This is a computer-enhanced copy of an inscription in Mary Barratt née Kemp’s Bible:
William George Barret
Was born March 26
MA
1838
¼ before 5 in
This seems to mean that WGB arrived at 4.45am. The spelling could be Barret or Barrat — the last letters are obscured by a sort of repair in the gutter, which can just been seen in the above illustration. His father’s name is written as William Barrat.
In 1848, at the age of 10, WGB was sent to the Blue-coat School at Oxford. His son, my father, used to speak proudly of this, but perhaps he didn’t know about the status of children who went to Blue-coat schools. Perhaps the most well known Blue-coat school was originally Christ’s Hospital, a public school founded in 1553 for the education of poor children, and financed by the citizens of London. The buildings were at Grey Friars Monastery, Newgate Street, London. My grandfather started his schooling as a child of a poor widowed mother.
The school seems to have been started in the early 1700s. I have found no information, yet, about the boys’ school, but girls were trained for positions of service. This parallels WGB’s eventual occupation in life. From 1806, the school was in Beef Lane, St Ebbe’s. In 1891, the building was taken over by the Oxford City Technical school. It was in an area which was changed considerably in the 1960s to make way for redevelopment.
WGB then attended Radley College, Berkshire, from about 1851 to 1854. This was a Church of England public school for boys, founded in 1847 by the Rev. William Sewell. I have some of his books from that period, with inscriptions as shown here:
Office for the Holy Communion inscribed William Barratt August 5 1852.
Manual of Prayer has W. G.Barratt, St Peter’s College, Radley, 9 March 1852.
This inscription was about two weeks prior to his 14th birthday and may relate to his confirmation — he was confirmed by the Bishop of Oxford on 4 April 1852.
A Manual of Daily Prayers has William George Barrett, St Peter’s College, 11th July 1853.
Tony Money, the archivist of Radley College, was very helpful in supplying information when I corresponded with him in from 1989 and more recently, though he is now over 80. He confirmed that WGB had not been a full student at the college, but a servitor. Therein lies another tale.