Case Studies

The following two case studies of former inmates of the Ardwick Green Industrial School were researched by Mr Gerard Hodge, to whom I am again indebted.

Case study 1: Joseph Marsh

This is the story of a young boy from London. His name was Joseph Marsh, born 17th December 1890. His parents were William Robert, a carpenter, and Annie, a housewife. Their home was 61, Paradise Street, Rotherhithe and their circumstances poor.

At Southwark Court on 3rd October 1901, Joseph, aged ten, was convicted under Section XI of the Elementary Education Act 1876 to a period of five years and four months detention. It was said that he associated with bad companions and was a confirmed truant. He was sent to the Manchester Certified Industrial School at Ardwick Green. He was described as being four feet five and a half inches tall, 65 lbs, fair complexion, broad nose, having very light hair with blue eyes. He had five vaccination pits on his left arm. Previously he had been given three or four years of schooling and could read, write and calculate to grade III standard. His mental capacity was said to be good. All of this information came from the Register of Admission at the Manchester Certified Industrial School.

It was normal for boys to be discharged on licence from the school sometime during their sixteenth year. Joseph was actually fifteen years and eight months old when he was discharged from the school on 26th August 1906. What follows are details taken from the Discharge Register, reports made by the Governor and various letters sent to the school over a period of eleven years.

On his departure from Ardwick, Joseph’s standard of education was grade VI and his occupation at the school was in the band. Not so surprisingly he had enlisted in the army as a band boy. It was quite common for boys from this school to enlist in the forces. Whether they had much choice in the matter is another question. He was in the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment which was then based in Palace Barracks, Holywood, Belfast.

The reports for 1906 stated that he was with his battalion and that he was doing very well. Eight further reports in 1907 said that he was “satisfactory”. In October 1908, his progress and conduct were very good and he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. In 1910, Joseph was stationed in Colchester. In 1912, again he was given good reports and was to be found on the island of Malta. After that, in 1913, he was stationed in Albania and had risen to the rank of Corporal. October 1914, following the outbreak of the Great War, saw him transferred to Winchester to form part of the 8th Army Corps. In November 1914, he found time to write to the school, from the trenches on the Western Front, stating that he was “quite well”. By March 1915 he was laying injured in Alder Hey Hospital near Liverpool. He had been injured at Neuve Chapelle on 12th March 1915. He must have recovered quickly as he visited his old school at Ardwick on 29th April 1915 on a “short furlough”. (‘Furlough’ was an expression meaning ‘leave of absence from military duty’.)

On 2nd June 1916, it is reported that he had been promoted to Sergeant and had been moved to the 3rd Battalion. A report from his bandmaster on 26th October 1916 stated that Joseph was now with the 1st Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment and doing splendidly. By 19th July 1917, he had been moved to another Battalion and promoted to Company Sergeant Major. In a letter from his wife on 19th November 1917, it stated that she was living in Hampshire.

Below are the last words quoted directly from the school’s Discharge Register:

“On July 31st [1918], he won the DCM [Distinguished Conduct Medal]: on August 16th he was hit in the leg badly, but continued fighting – has since been posted as missing.”

Case study 2: Arthur Kingshott

Arthur Charles Kingshott was born on 27th December 1899 in Somers Town, London. He did not have a happy childhood. On 19th September 1907, aged 7, he was “detained for wandering” and was sentenced at Clerkenwell to go to the Manchester Certified Industrial School at Ardwick Green until the age of 16. He joined his brother there, the following day, as he had been sentenced there in May of the same year.

On 25th October 1915, Arthur joined the East Surrey Regiment, at Ashton-under-Lyne, at the age of 15 years 10 months. At the time of enlisting, he was only a little lad, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing less than 9 stones.

Arthur remained in various reserve battalions until being transferred to France on 13th July 1918, by which time he was officially old enough to go to war. He was killed just over a month later, on 22nd August 1918, and was buried at Ovillers Military Cemetery, on the Somme, France. 

Arthur was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, which were received by his father in 1922.

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