St Margaret's School Hampstead
Encyclopedia
St Margaret's School is an independent
girls' school
in Hampstead
, North London
. The school has 150 girls and 24 teachers. In 2008 and 2009 the school came top of the Sunday Times' Small Independent Schools' league table
.
of the School
are very thin on the ground. Because the school was privately owned for the first 70 or so years of its existence, there are practically no official records of its early years and its successive owners were not foresight
ed enough, or perhaps did not expect the school to have a long future, to preserve the kind of material which might answer questions about that period of its life.
s in the leafy residential streets of Hampstead. Most took only a handful of pupils – both boarding
and day
– and were owned and presided over by spinster
ladies who often had limited qualifications but no other means of providing for themselves. The vast majority lasted only a decade or two, fading away as their owners retired
or died. Most of those which did manage to survive for longer were forced to close because of dwindling numbers during the turmoil of the World
Wars
or by the demand for better facilities and more advanced educational methods as the 20th century progressed. But somehow, very much against the odds, St Margaret’s survived. 125 years on, it is now in its fifth home and in the hands of its tenth Principal.
, the name “St Margaret’s” is quite a little bit younger. It was normal practice in the 19th century for private school
s to have no particular name – they would be referred to by the name of the owners or the houses they occupied. So our school was probably known simply as “Miss Tulloch’s” or (possibly) “Chester House”. The first mention of “St Margaret’s” is in 1898, when a newspaper advertisement appeared, announcing that Miss Tulloch would be moving the school to “St Margaret’s, Oak Hill Park”. So the name probably came from the house which was to become the school’s second home, though we know, from the memoirs of Daphne du Maurier
, a former pupil, that even in 1915 it was still referred to as “Miss Tulloch’s school”. If the name St Margaret’s was accidentally given, then it was a most appropriate accident, as St Margaret was a Scottish queen, known for her kindness for children.
in Perthshire
, Scotland
on 9 September 1850, the second child (of 10) of the Revd John Tulloch, a Minister in the Scottish Free Church. She was almost certainly educated at home, as were most middle class
girls at that time. In her early 20s, she spent some time as a Governess
to a family in Tunbridge Wells, but returned to Scotland after the death of her mother in 1873. We have no way of knowing when or why this Scottish spinster lady decided that it would be a good idea to open a school for girls in Hampstead, but that is what she did, in 1884, in a newly built house called Chester House, on a newly built street called Westcroft Road, in West Hampstead
. She didn’t embark on this adventure alone, as the 1891 census shows her father and sister living in Chester House with her.
Miss Tulloch was Principal of the school, as well as being its proprietor, for 44 years. In her final year, the Board of Education
inspectors described her as “a woman of culture and ideals to whom the School is much indebted for all her educational work”. Her pupils, were, I gather, pretty terrified of her, and from the above picture you can imagine why.
In 1920, Miss Hilda Jean Copinger had joined the school as Joint Principal, in charge of boarding arrangements and the teaching of domestic science. On Miss Tulloch’s retirement, in 1928, she took over the school, but brought in as her partner and co-principal Miss Margaret Macrae, to oversee the academic side. It appears that the Misses Copinger and Macrae did not exactly hit it off, and the partnership was formally dissolved in 1933. I wonder whether their lack of mutual sympathy and understanding might have been related to the fact that, as we can see from the picture (taken in 1931), Miss Macrae was a dog
lover, whilst Miss Copinger seems to have preferred cat
s.
Miss Copinger was also the daughter of a Vicar
, and was born in Brighton
in 1879, to The Revd Herbert Copinger and his wife Annie. Hers was also a large family and one of her brothers, Wilfrid Herbert Copinger was, for a time, vice principal at The Hall School
in Hampstead.
s.
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
girls' school
Girls' School
Girls' School is a single by Wings released in 1977.Written and produced by McCartney, it is the other side of the double A-side with "Mull of Kintyre" and was the band's sole UK number one, spending nine weeks at the top in December 1977 and January 1978. The song was in complete contrast to the...
in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. The school has 150 girls and 24 teachers. In 2008 and 2009 the school came top of the Sunday Times' Small Independent Schools' league table
League table
A league table, standings, ranking chart, or ladder is a chart or list which compares sports teams, institutions, nations or companies by ranking them in order of ability or achievement. A league table may list several related statistics, but they are generally sorted by the primary one that...
.
History Overview
The written records relating to the historyHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of the School
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
are very thin on the ground. Because the school was privately owned for the first 70 or so years of its existence, there are practically no official records of its early years and its successive owners were not foresight
Foresight
Foresight or forethought may refer to:* Foresight , ability to predict or plan for the future* Foresight , management planning principle* Foresight , European planning mechanism for public policy...
ed enough, or perhaps did not expect the school to have a long future, to preserve the kind of material which might answer questions about that period of its life.
Prologue
St Margaret’s is not the oldest school in Hampstead, but it is one of the oldest. What gives it its genuine historical significance, however, is that it is the last remaining “proprietorial” school in the area. In the second half of the 19th century, there were literally dozens of such schools, based in ordinary houseHouse
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s in the leafy residential streets of Hampstead. Most took only a handful of pupils – both boarding
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
and day
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
– and were owned and presided over by spinster
Spinster
A spinster, or old maid, is an older, childless woman who has never been married.For a woman to be identified as a spinster, age is critical...
ladies who often had limited qualifications but no other means of providing for themselves. The vast majority lasted only a decade or two, fading away as their owners retired
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
or died. Most of those which did manage to survive for longer were forced to close because of dwindling numbers during the turmoil of the World
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
or by the demand for better facilities and more advanced educational methods as the 20th century progressed. But somehow, very much against the odds, St Margaret’s survived. 125 years on, it is now in its fifth home and in the hands of its tenth Principal.
The Name of the School
Although the school is celebrating its 125th anniversaryAnniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
, the name “St Margaret’s” is quite a little bit younger. It was normal practice in the 19th century for private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
s to have no particular name – they would be referred to by the name of the owners or the houses they occupied. So our school was probably known simply as “Miss Tulloch’s” or (possibly) “Chester House”. The first mention of “St Margaret’s” is in 1898, when a newspaper advertisement appeared, announcing that Miss Tulloch would be moving the school to “St Margaret’s, Oak Hill Park”. So the name probably came from the house which was to become the school’s second home, though we know, from the memoirs of Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
, a former pupil, that even in 1915 it was still referred to as “Miss Tulloch’s school”. If the name St Margaret’s was accidentally given, then it was a most appropriate accident, as St Margaret was a Scottish queen, known for her kindness for children.
The Founders
Elizabeth Isabella Tulloch was born in the village of LogieraitLogierait
Logierait is a village and parish in Atholl, Scotland. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Tay and Tummel, west of the A9 road in Perth and Kinross....
in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 9 September 1850, the second child (of 10) of the Revd John Tulloch, a Minister in the Scottish Free Church. She was almost certainly educated at home, as were most middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
girls at that time. In her early 20s, she spent some time as a Governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
to a family in Tunbridge Wells, but returned to Scotland after the death of her mother in 1873. We have no way of knowing when or why this Scottish spinster lady decided that it would be a good idea to open a school for girls in Hampstead, but that is what she did, in 1884, in a newly built house called Chester House, on a newly built street called Westcroft Road, in West Hampstead
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England, situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, and South Hampstead to the south. Until the late 19th century, the locale was a small village called West End...
. She didn’t embark on this adventure alone, as the 1891 census shows her father and sister living in Chester House with her.
Miss Tulloch was Principal of the school, as well as being its proprietor, for 44 years. In her final year, the Board of Education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
inspectors described her as “a woman of culture and ideals to whom the School is much indebted for all her educational work”. Her pupils, were, I gather, pretty terrified of her, and from the above picture you can imagine why.
In 1920, Miss Hilda Jean Copinger had joined the school as Joint Principal, in charge of boarding arrangements and the teaching of domestic science. On Miss Tulloch’s retirement, in 1928, she took over the school, but brought in as her partner and co-principal Miss Margaret Macrae, to oversee the academic side. It appears that the Misses Copinger and Macrae did not exactly hit it off, and the partnership was formally dissolved in 1933. I wonder whether their lack of mutual sympathy and understanding might have been related to the fact that, as we can see from the picture (taken in 1931), Miss Macrae was a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
lover, whilst Miss Copinger seems to have preferred cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s.
Miss Copinger was also the daughter of a Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
, and was born in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in 1879, to The Revd Herbert Copinger and his wife Annie. Hers was also a large family and one of her brothers, Wilfrid Herbert Copinger was, for a time, vice principal at The Hall School
Hall School (Hampstead)
The Hall School is an independent boys' preparatory school in Belsize Park, Hampstead, London, currently teaching boys from the age of four to thirteen.-Description:The school is known for high academic standards...
in Hampstead.
The School Today
The school has been situated in Kidderpore Gardens in the residential part of Hampstead since 1954. At one point in the intervening years there were 3 boys in the school, but the school has no plans to become co-educational. The school consists of one main building and two outside classroomClassroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
s.