The Fen Child at Work
Until the late 1800’s, poor children had to work to earn money for their family. Sending children to school would mean the family losing money. Many poor children therefore did not go to school very often.
In the Fens, children were needed and expected to work alongside their parents on such tasks as planting and picking crops, weeding, spreading manure and bringing in the harvest. It was a fact that children were regarded as a very convenient source of cheap labour – often, a farmer could employ the children he wanted for just a few days’ work without being compelled to keep them (and pay them) a day longer than needed.
Selected pages from the school logbook of 1892 (2a) indicates that some children did not attend school but instead they were required to work at ‘potato planting’. Elsewhere in the logbook held at the Huntingdon Archives there are references to children being absent from school for other work on the land.
The Indenture of Herbert Henry Butler
Apprenticeships in Britain can be traced back to medieval times,
Boys (mostly) as young as 12 were “bound” by way of an apprenticeship indenture to a master for up to seven years—the usual term to serve an apprenticeship for any trade or profession. An apprenticeship indenture such as the one included in the pack, was a legally binding document signed by a parent or guardian who paid an arranged sum of money to the ‘master’ for agreeing to train the child (usually a boy) in their profession. They would also supply the apprentice with food, clothing, and lodging for the duration of the seven-year apprenticeship.
