Since the previous census, the number of schools in Liverpool had increased dramatically.  There was also increasing provision for training teachers - there are lots of pupil teachers on the 1881 list.

Gender balance is similar to other census returns, with 78% women.  The proportion of women is likely to be an underestimate, as women often do not give an occupation, even if they are working. I have included music teachers and teachers of dancing.  There are a number of married women who give their occupation as ‘formerly schoolmistress’ or ‘formerly school teacher’. They must have been proud of their achievements.  46 women working in schools (a tiny 1.5% of all teachers) are listed as wives and are married. Of these,  a few have no husbands in evidence on the night of the census.

Of over 3,100 teachers, 47% were born in the area we would call Liverpool today (Liverpool City Council area).  Many more were born in Bootle, Huyton etc.  About 4% were Scottish, 7.5% Irish and just under 2% Welsh.  Again, India, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and America are represented. There were a fair few from the Isle of Man, and at least two teachers were born at sea!

There were still many tutors and governesses around, despite the introduction of the 1870 Education Act. A lot of them disappeared - maybe they married? If you know of any, please contact me and I can research / add them.

I have not yet sorted these entries out properly - for example, the sequence of forename and surname is inconsistent, but I thought if I got them onto the website as a list, at least people would be able to find them. There is also a lot more detail to be added to these entries.

Download as a spreadsheet

Hope the list is helpful - I will continue updating it.