Although the School had its origins in two different schools back in the 19th century, the South Shields High School and Westoe Higher Grade School, the former preceded the latter by a couple of years. So it is those admitted to the High School in 1885 who can be said to be the first boys at the school.

Harton School still has the very first admission register, and below is a transcript of all 567 entries, from May-1885 to January-1909. It's not altogether clear why the entries cease, but it's probably not a coincidence that this was the year in which the school was taken over by the Local Education Authority.

Several sources say that the school started in August, 1885, with 27 boys. However, the admission record tells a different story - 37 boys were admitted to the school in May, 1885, a further 4 enrolled for a half term in June and the next registrations started on September 14th, 1885.

It is one Ernest Stuart Malcolm, born 14th July, 1874, of 3 Charlotte Terrace, who has the privilege of being the first boy to be admitted in May, 1885 - his father was Samuel Malcolm, one of the original group who founded the school. In fact several of the first 37 boys were sons of the "great and the good" of the town - two sons of ministers, two sons of mayors (past and future), and sons of some big names in local industry.

But perhaps the most notable amongst those first 37 is Walter Runciman who became President of the Board of Trade and a significant figure in early 20th century politics. He was living at 12 Salmon Street which from a purely personal point of view I find interesting: I was born at 19 Salmon Street.

The register shows each boy's full name, the name and address (and sometimes the occupation) of the parent or guardian, the form to which each boy was assigned, the results of any external examinations taken while at the school, the date and reason for their withdrawal, and comments by the school. The comments are sometimes cryptic, but some show the age at admission, others the boy's previous educational history.

In the transcript below, my own comments (for instance to note later additions/alterations) are in square brackets and italics. Where the writing is unclear, I've used [?] to indicate the uncertainty, and [???] for anything that is undecipherable.

Apart from just being interesting, it should be useful for those genealogists researching their South Shields family history - but please note that this is a transcript of a historical document and I therefore cannot correct any inaccuracies that may appear (unless introduced inadvertently by me, of course, in which case please let me know), no matter how wrong or embarrassing they may be.

Although this transcription is only of the register itself, the book contains other lists and information which I will transcribe in due course. I also plan to provide viewable images of the various pages as well.