Friends. A visitor on the occasion has supplied the following particulars:-

“The School contains 25 Boys and 20 Girls, but is calculated to receive 35 of each. One leading object was to supply a sound Christian education to children not in membership with Friends, but connected by relationship or otherwise. Friends’ children are, we believe, also admitted. The grounds are said to be beautiful, and a pleasant walk has been cut by the labour of the boys, under the shade of the trees. The domestic arrangements were generally satisfactory, though it was thought improvement should be made in ventilation, convenience for washing, &c. In the meeting for worship, with which the business of the day commenced, John Pease, Hannah Chapman Backhouse, and several other Friends were engaged in exhortation to the teachers and scholars. The examination took place in the afternoon, the girls assembling in the Meeting House, and the boys in their school-room, As the mistress of the girls had only been two months at her post, the attainments of her pupils were not so great as may ultimately be looked for; but their appearance and deportment were agreeable. The boys seem to have acquitted themselves well; and the results of twelve months’ teaching was considered highly creditable to George Dixon, the master. John Ford, from York School; John Sharp, from Croydon, and Robert Doeg, from Wigton, in Cumberland, presided over the examination, and expressed themselves highly gratified.

“It seems that some attention is intended to be given to the study of Natural History. The boys had collected a number of fossils from Roseberry Topping, a hill which is in the neighbourhood; and Friends who were desirous of carrying away any of them, as remembrances of so interesting an occasion, were apprised that contributions received in return for the fossils would be appropriated to the purchase of an electrical apparatus.

It is estimated that in the five above mentioned schools, of which Ayton forms one, about 200 children will be trained on industrial principles.

“EDUCATOR.”

“North of England Agricultural School at Ayton.

“Our last number contained a brief account of the first general meeting of this institution. Since then we have received an additional report from another quarter, which, although in perfect harmony with that already published, embraces a much wider and more varied range of information, and consequently we do not apprehend that the insertion of it will be unacceptable to our readers, and more particularly to those who take an interest in the education of the class which the establishment at Ayton is intended to benefit. It would be very satisfactory to us, and interesting to Friends generally, if we were occasionally furnished with reports from other similar institutions under the care of FRIENDS.

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