Newport High School moved from Queen's Hill to a new building at Bettws in the 1960's. In September 1971 it became Bettws Comprehensive. Newport High School material such as Honours Boards, many trophies &c were stored in rooms on the lowest level of the school, rooms that were subject to flooding. Many of the registers were badly damaged and it is thought that some were deemed damaged beyond use and thrown away - some were found in black rubbish bags. In 2010 the 'new' school was being demolished; the Honours Boards were due for the skip. The transcriber decided to both photograph & transcribe the Boards but wherever placed there was light reflecting off parts of the surfaces. The City of Newport Model Engineering Society acquired the boards as a source of timber. Mr Doug Danter, a professional photographer, offered to re-photograph the Boards, which he did. Unfortunately, some of the Boards had already been used. The better copies of the photos are displayed on this website.
Boys Admission Register 1907-1909
As with all the other registers, the handwriting is appalling. I have given all the schools other than 'Private' as 'Council' unless otherwise
shown in the register. Most have 'Public Ely' after them which I assume to be 'Public Elementary'. What I have not shown in this
transcript is :- Exemption of fees, grants &c, exams passed, certificates gained, scholarships gained, positions on admission & leaving,
list of terms attended. I have abbreviated some of the remarks such as time lost through sickness. In some cases the guardian is the
mother but the occupation is that of a man, it doesn't say where the father is.
In the register Page 293 was omitted, then added after page 300.
I have taken this transcript as far as Column M.
At the time of transcribing there is a paper label on the front of the register saying that it covers admissions 17th Jan 1907 to
16 Sep 1909 but there are a number of admissions between 1902 & 1907
Boys Admission Register 1909-1913
As with all the other registers, the handwriting is appalling. Some of the entries are at odds with the 1897 & 1914 Street Directories & the St Woolos Admission Registers. I have given all schools other than 'Private' as 'Council' unless otherwise shown in the register.
Most have 'Public Ely' after them which I assume to be 'Public Elementary'. The number that I have shown as 'Admission No' is also
the page number - each pupil has his own page. What I have not shown in this transcript is:- Exemptions of fees, grants &c, exams
passed, certificates gained, scholarships gained, positions on admission & leaving, list of terms kept. I have abbreviated some of the
remarks such as time lost through sickness. In some cases the guardian is the mother but the occupation is a man's - it doesn't say
where the father is.
Boys Admission Register 1913-1917
As with the other registers the handwriting is appalling, little more than scribble. A homemade page, numbered 900, has been inserted between Entries No 878 & 879. Notes are as with Boys Admission Register 1909-1913.
Boys Admission Register 1917-1920
The handwriting varies from good to bad. Notes are as with Boys Admission Register 1909-1913. Where I have put the leaving date as 'Spring 1924' this is because whoever was filling in the register at this time didn't put anything in the box, I've taken 'Spring 1924' from the 'Terms kept' box.
Boys Admission Register 1920-1924
Mostly in reasonable handwriting.
Boys Admission Register 1896-1925
Abysmal handwriting. I have not shown the 'Date of Application' column. The 'School Career' column gives exams, scholasrships awarded &c but written in such an appalling hand that it would take forever to transcribe.
Boys Admission Register 1925-1949
Handwriting reasonable in parts although many parents initials are in doubt. I have not shown the 'Date of Application' column. In the early part of the register the 'School Career' column gives exams passed, scholarships awarded &c.
Girls Admission Register 1903-1912
There are some errors with names of places & dates. Entry number 134/135 & 230/231 are reversed. Handwriting varies from fair to poor. I have not shown exams passed, certificates gained &c
Girls Admission Register 1912-1918
With some entries there is a difference between the leaving date & the 'last term kept'. There are errors with names of places & dates. The handwriting is abysmal, little more than scribble.
Girls Admission Register 1918-1924
As with all the other registers, the handwriting is appalling (see Notes for Boys Admission Register 1909-1913) Pages 624 & 625 have been misplaced, page 624 follows page 633. Where pages are blank I have left the page numbers out. Some of the leaving dates were omitted, I have taken the year of leaving from the 'Terms kept' column. Pages 901 to 914 have been tied into the register, the register has been badly damaged by water, these last pages more so.
Girls Admission Register 1931-1960
Kept in hands that ranged from reasonable to very poor. Spellings of names & places taken as found. Near the end of this register
the details diminished, the date of leaving disappearing. I assume this was due to the High School becoming a Comprehensive
I have not shown anything from the 'School Career' pages - these list classes & exams passed.
Girls Admission Register (Exercise book) 1918-1942)
This register is in a water damaged exercise book. Other than the damage & some almost washed out entries it was kept in a neat & readable hand.
Girls Admission Register (Exercise book) 1937-1959
This register has been severely damaged by water & has evidently lain in the water for some time. There is mould, stains & rot holes throughout. The wet has caused the ink to run & in many places especially the pages for 1956 on the text has virtually disappeared leaving little more than smudges or nothing at all. When using the transcript the user will need to check as far as column M for occasional notes.
Girls Exam Results Register (Exercise book) 1946-1954
This register has been severely damaged by water & has evidently lain in the water for some time. For obvious reasons I have only shown the pupils names, type of exam & the year etc as found. I have not shown the subjects or marks as some pupils failed.
Staff Register
As with all the other registers, the handwriting is appalling (see Notes for Boys Admission Register 1909-1913) Several of the loose sheets are missing, I have taken the missing names from the index. What I have referred to as CVs are an assortment of letters, notes, references &c. There is a lot more information on the sheets.
Honour Boards
With very limited room, where ever I placed the boards I got reflected light on them. I had to go back & transcribe the 'unseen' parts.
I assume that the early Girls boards (black with gold letters) are the the originals. The Boys school hall of the Queen's Hill site was
destroyed by fire in 1944. I assume that the Boys boards are replacements. There is a possibility that some boards are missing.
There has been some damage to a few of the boards with the names scuffed away. Some names may be double-barrelled but unless
hyphenated I have taken the last element as the surname.
Prefects
The various 'Prefects' files are all from the one badly water damaged volume.
1897-1902. Kept in a readable hand.
1903-1909. The 'Houses' are given by the initial letter. I have no idea what the two 'Houses' 'A' & 'B' are.
1909-1914. A readable hand but only the pupils' names at the end.
Undated. A scribbled mess.
Prefects. These were on printed forms up to 210, then hand written forms, most of which the Prefects signed. Progressing through
the register, less & less details, including the pupils signatures, were omitted. Some of the pupils admission numbers do not tally with other registers.
This register has been water damaged, from approx page 190 on the ink has run & soaked through the page .
Girls Examination Results Registers
These have not been transcribed. They give the results of every exam taken by each pupil in each term, their position in the exam & comments on
their conduct & work.
Registers are:-
From Summer 1896 (2 volumes)
From Autumn 1904
From Autumn 1908
From Autumn 1911 (2 volumes)
From Spring 1920
From Autumn 1920
From Spring 1926
From Summer 1928
From Autumn 1930
From Spring 1931
From Summer 1937
From Spring 1933
From Summer 1942 (2 volumes)
From Summer 1944
From Summer 1945
From Summer 1950
From Autumn 1953
From Summer 1957
From Autumn 1958
Attendance Registers
Not transcribed
1896
1903
1908
1914