Montgomery and district
Victorian school days
  A polite way of begging  
Toffee drawing

Many local school Log Books refer to children going 'New Year's Gifting' on the first of January each year. Few teachers liked this custom, because it was another excuse for missing lessons !
The head teacher at Llandyssil School complained about the number of children absent on New Year's Day in 1877...
New Year's Gifting seems to have involved children going around knocking on doors and asking for presents !
1st January
1877
School diary entry
 ..."New Year's Gifting", which, I told the children, was only a polite way of begging".
Most came back to school the next day with their 'gifts', but they would have done better to leave them at home ! ...
 
2nd January
1877
School diary entry
  
Sweets 2nd January - "More children in school today. Had a great deal of trouble with children, because they brought sweets, oranges, etc to school. I burnt all I could get hold of".
This was not a very nice way to start a new year !
Mellington School was much kinder in 1885, and gave the children a holiday... 		Humbug sweets
1st January
1885
School diary entry
 "A holiday is given today as so many of the children go "New Year's Gifting".
 

Schools often had to give holidays when they knew hardly anyone would turn up anyway, holiday or not !

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