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School pupils taken in 1895 bring the school to
life in an extraordinary way. Poor people were
not <strong>us</strong>ually seen in portraits, since photography
was an expensive b<strong>us</strong>iness. The details of the
young people’s cut-down, heavily mended and
ill-fitting clothes are fascinating, as is the expressiveness
of their faces.
The children would have been taught the three
Rs in a strictly moral and religio<strong>us</strong> context. The
labels that go with slides indicate this, examples
include: ‘Joseph: the great Joseph was a poor boy
once but he became a prospero<strong>us</strong> man for God
was with him’, ‘Patience: as she sits in her class.
To her teachers who have need of patience.’ and
‘Nameless: not one of the best girls – well may
she hide her face’.
There was, of course, a sharp social divide between
the pupils, and the Lewesians who supported
the school by voluntary contributions
and legacies. Isaac’s granddaughter Kathleen
Vinall, in recordings made by the WEA in 1972,
talks of visiting ho<strong>us</strong>es of Ragged School pupils,
delivering dates and oranges. ‘We didn’t look
down on those people, it’s j<strong>us</strong>t that you knew
where you stood’.
So why did the Ragged School close? It transpires
that on Sunday 26th February 1916, a
l E w E s I N h I s t o r y
heavy fall of s<strong>now</strong> ca<strong>us</strong>ed the collapse of the
older part of the building. Tenders were sought
for its repair (see above sketch), but in May 1916,
tr<strong>us</strong>tees decided that would be too expensive,
and the property should be sold. Their solicitors,
Isaac Vinall and Sons, wrote to the Board
of Education, saying their decision had been influenced
by the great improvement of the social
conditions of child life in Lewes, leading to the
conviction that ‘there is no longer the same need
for a Ragged School as formerly’.
The building was eventually bought by an undertaker.
After lengthy negotiation with the Charity
Commission about whether the proceeds of the
sale had to benefit ‘poor’ children, it was decided
in 1923 that they could be <strong>us</strong>ed to augment
the endowment of the Lewes Exhibition Fund,
a charity still running today whose aims are to
support young people who live within five miles
of Lewes with their studies.
Emma Chaplin
Thanks to Christopher Whittick, S<strong>us</strong>anne Jenks
and Andrew Bennett for their invaluable assistance
and to the East S<strong>us</strong>sex County Record Office for
permission to <strong>us</strong>e the slides, which are available for
everyone to see under reference AMS 6919.
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