This entry from the records of Darowen school in 1872 shows another of the problems which affected many country schools in Victorian times.

The Headmaster writes:
"...Many of the parents grumble that they have to buy their own books. Two children have left school on that account."

Many parents were working on the land or in the quarries, and the pay was very poor. Bringing up a family was hard enough.

Often the extra cost of having to find money for schoolbooks was just too much and the children had to leave school.
More problems faced by children in Queen Victoria's time can be seen on the next page...

Weather problems for Victorian pupils...