An Educated Woman

I always knew that my grandmother, Lydia was an English teacher. My mum was very proud of her mother and the fact that she not only held the family together but also was an educated woman in her own right.

In the box of my parents' belongings that we found recently, was a whole range of certificates that outlined my grandmother's teacher training. Looking through her certificates, it quickly becomes clear that she also trained in art, music and physical education. I assumed she taught secondary school age children but it seems from her certificates that she was qualified to teach at a primary school.

She learnt music through the Tonic Sol-Fa College. I've included one of her certificates above. Her other training was carried out through the Victoria University, Leeds and correspondence courses.

She registered as a teacher in 1919, at the age of 34 years old. She had been married to Alfred for four years by that time and her first child, Betty would be born the following year.

I have a certificate that states she worked as Assistant Mistress at St Stephen's School in Leeds until 1927. I'm unsure whether she stopped working as a teacher at that stage.

I'll have more information about Maud and some interesting photographs too very soon.

Maud Annie Lockwood

This is my maternal grandmother, Maud Annie Lockwood. She was born in 1885 in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Her younger brother, Bertram died as a young child so Maud was brought up as an only one.

From the way my mum and my aunt and uncle talked about her, Maud sounded like a hard working woman who looked after the rest of the family without complaining.

She worked as an English teacher so was obviously an educated woman.

As a child she lived in Headingley cum Burley before moving to Kirkstall in her twenties. She married Alfred in 1915. She lived in Kirkstall until she died in 1962, aged 77 years old.