Wednesday 13 August 2014

For Instructing Children in Knitting

I can't recall ever seeing a mention of knitting in a church before - certainly not carved in stone.  But there is one in Abbey Dore church in Herefordshire.  In the church there is a stone slab inscribed with "A list of the Benefactions left to poor House keepers in this Parish to be annually paid out of the Estate under mentioned".  The slab was commissioned by the Church wardens in 1793, and lists bequests made between 1610 and 1720.  

One of the items on the list reads:  "1718. Rev. William Watts a School house & Garden with 5L. P. Ann.  now payable from Upper Cefen Bach for instruction of Children in Reading & Writing or sewing knitting & spinning the Teacher to reside in the said House the Church wardens & Overseers of the poor are to visit the said School & see that it be not neglected."


I think this means that Rev. Watts bequeathed the property at Upper Cefen Bach (a farm, perhaps) from which the sum of £5 could be raised annually, as well as the school building with its garden, and that the £5 was sufficient to pay the teacher's annual salary.   Reading & writing as an alternative to sewing, knitting & spinning is odd - perhaps reading & writing was for the boys, and sewing etc. was for the girls?  I assume it was intended to be a vocational curriculum, teaching children skills that would be practically useful to them, though it seems a bit strange to leave out arithmetic.   But it's interesting to see knitting listed as a school subject in the 18th century.   And was the teacher a man or a woman?

4 comments:

  1. Knitting was certainly a key school subject through the 19th century (mostly for girls), Mrs Gaskell's "My Lady Ludlow" mentions it and there was a set curriculum for knitting in the 1870 Education act, culminating in stockings I believe. I've also come across a number of books on teaching knitting to children and to girls (orphans? fallen women?) going to the colonies to be servants.
    That's an interesting board

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    1. Thanks for the comment. It's especially intriguing that the Rev. Watts wanted knitting taught (and inspected) so early - more than 150 years before the 1870 Education act.

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  2. Attempt 3 at replying (blogspot and I have been having disagreements lately): I guess the inspection was to check he was getting his £5's worth? I wonder how early the (dame) schools started teaching knitting? Probably not that easy to find out given they didn't leave much written documentation. I've got rather interested in children's knitting, recently came across a booklet entitled "Magic Knitting" advertised on the back of an early Bairnswear leaflet, "beautifully printed in colours, with knitting instructions in rhyme", priced 6d, which intrigued me. Not something the Guild archive has anything on? I wish I lived closer to Holmfirth so I could visit.

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    1. Sorry you've been having trouble making comments - I have problems with Wordpress. I don't think I have come across the Magic Knitting booklet, though we do have a few books on knitting for children, and I have one myself that a friend gave me. It dates from 1918 and is The Mary Frances Knitting and Crochet Book by Jane Eayre Fryer. It's full of talking knitting needles and crochet hooks and so is generally a bit twee and fanciful, but it has quite clear instructions for a whole wardrobe of doll's clothes.

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