'Finishing School', Coleford (General)

by Janet Marrott, Monday, September 15, 2008, 06:06 (5923 days ago) @ Eugene

I have tried to find a "finishing school" in Coleford around 1891, the time that your mother would have been there. Several names are mentioned but not that location. The Scowles School was set up by a Mis Mary Brickdale and intended for children from the Newland, Scowles area. It is stated as being registered in 1858 for 150 pupils.
Dr. Cyril Hart OBE wrote a book "Coleford - The History of a West Gloucestershire Forest Town" in 1983 which is locally revered as the Coleford Bible. A copy is in the reference section of Coleford Library and cannot be removed from the premises. Currently his book is fetching anything over £80.
I have also been unable to find a Blanch who is a tailor or a seamstress. This does not mean that one has not existed, simply that Cyril has not uncovered the information. I am not sure in which year Kelly's Directory was first published - try the Gloucestershire Records office.