Evidence: | Henry Mayhew interviews a boy of 16, a vagrant and inmate of a casual ward of a London workhouse:
"My father had no books but religious books; they were all of a religious turn, and what people might think dull. But they never made me dull. I read Wesley's and Watt's hymns, and religious magazines of different connexions. I had a natural inclination for the sae, and would like to get to it now. I've read a good deal about it since -Clark's 'Lives of Pirates', 'Tales of Shipwrecks', and other things in penny numbers (Clark's I got out of the library though). I was what people called a deep boy for a book; and am still. Whenever I had a penny, after I got a bellyful of victuals, it went for a book, but I haven't bought many lately. I did buy one yesterday -the 'Family Herald' -one I often read when I can get it. There's good reading in it; it elevates your mind -anybody that has a mind for studying. It has good tales in it... I've read "Windsor Castle" and "The Tower", -they're by the same man. I Liked "Windsor Castle" and all about Henry VIII and Herne and Hunter. It's a book that's connected with history, and that's a good thing. I like adventurous tales." |
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Century: | 1800-1849, 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
Date: | Between 1 Jan 1840 and 31 Dec 1859 | ||||||||||
Country: | England | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | city: London | ||||||||||
Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | anon |
Age | Child (0-17) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | n/a |
Socio-economic group: | Labourer (non-agricultural) |
Occupation: | boy vagrant in London workhouse |
Religion: | n/a |
Country of origin: | n/a |
Country of experience: | England |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | Watts |
Title: | n/a |
Genre: | Other religious, Poetry |
Form of Text: | Print: Book |
Publication details: | n/a |
Provenance: | owned |
Record ID: | 1289 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | Henry Mayhew | |
Editor: | n/a | |
Title: | London Labour and the London Poor | |
Place of Publication: | London | |
Date of Publication: | 1861 | |
Vol: | 3 | |
Page: | 388-389 | |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Citation: | Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor (London, 1861), 3, p. 388-389, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=1289, accessed: 29 March 2024 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)