Would you please add to the Web that the images
and text are used by permission of
Miss Dorothy Abel Smith and are copyright.
Reference! “And Such a Name, The recollections
of Mrs Robert Smith of Goldings”
is available for £11-50 including post and packing.
from dorothyabelsmith

All images and text copyright © to Goldings Old Boys reunion members

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking
Dorothy-Abel-Smith and her family for their kind
permission in allowing us images and text from her
publication AND SUCH A NAME a part of the
history of Goldings before it became a Barnardo
School.
Strict copyright is applicable to the following
images and text as is requested by Dorothy in
the following letter.
So sit back and peruse over our schools former
glory

Goldings 1839 to 1913

Goldings circa 1890 with Reginald Abel Smith in the driving seat

T o the right is the entrance to the mansion, and
above the doorway was installed in 1922 a stone
tablet, commemorating the official opening of
William Baker Technical school by the Prince of
Wales, November of that year.
Since the alterations of recent years it appears this
tablet has gone missing. After various enquiries
to the relevant bodies, the whereabouts remain a
mystery.
Top right hand corner is the Smiths coat of arms

TENAX IN FIRE

FIRM OF PURPOSE IN FIRE

translated

Present day

Whatever happened to it does anybody know it’s whereabouts

The former mansion which was demolished to make way for
the new Goldings. Pictured on the right.
Please refer to the History page for further information.

The new Goldings pictured in 1880

The location of Goldings 1766

Robert Smith 1890

Drawing room 1888

Refer to ground floor map on History page for
location. (our former assembly room towards
the final period of the school)

Cricket July 23rd 1890

Referred to as bottom field in the days of the school. To the extreme
right would have been our wooden pavilion (rumoured to have been
burnt down by one of the pupils, towards the schools demise. The bank
at the rear of the cricket pitch was moved a further 6 ft back, to obtain
a larger cricket pitch, and probably ranks along with the outdoor
swimming pool as one of the major engineering tasks carried out
by Staff and former pupils at the time.

Goldings house party 1893

Goldings with a Parterre garden on the site of the former
house 1879. With the new house pictured in background

A Goldings house party 1891

The location: The doors in the background lead out onto the lawn and beyond to bottom field

Page Compiled June 2006

The front entrance to Goldings Mansion

The rear of Goldings Mansion overlooking the cricket field

A brief history of Goldings before it became William Baker Technical School

Robert Smith Centre back, Mrs Smith is centre front