Scotland in the nineteenth century

2. Crime and punishment

Section 2.11: Reformatories and industrial schools

"appointed to inquire into the present treatment of criminal and destitute juveniles in this country and what changes are desirable in their present treatment, in order to supply industrial training, and to combine reformation with due correction of juvenile crime..."

Alexander Thomson, Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. of Aberdeen and Kincardine also Chairman of the Prisons Board of Aberdeenshire, gave evidence on Scottish reform systems (pp. 287-307). His special interest was the Industrial Feeding Schools of Aberdeen which by 1851 had grown into four schools and a child's asylum. The schools were encouraged by the implementation of a new local Police Act in 1845; on the same day in October a school for juveniles was opened. The police were ordered to round up all begging boys and girls in Aberdeen and carry them to the school, that day "75 were captured" (p. 288). The children on their first day were forcibly washed and then during the day given three substantial meals. In the evening they were told attendance was voluntary but that begging was now illegal and would be punished by imprisonment. On the next day all returned except three.

All the schools were supported by voluntary contribution and employed paid staff. The idea being to get children into the school at as young an age as possible before they had formed bad characters. Most of those taken in were under 11.

The routine of the schools was a mixture of teaching, industrial training and feeding (p. 290). Thomson claimed that the change in the child was seen within a few weeks, and claimed its advantage over the English Ragged School was in the employment of full-time staff which allowed the children to be superintended all day, seven days a week.

Routine of schools (p. 290).

Food rations (p. 290).

Eleven Scottish schools were recorded as being capable of taking 1,799 pupils, one each at Aberdeen, Ayr, Kilmarnock, Arbroath, Glasgow and Govan, two at Edinburgh and three at Perth.

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There were twenty reports for Scottish schools (pp. 8-12), giving the attendance at each school and how many it was capable of holding. It was found that in general there was more room available than pupils to teach. At the Greenock Ragged Schools no vagrant children had been sent by the local authorities and although they had room available for 150 each of girls and boys they had only 66 girls and 48 boys attending.

The Scottish evidence shows that in March 1860 there were 27 reformatory schools, and the return lists the name and site of each school, its accommodation and the number of inmates.

"to inquire into and report upon the operation, management, control, inspection, financial arrangements, and condition generally of certified reformatories, certified industrial schools, and certified day industrial schools in our United Kingdom..."

In 1884, there were 12 reformatories in Scotland, 34 industrial schools and 1 day industrial school, namely the Green Street Day Industrial School in Glasgow. The school boards in Scotland were given the power to establish and maintain certified industrial schools by the Elementary Education (Scotland) Act, 1872. The Elementary Education Acts of 1870 and 1876 increased the number of committals to industrial schools as children could be sent there for committing truancy.

They did not agree with the witnesses who suggested that these schools should be transferred from voluntary to government management. They recommended that women should be included on the committees of management wherever possible. They found that there was a need for improvement in the educational work of reformatories and industrial schools. There was a shortage of teachers and those who did teach in reformatories and industrial schools were of an inferior quality. They recommended that music should be included in the syllabus as "few subjects of instruction can produce a happier effect upon the brightness and the discipline of these schools." In Scotland, only one magistrate was necessary to commit a child to a reformatory or industrial school. The Commissioners recommended that the consent of two magistrates should be required, as in England.

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Many of the Scottish witnesses suggested that many of the children sent to industrial schools could be dealt with more effectively and economically under a system of boarding-out. At Aberdeen, for example, at the time of the Commissioners' visit, 69 children were boarded out within a few miles of the city. They were mostly boarded out with families of cottars, having 6 or 8 acres of land, and the child attended the ordinary elementary school, being visited by an inspector and members of the board.

The Commissioners thought that no boys under 12 should be sent to training ships. They suggested that each ship should be associated with a group of industrial schools on land to facilitate transfers.

There were two day industrial schools in Glasgow, which had been established under the Glasgow Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Repression Act, 1878. Those too poor to attend ordinary schools were sometimes sent here. The Lord Provost of Aberdeen approved of these so-called "day feeding schools" as the child was allowed to remain with its family; "whenever we disturb the family system we are apt to create evils which almost counteract the good that we are doing". (para. 7691). The Commissioners recommended the establishment of other day industrial schools in Scotland.

"to inquire into the following matters connected with the reformatory and industrial schools:-

1. the general state of the schools, their control both by government and the local authority, and the framing of model rules and their application to particular schools.
2. the ages of admission and discharge, with the possibility of classifying the schools according to the age of their inmates; transfers and the interchange of children between land schools and ships; the means of providing for and supervising children on licence and after discharge.
3. the position of the schoolmasters, including the question of superannuation
4. the apportionment and scale of the government grant and the collection of the parental contributions."

The Committee reported on reformatories, industrial schools, training ships, day industrial schools, adult reformatories and truant schools. They examined the history of reformatories and industrial schools, their management, finance, parental contributions, staff, superannuation, inspection, regulations, terms of detention, licensing system, corporal punishment and the education they offered. It was thought that some of the occupations practised in industrial schools were of little value; for example, it was reported that nail straightening was undertaken at Greenock and match making at Aberdeen.

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They devoted a section of the report to the special characteristics of Scottish reformatories and industrial schools (pp. 131-147). The number of reformatories and industrial schools was much greater in proportion to the population in Scotland and many of the children came from the pauper class.

Complaints were directed against the laxity in the administration of the Industrial Schools Act, 1866 in Scotland. Parents often sent their children to industrial schools because they believed they would be better educated there. Many children under 10 years of age, truants, paupers and these "found wandering and not having proper guardianship" were often inappropriately sent to industrial schools.

Children could be committed to industrial schools by only one magistrate in Scotland, whereas in England the authority of two or more justices in petty sessions was required. The law had been amended to some extent by the Glasgow Juvenile Delinquency Act, 1878 and the Day Industrial Schools (Scotland) Act, 1893, and three day industrial schools had been established in Glasgow.

For terms of reference see C. 8204: Reformatory and industrial schools. Report to the Secretary of State... 1896.

Evidence was submitted concerning Penicuik Reformatory, Parkhead Reformatory in Glasgow for Catholics, East Chapelton Reformatory for Girls in Glasgow, Baldovan Industrial School near Dundee, St. Joseph's Industrial School, Tranent, Oakbank Industrial School, Aberdeen, Fechney Industrial School for boys and Maryhill for girls in Glasgow, United Industrial School, Edinburgh and the day industrial schools in Glasgow. The Clyde industrial training ship, called the "Empress" also fell within the scope of the inquiry. The attention of the Committee was also drawn to homes such as the Edinburgh Industrial Brigade Home and the Catholic Working Boys' Home in Edinburgh, which received boys who were too old for admission into industrial schools. They were intended for boys without homes or with bad homes or whose wages were insufficient to enable them to pay for lodgings, food and clothing.

Details were included of the age of admission, period of detention, health, diet, discipline, recreation, education and industrial training, licensing and cottage home systems and conditions of service, salaries and superannuation schemes for staff. The careers which the inmates followed after leaving the reformatory or industrial school and the continuing supervision was also examined. The proposed transfer of industrial schools and reformatories to the Scottish Department was also discussed.

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The frequent abuse of the reformatory and industrial school system was a serious problem. Children were sometimes sent to reformatories rather than industrial schools to prevent them from becoming chargeable to the local authorities. The procedure before the courts in industrial schools cases was examined. Archibald Campbell, Clerk to the Burgh Court in Edinburgh (pp. 648-653) gave details of cases brought before the city magistrates. These were often brought before the court by policemen and officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Applications for sending children to industrial schools were, however, also made by agents of these schools. It was thought that the "found wandering" and "not having proper guardianship" clauses in the Industrial Schools Act, 1866, were sometimes deliberately misinterpreted in order to fill the industrial schools.