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Preface
Contents
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Appendix

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That the officers might work together harmoniously, the Committee thought it best to define the duties of each. At the Committee Meeting held at Ayton 11th mo., 9th, 1841, the duty of the superintendent, female superintendent, and housekeeper, were defined by minute which states: “The general regulations and good order of this Institution having been at this time under close consideration, the following outline of duties and responsibilities is approved and recorded for adoption.

“That the office of the superintendent be –

“To teach the boys in and out of doors, and to give literary instruction to the girls. To keep all the accounts, regulate the bill of fare, and the quantity and quality of food, as fixed by the committee, and to have a general oversight of the whole Institution.

“That the office of the female superintendent be -

“To take charge of making and repairing all the girls’ clothes and boys’ linen, knit and darn stockings, make and mark the linen, teach the girls in school from half-past one till half-past four. Take charge of the girls generally, and especially during religious reading and at meetings, and, without feeling the entire responsibility of the housekeeper’s duties, to see and inspect the house daily, and should occasion require, confer with the superintendent or women’s committee and give such directions as they may commend.

“That the office of the housekeeper be -

“To have the special care of the girls when occupied in the kitchen, laundry, or other domestic service, to be responsible for the proper and timely preparation of all the meals, and whatever may conduce to the cleanliness or order of the establishment and comfort of all its inmates.”

At the close of 1841 the number of scholars was sixteen boys and sixteen girls, whose names will be found on the list. Double this number of boys could now be accommodated, and about thirty girls, as soon as arrangements could be made for their reception. All went forward now with great regularity both in school and house. The attention of the farm committee was turned at this time to suitable garden ground to give profitable employment to the boys. The present orchard garden, which was then a grass field, was chosen; the surface was in high ridges, which were indispensable for allowing the surface water to pass off before draining by underground pipes came in vogue. Men were employed to trench and level the field with spades; in doing this the sod and best soil were buried in the furrows and a poor subsoil was left on the surface, which made the land hard to cultivate profitably. T. and J. Backhouse, of York, from whom we obtained our evergreens for the lawn, kindly presented us with all the fruit trees - apple, pear, plum, cherry, quince, currant, gooseberry, &c. Unfortunately, many of them were not suited to our soil and climate, and had to be replaced by hardier kinds. The first crops produced by spade husbandry were vegetables for the use of the family, and green food and roots for the cattle; this kind of work was most suitable for the boys and was their chief employment at Penketh, where no horses were used. In making ready the arable land for turnips, mangold wurzels, and potatoes, the twitch grass and roots of other weeds had to gathered off and burnt; this was done by the boys and saved the expense of hiring women to do it. All went regularly on outside as well as in.

I must not forget to mention the bath. In a field at the end of the orchard-garden was an old stone building, known by the name of the bleach-house. The Heseltons, the late owners of the estate, employed many weavers of linen, huckaback, and sailcloth. They bleached their yarn for this purpose in the grass field adjoining this building, which was used for receiving it. Outside was a stream called the Dykes beck. The idea was conceived that it could be easily converted into a bath-house, and the water brought to it in drain pipes from the stream a short distance above. The project received the sanction of the committee. A man was employed to dig it out to a proper depth, flag the bottom, and build up the sides with old stones, of which we had abundance spared from the building just finished; by packing clay behind the stones it was made watertight. A metal pipe with a wooden plug, which worked with a lever, was placed near the bottom to enable us to run off the water when it required cleaning out; by means of a metal pipe near the top, it was prevented overflowing. While the inside work was going forward, the boys cut the drain, put in the tiles, and an abundant supply of water was secured. The bath was chiefly used by the girls; the chamber above made a good dressing room for them. The boys preferred to bathe in the Leven, where they had deep water to dive in and room to swim. There is a tradition that the old bleach-house was abandoned on account of a man on one occasion losing his life by falling into the boiling chemicals; for many years afterwards it was said to be haunted, and some superstitious persons were afraid to pass the building in the dark.

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