Annesley House & Gymnasium, (36) Union Road

History of Annesley House

This is the location of both the old house, and the Swedish Gymnasium run by Signe Laven.

Gymnasium at Annesley House, Union Road

In 2018 it was an annex of the Stephen Perse Foundation (formerly Perse School for Girls) designed to house office accommodation. The old gymnasium was still being used as such.

1901

Alfred Newell, 48, university servant, b Cambridge

Harriett, 48, b Fenstanton

Edith, 24, b Cambridge

Mabel, 21, b Cambridge

1911

Harry Felton Charles, 40, musician retired, b Kent

Mildred Mary, 42, lodging house keeper, b Reigate

William Dhar, 21, lodger, law student, b Burma

The gymnasium here was built in 1911 to replace the old chapel near Addenbrookes. It was formally opened by Sir Lauder Brunton, Sir Howard Marsh (Master of Downing College) and Sir Clifford Albutt (Regius Professor of Physic). Signe Laven and Mary Willis were owners of the practice but in 1912 Mary Willis married Herbert Carsch, a Harley Street surgeon, and Signe became sole owner.

Gymnastic classes were held for various school such as the Perse School for Girls and St Mary’s Convent. At one time she employed three gymnastics teachers. It became apparent that there was a great need for a massage corps and Signe was given the use of the Anatomy Schools for her lectures. She also used her gymnasium for demonstrations. She realized that early intervention was important but her status as an alien (Swedish subject) prevented access to Military hospitals.

In 2026 SB sent this note:

My interest comes from a letter to my grandmother, Ms Hedda Maria  Sjöberg, to the address “Miss Hedda Sjöberg. Swedish Gymnasium. Annesley  House. Union Rd. Cambridge. England.” She was born 27 September 1887 in  Sweden. The postal stamp on the letter has been lost, but given the  house on Union Road was built in 1911, and that she got married in 1915  and lived since then in Sweden, I suspect she was at the Swedish  Gymnasium between these two years (possibly also earlier). Given that  she was 24 in 1911, she may have been part of the staff, but perhaps equally likely a student? Do you know the typical ages of students at the Swedish Gymnasium were?

Hedda Sjöberg c1910-1915

Hedda and Anna Sjöberg c1910-15

1913

Miss Willis, Miss Lavén: Swedish Gymnasium, Annesley House

1914

Signe was asked by Beatrix Wherry, Commandant of a Cambridge Red Cross Detachment, to give massage to wounded Belgian soldiers. This was in a ‘rambling set of terraced houses’ vacated by a training college [probably Wordsworth Grove]. Signe would give this treatment at the end of her working day.

1939

Felix Eugen Fritsch

Felix Eugen Fritsch, b 1879, university professor

Hedwig, b 1880

1962 –

2023

Signe Laven gymnasium, Union Road 2023

Signe Laven gymnasium, Union Road 2023

Signe Laven gymnasium, Union Road 2023

Signe Laven gymnasium, Union Road 2023