St Joseph’s ‘old girl’ Lynne Lillie (née Bullock; attended the school from 1969 to 1979) got in touch to ask if we have any information on the background to the name of the school magazine, Peeper’s Pie. Lynne told us that she has long wondered about the origin of the name, and was hoping that we might have some early issues of the magazine which could perhaps shed some light on this. 

The earliest issue of Peeper’s Pie in our collections is from 1965-1966, but Foundation Archivist Jo Wong has been in touch with Jenny Smith, the Archivist of the Union of the Sisters of Mercy GB, who is kindly checking the earliest copy in their holdings. However, as this dates from 1928-1929 and the school originally opened in 1862 on its Coventry site, it is quite possible that this is not the first issue of the magazine. If earlier editions did exist, it is likely that these were lost during the Second World War, when the school and the Sisters were evacuated from Coventry to Stoneleigh Abbey, and the Coventry convent was destroyed by bombing. 

Lynne has told us that ‘I’d be particularly interested to know whether “Peeper” had some specific meaning within St Joseph’s. I had assumed it might be a clever play on words with Peepers meaning lookers and Pie being a mixture of things, therefore translating into a mix of articles for people to look at.’ 

There are certainly also some interesting parallels with the St Mary’s Priory school magazine, Peeps of Princethorpe, of which we hold copies from 1902 to 1964. Although we do not have the earliest edition of Peeps in our holdings, there are several references in the magazine over the years to it giving a ‘peep’ inside life at Princethorpe, as well as the play on words of ‘peeps’ meaning ‘people’. 

We love to help solve a mystery when we can, so it’s over to our St Joseph’s community! Do you remember hearing any information in your school days about how the magazine’s name was chosen? Or do you perhaps have a theory of your own that you’d like to share? If so, please do get in touch at archives@princethorpe.co.uk – we look forward to hearing from you!