Blue Coat Archives
The Liverpool Blue Coat School Archives charts more than three centuries of this world famous educational institution’s history. From its foundation in the eighteenth century as a boarding school for orphans and impoverished children to the high-powered academic grammar day school it is today, Blue Coat has changed the lives of thousands of boys and girls, and they have taken its ethos across the world.
Much has altered and evolved in the three centuries of the School’s existence, not least its relocation from Liverpool city centre to the Wavertree suburb of south Liverpool in 1906. Yet its basic tenets of sending students out into the world to be better equipped through learning and experience have remained unaltered.
Now for the first time, thanks to funding from the Heritage Fund, the School Archive has been systemically catalogued and digitised so its content – wherever possible – is made available to everybody, everywhere, whether an Old Blue, current student, casual browser, or education and historical researcher.
The Archive contains annual reports, letters, photographs, artefacts, miscellaneous school objects, The Squirrel magazine, event programmes, school inspection reports, testimonials and contracts, and audiovisual material covering the School’s history.
Over five hundred items from the school’s archive collection are available online, however, it is very much a growing website, with more content uploaded regularly. As this is the first time much of this material has been collated for public access, it is apparent that there are gaps in certain areas, so we are always looking out for material and will be grateful for any contributions or loans from Old Blues or others for the Archive.
Please contact Nova Thomas, Stakeholder Engagement Officer at n.thomas@bluecoatschool.org.uk or on 0151 733 1407 if you would like to contribute to this heritage appeal. Many thanks to members of the public and Old Blues who have already donated items to the collection.
A large amount of material, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries is also held at Liverpool Central Library Record Office and online via the Bluecoat Arts Centre’s website MyBluecoat.
Should you require any further assistance, cannot find what you are looking for, or if you would like further information about the School’s archive collection please contact Nova Thomas, Stakeholder Engagement Officer at n.thomas@bluecoatschool.org.uk