Llandrindod and district
Victorian school days
  Just starting school - aged 25 !  
 

The Log Books of Victorian schools regularly mention the arrival of new children - usually called "scholars" at the time - and sometimes they are a bit unusual !
Two examples from Llanyre National School at Newbridge on Wye are shown here, the first from 1868...
New boy at school
1st June
1868
 School diary entry
Drawing by
Rob Davies
 1st June - "Admitted two new scholars today one of them a young man about 25 years of age, who is neither able to read or write".
Many schools had children starting at 14 or so, but 25 is pretty rare because most young men would have to be working at that age to earn a living. The next one is from the same school in 1877...
13th April
1877
 School diary entry "The Boy is over 9 but has never been to any kind of school, and seems not to have seen any human beings till now".
Not having been to school at the age of 9 was not all that unusual at the time, but the bit about never having seen any human beings sounds a bit alarming. Perhaps he was an alien ?  
17th August
1883
 "I am almost worn out with teaching this week".

With difficulties like these (and many, many more - see other pages on this website !) perhaps comments like the one above are not surprising ! It was the head teacher at Glan Ithon School in 1883 who was almost worn out !

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