There are lots of entries in the official diaries or Log Books of Victorian schools which tell of bad behaviour by children - and of the canings which they usually received !
This is one of the (thankfully !) more unusual examples...

The entry is in the official Log Book of the Crickhowell British School from 1869 -
17th November - "Found out that the bigger boys were in the habit of carrying gunpowder with them to school. Punished one boy for throwing a quantity of this powder into the school fire..."
Hopefully it was only a very small amount of gunpowder, or there wouldn't have been much left of the boy - or of the school !

Gunpowder was commonly used in Victorian times for blasting in quarries, and also during the building of canals and railways. It would probably have been easy for the boys to get hold of, because there weren't very many rules about safety in those days !

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