South East Technological University (SETU) Libraries and Newtown School have officially launched the partial digitisation of the Waterford school’s archives to commemorate its 225th anniversary. The event was held at SETU’s Cork Road Campus Special Collections room on Wednesday, 7 March.
The digital outreach collaboration archives contain a wealth of information on the school, which has seen the likes of Erskine Barton Childers, Ralph Fiennes, Sinéad O’Connor, Roy Foster and Leslie Dowdall pass through its storied halls.
The archive project focused on three important pieces of Newtown School history which took over three months to digitise. The first, a book titled “Newtown School Centenary: 1798 to 1898”, and the second, a detailed register of scholars who attended the school from 1798 to 1891. Both documents are rare with just a handful of known copies in circulation. The third is the Newtown and Mountmellick Old Scholars’ Association Yearly Reports dating from 1891- 1953.
A valuable tool
By enabling easy access to the school’s history, it is hoped the archive will act as a valuable tool for students, researchers and those in the local community who wish to gain a deeper understanding of Newtown and its influence on the cultural fabric of Waterford.
The event was attended by several well-known figures from Newtown School’s past and present, including current Headmaster Keith Lemon, convenor of the archives committee at Newtown School Joan Johnson, former Headmaster Roger Johnson, and a selection of Newtown students. Also in attendance was Joanne Rothwell, Waterford City & County archivist.
Reflecting Quaker principles
Thanking the work of the SETU Libraries team, Keith Lemon, headmaster of Newtown School said that the archive reflects the school’s three Quaker principles of simplicity, respect, and stewardship. “Stewardship centres around maintaining and respecting the past so we can pass our stories on to the next generation. Joan Johnson and the staff at SETU have done exactly this in keeping these stories alive in an accessible way.”
In the coming months, the Newtown School Archives Committee in collaboration with SETU Libraries will identify sources from the wider archives that would benefit both the school and be of interest to a wider research community.
You can check out the archive by tapping here.