This school attendance certificate was issued to Alfred A Pallant of Hind Street, Stockton in 1918. Alfred was born in Stockton in 1905, so he attended Oxbridge Lane School from 7 years of age to 12 (or 13). Does anybody know what was the minimum age for leaving school in those days?
Image and details courtesy of Cliff Thornton.
Picture Stockton Archive 
I am very interested to see this fascinating document on here. Alf Pallant was my paternal grandfather. It is clearly a valuable piece of family memorabilia; I wonder how Cliff Thornton came across it? Alf and Nora lived at 39 Richardson Road. He was very much involved in the organising of Stockton Music Festival and, like my late parents and maternal grandparents, a regular performer with Stockton Stage Society. Interesting that my younger brother, Adrian, and I also attended Oxbridge Lane school in the 1960s. Alf died in 1978 at the age of 73.
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Mark, in answer to your question, I bought the attendance certificate on e-bay some time ago. I have no connection with the Pallant family, I just enjoy collecting pieces of Stockton’s history.
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I am fairly sure that Alf Pallant who was a friend of my father Arthur Day lived at the opposite end of Richardson Rd to us we lived in No 11 and they lived in the last house before the back street near the butchers..
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Yes, Alf and Nora lived at 39 Richardson Road. I am one of his two grandsons
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This is SO interesting! I attended Grangefield school in the same year as Adrian Pallant. 1972-1977. I remember I got some early Status Quo audio cassettes from him. 🙂 I wonder if this was his grandfather.
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Minimum age was 11 years. Due to the unemployment situation after the war school. Oxbridge in particular, were very compassionate and flexible. My father in law, Raymond Jennings was allowed to ‘Start’ school at age 4. The was because his mother was ill and dad had a job. He used to sit on the school step to be near his older brother. The teachers took pity and let him join his brother’s class a year early. Toward the end of his education, by when his mam had died of TB, he had the chance of a job delivering things for a high class milliner in town. Oxbridge were very flexible re his attendance to suite.
My father was similarly benefited at Thornaby. His Dad died on Armistice day and the family were reduced to poverty. School were flexible, and someone managed to get him into Head Wrightsons.
Things were hard but——
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The minimum school-leaving age was raised from 11 to 12 in 1899 and to 14 in 1918.
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Officially it was fourteen although few made it. Through the war years with Fathers in the forces and marriage allowance a pittance some children had to leave school much earlier to bring in a few coppers. A friend of mine left school at twelve to work for the Co-op stables looking after the horse for the Milk floats and Coal Carts, he was dragged back a couple of times by the School bobby but was soon back at work. Most were gone from school by thirteen and I did not hear of them being dragged back.
My class at the Norton Board the year war broke out had a high proportion of eleven plus passes, only a small number actually made it to High School as unlike me their Parents could not afford the Uniforms or kit they needed. Even at High School people dropped out of school because they were needed to help family finances. My class at school dwindled to fourteen by the time I left just before my sixteenth birthday. No University for us it was work and Night School, the Firm I started as an apprentice did allow me two hours off on a Friday we went to the Stockton Secondary School building for a two hour course so I only had to do one Night School session. As at sixteen we had by law to work two half shifts per week until seven o clock that was a boon and when you reached seventeen it was two nights until eight o clock, plus Saturday was a normal working day and I do not remember having many Sundays off either.
My wage at starting was 13/4 per week 84 pence in todays money though working piece work I was soon on £3 per week the pay a labourer got and he would have a family to keep. A far cry from todays so called poverty, food banks back then were Neighbours or Charity mainly the Church and those needing it had to put up a case to get a few shillings from those.
Those children became the parents of children who could stay in school to a minimum of sixteen then on to college and University as my children and grandchildren have done. We were adults at 14, they at least had a much easier life.
Do I envy them, no I do not, we grew up faster but boy we did have lots of fun doing it. At least we were guaranteed work after school that is not the case in todays world.
Frank.
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Hi, My name is Mrs Jeanette Ayre.
Is it possible to trace my husbands records of being a student there.
Name Geoffrey Ayre born 30th Dec 1942.
It will be lovely for my DAUGTHERS and granchildren, to have something of Our Dear Husband, Father, Granfather to keep.
Yours gratefully.
Mrs Jeanette Ayre.
P.S. My husband passed away last Year.
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I’m sorry I can’t help regarding student records. If you have genealogy records of the Ayre family originating from Smith Street in town it is possible our family trees are related. 🙂
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Condolences on the death of your husband. If it’s the same person, I remember your late husband Geoffrey very well. They lived in St Peters Road, we were in Waverley Street. I believe that he went to the same junior school as me, Richard Hind juniors, prior to him going to Oxbridge Lane. Unfortunately I cannot give you any information with regards to that as I went on to attend a different senior school. I also remember Lily who was related to him and who had a grocery shop in Stafford street. I sincerely hope that you are able to get some information with regards to Geoffrey’s years at Oxbridge. There are three Stockton sites on F/B, Stocktonians, Stockton Friends United and We Love Stockton Us, maybe someone from one of these could perhaps may have known Geoffrey or how to obtain information tracing his records. Good luck in your quest.
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