Puzzle 4 - The School Chronicle

I’ve chosen the first St. Swithun’s school chronicle as the feature this week because although it’s not the oldest record in our collection it is perhaps the most important. The School chronicle started in 1896 and served as an official chronicle of the school’s activities throughout the year providing details about sports matches and excursions, to lectures from famous visitors and reports of school societies. It has details about old girls and their achievements after leaving St. Swithun’s as well as the achievements of the girls at school.

This first edition marks the creation of the two day houses Venta and Caer Gwent and provides an official biography about how the school started in 1884.

The school chronicles date from 1896-2011 and what’s most important about them is that they are our main source of reference for what St. Swithun’s was like in the past.  

Without these it would be difficult to understand how we operated as a school and as no admission registers have survived, the school list at the back of each chronicle is historically significant to us because it provides the names of each girl who attended St. Swithun’s from 1884 onwards.

I hope you enjoy this week’s puzzle: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/rc=play&pid=2863769c231b

Best wishes

Elly Crookes

Archivist