St Joseph's College, Blackpool
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St Mary's Catholic Academy (formerly St Mary's Catholic College) is a school in Layton,
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
. The school was involved with the
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(BSF) scheme and, despite the scheme being cancelled, it was announced in August 2010 that for this school it would go ahead. With more than 1800 pupils, it is the largest
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
secondary school in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
. The school is on the site of the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus (usually known as Layton Hill Convent, Blackpool), on St. Walburga's Road near to
Blackpool Victoria Hospital Blackpool Victoria Hospital, known locally as The Vic, is the main hospital for Blackpool and the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. It is managed by the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was originally lo ...
.


School history

The
Society of the Holy Child Jesus The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic sisters founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. History Born Cornelia Peacock in Philadelphia, she was raised a Presbyter ...
(SHCJ) is a Catholic religious order for women which was founded in England in 1846. It follows the rules of the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
(the Jesuit order for men). In 1856,
Alexander Goss Alexander Goss (5 July 1814 — 3 October 1872) was the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liverpool. Biography Alexander Goss was born on July 5, 1814 at Ormskirk, Lancashire of recusant background, connected on both sides with old L ...
, the Roman Catholic
Bishop of Liverpool The Bishop of Liverpool is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese stretches from Southport in the n ...
(in which Diocese
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
then was) invited the sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus to send out a branch from their house in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to teach in Father Bampton's Poor School on Talbot Road, Blackpool and they had arrived with 12 girl boarders. With accommodation in Queen's Square acquired for themselves and for the girls, the school flourished. It was run by a man. After four years of such success, Bishop Goss agreed that the sisters could be rather more adventurous than their original mandate. So, in 1860, the original St Mary's was founded as a school for girls. This original school was located in a building called Raikes Hall in Raikes Parade, Blackpool. It is now a pub called the Raikes Hotel. Success was marked by rapid growth and in 1870 St Mary's moved to the site which the sisters already owned at Layton Hill where were located the original premises, much of which are still extant and form part of the modern school. The school admitted boys by 1880 but in 1900 they were separated out and St Joseph's College, Blackpool was founded for them in Park Road where they were taught by lay teachers. There were several removals between Park Road and Whitegate Lane (now Whitegate Drive) and back until St Joseph's finally moved to Layton Mount on Newton Drive in 1918. Layton Mount had been built as a residence for Yorkshire mill owner William Lumb in 1895. In 1923 Archbishop Frederick Keating (Liverpool had become an archdiocese in 1911) invited the
Irish Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...
in Liverpool to take over the running of St Joseph's and they did so. In November 1924, Blackpool was transferred into the new
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster The Diocese of Lancaster () is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese centred on Lancaster Cathedral in the city of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. History The diocese was erected in 1924, taking areas and parishes from the Archdiocese of Liv ...
. The brothers remained in charge at St Joseph's until their enforced departure in 1975 when a new Lancaster Diocesan rule required all Catholic schools to become
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
. As the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
of the order of the Christian Brothers forbade them to teach girls, they were unable to stay. In that year St Joseph's re-merged with Layton Hill Convent to form St Mary's Catholic College. Meanwhile, Layton Hill Convent had been flourishing as the principal Catholic girls'
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
in
the Fylde The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...
and it was its Head Teacher since 1966, Sister Maureen Grimley (SHCJ) (1932–2007), who became the first Head Teacher of the re-combined school. In 1977 the administration of the school was taken over by the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster The Diocese of Lancaster () is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese centred on Lancaster Cathedral in the city of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. History The diocese was erected in 1924, taking areas and parishes from the Archdiocese of Liv ...
although Sister Maureen remained as Head Teacher until 1984 and sisters of the order still teach there. Initially the reunited school operated on two
campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...
es, but the St Joseph's campus was shut down in the early 1980s and sold for housing development. Further expansion occurred in 1982 when the school was merged with two Catholic former
secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...
s,
St Thomas of Canterbury Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 â€“ 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...
's and St Catherine's, which themselves had merged to form All Saints RC High School.


Notable former pupils

At Layton Hill: * Dorothy Byrne - Head of News and Current Affairs,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
*Mary Josephine Dunn (
Jo Beverley Mary Josephine Beverley (née Dunn; 22 September 1947 – 23 May 2016) was a prolific English-Canadian writer of historical and contemporary romance novels from 1988 to 2016. Her works have been translated into several languages, and she has r ...
) (b. 1947), a prolific British-Canadian writer of popular historical romance novels under her married name. *
Cecilia Loftus Cecilia Loftus (born Marie Cecilia Loftus Brown; 22 October 1876 – 12 July 1943) was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian, and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Loftus was born in Glasgow, ...
(1876–1943) - Actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer *Dame
Sheila Quinn Dame Sheila Margaret Imelda Quinn, DBE, FRCN, RGN, RM, RNT (16 September 1920–8 December 2016), was a British nurse and fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) from 1982 to 1986. S ...
(1920–2016) - Fellow of the
Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...
and distinguished Nursing Administrator At St Catherine's: *
The Nolans The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group formed in Blackpool in 1974, originally known as the Nolan Sisters. They changed their name to The Nolans in 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, they enjoyed a string of hit singles, including ''I'm in the M ...
- Anne (b. 1950), Denise (b. 1952), Maureen (b. 1954), Linda (b. 1959) and Bernadette (Bernie) (b. 1960) who were singing stars of stage and television from the 1970s. At St Joseph's: *
George Carman George Alfred Carman, QC (6 October 1929 – 2 January 2001) was an English leading barrister during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1979, he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murd ...
QC (1929–2001), distinguished defence counsel in many of the most celebrated criminal and libel trials of the last quarter of the 20th century. * John Crosland (1922–2006), footballer with
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
and
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...
. *
John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-American actor. He played retired police officer Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 to 2004, receiving nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two P ...
(1940–2018) - American film and television actor best known for his role as "Martin Crane" on the sitcom ''
Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...
'' *
Tom McNally, Baron McNally Thomas McNally, Baron McNally (born 20 February 1943) is a British politician and a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Early life McNally was born in Blackpool. A Catholic of Irish descent, he attended St Joseph' ...
(b. 1943) - politician, political advisor to Labour Foreign Secretary then
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...
, Labour MP, then
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
MP, then influential political
lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...
and finally Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
*
Owen Oyston Owen John Oyston (born 3 January 1934) is an English businessman best known as the former majority owner of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club. Oyston was convicted of rape and indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl in 1996. He served three ...
(b. 1934) - Self-made businessman and former owner of
Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, the ...
; later convicted of rape and sentenced to five years imprisonment *
Paul Sloane Paul Sloane (April 16, 1893 November 15, 1963) was an American screenwriter and film director. Biography Born in New York City on April 16, 1893, Sloane directed 26 films from 1925 to 1952, and wrote or co-wrote 35 films. His movies include ...
(b. 1950) - Author and Motivational speaker *
Nick Sloane Nicholas Sloane (born 5 July 1961 in Kitwe, Zambia) is an engineer who works in marine salvage. He is best known for leading the salvage operation of the wrecked Costa Concordia in September 2013. The ship had collided with rocks near Isola del Gi ...
(1953–2017) Track and field athlete. * Lawrence Whalley (MD, DPM, FRCP(E), FRCPsych), Crombie Ross Professor of Mental Health at the
University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
* Larry Cassidy (1953-2010) Singer and bassist for post-punk and electronic band Section 25. At St Mary's: *
Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996†...
, Actor *
Aiden Grimshaw Aiden Samuel Grimshaw (born 4 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actor who was formerly known by the stage name Butterjack. He successfully made it to the live shows in the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2010 and was t ...
, ''
X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' contestant (Series 7) * Chris Webb (b. 1986), MP for Blackpool South


References


External links


St Mary's Catholic Academy




* ttp://www.stjosephsblackpool.com/about.htm St Joseph's College Blackpool Old Boy's Association website
Mottoes and Houses of all known present and past schools in Blackpool with a photo of the old St Joseph's College building in Newton Drive

Sister Maureen Grimley's obituary from St Mary's website


{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Catholic Academy Secondary schools in Blackpool Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Lancaster Academies in Blackpool Educational institutions established in 1856 1856 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1975 1975 establishments in England