Children under the poor law; their education, training and after-care, together with a criticism of the report of the departmental committee on metropolitan poor law schools

Front matter

126*

REESE LIBRARY

OF THE

Preface

IN the preface to my book on the Better Administration of the Poor Law} I excused myself from entering fully into so important and difficult a subject as that relating to the education and maintenance of pauper children, because a Departmental Committee was inquiring into the matter.

This reason exists no longer, for the Committee has issued its Report. But the Report seems to me to make it still more necessary than I felt it to be two years ago to examine into what has been done, and is still being done, with respect to the education and training of pauper children, not only in London 2 but in the provinces. For the discussion which the Report has given rise to, and which is still going on, shows very clearly how very little the general public really knows about the subject. Indeed, the effect of the Report has been to leave the public mind under the impression that all the monies which have been expended on Poor Law Schools might just as well have been thrown into the gutter for all the good the expenditure has done. I hope that this book may be the means of effectually dispelling this mistaken notion.

There are, so far as I know, only two books which deal with my subject as a whole; but I think it will be conceded that they do not entirely fill the field. One is Miss F. Davenport Hill's Children of the State} and the other is Mr. R. A. Leach's Pauper Children: their Education and Training .^ The object of the former work was apparently to advocate Boarding-out, for

1 Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1895.

* The Committee was only appointed to inquire into London Poor Law Schools and Institutions.

3 Second edition, 1889 (Macmillan & Co.)*

4 Hadden, Best & Co., 1890.

a 2

163298 vi Preface

Miss Hill enhances its advantages by depicting other systems in the darkest colours. The latter work (which I should like to see brought up to date) is a most useful compendium of the acts and orders relating to the subject.

In this book I have tried to give a clear and succinct description of the various methods in use at the present time for bringing up those pauper children who are either in Poor Law or other institutions, or are boarded-out,1 while at the same time weighing as fairly as I could the respective advantages and disadvantages of each method. In this way I hope to be able to convey an accurate impression to the public mind of what Poor Law Guardians and District School Managers have done in the past, and are still doing, to mould the very difficult material which comes into their hands into honest and respectable working men and women. I have modelled the general plan of the book on that of my former one. The Reports of the Inspectors of Poor Law Schools — which are buried in (to most people) inaccessible blue-books — contain most valuable information, hints, and advice as to how the education and training of pauper children may be carried out so as to produce the best results. These reports should not be neglected by anyone who wishes to obtain a mastery of a most interesting subject. Miss Mason's Reports on Boarding-out, of which I have naturally made much use, are better known.

But I have thought it well, when quoting from these reports, to let the Inspectors speak for themselves, supplementing from other sources the valuable information they give.

I have made free use of the Report of the Departmental Committee, the value of which I have always acknowledged, in spite of the strong bias it exhibits.

1 Boards of Guardians have nothing to do with the education of those children who are classed as outdoor paupers, except that they can withdraw the relief if they are not sent to school {post, p. 19). It is often forgotten how small is the proportion of indoor to outdoor pauper children. On January 1st, 1896, 54,052 children were receiving indoor, and 184,437 (including 5905 boarded-out) outdoor relief (25 Z. G. B., p. 1). Of the 54,052 children, only 24,475 were being educated in Poor Law Schools, the great majority of the remaining 29,577 attending the Public Elementary Schools.

Preface vii

The plan of my book is as follows : An introductory chapter traces the history of the subject from the notable year of Poor Law Reform (1834) to the present time, so that it may be seen how great the progress of Poor Law education has been. Then follow chapters on Workhouse Schools, District and Separate Schools, Cottage Home Schools, and Detached Homes.1 Another chapter describes the use made of Public Elementary Schools, a system which answers so admirably in country districts, where the children in workhouses are usually few in number.2 Next come two chapters on Boarding-out, a system which is becoming so popular that the dangers which surround it need to be carefully pointed out,3 and a chapter describing the use made of certified and uncertified institutions, and of training-ships. The various kinds of employment open to pauper children, and the means of disposing of them after they leave the hands of Guardians are next discussed,4 separate chapters being assigned to the important question of their "after-care,"5 and to the vexed question of how that disturbing element in a Poor Law School — the "ins and outs" — can be best dealt with.6 The concluding chapter7 criticizes various reforms which have been agitated for in recent years. A supplementary chapter,8 which has been kindly contributed to the book by a friend who has a special acquaintance with the subject, contains some valuable remarks on the education obtainable in Poor Law Schools. In the Appendices will be found a criticism of the recent Report of the Departmental Committee, and various circular letters and forms which are of practical use at the present time.

I am prepared to be told that I have depended too much upon the reports and statements of Poor Law Officials for many of my facts. It is remarkable how the opponents of Poor Law Schools refuse to credit the facts and figures of those who have most to do with them, while they lend a ready ear to the tales of those who have never, or at least not in recent

1 Chaps. I. to V. 2 Chap. VI. 3 Chaps. VII. and VIII. * Chap. X. 6 Chap. XL 6 Chap. XII. 7 Chap. XIII. « p. 351.

viii Preface

years, visited the schools, and who are therefore apt to draw general conclusions from exceptional cases, or to think that what may have been true of the schools in the past accurately describes them at the present time.

I, for one, prefer to get my evidence at first hand, and I have never had the least cause to doubt the truth of what has been told me as to how well as a rule the children get on after leaving the schools, even if I had not seen piles of letters and photographs testifying to the fact.

Anyway, I must leave it to my readers to decide as to whether my book gives a fair general account of the work of Poor Law Guardians in a particular field, and as to whether their labours have been crowned with as much success as could be expected, considering the class of children who come under their control.

I must not conclude this preface without expressing my

warmest thanks to my friends, Mr. J. S. Davy, Mr. Vallance,

Mr. Clay, Miss Mason, Miss Lidgett, Mr. H. G. Willink, Rev.

Brooke Lambert, and most especially to Mr. J. R. Mozley, for

the kind help which they have given to me.

W. CHANCE.

Guildford,

September, 1897.

Contents

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

The period from 1 834-1861 . „ 1861-1874. „ „ 1874 to the present time

Chapter I. Workhouse Schools

The difficulty of securing efficient teaching

The monotonous life of the children .

The evil of close contact with adult paupers .

The difficulty of securing proper classification

The difficulty of securing proper industrial training

The unavoidable contact with "In and Out" children

CHAPTER II. WORKHOUSE SCHOOLS {Continued)

Page

51 56 58

59 59 60

Results of the system

. 61

. 71

Education ....

. . 76

Health of the children

• • 79

Discipline ....

. 80

Type of a Workhouse School

. 80

Chapter III. Dlstrlct And Separate Schools

Reasons for their establishment

Separation from adult paupers

Efficient teaching .

Economical argument

Permanence of teachers

Future of children assured .

Contents

CHAPTER IV. DISTRICT AND SEPARATE SCHOOLS {Continued)

Page

The loss of the family tie . . . . . • 106

The monotonous and confined life . . . . . 107

The system is too good . . . . . . no

The massing of children together . . . . . 112

(a) as it affects the physical development of the children . .113

(b) as it affects the moral development of the children . .114

(c) as it affects the mental development of the children . .119 The system a costly one . . . . ... 121

The system favours outbreaks of infectious diseases . . .122

Evidence of the system being depauperising . . . 125

Type of a large school . . . . . . 132

Chapter V. The "cottage Homes" And "isolated Homes" Systems

^/ Section I. The "Cottage Homes" system Success of the system The family life The dietary .

Industrial training Health results Cost of Cottage Homes Description of the Cottage Homes of the Industrial training Education

Physical, mental, and moral development Section II. The "Isolated or Scattered Homes" system

.

.

. 140

.

.

. 141

.

. 141

Parish of Shoreditch

.

■ 151

.

. 154

• 155

les" system

■ 157

CHAPTER VI. Advantages and disadvantages of the system . . . 168

A typical Union . . . . ... 177

Chapter VII. The Boarding-out System

Regulations under the two Boarding-out Orders Difficulties connected with compliance with the regulations (a) Boarding-out Committees (6) Good homes and good foster-parents . (c) Stringent supervision

180 192 192 194 196

Contents

XI

Page The objections of Guardians . . . . 205

(a) The loss of the direct control of the children . . . 205

(b) The taking away of the best children, and so affecting the

efficiency of the Schools . . ... 205

CHAPTER VIII. THE BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM (Continued)

As to the success of the system The necessary conditions for success

(a) The necessity of official inspection

(b) Wholesale and indiscriminate advocacy endangering

success of the system Defects in the system ....

Boarding-out within Unions Concluding remarks ....

the

209 216 216

220 225 229 235

Chapter IX. Other Systems Of Bringing Up Poor Law Children

Schools certified under 25 & 26 Vict. ch. 43 Institutions not specially certified Training Ships Sending children to schools of other Unions

237 246 248 254

CHAPTER X. Modes of disposing of girls . . ... 257

Emigration Apprenticeship

261 267

{a) To ordinary trades .

(b) To the Royal Navy

(c) To the Merchant Service

(d) To the Sea-Fishing Service .

Entry into the Army and Navy Bands

Employment of boys generally

CHAPTER XI. Supervision generally . . . . . . 286

The Bristol Preventive Mission xii Contents

The Bolton Society for Befriending Young Servants

The Sheffield House of Help

The Young Men's Friendly Society .

The Kensington Lads' Union

The South Metropolitan Schools Visiting Association

The Homes for Working Boys in London

The Lincoln Working Boys' Aid Society

Chapter XIII. Suggested Reforms And Conclusion . . 328

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER Education in Poor Law Schools

APPENDICES

A. A Criticism of the Report of the Departmental Committee on

Metropolitan Poor Law Schools . . 358

B. Certificates to teachers in Poor Law Schools . . . 402

C. Memorandum of the Local Government Board on emigration . 403

D. Circular letters on ophthalmia . . ... 404

E. Order of 30th January, 1897, on instruction of children . . 405

F. Circular letter as to industrial trainers . ... 408

G. Various forms in use under the Boarding-out Orders —

(a) Forms used by the Burton-on-Trent Union . . 409 {b) Forms as set out in the Orders . . . .413

(c) Rules of the Bristol and Clifton Boarding-out Society . 417

H. List of Homes for feeble-minded girls . ... 420

I. Order of 10th July, 1897, as to outfits for children . . . 421

K. Forms used by the M. A. B. Y. S. . . . 422

L. Memorandum on boys who have left Sutton and Witham Schools 423

M. New scheme of the G. F. S. . . . . . 425

N. Memorandum of the Local Government Board on Isolated Homes 425

O. Scheme of Isolated Homes for the Whitechapel Union . . 427

ABBREVIATIONS

P. L. C. refers to the Reports of the Poor Law Commissioners.

P. L. B. ,, ,, ,, Poor Law Board.

L. G. B. „ „ „ Local Government Board.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

IN this chapter we propose to trace as briefly as possible the history of the Poor Law, since the reform of 1834, in its dealings with that class of children who are thrown upon it for support. We hope that in so doing we are serving a useful purpose, for it is only by a study of the mistakes and failures of the past that we can hope to steer clear of them in the future, and so maintain steady progress.

This chapter, then, must be regarded as purely narrative, and we have introduced as little discussion into it as possible. Still it establishes, we think, two important facts: — (1) that the history of the Poor Law in its dealings with pauper children has been one of continual improvement; and (2) that the success or failure of any system which may be adopted must depend almost entirely upon administration.

As to this second point, although reform has followed upon reform — and at the present time no one defends the education of children in a workhouse — it is doubtful whether any existing system can show better results than did the Atcham Workhouse school, to which we refer later in this chapter,1 more than forty years ago. There we see an inferior system succeeding simply by reason of good administration. On the other hand, bad administration will ruin the very best system that it is possible to devise.

We may conveniently divide the chapter into three parts, the first dealing with the history of the period from 1834 to 1861, the second with that from 1861 to 1874, and the third with that from 1874 to the present time. Up to 1861 the workhouse school held the field. After this date we find that system gradually falling into disfavour, mainly owing to the adverse Report of the Royal Commission of 1859, which so strongly advocated these schools being replaced by district schools.

During the second period we find the latter system being gradually extended in London; while from the important Report of Mrs. Nassau Senior may be said to date the loss of faith in the virtues of large schools, and the rapid growth of other systems of dealing with the children, which are described in this book.

(i) The Period from 1834 to 1861.

It was with the intention of improving the administration of the Poor Law generally that the Act of 1834 was passed, and naturally the case of pauper children was not neglected by the Poor Law Commissioners, who were appointed under that Act. Indeed, one of the first matters to which they directed their attention after their appointment was the better education and training of these children. In by far the greater number of workhouses outside London the young were at that time merely trained in ignorance, idleness, and vice. l According to Mr. Chadwick, than whom no person was better acquainted with the whole subject of Poor Law Administration, not one-third of the children at that time got into any respectable employment. " The girls were pretty enough to be on the streets, the boys were at large as vagrants, and the Bridewells were pretty full of parish vagrants."2 Dr. Kay, writing in 1836, said : 3

"The education provided for the children sent to the workhouses was valueless, and the children born and bred there were idle and profligate. The means for promoting good morals were so totally wanting in most of these establishments, the reward of idleness was so abundant, the incentives to vice so rife, that an observer might have been excused the inquiry whether on account of the lack of employment for the governors of county gaols, it had been considered desirable to create seminaries for the preparation of victims of the penal code."4

The Commissioners also, in their 4th Annual Report in 1838, describe the state of things existing previously to the formation of Unions as follows : 5

"The children, who were for the most part orphans, bastards, and deserted children, continued to remain inmates of the workhouse long after the period at which they might have earned their subsistence by their own exertions; and those who obtained situations, or were apprenticed by means of the parish funds, turned out as might be

2 South-Eastern Poor Law Conference, 1871.

3 2 P. L. C. , Report on Workhouses in Suffolk and Norfolk.

expected of children whose education was utterly neglected or at best confided to the superintendence of a pauper. They rarely remained long with their employer, but returned to the workhouse — which, so far from being to them an object of dislike, they regarded as their home, and which they looked forward to as the ultimate asylum of their old age. In this manner the workhouse, instead of diminishing, increased pauperism, by keeping up a constant supply of that class of persons who most frequently, and for the longest period, became its inmates. Pauperism, however, was only one of the evils which resulted from the neglect to provide proper means of instruction for destitute children. Those who have ascertained the early history of persons who in a greater or less degree have offended against the laws, have found that a large proportion have passed their infancy and youth in the workhouse, and can trace the formation of the habits which have led them to the commission of crime to the entire want of moral training in these institutions." .

The system of compulsory apprenticeship was in full vigour, with all the evils attaching thereto so vividly described in the early reports of the Sub-Commissioners.1

In London the workhouses seem to have been somewhat better managed than those in the country, though in some the children were not separated from the adults, were instructed by paupers, and received no industrial training, while their moral training was altogether neglected.2 Many of the children were " farmed out " in private establishments. A full description of one of these establishments, with an average of 650 children, is given by Dr. Arnott in the 2nd Annual Report of the Poor Law Commissioners.3 The arrangements in them were in all respects imperfect, and especially so in everything that related to the religious, moral, and industrial training of the children. The children under six years of age had, by 7 Geo. III. ch. 39, to be maintained at a distance of three or four miles, according to their age, from the Metropolis, and were either kept in separate establishments belonging to particular parishes and managed by the parish officers, or boarded out by contract in private establishments.4

By the establishment of the Union workhouse and proper classification, the Poor Law Commissioners hoped that the young might imbibe religious and moral principles and be provided with adequate instructors.5 Indeed, the formation of Unions enabled the old parish

1 e.g., Mr. Gilbert's Report, 2 P. L. C, pp. 343-350.

4 2 P. L. C, p. 10. After the passing of the Act 7 & 8 Vict. ch. 101, it ceased to be compulsory on the Metropolitan parishes to send their young children into the country for nurture and maintenance. 5 1 P. L. C.t p. 219.

workhouse to be utilised in many cases for the children.1 In the first Orders and Regulations issued by the Commissioners in 1835 for the management of a workhouse, provision was made for the appointment of a schoolmaster and schoolmistress, who were to instruct the boys and girls for three of the working hours at least every day, in reading, writing, and in the principles of the Christian religion, and such other instruction was to be given them as might train them to habits of usefulness, industry, and virtue. These Orders were, however, merely tentative and only applied in particular cases.

In addition to this the Commissioners, acting upon the principle of the Statute of Elizabeth (39 Eliz. ch. 3), which provided that " order shall be taken from time to time for setting to work the children of all such whose parents shall not be able to maintain them," impressed upon the Guardians and officials the importance of obtaining independent employment for them outside the workhouse as soon as they were old enough to go out to work or into service.2 Their efforts were rewarded by success, for as early as 1836 they report that the training already communicated to children by better appointed schoolmasters, and a better mode of instruction in the common requirements of reading and writing, had already produced some of the effects intended, and that the children so trained were beginning to be considered better qualified for service.3

Thus we find Mr. Tufnell writing as follows in 1836 :4

" The change in the condition of orphan and deserted children when compared with what it was before the formation of Unions, is the most gratifying that can be imagined. Formerly, ill-clothed, ill-kept, uneducated, they were turned out to form the germ of future paupers, and to become the worst members of society. In fact, to have been brought up in a workhouse was usually considered a blot in a labourer's character and an obstacle to his getting employment. The change from this state of things is so thorough and complete, so precisely the contrary of what it was before, that the spectacle of this glaring improvement alone seems to reconcile many persons otherwise hostile to the new system. 'Our children's workhouse,' writes to me a magistrate in the Penshurst Union, ' has been the least unpopular thing in our Union.' 'The youth of both sexes,' says the chairman of the Eastry Union, 'are not only healthy but happy. They are in their respective schools six hours each day, and have such advantages of instruction as they could not have possibly had under their improvident parents. These are indeed invaluable benefits, as they will be trained to be useful and good members of society, instead of adding to the

1 For an instance of the beneficial effects see Mr. Gilbert's Report, 1 P. L. C, p. 256. 2 2P.L. C., p. 35. 3 2P.L. C, p. 35-

4 Report on Kent, 2 P. L. C, App. B., pp. 208, 9. See also Mr. Hawley's Report on Sussex, ibid., p. 216.

future mass of human misery and depravity.' 'I have had many women coming to thank me,' says the Hollingbourne Relieving Officer, ' for taking their children away from them ; they have been to see their children, and see they are so much better contented and better off. Some of them have had liberty to take their children out, and they have refused to do so, because they say it will make them discontented ; they are so much better kept than at home.' In the North Aylesford Union the children are so excellently brought up that they have obtained a high character in the neighbourhood, and the master is overwhelmed with applications for servants from the workhouse. He has at the present time upwards of twenty applications that he cannot comply with. Formerly a workhouse was the exact place which anyone seeking a servant would avoid ; now several persons have mentioned to me their intention of always taking their servants from the workhouse."

But the efforts of the Commissioners must have been sadly hampered by the generally backward state of national education at this time. An amusing example of this is afforded by the request of the Bedford Guardians in 1836 that the schoolmaster in their workhouse might teach reading only. "The Board did not recommend this on the ground of economy, but on that of principle, as they were desirous of avoiding greater advantages to the inmates of the workhouse than to the poor children out of it ; withdrawing thereby as much as possible any premium or inducement to the frequenting the workhouse." We are not surprised to hear that the Commissioners did not accede to the application, basing their refusal on the following grounds : (1) that the workhouse discipline would be a sufficient deterrent ; (2) that schools would doubtless soon be accessible to the children of independent labourers, which would give an equally good education to that of the workhouse ; (3) that it was important that workhouse children should be given a good chance of getting on in the world; and (4) that workhouse children should not be treated so as to fix upon them any permanent stigma, in that all other children who learnt to read, learnt also to write, and to be able to read while ignorant of the art of writing, would be a distinguishing mark of those who had received a workhouse education.1

There can, indeed, be no doubt that in many of the reformed workhouses the education and training given to children was much better than that given to children outside its walls;2 for the Commissioners, while careful that their food, clothes, and lodging should

2 Thus Mr. Tufnell wrote in 1836 that "three months' education in a well-conducted workhouse was worth to the children almost as many years of such instruction as they can get at home by attending village schools." 2 P. L. C, App., p. 209.

not be elevated above that of the household of the self-supporting labourer, rightly decided that they ought not to lower their standard of education on the same grounds. They regarded education as the most important means of eradicating the germs of pauperism from the rising generation, and as the best protection for the institutions of society.1

But the difficulty of obtaining efficient teachers for the workhouse schools, of securing proper classification, and of giving suitable industrial training to the children, was a stumbling-block in the way of improvement. Both Dr. Kay and Mr. Hall in their Reports on the Training of Pauper Children in 18382 refer to these drawbacks, and the former compares the industrial training which a labourer's child got with that of the workhouse child, who had to learn his trade or calling by means of apprenticeship under a most pernicious system.3 Their remedy was the establishment of central or district schools, which would enable the education of pauper children to be conducted on a more effective system, with a better class of teachers, and on more economical terms. This is the first we hear of the " District School," which has lately been subjected to such severe criticism.

Dr. Kay had a grand scheme for establishing one hundred of these schools in England and Wales, whereby the 50,000 children who were inmates of workhouses in 1839, would be separated from the chance of a polluting association with the adult inmates. In such institutions "they would not be daily taught the lesson of dependence, of which the whole apparatus of a workhouse is the symbol ; the school management would be unencumbered with the obstructions that it now encounters from the interference of the workhouse routine ; and the whole of the moral relations of the district school would assume a character of hopefulness and enterprise better fitted to prepare the children for conflict with the perils and difficulties of a struggle for independence than anything which their present situation affords."4

His idea of a district school was derived from the success attending the private establishment of a Mr. Aubin at Norwood, which contained no fewer than 1,000 children.5

The Commissioners expressed their concurrence with the views of the two Assistant Commissioners, although they could not give effect to them without special legislation.6 Indeed, the arguments in favour of the " District School " as against the " Workhouse School " were

5 For a full account of this establishment see 2 P. L. C, pp. 488-494, and 5 PL. C. , pp. 147-156. 8 S'& L- C->P- 90.

Introductory J

unanswerable, and have nowhere been better or more concisely set out than in a letter from the master of the Boston Workhouse to the Commissioners;1 for, generally speaking, there can be no doubt that the workhouse schools were inefficiently conducted owing to the difficulties above mentioned. Mr. Tufnell tells us that he, at that period as Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, paid particular attention to the education of pauper children, and, referring to his reports, he found that the schoolmasters and mistresses were in some cases almost ludicrously disqualified for their offices. He says:2

"I attempted to examine them, but the result was so absurd that I was obliged to give it up. A total ignorance of the Bible and of arithmetic, mis-spelling and blunders of every conceivable sort, characterised their examination papers. Being ignorant of the art of controlling and disciplining children, the teachers sometimes resorted to cruel punishment to maintain their authority. I remember that in one school the master said that he could not keep the boys in order, though he had broken several sticks on them. In another the children apparently read fluently, but on examining their books I found that many were held upside down. The children could not read at all, but had been taught to repeat certain sentences and to hold their books before them as if they were reading, and thus visitors were made to believe that the children were well instructed in reading. In numerous instances I find by reference to my notes, that I had to recommend the instant dismissal of teachers for gross inefficiency, cruelty, or immorality."