St Bartholomew's School (1900-03) and the English Commercial College (1904)

Introduction
From July 1888, St Bartholomew's School, functioning on church premises, was under the newly appointed Head Master, George Robb. His success in attracting new pupils can be measured by the 90 children on the school roll in 1890 and in 1898, nearly 100.

We now know that in 1900, there were 83 on the roll. In 1902 it had dropped to 79 and in 1903 to 61 pupils. This declining number on the School roll, covers an even more complex situation, especially notable between 1900 and 1902 when the school lost 45 pupils, principally in the younger groups and gained 40 new ones.

The financial success of the school was always a major concern. At the beginning of Robb's period as Director, St Bartholomew's Church Committee was shouldering this responsibility. But in 1891, Mr Robb was requested to run the school on his own account, not the church's, as that body was going a difficult financial period.

Apart from paying the salaries of the teachers, George Robb was required to pay a rental for the church hall used as the school premises.

We can see from the drop in numbers of children enrolled that Mr Robb was undoubtedly having financial difficulties by 1903. We know that his contract for the renting of the church hall was terminated in the early part of 1904. His immediate response was to found his own school, the 'English Commercial College'.

Because the Prize Lists for 1900 to 1903 (St Bartholomew's) and 1904 (ECC) survive, we can see how on his departure from St Bartholomew's, he took with him 35 of his then students.

St Bartholomew's School did survive this setback with the appointment of Mr W. B. Hawkins as Head Master in May 1904.

The colour coding in the summary table below highlights those pupils who left the school between 1900 and 1902 and those who left St Bartholomew's early in 1904, following George Robb in his departure and the founding of the English Commercial College.