archives
LEAPING THE FISHPOND and other adventures… Boarding House life, 1882-1971 'My parents drove up to the front door of a very large house and took my suitcase out of the car. My Dad carried the case to the huge door and rang the bell. I felt so small and insignificant. A woman answered the door, and I could see behind her a large staircase leading up to another world …' Those words belong to Pam Lambert (Tiller 1972), remembering the daunting experience of arriving at Ruyton’s Boarding House in 1969. She was one of hundreds of girls who lived at Ruyton for some of her education, during the 90 years that the school’s Boarding House operated. By today’s standards, their life was one of strict schedules and spartan living conditions, where meals were plain, showers were short and ringing bells structured the day from dawn ‘til after ‘lights out’. However, overseeing it all was the firm but benevolent eye of the live-in Principal and her residential staff. Their warmth and wisdom while caring for up to 35 girls at once meant that the boarding experience was usually a positive one, where laughs and adventures were had, a sense of independence gained, and lasting friendships forged.
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Founding Principal Charlotte Anderson was the first to welcome boarders to Ruyton in 1882, just four years after the School was founded. The addition of a Boarding House had been enabled by moving Ruyton to its second premises, the large house and grounds of ‘Edgecomb’ in Studley Park Road, Kew. Boarders would remain a significant sector of the School community for the next nine decades, until, in a vastly different educational and social landscape, the School Council made the difficult decision to close the Boarding House in Henty House at the end of 1971. Fifty years have passed since the last boarders vacated their dormitories, and the School was turned over entirely to the ‘day girls’ that were once the boarders' friendly rivals. Though boarding may have ceased, Ruyton is fortunate that many boarders have generously shared their memories and photographs with the School Archives, so that their stories will not be forgotten. Here we share a tiny portion of their adventures. Cathy Dodson School Archivist
the ruyton reporter
