St. Mary's Catholic College (Blackpool)
Encyclopedia
St. Mary's Catholic College is a school in Layton, Blackpool
, Lancashire
. The school is a specialist Mathematics and Computing College
.
With over 1800 pupils, it is the largest Roman Catholic secondary school in Lancashire
. The school is on the site of the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus (usually known as Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool), on St. Walburga's Road near to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
(SHCJ) is a Catholic religious order for women which was founded in England in 1846. It follows the rules of the Society of Jesus
(the Jesuit order for men). In 1856, Alexander Goss
, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool
(in which Diocese Blackpool
then was) invited the sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to send out a branch from their house in Liverpool
to teach in Father Bampton's Poor School on Talbot Road, Blackpool and they had arrived with 12 girl boarders. With accommodation in Queen's Square acquired for themselves and for the girls, the school flourished.
After four years of such success, Bishop Goss agreed that the sisters could be rather more adventurous than their original mandate. So, in 1860, the original St Mary's was founded as a school for girls. This original school was located in a building called Raikes Hall in Raikes Parade, Blackpool. It is now a pub called the Raikes Hotel.
Again success was marked by rapid growth and in 1870 St Mary's moved to the site which the sisters already owned at Layton Hill where were located the original premises, much of which are still extant and form part of the modern school.
The school admitted boys by 1880 but in 1900 they were separated out and St Joseph's College, Blackpool was founded for them in Park Road where they were taught by lay teachers. There were several removals between Park Road and Whitegate Lane (now Whitegate Drive) and back until St Joseph's finally moved to Layton Mount on Newton Drive in 1918. Layton Mount had been built as a residence for Yorkshire mill owner William Lumb in 1895. In 1923 Archbishop Frederick Keating (Liverpool had become an Archdiocese in 1911) invited the Irish Christian Brothers in Liverpool to take over the running of St Joseph's and they did so. In November 1924, Blackpool was transferred into the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster. The brothers remained in charge at St Joseph's until their enforced departure in 1975 when a new Lancaster Diocesan rule required all Catholic Schools to become co-educational. As the constitution
of the order of the Christian Brothers forbade them to teach girls, they were unable to stay. In that year St Joseph's re-merged with Layton Hill Convent to form St Mary's Catholic College.
Meanwhile Layton Hill Convent had been flourishing as the principal Catholic girls' grammar school
in the Fylde
and it was its Head Teacher since 1966, Sister Maureen Grimley (SHCJ) (1932–2007), who became the first Head Teacher of the re-combined school.
In 1977 the administration of the school was taken over by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster although Sister Maureen remained as Head Teacher until 1984 and sisters of the order still teach there. Initially the reunited school operated on two campus
es, but the St Joseph's campus was shut down in the early 1980s and sold for housing development. Further expansion occurred in 1982 when the school was merged with two Catholic former secondary modern school
s, St Thomas of Canterbury's and St Catherine's, which themselves had merged to form All Saints RC High School. The current headmaster is Mr S Tierney.
At St Catherine's
At St Joseph's
At St. Marys
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. The school is a specialist Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing College
Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools Programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus specifically on their chosen specialism but must also meet the requirements of the...
.
With over 1800 pupils, it is the largest Roman Catholic secondary school in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. The school is on the site of the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus (usually known as Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool), on St. Walburga's Road near to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
School history
The Society of the Holy Child JesusSociety of the Holy Child Jesus
The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of nuns that was founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. Cornelia converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1835. The Society was approved in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII, and the rules and constitutions were...
(SHCJ) is a Catholic religious order for women which was founded in England in 1846. It follows the rules of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(the Jesuit order for men). In 1856, Alexander Goss
Alexander Goss
Alexander Goss was a Roman Catholic Bishop; his highest posting was as the Bishop of Liverpool.-Biography:Second Bishop of Liverpool; born at Ormskirk, Lancashire of recusant background, connected on both sides with old Lancashire families who had always been Catholics; his father was descended...
, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Liverpool
Bishop of Liverpool
The Bishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.The diocese stretches from Southport in the north, to Widnes in the south, and from the River Mersey to Wigan in the east. Its see is in the City of Liverpool at the Cathedral Church of...
(in which Diocese Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
then was) invited the sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to send out a branch from their house in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to teach in Father Bampton's Poor School on Talbot Road, Blackpool and they had arrived with 12 girl boarders. With accommodation in Queen's Square acquired for themselves and for the girls, the school flourished.
After four years of such success, Bishop Goss agreed that the sisters could be rather more adventurous than their original mandate. So, in 1860, the original St Mary's was founded as a school for girls. This original school was located in a building called Raikes Hall in Raikes Parade, Blackpool. It is now a pub called the Raikes Hotel.
Again success was marked by rapid growth and in 1870 St Mary's moved to the site which the sisters already owned at Layton Hill where were located the original premises, much of which are still extant and form part of the modern school.
The school admitted boys by 1880 but in 1900 they were separated out and St Joseph's College, Blackpool was founded for them in Park Road where they were taught by lay teachers. There were several removals between Park Road and Whitegate Lane (now Whitegate Drive) and back until St Joseph's finally moved to Layton Mount on Newton Drive in 1918. Layton Mount had been built as a residence for Yorkshire mill owner William Lumb in 1895. In 1923 Archbishop Frederick Keating (Liverpool had become an Archdiocese in 1911) invited the Irish Christian Brothers in Liverpool to take over the running of St Joseph's and they did so. In November 1924, Blackpool was transferred into the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster. The brothers remained in charge at St Joseph's until their enforced departure in 1975 when a new Lancaster Diocesan rule required all Catholic Schools to become co-educational. As the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of the order of the Christian Brothers forbade them to teach girls, they were unable to stay. In that year St Joseph's re-merged with Layton Hill Convent to form St Mary's Catholic College.
Meanwhile Layton Hill Convent had been flourishing as the principal Catholic girls' grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in the Fylde
The Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
and it was its Head Teacher since 1966, Sister Maureen Grimley (SHCJ) (1932–2007), who became the first Head Teacher of the re-combined school.
In 1977 the administration of the school was taken over by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster although Sister Maureen remained as Head Teacher until 1984 and sisters of the order still teach there. Initially the reunited school operated on two campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
es, but the St Joseph's campus was shut down in the early 1980s and sold for housing development. Further expansion occurred in 1982 when the school was merged with two Catholic former secondary modern school
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
s, St Thomas of Canterbury's and St Catherine's, which themselves had merged to form All Saints RC High School. The current headmaster is Mr S Tierney.
Notable alumni
At Layton Hill- Dorothy ByrneDorothy ByrneDorothy Byrne is Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4 Television. She was born in Paisley, the daughter of Charles and Agnes Byrne. She was educated at Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool, Manchester University and Sheffield University .She was producer for World in Action, 1987–94, and...
- Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... - Mary Josephine Dunn (Jo BeverleyJo BeverleyJo Beverley, née Mary Josephine Dunn is a prolific British-Canadian writer of popular historical romance novels....
) (b. 1947), a prolific British-Canadian writer of popular historical romance novels under her married name. - Cecilia LoftusCecilia LoftusCecilia "Cissie" or "Cissy" Loftus was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Family:...
(1876-1943) - Actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer - Sheila QuinnSheila QuinnDame Sheila Margaret Imelda Quinn, DBE, FRCN, RGN, RM, RNT is a British nurse and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was president of the FRCN from 1982 to 1986...
(DameDame (title)The title of Dame is the female equivalent of the honour of knighthood in the British honours system . It is also the equivalent form address to 'Sir' for a knight...
Sheila QuinnSheila QuinnDame Sheila Margaret Imelda Quinn, DBE, FRCN, RGN, RM, RNT is a British nurse and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was president of the FRCN from 1982 to 1986...
) (b. 1920) - Fellow of the Royal College of NursingRoyal College of NursingThe Royal College of Nursing is a union membership organisation with over 395,000 members in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1916, receiving its Royal Charter in 1928, Queen Elizabeth II is the patron...
and distinguished Nursing Administrator
At St Catherine's
- The NolansThe NolansThe Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...
- Anne (b. 1950), Denise (b. 1952), Maureen (b. 1954), Linda (b. 1959) and Bernadette (Bernie) (b. 1960) who were singing stars of stage and television from the 1970s.
At St Joseph's
- George CarmanGeorge CarmanGeorge Alfred Carman, QC , was a leading English barrister of the 1980s and 1990s. He first came to the attention of the general public in 1979, when he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder...
QCQueen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(1929-2001), distinguished defence counsel in many of the most celebrated criminal and libel trials of the last quarter of the 20th century. - [John Lister Bredin Carter] (b 1947) FRCS,FDS RCS,.Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Barts and The Royal London.
- John MahoneyJohn MahoneyJohn Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
(b. 1940) - American film and television actor best known for his role as "Martin Crane" on the sitcom FrasierFrasierFrasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars... - Tom McNally, Baron McNally (b. 1943) - politician, political advisor to LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Foreign Secretary then Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
James CallaghanJames CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
, Labour MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, then Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party (UK)The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
MP, then influential political lobbyist and finally Leader of the Liberal DemocratsLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
in the House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.... - Owen OystonOwen OystonOwen John Oyston is a controversial self-made multimillionaire English businessman who is the majority owner of Blackpool F.C.. He was convicted of rape in 1996 and served three years of a six-year sentence in prison....
(b. 1934) - Self-made businessman and former owner of Blackpool F.C.Blackpool F.C.Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
; later convicted of rape and sentenced to five years imprisonment - Paul SloanePaul SloanePaul Sloane is an author and public speaker on lateral thinking and innovation. He was born in 1950 in Johnstone, Scotland and was educated at St Joseph's College, Blackpool and Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he read Engineering. He is the leading author of books of lateral thinking puzzles, many...
(b. 1950) -Motivational speaker
- Lawrence WhalleyLawrence WhalleyLawrence J. Whalley, MD DPM FRCP FRCPsych is Crombie Ross Professor of Mental Health in the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.He is best known for his ground-breaking follow-up studies of about 750 Aberdeen City and Shire residents who took part at age 11 years in the Scottish Mental Surveys of...
(MD, DPM, FRCP(E), FRCPsych), Crombie Ross Professor of Mental Health at the University of AberdeenUniversity of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
At St. Marys
- Stephen TompkinsonStephen TompkinsonStephen Tompkinson is a British actor. He is best known for his work in comedy and drama productions such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel, Grafters, In Deep, Wild at Heart and DCI Banks....
, Actor - Aiden Grimshaw, X Factor contestant (Series 7)
External links
- St Mary's Catholic College Website
- St Joseph's College history
- A history of St John's Catholic Church, Poulton-Le-Fylde which includes all the early history of Layton Hill
- St Joseph's College Blackpool Old Boy's Association website
- Mottoes and Houses of all known present and past schools in Blackpool with a photo of the old St Joseph's College building in Newton Drive
- Sister Maureen Grimley's obituary from St Mary's website
- Sister Maureen Grimley's obituary from the website of the Gazette, Blackpool's daily evening newspaper
- Several accounts of ghosts at St Mary's and at Raikes Parade in a review of ghosts in Blackpool !