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Middlesex schooling, circa 1840

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  • Middlesex schooling, circa 1840

    Does anyone know what schools children attended then, and where are the records for them?

    I'm looking for any records of an ancestor, born 1834, St Luke, and in 1841 was living St Matthews, Bethnal Green; probably out of school in 1851 (Errand Boy) but living in St Dunstans, Stepney.

    Thanks

  • #2
    Education was not compulsory, nor was it free so many poor children did not attend school.

    There was no school standard so anyone could set up a school - Dame Schools were very popular, where a widow would take in a few pupils in her own home and teach them the three Rs, not always accurately, and charge a few pence a week.

    The chances of any records remaining of this kind of establishment are vanishingly remote I would have thought, sorry.

    OC

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    • #3
      Around that time your ancestor probably attended either a National School, (set up by the church of England National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church which was founded in 1811), or a British School (set up by the British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious Persuasion founded in 1833) Attendance wasn't compulsory - here are some interesting statistics "By 1835 the figure was 1.45m out of 1.75m. If this sounds fairly impressive, it should be noted that by 1835 the average duration of school attendance was just one year". I'm guessing city children, unless the family was extremely poor were more likely to attend than rural children who were needed in the fields. The London Metropolitan Archive does have log books, admissions registers etc for many London Schools though I don't know how many go back as far as the 1840s.
      At age 17 in 1851 your boy would certainly be out of school, which probably had an infant department up to age 6 (where children often started very young, as a form of child minding) and a senior department for ages 7-12
      Last edited by JudithM; 13-08-11, 08:52.
      Judith passed away in October 2018

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      • #4
        You might this article interesting: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rep...x?compid=22123

        I would guess that any records of charity schools would be held by the LMA: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corpo..._and_archives/

        They are gradually making many of their records available on ancestry.

        And from our Reference Library: http://www.familytreeforum.com/conte...School-Records
        Caroline
        Caroline's Family History Pages
        Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

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        • #5
          Thanks, Caroline, Judith & OC.

          So, when census says "Scholar", is it just a euphemism?

          If my ancestors could read and write, would they have learned in school, or would it have been thru home schooling?

          Finally, this appears to be a non-conformist family. Any suggestions for schools in the Bethnal Green & St Dunstans areas?

          Sarah
          (really, I thought I had tried the reference library . . .)

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          • #6
            i think scholar would have meant they did attend school, well not necessarily school, but at least lessons, possibly sunday school?

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            • #7
              Probably depends on the enumerator. Some may have just assumed children of a certain age were at school.
              Judith passed away in October 2018

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              • #8
                Some of my nonconformists were taught whilst working, both children and adults alike. Their employers encouraged them to learn and often set up weaver's schools in the weaving sheds. They were also big on Sunday Schools, which taught people to read and write, so that they could study the scriptures for themselves.

                OC

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                • #9
                  OC -
                  This family had weaver ancestors, but were not weavers in that family nor their parents. The grandparents were

                  Did you find records of the Sunday school? If so, where?! Details are appreciated.

                  Grandparents were in the Enfield area. Ponders End, and - can't remember exact name - Moorsfield? King ???

                  Thanks
                  sarah
                  Last edited by PhotoFamily; 13-08-11, 19:44. Reason: added info

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                  • #10
                    Sarah

                    No, I haven't found details but the school is widely talked about and discussed whenever the subject comes up for the village concerned. It was a remote Lancashire moorland village and was strongly nonconformist, being well out of the reach of the local C of E clergy, lol. A later Sunday School kept a few scrappy records, mostly about which child could recite long bible passages, but this was accidentally useful as it gave the name and address pf each pupil, their parents' names and the fathers' occupation!

                    I have also seen actual details of a village school, much earlier than you are talking about, in the early 1700s, which was run by the local C of E church (St James, Gawsworth, Cheshire) and had been set up by a local benefactor. There are some details of the pupils and so on in the back of the parish register. My attention was drawn to this when I realised that almost everyone in the village in the early 1700s could at least write their own name.

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      From my college days, I seem to remember that the Church of England set up the National Society.
                      The Non-conformist equivalent was the Brish and Foreign School Society.

                      I would not expect to find any records which named individual children at that time for either society.
                      However, some of my Norfolk & London Quaker children born 1790 - 1820 were sent away to board at Ackworth school in Yorkshire. Their names together with the dates of admission and leaving were recorded. But the Quakers seem to have kept very detailed records about a range of things.

                      Jay
                      Janet in Yorkshire



                      Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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                      • #12
                        Janet
                        I doubt I'll find ancestors there, but you never know. You might be interested in this:

                        I haven't paged thru it myself, so I'm not sure of its contents.

                        You've all given be much food for thought - and research!

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