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I started school at Ash in 1896 at six years
old. There were 90 – 100 children in the school with a
headmaster and a pupil teacher.
Q. Who was the pupil teacher at the time? Was it Mr. Meyers’
daughter?
A. Yes.
Q. Did Mrs. Meyers teach in the school too?
A. Yes she was in the infants. There was only two teachers who
took the whole school. Conditions were very bad in the rural
districts in those days. Some of the children would come to
school in their father’s old worn out hobnail boots with paper
stuffed in them to keep them on their feet. There was no meals
found for them in those days, some of them only came to school
with bread and lard. |
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Didn’t have to pay to go to school. During
the winter months there was a lot of shooting in this
neighbourhood and it wasn’t unusual for nearly every boy that
was fit enough to carry a stick to be away from school on
Wednesdays and Thursdays and thinking things over since I think
the master must have written them as being present, but the way
he looked at it if they had these three days beating they would
have three shillings, and a brace of rabbits and a good lunch
each day. The three shillings would enable the parents to buy
them a pair of shoes and he thought that it was much better for
the children to come to school dry shod, than come shivering in
worn out shoes. Because a child couldn’t really give of its
best sitting shivering, wet through and cold. |