Record Number: 5130

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

"A young handloom weaver in Carlisle was able to develop both his literacy skills and his political consciousness as his workshop responded with keen interest to the mounting Reform Bill crisis: "'I well remember how the weavers at Newtown used to club their pennies together to obtain the London newspapers ... The Weekly Dispatch was a great favourite ... Bell's Life kept us fully informed of the doings of the 'Fancy'. Our great paper, however, was the tri-weekly Evening Mail ... At the height of the reform agitation it was common for the men in our shop to gather round the fire about nine, and with me in the middle as reader, go through the debates until long after midnight. Thus with corrections from one and another, I learned to read, and thus likewise, at fourteen, I became somewhat of an advanced politician, known among my playmates as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.'"

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

evening: 9pm-12am

Place:

city: Newtown

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

William Farish

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

handloom weaver

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Title:

newspapers

Genre:

Politics, Reference / General works

Form of Text:

Print: Newspaper

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

5130

Source:

Print

Author:

David Vincent

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Rise of Mass Literacy: Reading and Writing in Moderrn Europe

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

n/a

Page:

95

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

David Vincent, The Rise of Mass Literacy: Reading and Writing in Moderrn Europe (Oxford, 2000), p. 95, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=5130, accessed: 02 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Quotation from William Farish, The Autobiography of William Farish: The Struggles of a Handloom Weaver (privately printed, 1889) 11-12.