John Pounds
| John Pounds | |
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| File:JohnPounds ca1844 byBouve Sharp Smithsonian.jpg
Published by Bouvé & Sharp, 221 Washington St., Boston, ca.1843-1845
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| Born | June 17, 1766 Portsmouth, England |
| Died | January 1, 1839 (aged 72) Portsmouth, England |
John Pounds (June 17, 1766 – January 1, 1839) was a shoemaker and philanthropist born in Portsmouth, and the man most responsible for the creation of the concept of Ragged schools.[1] After Pounds' death, Thomas Guthrie (often credited with the creation of Ragged Schools) wrote his Plea for Ragged Schools and proclaimed John Pounds as the originator of this idea.
Pounds was the son of a sawyer and was apprenticed at the age of twelve as a shipwright but at the age of fifteen he was severely crippled by a fall in Portsmouth Dockyard.[2] He could no longer work at the dockyard, and from then onwards made his living as a shoemaker.
Pounds was a Unitarian and it was very important to this Christian denomination that all should be able to read the Bible. Despite his own poverty, Pounds fostered a nephew and thought the boy would be more inclined to learn reading and writing if he had a companion. From that origin, his "ragged school" grew, as he found more and more children in need of instruction. [3]
He would scour the streets and docks of Portsmouth looking for boys and girls who were poor and homeless, and would tempt them with food such as baked potatoes to get them to come to the school. In his small workshop he would often sit mending shoes while also teaching the children. They learnt basic reading, writing and arithmetic, and also useful practical skills such as carpentry and shoemaking that would enable them to find employment. He charged no fee at all. His small workshop was often crowded with as many as forty children at any one time. [4] [5]
Pounds loved animals and birds as well as children. He was fond of canaries, parrots and cats but had to limit their numbers in order to find space for the maximum number of waifs and strays in his workshop.
Many years after his death, John Pounds has become a local hero in his birthplace of Portsmouth, winning a "Man of the Millennium" award in 1999 from a local newspaper, ahead of nationally more famous local heroes including Admiral Lord Nelson and Charles Dickens.
A unitarian chapel named in his memory stands in Old Portsmouth[6] and his life was celebrated in a sacred cantata Greatheart: The Story of John Pounds, by the Rev Carey Bonner. In 2005, the John Pounds centre was opened in Queen Street, Portsmouth to encourage "a happier and healthier lifestyle, should that be through learning, physical or social activities."[7] Until 1975 there was a girl's secondary modern in Portsea named after him:[8] it is now a community centre.[9]
Notes
- ↑ The History of Ragged Schools
- ↑ The accident happened 18 days after the death of his father. A double tragedy Coats, A. (Portsmouth Dockyard Historian) pp. 22-24 in "The Life and Times of John Pounds of Portsmouth: Originator of Ragged Schools" Worthington, G. (Ed): Portsmouth, John Pounds of Portsmouth Heritage Appeal, 2007, ISBN 978-0955499005
- ↑ The North British Review, Volumes 11-12
- ↑ Memorials and Monuments in Old Portsmouth (John Pounds Memorial Church)
- ↑ http://www.maybole.org/history/articles/historyofraggedschools.htm
- ↑ John Pounds Memorial Unitarian Church
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ National Archives
- ↑ John Pounds Centre
Further reading
- Henry Hawkes, Recollections of John Pounds, 1884, books.google.com
- J. F. Fyfe, John Pounds, in: The Progressive English Reading Books: books.google.com
- Roland Everett Jayne, The Story of John Pounds: Founder of Ragged Schools, Epworth Press, 1925.
External links
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