A First Day School was set up by Friends in Scarborough during 1859; this opened in January 1860 for boys and girls of 14 years and upwards, primarily for those who did not already attend Sabbath school or any other form of education. Reading and writing of passages from Scripture were taught. Classes were held in the Meeting House under the superintendence of Henry Hopkins. The first annual report gives 58 pupils on the register, but the school did not progress and was closed in summer 1861. Joshua Rowntree (1844-1915), on returning to settle in his hometown in 1866, decided to apply his experiences of Adult School work in York and set up a Friends Adult School in a hired room above 'a store stacked with fish-boxes'. This was on Courting Steps, off Eastborough in Scarborough. He was at first the only teacher and the school was slow to attract members. With the help of his cousin William Stickney Rowntree, he developed the school, moving to St. Sepulchre Street in 1870. A new school building was opened in 1872 in the garden of the old Friends Meeting House, known as Spring Gardens. The school undertook temperance work and by 1875 had established the Scarborough Coffee Cart Company, as well as a British Workman's Reading Room. Women's classes began in 1871. By 1886, the school had 268 members, declining to 176 by 1901. When Joshua Rowntree travelled to South Africa during the Boer War, he sent letters home to his Adult School scholars about his experiences. The school had a library, established a Sick Society and a Savings Fund for members, and held an annual tea. During 1904, additional classes began to be held in new premises known as the Roscoe Rooms, and by 1911, in premises in William Street as well.
From the guide to the Records of Scarborough Friends Adult School, ca.1800-1947, (Leeds University Library)
