Cheshire Training College, Crewe

This A Few Forgotten Women Friday focussed on Cheshire County Training College, Crewe [CCTCC]. We will be looking at the 75 young women who were enrolled in the first two cohorts of trainee teachers when the college first opened in 1908. We were lucky enough to have access to the student registers, via one of our team, who was instrumental in saving these records when the college campus was closed in 2019. These records are currently awaiting transcription by the Family History Society of Cheshire, so this was an exciting opportunity to work on a data set that was not in the public domain. You can access the stories by clicking on the women's names below.

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The history of the CCTCC and the achievements of its students over the years is a story that weaves together those small, discrete individual life threads as they are embroidered into the historical tapestry of teacher training in the UK, which in Cheshire formally began in 1908. This was a pivotal time for young people in this country and especially for women who were struggling for parity in both terms of suffrage and educational opportunities.

 In order to put the CCTCC into the context of the day, you need to go back to the dawn of the 20th century when Prime Minister Balfour introduced his 1902 Education Act. This basically created 328 new Local Education Authorities who were put in charge of providing and controlling all aspects of their own education delivery, everything from building and maintaining schools to the training of teachers. The newly formed Cheshire Education Authority were quick to realise that the number of qualified teachers in the county was totally inadequate and so plans for a teaching training college were drawn up. CCTCC was born in 1908, opening in temporary buildings in the Mechanics Institute in Crewe town centre before moving into the purpose-built campus in July 1912.  The women that enrolled in the early days, some of whom dedicated their whole lives to the profession, made a huge contribution to the expansion of education opportunities of all classes at the beginning of the 20th century.

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You can find out a little of the flavour of the college in this article co-written by one of our team here. 

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Edith Ackerley 1892-1970 from Altrincham, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 9 minute read.

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Elizabeth Ann Aldred 1891-1941 from Stockport, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 2 minute read.

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Ellen Aitken Bayley 1892-1980 from Dalston, Middlesex – No Descendants, Suicide, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. Warning, this story includes an account of suicide. 4 minute read.

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Ethel May Bayley 1892-1974 from Chesham, Buckinghamshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

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Sarah Evelyn Billington, later Sarah Evelyn Cooke 1891-1951 from Tarporley, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

 

Helen Blankley, later Helen Dickenson 1890-? from Baguley, Cheshire - Women at Work, Women's Suffrage. 9 minute read.

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Florence Booth, later Florence Cumberland 1891-1975 from Crewe, Cheshire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

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Dora Bradbury, later Dora Barber 1891-1965 from Antrobus, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

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Esther Broster, later Esther Booth 1890-1972 from Birkenhead, Cheshire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

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Maria Louisa Buckley from Sandbach, Cheshire 1890-1961 – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College 7 minute read.

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Elsie Burrows 1890-1835 from Frodsham, Cheshire - No Descendants, Suicide, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. Warning, this story includes an account of suicide.12 minute read. 

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Elizabeth Mary Collins 1891-1964 from Crewe, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

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Fanny Crew, later Fanny Dodd 1890-1978 from Chadderton, Lancashire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 2 minute read.

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Clarice May Eaton, later Clarice May Woolley 1892-1962 from Witton-cum-Twambrooks, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

 

Nellie Etches 1891-1967 from Market Drayton, Shropshire – No Descendants, Women at War, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 9 minute read.

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Fanny Gwendoline Gallimore, later Fanny Gwendoline Oldham 1892-1975 from Sandbach, Cheshire - No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 7 minute read.

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Florence Marion Gibbon 1890-1965 from Altrincham, Cheshire - No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 8 minute read.

  

Nellie Guest 1891-? from Patricroft, Lancashire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

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Annie Hall, later Annie Goddard 1890-1940 from Hattersley, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 30 minute read.

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Florrie Hancock, later Florrie Cannon 1890-1939 from Over, Cheshire – Suicide, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. Warning, this story includes an account of suicide. 4 minute read.

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Eleanor Harnaman, later Eleanor Gibson 1891-1978 from Alvanley, Cheshire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 7 minute read.

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Mary Hassall, later Mary Stubbs 1890-1980 from Crewe, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 5 minute read.

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Annie Hoole, later Annie Ross 1891-1975 from Leftwich, Cheshire - Accident, No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 7 minute read.

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Bessie Jones 1891-1967 from Upton, Cheshire – No Descendants, Woman at War, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

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Dora Jones, later Dora White 1891-1970 from Knutsford, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 11 minute read.

 

Dorothy Jones 1891-1977 from Seacombe, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 8 minute read.

 

Ruth Jones 1890-? from Wrexham - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

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Emily Adams King later Emily Adams Berry 1890-1936 from Droylsden, Lancashire  - No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 5 minute read.

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Helen Kirkham, later Helen or Hellen Ackerley 1890-1969 from Liverpool, Lancashire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 5 minute read.

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Hannah Mary Morris, later Hannah Mary Bailey 1890-1982 from Abergavenny, Montgomeryshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

 

Dora Nicholson, later Dora Venner 1891-1975 from Heaton Norris, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

 

Eleanor Quayle, later Eleanor Beard 1891-1961 from Hyde, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 8 minute read.

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Murial Annie Riley, aka Murial Annie Stead, later Muriel Annie Aydon 1890-1963 from Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire – Illegitimacy, Suicide, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. Warning, this story contains and account of suicide. 15 minute read.

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Elsie Robinson 1888-1980 from Northwich, Cheshire – No Descendants, Voluntary Aid Detachment Personnel, Women at War, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

 

Florence Roscoe 1891-1913 from Crewe, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

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Lilian Evelyn, aka Lilian Ethel Ryder, later Lilian Evelyn Booth 1890-1985 and Ivy Grace, aka Grace Joy Ryder 1892-1969 from Sandbach, Cheshire – No Descendants (Ivy), Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 10 minute read.

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Mabel Salter, later Mabel Mills 1890-1962 from Nantwich, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

 

Elsie Heaton Sault 1892-1987 from Great Meols, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

 

Ruby Winifred Stagg, later Ruby Winifred Baddeley 1892-1973 from Wincham, Cheshire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 7 minute read.

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Lilian Maud Surridge, later Lilian Maud Pickston 1891-1965 from Crewe, Cheshire – Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 5 minute read.

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Elsie Taggart, later Elsie Moore 1891-1970 from Toxteth, Lancashire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 12 minute read.

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Leah Leona Urinowski 1891-1978 from Liscard, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

 

Annie Clark Warburton 1891-1963 from Bosden, Cheshire - No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 6 minute read.

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Sarah Washington, later Sarah Scragg 1891-? from Norbury, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 4 minute read.

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Bertha Ethel Whalley, later Bertha Bardsley 1890-1975 from Chester, Cheshire - Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

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Hilda Wright, later Hilda Fowles 1890-1989 from Nantwich, Cheshire – No Descendants, Women at Work, Cheshire County Training College. 3 minute read.

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At the moment, we do not have enough information about some of the women to list them with a story of their own but we are committed to remembering them. What we do know about them is included in our Shorter Stories file, where you will find information about Florence Buxton, Elsie Narcissa Dodd, Janet Evans, Frances Annie Hough, Sarah Jane Hughes, Ethel Lawson, Agnes Helen Lockhart, Maggie Ione Povey, Lily Priest, Elsie Riding, Gladys Earl Simpson, Lucy Walker, Clara Louise Wallace, Alice Whitehill, Rosanna Barbara Wild, Phoebe Wilson and Eleanor Wylde.

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