Busy Reflection

Dear Readers,

This past week I have been preparing a research report and compiled lineage to be submitted to ICAPGen to start the process of becoming a professional genealogist. I noticed that I have been getting a little depressed lately; I believed it was because of my workload, but after a few moments of reflection, it is a little more complicated than that. The research project I have been working on revolves around the life of Emma (Rock) Condick, a woman who practiced wet-nursing in Victorian England. Her life before and after nursing was very different than our way of life. She was born into a poor family. Her father worked hard for everything they had, and her mother died when she was very young. Emma left her household by 1851 to work in London, to help her household thrive. She married in 1852 to a poor man, John Joseph Condick, who never made enough money to keep his family out of extreme poverty. The first child they had was born and died in a workhouse, as well as a few other children. They only had one child survive infancy, who continued to be poor the rest of his life as well. Emma lived her life alone after her husband died, and moved from place to place trying to find work and stay out of the workhouse. By the end of her life, Emma struggled to keep going and eventually died in the Newington workhouse in 1892. This story is quite depressing, at least I think. It is hard to believe that one woman had to go through all this, but each of us have trials. Each of us go through something that makes us stronger. I believe that although Emma went through these hardships, she was able to find peace and happiness sometimes.

Cheers,
Abbie

Wet-Nurses and Industrial Schools

Dear Readers,

Today I will be discussing the life of Emma Rock and her son, John Joseph Rock. Emma Rock was a wet-nurse who lived in London while trying to provide for her family after the death of her husband in 1872. John Joseph Condick, her last son, was sent to a Industrial School in Liverpool to help the child learn a prosperous trade, instead of living a poor life in London. This industrial school, commonly called a “ragged school,” was started in England for poor children who could not go to school every day due to the high cost.^[1] These schools were started for these poor children to learn a skilled trade in the hopes of moving up from the lower classes. The Holy Trinity Industrial School, more commonly named Grafton Street Industrial School for Boys, was first created 3 October 1870 as a school for both boys and girls to learn skilled industrial trades. By 1877, the school was exclusively for young boys and the girls were removed to Everton Terrace. The school was based in four different buildings near each other on Grafton Street, near the dock area in Liverpool. ^[2] The trades that were taught at the school were printing, tailoring, and shoemaking. In a report of a Industrial School Inspector, he states that “there is room for improvement in the theoretical instruction, especially in the shoemaking department.” ^[3]

In 1857 the Industrial School’s Act was instated in England, which was enacted to prevent juvenile delinquency: this act forced homeless children to enter into the school system between ages seven and fourteen to learn a trade.^[4]  By 1861, another act was passed, which supplied assistance to more categories of children, such as beggars, delinquents, or out of parental control. ^[5] John was twelve years old when he appeared in the industrial school, which suggests he either came to the school by act of his mother or was taken there because of their poor living situation in Liverpool. John’s mother, Emma, most likely placed John at this school to keep him out of the workhouses and give him a better future. While Emma most likely paid the fee for John to be in school, most children who were collected were homeless and had to be funded by the government. ^[6]

Industrial schools similar to the Grafton Street Industrial School for Boys were operated very systematically to keep the boys in a schedule. The school gave basic scholarly lessons, food, and shelter. The children had to follow a strict timetable; they woke up at 6:00 AM and went to bed at 7:00 PM. Depending on the school, times for schooling, practicing their trade, chores, religious service, meal time, and play time were regimented in a rigid, strict schedule. In The Times newspaper, they state “that in the case of boys, some provision should be made for punishment with the birch as well as with the cane.”^[7]

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[1].             The Children Society, Ragged Schools, Industrial Schools, and Reformatories. http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/articles/raggedschool.html, accessed 8 November 2012.

[2].             Holy Trinity Industrial School, 77 Grafton Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, aka Grafton Street Industrial School. http://www.missing-ancestors.com/holy_trinity_industrial_school%20Toxteth%20park%20info.htm, accessed 8 November 2012.

[3].             Great Britain, Report of the Inspector, Volume 46, Reformatory and Industrial School Department, 1903, P. 174-175. Available from Google Books https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=XIHKAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1, accessed 8 November 2012.

[4].             The Children Society, Ragged Schools, Industrial Schools, and Reformatories. http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/articles/raggedschool.html, accessed 8 November 2012.

[5].             Jeannie Duckworth, Fagin's Children, London: Contiuum International Publishing, 2003: 219. Available online at www.books.google.com, accessed 9 November 2012.

[6].             The Children Society, Ragged Schools, Industrial Schools, and Reformatories. http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk/articles/raggedschool.html, accessed 8 November 2012.

[7].             The Times, “Punishment of Industrial School Children,” Page 10, Column C, 25 October 1895, http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/crime/youth1/punishment1/industrial1/industrial.html, accessed 8 November 2012. 

Hedgehogs

Dear Readers,

Lately I have been putting together research from Dorset's Poor Law records. On Ancestry, a collection of Poor Law Records from Dorset are available from 1511-1997 for many parishes. I currently am searching Hazelbury Bryan's Churchwarden's Accounts to learn more about individuals within the parish. Betty Smart, the grandmother of Marina Smart, a wet-nurse, lived in Hazelbury Bryan after her husband, John, died. Betty served her parish by taking part in killing hedgehogs and jays in the area. Hedgehogs were a common sight in Dorset during this time, and the sport of hunting them was referenced in the churchwarden's accounts for at least a hundred years.

Hedgehog

Themes of Wet Nursing Scholarship, A Second Look

Dear Readers,

Lately I have been trying to organize my thoughts about the wet-nurses I have been studying. What were their common life experiences? What have people said previously about the practice that I have been able to correct? There have been many common misconceptions about wet-nurses and their charges, which I have concisely stated here:

Wet-nurses were not fallen women. While some of the women in this study had illegitimate children, that was not always the case. Women like Emma Rock were married and had their own families when they were employed as wet-nurses.

Wet-nurses were young women with family living near them to take care of their children. Through this study, it was seen that women with illegitimate children had their families take care of their children while they went out to nurse. Nurses stayed close to their parents or siblings, so they wouldn't have to send their children out to nurse.

The wet-nurse did not pass on undesirable characteristics through their milk to the children they nursed. While this emotional argument feels tertiary to us today, it was a common argument used in medical journals to discourage women from hiring nurses. Through this study, children nursed by wet-nurses were followed to the ends of their lives, and they all prospered according to their social standing.

Wet-nurses were neutral influences within the home. Most studies argue that wet-nurses treated their charges poorly and did not take their jobs seriously. In this study, none of the children that the wet-nurses were nursing died while in their care, which suggests that the mortality rates of wet-nurses’ charges is somewhat flawed.