De La Salle house is situated next to St Bedes Church, I believe it was used by the nuns in years past. The building in later years became the Butterwick Hospice. I have no knowledge of it’s use these days…
Photograph and information courtesy of John Robson.
Can someone please help with the following question?
If an 11-year-old RC boy from Stockton St Mary’s school (the school was behind the church on Norton Rd in Major Street) passed ‘the Scholarship’ in 1927, which RC Grammar School would he have attended?
Stockton Grammar School in Norton Road or Stockton Secondary School in Nelson Terrace.
Thanks for that Anon. This boy was a Roman Catholic. Where was the nearest Roman Catholic Grammar School? Darlington St Mary’s was not yet open (1930).
St Mary’s grammar
school in Middlesbrough is where they would have attended
Thanks, Ken. This is further confirmation.
Saint Mary’s College, Linthorpe, or St. Mary’s Darlington, both Teesside RC grammar schools.
Thanks for this Jim. Most helpful. However, I understand that the Darlington St Mary’s RC Grammar did not open until 1930. So my 1927 11-year-old must have gone to Middlesbrough St Mary’s. I wonder when that school opened. Thanks again.
SMC, operated by the Marist Fathers, Order of Mary, opened in 1904. I don’t know when it became a grammar school, but it would have been before 1927, so that would be the one.
Thanks again, Jim.
I was taught by the De la salle brothers at St Bedes, they also did a lot of recruiting for the order, my brother joined and moved to Kintbury near Newbury for training along with quite a few other Bede boys, my brother joined when he was 13 but he received a good public school education and became a teacher when he left the order in his early 20’s.
It is now a home for people with learning difficulties.
A few questions… Was St. Bede’s School up past the Sixth Form College opposite what used to be Hinton’s? Was the Catholic church near Newtown school St. Bede’s? I thought it was St. Cuthbert’s for some reason – wasn’t there a Catholic primary/junior school up Green Lane, what was it called? It’s amazing the tricks memory can play!
The original St Bede’s School was at Newtown and near Newham Grange School. The one near Fairfield was its successor Comprehensive School. St Cuthbert’s was up and off Yarm Road, near the Richard Hind schools.
Thanks Ken – one set of misconceptions cleared up!
After the last De La Salle Brothers left in late 1966 the house was taken over by the nuns who taught at St. Mary’s later Our Lady and St Bede, as St Paul’s Convent. The words De La Salle are possibly still engraved into the headstone of the door. The De La Salle Order were at Stockton from around 1930. The last De La Salle Headmaster of St Bede’s, Brother Leander died in 2005.
Certainly in the 1950s De La Salle House was the residence of the men of the teaching order of that name I think who were on the staff of St Bede’s RC Secondary School. All that I knew were from Ireland, from Eire I believe. Several were keen supporters of the school’s football teams… Brother Clement, Brother Pius and Brother Antoninus were some I remember. Brother Athenasius was the Head at one stage. Most of the staff were lay teachers such as Billy McLean. One football season in the mid-50’s St Bede’s played Thornaby St Patrick’s RC School in the Salmon Cup final on the Victoria Ground. I had the dubious honour of refereeing in front of a large crowd many from over the river. Brother Clement became very angry about my failure to make a decision in St Bede’s favour, so angry that he came over the fence to reprimand me! To hoots from the crowd I sent him off and asked other St Bede’s teachers to ‘look after him.’
I suggested that an atheist should referee in future when two RC Schools were in opposition.
Further to my comments about the teaching brothers who lived at De La Salle House. I believe that the Brothers of the Christian Schools was part of the Lasallian Movement which began in France. Eventually the De La Salle Schools spread worldwide but as far as the UK was concerned their first UK schools were in London. Later they spread to Northern England usually where there were considerable RC churches whose parishioners were people who had crossed from Ireland to seek work in mills and factories. De La Salle schools already existed in Ireland and they had their own teacher training colleges from which the Teaching Brothers came.
There was a hall next to it and I recall as a child going to it and watching films. One which really scared me of a ghost with no head, appearing on a wall. For years afterwards, I couldn’t face the wall next to the bed, going to sleep. 🙂
The original seat where the figure in white is stood was ‘The over 60s’ seat where our gang used to meet in the 1960s. We spent many an hour putting the world to rights back then
Is this building opposite Newtown Junior School?
The Newtown School is on the right of the photo and the building to the right of De La Salle was Newtown Methodist Church. When St Bedes School was open the Brothers who taught at the school lived in the De La Salle House.