The Brian Payne Page

This is an informative book tracing the history of Wisbech St Mary’s schools, from the original Free School c1700 to the present Church of England Primary School which was built in 1859. Extracts from the school logbooks together with information concerning the provision of education in this Fenland village give the reader an indication of how difficult it was to maintain full-time schooling when illness was rife and farming requirements took priority.

The Schools of St Marys £4.50 plus 90p p&p.

Genealogists may wish to know that complete indexes of four School logbooks dating from 1865 to 1952 that are referred to in the book are available as below:

Vol 1: 1865 - 1898 634 entries £2.75 inc p&p
Vol 2: 1898 - 1913 256 entries £1.75 inc p&p
Vol 3: 1914 - 1924 556 entries £2,75 inc p&p
Vol 4: 1924 - 1952 268 entries £1.75 inc p&p

The indexes list the pupil’s name (often duplicated), the date of the entry and the reason for the entry.

Copies of the book and indexes are available from Brian Payne, 7 Churchfield Road, Wisbech St Mary, Cambs.,PE13 4SY

E-mail Brian at paynewsm@btinternet.com