| AdminHistory | Rutherford College schools originated in the elementary schools founded in 1870 by Rev. Dr John Hunter Rutherford (1826-1890, Evangelical Minister, doctor, and educationalist) in connection with Bath Lane Congregational Church. From the original premises at Bath Lane, branch schools were established at Shieldfield, Heaton and Gateshead to cater for demand.
The schools soon grew to include Secondary level education, and in 1877 a separate School of Science and Art was established, with new premises at the corner of Bath Lane and Corporation Street, opened in 1879. The senior department of the original school formed the nucleus of the new body, which comprised a mixed day school for boys and girls aged 12-16, and evening school catering mainly for older students (the registers cover both departments). Both schools drew students from a wide area. While an annual fee was payable, the aim, as with the Elementary schools, was to provide education for those from all sections of society, so fees were kept as low as possible and a large number of scholarships were available.
By the time of Dr Rutherford's death in 1890, plans were in place for a new building to cope with the high demand for places. This was finally opened in 1894, the school being re-named Rutherford College in honour of the founder. By 1904 there were a total of 638 pupils, including a junior school or preparatory department comprising 240 children from age 8. In this period around half the students were drawn from outside Newcastle.
The College and elementary schools were initially administered by a committee (Bath Lane Day Schools Committee, later Rutherford College Council) drawn mainly from Bath Lane church, with the addition, after Dr Rutherford's death, of Local Authority representatives. The Gateshead school passed to local control in the early 1880s. The Heaton schools (North View and Leighton Memorial) were transferred to the School Board in 1897, while Camden Street was closed. In the following year, Bath Lane Congregational Church took over the management of Bath Lane elementary schools, leaving the Council to run the College.
In 1907 Rutherford College was transferred to Newcastle City Council, the College Council continuing as a sub-Committee of the Education Committee. Following the recommendations of the 1906 Inspectors' Report, separate boys' and girls' schools were established, the Girls' School moving to the former Royal Grammar School premises at Maple Terrace, Rye Hill.
The 1906 report also recommended the separation of secondary and technical education, and in 1910 the evening school was separated from the day schools as Rutherford Technical College, in premises adjacent to the Boys' School, and sharing some facilities and staff. This was re-named Rutherford College of Technology c. 1946. In 1969 it merged with the College of Art and Industrial Design and the Municipal College of Commerce to form Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic, subsequently the University of Northumbria.
Until 1928 the Rutherford College schools provided secondary education for the whole of Newcastle (the junior schools were phased out, and entrance was restricted to Newcastle residents from 1915), however demand for places led to the establishment of Heaton Secondary Schools for Girls and Boys (later Heaton Grammar and Heaton High School). Rutherford pupils living in the east of the City were transferred to Heaton, together with a proportion of the staff.
The schools were evacuated to Carlisle from 1939-1943, although the 'home' schools soon re-opened to cater for children returning home. In 1945 they were re-named 'Rutherford Grammar' and 'Rutherford High School' respectively.
Land on West Road was acquired as early as 1931 to provide new buildings for both schools. Economic depression and war intervened, but the new Rutherford Grammar finally opened in 1956, the High School following in 1959. In 1966 the City Council, responding to Central Government direction, decided to end selective education in Newcastle. In autumn 1967 the two schools merged to form Rutherford Comprehensive School, under the Headship of Miss Florence Kirkby, former headmistress of the Girls' School.
The Rutherford name was lost when the school merged with Redewood School c. 1994 as West Gate Community College, remaining on the West Road site. |