Royal Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb Poor (later The Royal School for the Deaf), Margate, Kent and The West of England Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Exeter, Devon
Please be aware that this page and the associated stories may contain historical terms related to disability that are not now considered to be appropriate. They are reproduced in context here to maintain the historical integrity of the period.
Please click here to read the biographies of the pupils.
Before the establishment of schools like the Asylum for Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor or the Royal West, the ways in which a deaf person could learn to communicate with the world were severely limited. Any teaching or help available tended to be the preserve of the rich.
Whilst deafness in children of wealthy families was regarded as unfortunate, in poor rural families it was often viewed as being due to “the sins of the parents”, the curse of consanguineous marriages or perhaps even scrofula.
At the time deaf people were generally seen as deficient in intellect and were often considered without normal reasoning, They were even perceived as troublesome and useless to their parents, all of which led to many remaining isolated in a world of silence.
With the help of surviving school records, we hope to show how these two schools played a pivotal part in the lives of so many children, by researching some of the female pupils who attended the schools throughout the Victorian era and providing you with a little history of each school.
Royal Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb Poor (later The Royal School for the Deaf), Margate, Kent
It can be argued that the history of what was later to become the Royal School for Deaf Children is the history of deaf education and welfare in this country with its establishment coinciding with the 19th-century emphasis on philanthropy and progress.
There were only twelve deaf schools in the whole of Europe; and with the exception of one school in Paris, Abbé de l’Epée’s institute founded in 1779, they were all fee paying and only accessible to those who could afford their fees. The Asylum was therefore the first free school in England, and only the third in the world, to provide education for deaf children from poor families.
The Asylum for the Support and Education of the Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor, as it was originally known was the idea of a dissenting minister and one of his parishioners. It was managed by a Committee of Twenty Four Gentlemen. The first Board of Governors consisted of 850 subscribers [1].
Reverend John Townsend (1757-1826) minister of the Jamaica Row Congregational Church in Bermondsey, South London [2] became aware of the plight of the deaf child from one of his parishioners, Mrs. Creasey, whose son John attended Thomas Braidwood’s (1715-1806) private Academy for the Deaf in Hackney.
The boy’s ability and accuracy in mastering speech was impressive, and Rev Townsend agreed with Mrs. Creasey on the need for a charitable institution that would provide a similar standard of education for the deaf poor without the expense of the Braidwood institutions [3].
With the support of Henry Cox Mason, the Rector of Bermondsey, and the philanthropist and banker Henry Thornton (1760-1815) [4], the two formed a small committee to raise funds and Townsend established the Asylum in 1792.
The Revd John Townsend (1757-1826) is depicted, holding the plans of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, which he founded in 1792
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Eligibility criteria meant each child was either born deaf or became deaf before learning to speak, verified by two independent witnesses and had to be between the ages of 9 and 14. They also had to be of "sound mind". Although attendance at the school was supported by sponsorship, parents and friends were expected to offer financial support, if they were able to.
Admission was determined by a committee in twice yearly elections held in January and July.
The first board of Governors consisted of 850 governors led by the President, The Marquis of Buckingham, and 8 vice presidents (six of whom were baronets). Subscriptions costs were £1s 1s a year or £10 10s for life. This level of subscription entitled the benefactor to two votes per election, with Life Subscribers having the privilege of always having one pupil at the school of his own nomination.
Slightly lower levels of subscription were also available at 10s 6d for annual subscription or £5 5s for life subscription, which entitled the subscriber to 1 vote per election. It was also possible to purchase votes for a single election, at a cost of 4 votes for a guinea.
The Asylum opened its doors in rented accommodation in Fort Place, Grange Road, Bermondsey with just six children (three boys and three girls), but by 1804, the number of children waiting to be admitted had increased rapidly, and the asylum had outgrown Grange Road.
In 1809, under the patronage of the Duke of Gloucester, the Asylum moved to larger purpose-built premises in Old Kent Road in London with 80 children.
Asylum for the deaf and dumb, Camberwell
Engraving by I.C. Varrall after himself, 1822. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.
In 1840 the streets either side of the Asylum grounds were named Townsend and Mason Streets after the institution's founders.
Map reproduced with kind permission of The Genealogist
Joseph Watson, who was a nephew of Thomas Braidwood and also one of his assistants at the Hackney Academy, was appointed the Asylum’s first superintendent or Headmaster, which continued Braidwood’s dynasty in deaf education [5].
When appointed Joseph Watson did not receive a salary, but instead received an annual allowance of £21 10s per child to cover the costs of educating and boarding the children. He was expected to make a living from any profits that he made on the contracts for supplying the school and the terms of his engagement also permitted him to take up to eight private pupils for which he could charge £3 per week. The private students and the poor pupils did not mix.
Portrait of Joseph Watson (c 1764-1826)
Wellcome L0036029.jpg CC BY 4.0
Children were taught using a combined method of instruction, which incorporated both the 'oral' system of vocalization and lip-reading, and the 'manual' system, which was based on signs and finger-spelling. The school began by teaching pupils to articulate basic speech sounds, combining speech elements into symbols, then into words. The children would then learn to read and write with Watson employing a manual alphabet, with which they could spell out words using hand gestures.
Thomas Braidwood had always been very secretive about the techniques he devised to teach the deaf, but following his death in 1806, Joseph Watson was finally free to reveal these methods, and published his Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb [6] in 1809, which outlined the Asylum’s methods of education.
The asylum was informally renamed the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, and became an important national charity; its model of patronage and governance transformed the operating systems of other charitable institutions in Britain.
The success of the Asylum’s style of education led to a greater understanding of the need to educate the deaf and the rapid expansion of institutions for the deaf in Britain. With secular agendas, these institutions attempted to teach the deaf poor their duties towards God, while at the same time preparing them for responsible adulthood. When first established, the Asylum was designed with the sole aim to provide religious instruction and the groundwork of an average education. However, in order for the pupils to take active roles and employment in society, industrial training was provided for all its deaf pupils.
In the late 19th century, the school followed the Finnish “Sloyd” education system. Sloyd [7], also known as educational sloyd, is a system of handicraft-based education started by Uno Cygnaeus in Finland in 1865, which was further refined and promoted worldwide. It is still taught as a compulsory subject in Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Schools.
When Joseph Watson died in 1829, he was succeeded by his son Thomas James Watson, who had assisted his father and had been headmaster of the Glasgow Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and when he died in 1857, he was succeeded by his son, The Rev. James H. Watson, a great-great-nephew of Thomas Braidwood. He was the last of three generations of Watsons connected with the school
Charles Dickens was one of the Asylum's Governors and appears to have written about the school in his short story "Doctor Marigold" - the story of a poor deaf girl Sophie who was adopted by Dr.Marigold, who attempts to teach her to read, before she attends a school for the deaf [8].
In 1857, the school published an Illustrated Vocabulary for the use of the Deaf and Dumb, which was intended to aid the deaf and dumb with their reading, writing and speech skills. The book contains a lengthy word list, with each word is split into syllables in order to highlight pronunciation [9].
Illustrated Vocabulary for the use of the Deaf and Dumb https://archive.org/details/gu_illustratedvo00comm/mode/2up
However, despite 4,000 illustrations, only about one in ten words are actually illustrated, and there are no written definitions at all, meaning that many words would still have been a mystery to the average child. The book is almost 500 pages, with the final 100 pages or so dedicated to 'Illustrations of Trades'. Each trade or occupation has a page (or sometimes two) of illustrations of its respective tools and materials; and a wide range of occupations from baker and brewer to watchmaker and wheelwright are covered.
The book also provides pictorial aids for toys, listing some of the most popular toys of that period including Battledore and Teetotum.
Battledore was a forerunner of Badminton, played with rackets and a shuttlecock and Teetotum is a spinning top with the letters P, T, A and N on the sides.
To begin the game, each player is given the same stake, usually flat marbles or small coins, with the rest placed in the “pot” in the middle.Each person is given a turn to spin the wooden teetotum and, based on which letter lands facing up, they have to put or take from the “pot”.If it lands on a P = The player PUTS an agreed upon stake into the pot.
If it lands on T = the player TAKES the agreed stake from the pot.
If it land on A = The player takes ALL the points from the pot.
and if it lands on N = The player takes NOTHING.
As well as different architectural and geographical terms, there are illustrations of the human skeleton and the different articles of clothing for both gentlemen and ladies. The vocabulary also contained illustrations of different methods of transport, describing their different parts including a locomotive engine and a ship.
It also contained illustrations detailing the planets of the solar system and one which attempted to demonstrate the seasons, and when the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices fall, as well as the dates of the different star signs.
Illustrated Vocabulary for the use of the Deaf and Dumb https://archive.org/details/gu_illustratedvo00comm/mode/2up
In 1861 a sub-committee was set up to establish a branch of the school in the country and in a temporary and tentative measure, the Asylum took over St John's College in Margate in 1862 and converted it to provide temporary accommodation for an additional 60 children.
Due to the scrofulous nature of a large number of the children, a move to the seaside was seen as desirable, however the committee made it clear they had no intention of turning into an asylum or hospital for 'diseased' deaf.
By 1867 it was reported that the Asylum housed a total of 350 children – 207 boys and 143 girls.
From around 1868, the charity was referred to as the Asylum for the Support and Education of Indigent Deaf and Dumb Children, which was shortened to the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb.
The Old Kent Road asylum was licensed as a certified school on 11 January 1868 which allowed it to take children from the workhouse boarded out by the Poor Law authorities. They continued to hold this status for over 18 years until 20 June 1884.
On 19 July 1875 The Prince and Princess of Wales opened a large new building on Victoria Road, Margate. The building was designed by Messrs. Drew & Bower of Margate at a cost of £16,000 to house 150 children. It had a large common schoolroom for both girls and boys, which had the boys’ dormitories above it, whilst the girls’ dormitories were above the girls’ work-room.
Photos by kind permission of Anthony Lee and Margate Local History
The spacious dining-hall (pictured) had an open timber roof supported on carved angels as corbels. The arrangement of the teachers’ rooms was specifically designed to ensure the children were never left without supervision. The Margate branch of the Asylum was used to educate the older pupils, while the younger pupils were based in Old Kent Road.
Although the majority of pupils were transferred to Margate by 1881 and the entire school relocated to Margate in 1902,the School retained its offices at 93 Cannon Street, London until 1975. The Old Kent Road premises were sold for £16,750 in December 1902.
The London office not only handled all the bi-annual elections and fund-raising, but presumably as many pupils were from London and other areas of England, rather than just being from Kent it made sense and has been reported that at the end of the school term pupils would travel to London from Kent, and would then be collected from the office.
The magnificent Gothic Tower of the Margate school was a defining piece of architecture, and unbeknown to staff, students used to scale it as a rite of passage and leave their mark inside the tower. One terrible night, in 1950 a student fell from the tower, trying to complete this challenge. Even at that stage, no one knew the tower had been climbed by the students for this purpose until the old building was being dismantled, as the tower was taken down the pupils graffiti was found inside it.
After 21 years, James Watson resigned as headmaster in 1878, thereby ending the Asylum's connection with the Braidwood family. Richard Elliott a teacher at the school for 20 years was appointed Head of both the Old Kent Road and Margate institutions. He remained the Headmaster until 1908 – retiring a year after celebrating half a century at the school.
He is widely regarded as one of the great names in the history of deaf education, fighting against entrenched authority and prejudice to ensure better living and educational conditions for deaf children of the poor. He was also instrumental in raising the professional status of teachers of the deaf by establishing the first specialised training college.
Dr. Elliott was the Headmaster at the time the girls we are researching were pupils and also when my own male ancestor, Walter Whenday, attended the school from 1891-1896.
“The term of each pupil's stay is five years; they are taught to read, write, draw, and cipher, to speak by signs, and in many instances to articulate so as to be clearly understood. They are wholly clothed and maintained by the charity, are instructed in working trades, and in some cases apprentice-fees are given. The Asylum is amply supported by the wealthy; and besides its annual receipts from subscriptions, donations, and legacies, &c., it has some funded stock. The pupils are elected half-yearly, without reference to locality, sect, or persuasion.” Edward Walford, 'The Old Kent Road', in Old and New London: Volume 6( London, 1878), British History Online
In 1883, younger pupils moved from Old Kent Road to temporary accommodation in Ramsgate at the St. Lawrence Asylum which was referred to as the Asylum's 'oral branch. However, by the end of 1886 a new wing had been added to Margate which increased its accommodation and the children at Ramsgate were transferred there. Around the same time, the Old Kent Road premises were rebuilt on part of the existing site with the new building accommodating just 60 children.
From this point Old Kent Road received all new pupils, where they spent about a year preparing for the oral system of tuition before transferring to Margate.
In the late 1800s the Royal School for the Deaf began to experiment with both the Oral Method and forms of technology such as the audiphones, (an American invention that was designed to make deaf people hear through vibrations in their teeth).
The International Congress of the Education of the Deaf held in Milan in September, 1880 proved to be a very important event in the history of deaf education [10]. It was decided at the congress that the Pure Oral system of teaching was superior to sign language. A decision that was felt by some to be made by hearing people who failed to consult deaf students. The Asylum followed the directive, albeit somewhat reluctantly, as evidenced in these newspaper articles.
Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
13 November 1880
Kent County Standard, 23 July 1881
The move resulted in major changes in the school's teaching and the school's minute book records an advert placed in the National Society Paper in 1880:
‘Wanted, two male and two female teachers for deaf and dumb Asylum. Required to teach orally, must not have previously engaged in teaching signing. No deaf experience necessary.’
Shortly after this, at least three teachers left the school, with entries made in the minute book:
‘Phillips 3 months’ notice 1 year salary’,
‘Smith 3 month notice 6 month salary’
and ‘Clarke 1 month notice’.
The significant amounts paid to some when they left suggests that they were released to allow the preferred oral teachers to be introduced.
Ninety years later a report by the British Deaf and Dumb Association said that the suppression of sign language had significantly damaged the education of generations of deaf children.
Prize Giving Days and Sports Day were held regularly and appear to have been timed to coincide with the twice annual leavers dates, though they were a celebration for the entire school. Printed Programmes were produced which not only gave a full list of the different prize winners, but an order of service for the day’s events. I would imagine these days were highly anticipated on the school’s calendar by both pupils and their families.
A band was in attendance, and prizes were given in the following subjects:-
Arithmetic, Needlework, Sloyd Work, R.E., Writing, Lip Reading, Speech and Gymnastics; as well as prizes for Progress, Good Conduct, Good Fellowship (voted by fellow pupils), Domestic Usefulness, Use of Speech Outside of School and for being School Monitors. Leavers were awarded with a bible and a prayer book.
Throughout the day various sports competitions, games and demonstrations were held, including the popular stalwart, Living Chess, where children would dress as the chess pieces on a board on the lawn with two pupils conducting them in a game
Photo by kind permission of Anthony Lee and Margate Local History
Competitions included Potato Races, Washing Competitions, Driving Wheelbarrows Blindfolded, Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race (for boys), Basin of Water Race as well as more traditional sports events such as High Jump, Long Jump, Three Legged Race, Egg & Spoon Race, Sack Race and Tug of War.
Other activities including marching, exercises on the lawn (with dumb bells for younger pupils, and clubs and sceptres for older pupils) and a gymnastics display by the boys on parallel bars, vaulting horse and a table.
There was also displays of Japanese dancing with girls dressed as Geishas, a Nursery Rhyme Fancy Dress Parade and Battle of the Flowers, and the programmes usually gave details of the characters the pupils played.
Prince Albert, Prince of Wales, had been a patron of the institution for many years and on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the committee sent a letter of sympathy to the new King Edward VII, with the request that he might wish to continue the patronage. They were delighted when he "graciously consented" to retain his position and in addition granted them the use of the title 'Royal' and became the 'Royal Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb Poor' [11]. As a gesture of their thanks, the King was awarded 30 additional votes, giving him a total of 50.
George, the new Prince of Wales invited sixty children from the Margate asylum to watch the coronation procession of his father from the grounds of Marlborough House on June 26 1902. However, due to illness, the coronation was postponed but the children's visit to Marlborough House went ahead and they were royally entertained and each presented with a coronation mug.
The school had administrative offices in Cannon Street, London, with addresses of 93 Cannon Street and Queen Victoria Street, and the bi-annual election notifications and fund-raising were among the many things overseen from this address. Presumably, as many pupils were from London and other areas of England, rather than just being from Kent it makes sense and it has been reported that at the end of the school term pupils would travel to London from Kent, and would then be collected from the office.
Each year pupils left the school either in the summer or in December. This charming photo of 10 girls who were leavers in 1903 shows them on the steps outside the school building with the Headmaster, Dr. Richard Elliott.
Photo by kind permission of Anthony Lee and Margate Local History
From the list of girls we are researching, we have identified records of 9 girls who left the school in 1903 and it is therefore extremely likely that the following are among the girls in this photo:
Hilda Frances Bush, Elizabeth Margaret Hawkins, Louisa Elizabeth Little, Lydia Rosina Long, Alice Lilian Richardson, Hilda Sarah Rowe, Mary Elizabeth Styles, Amy Elizabeth Thompson and Amy Alice White, Edith Stebbon, Ida Rebecca Broughton, Edith Hope Norris, Nelly Lambert, Hilda Mary Dooley, Annie Jane Butler, Daisy Magdalene Dyball, Bertha Fletcher and Nellie Mepham
On leaving school, both boys and girls were assisted with apprenticeships in various trades
The philosophy of the school was so successful that by 1900, 3,750 children were attending or living in special schools for the deaf across the United Kingdom.
The establishment of deaf schools by London County Council and other borough and county councils unfortunately resulted in the gradual decline in admissions, by 1904 there were only 290 and the number of candidates at each election was falling. Therefore in 1905, the school applied for certification under the Elementary Education Act of 1893, which would allow it to receive children from different Education Authorities.
The Asylum was renamed the Royal School for Deaf and Dumb Children in 1908, though the word 'Dumb' was later dropped.
The school continued to operate as The Royal School for Deaf Children throughout the 20th century, celebrating its 200th anniversary in 1992. As part of its continuing quest to move with the times, in 1978 the school opened Westgate College as its post-16 department.
Sadly after over 200 years the school met a rather inauspicious end when it closed for good in 2015. The John Townsend Trust, incorporated in 2008 to run the school, filed for administration, followed almost immediately by an investigation into a shocking scandal of drunkenness and abuse involving a handful of staff who worked with young adults age 16+ at Westgate College.
However, despite its sad demise, after reading about the amazing history of the school, and its wonderful work transforming not only the lives of so many thousands of deaf children but in leading and revolutionising the education of the deaf in Britain, I hope that you will agree, that it still deserves a special place in history and that the stories of those who attended the school deserve to be told.
For more information about the Margate School, you may like to watch this video.
The Few Forgotten Women team would like to thank Gwilym Simcock for the music that you hear at the beginning of this video.
Mandy Geary
Bibliography
A Tower of Strength, Two Hundred Years of the Royal School for Deaf Children Margate; Patrick Beaver; The Book Guild, Sussex 1992
Peter Higginbotham’s Children’s Homes website
https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/LondonAsylumDeaf/
Newly Catalogued: Royal School for Deaf Children, Margate [Ch192]
https://www.kentarchives.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Issue-27-Autumn-2022.pdf
The London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb
https://fromthehandsofquacks.com/2010/06/14/the-london-asylum-for-the-deaf-and-dumb/
Asylum for the support and education of deaf and dumb children of the poor
https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2019/09/asylum-for-the-support-and-education-of-deaf-and-dumb-children-of-the-poor.html
The Asylum that changed the lives of young unfortunates
https://southwarknews.co.uk/history/in-depth-history/the-asylum-that-changed-the-lives-of-young-unfortunates/
British Deaf History Society: The Royal School for the Deaf and Dumb Children, Margate: Male Teacher’s Uniform
https://www.bdhs.org.uk/timeline/the-royal-school-for-the-deaf-and-dumb-children-margate-male-teachers-uniform/
Oralism & The Royal School for the Deaf, Margate
https://historyof.place/oralism-the-royal-school-for-the-deaf-margate/
How the Deaf and Dumb are Educated by Edward Salmon
https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/STRAND/1892A/S1892A-Deaf&Dumb.pdf
Resources
Photos of the school and its pupils courtesy of Anthony Lee and Margate Local History.
http://www.margatelocalhistory.co.uk/HotSpotViewer/OS_1907_Pics/Victoria%20Road%20Deaf%20and%20Dumb%20Asylum.html
British Deaf History Society
https://www.bdhs.org.uk
UCL Ear Institute & Action on Hearing Loss Libraries
https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/library-rnid/
Footnotes
1. A Tower of Strength: Two Hundred Years of the Royal School for Deaf Children Margate by Patrick Beaver, The Book Guild Ltd, Sussex, 1992 pages 37 & 38.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Townsend_(educator)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Braidwood
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Thornton_(reformer)
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Watson_(teacher)
6. https://archive.org/details/instructionofdea00watsiala/page/n187/mode/2up
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloyd
8. https://www.charlesdickenspage.com/charles-dickens-short-stories.html
9. https://archive.org/details/gu_illustratedvo00comm/mode/2up
10. https://deafhistory.eu/index.php/component/zoo/item/1880
11. https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/LondonAsylumDeaf/
The West of England Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Exeter, Devon
In 1824 When Miss Grace Fursdon, of Fursdon House, Cadbury, discovered that the son of a labourer at Fursdon was deaf and dumb, she spoke to her friend Mrs Charlotte Hippesley Tuckfield, of Shobrooke Park, Crediton. They became interested in how such children could be educated. Mrs Tuckfield visited the National Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Paris, which was the first public and charitable school to be established for such a purpose. She was so impressed by what she saw that she sought out two more deaf children and arranged for their education. The children were initially housed at Shobrooke Park. As the number of pupils grew they realised a larger charitable institution was needed.
The Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb was founded in Exeter in 1826 largely through the efforts of Mrs Charlotte Hippesley Tuckfield. The catchment was soon increased to include Somerset and Dorset. The school has undergone many changes since then both in name and ethos. It is still in operation, now situated in Exmouth.
South West Heritage Trust archive says:
“Founded 1826 as the Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb; changed in the same year to West of England Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. Named Royal West of England Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb from 1902, Royal West Of England Residential School for the Deaf from 1939.”
From March 1826 advertisements were placed in newspapers, initially “It is respectfully submitted to the consideration of the Gentlemen of the County, whether it might not be desirable to ESTABLISH an ASYLUM in or near Exeter, for the instruction of the DEAF and DUMB, of the counties of Devon and Cornwall” and subsequently asking for donations and subscriptions.
Initially Mrs Hippesley Tuckfield had to convince funders that education of the deaf was worthwhile. Without appropriate teaching methods, use of sign language, access to speech therapists and aids, many of the profoundly deaf remained uneducated. Public perception may well have been that they were not educable. Today we would not be surprised if someone ‘locked in’ and isolated became frustrated, with behavioural and mental health issues, perhaps another factor adding to those mistaken perceptions.
However, we also need to remember that compulsory elementary education for all only became law with the ‘Forster Act’, the 1870 Elementary Education Act. In 1827 a large proportion of all children remained uneducated.
Mrs Hippesley Tuckfield’s experience meant they were able to say in March 1826:
“A private School of this kind has for some years been carried on in the neighbourhood, and its success gives every encouragement to attempt an enlargement of the establishment;”
(Her private school seems to have grown to about 15 pupils by then.)
Gentlemen were exhorted to lend their name and finances to this new project, and invited to form a committee. The Institution was to take the best models of those already in existence, with such alterations as local circumstances may require. The first meeting was set during Sessions Week (when presumably gentlemen may already be in Exeter) and was held at Congdon’s Hotel on the Thursday. A minute book was started that day, 6 April 1826, under the heading “Exeter: deaf and dumb Institution”.
That first official meeting established an Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb in the counties of Devon and Cornwall. Sir Humphrey P Davie, Bart., was called to the chair and Rev. Chancellor Martin proposed a series of resolutions, essentially regulations for the organisation, which were accepted. Clearly much preparation had taken place beforehand.
Any gentleman donating at least £20 or subscribing £2 annually or more, became members of the General Committee. Those donating over £10 or subscribing at least £1 annually, became Governors, of whom eight were elected annually on to the Committee.
“It was difficult to win support for the school at first, because the prevalent view was that deaf and dumb children could not be educated, but once the school opened, in 1827, anyone was welcome to visit at 12 o’clock each day to see the children at their lessons. Watching the pupils at work convinced visitors that the school was efficient and also encouraged them to put money in the school’s donation box.”
Clergy were asked to identify deaf children who would benefit from attending the school. How would they have felt about this? The Parish would be asked to fund the schooling, however, forward-thinking vicars might hope this perhaps meant the Parish would be less likely to need to support them on a long-term basis.
Initially the school was housed in a leasehold property in Alphington Road, Exeter, and quickly had 26 pupils. 4 of these were ‘Private’ pupils whose parents paid fully. Towards the end of 1827 land was bought in St Leonard’s and a larger school capable of housing 70 pupils was built, between Topsham Road and the river, opening in December 1828. This was to be a School of Industry as well as education, and children were taught crafts and domestic skills to enable them to be useful members of society and to earn a living. Boys were usually found apprenticeships when they left the school. Some girls became apprentices, others went into domestic service or returned home to help their mothers.
The early nineteenth century was a time of innovations in Exeter, piped water reached St Leonard’s in 1833 and gas in 1836. There had been a huge population expansion.
“In 1801 the population of St Leonard's was 133, while by 1851 it had grown to 1,499, fuelled by the incoming middle classes; growth after 1850 slowed as Exeter's building boom declined along with a depression in farming and agricultural prices, upon which the city had become dependent.”
Electric light was not installed until 1915. For a helpful timeline of improvements to the premises see the Children's Homes website.
Although the exact rules varied over time, children were generally admitted from age 7, no older than 12, but could then stay up to age 15 or 16. Election of pupils took place on the third Monday in June each year and each applicant required:
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a baptism certificate
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a certificate from a doctor to say that they were deaf and had no other disabilities or infectious diseases
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a certificate from the minister of the parish describing the family’s circumstances
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a certificate from the parish officers that they would provide the child with clothes and pay towards his or her maintenance
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and a recommendation from at least three Governors of the school.
Surviving records are not complete or detailed. There is a register of applications for admission to the school from 1827 to 1836. However, this does not state whether they were ‘elected’ to come to the school. Later the minute book lists pupils who were elected. Names of the charity pupils who had been admitted to the Foundation during the year are listed in the annual reports, usually produced the following February. Few private pupils are named.
Later an apprenticeship fund was established and occasional names of those given financial support are listed in annual reports. For example in 1859 the “committee granted the sum of £5 towards apprenticing John Nunn to a tailor, one half of which has been paid, and the other half is to be paid when half the term of his apprenticeship shall have been expired.”
Whilst most grants were for boys, the Annual General Meeting report 1865-6 says that “Grants have been made from the Apprentice Fund to Jane Lobb and Caroline Greet to learn the duties of a laundress.” It also mentions how well a boy supported in apprenticeship to a lithographer was doing. In 1870 two boys were supported in apprenticeships to learn shoe-making. In 1873 we learn of £5 to support Henry Kingsland in his apprenticeship to a tailor, with his friends paying another £5. (The pupils relatives and financial supporters were referred to as ‘friends’)
A ‘Bazaar Fund’ was also established to support those where two or more children from the same family were at the school.
Many early annual reports list the occupations of all pupils who had left, in an attempt to prove the lasting value of the Institution, regarding the usefulness of pupils so educated to the community.
The Names and Occupations of those Girls who have quitted the school. (From the Annual General Report 1836)
E Wilton Servant
Mary Martin Has been a Servant but at present assists her Mother
Harriot Munday Servant
I Philip Dress-maker
Mary Chidley Assists her Mother
Matilda Croke Straw-Bonnet maker
Elizabeth Oats Assists her Mother
C.Way Gone to America
Sarah Coram Assists her Mother
Susan Smith Servant in the Institution
A. Chapple Gone to America
M.A. Matthew Milliner and Dress-maker
Susan Knight Milliner
Sarah Coles Assists her Mother
E.Williams Servant in Sir Thomas Acland’s Family
Selina Collins Servant
Ann Lakeman Ill Health
By 1836 95 pupils had been through the Institution, 55 boys and 40 girls. 22 boys and 17 girls had already left 4 had died at the Institution and 1 at home. 50 (29 boys and 21 girls) were in school at that time.
By 1860, when the Institution had been in place 33 years, 250 pupils had been through the school. This is perhaps a disappointingly small number since initial reports suggested there might have been 250 eligible to come to the school at the beginning.
It seems to have been an uphill battle to recruit pupils. The Annual Report 1851 says,
“Your Committee cannot quit this subject, without again reverting to the fact, that there are at present several vacancies in the School…they are only too fearful that many children, of an age fit for admission, do not avail themselves of the objects of the charity, and they would earnestly impress upon the Governor’s, and more especially those who are also Guardians of the Poor, the necessity of making known the benefits of the Institution, in the Unions of which they are members, so that no poor deaf and dumb child may be left uneducated in the West of England.”
Dr William Robson Scott (1811-1877) became headmaster in 1841. He wrote several well respected publications about the deaf and their education.
Sir William Wilde, father of Oscar, an Ear Nose and Throat specialist, wrote that “By far the best work that has appeared in this country on the Deaf and Dumb during the present century is by Dr. Scott, the Principal of the West of England Institution at Exeter – a work should be in the hands of every parent or guardian of a mute child.” (Wilde, 1854, p.21).
Like many at the time Dr Scott was interested in the causes of deafness in children. Looking at the census it is clear this was an interest as he even stated the cause of deafness for each pupil on the census return. Consanguinity was thought to be a major cause at the time and he cites several of his pupil’s parents being cousins. He analysed families associated with the West of England Institution regarding hereditary deafness by the number of deaf children in a family. He was only aware of one of his pupils whose father had congenital deafness.
Dr Scott emphasises the difficulty in knowing when a child became deaf, whether those thought to have been deaf from birth were really congenital or perhaps an early infection. Deafness was often only diagnosed when a child failed to speak. Perhaps, for example, when a child was poorly with ‘teething’ they would have been the focus of attention and someone might spot there was no reaction to loud noises or early babbling noises.
The system of education varied over time and with different masters. Whether to use sign language or teach speech was the subject of great debate across similar Schools across Europe at the time. Mr. H.B.Bingham (Head 1827-1834) was an advocate of sign. Mr. William A.F. Gordon, one of his junior masters, took over from him. Mr Gordon (Head 1834-1841) introduced teaching of speech in Exeter, especially to those with any residual hearing.