Warminster Museum: Celebrating Sunday schools

“Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work” – and in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, the workers really did work, six days a week and 12 or more hours a day.

Even worse, until 1802 there were no laws covering child labour. Small wonder that Little Boy Blue fell asleep under the haystack when he should have been looking after the sheep.

There was an improvement with the 1802 Act. No apprentice must work for more than 12 hours in any day.  This did not cover Little Boy Blue; he was not an apprentice.

It is obvious that, to the workers, the seventh day was very valuable. Until 1888, the law stipulated that everyone should attend church on this day. Fortunately for many people, the law did not stipulate which church or what denomination and by the 1800s it was becoming very loosely enforced. People used this day to unwind, in whatever way suited them best.  And some of these ways were very antisocial.

The behaviour of young people on Sundays was particularly problematic, and it was perceived by many to be the young persons’ route into a life of crime. Robert Raikes of Gloucester decided that he should try to do something about it.

Very few people of the working class could read or write.  Raikes believed that if young people could be taught to read the bible, only good would result. He founded his first Sunday School in 1780. His schools had to be on Sundays because the young people were at work every other day. There were, of course, objections. “The seventh day is the Sabbath. In it, thou shalt no work.” Other people objected because educating the masses could lead to social and political revolution.   

Raikes’s Sunday schools were a great success and there were countrywide celebrations at the 100th anniversary of their founding.  Warminster had two large parades of Sunday school pupils. The C of E pupils paraded on the 8th July 1880. The non-conformist chapels paraded on 14th July.

Mr. Smith, the East Street photographer, arranged to take a photograph of the non-conformist parade. By 1880, photographic technology had advanced and he decided to try to take a photograph from the Savings Bank (Post Office) balcony. He told the local newspaper that if the photograph was successful, copies would be available for sale.

It was a success, as you see. You may also notice that The Bell has been renamed. It is now The Australian Hotel.

Pictured: The non-conformist parade