Until 1870 the Government had not seen the need to do anything about educating any children – if the parents could afford to do so on their own account then that was fine by them. So the only schooling available to the mass of children was set up by religious groups and the Church of England National school dominated the parish of Armitage with Handsacre. The teaching was very heavily slanted to religion and specifically the ‘established’ religion.
The 1861 census showed that only about ⅔ of the children aged between 5 and 12 were identified as scholars. Some of the missing ⅓ of children would have been at work – the youngest worker was aged just 9, a William Green who was working as a potter. But most of the missing children would have been kept away by nonconformist families.
In 1870 the Government introduced the Education Act, the first piece of legislation to deal specifically with the provision of education in England and Wales. An organisation called the National Education League had campaigned for free, compulsory, and non-religious education for all children and industrialists had also made the point that mass education was vital to the nation’s ability to maintain its manufacturing advantages. The National Education League was heavily supported by nonconformists who passionately believed that all children should have an education and not be made ashamed by their own or their parents’ religion. The Education Act compelled local authorities to provide publicly funded primary school places in newly built secular schools for children aged 5 – 13 unless there was an existing school in which case that could continue as before. So the Armitage school remained a National School. It was given a maintenance grant of up to 50% but no money for new buildings.
The 1876 Elementary education Act made parents responsible for the education of their children, halted the employment of children aged under 10 and also arranged for the payment of school fees for poor parents. The 1880 Elementary Education Act expanded on this and made it compulsory for children to attend school up to the age of 13 unless the child had a certificate of education as laid down by by-laws. From this point onwards school attendance officers were employed and parents of children who did not attend school were regularly prosecuted – the following report from the Lichfield Mercury, dated 17th November 1882, is typical.
Rugeley Petty Sessions
Monday, November 13th
Before Messrs. G. Fox (in the chair), J. Spode, Allan Bagot, and C. Foster
School attendance prosecutions from Armitage, Handsacre and Hill Ridware. –Mr. John Hackett, School Attendance Officer of the Rugeley District, of the Lichfield Union, attended before the court to prosecute a number of parents for having neglected to send their children to school, and penalties were imposed in every case.
Joseph Elsmore, labourer, Armitage, was summoned for having neglected to send his child Eliza, aged nine years, to school. Mr. Hackett stated that in August the child had attended school 27 times out of a possible 40 and in the year 237 out of a possible 453. {Attendance counted for each morning and each afternoon}. The school fees were paid by the Guardians, {of the Poor i.e. effectively Parish Relief}, and there was no excuse he knew of for not sending the child to school. It was a first offence. It was remarked that the father was a gardener to Mr. Birch, and that there were no extenuating circumstances. A fine of 5s was inflicted.
Henry Wood, miner, Handsacre, was summoned in respect of his daughter Sarah who it seemed had not attended school at all during the month of August, and was only present 120 times during the year. The wife said the child had remained at home to nurse it’s grandmother, who was ill. The Bench imposed a penalty of 2s 6d and granted a fortnight within which to pay.
Joseph Hudson, labourer, Handsacre, had failed to send his girl Sarah, aged 8 years, to school. The child had only made 8 attendances out of a possible 40 and 185 out of a possible 453. Defendant, who is a labourer, did not appear, and a woman said the wife was prevented from attending by illness. Fined 2s 6d.
Henry Gilbert, labourer, Handsacre, had not sent a child Albert Walthough {Waltho}, aged nine years, to school. During August the attendances were only 20, and during the year only 225. The father said the lad was a twin child, and only enjoyed poor health. Some time he could not eat his breakfast, and then his mother would keep him home. Mr. Hackett said the child was delicate, but he was continually running around the street, and was not unwell during the period for which he was summoned. The Bench said if the boy was able to run around the street he could go to school. Mr. Hackett said a brother was a very irregular attendant at school, but that the Attendance Committee had only taken the worst case. Fined 2s 6d
William Conway, blacksmith, Handsacre, for not having sent his son Shadrach, aged eleven years, to school, given a like penalty. The lad had not attended school at all in August, and only 72 times out of a possible 453. The mother said the boy was a good scholar, and that being very poor she wanted him to go to work to help to support his brothers and sisters. Mr. Hackett said he had offered to apply to the Guardians {of the Poor Union} for the fees but that Mrs. Conway had said she did not want that.
William Rowley, miner, of Handsacre had to answer for his son Edward, aged ten years. During September the school was open 40 times, and the lad only attended 21. Since June 25th the school had been open 130 times and the attendances numbered only 67. Defendant, who was fined for a similar offence in 1881 was ordered to pay 5s.
Joshua Alldritt, labourer, Handsacre, was called to account for is son Joseph, aged eleven years. In September the child had only made 4 appearances out of 40, and since June 25th he had only been 15 times out of a possible 130 times. Defendant had been fined in the years 1879-1880-1881, and he was now directed to pay 5s.
John Stacey, collier, Handsacre, was summoned in respect of irregular attendance of two of his children, Joseph and Sarah, aged respectively nine and 7 years. The children had never been in school since June last and the case was reported to be a very bad one. Defendant was fined 5s as regarded the boy and 2s 6d for the girl.
For many years the Rugeley Petty Sessions regularly heard prosecutions of this type with the same surnames cropping up frequently. Probably the most frequent offender was Thomas Conway, a miner, who appears from the mid 1880s. His last appearance for school attendance prosecutions was In 1903 when he was summoned for two children and fined 20s for each child – the maximum amount. He had 16 previous convictions for the same offence.