ABSTRACT
The term ‘charity school’ was used in the eighteenth century, and subsequently by historians, to cover schools of various types and origins. Too much reliance on the records of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, founded in 1698, has suggested to some that there was an increase in the provision of elementary education solely due to the agency of the Church of England. Other sources make it clear that nonconformists and dissenters were also active in this field. Certainly there was an increase in schools for the poor, and these were often provided by the pooling of subscriptions from the rich in the manner of a joint-stock company. The aim was primarily social and religious — the reformation of the manners of the poorer classes, the reduction of crime through the teaching of religion and the teaching that the poor should accept their inferior position in life as part of the Divine plan. As means to these ends, reading and some writing were taught so that the Scriptures could be read; in some schools to these elementary literary skills were added some arithmetic and trade skills, such as knitting or spinning, so that the poor should be fitted for some employment and not relapse into idleness, becoming a burden on the parish ratepayers. Often the schools admitted girls as well as boys, which in itself was a notable innovation, and they usually provided a distinctive dress for their pupils in an attempt to clothe the poor decently, though an additional benefit of this was the constant reminder that it gave to the children themselves and to the rest of society, that they were indeed ‘charity-children’, provided for by others.*
