We were recently involved with a presentation on the schools of the Royal City: where they were, what they looked like, what their names were and how they changed. A couple of other early Catholic schools will be featured in an upcoming program, and these two structures were also once dominant architectural standouts in views of this city.
At the top of Prospect Park and Albert Crescent, stood the elegant, castle-like building that was St. Ann’s Academy. This Catholic girls’ school was well-known for its standards and achievements. Three blocks to the west, along Agnes Street at the corner of Blackwood Street, another well-regarded Catholic school was the mansard-roofed St. Louis College for boys. They were fine schools and truly stood out on the landscape.
From the 1860s, for many decades these and other schools of this town served the educational needs of the community. Advertisements in the local papers frequently described the upcoming school sessions and encouraged enquiries from parents of school-aged children.
An advertisement for St. Ann’s noted: “This first class seminary for young ladies is situated near the centre of New Westminster. It gives exceptional advantages to parents in quest of a school in which pupils enjoy the comforts and refining influences of home. Music, art and languages a specialty.”
The promotional item also added a comment that would have caught, positively on most occasions, the attention of those seeking a solid start to an educational life. “The course of studies is thorough and the discipline gentle though firm.”
An advertisement for St. Louis College talked of the course of study and the school’s fees. “The general purpose of the college is to impart a commercial as well as a liberal education to the young men received in the institution. Hence the various branches of a commercial course are taught thoroughly; while great attention is paid to the study of classics, ancient and modern.”
As to the fees, it noted board and tuition for a five-month session was $75, with washing and mending $10, and bed and bedding another $3. For day students it was $3 a month for senior students and $2 a month for juniors.
And so this city had a well-respected array of educational institutions with these two schools, and later another in St. Peter’s, offering private Catholic facilities.
Join the New Westminster Historical Society for a talk on this subject on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the New Westminster Public Library.
