LONDONDERRY SCHOOLS
The Diocesan school, or Foyle College, was originally founded within the walls as a free grammar school in the reign of James I., and was rebuilt on its present site to the north of the city in 1814, chiefly through the exertions of Bishop Knox, who gave £1000 towards the expense, which amounted to £13,714. 13. 6., and was further defrayed by donations from the Irish Society and London Companies, sale of stock, and grand jury presentments. It is a simple but handsome edifice of stone, consisting of a centre and two wings, and pleasantly situated on the bank of the river: it is sufficiently capacious to accommodate 80 boarders; there are at present about 30 boarders and as many day-scholars, exclusive of 20 who are free; the day pupils not free pay £4. 4. per annum for mercantile, and £7. 7. per annum for classical instruction.
The school has no endowment, but the Irish Society, the bishop, and the clergy of the diocese subscribe annually to the amount of about £200; this, with the emoluments arising from the boarders and the day scholars who are not free, constitutes the income of the master: the bishop and the dean and chapter are trustees. The school has deservedly been held in great estimation owing to the high literary acquirements of the masters. Attached to the institution is an excellent library of works on divinity, collected by Bishop Hopkins, and purchased and presented to it by his successor, Bishop King, which has also been augmented by a donation of £100 from James Alexander, Esq., of London; it is open to the clergy of the diocese at all times.
The parish school originated in an act of the 28th of Henry VIII., confirmed by one of the 7th of William III.: the present building, situated without the walls, was erected in 1812 through the liberal contributions of Bishop Knox and the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity, the latter of whom allow annually £30 for the boys' and £15 for the girls' school; and, in addition, the girls' school is aided by annual grants of £40 and £10 late currency from the Irish Society and the Bishop of Derry respectively: there are about 108 boys and 97 girls, who, except 20 of the boys who are free scholars, pay one penny each weekly. In connection with the Presbyterian meeting-house is a school established in 1820, in lieu of a blue-coat school which had existed upwards of a century, in which there are at present about 100 boys and 96 girls, who pay one penny each weekly; the boys' school is further supported by a subscription of £10 per annum from the congregation, and an annual grant of £20 by the Irish Society; and the girls' school by subscriptions among the ladies, aided by £10 per ann. late currency from the Irish Society: the school-rooms were built and enlarged by subscription at an expense of £450.
St. Columb's school, founded in 1813 under the auspices of the Roman Catholic bishop and clergy, but for some time suspended from a difference which arose between the prelate and one of his curates, was finally established in 1825: the building, including the erection of a lofty enclosure, cost nearly £1000. It is in connection with the National Board of Education, who grant £30 per annum for its support, which is further aided by £10 per annum from the Irish Society, and an annual collection in the Roman Catholic chapel amounting to £30; 143 boys and 166 girls are instructed.
The London Ladies' Society school, in Fountain-street, was established in 1822; attached to it is a small library for the use of the poor. Gwyn's Charitable Institution was founded by Mr. John Gwyn, a merchant of the city, who died in 1829, and endowed by him with a bequest of £41,757, producing at present £1882 per ann., for boarding, clothing, and educating as many poor boys as the funds may admit of. This excellent school, which is under the management of 21 trustees, was opened on the 1st of April, 1833, in a hired house formerly the city hotel: the trustees have purchased 10 statute acres of ground at the rear of the infirmary, where it is in contemplation to erect premises capable of accommodating 200 pupils, at an estimated expense of £6000: there are at present 81 boys in the school.
A Sunday School Union was formed in 1832, by which the liberties have been divided into six districts, each under the superintendence of one or two members; the number of schools in the parish at present in connection with the union is 16, attended by 162 teachers, and the number of pupils on the books is 1726.
County Londonderry | City of Londonderry | Londonderry City History | Londonderry Topography | Londonderry Trading | Londonderry Government | Diocese of Derry | Londonderry Churches | Londonderry Cathedral | Londonderry Schools | Londonderry Hospitals | Londonderry City Antiquities