Spirit of Birkenhead Institute
The History and Heritage of Birkenhead Institute
Keeping the Spirit of Birkenhead Institute alive!
Established 2008
Welcome to my special dedicated web site "Spirit of Birkenhead Institute", which celebrates the history and heritage of Birkenhead Institute Grammar School, Wirral. The school opened in 1889, and closed in 1994, after providing over 100 years of first class education on Wirral. The school was a Grammar School for most of its life, changing to a High School later when the school moved its location in the 1970s.
The site has been created for all former pupils and staff of Birkenhead Institute, and I would like to thank everyone who has sent in pictures, articles, drawings and memories, which have helped to make the site so popular.
Since setting up the site in 2008, I have received many interesting and wonderful memories of this great school, so many thanks to everyone for their valued contributions.
Please note that a new site, as of June, 2021, has now been created, owing to the closure of Webs.com
You can find my new site at:
http://www.BirkenheadInstitute.com
SITE CONTACT & TEXT MESSAGES
Please also note the contact number for the site is shown below.
Please leave any messages or contact details, and I will call you or email.
07522 55 48 55
SPIRIT OF BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE MAIN WEB SITE
Included in this site, there are links to two areas containing Pupils' Memories, as well as an area dedicated to the B.I. school magazine, "The Visor", and also a link to "Whetstonian", looking at the early history of Birkenhead Institute.
There is also a dedicated site to Mr William Sang Connacher, the first Headmaster of Birkenhead Institute. The Whetstonian site is named after the first B.I. Junior School magazine, produced in the 1920s, which merged into The Visor i
As mentioned above, the Birkenhead Institute Web Directory Site includes links to all areas of this site, as well as some other interesting sites related to Birkenhead Institute, including Wilfred Owen, the famous war poet, who was a pupil of the school, as well as "The Wilfred Owen Story", created by former B.I. pupil and local musician Dean Johnson.
There are also Flickr Web Sites containing many of the pictures from this site, which are also accessible via the following links:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/birkenheadinstitute/
and at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whetstonian/
The school originally had four houses, Atkin, Stitt, Tate and Westminster, with two more houses of Cohen and Davies being added when the school changed to a High School in the 1970s, moving from its original site in Whetstone Lane to Tollemache Road. The original school buildings can be seen aboveThe Birkenhead Institute school motto is:
DOCTUS IN SE SEMPER DIVITIAS HABET
which means "The wise man always has riches within".
The Birkenhead Institute provided an excellent education for many boys over the years, who have certainly enriched their lives through the experience of being a pupil at this great Grammar School. I was one of these pupils, having begun my life as a pupil there in 1960.
The Teachers whom I remember well from the school included Mr Webb, (Headmaster), Mr Malcolm, (Deputy Headmaster), Mr Jones, Mr Thacker, Mr Townsend, Mr Hall, Mr Phipps, Mr Squires, Mr Sorby, Mr Shaw, Mr Woods, Mr Edgar and Mr Walsh, as well as School Secretary Miss Cojeen.
Very many thanks to all of these Masters and other staff for making my time at the school so memorable.
I hope that you enjoy the site, and many thanks for visiting.
Let's keep the Spirit of Birkenhead Institute alive!
Philip Ronald-Price
Birkenhead Institute Grammar School Pupil, 1960 - 1967
If any former pupils would like to add any memories, then please feel free to add your comments in my Guestbook. All comments are welcome. Also, if you have any photographs or other items which you would like me to add, please email them to me, and I will ensure they are included. I hope to add as many historical items to this site as I can, for the benefit of Old Instonians and former B.I. staff. My site is intended to complement the BIOB site below, which is a marvellous site for all Old Boys to register their names. Here are the details;
I am very pleased to add the link below to the B.I. Old Boys site, (BIOB), which you can click on to go to this excellent site. There are over 500 former pupils of the B.I. on the BIOB register, and a regular newsletter "The Ad-Visor" is issued every year to everyone on the register, which contains interesting articles and information from B.I. Old Boys. If you are a former pupil, please add your name to the register and find out more.
Former B.I. pupil Keith Dutton has now set up a new BIOB site, and there are now many excellent photographs and interesting information about Birkenhead Institute, its pupils, and its staff included on this new site, so it is well worth a visit.
www.birkenheadinstitute.co.uk
If you would like to contact me, or send information or pictures for inclusion on this site, please write to me at the email address below:
For Voice Mails and Text Messages to the site :
07522 55 48 55
Links to sister sites :-
Link to the sister site for the Birkenhead Institute Visor:
Link to the two sites of Pupils' and Staff Memories of the Birkenhead Institute:
Link to the Whetstonian, early history of the Birkenhead Institute:
Link to the William Sang Connacher site:
I would like to thank the Birkenhead Institute for donating many of the items used in this site, and also to the following people, who have inspired me to create a dedicated B.I. website, and who have provided items for inclusion:-
Olive Elma Price; Joyce Roberts; Mrs N. Bunting; Pupils and Staff from the B.I.; Harry Burkett and the BIOB; Mr D.S.W. Jones; Mr L.T. Malcolm; Mr A.K. Richards; Dave Forshaw; Alan Jones; Gordon Hodgson; Stephen Abbott; John Baker; Martin Campbell-Kelly; Velma Clinton; Mike Worthy; Robert Wood; James Stewart; Ben Johnson ; Joseen Jones; Professor Alan Elliott; Dean Johnson; Everyone I remember from Birkenhead Institute.
Images used on this site are courtesy of "The Visor", "The Wirral Globe", "Wirral News", "Wirral Champion", Mr D.S. W. Jones, Mr L.T. Malcolm, Keith Dutton, Joseen Jones, MikeWorthy, Robert Byrne, Ben Johnson, Robert I. Johnson, Joyce Roberts, Dean Johnson and also items from my own personal collection.
In all cases, permission has been given to include items, and in many cases, former pupils and staff have kindly offered items for inclusion. If, however, you wish me to remove a particular item, please email me and I shall remove it, or update it accordingly.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Olive Elma Price, 8th April, 1916 - 22nd May, 1983.
