Children and education In Sheffield in the 19th Century.

[Bayleaf]

One of our members asked for help re a relative from Sheffield. As he is in Australia I made some notes for him relevant to his question. I thought others might be interested, so here they are. They are from only 2 sources, and if anyone would like to chip in with further information feel free!

Education in Sheffield in the 1850’s-60’s

Most of this information is from the Mercer book on elementary education in Sheffield 1560-1902, with additional bits from Mary Walton’s history of Sheffield.

The kind of schooling you would have received would have depended very much on your social class and wealth.

If you could pay the fees, the Collegiate School opened in 1836, the Wesleyan Proprietary Grammar School opened in 1838, and there was the old grammar School which had existed since the early 1600’s.

There would have been a range of schools operated by individuals or voluntary bodies, usually on a paying basis.

Dame Schools were small private schools that provided an education for working class children before they were old enough to work. These schools were usually run by an elderly woman who taught the children to read and write and other useful skills such as sewing. Fees were about 3d. per week and the quality of education that the children received varied enormously. Whereas some teachers provided a good education, others were no more than child-minders.

Ragged Schools were charitable schools dedicated to the free education of destitute children. The movement started in Scotland in 1841, when Sheriff Watson established the Aberdeen Ragged School, initially for boys only: a similar School for girls opened in 1843, and a mixed School in 1845.

In 1844, the movement spread to England, with the establishment of the London Ragged School Union. As well as giving very elementary education, the Ragged Schools engaged in a wide variety of social welfare activities such as running Penny Banks, Clothing Clubs, Bands of Hope, and Soup Kitchens. However, despite their alternative name of Industrial Feeder Schools, only 3 Ragged Schools gave trade instruction, the only form of education for which Government grants were available.

In 1849 a Ragged School opened at Baker’s Yard, Peacroft. In October that year, there were 280 children on the roll. Of these, 80 boys and 95 girls were unable to read a single letter.15% of the boys had never been to school before, 30 had found jobs and left, and 9 were reported to be begging.

There was a Boys’ Charity School in the NE corner of the churchyard. It was founded in 1710 and rebuilt in 1825. By 1845 its intake had increased to 100, divided into 5 classes under 1 teacher. It worked on the Monitorial System which was developed in the 19th century. The system relied upon the grouping pupils by ability. The children in the top group were taught by a qualified teacher but would also spend time teaching children in the lower groups. It was claimed that this system not only proved low-cost education but helped to train working-class children for responsible jobs in the future. The system was phased out and in the 1860’s certificated teachers were employed.

The National School in Calver Street was built in 1812. The mission of the National Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge founded in 1811 was to found a Church school in every parish in England and Wales. By offering grants to prospective founders, on condition that development was fostered on chosen lines, the Society funded the construction, enlarging and fitting-up of schoolrooms. It was involved with the foundation of the majority of Church of England and Church in Wales schools, which were originally known as National Schools.

In the 1850’s only the 3 R’s were taught, though girls might also be taught needlework and knitting. I’ve found no reference to any organised sport of any kind. Just as an aside though, in 1830 an advert appeared in the local paper from the churchwardens of the Parish Church thanking them for their donations to putting the graveyard into good order. It includes the comment

“They also embrace this opportunity of stating that in discontinuing the churchyard from being used as a playground by the Charity Boys they have acted entirely from a sense of their duty as churchwardens, and...in obedience to the injunction of his Grace, the Lord Archbishop of York”. (The Charity School was next to the churchyard, and it seems the boys used the burial ground for playing football!)

In 1838, it was reported that less than a third of working class children received proper instruction. About half of those could read, but only a quarter could write. In 1843, only around a third of children in Sheffield went to school. The same year it was reported that two thirds of working class children could not read.

Not until the Education Act of 1870 did the Council have the power to bring in compulsory schooling, which Sheffield quickly did. All children between the ages of 5 and 13 were compelled to attend school, unless they were ill, lived more than 2 miles from the nearest school, or were ‘under efficient instruction in some other manner’. The School Board was set up with the task of providing schools where there were gaps in provision. These were to supplement not replace the schools provided by voluntary bodies.

Nevertheless, in 1871 there were 29,000 children registered, of whom only 25% were over 10.

In the mid 1800’s in the Sheffield region, children of 7 and 8 were employed in the coalmines, and younger children helped adult relatives at the grinding wheel or forge.

The common age for starting work in cutlery workshops and forges (as opposed to helping relatives) was 9+.

But even in 1865, a boy of 6yrs was found working alongside his father glazing knives on a dry grindstone. (Grinding on a dry stone was a major cause of grinder’s lung or grinder’s asthma, a form of silicosis. Grinders rarely lived beyond 36 yrs.)

In the file cutting industry it was normal for 10 yr olds to work a 14 hour day.

In a survey of 1865 of 2000 manufacturers, over 1600 claimed they employed no children under 12. But there was overwhelming evidence that only one fifth of children stayed on at school until 12 or 13.