Danily Court

Danily Court

Comprises five terraced houses in Well Street, named in memory of the Danily family In Well

Sometime between 1836 and 1842 Malpas Grammar School was taken over by Thomas Danily, a schoolmaster from Montgomeryshire. As well as running the school he became the Malpas post master.

Matthew Henry Danily, the youngest of his four sons, was born in 1849.

Around 1871 Matthew joined his father in the school, as assistant master.

By 1881 he had taken over from Thomas as both headmaster and post master, continuing to run the school until the end of 1893.

In 1883 Matthew Henry Danily, then the headmaster of Malpas Grammar School, had opened the Malpas Social Club and Institute in what is now the Lloyds Bank building in Church Street.

This provided, for young men, such facilities as billiards and a reading room supplied with newspapers and other appropriate material, in a bid to keep the men off the streets, out of the pubs and away from the many worldly temptations which surrounded them!

The Institute moved into the Jubilee Hall after it had opened in 1888.

Sometime after 1893 he retired from the school, while retaining his position as post master, and sold it as a going concern to Aubrey Shuttlewood, who already ran a chemist's shop in Malpas.

The building on Church Street having been at one time a lodging house and a Roman Catholic mass centre, it went on to become the town's first telephone exchange, before it became a bank.

The now demolished Post Office front to Beech House was built around 1892 by Thomas Henry Danily, who as well as being the Malpas postmaster was headmaster of Malpas Grammar School.

Article produced and published by Chris Whitehurst – 7th January 2024
information researched by David Hayns