‘Never Absent, Never Late’ at Penrith and Eden Museum Article by Sydney Chapman Recently given to the Museum are two late Victorian photographs of pupils who attended Penrith’s Brunswick Road Board School. One is captioned ‘Scholars never absent during the year ending January 31st 1897’ and the other ‘Scholars never absent during the year ending January 31st 1899’ stating that it was ‘Photographed and Presented by John Bolton, Head Master’. Photography was an expensive pursuit then and largely the preserve of well to do amateurs, like this head master who was probably show-casing his hobby and talents, or professional photographers. The children have turned out in their Sunday best judging from the profusion of starched collars and lace trimmings on their clothing.
Brunswick Road Board School’s ‘Never Absent’ pupils, 1897
In the early years of the Victorian period, many children never went to school. All schooling cost money and there was no law to say that children had to attend. In 1870 a law was passed to say that all children between the ages of 5 and 10 had to go to school but their parents were still expected to pay and it was not until 1891 that it would be free. In towns poor families still frequently sent their children out to work just to have enough money to buy food. In an agricultural area like Eden there was a never ending round of
Brunswick Road Board School’s ‘Never Absent’ pupils, 1899 work to do on the farms and on the fell-side, tasks like feeding and attending to livestock, sowing crops and reaping them at harvest time, cutting grass for hay, making butter, collecting eggs and taking produce to the markets. Here too parents would often keep their 30
