Fairfield - now George Dent Nursery School, Darlington
Freda Hawtrey was appointed as the Principle of the Darlington Training College in 1912 Miss Hawtrey was anxious to maintain an ‘Nursery’ school for children under the auspices of the (nearby) Darlington Teachers Training College. A single room at number 6 North Lodge Terrace acted as the ‘birthplace’ for the fledgling nursery. Because of the uncertainty of the resources, it’s future was by no means certain. Mercifully, Miss Hawtrey had a vision of a larger more suitable accommodation facility. She identified a property on Elms Road a large house ‘Fairfield’ (off Woodland Road), formerly requisitioned by the military as a nursing home, was on the market. It was fortuitous that Miss Hawtrey had heard that this property was to be sold quickly and as it promised to be very suitable for the school she suggested to the Council of the British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) that they (BFSS) should purchase the property. Unfortunately, the members of the Council were all dispersed on holiday and Miss Hawtrey feared that such ideal premises, only two minutes walk from the College, would slip from her grasp. While it had been proposed that ‘Fairfield’ should be rented, the owner Mr. I’Anson had received an offer for the purchase of the property. The story is told that while travelling to London to plead with the BFSS for assistance, Miss Hawtrey explained her predicament to a fellow passenger, and on reaching London she had in her pocket a cheque for £500, a loan to secure the house.47 The fellow passenger was J.M.Dent, the publisher and founder of Everyman’s Library. The rest, as they say is history. The nursery (named in honour of George Dent, the father of J.M. Dent) is still housed in this same building, with its large garden for out-door play and nature observation. (Sourse of information: John Robert Bell (2011) THE PROVISION OF NURSERY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES TO 1967 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NORTH - EAST ENGLAND. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.)
Fairfield - now George Dent Nursery School, Darlington
Freda Hawtrey was appointed as the Principle of the Darlington Training College in 1912 Miss Hawtrey was anxious to maintain an ‘Nursery’ school for children under the auspices of the (nearby) Darlington Teachers Training College. A single room at number 6 North Lodge Terrace acted as the ‘birthplace’ for the fledgling nursery. Because of the uncertainty of the resources, it’s future was by no means certain. Mercifully, Miss Hawtrey had a vision of a larger more suitable accommodation facility. She identified a property on Elms Road a large house ‘Fairfield’ (off Woodland Road), formerly requisitioned by the military as a nursing home, was on the market. It was fortuitous that Miss Hawtrey had heard that this property was to be sold quickly and as it promised to be very suitable for the school she suggested to the Council of the British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS) that they (BFSS) should purchase the property. Unfortunately, the members of the Council were all dispersed on holiday and Miss Hawtrey feared that such ideal premises, only two minutes walk from the College, would slip from her grasp. While it had been proposed that ‘Fairfield’ should be rented, the owner Mr. I’Anson had received an offer for the purchase of the property. The story is told that while travelling to London to plead with the BFSS for assistance, Miss Hawtrey explained her predicament to a fellow passenger, and on reaching London she had in her pocket a cheque for £500, a loan to secure the house.47 The fellow passenger was J.M.Dent, the publisher and founder of Everyman’s Library. The rest, as they say is history. The nursery (named in honour of George Dent, the father of J.M. Dent) is still housed in this same building, with its large garden for out-door play and nature observation. (Sourse of information: John Robert Bell (2011) THE PROVISION OF NURSERY EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES TO 1967 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO NORTH - EAST ENGLAND. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.)