ElizabethHerts
17-10-14, 08:55
I knew that my grandfather, Cecil Henry Jeffcoat Purkis, had attended Portsmouth Grammar School from newspaper entries and from family information.
Spurred on by our recent trip to Portsmouth and the knowledge that the school has a dedicated Archivist, I sent an e-mail to which I received a reply within 36 hours.
Apparently not many records survive from this time, but the Archivist was able to confirm that my grandfather entered the school in May 1898, aged 11. He gave me the family's address at Southsea. He won a Stone scholarship worth £5 a year for three years, and told me that scholarship boys tended to be brighter than the fee payers as they had to sit a competitive examination. Also Cecil came 2nd for Classwork and top in Maths in his first year. Second year, he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1900 he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1902 he was top of the school's entrants for the Naval Engineers examinations (coming 12th overall, presumably nationally) .
I'm naturally thrilled to have this information, more especially as my grandfather died before I was born.
I e-mailed my thanks to Mr Sadden, who replied by telling me that I was very welcome to visit the school next time I visit Portsmouth!
What a wonderful offer and a kind man.
Spurred on by our recent trip to Portsmouth and the knowledge that the school has a dedicated Archivist, I sent an e-mail to which I received a reply within 36 hours.
Apparently not many records survive from this time, but the Archivist was able to confirm that my grandfather entered the school in May 1898, aged 11. He gave me the family's address at Southsea. He won a Stone scholarship worth £5 a year for three years, and told me that scholarship boys tended to be brighter than the fee payers as they had to sit a competitive examination. Also Cecil came 2nd for Classwork and top in Maths in his first year. Second year, he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1900 he was top in Classwork and 2nd in Maths. In 1902 he was top of the school's entrants for the Naval Engineers examinations (coming 12th overall, presumably nationally) .
I'm naturally thrilled to have this information, more especially as my grandfather died before I was born.
I e-mailed my thanks to Mr Sadden, who replied by telling me that I was very welcome to visit the school next time I visit Portsmouth!
What a wonderful offer and a kind man.