Prize Giving

Prize Giving

(Based on an article from The Manchester City News, Saturday, July 28th 1883, retrieved by Mr Gerard Hodge to whom I am indebted.)

“What was the purpose of a Certified Industrial School; to punish, to educate or to give the pupils training for a trade? On July 25th 1883, the annual distribution of prizes to the boys of the Ardwick Green Certified Industrial School took place. Present were all the good and mighty that had anything to do with the school, plus Aldermen and representatives from many churches.

The Honorary Secretary of the school read the reports of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Industrial Schools and that of the Inspector to the Manchester School Board. The former had already been published. The second report stated that out of the 73 boys who had been under examination, three of whom were under the age of seven, 68 passed in reading, 62 in writing and 51 in arithmetic. The report considered that the attainments of the boys was of a very satisfactory character, 45 of those examined passing in the upper standards, as compared with 30, two years earlier. The premises were well kept, and the satisfactory state of the school generally could only have been brought about by hard work on the part of Mr Jackson, the Governor, and his staff.

Prizes were distributed to the boys by the chairman of the board of the school, the rewards being given for progress in education, for playing cricket and swimming, for excellence in the various industrial occupations in which the boys were trained, and for good conduct. One boy, Thomas Jacques, obtained an honourable distinction on the occasion by the frequency of his visits to the platform, six in all. With regard to swimming, the boys were taken in batches of about 20 at a time to be taught that art, at the Corporation Baths, Mayfield. They did not learn ornamental swimming, but that form of it which would be useful in an emergency. As an instance of the proficiency in that respect already acquired by some of the boys, it was stated that one of the prize-winners recently carried another little boy on his back whilst swimming the length of the bath. It was also reported that one-fourth of the boys could now swim.

The industrial pursuits for which prizes were given comprised shoemaking, tailoring, working a sewing machine, stocking knitting, washing, mangling and chopping firewood; the boy named for the last-named occupation was also employed in delivering the firewood to customers and receiving the money for it, yet he had never been found to be deficient in his cash.

Alderman Patterson, in delivering a brief address, congratulated the prize- winners on their success and encouraged others to persevere, as the best way to avoid failure in the future. He remembered discharging a similar duty three years previously, and he had wondered since how these boys had turned out. They had not only received a fair education of the ordinary kind, but also some amount of technical instruction which was calculated to be very useful to them. He thought it was all the more satisfactory that the boys had been taught to earn their living in some trade or other. He stated that if he were a young boy, he would now try to make his fortune in America, where there was a vast field of labour open to those who were determined to make their way in the world. In conclusion, he felt it was gratifying to know that the health of the boys was so good that there had not been any deaths in the school for the previous two and a half years. He stated that this reflected great credit on the managers, to whom he gave his hearty thanks.

Dr John Watts said that out of the 200 boys in the school, over one-third had lost either one or both parents. That fact accounted to a considerable extent for their neglected condition when committed to the school, and some of those with parents would probably have been in a better position without them. That being the class of children that they had to deal with, he stated that it was highly satisfactory that 45% had passed in the upper standard. The work done in the school was of a sound and practical character, nothing was done for display and the care and attention bestowed on the boys manifested itself in the health, comfort and happiness of the boys. As regards to the conduct of the boys after they left the school, out of 142 licensed out the previous three years, only two had gone wrong; the destiny of three others was unknown, but the remainder had been known to be going on satisfactorily. On the whole he thought that out of very poor material very good results had been produced at the school.

Mr John Napier stated that whilst watching the boys at drill, and hearing them sing, he could scarcely restrain the emotional feeling of thankfulness that overcame him on contrasting their present condition with that from which they had been rescued. He had the pleasure of seeing about 100 of the boys at the Grosvenor Street Wesleyan Chapel every Sunday, and he bore testimony to their excellent behaviour there.

The Rev. J.R.O. West stated that he attributed the success of the school to the fact that it had always been managed on the principle of entire reliance on divine assistance. He also added that the supervision of the managers over the boys was continued for three years after they left the school. (In fact, a lot longer than that in many cases.)

Mr Robert Whitworth said that he thought that the satisfactory state of the boys’ health was due in great measure to their diet. He believed that no children in any class of life had been fed on a more suitable diet than those. And yet, the cost of provisions, including those for the officials, did not average £8 per head per year.

The proceedings then ended with the National Anthem.”

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